They are all characters I control.

Especially since this evil god was so malevolent, it was unclear whether he was a man or a woman, but he was probably a man. And for Eleanor, who was a woman, to have her body controlled by a man made her very uncomfortable.

Claire: You're coming? You're coming out? Forget it, I'm afraid you might impulsively run off to your death with the Knights.

Eleanor: ...

Eleanor: I can't.

[Eleanor: Do you think I'm stupid?]

[Claire: If you weren't stupid, I wouldn't have needed to help you along the way, would I?]

[Eleanor: ...You evil god!]

Claire felt that she and Eleanor probably wouldn't get along as well as she did with Leah.

Although Lia is also an innocent and naive young lady, she is obedient.

Eleanor was not a young lady; as a church knight, she completely ignored Claire's words.

Chapter 73 An Unfamiliar Father-Daughter Relationship

Claire bent down, picked up a dry branch, shook off the snow, and threw it into her lap.

The branches were brittle and broke easily, making a cracking sound on the snow.

Moonlight filtered through the gaps in the pine branches, casting fragmented patches of light on the ground. He remained calm, leisurely and contentedly enjoying the peaceful moment.

But for Eleanor, this is still a time of inner conflict.

[Eleanor: How much do you actually know about me?]

She couldn't help but speak again, asking the guy who was controlling her body.

I woke up to find myself suddenly becoming an observer, with someone else controlling my body.

As a church knight, she should have apologized for this, but when she learned that she had been seriously injured and lying on the territory of the heretics, it was this guy who controlled her body and kept her alive.

She even helped herself find her father.

But when they found their father, they discovered that their mother was an imposter.

This situation left Eleanor quite conflicted. Now that she had calmed down, her tone softened as she spoke to the person controlling her body.

Claire: Everyone knows.

What kind of answer is this? What do you mean by "I know"?

Elinor was dissatisfied with such a perfunctory answer.

[Eleanor: You know what that means? You really know me inside and out?]

Claire: You know how your father became a test subject. His blood was drawn, he was locked in a dungeon, and Sister Martha used him as raw material to create the "Primal Blood." You know your mother wasn't Martha, and you weren't Martha's biological child.

Eleanor: ...

This blunt and direct revelation of the whole truth suppressed Eleanor's initial dissatisfaction.

Although emotionally, Eleanor still harbors some feelings for Sister Martha, who raised her.

But Eleanor knew that the other party was taking such good care of her because of some kind of conspiracy, which made her realize that Claire was right, but she just couldn't get used to it yet.

[Eleanor: Then why did Sister Martha ask me to join the Knights of the Church?]

She's already calling her Sister Martha; Eleanor does have a modicum of sense.

It was clear that she had taken some of what Claire had said earlier to heart.

Regardless of Eleanor's feelings at that moment, Claire didn't care at all.

Claire: Martha raised you not out of love. She raised you to wait for you to grow stronger, to adapt to the Philosopher's Stone, to wait for your blood to be pure enough, so she could take your blood to concoct better medicine.

Claire: Every battle you fight, every injury you get, every recovery you make makes your body more "valuable."

[Claire: You see, the key to creating the 'Philosopher's Stone' is blood, meaning the stronger the holy magic in the blood, the better. Your current strength isn't enough, so I'm letting you train first.]

Claire: If you still don't understand, then you should understand raising livestock, right? Until it's time to eat the meat, keep fattening them up.

Eleanor's comments remained silent for a long time.

It must be said that Claire's metaphor was too direct and also more revealing.

Claire continued gathering firewood. Dry branches, pine cones, and moss—anything that could be burned—was stuffed into her clothes.

[Eleanor: Why...why did she do that?]

Claire: Because she didn't want to die. Over a hundred years ago, she almost died. Since then, she has never wanted to die again.

Eleanor: So she created me.

Claire: Yes.

Eleanor: ...

Seeing Eleanor fall silent, how could Claire not see what she was thinking?

Claire: What? You mean she created you, so she has a debt of gratitude for raising you? No way, no one thinks a butcher could have any real affection for livestock, right?

[Eleanor: No! I didn't think that way. I know how Sister Martha feels about me. I don't feel any gratitude for being raised. Are you treating me like an idiot again?]

[Claire: I'm glad you're not an idiot. Although this body is yours, I can be of some use sometimes.]

[Eleanor: You really are an evil god! Controlling other people's bodies so naturally! Doing things they don't want to do.]

[Claire: What's wrong? Didn't I rescue this body from a pile of corpses? Logically, you're already dead, and I'm the rightful owner of this body.]

Eleanor: ...

She couldn't refute that statement; indeed, without Claire, this body would have died long ago.

She was able to survive until now because of Claire.

However, this cannot change the fact that Claire used her own body to control herself and slaughtered the villagers and townspeople without her knowledge.

