Did she already know what I would ask her for?

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'I have to hurry…

However, I must first visit Alessia to investigate the situation...

I find it incomprehensible that Delia is currently alone in one of the Solus Temple's buildings...

And that's why I can't just go looking for her blindly'

My mind is running at full speed as I race across the distance from my home in the capital to St. Delia's clinic.

Hundreds of ideas and explanations pop into my mind.

But they all seem equally implausible to me.

"Alessia! Where's Delia?" I ask, almost shouting, as I burst into the premises where the fox girl would be supposed to be, fulfilling her dreams of healing as many people a day as her mana reserves will allow.

"Master? We didn't think you'd be back so soon. It hasn't even started to get dark... Do you want us to go for a few hours to the No Man's Zone? It is boring bei-" the young blonde starts to say, from one of the plush chairs we bought to furnish the clinic.

' - I don't know what to say to him in this kind of situation... Maybe I can distract him'

Alessia is leaning languidly back in the chair and speaking very slowly and parsimoniously.

But I interrupt her.

"WHERE IS DELIA?!!!" I howl, annoyed by the young woman's apparent calm and nonchalance.

' - Delia, Delia, Delia. Always Delia first...but I guess that's understandable in this situation'

"Ahh... Her... She left with some people from Solus Temple," says Alessia with a slight tinge of irritation in her voice.

"WHY?" I ask as I reach over and place my hands on my first girlfriend's shoulders, forcing her to remain upright.

"They wanted to reward her for her services to the community, or something," she says, trying to wriggle out of my grip as the calmness disappears from her face and she begins to look at me with clear irritation.

' - Everyone appreciates Delia... Even I do... Delia the Saint. Delia the perfect one. DELIA THE ONE WHO ALWAYS AGREES WITH MASTER, NO MATTER HOW STUPID OR INADEQUATE SOME OF HIS IDEAS ARE... And me... Could it be that Master doesn't care about me?'

"WHY DID YOU LET HER GO ALONE?" I ask, not understanding.

"STOP YELLING AT ME. THOSE PEOPLE CAME LOOKING FOR HER AND ONLY HER. THEY DIDN'T WANT ME TO ACCOMPANY THEM..." says Alessia, her face turned into a mask of fury, annoyed by the fact that she's not strong enough to remove my hands from her shoulders.

"... AND, JUST SO YOU KNOW, DELIA AGREED TO WHAT THEY WERE ASKING FOR."

' - Lately I feel like I'm just Delia's maid... But I can't do anything while I'm taking care of her. I know how to fight. I'm excellent at it. I am not good at caring for and attending to the needs of strangers who come to the clinic. I appreciate Delia. I love her like... a sister. But there's a limit to everything.'

"WELL YOU SHOULD HAVE GONE WITH HER ANYWAY. YOUR ONLY JOB WAS TO TAKE CARE OF HER" I yell a few inches from her face as my anger mirrors and powers into my first girlfriend's fury.

"FUCK YOU, MASTER..." screams Alessia as her eyes begin to water in frustration and fury.

"... I AM NO ONE'S BABYSITTER. I HATE EVERY SINGLE MINUTE YOU ABANDON ME HERE TO LET MY SKILLS RUST AWAY, SPENDING HOURS AND HOURS DOING NOTHING."

' - Master is freaking overprotective... It's almost like he thinks we're ignorant little girls that he has to take care of. But he's wrong... As innocent as she is, I know that Delia is perfectly capable of taking care of herself… if Master was able to understand something as simple as that, I wouldn't have to follow Delia around as if I were her shadow.'

"NOW I DON'T HAVE TIME TO LISTEN TO YOUR STUPID COMPLAINTS; I'M LEAVING! STAY HERE," I say, releasing her abruptly and pushing her against the back of the chair.

I turn around like a tornado and start to walk away from my irritated and annoying girlfriend.

"I'M COMING WITH YOU," she shouts from behind me.

I then turn to look at her and, in a fit of rage generated by the accumulated stress of all these days and my anger at her, I say, "NO! STAY HERE. IT'S AN ORDER!"

' - No! Don't look at me like that... Not you... Anyone but you... I... What did I do wrong?'

At my words, Alessia finally bursts out crying, but I leave before she has a chance to say anything.

As I leave the clinic and start running in the direction of Delia's blue dot, a feeling of guilt pricks my chest.

'I'm a fucking bastard... But now I don't have time to waste on sentimental conversations. Who knows what nonsense those Solus Temple people are saying to Delia... I'll apologize to Alessia when I get back.'

After a few minutes, I arrive at the building where I know Delia is.

'Hmm, I could go in and ask for Delia... But that surely wouldn't go well, considering that they didn't want to let Alessia accompany her... No, I have to find another way'

I stare for several minutes at the huge Solus Temple building and its structure while thinking about the best way to sneak inside.

I know I could forcefully break into the building and search directly for my girlfriend.

But that would probably upset Delia, and I don't want to antagonize the Solus Temple without a good cause.

Seen from the outside, it looks like the building has only two floors, but each floor is designed as if it were inhabited by giants, for its height is quite considerable.

The evening light illuminates its facade, which is full of cylindrical columns and arches, inviting people to enter and receive the teachings of the temple's priests and priestesses.

