"He's fine," Delphine said.
"Right. Next!" A knight said. Delphine releases her hands from Rodo's face and walked over to Anderson to see if he not only had the demon's fragrance but also its aura.
She then rests her hands on Anderson's face as everyone else watches her from wherever they were standing. Delphine's hands were really cold and had an icy feel to them because she often found herself walking through mountains and hills. It was getting pretty difficult for her to check every priest and bishop as this was Edward's only choice for them to stay. Edward backed away from the others and had his back in front of a wall with Harry and Sid.
"Father, are you alright?" Sid asked.
"Yes, I'm fine, Sid. Don't worry. By the way, how is Simon?" Edward asked.
"He is in the baptismal room on the first floor, as requested. He'll be safe there if things get out of hand," he answered.
"You've been a great help. If your knights hadn't cooperated, this wouldn't have been possible."
"No. We felt we owed it to our fallen comrades and the captain of the guard agreed."
"I'm still very worried about Delphine. I heard she was badly hurt and had difficulty getting out of this place at night. She didn't really ask how she was feeling, other than that she'll have to try again. This time, with nobody standing in her way."
"Did she say anything? If what you say is true, I'm sure she's alright. Being part monster, she probably heals faster than you think."
"Well, you're not wrong about that."
Whether they liked it or not, they had to trust their instincts as they stuck to the otherwise mischievous plan that Edward had in mind. Then, she goes up to Sam and did exactly what she did to the other priests that she came in contact with. The process was quick and painless, but none of them could keep their faces straight with the demon hunter. They were just not used to having those types of people in their city or any of the other regions some consider to be holy.
"He's fine," Delphine said.
"Next!" The knight said. Harry was looking at all of this from a short distance and felt very pitiful and remorseful.
"Is something wrong, Harry? You seem nervous," Sid said.
"That woman, I can't stand her. Who does she think she is? It seems to me that she has orders that we need to follow!" Harry said.
"On the contrary, it's father Edward's orders, not hers."
"I know that! But still, she's got something up her sleeve... I know it."
Although he refused to admit it, he stayed calm as he stayed with the other knights and priests as the night was upon them.
"Are we really gonna follow her plan?" Harry asked.
Then Sid answered and said to him, "You mean about her holding the demon still while we lance them both together? I think she's serious. The hunter and the priest said she was fine but look at those wounds. Even if she finds the monster she can't fight like before. That's why she chose the next best way. As the man said, she'll lay down her life to protect humans."
"For god's sake. She's crazy!" Harry said. They stood there and watched as Delphine was checking on pretty much all of the other priests and monks.
"He's fine," Delphine said.
"Thanks," the priest said.
Then Delphine thought to herself, That's strange. They all have the scent of the demon, but not the aura. And none is missing the right eye that I poked out. Could it have grown back in just two days? Only two left. Bishop Chandron and...
"If you please, your excellency," the knight said. This time, they were all standing like frozen ice as they noticed that Delphine had to check in on the one who has been watching over the cathedral the longest.
Delphine places her hands on the old man, but what was unusual about the bishop is that he did not flinch like the others. It was as if he knew he saw this coming from a hundred miles away because he must have known all along that the ebony knight was in the holy city. Unlike the other priests and bishops, he needed something like this to be done and over within a matter of days.
No. It's not him, either. Delphine thought.
"Are we finished?" Chandron asked.
"Yes," she answered.
"Then," Sid said. In a flash of a second, all of the knights had their spears pointed at Edward and forced him not to move anywhere.
"What is the meaning of this?" Edward asked.
"I'm sorry, father Edward. But you're no different from the others, even if you are the one who requested someone such as I to take care of this situation. I could've examined you closely many times, but I was hardly in a condition to judge. Now... hold still," Delphine said. She had the same dark eyes that were visible to Edward when she came to him the very first night she visited Gisbourne.
Edward was clueless and could not utter a word as he was trapped by all of the knights of the great hall. But, they allowed Delphine to walk past them for even they knew of the reasons why she came to the city. Everyone in the giant room was extremely quiet and had to witness this provocation take place. Edward started to have something to say, but he couldn't think of the best way to let the words out of his mouth. Delphine never did something like this before, and she never took such an offer that would last almost an entire week.
Without question, Delphine lifts up the palm of her hands and softly places them on Edward's cheeks and keeps them there. Edward was far too powerless to try anything to back away from the ebony knight and so was everyone else. It would've been way too impossible to explain why she couldn't do this when quite frankly, he was the one who started this entire situation. Harry and Sid were starting to become very suspicious about the fact that Delphine was taking longer than usual. Despite Edward being the last of the priests to be checked with by Delphine, she began to see something wrong.
Then, her eyes were widening open, and it all began to make sense to her as she was in the great hall of the cathedral. Delphine started to notice that even he was not the demon; in fact, none of them had any affection by the demon.
Then she thought to herself, Impossible! If he's not the demon, then...
"Is... that it?" Edward asked. All of the knights, the priests, and the bishops began to imagine if this was all being played for a joke.
The knights spoke amongst themselves, saying, "It can't be! What does this mean? We cooperated because she said this could work!"
Rodo the priest began to be filled with so much anger and contempt against Edward and Delphine as they both remained in the cathedral.
"Father Edward! Did you think you could commit this outrage and get away with it?! Bringing that filthy demon hunter in this holy place, you'd better prepare to meet the consequences!" He shouted. Edward could not say another word to any of them, but Delphine continued to think about what is truly wrong about this meeting.
The knights continued to hold up their spears at the defenseless priest and had to do something to make him understand the things he will endure in about a few minutes. Harry and Sid were already too far gone in their suspicions about what might happen to Delphine and Simon.
"Things are getting ugly," Sid said.
"We're the ones who secretly forged the priests to join the monster hunt. We'll be blamed for this too," Harry said.
Delphine continued to look down at herself and think of a proper way to figure out where the demon could possibly be hiding.
Then she thought to herself, How can this be? That god-forsaken creature has to be somewhere inside the cathedral! So why can't I find it? Did I miss something? Come on... think! It can take any appearance to hide its true form, whether it's a man or woman, a priest or nonbeliever, the frailest child, or the oldest man. It could even be a dead body.
Delphine began to think of a place anywhere inside the cathedral where there may be an indication that the demon is hiding there. She had to think of a place that rarely anyone ever goes to, and that place is none other than the baptismal room.
Meanwhile, Simon was walking around the room Delphine was running towards as the night continued on; he decides to find himself a place to sit down from so much walking.
"What a bore. How did I get so lucky to be waiting by myself in a place like this? This baptismal room has been giving me the creeps since we got here. By the way, what's that thing behind me?" Simon asked. Then, he slips and falls onto the pallet that he was sitting on as he waited for Delphine.
Most of the rooms in the cathedral were always very slippery and people who had casual boots on had to be careful not to fall. Before he could say anything else, he tilts his head and sees what may be a corpse of a dead person.