EP.39
Unlike me, who had visited the Holy Kingdom several times before, it was Maria’s first time here.
“It’s amazing,” she said, looking around.
And indeed, it was worthy of such a compliment. The capital of the Holy Kingdom, Osodox, showcased a splendor that rivaled that of the imperial capital, Palatinate. In fact, if we were to measure it simply by the lavish spending of gold, jewels, and decorations, this place might even outshine Palatinate.
This made sense, as Palatinate merely gathered wealth from the empire and its trading partners, while Osodox collected riches from the entire continent. Coupled with the opulent culture that had been built over a long time to elevate its religious authority, it could truly be called the heart of the continent’s culture and arts.
“It certainly does shine,” I agreed.
It was pointless to criticize why religion indulged in such luxury. The Holy Kingdom’s religion, the Golden Cross Church, had already dominated the continent’s religious scene.
With the word “gold” right in its name, who could possibly point fingers at them for extravagance? They had even specified in their doctrines that personal freedom was paramount as long as one earned cleanly.
Of course, money-making often came with its share of trouble, and there were always those unruly merchants around. But they had their own methods of dealing with that.
“Blasphemous scoundrel!”
A face of a zealot inquisitor from the Golden Cross Church flashed through my mind, someone who held an almost fanatical belief.
I still felt a bit scared just imagining him smashing the head of an illegal loan shark with a purse full of gold coins.
Anyway, through a religious community spread across the continent, they kept an eye on those making illegal profits and dispatched inquisitors to deal with them. Of course, the notion of “illegality” here was understood in a religious context. If religion abided by secular laws, there wouldn’t be a struggle of powers between the empire and the Holy Kingdom.
Initially, I thought this was nothing more than a representation of a completely corrupt religious system, but it turned out that things worked out in their own way. The merchant guild, which represented the continent’s financial sector, operated with their guarantees, while the excessive actions of merchants were curbed quite decisively with religious justification.
Traveling from one country to another, trying to exploit legal loopholes was nullified under the notion that religion knows no borders, making enforcement more effective.
“Could you please halt for a moment?”
“Um, got it.”
Finally arriving at the gates of Osodox, the guard blocked our path.
“…Knight?”
The guard reacted to Maria’s words.
“Ah, you can see magical energy, I see. Yes, that’s correct.”
He proudly thumped his chest. Maria looked at him in wonder. I was curious too. Where else in the world would one employ knights as gate guards? Even in the empire, known for having the most knights in the world, this would be impossible.
But it was feasible in the Holy Kingdom.
“All military forces in the Holy Kingdom consist of knights. You could say it’s inevitable that they have to use knights even for guard duties.”
“…Really?”
Maria seemed even more surprised by this statement.
“Is that not an exaggeration?”
“Nope.”
It appeared that Maria had heard the rumors, but like many who had, she hadn’t actually believed them. I couldn’t blame her; I hadn’t believed it myself until I saw it.
Of course, this wasn’t the time for idle chitchat; it was not exactly tea time.
“Please cooperate with the inspection. Do you have anything to prove your identity?”
I handed him the archbishop’s letter of recommendation I had tucked away in my coat.
“Gah!”
He immediately stepped aside, placing a hand on his chest and bowing his head.
“O-Osodox welcomes the guests of the Archbishop!”
Indeed, this was why having good connections was crucial.
―――
Although I had come to Osodox with a commission, there was no need to rush straight into work. According to the archbishop, I was the only person who had accepted this commission, and the church had already dragged this issue along for several years, so there was no need to panic about solving it immediately.
So, we decided to explore Osodox first.
While I was somewhat familiar with the place from previous visits, for Maria, who had just left the empire for the first time, everything was nothing short of fascinating.
“…Hmm, is this really all there is?”
To clarify, there was a time when it excited me too.
After just a few days, she seemed to have lost interest in the city. It wasn’t that she was indifferent to her surroundings.
In a way, it was a matter of threshold.
“Well, compared to the empire’s nouveau riche, they do seem to have a better sense of aesthetics.”
Lifting her teacup for a sip, Maria peered down at the urban landscape with an aloof gaze.
While people like me from the outskirts or commoners were overwhelmed by Osodox’s grandeur, the problem was that Maria didn’t fit into either category. She hailed from Palatinate, the empire’s pinnacle of luxury, and her status was among the highest as royalty.
Still, she usually had to keep up appearances and limit extravagance due to societal scrutiny, but on special occasions or celebrations, she could indulge in a dazzling display as well.
Especially in the case of secluded villas that escaped the eyes of the public, they built structures that made you wonder if such creations could truly come from human hands, overflowing with money and effort.
So, for Maria, the splendor of Osodox was merely something she could easily replicate if she tightened her budget a little.
“…Ah, I see.”
This left me feeling slightly embarrassed. I had made such a big fuss about how impressive Osodox was, and this was her reaction?
Wait a second, did I just completely reveal myself as a hick from the countryside?
Turning to Maria, I found her smirking at me, the corners of her mouth twitching upward.
“Heh.”
Did you just laugh? Are you really laughing?
…Not that I could do anything about it.
