To avoid drawing attention, Cassia’s silver hair was tightly wrapped in a black scarf and she was draped in a barmant leather coat that the overprotective Zester had insisted she wear over her dress.
She looked exactly like a shabby back-alley vagrant woman. If it weren’t for the oversized leather coat that didn’t fit her at all, she wouldn’t feel quite this embarrassed. Cassia’s cheeks puffed out, flushed with complaint as she muttered under her breath.
“This is hot.”
“Even if it’s hot, it’s better to sweat a little. Your body’s still weak. What if you catch a cold?”
“Who wears a leather coat in this weather? Look, everyone is staring. I’m sure I look strange.”
“Keep it on. You don’t look strange at all. You look cute. Just like a little kid who snuck out wearing her father’s coat.”
“That means I definitely look strange.”
Zester chuckled.
His own attire suited the spring-like atmosphere of the festival streets perfectly. He wore a navy tunic with a leather belt, and the precious sword he carried as if it were part of his own body hung at his waist. It wasn’t flashy, but thanks to his excellent physique, the clothes fit him beautifully, giving him the air of a young nobleman from the capital.
Looking down at her own drab appearance compared to Zester, Cassia pouted.
“Come to think of it, where should we go first? You said the restaurant you went to the day before yesterday was good, right? How about dinner there again?”
“Ah, yes.”
Zester looked thoroughly excited.
The same man who had practically tied her to the bed for two days after her nosebleed now looked delighted to be out in the capital with her alone, at the mention of a date.
Watching Zester’s steps, which were as light as a feather despite his sturdy build, Cassia felt a pang of inexplicable guilt and awkwardly rubbed the tip of her nose. There was, in fact, another reason she had lured Zester out today.
『Child, you are a pagan, aren’t you?』
The mysterious boy who had spouted all those heavy words turned tight-lipped when she asked directly if he was a pagan. However, Cassia was certain he was.
His eyes were too sincere to belong to someone without a story. And those meaningful remarks that made it clear he knew something.
Cassia had tried to coax the boy, Remiel, to find out more after that, but he was not easy to sway. He was evasive until Cassia was exhausted and ready to give up then he finally left her with a parting line.
『Today again, may the poor souls be guided to Paradise.』
Frankly, the kid reeked of heresy from head to toe.
Normally, Cassia had no desire to meddle in such troublesome issues, but since it seemed closely related to the disappearance occurring in the capital, she couldn’t just ignore it. For the two days she was stuck in bed, Pia’s lively face hovered in Cassia’s mind.
If the disappearances were truly the doing of the pagans, she had to know. She had very little information so her coming out like this today was also to find out a little more about that group.
“You are all bewitched by demons! This world is doomed to ruin!”
After walking a bit further down the bustling streets of the capital, Cassia spotted a pagan believer protesting in the same spot as the day before yesterday. It was a middle-aged man, not the same face as before.
The believer she saw last time had likely already been dragged away by the Vatican’s Knights for preaching so openly.
Even though they knew that the Imperial Family and the Vatican were hell-bent on eliminating pagans, the pagan believers continued to perform their proselytizing activities. That is, even if it meant being captured and taken away.
Some people clicked their tongues and spat, while others passed him by without interest.
Not a single person stopped to listen to his sermon. Except for Cassia, who was standing still amidst the rushing crowd, no one paid any pure attention to the shunned pagan.
Seeing Cassia stop walking, Zester followed her gaze and spotted the pagan believer. He frowned and tugged at Cassia’s arm.
“My wife, don’t take an interest in things like that.”
“Honey, do you really think Pia was taken by the pagans?”
“I don’t know either. It’s a terrible thing, but like I said, there’s nothing you can do about it.”
“Yes, I know. I just want to hear what he’s saying for a moment.”
Cassia muttered weakly and seeing her like that, Zester sighed, then stood firmly by her side like a guard.
“Why do you live in submission to the demon’s doctrine?” The man yelled, “In the beginning, all of God’s creations were equal. It was the demon who destroyed the peace of that equality. It made us suppress, oppress, and hate one another!”
Cassia furrowed her brow, listening silently to the believer’s words. In summary, the Remiel religion seemed to be preaching equality for all people but while those intentions might be good, it was idealistic theory that was too good to be true.
“Do you truly believe that this country, where it is not a crime to stone a slave to death or betray a spouse without sin, believes in the right God?”
The believer, who was muttering as if pleading, briefly met Cassia’s gaze in mid-air.
Suddenly, she remembered the incident with Matthew Holton, who had received quite a severe punishment in Greze. In her previous life, he had wielded terrible power over his wife, Clara, under the protection of the Empire’s laws. There was no way to stop his atrocities, not even for Cassia, who was the Lord’s representative.
In the end, she had to coax and bribe him, even giving him money, to finally free Clara from his shadow.
That loophole in the Imperial law, born of the Orobas Church’s doctrine, meant there were, are and would be dozens, or perhaps hundreds of Claras across the empire.
Cassia was born in the Simone Empire, which believed in the main god Orobas, and had been educated to believe in and follow that God from the moment she was born. But upon thinking about it, in many moments, Cassia might have unconsciously held a sense of rebellion against the narrow-minded doctrines of the state religion embedded within her.
‘Ugh… Is this why they say pagan evangelism is scary?’
Realizing she was empathizing with the believer’s words, Cassia shook her head violently.
Just then, two armored Knights of Orobas cut through the bustling crowd and strode toward the preaching believer. It took less than three minutes to suppress, bind, and forcibly drag him away.
