“I’m later than I thought.”
“Indeed. I can only apologize for letting Elder Ceres leave first.”
Inside the carriage heading from Foret to Evian, Priest Vigrind couldn’t hide her anxious expression.
Ludvik, who was watching her with a somewhat awkward smile, agreed with her comment.
Moments after departing Kapatia with Ceres, their ship had been ambushed by the Dark Sect upon arriving at Foret.
As soon as the ship carrying the Hero, the Saint, and the Elder of the Church of the Celestial God docked, a mysterious magical projectile flew toward it.
The ship hit directly and couldn’t withstand the shock, swaying several times before ultimately sinking, and Ludvik managed to escape the aftermath by grabbing hold of Vigrind and leaping away.
The ensuing battle with the Dark Sect took longer than expected, so they sent Ceres ahead, and now Ludvik and Vigrind were on their way to Evian.
“What if Yona shows up in the meantime?”
“The apostates are traveling on foot anyway. They probably haven’t arrived yet, so don’t worry. We’ll definitely be waiting for them when they do.”
As Vigrind looked up at Ludvik, who spoke confidently, she sighed softly and lowered her head.
A heaviness sat in her chest.
She understood too well how they ended up in this situation, to say she didn’t know would be disingenuous.
That only made her anguish worse.
The fact that they had now diverged paths meant she could never walk the same road as Yona again.
That realization hit her painfully hard.
“…Is that so?”
Vigrind referred to Yona.
Ludvik called her an apostate.
The difference started from those simple titles.
“It’s the way of the world, Saint. The Celestial God is always right, and it’s clear that we humans are on the wrong path, which is why the Celestial God isn’t looking after us.”
“But I don’t think that’s right.”
“Isn’t it said that if one is confirmed innocent, they are released?”
There were countless carriages.
Carriages capable of holding over ten people were gathering at Foret, each filled to the brim with girls who had white hair, like Yona.
Vigrind was dumbfounded by the news that they had arrested all girls matching Yona’s description.
She was furious at the idea of indiscriminately capturing anyone who merely resembled her, questioning what kind of madness this was, but she couldn’t refute the claim that it was part of the search for apostates.
Though they knew what Yona looked like thanks to the numerous wanted posters that had been distributed, the discrepancies in the portraits meant that as long as they shared key features, they were being captured without question.
“What’s the point of grabbing everyone just because they look like that girl?” Vigrind huffed in anger, but he couldn’t argue against the statement that this was part of the search for heretics. He knew there had been countless wanted posters of Yona, showing her likeness, but each portrait differed slightly. As a result, if they shared a few key features, they’d go ahead and scoop them up.
And then those girls would be sent to the Church Region for confirmation—Vigrind had no choice but to agree with the Inquisition’s explanation. He could have confirmed right there that Yona wasn’t among the girls, but he also knew that doing so would push back his actual mission of hunting down heretics.
“His Holiness the Pope is not a person to act thoughtlessly. Just because you look like a heretic, he wouldn’t harm everyone; the divine being who sits and watches would be even less likely to,” he assured her.
“Yes, I guess I was overly worried…”
Nevertheless, he couldn’t shake off the feeling that something was off.
“It must be just my imagination.
It’s probably nothing at all; it’s just my imagination.
In reality, nothing is going to happen; it’s really just my imagination.”
With those thoughts, Vigrind looked out the carriage window.
*
“What kind of place is the Katus Empire?”
“It’s the Empire of the Beastmen.”
Hardly had Yona murmured while gazing out the window than James responded.
James, who was busily smoothing out his protruding canine with a rough string, grinned widely.
“Come to think of it, Yona, you really don’t know much about the Katus Empire, do you?”
“Of course not. I only left Evian for the first time then.”
“Wow, you’ll be in for quite the surprise when you reach Katus.”
“Why’s that?”
Essentially, the Katus Empire could be described as a military empire.
Ninety percent of its citizens were beastmen, and it was a union of several beastmen states under one empire, much like the Duchy of Kapatia.
Even though it’s called an empire, the emperor doesn’t hold power for a lifetime; instead, they have set terms, rotating among the beastmen states to take turns leading the government, which is quite a unique system.
