It's so hard being a hero!

"Besides, spending time with you is much more interesting than going to class."

Sophia felt a warmth in her heart upon hearing this.

This is her daughter.

She never raised her for a single day, and didn't even know she existed.

But Leila treated her even better than her own sister.

Although strictly speaking, she is indeed related to him.

The generational order is just messed up.

"Little girl, what are you daydreaming about again?"

Lai stretched out her hand and waved it in front of her.

"nothing."

Sophia snapped out of her reverie and smiled.

"I just feel that it's so good to have an older sister."

Leila paused for a moment, then grinned and reached out to ruffle her hair.

"Of course."

Days passed by like this.

Sophia's magic and swordsmanship are steadily improving.

Half a year is neither a long nor a short time.

Before she knew it, it was time for Frey to finish her teaching.

That afternoon, Sofia finished her last training session and stood in the yard, looking at Frey.

Frey looked at her too, her gaze filled with an indescribable emotion.

"Sofia."

"Ah."

"The mission the Vatican gave me is now complete."

Sophia's heart sank.

She knew this day would come, but when it actually arrived, she still felt a little reluctant to let it go.

"but."

Frey paused.

"I will come to see you once a week to continue guiding your training."

Sophia looked up, her eyes lighting up.

"Really?"

"Ah."

Frey nodded.

“You have great talent. A year is only enough to lay a foundation. You can’t let it go to waste.”

"Thank you, teacher."

Sophia smiled, her eyes curving into crescent moons.

Frey looked at her smile, and the corners of her mouth twitched slightly.

It was a very faint smile.

But Sofia saw it.

That was the first time she had seen Frey smile since her rebirth.

Although it was only for a moment.

But that's enough.

Life goes on.

Frey comes to Kyle City once a week to check on Sophia's training progress and assign her new tasks.

Sofia didn't slack off either; she got up to practice before dawn every day and didn't rest until dark.

Her body is growing rapidly.

She grew from a little girl into a graceful young woman.

Chapter 12 The Missing Girl Case

Five years have passed in the blink of an eye.

In March, the city of Kel was still cold.

All that could be seen on the bulletin boards in the city were missing person notices.

The images on the screen are all of young girls and their personal information.

An old knight stood in front of the bulletin board and posted a new missing person notice.

His hands trembled slightly, not from the cold, but from worry.

This is the seventh missing girl from Kyle City this year.

"Uncle Gregor".

A middle-aged woman came over and asked.

"How's it going? Still no leads?"

Gregor shook his head.

The woman sighed upon hearing this, her gaze sweeping over the faces on the missing person posters, all of whom were girls aged twelve to eighteen.

"What's going on? Young girls in the city are afraid to go out alone now."

"Ah! That's for the best."

The old knight sighed and continued his patrol within the city.

The peace of Kyle City was shattered starting last fall.

There have been a series of missing persons cases in the city.

She was originally the daughter of a baker, fourteen years old, who went to the backyard to empty swill at night and never came back.

The family reported it to the police, and the knights and guards in the city searched for three days without finding any clues.

Then there are twin sisters from an ordinary family, both sixteen years old, who went to the well to fetch water and disappeared.

One, two, three.

By the beginning of this spring, the number of missing persons had reached eight.

The lord of Kael was in a state of panic. He organized knights and militia to search the entire city of Kael, but they found no clues.

In the end, they could only ask the Empire and the Papacy to send people, but still to no avail.

The missing girl has vanished without a trace, neither alive nor dead.

Various speculations circulated in the streets and alleys, and fear spread like a plague.

Yesterday, a teenage girl who was locked at home by her parents went missing.

The room's windows were locked from the inside, and there were no signs of forced entry on the door; the person had simply vanished.

Several groups of imperial investigators and a few people from the Holy See also came to check every corner inside and outside the city, but they still couldn't find any trace of dark magic or detect any monsters.

Everything seemed normal.

But the more normal something is, the more terrifying it becomes.

They must have missed something.

Meanwhile, in a dark and damp basement in the city of Kyle.

In the center of the basement, a girl lies within a blood-red magic circle.

The magic circle had very complex patterns, forming a strange design beneath the girl.

A dark red liquid was flowing in the groove.

A black candle was lit at each of the six corners of the magic circle, its flame an eerie, ghostly blue.

A middle-aged woman stood in front of the magic circle.

She was wearing a long black evening gown with a train that trailed on the ground.

Her long golden hair was piled up at the back of her head and secured with a black hairpin, with a few stray strands falling on either side of her face.

This is a middle-aged woman with an air of nobility; judging from her attire, she should be a noblewoman.

However, her eyes were filled with an unsettling, wicked expression.

She looked at the girl in the magic circle, and a slow smile crept onto her lips.

She took a deep breath, closed her eyes, and then raised her hands to begin chanting a spell.

"Ancient being slumbering beneath the abyss, you are the dark overlord who controls desire and depravity..."

The air began to tremble, and the purple candlelight suddenly rose higher, as if in response to her chanting.

The patterns on the magic circle glowed with a dark red light, a living light that flowed slowly along the patterns.

"I offer you this humble sacrifice..."

Her voice grew louder and more frantic.

Her eyes opened, and the red light of the magic circle was reflected in her pupils, as if her eyes themselves were two flames.

"My master, goddess of desire, lord of fall, Lilith, answer the call of your servant..."

The moment that name was uttered, the entire basement trembled.