Perhaps I’ll Need to Break Some Heads

Graduating from the academy doesn’t mean I immediately become a count.

Both my father and mother are still active in their prime, and I’m still far too inexperienced.

Above all, even Young Master Andrew, who is nearly ten years older than me, hasn’t yet formally become a duke.

I was merely a young lord, assisting and supporting my father’s work as the next count, and focusing on my studies for the day when I would eventually inherit the title.

It was at such a time that the two church-affiliated people we met in the duchy appeared in our county.

They arrived with dozens of subordinates and like-minded comrades, plus a heavyweight—the Pope.

Even my father, who had been informed in advance, was left with his mouth agape when the elderly man claiming to be the Pope appeared.

Pope Bertrand of the World Tree Church was quite an elderly man.

I later heard he was over 70, which was an incredibly advanced age.

In addition to his advanced age, his physical condition was very poor due to the near-imprisonment treatment from the Cardinal Faction.

Furthermore, although the Holy Knight Order had been considerate toward him, the harsh climate of the north seemed to have worsened his condition.

My father immediately tried to guide the Pope to a doctor, but Pope Bertrand shook his head as if there was something more important.

“I wish to meet the World Tree.”

At the Pope’s indirect manner, my father gave me a nod.

Noticing my father’s intention, I went to fetch Sirr, who was playing with Miss Lilu.

“Aba!!”

The moment Sirr, who had been playing with toys in the room where Miss Lilu was watching him, turned around sensing my presence, he smiled brightly and ran toward me.

No, since he’s still unstable walking on two feet, it would be more accurate to say he crawled.

I picked up Sirr who had approached my feet, and he reached out to pull my hair.

…I really need to correct this habit someday.

Enduring the slight pain of having my hair pulled, I looked at Miss Lilu, who was standing to one side of the room.

“What’s going on?”

“The people we met in the duchy, they’ve come.”

“Ah, those people?”

Miss Lilu sprang to her feet.

Perhaps because she had been sitting casually, the long skirt of her maid uniform was slightly wrinkled.

“I’ll come too.”

“Yes, since I need to bring Sirr, it makes sense for you to come as well, Miss Lilu.”

Miss Lilu’s official position in the count’s family is currently something like Sirr’s personal maid.

Well, it’s just a position for appearance’s sake, but considering she was originally the guardian of the World Tree, it could be said to be a fitting position.

However, compared to her usual attire, the maid uniform seems a bit uncomfortable.

…Even though it’s clothing that my mother adjusted here and there to make it easy to move in.

I brought Sirr to where the church group was waiting.

Sirr seemed to have already adapted to the low temperature of the county, as he merely looked around with curious eyes.

“I’ve brought him.”

“Mmm?”

Upon arriving where many people were gathered, Sirr looked around at the numerous people and then looked at me.

Well, from Sirr’s perspective, the current situation must be hard to understand.

But the Pope was different.

As soon as he saw Sirr, he slowly knelt down.

“Your Holiness!!”

“Are you alright?!”

Concerned that something serious had happened to the Pope, several priests who were assisting him hurriedly supported him.

But the Pope remained silent, his head bowed deeply.

And then, he began to sob.

“There’s no… there’s no doubt… it’s definitely the power of the World Tree that I felt in my youth.”

Thick streams of tears flowed down his aged face.

“Without a doubt… it is without a doubt the World Tree.”

At the Pope’s words, Commander Alma’s subordinate knights and the priests belonging to the Papal Faction let out exclamations.

The priests, in particular, began to kneel and offer prayers, just like the Pope.

…Hmm, it might seem normal from a distance, but… since I’m holding Sirr, it feels a bit awkward as if I’m receiving the prayers.

The solemn atmosphere, where even the Holy Knights offered brief prayers accompanied by slight bows, ended shortly after when my father personally took control of the situation.

Since the Pope’s health wasn’t good, my father had the servants guide the Pope to a place where he could rest.

He didn’t forget to call a doctor as well.

However, the treatment of the priests and Holy Knights was a problem.

Since there weren’t that many guest rooms, it was an issue where to accommodate them.

…No, to be precise, it’s not that there weren’t any.

“Father, is it really okay?”

“Yes. It seems Duke Ignis has recently entered a stable period, so it should be fine.”

It was the annex where Duke Ignis was recuperating.