“Strange system.”
‘…Is it democracy?’
The moment Yona heard the explanation, that was her thought.
The structure was very similar to the political system of her original world.
But something felt different.
However, as an emperor, there was certain power guaranteed during the term.
But it wasn’t a structure where one could eat and drink forever; after a few years of the emperor’s term, it had to be handed over to another nation, so it looked like the country was running quite smoothly without much corruption.
Since the absolute majority of the citizens were beastmen, venerating military power was very natural, and the country valued strength, making its military power strong. However, that also meant that their cohesion was relatively weak, creating a balance with the Duchy of Kapatia, which was poised to counter them.
“What a fascinating country.”
“That’s true. But hey, the weirder nations out there tend to be even more strange as you go up. In my homeland, they choose the head of state through a duel, you know.”
“Isn’t it amazing that countries can run like that?”
“Well, yeah. But hey, as long as it works, right?”
With a chuckle, James sank deep into the sofa.
Beside him, Rubina leaned her shoulder against him, and seeing her close her eyes, she seemed to be planning a short nap.
‘When will Rubina start talking again…’
Since that day, Rubina had shut her mouth and hadn’t said a single word until now.
Moreover, she had relied on Yona until now, but since meeting James, she stuck to him like glue and wouldn’t leave his side for a moment.
There was a tinge of disappointment, but considering how much James liked kids, it was a relief.
Yona’s feelings were complicated in many ways.
“How do we get to Katus from Lukasia?”
At that moment, the Alebians across the way looked at Yona.
Dazed from Yona’s various errands, Alebians had been staring blankly out the carriage window for a long time.
“…The ship has already been prepared. To be precise, it was Ceres who did it.”
“What on earth does she prepare so much for while sitting down? Does she have dozens of bodies?”
“…I guess she does.”
“What?”
At Yona’s question, Alebians shook her head back and forth.
“No, it’s nothing. Anyway, the ship is ready, and there are collaborators in Katus. So entering the country should be smooth. And Katus is…”
“There’s a collaborator. So, entering will be pretty smooth. And Katus…”
It seemed like she was thirsty.
Alebians poured a cup of water from the water port prepared inside the carriage, and Yona accepted the cup.
“I was thirsty just listening. I’ll drink first, okay? And why don’t you ask how to serve water to the Saint? Isn’t that what a Priest should do? Still not adjusted after all this time without a Saint? Need my help to adjust a bit more?”
“…I’m sorry, pretty.”
“You really need to be told, huh? Can’t you figure it out before I say anything? How are you going to get treated like a Priest like that? Do you think serving higher-ups is easy? You can’t just push your disciples around like you did before. Right?”
It felt like cold sweat was trickling down Alebians’ face.
Pretending not to notice, Yona finished her cup of water and handed the empty cup to Alebians.
“…Thanks, pretty.”
“So, what about Katus? What were you trying to say?”
“…Katus, Yona… Your group’s guide agreement fell through.”
“Why? Isn’t that a place where the Church of the Celestial God allowed its evangelization?”
The beastman nation of Katus, which had fervently rejected the introduction of the Church of the Celestial God. And the Ain races adjacent to Kapatia had uniformly permitted the evangelization of the Church. Not only that, they had even dispatched Priest trainees to the Church’s main base, Infura Church Region, to learn the doctrine.
Given that, Yona hesitated to head to Katus. If they allowed the evangelization of the Church, then a renegade guide agreement must have been signed as well. She certainly didn’t want to find herself captured after trying to slip through.
“They canceled the permission. Not only that, but they also recalled all the Priest trainees who had been sent to the Church back to their home country.”
“…Why?”
That kind of action could easily escalate into national discord.
Considering the Church of the Celestial God’s position within the Kapatia Empire, Katus’s actions could very well be interpreted as an insult, likely to provoke a conflict with the entire Kapatia.
“Do you know who currently holds the position of the head of state in Katus… that is, who has taken the throne?”
“Well, not really.”
Alebians smiled faintly.
“…It’s the serpent beastmen.”
Serpent.
Yona never dreamed that name would come up here.
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