The man was feeling good.
Just last night, he had endured the humiliation of being slapped by his superior.
He had even heard insults about how other squads could easily bring back a white-haired girl, but what were his guys doing?
But now, this healer he had with him was nothing short of an incredible catch.
She had built a cathedral in a village where there shouldn’t even be one, all without permission!
Plus, officially, she was not qualified to run a cathedral and had white hair.
And on top of that, her job was healer!
One could almost accuse her of heresy, or at the very least, one could suspect her of being a demon worshiper.
For those who hadn’t made any significant gains until now, this was a massive turnaround.
Surely, they would earn quite a bit of gold coins from this catch.
Receiving the gold coins would allow them to generously grease their bellies and even have money to spend at the tavern on women.
The man was already feeling like he could barely contain his excitement and didn’t bother to hide it.
– Crunch—!
At least, not until a gigantic chunk of metal came crashing down right in front of them.
– Whoosh!
The unsupervised pack horse, which was only used for hauling people or cargo, panicked and almost threw him off.
Fortunately, he and his companions managed to hold on to the reins just in time.
“What, what is that—! What’s happening?!”
The man at the front squinted his eyes and glared ahead.
With the cloud of dust swirling high, it was hard to see, and there was no insight powerful enough to pierce through that cloud.
– The Celestial God said, do not oppress my people.
A heavy voice echoed as if it flowed from the abyss.
As the dust cloud began to settle, a shadow slowly rose within it.
– The Celestial God said, even if they are sinners, they shall be shown mercy.
A soft prayer.
He had never even heard such a prayer before.
The man didn’t have deep knowledge of the Church of the Celestial God.
He was just part of a cleanup squad known as the “Spider Swarm,” and he stuck around because the earnings were decent—not out of any faith or sense of duty to the Church. So it was no surprise he didn’t know such prayers existed, nor that they were only passed down to the Holy Knight Brigade.
“What the hell is this?!”
The man and his subordinates drew their swords, raising their morale.
In an already pleasant situation, they were eager to return and hand over the woman, anxious to receive their rewards.
But now, they were confronted by someone chanting ominous prayers, which was hardly going to keep their spirits up.
“Release that healer! She is no sinner!”
From the dust cloud emerged a giant.
Dressed in shimmering silver armor and donning a helmet, he gripped a morning star tightly in one hand and held a tower shield in the other.
Clad in armor and fully equipped with a helmet, he gripped a morning star tightly in one hand while holding a tower shield in the other.
“M-morning star…?”
“Isn’t that the Holy Knight Brigade?”
“It really is the Holy Knight Brigade…!”
Whispers finally reached the man’s ears.
Even without that voice, he could feel something was wrong the moment he laid eyes on the morning star.
Challenging a cathedral knight was tantamount to suicide for a swarm of spiders unless they were organized in a unit.
Blessed by the Celestial God, the cathedral knights were a core fighting force of the Church of the Celestial God, and it was said that the Duchy of Kapatia could only exist because of them.
Moreover, that morning star was a symbol of the Holy Knight Brigade, directly under the Church Region.
When he thought, “Why is such a person here?” something flashed through his mind.
– “This is the Special Operations Commander, Scarlet. Once more, state your affiliation and name.”
He remembered that little girl.
The Holy Knight Brigade wouldn’t just suddenly drop from the sky—sure, they did drop suddenly, but even the Holy Knights wouldn’t be flying down, meaning they must have been nearby.
If that’s the case, could that girl really be the Special Operations Commander? No, he didn’t believe it, but everything seemed to indicate that was the truth.
That girl.
The girl who seemed utterly useless in battle.
But right before him stood a Holy Knight.
And what that knight wanted was this healer.
The healer, trembling like a leaf, let out a sigh of relief upon seeing Sekti, who had just appeared.
Seeing her visibly relieved as if she hadn’t expected them to show up, the man grit his teeth and shouted.
“…We are seven! Do you think a swarm of spiders would be scared of one! Dammit! Let’s end this here!”
There was one enemy and seven allies.
The confidence that came from that numerical advantage was surprisingly strong.
It was as if they were collectively mesmerized—after all, how could one Holy Knight handle seven people?
Even if they couldn’t receive the blessing, maybe they could at least overwhelm her in one attack—that baseless confidence bloomed among the men.
Furthermore, if they lost this healer, their hard-earned gains would vanish.
If they returned like this, they’d be so besieged with anxiety that death would seem like a preferable option.
“Show them why they’re called a swarm of spiders! Come on, guys, attack!”
With all their might, the men shouted and charged at the Holy Knight.
*
The cost of not understanding the difference between courage and recklessness was the loss of lives.
