Ch.13The Holy Knight Who Came to Destroy the Order (1)

Mirella was humming a tune as she climbed the hill.

This was a low hill that appeared when walking along the northern path from the village.

It was a place she often came to play, as it offered a panoramic view of the village and its surroundings.

Here, Mirella planned to practice fighting with her opener.

Last time, her brother had praised her when she took down a monster at Mestopin’s Junkyard.

She felt so good then, and her body got strangely hot.

If she defeated more monsters, her brother would praise her and be happy, so she needed to practice.

Upon reaching the hill, Mirella neatly folded her coat on the ground and picked up her opener.

“Yaap!”

She let out a sharp battle cry and struck the tree on the hill forcefully.

“Yaaap!”

Mirella pounded the tree with her opener several times.

“Using just your arms like that won’t let you put proper force into it.”

A voice suddenly spoke.

Someone was looking up at Mirella from about halfway up the hill.

A woman in armor, riding a horse.

Judging by the armor, she wasn’t an ordinary person.

And judging by how expensive the armor looked, she definitely wasn’t a wandering mercenary.

With a face that pretty, she couldn’t possibly be in that line of work.

Plus, she was riding a horse!

Someone with expensive armor who could afford to travel with a horse must be quite extraordinary.

And what was that hanging from the saddle? A pillar?

Mirella carefully examined the thick, long object hanging horizontally from the horse’s head to near its tail.

She could see an ornately decorated scabbard with a sword handle so long it would overflow even when held with both hands.

Could that possibly be a sword?

It looked longer than most people!

It would take forever just to draw it from the scabbard.

“When attacking, you need to use not just your arms, but your legs and waist together.”

“What?”

Holy Knight Liberone moved her horse slowly up the hill.

After dismounting, Liberone stood firmly in front of Mirella.

“Hit me.”

“What? With this? Suddenly?”

“Yes. Hit me. I’ll check your form.”

After hesitating, Mirella looked at the armor and the great sword in turn.

Well, someone this heavily armed should be fine with a bit of clubbing.

“Here I go!”

Mirella swung her opener at Liberone’s thigh with all her might.

“Aack!”

Liberone didn’t budge an inch.

Instead, Mirella was the one who screamed from the shock transmitted to her wrist, nearly dropping the opener.

“Ugh, what? Are you even human?!”

“I am human.”

Liberone picked up the opener that had fallen to the ground and swung it lightly.

“This is no ordinary wooden club.”

“I got that after beating up a bandit at the junkyard.”

“A junkyard bandit, you say.”

Mirella told Liberone about the bandit Vint and what happened.

There was a junkyard not far from the village, and a bandit who claimed it as his territory came to rob the village but got beaten badly.

“I see. You’re a brave child.”

Liberone handed back the opener and said:

“Right now, you’re wielding your weapon using only the strength of your shoulders and arms. But no matter how much you train your muscles, your upper body muscles can never match those of your lower body and core. For a powerful strike, your entire body must work together.”

“Hmm, so you’re saying I need to use my arms, legs, and waist together when striking?”

“That’s right. I’ll show you the technique, so follow along.”

Liberone spread her legs, planted her feet firmly, and made a swinging motion in the air.

Mirella copied her, and Liberone showed her the next movement.

Mirella followed exactly.

“Now connect these two movements and use that club.”

Quickly recalling the movements, Mirella swung the opener.

“Whaaat?! What was that?!”

Mirella screamed in shock as she saw a red energy burst following the trajectory of the opener.

“What was that?! What just happened?!”

But Mirella wasn’t the only one surprised.

Liberone too was looking at it with a bewildered expression.

“You generated aura. I didn’t think this was possible.”

“Aura? What’s that?”

“It’s the manifestation of inner strength that warriors can use after extreme training. It seems you have a talent bestowed by God.”

“God? I’m not so sure about that.”

“No, you clearly have natural talent. With a proper master, you would certainly become an excellent swordswoman.”

“I don’t want to be a swordswoman.”

Liberone responded to Mirella’s objection with indifferent eyes.

“Not developing natural talent is also a sin.”

“Huh? Why?”

“It’s a sin against God who bestowed the talent, and also an insult to the many ordinary people who struggle without such gifts.”

“But I won’t become a swordswoman. I’m going to be the lady of our village’s potion shop.”

“The lady of a potion shop? You mean you intend to marry the shop owner? You look far too young to be discussing marriage.”

“Is age important?”

“You’re right. Age doesn’t matter in love.”

Liberone nodded in agreement.

Mirella looked up at Liberone for a moment before asking:

“By the way, who are you? Are you an adventurer?”