[Eleanor: You are not allowed to harm her.]

Claire paused for a moment.

He paused for a moment before realizing that the "she" Eleanor was referring to must be Sister Martha.

This female knight still couldn't let go of her treacherous foster mother.

Claire: What? You want to protect her?

Eleanor: She's mine, and I'll deal with her myself.

[Claire: Heh heh heh, she'd be dead if she were in my hands. Your desire to take care of her yourself just means you're still hesitant about killing her, right?]

[Eleanor: You don't need to worry about that. I'll make the decision myself. I just don't want you to meddle.]

Claire: You're wanted now. The Knights don't want you, Martha wants your blood, and the Church of Life wants you. How will you deal with her? With your kindness? With your sense of justice? Or with that face on your wanted poster?

Eleanor's comments stopped again.

Claire tossed the dry branch into her arms and continued walking.

[Eleanor: And what about you? Who are you? Why are you helping me?]

Claire didn't answer; how could she possibly answer such a stupid question?

Eleanor: You are not a Church Knight. You are not a member of the Church of Life. What do you want by controlling my body?

This is getting a bit annoying. Eleanor, this female knight, is more annoying than Lia.

Claire: I'm not helping you. I'm helping William.

[Eleanor: You know...that person?]

Claire: That's your father, not that person.

What I had originally wanted to ask, I couldn't bring myself to ask at that moment.

Eleanor fell silent.

To be honest, although she knew that William was her father, this was the first time she had met him.

[Eleanor: ...How am I supposed to face him?]

Claire: I don't know, but you should at least call him that. He's waited over a hundred years.

[Eleanor: ...Was he imprisoned for over a hundred years because of me?]

Claire: He was locked up by Martha, it has nothing to do with you.

Eleanor's comments did not reappear.

Claire didn't bother with such things, turned around, and carried the firewood back to the cave.

It's about time for him to take precautions against addiction.

Chapter 74 Ophelia Can't Sleep

Character Name: Eleanor Redgrave

[Title: Former Vice-Captain of the Holy Lance Knights / Wanted 'Chosen One' / Successor of the 'Light of Faith']

[Current Status: Controllable/Mind Bond Activated]

[Bond Value: 71%]

[Control Level: Medium (Able to communicate with the other party, but the other party is easily agitated)]

Claire can leave Eleanor alone for now.

Lying on Ophelia's bed, he calmly looked at the data panel in front of him.

The gains from this wave were decent, to some extent.

Now that William has been found and the [Mental Bond] mode has been awakened, the bond value has been greatly increased.

So, there's nothing particularly special to do next.

After all, Megan needs to rest in that cave for a while, which will give Eleanor and William plenty of time to get to know each other.

As former adversaries who fought each other, but also old friends who knew and respected each other in battle, this is what Claire did for William.

Although he had not yet told William his identity, Claire felt satisfied at this moment.

Even though Eleanor was still very hostile towards him and saw him as a threat or something.

But let's talk about that later.

Eleanor has a very impulsive and saintly personality. It's possible to increase your bond with her, but that would be too much trouble.

Sister Martha is definitely going to die. If Claire kills Sister Martha, then all the efforts she made to appease Eleanor will be wasted.

It would be better to just ignore her now and not explain anything.

I'll deal with it after I kill Sister Martha myself; it'll be much easier to farm bond points then.

Claire didn't expect Eleanor to be able to deal with Sister Martha on her own, and couldn't believe that someone like Eleanor, who had always had deep feelings for her 'foster mother,' could actually go so far as to kill her.

As Claire was pondering these thoughts, she turned around to change her posture, only to meet Ophelia's eyes beside her.

"You're not asleep? If you're not asleep, don't keep being silent and scaring people, okay? Your two big eyes are still shining in the middle of the night."

Claire complained confidently, and Ophelia immediately reached out and touched her neck.

He didn't seem to care about the pressure of the other person's fingers on his neck.

Since they're immortal, they won't die even if someone strangles them.

Ophelia didn't intend to strangle him; she simply rubbed Claire's skin with her fingers and asked, "What are you thinking about? Are you having a nightmare? Or are you thinking about running away?"

No wonder this woman is the one in charge of the Inquisition.

As the saint who embodies the precepts, Ophelia is suspicious enough that her greatest hobby seems to be figuring out what other people are thinking.

The reason Claire has been kept locked up here is not because I am infatuated with her, nor because I like little boys.

Ophelia simply felt that only she herself could restrain Claire, the evil god emperor, in such a way; otherwise, she wouldn't have woken up instantly in the middle of the night just because Claire woke up.

This is a constant precaution against Claire.

"I'm thinking about how to escape the 'Holy City,' how to escape the acting saintess," Claire said calmly without explaining.