'Hmm, I don't see any entrance apart from the front...

But if I were to use that entrance, they would see me coming...

Maybe I could try to talk to them nicely and see how it turns out...

But that would leave me with only one option if things go wrong, as they will surely be much more alert after learning that I want to get to their newly re-acquired Saint...

Which would make the option of stealthily infiltrating quite impossible…

But I see no other way in...

If only-'

Suddenly, I see one of the side windows on the second floor of the building open, creating an entrance to the interior of the structure that was not there just a few seconds ago.

As long as the windows of the temple were closed, I could not enter without causing a commotion due to the noise of breaking glass that I would create by breaking a window.

But now things have changed.

'Activate!'

While activating a scroll of silence, I move to the side of the building and position myself just below the open window, enveloped in a translucent black aura that silences my movements.

'Activate Strength profile!'

The window is about 10 meters from the ground, but that distance is nothing to the jumping power of my Strength profile.

Flexing my knees, I prepare to jump with all my might and...

'Fuuuuuuuck... I shouldn't have used that much strength'

I begin to soar through the air at breakneck speed, approaching the window a little too quickly.

I then slam head first into the window frame, generating a small tremor that runs through the entire building.

The ruckus surely announced my intrusion to everyone inside the temple.

'Agh... Damn it! However, there's still hope that I can stay hidden; I just need to seek shelter quickly!'

I rub my head as I perch on the window frame, annoyed but pleased to have invested so many points in physical resistance.

Then I start looking around.

The window is about two meters from the floor of the room in front of me.

The room is furnished with piles of bookcases full of books and it is inhabited by a single person.

The man is an old and very obese priest who looks at me with a terrified expression on his face while sitting directly on the floor of the room due to the shock of seeing me.

[Oscar Priest Lvl 17]

'Well... That ends up ruining my chances of sneaking in... Or maybe not... Activate Agility profile'

I leap down from the window sill and sprint over to the elderly priest.

The man seems to be living his worst nightmare, as he keeps gasping silently, trying unsuccessfully to articulate sounds as he watches me approach him.

'Haa... You'd think religious people would be a little braver, considering that they supposedly think they're protected by God and all that... Well, all the better for me. Activate!'

Activating a hypnosis scroll, I set about brainwashing the old man in front of me by saying, "You didn't see any strangers come in. You had too many drinks and, in your drunken state, you accidentally knocked over one of the bookcases in the room. That was the origin of the rumbling."

"Yes... That's what happened," says the old man in a dreamy voice.

Then I take out a few bottles of wine with magical properties, from the ones I found in the family cellar of my parents' house, and overturn several of them on the floor.

Alcoholic beverages with magical properties are incredibly strong, so the story I'm making up is quite plausible.

'I have to act fast'

"Get undressed and start drinking the contents of those bottles as fast as you can," I say to the old man as I slowly tip over one of the huge bookcases in the room, trying to generate as little noise as possible.

Then I start to get dressed as best I can with the old man's baggy robe, throwing it over my body while trying to tie it and fold it as best as I can so that it doesn't show that it is designed for an obese person.

The whole process only took me a minute or two, and surely I still have some time before someone comes to check this room.

'It's not a very convincing disguise... But I suppose if I combine it with my perception inhibitor at a low power, it will serve its purpose.'

The disadvantage of large buildings is that it takes time to walk the distance from one room to another.

Unfortunately, this also applies to my search for Delia.

Having completed my makeshift disguise, I quickly exit the room and begin walking briskly towards the area of the temple where Delia is located.

'Hmm... This rescue isn't going too well, to say the least... What could I say to Delia to justify that I am dressed as one of the priests of the Solus Temple?'

Luxurious tapestries and statues made of solid silver and gold cover the corridors I walk through.

I understand that most of the Solus temples are like this and that all this luxury and huge spaces serve, according to the words of the priests, to make people understand how poor and insignificant they are before the glory of God.

Or so my parents told me...

I pass several people on my way to where my girlfriend is, but no one seems to take a close look at me.

'A basement? Why would they take Delia to such a place?'

As I open the door that, according to my interface map, will lead me to the place where Delia is, I see that the threshold leads to a wide stone staircase that descends several meters, getting lost in the darkness.

'If they intended to convince Delia to come back with them this way, they clearly have no idea how people's minds work... Anyway, better for me~'

I quickly descend, closing the door behind me.

When I finish descending, I reach a small stone room, at least by the standards of this building, where various tools and iron hooks hang from the walls.

The only illumination in the room comes from a brazier with a small, dying fire inside.

Next to it, in the very center of the room, is what appears to be a giant black iron cage.

The dark metal structure gives off such an ominous aura that I find it very strange to be in a place like this.

As my eyes adjust to the darkness, I start to discern the contents of the cage.

Scared by the condition of the person I now know is inside, I move closer to the cage's bars.

On the floor of the cage is a small body.

Naked, balled up, and stained with blood.

The body belongs to my innocent and pure girlfriend, who now has her pale skin covered in horrible gashes, burns, and bruises.

I can't see her clearly, but the fox girl doesn't appear to be breathing.

Completely in shock at what I'm experiencing, I fall to my knees on the floor of the stone room.

'No... This can't be happening... How can a person do something like this to someone like Delia? This is wrong... No... This can't be true'