“You’re lucky you didn’t break any ribs,” the doctor said as she wrapped the bandages around the Faela’s torso.

“I know,” she agreed in a low voice, glancing at the hundreds of hastily made bed inside the church.

Luckily the new worshipers were weak. If they had been as strong as the ones in the mining mountains, Tetsuko projected her thoughts to her wielder. Though Faela said nothing, the sword knew she felt the same.

The soldiers had trouble but they managed to kill every worshiper thanks to their numbers. However, by that time, the damage had been too much. Hundreds of people wounded, killed or turned. Those still alive were brought to the church. Even with the castle’s doctors’ help, there were so many they couldn’t take care of everyone.

Despite the pain, Faela didn’t rest. She gave up her bed for someone else and walked out of the church.

“Master,” Anna said the moment she saw her. “Are you alright? Is everything okay?”

“Yeah, I told you it wasn’t a big deal. More important than that, how are you?” Faela looked at her neck. She covered it right away, wincing when she touched it. “It still hurts?”

“Yes,” she admitted in a low voice, lowering her eyes. “It’s burning a little…”

Don’t worry. You won’t turn into a worshiper. Not because of the blood, at least. The poisonous Celeste is gone.

“But what?” Faela asked when she sensed her sword’s hesitation.

There’s something… like a trace that I can’t devour. It’s not enough to harm you but it’s probably the source of the pain.

“I see… There’s nothing we can do?”

“D-don’t worry about me, master. I can handle this much,” she said, forcing a smile.

“I know you can. But it doesn’t mean you should. You need more training. We can’t risk this happening again. If Tetsuko couldn’t take the poison out of you…” She shuddered at the idea.

The girl dropped her shoulders and looked at the ground. “If I weren’t weak…”

“You are strong, Anna. You fought bravely and saved many. That’s something to be proud of.”

“Thanks,” she whispered, her cheeks blushing.

“Faela!” someone shouted.

As they turned, they saw the Captain of the City’s guard. “Hey, Sergio. Good job back there. You really saved the day,” she said, smiling at him.

He narrowed his eyes at once, “I don’t need your sarcasm.”

“I meant it. You really saved us back there.”

“Oh… O-okay… I-it was my job,” he mumbled, caught off guard by her sincerity. “A-anyway, I’m not here for that.”

“Then what is it? We can leave the report for later. I don’t think the lord will mind waiting a while if we’re saving his people.”

“Yeah, I don’t know about that.” Sergio shook his head. “But I’m not here about the report.”

He looked around to make sure no one was listening to them. Though the surroundings of the church were packed with people, most were worried about their friends and family and didn’t seem to be listening.

Even so, Sergio gestured to Faela and Anna to move to a more private place inside an alley.

“Please, Faela, I need your help. No, this city needs your help. We can’t fight those… those monsters and the worshipers. Not without those special weapons you mentioned.”

The swordswoman looked at him with a puzzled expression. “Look, I wanna help, but I can’t. I’m a simple soldier. You need to ask your lord to ask for Lady Celia’s help.”

“Yes, but it’ll take too long. Especially with our Lord’s stubbornness. He says we have to figure this out without relying on others, or it’ll be his shame,” he explained, clutching his hand. “And if he gives up his stupid pride, it’ll take too long. By then, this whole city could be gone.”

He means it. Despite everything, he cares about this city, Tetsuko projected her thoughts to her wielder.

“I don’t know if it’ll help but I’ll send a message to Lady Celia explaining the situation. But it’s best if you don’t get your hopes up. The last Worshiper expedition cost a lot. She might not have enough living metal to produce more weapons so fast.”

“Even so, thank you, Faela,” he said, bowing his head.

She widened her eyes in surprise and was speechless for a moment. “N-not so fast, Sergio. I wanna help, but I need something in return.”

Did his honesty catch you off guard?

Faela said nothing, but shifted in her place, making the tip of her sword hit a wall.

“What is it?”

