Starting with the defeated female knight

"......It's that simple?"

"It's that simple."

High-end business battles often employ the simplest methods. Cecilia may not know this saying, but she has certainly come to understand it deeply.

But soon, she realized there was an even bigger problem.

Because of the rise of the Mage Guild, especially its achievements in observing and speculating on the magic tides, the Church, realizing it could not compete, relaxed its monitoring and research on the magic tides. Although it did not completely abandon them, it basically remained a shell and a formality.

As for the nobility...

Children, let's look at the Adventurers' Guild in the distance.

In terms of the magic tide, even that fabricated paper from the Mage's Association is more useful than them.

This also means that after confirming that the knowledge and data from the Mage Association were false.

The Empire's defenses against the demonic tide are, if not nonexistent, comparable to those of the Land of Light.

"Don't be nervous, being nervous won't help, and this is not something you should worry about."

Vanessa took another sip of tea and said calmly.

"The bishops have convened an emergency meeting to discuss this matter."

“I know you don’t trust them, but believe me, although some of their behaviors are disgusting, at least they can be reliable in this kind of situation.”

Having said all that, Cecilia had no choice but to wait.

Of course, while waiting, Cecilia certainly can't be completely idle.

Even disregarding other factors, she was still wearing that living armor, and before taking it off, she didn't even dare to go out without it.

And speaking of living armor...

How have you been feeling lately? Is there anything unusual or uncomfortable?

"......No."

Cecilia shook her head, looking somewhat conflicted.

"Just like before, nothing has changed, and... nothing special feels like it."

Although that's what she said, Cecilia secretly wished the armor would come alive and devour her body, causing her pain.

It wasn't because she had any particular hobby, but the feeling this armor gave her was worse than being killed.

Let's rewind to the time when she first fought in this armor and was thrown into the tentacle pool by Grin.

At that time, she naively thought that she was going to suffer some kind of painful torment and had made corresponding mental preparations. She thought that it was indeed her fault for not listening to Green's instructions and overusing her strength. So no matter what she encountered, it was indeed her problem, and she would just grit her teeth and get through it.

Her thinking at that time wasn't entirely wrong; at least in the beginning, she did suffer for a while.

Because of the excessive exploitation, in order to quickly replenish her nutrients and prevent her from starving to death, the tentacles opened their mouths wide and continued to penetrate her body with their sharp teeth and tail stingers, desperately absorbing and plundering the power within her.

That feeling was really unpleasant, like dozens or even hundreds of leeches crawling all over her body, constantly sucking her blood.

Cold, painful, empty.

For an ordinary person, let alone persevering to the end, they would probably faint right at the beginning and then be constantly exploited while unconscious.

However, being a Discipline Knight, Cecilia possessed an exceptionally strong will and a remarkable tolerance for pain. Therefore, while the pain that would have caused an ordinary person to faint was still very difficult for her, it was within her acceptable range.

Furthermore, because she remained conscious, she was able to cooperate with Green, promptly reporting her physical condition and feelings, saving Green a lot of trouble.

But just when she thought she could get through it by gritting her teeth...

As the tentacles recovered, the sensations she felt throughout her body began to change gradually.

The mouthparts gradually loosened, and the original biting turned into a gentle touch, like a kiss or a lick.

The absorption gradually decreased, and the feelings of pain and emptiness gradually weakened, replaced by a tingling and comfortable sensation.

This is normal.

After all, Green didn't have a penchant for torturing people. The reason she did what she did before was simply because the living armor was about to be squeezed to death by her.

After the first wave of absorption, once the living armor had recovered to its most basic health, he would definitely relax his efforts to make her as relaxed and comfortable as possible.

Although he still couldn't get rid of her, and even had to keep going deeper because of his growth, at least he could study how to go deeper without harming her, and what kind of activities would make her feel comfortable without pain.

And this is exactly what Cecilia is vulnerable to.

Although her body wasn't as sensitive as Edith's, Cecilia's impoverished background and her profession as a Discipline Knight meant that while she had a high tolerance for pain, her resistance to pleasure was, if not zero, certainly negative...

She had considered asking Green to continue tormenting her, but seeing the kindness and concern in the tentacles' eyes, and remembering how he had taken care of her, she decided to stop.

Cecilia mustered her courage several times, but in the end she couldn't bring herself to say it, and could only silently endure the strange feeling inside her.

"It's...it's so itchy there..."

"Please, please don't stir it, it feels really strange..."

"No, please, that's not possible, really... we can't go any further..."

Ascending from hell to the clouds, then falling from the clouds back to hell, in an endless cycle.

This was how Cecilia felt at first; her consciousness was hazy and her eyes were unfocused.

Before setting off, although she still felt strange, she was at least able to tolerate those feelings and not show anything unusual in front of outsiders.

Furthermore, the period of tentacle mutation has passed. Even if it is still absorbing power, it is not the same as before, changing every day. This at least gives her the ability to return.

Moreover, although it sounds strange, this is actually beneficial to Cecilia.

"That child is too serious and rarely has time to rest or relax."

“I’ve been trying my best to adjust her body, but some things are too deep for me to handle. The way you’ve helped her relax is a great help to me.”

