While Saint Boetius was recovering in the capital Tenas, Woohyuk spoke with Saint Helena.

She was an intelligent, energetic, determined and beautiful woman.

However, there was no subtle mood between the two of them, and only a few quarrels occurred.

There were differences in each other’s opinions, but fundamentally, they just weren’t compatible.

Nevertheless, they valued each other highly in their minds.

'She’s the most open-minded amongst the saints I've met.'

‘His reason and thoughts are upright despite the fact that he merged with the demon G.o.d's ego.'

Though each other’s expectations were quite low from the beginning, which helped out a lot.

“My Lord, I brought those on the list as you asked.”

"Good work."

Woohyuk, who was sitting with Helena, opened the door and praised Sieg for his hard work.

The reason he was responsible for bringing them was to avoid Rosenkreuz’s suspicion, as well as the fact that an important person was included in the list.

Moreover, his other va.s.sals with demonic energy were currently returning to the Rhine Kingdom on different missions and were unavailable.

Since he had claimed to be a minister of the G.o.d of Light, he could not put them on the frontlines for the time being.

“Dad, I missed you!”

Lia jumped into Woohyuk's arms with a bright smile on her face.

Joanna entered while Woohyuk was patting her hair.

"I see that you’re in good health, Your Majesty."

"Of course. Nothing happened in Blackburn while I was away?”

“Yes, it is so peaceful that it’s boring. But can I really entrust the kingdom to that child and appoint her as the regent?”

The regent in question was Irene.

Woohyuk nodded.

“Irene has no desire for power. And since Aris is now back in Blackburn, she'll help out if something goes wrong.”

Aris was working with Alphone, Lucas and Agnes to set up a magic engineering lab in Blackburn.

They would first a.n.a.lyze the ingredients and materials for the Clipport’s fruit, and then would make several inventions by referring to Jake's research journal obtained from Bronze Rock Mountain. It might not be an easy feat, but Woohyuk believed their abilities would be more than enough.

“I worry that she will accept a marriage proposal of some n.o.ble. She doesn’t seem to take romantic relations.h.i.+ps seriously...”

“Don’t worry, I told her to make decisions after informing me first.”

Moreover, Irene had been trained to act like a princess in the past, so she was unlikely to spark a controversy amongst the n.o.bles. However, it would be natural for them to feel confused by her appointment as a regent.

As Woohyuk rea.s.sured Joanna, King Philip II of Lydia came into the stone chamber as he coughed.

"Father!"

“Oh, Joanna! It's been so long.”

The father and child hugged each other and shed happy tears.

Both of them were worried about the well-being of each other as they feared Aleister's schemes.

“When I received the blackmail, I didn't know what to do. I couldn't do anything...”

“The King of Rhine secretly sent a man to save us. He even defeated the demons himself out of kindness.”

Philip II owed a great debt to them, so he wanted to help Woohyuk out one way or another.

Nonetheless, it was only to see his daughter that he had traveled this far.

“Is the situation in the Lydia kingdom peaceful now?”

“There are still a few things to be dealt with. We have to deal with the epidemic spread by Aleister, and the n.o.bles who joined hands with the demons must be purged. We also have to stop the hordes of monsters coming in from other kingdoms.”

Unlike the Dane Kingdom, which Woohyuk had taken over, the Lydia Kingdom was still in a somewhat confused and chaotic state.

Joanna grabbed King Philip II's hand with a worried expression.

“Please be careful of the demons, Father. They use any means in order to achieve their goals.”

“I know, Joanna. But how long will you stay in the Rhine Kingdom? Return to the Lydia Kingdom if you don't plan to marry again. Not now, of course, but once the country is stabilized.”

King Philip II wanted Joanna to marry Woohyuk.

Woohyuk’s skills and abilities were only excellent, but his character also wasn't bad.

Joanna, who noticed his intentions, looked away as she hesitated.

“I, I…”

“Joanna, it's time to tell him the story.”

Woohyuk, who was listening to the conversation, spoke to the woman.

Then Joanna stared at him in surprise.

“Isn’t it still too early, Your Majesty?”

"No. The more you delay, the more you’ll be embarra.s.sed.”

“…”

Joanna shut her mouth as she pondered.

When he saw that, King Philip II asked her in confusion.

“Do you have any concerns, Joanna? Don’t tell me… do you have an unwanted pregnancy…?”

“N-no! That’s absolutely not the case...”

“Then, don't feel burdened and tell your father.”

"Actually…”

Joanna briefly explained what had happened.

Immediately, King Philip II's eyes widened.

“You became the successor of Queen Iona?”

“We were originally from the Clavis family, Father. That's why I was able to enter her historic site.”

Joanna pulled out Queen Iona's Guardian Cross to show her father. He could no longer refute now that he had seen that evidence.

Philip II looked at her blankly as he had no words to say.

“… .”

“I will stay in Blackburn and try to follow Queen Iona's footsteps. Since she has left artifacts like this behind, there must be other quests or ruins somewhere in the Rhine Kingdom.”

“If you truly believe that, then do as you please. I will support you as much as possible through the King of Rhine.”

In fact, cases where a family line from the past that was lost gets rediscovered by coincidence often happened. Many old surnames would reappear.

Immediately after wars, the royal families of the defeated country would be annihilated or would leave in exile and scatter themselves.

n.o.bles and ordinary citizens of the kingdom often forgot and lost their surnames after becoming war orphans.

Soon after the conversation ended, Woohyuk asked King Philip II about the situation in the Lydia kingdom in detail.

