Loganel slowly walked up the long stairway to the Church while carrying Juliana's soulless body in his arms. Tetsuya, Azura, and Sheriel walked by his side, but he made no effort to hold a conversation. Rather, he hurried up the long stairway towards the Church.

The afternoon sun shined down on him and the wind gently blew by, almost as if nothing had happened in this world and mocked Loganel for his devastation after losing Juliana. To the rest of the world, losing Juliana isn't a big deal, but to Loganel, whose life to this point is characterized by her existence, it is almost as if part of him had been lost.

With a pair of gloomy eyes, Loganel eyed the stairs before him. He didn't look up towards the Church for he is scared to have hope. He is scared that if he were to have hope, when that hope is shattered he won't be able to accept the truth. That is the reason why he cleared his minds of himself and focused on taking each step at a time. His companions, sensing this fact from the aura he emitted, made no conversation with him.

Despite his best efforts to clear his mind, it meandered about with no restrains except to stay away from the spot where he stored the emotions and memories of Juliana's end. It wandered to his past, to his childhood where he spent each day watching the sun set on the plains in front of the Ainzloft Manor. He could still remember as if it was yesterday when he walked to the local village with Juliana following not too far behind to supervise him in fear that he would attempt anything reckless. His memories then wandered to the days him and Juliana spent in anticipation of their trip to Astalan. It was him that is excited, and Juliana is simply acting along with him, trying to not hurt his feelings and make him feel lonely. In his mind, he could still recall her smile.

You always stood there by my side. No matter what role you played, you were always there. Each night, I can always count on you to keep me company. Of everyone in this world, you're the one that I can count on to seek a little praise for no matter what minuscule task I completed. You were always there when I needed you...You were always by my side.

A faint smile penetrated Loganel's facade as the sweet memories of the past made him temporarily forget the tragedy that had occurred in the present. To him right now, the past is where all the joy and happiness in his life roamed, and the present is where the torture and suffering rules.

The wind blew up the white cloth that he used to cover Juliana's soulless body, revealing her face to him. Her face, filled with vitality but lacked in spirit. Her eyes were closed, and it was almost as if she was in a deep slumber, but Loganel knew that she'll never wake up again. Even though these closed eyes may one day open again, the Juliana he knew would never return. Even if her body lives on, her soul is dead, and will never be recovered.

Why did it have to come to this? What happened? What went wrong? We all knew the risks, but I thought we were quite prepared for all of this. Why then, everything went wrong?

Is it because of me falling into that trap? If so, then we can just be careful next time and avoid it. Is it because of our confrontation with that wolf? We can not take that route and take another one.

Yeah. That's right. All I have to do for everything to be fixed is to avoid taking that path. I should do that.

But...there's no way to fix it now. It all happened in the past.

What do you know? The past isn't set in stone.

Yes it is. It's happened so it is called the past. What could be altered is the future. But there's no Juliana in the future. All that there is is this soulless vessel.

...You're right. She's not coming back. No matter what happened, the Juliana that I know will never come back, ever again. That Juliana that would greet me every morning...she won't be there the next morning, or the morning after that, or the morning after that, or the morning after that. She'll never be able to wake me up now because she'll never be able to wake up herself.

Loganel finally reached the top of the tall staircase. He turned around and surveyed the city of Astalan. He was probably a thirty meters above ground, so that explained why the wind is blowing stronger and cooler than before.

Loganel slowly stripped the white cloth covering off of Juliana, exposing her body to the wind. His and her hair both moved as the wind blew by, taking away the warmth of their body.

"Let's go Juliana," he whispered as the wind dried the tears that struggled to form in his eyes, making it impossible for him to cry. However, the same bad feeling existed, no matter what the wind attempted to do.

"Halt!" A pair of guards stopped Loganel from advancing past the front entrance of the Church. They eyed him with a frightened look, yet they still stood their ground as the servant of the Goddess.

"Let him pass," Tetsuya barked at the guards, who immediately succumbed to Tetsuya's authority as the Summoned Hero and backed off to the sides.

Loganel then proceeded to advance into the Church with no visible reaction of the incident displayed on his face. He walked down the isle, ignoring the gazes from the disciples that sat in the naves on either side of the main carpeted road down the alter, and headed straight for the priest that stood behind the alter. Just by the extravagant white robe embroiled with gold lace that the priest wore, one could tell that he was a high ranking Church official.