Vanessa said so.

But even though I'm helping, I still have to take off my armor.

After all, even if we disregard the inconvenience this armor brings to Cecilia's life, if it remains firmly rooted in her body, no matter how much Green tries to suppress it, sooner or later it will grow to a point where Cecilia's body can no longer withstand it, and then the problem will be even bigger.

After several days of discussion, Vanessa and Green came up with several plans, and after comparing them, they chose the one they felt was the safest.

[Dad said we should use tentacles to fight tentacles.]

The best way to remove that outfit with minimal cost is to create another batch of corresponding tentacles and peel it out of your body bit by bit.

This is also a challenge for Green.

Because the tentacles used to create the living armor are the smallest and most intricate tentacles that Grimm has ever created.

To completely remove them and promptly repair Cecilia's damage, it is necessary to cultivate tentacles that are even finer and more delicate than theirs.

On the contrary, there is no need to worry about treatment, after all, this is the church's headquarters, and there is no shortage of treatment methods.

And coincidentally, Green had previously been assigned a garden, which he could use to try splitting and cultivating new tentacles.

But speaking of gardens...

"Did you know that growing flowers is actually a very troublesome thing? You have to loosen the soil, get rid of pests, pay attention to sunlight, and water them carefully—not too much, not too little..."

"There used to be many gardeners in the garden, but now, I'm the only one left. Plus, I'm getting old, and I don't have the strength to do anything anymore. I can only watch it gradually fall into disrepair..."

The old man watering the flowers mumbled on and on, his cloudy eyes staring blankly ahead, as if he were talking to Green, or perhaps talking to himself.

"It shouldn't be like this, they shouldn't be like that, but... it seems like that's how it should be."

Have you ever seen a blue butterfly? It's a beautiful, yet terrifying, creature.

"They were once the masters of the flowers, feeding on their nectar and wanting to possess them all..."

"The gardeners chased away the butterflies and built the garden, but the blue butterflies still remain, drifting silently in the sky, watching everything..."

"Moreover, there are more than just blue butterflies in the world. In the distant past, many insects fought each other for flowers, but the blue butterfly survived and occupied the most flowers..."

"She has come back."

He slightly lifted his eyelids to look at the blue butterflies fluttering in the garden, and the turbidity in his eyes paused for a moment.

“I admit that the garden is gradually decaying, but having a garden is better than having none.”

"The old gardeners are long dead, their bodies becoming nourishment for the garden, but new gardeners are slowly growing up."

"As for me, I may really be getting too old."

"But at least until I die, I will still be the gardener of this garden."

Please do not damage it.

The blue butterfly fluttered its wings, and after a moment, it landed on the tentacle.

The tentacles remained motionless, only squinting their eyes, enjoying the moist environment while transforming the surrounding plants.

The old man didn't say anything, he just quietly watered the plants, and the blue butterfly was reflected in his cloudy eyes.

Isidore the Godslayer.

The most famous thing he ever did was kill and seal away the Mother Goddess who once reigned above humanity and was also the object of the church's worship at the time, thus bringing an end to that chaotic and dark 'Age of Gods'.

Subsequently, under his reforms, the church gradually shifted from believing in God to believing in miracles.

It was not only divine miracles, but also the legends and great achievements created by humankind that freed the church from dependence on God.

Later, he proposed that "so-called gods are just powerful beings, not invincible, and can even be killed and sealed." Through continuous influence, he gradually dispelled the empire's mystique of the existence of "gods."

"Human beings no longer need gods," he said.

However, the blue butterfly continued to flutter its wings silently, without any response.

On the contrary, its tentacles stretched comfortably after completing the splitting.

You seem to have watered it a bit too much.

I don't care, but these flowers might rot.

Is this okay?

"What can you do even if you have connections?"

The butterfly fluttered its wings gently, emitting a soft, feminine voice.

"He's so old that he can't even see how much water he's poured."

"Even if he tries his best, what can he possibly accomplish?"

"It was nothing more than a death throes."

silence.

Then came a sigh.

The old man continued watering the plants, his eyes still clouded.

A blue butterfly rested on the tentacles, silently observing everything.

At the very bottom, dark green tentacles lay in the flowerbed, their flowing eyes devoid of any emotion.

After all, this isn't his garden.

Whatever happens, it has nothing to do with him.

Book 1: Chapter 25: The Fox and the Hound

The little incident in the garden didn't have any major impact.

After all, it was just an old man talking to himself while watering flowers. Even if someone saw it, they would just think that His Holiness the Pope was really senile.

But no one will blame him.

After all, regardless of his achievements, he's already over two hundred years old. Even if he's a little confused, no one will care.

In comparison, the Magicians' Association's fabrication and the information provided by Grimm about the continuous outbreaks of magical tides were obviously more attractive to people.

While the capital was in an uproar over the demonic tide, Green had finished settling the orcs in.

Instead of hastily classifying the orcs as humans, he first had them work as a separate group of laborers in the construction of Dawn City.

After a period of work and observation, it was confirmed that they had no problems getting along with humans and were not troublemakers. Then, we began to try to break them up and try to integrate them into the group.