“How serious is the epidemic that Aleister spread?”

“Many people of my kingdom are dying. Some provinces are empty because there were no survivors.”

It was as if the Black Death was rampant in the kingdom.

Woohyuk looked back at his memories and tried to recall whether there had been a similar epidemic in the past.

'Is it the ghost disease?'

It was a disease that occurred during the night when the moon was high. An evil spirit would seep into the body of a sleeping person. Symptoms included lack of energy, sudden drop in blood pressure, breathing difficulties, and seizures that would occur every night.

In addition, it was able to exert greater power in areas with poor sanitary environments, where animals would also get infected.

'The cure was found by priests.'

A potion made by using the plant-type monster mandragora as a medicinal ingredient.

If one added divine magic to it, most of the symptoms would be healed, except for extremely bad symptoms.

The problem was that it was not easy to find Mandragoras, but Woohyuk already knew some locations.

'A cave on the coastal cliff in the west of the Lydia kingdom.'

It was the ruins that Woohyuk was planning to visit to retrieve the Hydra’s dark breath, a material to craft the seven color rainbow ring.

[The Devil's Crystal Cave].

In fact, there is no such thing as a devil in that cave, but the screams of the Mandragoras when getting uprooted ended up being the cause of that grotesque name.

Anyways, if he were to go to Lydia Kingdom, he would first have to stop by there.

There was also a saint with him now, so he didn't have to worry about the Mandragoras’ debuffs.

… Though he had already become a demon and was resistant to those.

“Ah, I guess I cannot receive the saint's protection.”

“Of course not. My divine spell is like poison to you.”

Helena laughed and crossed her arms.

Then King Philip II looked at Woohyuk with absurdity drawn on his face.

“What are you talking about, King of Rhine? And won't you introduce this woman to me?”

“… She is just a simple acquaintance. This woman is Saint Helena. She is currently under my protection due to some circ.u.mstances.”

Woohyuk tried to hide as much information as possible, such as Helena being from Eteria Rodinus.

p.r.o.noia and the members of the Golden Rose Society were everywhere, so he had to watch his words everywhere.

Even King Philip II felt the odd mood, but didn’t dig deeper.

“Indeed, it is true that a saint traveling on her own could be dangerous. The Holy Aperian Empire is also in a chaotic situation these days.”

“Did something happen?”

“I heard rumors that demons are chasing after a certain saint. Moreover, they say that a Paladin is always next to her.”

“Did she create trouble everywhere like Princess Eleonora did?”

“I do not know that. I think it is unlikely the saint acted in such a manner...”

This was not the time to worry about others.

As King Philip II looked anxious, Woohyuk called in Sieg, who was waiting outside.

“Sieg, bring the prisoners.”

“Yes, My Lord.”

Sieg came in with a tightly tied woman.

King Philip II, who saw her unusual appearance, reacted with surprise.

“Wha, what the h.e.l.l is this? She is like a mix of cat and human.”

“She is a beastwoman, one of the races that came from another world. Her name is Catsy.”

“… Why did you bring me all the way here, human?”

Catsy’s eyes turned into slits like a cat's and stared at Woohyuk.

It was quite a wild provocation.

Woohyuk got up from his seat and grabbed her long tail.

“Ugh… !!”

“They say that beastmen hate to be touched by their tails. Is that true?”

He pretended not to know the answer despite the fact that he was already aware.

Catsy was resentful and swore at Woohyuk.

“How dare this perverted human molest me! Get those dirty hands off my tail right now!”

“Interesting. Do beastmen consider it to be s.e.xual hara.s.sment when their tails are touched?”

Woohyuk molested Catsy a few more times and then poured demonic energy into her body through her tail.

Catsy stopped moving rebelliously and began to cry like a cat.

“Meoow~! Please give me orders, Master!”

A sudden s.h.i.+ft in att.i.tude.

Joanna and King Philip II as well as Helena were astonished.

“How, how did you do that? Was it... brainwas.h.i.+ng?”

“I just tamed her.”

He had overpowered the Manticore in the Memory Garden,and he suddenly thought of trying the same on Catsy.

His thoughts were ‘Wouldn’t it be possible to tame her since she’s no different from a beast-type monster?’

'Catsy is the most useful amongst the clan leaders I currently have captured.'

Catsy was a beastwoman, so she was not restricted in rough mountainous terrains or lush forest areas. Above all, she had the advantage of being able to climb walls without additional equipment.

If he used her as a central pillar to train a beastmen squad, it would greatly strengthen his army.

It wouldn't be too late to make the other clan heads his va.s.sals if they became stronger later.

“Master, please pet me!”

Catsy rubbed her face against Woohyuk's leg and gently waved her tail.

Helena burst into laughter in amus.e.m.e.nt.

“Pffft! Are you going to grab her tail again?”

“No, because she would get on my knees as she goes in heat.”

“How nasty. You bothered her despite knowing it already.”

“I don’t think it really matters because she was going to hate me in the future anyway.”

“I should be careful too, since I don't know when you're going to s.e.xually hara.s.s me.”

“I am not interested in a woman who denounces others, Ms. s.a.d.i.s.t Saint.”

"Did you think I was interested, Mr. Animal Cruelty?"

Woohyuk and Helena began to fight again.

They could easily be misunderstood in this situation.

King Philip II whispered to Joanna with a dumbfounded look on his face.

“Are those two lovers, Joanna?”

“… Probably not.”

But strangely enough, she felt that the two of them went well with each other.

Joanna stared at Helena with envy in her eyes.