Chapter 135: The Knight Is Being Tricked!? (3)

“This lucky bastard!!!”

“…What are you on about?”

“Cardinal Raphael, of course…! Do you know how many believers wish to talk to him?! People are even ready to spend money just to have a meal with him! But you!! The guy who doesn’t even care about religion! Got to spend that precious time with him…!!”

“Really…?”

Jake visited him to deliver news regarding the Tunnel, so Lee Han just told him about the things that happened recently. But, after hearing that, he just kinda exploded like this, making Lee Han blink at him blankly.

Anyway, Lee Han already heard that Raphael was a great person, but he never did he expect that his authority was that high. Nevertheless, he still believed that this guy was making too much of a fuss about this.

“But, why are you calling him ‘Cardinal’? Didn’t he step down a long time ago?”

He was genuinely curious. The old man was already on the verge of retirement, and yet this guy somehow was still making such a fuss.

“…If other believers hear that, they’d choke the lives out of you.”

To that, however, Jake pressed his brows together, as if finding that his question was mind-bogglingly crazy.

“He stepped down from being a cardinal because he didn’t want to continue holding that position. In reality, he could have an even higher position than that. It wouldn’t have been strange if he had become the temple leader. In fact, if he really wanted to become a temple leader, more than 40% of the priests of the temple would immediately step up to support him.”

“…I see. So he isn’t just any other old guy.”

“…You live in this country. How the hell did you not know him?”

Jake said, perplexed. This was the equivalent of hearing a citizen of the kingdom said that they didn’t know about the previous king.

“Dude, I’m not a temple nerd like you.”

“…Nerd? What’s that?”

“Someone like you.”

“…Why does that sound like an insult?”

“It’s not. Forget about it, dig the ground quickly. It’s about to get dark.”

“Ugh…”

Currently, they were making a field in the yard. They had pulled out all the weeds, removed all the rocks and pebbles, tilled the soil, mixed some fertilizer in it, and watered it to make the field usable for planting something.

Originally, this work would take several days, but Lee Han succeeded in clearing a little over 80-pyeong¹ of land by himself in less than half a day.

“Whew, finally done.”

“…Do you really have to do something like this?”

“It’s called being self-sufficient. I’m gonna plant radish over there, potatoes, sweet potatoes, onions, and peanuts over there, and lettuce and cabbages over there.”

“…So you are serious, huh? What about that big field over there? What are you going to plant there?”

“Chili peppers.”

“Chili peppers? That unique spicy plant that they brought in from the west? The one that they used for torture?”

“…Yeah, it’s spicy, but torture? What the hell are you on about?”

This was the first time Lee Han heard about it being used for torture. He really just bought it so that he could sell its seeds in the neighborhood.

Before he realized it, someone had already misunderstood his intentions.

“You cruel bastard, who are you going to torture for you to plant such things?”

“…I’m planting it to eat it, you medieval bastard.”

Lee Han cursed, feeling wronged. In his eyes, the guy was making too much fuss over mere spicy ingredients. If the guy could just see how people in his previous life relieve stress with capsaicin, he wouldn’t even think of saying such things.

But sadly, he couldn’t. The medieval knight genuinely thought people would die if they were to eat spicy food.

“You’re going to eat something like that? Are you trying to increase your pain tolerance? Huh, actually, that does sound like a good training method…”

“…”

…I think he has a strange misunderstanding.

“Let’s leave it at that…”

However, Lee Han just shook his head, thinking that this misunderstanding was better than the previous one. After all, if he were to try to explain it, it would only hurt his jaw.

After that, the two of them continued clearing the field and planting more crops. Apart from swordsmanship and volunteer work, there were many other professions that would bring knights honors, but farming wasn’t one of them. Some knights would probably faint if they were to see what the two knights were doing.

However, one of the two knights was of a common birth, while the other one hailed from a poor, fallen noble family. These two didn’t have any aversion towards this kind of work. If anything, quietly digging the dirt, munching some snacks while resting, gave them a refreshing feeling.

After they did more work, and the assistant brought them sandwiches as their snacks…

“…Dealing with Divine Technique is tricky.”

“Huh?”

“You should assume that all the inquisitors belonging to the Inquisition know how to use [Divine Technique]. Since you don’t have any connection to the temple, I assume you don’t know much about it. So, Divine Technique is different from magic. It’s [mystics] that was given to the people by the Light of Brilliance—it’s like a mixture of magic and Combat Technique. However, due to its power and nature, mastering Divine Technique is extremely difficult. The inquisitors are the people, the human weapons who had overcome all those difficulties and became able to freely use Divine Technique in actual combat.”

“Hmm, is that so?”

“…What’s with that reaction? This is related to you.”

“Why are you telling me this? Do you think I’m gonna fight them?”

“I’m not thinking, I just know that you’re going to fight them. So, be careful.”

