On the other side, Rozen followed the spiritual traces of Nagisa and Avrora to a side hall of the Kamioda Shrine.
There, he encountered two auras that were far from unfamiliar to him.
"Yo, you've worked hard, young master of the Minamiya family."
The one who greeted Rozen with such a frivolous tone was none other than Akatsuki Gajou.
This man—the very culprit who had taken Nagisa and Avrora here—had only now made an appearance, casually greeting Rozen as if nothing had happened at all.
For someone like this, Rozen had only one response.
BAM!
Without a word, the moment he saw Gajou, Rozen lunged forward with agility too fast for the man to react, driving a fist straight into his stomach.
"Guh—!"
Gajou immediately clutched his abdomen and crumpled to his knees.
"You've got some nerve, huh? Sneaking off with Nagisa and Avrora without a word, vanishing without a trace, then showing up again only after everything's over—causing trouble while staying completely out of it. Did you really think I'd go easy on you just because you're Kojou and Nagisa's father?"
Rozen stood over Gajou, smiling thinly but with no warmth in his eyes, before raising his foot as if to stomp down.
"W-Wait! No violence, please!"
Seeing that Rozen wasn't joking, Gajou hastily raised his voice in protest.
"I had no idea the black shell would just explode like that! I only brought Nagisa here to deal with the disturbances at Shinjin Lake, out of respect for that old hag! The moment I found out The Cleansers had infiltrated, I went to get backup!"
Gajou's sudden disappearance had apparently been to gather reinforcements.
And the backup he brought was someone no one could have expected.
"Now, now, since he led me here, why not spare him, Nichiyo?"
A voice as gentle as a breeze, yet carrying an inexplicable hint of amusement, spoke up.
Its owner was a silver-haired girl—ethereal as a spirit, beautiful as snow, as if she didn't belong to this world.
Himeragi Yukina, who had followed Rozen inside, froze in shock upon seeing her.
"La Folia?! Why are you here?"
Indeed.
The speaker was none other than the first princess of the Aldegyr Kingdom, hailed as the reincarnation of the goddess Freya—La Folia Rihavein.
"It's been a while, Yukina. Have you been well?"
La Folia smiled gracefully, though her eyes twinkled mischievously.
Rozen, however, looked unsurprised.
"So, it really was you spying on us with magic earlier."
Exactly.
The one who had been observing the battlefield from afar with magic during Rozen's clash with the Knight of the Sinful God was none other than La Folia.
She had indeed come here.
"Don't make it sound like I'm just here to cause trouble. I came on official business this time." La Folia stated matter-of-factly. "The Knights of the Sinful God attacked our kingdom's magical research institute and stole the Sinful God's Artifact. I came to this country to retrieve it, and then Gajou here—who somehow found out I was coming—guided me here."
Her words made Rozen pause.
"You're saying the Sinful God's Artifact was brought here from Aldegyr by the Knights of the Sinful God?"
This was news to him.
But La Folia nodded.
"In fact, we have you to thank for this." La Folia smiled brightly. "Do you remember that mural we discovered together in the Adelard monastery back on Itogami Island?"
Her words triggered Rozen's memory.
Back then, inside the Adelard monastery, he and La Folia had indeed found a strange mural.
Afterward, due to various incidents, Rozen had forgotten about it—but it seemed La Folia had not.
Thus, during her stay on Itogami Island, La Folia had arranged for the mural to be transported out of the Adelard monastery.
She took it back to her homeland, the Aldegyr Kingdom, renowned as a nation of magic, for analysis.
And during that time, they made an unexpected discovery.
That discovery was the Sinful God's Artifact.
"The Adelard monastery was originally built by my grandfather for Kanon and her mother. Yet five years ago, it was destroyed in an unexplained accident—everyone inside perished except Kanon, who survived due to her innate spiritual power. That incident itself was suspicious."
La Folia explained.
"And when we examined the mural, we detected traces of life within it. The Aldegyr magical technicians theorized that, five years ago, a renowned alchemist had been secretly conducting research within the monastery. But an accident occurred, and to prevent further disaster, the alchemist sacrificed themselves, sealing both their research and themselves inside the mural."
Thus, the Aldegyr Kingdom had spent this time studying the mural, though progress was slow. However, they had managed to extract the Sinful God's Artifact from it.
Then, somehow, the information leaked, leading The Cleansers to launch an attack and steal the artifact.
In other words, the Sinful God's Artifact used by Azama Tatsumi had been stolen from Aldegyr.
Before this, it was likely that The Cleansers and their Knights of the Sinful God had only ever used replicas of the artifact—never the real thing.
"What a bunch of unexpectedly useless and incompetent people."
That was Rozen's only thought upon hearing this.
La Folia seemed to share the sentiment.
"After all, the so-called Knights of the Sinful God are self-proclaimed. The Cleansers, who worship the God of Sin, are just a self-formed organization—not true descendants personally ordained by Cain, the God of Sin. How could they have ever obtained the real artifact brought back from another realm by Cain?"
La Folia smirked slightly, almost playfully.
"The true descendants of the God of Sin are someone else entirely. These Cleansers are nothing but clowns."
Rozen raised an eyebrow.
"You're saying the God of Sin has actual descendants?"
He couldn't possibly misunderstand her implication.
La Folia was telling him:
"Did Cain leave behind heirs?"
Rozen grasped the implication.
Unfortunately...
"What do you think?"
La Folia had no intention of explaining further, simply smiling beatifically at Rozen.
Rozen knew all too well—this scheming princess was just teasing him again.
He rolled his eyes.
Still, he now understood why La Folia was here.
She had indeed come to reclaim the Sinful God's Artifact.