"Please take a look at her," Loganel said to the priest, who walked around the alter to observe the cursed girl.

"It seems like a complicated curse..." the elderly priest said. "Nothing I've ever seen in my fifty years as a priest matches this."

"How could you tell by just looking?" Sheriel complained.

Tetsuya shook his head. "This is Bishop Willen. He's the best healer in the Church. You won't find anyone better at this field than him in the entire world."

"Is there a cure?" Azura asked.

Bishop Willen shook his head and sighed. "I've never seen any curse like this. Based on its complexity, it would appear that a cure is almost impossible to achieve..." The bishop looked up at Loganel with a sorry look on his face. "The best we could do is sustain her life."

"Please do so," Loganel responded with his gaze fixed on Juliana's face.

"I'll make it free of charge," the bishop said, acknowledging Tetsuya's existence with a short nod. "Bring her over to the rooms in the back. The nuns will be responsible for taking care of her."

***

Loganel exited the Church and started down the long stairway after settling Juliana down at the Church. She was given a bed in one of the many rooms of the Church and spells were placed on her to maintain her condition by Bishop Willen. With his mission at its end, Loganel, with no where else to go, decided that he should pick up his cat Mazriel from Avelin's place and return to his dorms. As he walked down the stairs, Tetsuya and the others followed not too far behind.

"Wait," a man dressed in shiny white armor stopped Loganel when he reached the foot of the stairway. The man slowly drew his sword and faced Loganel.

"Paladin Grant," Tetsuya immediately rushed to stand in front of Loganel. "What's the meaning of this?"

"I think you've noticed already," the Paladin said with a disdainful glare. "He's carrying a sword that reeks of the stench of Chaos and the Abyss. It is my duty as a Paladin to slay anyone in association with the Demon King."

"He's not!" Tetsuya claimed. "You're mistaken."

"I do hope I am," the man said, raising his sword into a combat stance and ready to lunge out and decapitate Loganel whenever he wanted to. "But I would rather not risk the safety of all five hundred thousand lives residing in Astalan. As a servant of the Goddess, I am obligated to protect her people. Therefore, it is my duty, and yours as the Summoned Hero, to slay him here and now!"

As the conflict escalated between Paladin Grant and Tetsuya, Loganel merely stood there, mute and without much emotion displayed on his face. He looked at Paladin Grant and then to Tetsuya, and then over his shoulders at the Church where she resided with a painful look in his eyes, ignoring the tense atmosphere that was caused by the drawn swords and paranoid crowd.

"He used my sword," Tetsuya exclaimed.

"What?" Paladin Grant was visibly surprised by Tetsuya's statement. "Don't lie to me. Everyone knows only the Summoned Hero could wield the Exflage."

"I'm not lying. I swear it on the name of the Goddess." Tetsuya raised his hand into the air in a gesture to signify his honesty. "He was able to wield the Exflage and the blade responded to him with a power way above mine. Therefore, I believe he is innocent."

"You vouch for him?" Paladin Grant still eyed Loganel with a suspicious glare, but the glare softened a bit with Tetsuya's testimony.

"Yes I do. I vouch for him," Tetsuya said.

"And I, Azura Stelis, daughter of Duke Stelis, vouch for him as well," Azura stepped forward.

"What's the commotion about here?" Marsha walked down the stairway from the Church.

"Flora? Here to report your results to the Archbishop? This boy here carries with him the stench of Chaos and the Abyss," Paladin Grant explained.

"Then I must say that you're wrong," Marsha responded in an authoritative tone. "He's innocent."

"You vouch for him?"

"Yes, I do."

Paladin Grant sheathed his blade and shook his head. "Then I guess I'll have to let you go. But you better know this. If you were to cause any trouble, I'll be the first to strike you down."

The Paladin then walked past Loganel and the others to head up the stairs.

"I hope you understand that you working for us on the expedition doesn't mean the King will be let off easy," the Paladin whispered to Marsha, whose facial expression softened as she heard the threat.

"That is none of your concerns," Marsha responded. "The King has his own agenda. Just because of this one cooperation doesn't mean he will be handing all authority over to the Church."

"We'll see." The Paladin then continued on with his journey up the stairs and towards the Church.

Author's Note:

Have another update since I'm bored today.

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