Marco approached Nora as soon as she came out of the camp where Velkre was resting. There was a long scar on his eyebrows—it was the wound he got when he fought Juan in the wasteland. It could have easily been treated with the help of a healing Grace, but Marco decided to purposely leave it untreated, saying that he didn’t wish to forget the price of his own arrogance. Since then, Marco had gotten a lot more calm and rational compared to before, and his skills were also growing noticeably.

“I heard brother Velkre’s voice. Has he come to his senses?” Marco asked.

“Yes. But he seems to be slightly out of his mind,” Nora answered.

“Hah, no doubt. Not even the captain of a knight order could be in his right mind after having been skinned alive. Him still being alive after what he went through can already be considered a tremendous blessing from His Majesty,” Marco scoffed.

Nora nodded silently; she hadn’t held any hope for Velkre’s survival either. When they had found him in the snow, his injuries had been so severe that the Templars were split in their opinion on the matter of using a healing Grace on him. It was only natural for them to be hesitant; there had never been a case of someone who was transformed into the Evil Snake surviving the ordeal.

Nora changed the subject of the conversation to shake off her thoughts regarding Velkre.

“What did the Templars...