“I want access to the morgue. I know it’s off-limits because of the situation, but I need to see all the bodies of the animals that have become monsters.”

***

“Can’t believe I’m wasting my time doing this,” Bernardo murmured as he led the way. “I’m busy enough as it is.”

“And you haven’t found anything useful, have you?” Faela said in a dry voice.

He glared at her through the corner of his eyes but had nothing to say.

Why are you annoying him? It won’t bring anything good.

“Because we had our problems before,” she whispered low enough so only her sword heard.

“Why do you wanna see the corpses, anyway? What good would that be? You can only swing a weapon.”

“Yeah, you’re right. But I know about the Devil’s Worshipers way more than you.”

“Those animals have nothing to do with the worshipers.”

“Are you stupid? You don’t know what happened today? Do you really think the first attacks aren’t connected?”

Bernardo clicked his tongue. “I’m not gonna discuss my theories with a simpleton tree-hugging soldier,” he said, opening the door of the morgue.

The place was a long rectangular room with a high ceiling. Along the walls were small square wooden doors. In the middle of the room was a huge fireplace, enough to burn an entire body.

Bernardo led Tetsuko and Faela to the back of the room, where the older dead bodies were. “Here. Look as long as you want. Just don’t take anything.”

“Ho? You trust me enough to leave me alone?”

“If I was trapped with you and a worshiper in the same room, I wouldn’t trust you,” he said, not hiding his hatred. “But unlike you, I have things to do. We got too many samples today.”

“People.”

“What?”

“People. They’re not sample. Those who got infected and died were our people.”

“Yeah, whatever,” he said before heading back to the front of the room.

What happened between you two?

“Nothing much. I found out a few of his shady business and busted him. Since he was a noble, he got away, though it cost him the title. Now instead of the Lord’s personal doctor, he’s taking care of the dead.”

Seems like a huge fall, Tetsuko thought, glancing at the man. He was putting on heavy leather gloves and a mask to cover his nose and mouth before working on one of the new cadavers.

“Yeah, it was,” Faela smiled for a moment. It vanished as she approached the wall.

She opened the first, wincing with the effort. Then she reached inside and pulled a handle of what looked like a human-sized rectangular wooden bed with foldable legs. Despite the size, inside was a small rabbit.

“Can you sense anything?” she asked in a low voice.

Tetsuko closed the eyes she didn’t have and focused. Though her senses were still hindered due to the fight and devouring the Celeste on Anna, she felt something strange flowing within the animal cadaver.

Even if it’s not alive, the energy still flows within, she informed her wielder. Just like she expected, Faela seemed awestruck by the news. Even when a human dies, the Celeste leaves their body after a while.

“That shouldn’t be possible… but all this shouldn’t either,” she muttered. “Anything else?”

I won’t know until I touch it.

“You just want to cut more. Haven’t you had enough blood and flesh today? Or you’re really turning into a demon sword?”

Despite her words, she drew Tetsuko and pressed the edge against the wound on the animal’s back. Though the blood was dry and the body cold, the moment the metal touched flesh, Tetsuko felt the celeste flowing into her.

It’s much different from the worshipers. Like it’s more… rough… But there’s a faint trace of the ancient Celeste I felt in the Grand Priest.

“Rough and faint? Like the animal was infected with weaker blood?”

Yeah. Instead of turning him into a worshiper, this animal probably went mad with the pain.

Faela grew quiet for a moment. “So this really was an experiment just like we thought. Whoever did this, was using food to turn animals…”

And now they can infect people without even showing their face, Tetsuko finished her wielder’s sentence.

Her face grew pale as she understood the situation. “If even a tenth of the population turns, this city won’t survive… And we can’t do much if it’s just us.”

You asked for help before we came here, didn’t you? Wasn’t that what you asked of Enrique?

“Yeah, but I had no idea the city would be like this… I don’t know if it’ll be enough. Nor if it’ll get here in time before the next attack.”