In an instant, seven corpses with shattered skulls lay on the mountain path, painting the ground red with blood, which flowed down like a stream.
The rugged mountain path quickly turned into a bloody mess, with blood flowing down in a ditch.
“Are you okay?”
Scarlet, having cut the ropes binding Serad with her dagger, asked.
Serad shook off her pale, numb wrist that had been tied too tightly and glanced at the knight.
“…It’s Scarlet.”
The voice echoing from the helmet had a haunting resonance, making it hard to hear clearly. It almost sounded like a man’s voice, making it hard to believe that this was the short little girl she had just been with.
“Now, you believe me, right?”
Scarlet took off her helmet, and then appeared the girl — Sekti, who looked unusually small compared to her armor.
“…You really are a knight.”
Serad said in a small voice.
It was indeed hard to believe. While she had seen her in armor, she had never seen her moving in it.
It was unbelievable that such a tiny girl could wear such huge armor and move in it; it became even harder to believe when she saw her slaughter seven men in mere moments — all with just seven swings of her weapon.
“Are you going… back to the village? I could escort you if you’d like…”
A hesitant voice came through.
It was amazing how someone could change just from taking off their helmet.
Serad recalled the faces of the villagers as she left the village.
People had closed their windows and peeked outside through the cracks.
Those people owed Serad a huge debt.
They had brought fruit and grains, saying they had to pay back for her help since they didn’t have money.
And Serad, gladly accepting those offerings, had healed them.
But this was the result.
Even as she was swept away into this unprecedented situation, not a single person stepped forward to help her.
Yet, she couldn’t blame them.
The courage to stand against inescapable violence isn’t something everyone possesses.
“…No.”
Still, could Serad return and live among them as before?
It didn’t seem possible, so she shook her head.
“Do you… have somewhere to go…?”
Sekti asked in a timid voice.
With gratitude comes the need to repay it.
That was the belief Sekti lived by.
She felt the need to repay the debt she owed Johannes, and although that belief was becoming overwhelming, she couldn’t just turn a blind eye to what was happening to Serad.
“…Lukasia, Lukasia…”
“Lukasia? You mean the Kingdom of Lukasia…?”
“Yes. Kapatia Port in the Kingdom of Lukasia. That’s… my hometown. It’s quite far, though.”
“…I, I see. Then… I will accompany you there.”
“I’ll make sure to guard together…”
Sekti, who was fumbling with her words, seemed frustrated with herself and adjusted her helmet again.
A long sigh echoed from inside the helmet, and finally, with a relieved tone, Scarlet spoke.
“We will repay the grace we have received. That is also the principle of the 13th Special Holy Unit.”
Because that’s something He always emphasized.
Swallowing those words, Scarlet began to walk towards the village alongside Serad.
Her steed was still in the village.
*
“There’s a ship. At Kapatia Port.”
“But we have to cross the sea. Is it that sturdy a ship?”
So how do we get into Katus? It’s not like we can just waltz in; we’ll have to sneak in, and that’s what I asked Alebians about.
“Katus is… entirely a military harbor. It’s not a trade port. There’s a checkpoint—”
“What kind of random nonsense are you spouting? I asked if it’s a sturdy ship, not for some weird lecture!”
Yona’s sharp voice scolded Alebians.
Going to Katus is fine. I got the intention, and I knew there was a Demon she had to subjugate there.
But getting there is the problem, isn’t it?
“Stop with the riddles and just answer my question. Do you really think everyone is as sneaky as you are?”
“Sneaky, you say.”
Alebians’ ears drooped.
She looked pretty disappointed, but unfortunately, Yona couldn’t care less about whether Alebians was upset or not.
“Me, Alex, Rubina, Kaiyak, and Mr. James. Can the five of us safely enter Katus or not? That’s all I want to know. I don’t understand your military jargon or whatever! How do you even teach with that brain of yours? Is it because Freaky is such a dimwit that he’s your student?”
“W-well, it’s not like that… Yona, my dear.”
“Oh, so now I’m ‘dear’ and all that? Just answer! Can we get in or not?!”
“Y-yes. You can get in.”
“Great, I got it. Now go buy some snacks. Rubina says she’s bored.”
The carriage passed through the small village.
Among them, the only one free to act was Alebians, except for James, and Yona didn’t have James do any errands.
Instead, Yona made all the requests of Alebians.
“Did you think serving the Saint is easy? What are you staring at? Go buy some snacks.”
“…Fine.”
The carriage stopped, and Alebians got down with a slumped shoulder.
Watching Alebians walk away toward the village, Yona finally let out a satisfied, snort.
‘Let’s see you have a taste of real trouble. I’ll make you regret picking the wrong Saint.’
Yona was definitely plotting something.
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