Well, whatever. As long as Maria enjoyed Osodox for the past few days, that was what mattered. Even if she’d lost interest now, she’d still savored her time in the streets of Osodox while it lasted.
Discovering that Maria liked the otherworldly-style tanghulu and pringles was significant enough for me.
Maybe I’ll find the ingredients and try making malatang and tteokbokki sometime.
“Anyway, so, is there anything else you want to try?”
You might say I was being too laid-back, but that’s just how my journey has always been.
Efficiency and the likes were things to look for back on Earth. This is a medieval world where even time commitments get played loose. It’s only natural to mix a little fun in with business, right? If you’re going to a magnificent place like this and just focus on diligently completing missions, why bother with all the travel?
However, it seemed that Maria had different thoughts.
“But what does it mean that the Holy Kingdom’s army consists solely of knights?”
“…You’re the first person I’ve met who’s curious about that after coming all this way.”
“Does that mean someone else has come here with you?”
I quickly shook my head at her suddenly piercing gaze.
“Oh no, I only introduced it to my party members when we were on the commission!”
“A party, huh? Was there a woman in that group?”
I paused for a moment, deep in thought. Was there a woman in that party? I’d done this so many times that I could hardly remember.
As I pondered, I noticed Maria smiling.
“Nope. That’s alright. I think I have enough of an answer.”
“Huh?”
She hadn’t even said anything, so what on earth was she talking about?
Let’s just pretend I didn’t overhear her inner monologue about how ‘there’s no need to be cautious of someone who doesn’t even remember.’
I wondered if she was trying to hint at something, as she seemed to have stopped using Silence magic recently. Was she saying that to me? Or not?
It was confusing, but since there was no need to dwell on it, I answered her question.
“So you were asking why the Holy Kingdom’s military consists only of the knight order?”
“Yes.”
The answer to her question was surprisingly simple.
“The Holy Kingdom is quite small.”
“Huh?”
Maria seemed puzzled by my response.
“Isn’t the Holy Kingdom’s territory on par with that of a Count or Marquis with a decent level of influence?”
She had a point. When translated into territories, the Holy Kingdom indeed boasted a fairly significant domain, a collection of several principalities, one might say.
That was certainly land any lord would covet.
“But for housing the headquarters of the Golden Cross Church, it’s rather small.”
However, for a nation governed by a group with influence comparable to that of the empire, the territory was far too limited. Even when compared to the kingdoms beyond the eastern border of the empire, it fell short considerably.
“Do you have any idea how many knights belong to the Golden Cross Church?”
“If we just consider the officially announced number of Holy Knights—Ah.”
Maria’s eyes widened as if she had realized something.
Perhaps she was beginning to understand what I was getting at.
“For a mere lord with a territory this small to command such a large number just seems excessive, doesn’t it?”
Knights, at their most basic level, could easily handle dozens of foot soldiers who couldn’t manage even basic magical abilities. To manage thousands of such individuals would require an astronomical amount of resources.
It wasn’t just about covering personnel costs; it also involved sustaining various benefits only the Golden Cross Church could provide (mainly related to welfare and enchanted weapons, among other things).
The problem was that the Church had an overwhelming number of other expenses as well.
Often, people say that a country with high income has a bigger budget. But one key thing to remember is that the more taxes a nation collects, the more it must spend somewhere.
The same was true for the Holy Kingdom. Even though donations flooded in from all over the world, they also needed to spend that money to perform the duties required of a religious organization.
Once all the necessary expenditures were deducted, there wasn’t much left from the donations.
“So, the Holy Kingdom spends the entire income from their territory on maintaining the Knight Order.”
Therefore, the Golden Cross Church was always trying to find ways to make even more funds through their territories. And that was a task the people were passionate about because it aligned with their doctrine.
“But if you haphazardly hire locals as soldiers, productivity would drop, wouldn’t it?”
The issue was that an army was fundamentally a place that consumed resources. Occasionally, there would be dictators who took advantage of this nature, dumping all the byproducts of industrialization onto the military, but those who dared to recycle their army in such a manner often found themselves overrun by a “military tiger” that evolved from such treatment, leading to the fall of their nation.
In any case, the Holy Kingdom decided to fill all the positions needed to maintain and operate their state with individuals who were not native. The underlying reason for this choice was that they were, after all, a religious group.
And since they were the largest religious organization on the continent, those who volunteered to serve the Holy Kingdom already overflowed. It meant there was no need to worry about manpower in that aspect.
The result was a city where knights worked everywhere—Osodox.
Upon hearing this, Maria nodded with a serious expression and rested her chin on her hand, clearly deep in thought. I could easily guess what she was contemplating.
“Now, now, Arthur. While knights are strong, that doesn’t mean they are versatile.”
“Huh? But isn’t there any problem with having that many knights?”
“Actually, there can be issues.”
I also remembered being intrigued when I first heard about this.
“It seems that, having grown up so pampered and comfortable, they all lack a bit of imagination.”
Mainly concerning how dreadful humanity can truly be.
And this particular mission also stemmed from such shortcomings within the Holy Kingdom.
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