“I am Liberone, a Holy Knight.”

“A Holy Knight? What’s that?”

“A knight belonging to the Holy Knight Order under the church.”

“How is that different from a regular knight?”

“I use holy power.”

“What’s holy power?”

“You don’t know about holy power? Surely there must be at least one priest in your village.”

“There are no priests here. I heard they’re only in Odelin City, far away.”

“No priests? Not even an itinerant priest?”

“I’ve never seen a priest in my life.”

Liberone was somewhat shocked.

Wherever people live, there are always priests.

For the sacred duty of service, and to collect donations.

But she’s never even seen a priest?

Just how backward and isolated is this place?

So that’s why someone claiming to be a god has appeared and is causing confusion.

If there had been a proper priest, such a thing would never have happened.

This is unforgivable.

Someone who deceives ignorant subjects, creates a bizarre pseudo-organization disguised as a knight order, and pursues personal gain deserves execution.

She would certainly behead that person and restore the village to normalcy.

“But why did you come here? Do you have business in the village?”

“I heard there’s someone claiming to be a god and deceiving people in this village.”

“Huh? There’s no such person here.”

Mirella answered immediately without hesitation.

There was no need to think about such a question.

Unless someone had been hit in the head with a mace, what crazy person would claim to be a god?

“There’s no such person in our village.”

Liberone thought to herself.

The impostor must have completely dominated the innocent villagers mentally.

It seems they’ve been instructed beforehand not to reveal his existence to outsiders.

“Then is there something called a knight order?”

“A knight order?”

Mirella pondered the question for a moment.

If by knight order she meant the Potion Knights, that wasn’t really a knight order but more like a village vigilante corps or volunteer group.

It was an activity where the poor gathered to improve their village together.

Among themselves they called it a knight order, but telling that to an outsider would be laughable.

“No? There’s nothing like that here.”

Liberone was convinced.

The church’s information couldn’t be wrong.

There must be an evil figure who has taken control of this village.

My mission is to find that person and execute them if necessary.

“Where are you going?”

As Liberone stood up, Mirella followed suit.

“I heard there’s someone in this village claiming to be a god and creating an evil group called a knight order. I came to this village to confirm that.”

“What…? I think you’re seriously mistaken…”

“Anyway, thank you, young girl. From now on, I will save this village in God’s name. But first, let me take you home.”

“No, really, there’s nothing like that here. But thanks for offering me a ride on your horse.”

Mirella, who had never ridden a horse in her life, climbed onto the saddle with a big smile.

* * * * *

“No, please get up and drink it properly. I’m begging you!”

I shouted at the administrator who was kneeling in front of me, frantically gulping down a Healing Potion.

I had previously told the administrator to come by for free Healing Potions while cleaning the community center if needed.

When the depressed administrator’s mental state rapidly deteriorated, Healing Potions could help them recover quickly.

So today, they came looking for one.

Someone suddenly pounded on the door, and when I opened it, the administrator was crawling on all fours, begging for a Healing Potion.

I quickly gave one, and they immediately knelt down and started sucking it straight from the bottle.

They were drinking so urgently that they spilled some on their chest, but that wasn’t the problem—the posture was extremely problematic.

I was standing, and the administrator was kneeling in front of me, upper body slightly raised, holding the bottle with one hand.

If anyone saw this, they would definitely misunderstand it as “an act that shouldn’t happen in broad daylight in front of a potion shop.”

“One shouldn’t see such things.”

Sure enough.

I saw a woman passing by our shop on horseback, covering the eyes of the child sitting in front of her and turning her head away.

“Indeed, this is an ignorant village steeped in evil. A place where oral sex occurs in front of a potion shop in broad daylight.”

“That’s not what’s happening, haha…”

“Keck! Kuheck! Ock! Ogock!”

Just then, the administrator, who had choked, started coughing loudly.

“Ooock! Ogock! Kuhurk!”

“It’s really not what it looks like, hahaha… They’re just drinking a potion…”

“Phew… I finished it…”

Looking at the administrator who was pulling the corners of their mouth with both index fingers, sticking out their tongue to show the inside, I let out a long sigh.

I can’t believe this crazy woman is the village administrator.

As I tried to forcibly lift the administrator up, I suddenly looked up.

The woman on horseback was slowly moving away.

Isn’t that a Holy Knight Order armor?

And is that red-haired girl Mirella?

What’s going on?

* * * * *

“What is it? What’s going on!”

Only after they had moved quite far from the potion shop did Mirella finally shake off Liberone’s hand and look back.

“It was nothing. The shop owner was just receiving oral sex from some woman.”

“Whaaaaat?!?!?!”