“…”

Alright, that’s just a wrongful accusation!

How could he say such a slander to a pacifist like me, huh…?

…Still, no matter how lacking my conscience is, I can’t really refute that since my track record is just that bad…

But in the end, he had to admit it.

That…

“The moment I saw them, I felt a little dirty.”

Even without that feeling, considering how he was recently involved with a group of fanatics, his discomfort had reached its peak. And then the Inquisition was suddenly trying to disturb his life. It went without saying that he was feeling stressed out.

And what was even more frustrating was…

I still don’t know why they’re watching me.

Indeed, he didn’t know why. Raphael was kind, and he never forced anything onto him. The old man just chatted with him and left, so it was all good. He didn’t seem to have any intention of harming him either.

That was why he left the old man alone.

But…

If that punk from before appears before my eyes again, then…

He might not tolerate it.

“Do it moderately. If you lose the temple’s favor, it’ll be hard for you to live. Especially in this kingdom—losing the temple’s favor means you can’t live here. So, be careful.”

“If that time happens, I’d just go into exile.”

“…In other words, you have no intention of doing it moderately.”

Seeing his friend’s smug face, Jake just shook his head.

As if telling that Jake’s concerns was unnecessary…

Chirp-! Chirp-!

“I heard that kid was acting rudely after I left. I’d like to apologize to you, Brother.”

“…I’m happy to receive your apology, but do you really have to come here at the crack of dawn just to tell me that?”

Old Man Raphael came back, saying those words.

It was early in the morning, the sparrows were still bustling about. Even Lee Han’s hair was still messy, so his grumble to the old priest was justified.

No matter what his intention was, visiting at this hour was just wrong.

“I have a prayer service scheduled for the next four days, so this is my only free time. My heart aches when I think about not being able to meet you, Brother, haha.”

“…You have such a faithful life, don’t you?”

“It’s only natural. Oh, if you want to attend the prayer, you can come anytime. Our temple always welcomes new brothers.”

“I will politely and sincerely decline.”

“Oh, that’s too bad.”

“…Assistant!”

“Damn it… I want to sleep more…”

Hearing the old priest passionately spreading his faith this early in the morning, Lee Han wanted nothing more than to send him away quickly. He noticed this, but the priest just smiled at him.

“Oh, by the way.”

“?”

And then, suddenly…

“While I’m away due to the prayer service, that child and other brothers might bother you.”

“…”

The old man made such an ominous prediction.

“They are faithful followers of the Light of Brilliance, but they got carried away sometimes, so I’m worried that they might bother you.”

“…If you know, you should stop them.”

“I’d like to, but there are many who ignore the words of an old man.”

“… Even though you are a cardinal?”

“Haha, how can there be ranks in the temple, except for the almighty Light of Brilliance? Everyone is equal.”

“…You are saying so many words just to say you can’t stop them.”

“Haha, forgive me. In any case, please…”

Rustle-!

“If those brothers are bothering you too much, you can tell them off. It’s fine.”

“…You’re giving me permission?”

Raphael gave him a brief smile and a high-grade holy water.

“I had thought about this for a long time, but you are a true gentleman.”

“That’s a pleasant thing to hear.”

The unofficial highest-ranked member of the temple gave permission for him to scold those guys, so there was no way that Lee Han wouldn’t feel elated about this.

It’s a refreshing feeling.

I feel like I can get along with this old man.

He realized that having a sensible adult around was a really good thing.

“What a pleasant brother.”

Raphael refused Lee Han’s offer to be carried and walked along the dirt road on his own. It was difficult for him to walk without the help of a cane, but the Light hadn’t called him to THEIR embrace yet.

Until that happened, he figured that he should walk on his own.

“Haha, this wasn’t here yesterday, was it?”

Still, the consideration of the new brother was pleasant to see.

The well-paved road was very comfortable to walk on. There were no rocks that could make him trip over, and there were also chairs placed under the shade of trees at every step.

It was as if the new brother was telling him that he could rest there if he was tired.

A broad smile appeared in his lips as he realized that the knight was more considerate than he had thought.

And then…

“Just like Senior said, he is a great stimulant.”

He thought of a certain senior priest who had introduced him to the new brother; the senior priest who had been as devout as him in the past, but now had long retired.

“…Senior is a little bit of a swindler, though.”

The aforementioned swindler had gained a new job as a [butler] after becoming younger through Divine Technique. But he did not speak for nothing.

“In any case, the other brothers should be beaten a little too.”

His mind wandered to the past.

-Get down, you rude little rascal!

Back when he was young, back when he had been beaten, or rather scolded, by his senior to correct his wrong beliefs.

“Hehehe, now that I think about it, it’s a nostalgic memory.”

Raphael walked peacefully, hoping that the memory the other brothers would experience in the future would turn into a nostalgic memory for them too.

All while humming a happy tune.