Uh...

Leon hadn’t expected the female Angel to bring up the Dream-Rest Ravine at all, so he couldn’t help freezing for a second, then nodded with a guilty-looking expression and said:

"Right! The destruction of the Dream-Rest Ravine is her fault too. She didn’t destroy it with her own hands, but its final destruction really can’t be separated from her schemes!"

What? She’s that insane?

Because of the series of favor-boosting badges, she instinctively felt Leon could be trusted. Hearing this, the female Angel’s heart involuntarily tightened.

That culprit had destroyed three material planes not long ago, and now she’d gone and destroyed the Dream-Rest Ravine again? No matter how you think about it, that’s an evil existence beyond imagination!

"Does Her Holiness know any of this?"

Glancing at Leon, who had turned his head away "unable to bear" recalling those tragedies, the female Angel slightly lowered her guard and hesitantly said:

"If you’re planning to cooperate with Her Holiness, I can help introduce you two..."

"She knew a long time ago, but she refused to cooperate with me... and I still haven’t decided whether she’s trustworthy."

Taking another look at the female Angel—who, aside from being a bit of a "fanatic," was indeed a good person—Leon replied:

"Cooperation goes both ways. So far she’s acted like she doesn’t trust me, and I don’t trust her either. Your Pure White Holy Mother doesn’t seem quite as righteous and perfect as she appears. I’m not sure she’s actually suitable as an ally."

"That’s nonsense!"

The moment the topic veered toward the Pure White Holy Mother, half of the female Angel’s rationality evaporated again. She glared angrily at Leon and said:

"Her Holiness is the kindest and most merciful of all! If even she isn’t suitable..."

"But the her in your heart—are you sure that’s the real her?"

Cutting the female Angel off again, Leon raised his hand and pointed behind him at the Pure White Holy Mother, who was currently hugging demons, and said meaningfully:

"At the very least, the her I’m seeing right now is very, very different from the Pure White Holy Mother in your heart, isn’t she?"

"..."

Following Leon’s finger, the female Angel looked into the distance at the Pure White Holy Mother, who was hugging the demons one by one with the same loving expression she wore when embracing Angels. The Heart Lake she had just barely calmed down instantly started surging violently again.

"No... it’s not like that!"

After an extremely complicated internal struggle, faced with the suspicion that her own Holy Mother might have deceived everyone, the female Angel forced herself to speak up in Her defense:

"Her Holiness... she must have other considerations. It doesn’t have to mean she’s been lying to us... She... she might have other difficulties she can’t talk about..."

"You’re right."

Having absolutely no intention of reasoning with a "diehard fan," and never planning to debate right or wrong with her in the first place, Leon agreed with her without hesitation, then extended an invitation for help.

"So in order to clear the Pure White Holy Mother’s name, could I ask you to do me a favor and take me to find out what those difficulties are?"

"???"

"You just said it yourself: your Pure White Holy Mother could never be wrong, and she’s the kindest and greatest person in all of Old Soil."

Cutting off her attempt to redirect the topic, Leon stared into the female Angel’s eyes and said:

"Since she’s so good and so kind, then her ’difficulties’ must also be good. Which means she shouldn’t be afraid of me investigating them, right?"

"Right... but..."

"But what? Don’t tell me you have less faith in the Pure White Holy Mother than I, an outsider, do?"

Interrupting the turn where she’d been about to refuse, Leon raised a brow and said:

"From these past few days of interacting with you all, I’ve judged that the vast majority of Angels are kind, so your Pure White Holy Mother should be kind as well. It’s very likely she’s exactly what you said—the ally who suits me best.

And now this ally has run into some kind of trouble and has no choice but to do things that go against her will. In that case, I ought to approach her with goodwill, look into the cause, and think of ways to help her, right?"

"That’s not... N-no! It’s not like that!"

"Not what? She’s not a good person? Or are her ’difficulties’ something unspeakable?"

"No, no! That’s not what I mean!"

Talked in circles by Leon’s rapid-fire rhetoric until she was dizzy, the female Angel hurriedly raised her hands to cover her ears, blocking out that brain-drilling demon sound. Then she shrieked:

"I’m not doubting Her Holiness! I’m worried about you! Your intentions still aren’t clear! What if you’re up to no good..."

"Are you sure?"

In reality, Leon intimately hooked his arm around the female Angel’s, steadying her now-uncontrolled body as they blended into the crowd and continued toward the Nursing Nest. In the dream, however, Leon gently stroked her back and leaned close to her hands covering her ears, asking in a low, meaningful voice:

"What you’re really afraid of—is it that I’m up to no good, or that the usual demeanor of Her Holiness is just an act, and the real her isn’t the one in your heart?"

"Y-you... stop talking already!!!"

The fear she had been refusing to acknowledge was precisely and cruelly torn open. The female Angel’s once-solid Heart Lake finally collapsed completely; in the dream, even her wings started to ooze blackness, the tips faintly turning into bat-like membrane wings.

And just as Leon was about to press the attack, looking for a way to flip this rabid Holy Mother fan so she’d lead him to the secret of the Pure White Pure Land, an Angel squad flew over from afar and blocked the entire group.

"Temporary redeployment!"

After stopping this team that was heading for the Nursing Nest, the leading male Angel swept his gaze quickly over the crowd... the crowd of humans and beasts, then locked onto the female Angel who was tilting her head, listening to the Minotaur beside her.

"Great Angel Mia."

Calling out to the female Angel, the male Angel with a dark teal earring hanging from his right earlobe handed over a sheet of papyrus shrouded in Holy Light and formally announced:

"The Oath-Weaving Institute has once again suffered a massive staff shortage. We need to requisition a batch of Lost Souls to help out. Please take all Lost Souls who’ve received blue tags and whose emotions are the most stable to the Oath-Weaving Institute, without fail!"

Massive shortage? Once again? Requisition Lost Souls?

Hearing these keywords, the donkey-and-horse duo, who had been bickering their way to the very front of the team, simultaneously turned their heads, their gazes locking onto that Holy Light–shrouded document.

The most suspicious thing about the Pure White Pure Land right now was that the number of Lost Souls present didn’t match the number they’d supposedly rescued—there was a huge gap, proving that something was constantly "consuming" the Lost Souls the Angels had saved.

And according to this Angel who’d come to pull people, that Oath-Weaving Institute—which was now "once again" and "massively" short-staffed and needed to call in blue-tag Lost Souls—could that be where the missing Lost Souls were disappearing to?

In the instant they figured that out, the donkey-and-horse pair immediately lowered their heads to look at the tags hanging on their chests, then frowned in unison.

The Oath-Weaving Institute wanted blue-tag Lost Souls, but one of them had been harassed daily by a "pursuer" and was always in a bad mood, judged emotionally unstable and given only the next-tier cyan tag; the other often infuriated the Angels managing the ward and wore an even lower green tag. Neither met the requirements.

If we’re talking blue tags... that Minotaur who spends all day eating and sleeping and, every so often, staring blankly at this horse’s (my) ass?