"So that's how it is?" Hel understood now. It seemed that receiving this medal wasn't just due to her own achievements — Pamela and Vivian had both pulled some strings behind the scenes. Otherwise, knowing how those high-ranking Church officials usually acted, there was no way they'd grant such a high honor to an outsider like her.
"In any case, thank you." Hearing Hel's unexpected gratitude, Pamela couldn't help but smile knowingly. As expected of a clever one — their efforts with Vivian in the capital hadn't gone to waste.
"This is what you deserve, Count Hel. Oh, and one more thing — before I left the capital, I ran into the Radiant Knight, Irina. She told me you inherited the legacy of the Paladin Roland. I imagine your imperial ennoblement should be on its way by now."
"Imperial ennoblement? But aren't I already a noble?" Hel asked, puzzled.
"Well," Pamela explained, "as the saying goes — 'the vassal of your vassal is not your vassal.' Your current title serves under the Grand Duke of Mandora. And if you were the Grand Duke of Mandora, you'd serve under the King of Selphis. So in truth, you're technically a noble of the Kingdom of Selphis, not of the Nait Empire.
And among the nobility, there's an unspoken hierarchy. An Imperial Count outranks a Kingdom Count, and a Kingdom Count outranks a Ducal Count. But since you've inherited Roland's mantle, the Imperial family doesn't want you to be slighted because of these hidden social rules — that would reflect poorly on the Empire's honor. So, following tradition, they'll grant you the title of an Honorary Imperial Noble. That way, your status won't be bound by such constraints."
"I see." Hel nodded, finally understanding the political game behind it. She also recalled why that head of the Knight's Guild had dared to ignore her before — so it really was because of disdain for her being merely a ducal noble.
"Well then, now that business is done, I won't keep you any longer. If all goes as expected, the next time we meet, I'll have to call you Duchess Hel. "Pamela smiled warmly, then took her leave with the rest of the Church delegation.
Hel, on the other hand, handed over the cleanup of the aftermath to Sebastian and the others, then returned to Heim Castle. Although the farce in Heim City had finally come to an end, she could still clearly recall the look in Knight Pablo's eyes before he left.
For such a deeply calculating schemer, Hel knew she wouldn't be able to sleep soundly until she found a way to eliminate him. But ambushing him within Mandora's borders would be far too risky — and given his sensitive position, killing him would require careful planning.
In the northern reaches of the Dessert Kingdom lay a small, remote town called Cinnamon. Though modest in size, its soil was rich in humus and perfectly suited for growing cinnamon, earning it the nickname "the Cinnamon Capital of the Dessert Kingdom."
Legend had it that the legendary adventurer Axel Walpurgis was born in this very town. But most people believed that was just a story fabricated by the local lord to boost sales of their cinnamon exports, which had been declining.
After all, as the president of the Dessert Kingdom's Adventurer's Guild, Axel's name was often used by countless places claiming he had once passed through — all to attract naïve rookie adventurers. Cinnamon Town, it seemed, was just one among those countless imitators.
Yet on this peaceful day, a group of figures clad in white cloaks quietly slipped into the tranquil town.
"Captain Pablo, according to intelligence, the witch's last known location is here. "One of the white-cloaked men whispered to the leader — Pablo himself.
These were the knights Pablo had left behind when he departed the Dessert Kingdom to continue tracking the witch's trail. Pablo's original mission in the Dessert Kingdom had been to hunt down a certain witch, but they had been suddenly summoned to Heim City by an order from the Tribunal.
Still, that didn't mean he had abandoned his prior mission. Before leaving, Pablo had carefully made arrangements. And after leaving Heim City, instead of returning directly to the Tribunal headquarters in the Kingdom of Honesty to deliver Brenda's body, he had come here instead.
In his eyes, Brenda had been unjustly killed by Hel — the so-called "Heim City Witch Case" was nothing more than a failed political farce. But the situation in the Dessert Kingdom was different. Here, the witch's existence had been confirmed through numerous clues and solid evidence. The woman was cunning, having narrowly escaped their searches multiple times — but not this time.
All trails pointed to this very town. And this time, they had already set up an inescapable net around it. No matter how lucky that witch was, she wouldn't escape Pablo's grasp again.
"Alec, take a few men and find this town's lord. Have him dispatch the city guards to cooperate with us."
"At once, Captain Pablo."
Alec — the same young knight who often followed Pablo — saluted and led a team toward the town's castle. They rudely pounded on the castle gates and dragged out the middle-aged lord, who was still busy wriggling atop a woman.
Completely bewildered, the lord found himself hauled into the castle's main hall — along with everyone else in the building.
"Count Cinnamon, is it? I trust you understand who we are," Pablo said pleasantly, still wearing his ever-calm smile.
But the lord, Count Cinnamon, was already on the verge of wetting himself. As the current head of the ancient Cinnamon family, he knew things that ordinary people did not.
It was said that within the Church existed a special unit — one formed specifically to hunt witches. This order possessed extraordinary authority: whether commoner or noble, they had the right to execute first and report later. Even the royal families of the three great empires dared not interfere with their missions.
Once they set their sights on someone, death or ruin was all but guaranteed.
And so, Count Cinnamon's attitude became even more submissive. "I–I don't know what task you require of me, Sir Knight, but whatever it is, I'll do my utmost to help."