Diary of Guarding Monster Girls-Chapter 582 - 337 Whoever Comes It’s the Same (4.2K, First Update)

"..."

In broad daylight, under the vast sky, the Paladin situated in such a righteous sanctuary as the Monastery fell silent.

The young Paladin rubbed his chin, blinking somewhat uncertainly.

"This can't be right, can it?"

Was it a ghostly encounter in daylight?

Lost in a haunted maze?

"No, it's impossible. This is the Mist Monastery!"

Herbert muttered, turning and striding away.

Walking away, walking away.

"Hmm, I must be too tired, momentarily dazed..." 𝐟𝚛𝕖𝚎𝕨𝗲𝐛𝚗𝐨𝐯𝐞𝕝.𝐜𝗼𝗺

Blame it on Valentina and Fremay, they drained me so much, otherwise, how could I make such a rookie mistake?

Lost?

Ha, how could I get lost?

I have the blessing of the Sea Witch Queen...

If I weren't in such a poor state, I wouldn't have made such a rookie mistake.

Right, it couldn't be.

Whoosh.

In the blink of an eye, the scene before Herbert's eyes changed once again—he was still stopped in front of the passage leading to the Underground Sanctuary.

"..."

This time, under deliberate observation, Herbert keenly caught the subtle changes in the instantaneous shift.

It wasn't the road itself that was altered; instead, he had been directly moved from his original position.

As if he had been teleported.

Under the suppression of some law, even though Herbert knew where the path beneath his feet led, he had no way to defy it.

As if some presence was silently telling him—You, come here!

Herbert, feeling this compulsory teleportation that was hard to define as "overbearing" or "clingy," pursed his lips silently.

What's the deal?

Even you, venerable elder, are resorting to forced affection?

"Ahem!"

Herbert thought for a moment, coughed twice, and muttered to himself:

"Ah, I intended to first seek out Ashen Bishop for some inquiries, and then report to the Archbishop, how did I end up here in a daze?"

He even paused deliberately to stress: "...If I were to go directly to the Archbishop now, I'm afraid some matters would still be unclear!"

"That might not be a good idea! I should go to ask Ashen Bishop first!"

After speaking, Herbert waited in place for a while, only trying to turn and take steps after confirming no changes had occurred.

One step, two steps... three steps.

Herbert successfully stepped out from his original spot, heading towards Ashen Bishop.

Yet, just when Herbert assumed that a certain Old Deng had temporarily let him go, his visual field flickered once more.

Whoosh—

He was back to the original place.

"...Tsk, okay, let's go see the Archbishop first!"

Herbert took a deep breath and resignedly ventured underground, saying as he went: "Hope he won't blame me!"

Feeling Old Deng's manipulation and control, Herbert bit his tongue inwardly.

The monastery's Old Deng bullies me, for I am young and weak, tolerates teleportation underground.

Endure!

Old Deng, if only I could overpower you, I'd definitely teleport you everywhere, using you like a descending nuke.

Humph!

Despite being quite frustrated internally, Herbert outwardly remained composed, "casually" accepting the reality of a temporarily altered plan.

With a faint smile at the corners of his mouth, he leisurely arrived before the Underground Sanctuary, bowing before the Thorn Bishop stationed there.

"Chief Judge."

The Judge, who stood there with closed eyes at first, paid no attention to the newcomer until Herbert spoke up, slowly opening his eyes.

"...Huh? Oh."

He seemed stunned for a second, and then came back to his senses, smiling at the young man before him: "It's Herbert, ah, what brings you here? When did you arrive? Ah—ha!"

Saying so, the Chief Judge unabashedly let out a big yawn.

Moreover, he stretched his neck, raised his arms, and stretched his body forcefully, producing a series of crackling sounds.

?

Herbert was momentarily baffled by the Chief Judge's unabashed conduct.

"Chief Judge, this is..."

Wait, be honest!

Did you just... fall asleep?

Aren't you supposed to be guarding the Archbishop?

How could you carelessly fall asleep!!?

"Hey! Are you having a lot you want to ask?"

The Chief Judge noticed the deep unspoken confusion in Herbert's eyes and waved his hand, casually saying, "Like, you probably want to ask me—how dare you just fall asleep like that?"

Though Herbert indeed thought that, he bashfully shook his head and said: "Uh no, that's not what I meant…"

Attempting to save the Judge's face, he found the Judge himself wasn't concerned, casually saying: "Hey! Feel free to ask, it's not a big deal."

"After all, it's not like you're the only one who's caught me napping; everyone actually already knows."

The Chief Judge seemed quite laid-back, finishing his statement with a flourish—though owing to his bald head, no hair was tossed from it.

Herbert watched him like this, ultimately couldn't resist his curiosity anymore, and asked: "Cough, you said... everyone?"

The Chief Judge nodded, nonchalantly responding: "Yeah, the Archbishop, the Guardian, Malcolm, and the other elders, they all know."

Malcolm being the real name of Rusted Nail Bishop, and in the whole Monastery, only the Chief Judge refers to him as such.

While all cultivators knew that if the Chief Judge and Knight Commander got together, it'd sure lead to a big quarrel, fighting uncompromisingly.

Yet sometimes Herbert couldn't help but feel that those two... actually have a pretty good relationship?

It has an air of openly disagreeing but secretly showing off.

Is this just my misjudgment?

But, setting aside that minor detail, revisiting the Judge's words.