That annex was large enough to accommodate all the priests and Holy Knights.

Originally, due to concerns that Duke Ignis might have seizures, only minimal servants visited the annex, but fortunately, the Duke’s condition had improved a lot recently.

Although his mind was still gone, there had been almost no seizures in the past six months, to the point where even the doctor expressed the opinion that he seemed to be entering a recovery phase.

Recently, Riel had been visiting him every day and talking to him. Although there was no response, Riel had told me that when she held his hand, he would even hold it back.

“Still, just in case, I’ll place servants near where Duke Ignis is staying.”

“Yes, I’ll leave that part to you.”

“Yes.”

And so, the Papal Faction figures from the Central Church and the Holy Knight Order came to stay in our Wentos County.

Central Church.

Cardinal Gerald’s expression wasn’t very good.

Of course, the previously quiet First Holy Knight Order had rebelled against him.

Strictly speaking, they didn’t openly defy him, but by knocking down his subordinates and escaping with the Pope and his close associates, it amounted to the same thing.

The church’s situation couldn’t be called good.

No matter how much the Pope had been reduced to an old man in a back room who had lost real power to him, his authority wasn’t completely gone.

Losing him would obviously cause various disruptions.

Not only that, but all the influential figures of the Papal Faction whom he had kept under surveillance had also escaped.

The anxiety about what they might do caused stress for Gerald.

The bigger problem was that he couldn’t even tell where they had gone.

He interrogated the few members of the First Holy Knight Order who hadn’t participated in Commander Alma’s rebellion, but they didn’t provide the correct answer either.

To begin with, Commander Alma hadn’t told her subordinates where they were heading.

Even the subordinates who had sided with her rebellion simply followed her without knowing where they were going.

Moreover, among the members who remained in the church, those who weren’t originally his people questioned Cardinal Gerald.

They remained only for the sake of their families living in regions governed by the church.

They still admired Commander Alma, and therefore viewed Cardinal Gerald, the reason for her rebellion, unfavorably.

To get back to the point, the location of the First Holy Knight Order, which had escaped from the Central Church with the Papal Faction personnel, couldn’t be determined.

In fact, it would be fair to say that the church’s eyes were everywhere in every country and every territory.

Even so, it was difficult to locate the First Holy Knight Order.

It had to be either a kingdom that had cut off exchanges with the church, or the empire that had been gradually pushing the church away over the past year.

However, Cardinal Gerald suspected that the First Holy Knight Order was in the kingdom.

Since he knew that the First Holy Knight Order had gone to the kingdom before committing their rebellion, he suspected that something had happened in the kingdom.

And from one of the Cardinal Faction’s Holy Knights who had been in the First Holy Knight Order, he was able to hear a compelling story.

“When Commander Alma was in the capital, she had a time to converse with the royal family.”

If that’s the case, could this be the result of cooperation between the Palaginya royal family and Commander Alma?

It’s also a certain fact that the Palaginya royal family is hostile to the church.

It seems they need to send someone to the capital.

“Summon all the archbishops.”

Cardinal Gerald, with a hardened face, gave orders to his subordinate.

“Go to the capital for a while.”

At my father’s words, I looked at his stern face with a blank expression.

“Father, it hasn’t been long since I returned from the capital.”

“I know.”

“Then what’s this about?”

At my words, my father heaved a deep sigh.

“…Do you know the Gliaes Marquis Family in the capital?”

The Gliaes Marquis Family, I do know them.

They’re a venerable family with a long history, and also a traditional martial family in the capital.

For a young person in the kingdom walking the path of martial arts, one would at least hear the name of the family.

But why is the Gliaes Marquis Family being brought up?

Is he asking me to go challenge their dojo or something?

“Of course I know them. But why do you want me to go there…”

“…The Gliaes Marquis Family has contacted us.”

The marquis family contacted us?

As a traditional martial family, have they developed an interest in our count family, which is always fighting magical beasts on the front lines?

But if that’s the case, why does my father have an expression like he’s swallowing something bitter?

While I was thinking about this, a super-sized bomb that would paralyze my brain came out of my father’s mouth.

“A marriage proposal has come in. For Kino.”

“…Could you explain in detail?”

Anyway, I needed information about the detailed situation.

…After all, instead of challenging a dojo, I might need to break some heads.