“The God Orobas you believe in is a demon! A demon, I tell you!”
Even as he was dragged away, the believer screamed at the top of his lungs.
There’s no way he didn’t know what awaited him after this. She didn’t know exactly how pagan believers were punished, but since they were all burned at the stake after the war in her past life, this believer would probably not survive either.
Why then, did the believers of this pagan religion, the ‘Remiel faith,’ raise their voices and glare with bloodshot eyes for the sake of proselytizing, even at the cost of their lives?
Deep in thought, Cassia suddenly noticed an intent gaze fixed on her from afar.
An old woman with a hunched back, wearing a dull navy cloak.
For some reason, Cassia didn’t feel like looking away. She stared right back into the old woman’s piercing eyes.
The corner of the woman’s lips slowly lifted up. Her wrinkled lips moved very slowly, forming words directed at Cassia.
‘Today again…’
The street around them was noisy, but the space between the two of them was silent.
‘…may the poor souls…’
Cassia mouthed the words that the old woman’s lips were shaping.
“…be guided to Paradise.”
“Huh?”
The moment Cassia whispered the last words aloud, the old woman turned sharply and blended into the crowd. She limped as if her leg was injured.
“What did you say?”
“Honey, follow me.”
The boy named Remiel following Zester, the meaningful words he said as if he wanted something to be known, and this strange encounter with the old woman. Perhaps none of it was coincidence.
Whether it was an attempt to draw an outsider into their religion or a request for help, Cassia didn’t know. But she decided to just act first and not think too deeply about it.
‘What if it’s dangerous?’
That thought ran through her mind.
‘It’s fine. I’ll be careful and keep things within bounds.’
“I asked where are you going?”
“There’s somewhere I want to check!”
Hearing her words, Zester nodded and followed.
The old woman seemed to have bad legs, but her pace was surprisingly fast. Cassia was about to stop, worried that it might become dangerous if they went to a less populated area, but the old woman unexpectedly turned into a bustling alleyway. Cassia diligently continued to follow behind the old woman.
The old woman soon reached a street lined with shops and entered a store with a flashy sign, located next to an alley.
‘Caught her.’
There were many people around, and the shop the old woman entered was out in the open. It didn’t seem dangerous.
“Honey! Here, right here!”
“H-Huh? H-Here?”
For some reason, Zester was hesitant to enter but in her excitement, Cassia didn’t notice. Grabbing Zester’s arm, Cassia dragged him into the shop.
“Welcome, dear customers!”
A young woman with neatly pinned-up hair greeted them as soon as they entered. Her outfit, a red dress that showed her ankles with black fur draped over her shoulders, seemed a bit daring, but it wasn’t something to worry about. Cassia immediately scanned the interior of the shop.
The shelves of the shop were lined with bottles of unknown substances, and it looked much smaller inside than it looked from the outside. The old woman was nowhere to be found. There was nowhere to hide, yet it was as if she had vanished into thin air.
“Huhu, what are you looking for?”
“C-Cassia. Are you sure we’re in the right place? This is where you wanted to come?”
“Yes, exactly. I’ve been wanting to come here for so long.”
Cassia answered absentmindedly, continuing to look around the shop over the shop owner’s shoulder.
‘What in the world is going on?’
She definitely saw the old woman come in here. There wasn’t a single place to hide.
Not wanting to arouse suspicion, Cassia picked up one of the bottles on display and sniffed it while looking around. A sweet floral scent stimulated her nose.
‘Ah, it must be some kind of fragrance shop.’
Thinking little of it, Cassia pretended to smell the scent and kept looking around.
“Would you prefer something you can apply?”
“Sure. Can you recommend something with a nice scent?”
Since the old woman was nowhere to be found, there was a high chance that the owner of this place was also a pagan follower in cahoots with the old woman.
Cassia scanned the shopkeeper’s expression with sharp eyes as she spoke.
“Ahem, ahem.”
Behind her, Zester kept clearing his throat and he seemed embarrassed for some reason.
“The one you picked is great, my lady. It’s popular with many young couples nowadays. It takes effect within thirty minutes, and it’s completely safe to apply directly on the genitals or erogenous zones.”
“Huh? Apply where?”
Taken aback, Cassia blinked and asked.
Seeing the shopkeeper’s confused expression and Zester’s blushing cheeks, Cassia started to sense something was off. She finally came to her senses and examined the display shelves properly.
〈Enjoy while applying. Aromatic Oil Aphrodisiacs.〉
Cassia gasped in shock the moment she saw the cute wooden sign prominently displayed in a corner of the shelf.
On the left:
〈Easy to eat. Edible Aphrodisiac.〉
In the back:
〈Tools to make your night even hotter. 〉
‘What is this place?!’
Flustered, Cassia’s gaze fell on Zester, who looked even more flustered than her. His cheeks were flushed red like a ripe apple, and he was rubbing his nose while avoiding Cassia’s gaze.
“Ahem. I-if there’s something you want to buy, buy it quickly and…”
‘No, what is this…’
Caught off guard by Zester’s expression, which seemed secretly full of anticipation, Cassia stiffly put the perfume bottle she was holding back onto the shelf.
- Honey, I’m Going on Strike – Chapter 82 - February 26, 2026
- Honey, I’m Going on Strike – Chapter 81 - February 26, 2026
- Honey, I’m Going on Strike – Chapter 80 - February 26, 2026