After all of the gargoyles in Stonewall were exterminated, Evelyn sent two soldiers to deliver the news: One to the town chief residing in the neighboring village and the other to Hannah back at the Leonardo Estate in Guardia town.
Upon hearing the news, the town chief alongside some of the villagers from the neighboring village immediately went to Stonewall. The current time was around noon.
The town chief and villagers were all shocked when they discovered what the Leonardo soldiers were stacking in the middle of the town square: 22 remains of winged creatures made of stone.
"Are those…gargoyles?" asked the innkeeper.
"Yes! These are definitely the gargoyles that attacked my town yesterday morning!" replied the town chief.
"I see you're here already, Mr. Gavin!"
Descending from the sky was Evelyn.
The soldiers working around the town square immediately stopped what they were doing and bowed to her out of respect to their commander.
"MY LADY!"
"Carry on, soldiers." said Evelyn.
It was clear that Evelyn had garnered the respect from the Leonardo knights after the successful extermination quest.
Evelyn turned back to address the town chief.
"Mr. Gavin, I'm here to report to you that all the gargoyles that raided your town have been exterminated. Currently there is no presence of a demon in Stonewall nor in the forest around the town. Apart from the chapel, we've also examined minor to medium damage to some of your buildings. My soldiers are listing them all as we speak--"
The town chief suddenly fell to his knees and cried.
"OH THANK YOU, LADY LEONARDO! YOU'VE SAVED MY TOWN! I THOUGHT WE'VE LOST THIS PLACE FOREVER!"
Evelyn kneeled to his level and put her hand on his shoulder.
"No need to thank me, Mr. Gavin. As a member of the Leonardo House in charge of overseeing your town, it is my duty to save your town from danger and keeping it safe." said Evelyn.
"I beg you, my lady! If there's anything I could do to repay this great valor of yours..."
Evelyn nodded to the town chief's persistent request.
"There is something that I needed you to do. If you'll follow me, Mr. Gavin."
The noble lady then guided the town chief to the chapel in town, which had been partially destroyed by the gargoyles' rampage.
Lying in front of the chapel were dozens of red-stained white fabric.
Each of the white fabric was covering something underneath. The town chief knew what they were hiding.
"Those are…"
"These are the remains of your townspeople who fell victim during the raid." said Evelyn.
She pointed to the Leonardo knights tending to the bodies.
"My soldiers have finished gathering them from all over the town and, based on the list you gave me when my army stopped by the village yesterday, I can assure you that all of the missing people are already accounted for among the remains we discovered."
"O Einsof…"
"What I needed you to do, Mr. Gavin, is to reach out to the surviving relatives of the deceased and inform the news of the victims' death." asked Evelyn. "Also, send the list of their family to the Leonardo Estate so we could arrange some form of aid."
"Of course, my lady! I'll head out right away to inform the townspeople who are staying in other towns. Thank you, once again, for your generous act!"
The town chief then rushed off to send a message to his people.
Evelyn looked back on the corpses her soldiers had laid in front of the chapel. Her expression turned gloomy and depressed.
The noble lady sighed.
"(This sight never fails to break my heart.)"
Evelyn walked past the bodies and into the ruined chapel. She kneeled in front of the altar and prayed.
"O Einsof, this humble servant of Yours raise her gratitude to You for leading her and her soldiers to victory in this battle of Stonewall. Use this victory as a spark of hope for this world that would grow into an eternal inferno.
"And may You embrace the poor souls that fell victim to these manifestations of sin. Glory to Your name and may Your kingdom last forever, amen."
Meanwhile, back in Leonardo Estate, Hannah was pacing back and forth inside the mansion with great distress.
The head of the Leonardo family was left alone in her residence while her husband and daughter set out to fight demons. It was only normal for her to be uneased.
As she walked around the house, the baroness stumbled upon Giselle whom was reading the Methuselah Grimoire in the kitchen. This sight distracted Hannah from her worry.
"Are you planning to take up magic?"
Giselle was surprised by Hannah's voice. She did not expect to be caught reading the magic book by the family head.
"Pardon me, madam! Do you need something?"
"I'm fine. You can continue with your read. It's your resting time, after all." said Hannah. She then approached the girl. "So, what's with the sudden interest in magic? Ever since we met, you never once told me you wanted to become a mage, Giselle."
The young maid smiled at the baroness's question.
"It's for Lady Evelyn's sake, madam…"
"My daughter?"
"Yes! Lady Evelyn said that if I wanted to accompany her as her attendant while she's out on her quests, I'll need to study all the spells in this grimoire and able to perform at least half of them." explained Giselle.
"Evelyn really said that?"
The maid nodded.
Hannah took the book from Giselle and glanced through the pages.
"The first half of the grimoire covers all of the spells created by the Great Mage Methuselah." said Hannah as she flipped the pages. "The second half covers the advanced implementation of those spells through various combination."
"There were so many spells in that book. It's simply overwhelming, hahaha!" commented Giselle.
Hannah smiled at Giselle's reaction to the number of spells in the grimoire. Apparently the young maid had not comprehend what a feat she was trying to accomplish to learn all the spells in the grimoire.
"Giselle, only S rank mages are able to perform the spells in the second half of the grimoire. While the ability to perform all the spells on the first half of the Methuselah Grimoire is used as one of the requirement for the A-rank Mage Qualification Test."
Giselle tilted her head in confusion.
"Madam, are you saying that--"
"If you wanted to accompany my daughter in her quests, you'll need to have the ability of an A-rank mage, Giselle." said Hannah. "Are you really that determined to serve my daughter?"
Giselle was a bit shaken when she learned what Evelyn actually required from her to be the Leonardo heiress's maid.
Even so, the humble maid clumped her fist and looked at the baroness with a determined gaze.
"I AM, MADAM! I'll do whatever it takes to serve my lady!"
Hannah smiled at the girl's determination.
"My daughter is very blessed to have someone like you by her side."
"It's only right for me to act this way, madam. Considering how the Leonardo family took me in when I lost my parents to the demons."
The baroness sighed at Giselle's statement.
"I remembered that day. You lost your family to the same lich that cursed my daughter. We saved you during that joint operation with the church and the provincial army."
"And now that daughter of yours has turned into someone who is taking the fight to the demons. How she turned from a victim to a hero is inspirational. For someone who lost her family to the demons, it would be my honor to serve someone as brave as Lady Evelyn."
Hannah returned the grimoire back to Giselle. The noble was very pleased by the servant's display of loyalty.
"Then in that case, for the sake of my daughter, I will help you with your magic training, Giselle."
"Baroness… Will you really do that?" gasped Giselle.
"MADAM! MADAM!"
A butler suddenly rushed into the kitchen, looking all frantic. He caught both Hannah and Giselle by surprise.
"What's with the rush, Mr. Hodgins?" asked Hannah.
The butler took out a letter from his blazer and presented it to the lady of the house.
"A letter came for you from Stonewall, Madam." said the butler. "It's from Lady Evelyn!"