Ch.167Chapter 167 – Salvation Exists Even Without God

A few days after Kei’s group left Sestas.

The capital of the Mikea Kingdom was bustling with activity.

The reason was the announcement from a few days ago and the news published in the newspaper.

It was about the terrorist attack by the Emiris Order in Count Metis’s territory.

And in a pub in the capital, at the entrance leading to the magic tower, two women were meeting.

“Wow, this is the first time I’ve ever seen an article like this in the newspaper. Isn’t it fascinating, Asam?”

“Before that, I think it’s been a while since we’ve actually bothered to read a newspaper.”

Asam replied to Aria’s comment as she took a swig of beer.

“Well, I’m busy with my work, and you’re busy with your research, so we’re a bit slow on outside news.”

“I do miss Bea a bit. She was always good at picking up gossip thanks to her side job.”

“That girl, I wonder when she’ll pay off her tab.”

One was a saint of the Order.

The other was a witch of the magic tower.

Given their extremely busy professions, they often found it difficult to keep up with current events.

Even this meeting was possible only because things had suddenly worked out well recently, giving them some free time.

Asam asked casually.

“Are things less difficult these days?”

“It’s gotten a bit better. Or should I say, many good things have happened recently? Thanks to what happened in Count Metis’s territory, some favorable circumstances have emerged, which is nice.”

After Kei fled the capital, Aria had gone through a lot.

She faced severe opposition from other orders because only her Hati Order and the Evgenia Order refused to condemn Kei, whom the Emiris Order had declared a heretic.

“The Emiris Order declared him a heretic, but other orders have no obligation to follow that decision. I don’t understand why they do.”

“I guess they thought they’d get some scraps if they did. The Emiris Order is powerful, after all.”

Aria nodded at Asam’s words and took another drink.

“Because of that, I faced tremendous opposition even within my own order.”

Now that all her opponents had become silent as the grave, she had weathered the storm safely, but Aria shook her head as if disgusted by the whole affair.

Then she said quietly.

“Politics. Hate it.”

“I’ll drink to that.”

Aria slumped down as Asam raised her glass.

“By the way, why did you take that person’s side?”

“Because we’re comrades-in-arms. We fought together in dangerous battlefields like the columbarium and against dragons. Of course I had to take his side.”

Aria waved her hand in response to Asam’s question.

“You’re so loyal. Is that how all combat professionals are?”

Asam said as she tilted her glass.

For Aria, who had been an inquisitor whose main duty involved combat, looking after a comrade was probably the most natural thing to do.

“Well, he’s not just any comrade, and Bea was involved too, so I put in extra effort.”

“Right, you’ve been through a lot. Have another drink.”

The two women raised their glasses again.

Then Asam smiled and said:

“But I guess things are working out better for you these days because of it?”

“It’s not completely resolved, but honestly, I can’t hide the fact that I’ve been smiling lately.”

Aria said with a grin.

“A terrorist attack, of all things.”

“The aftermath of the incident in Count Metis’s territory has been truly significant.”

Smiles they couldn’t quite hide appeared on both women’s faces.

“Not all nobles in the Mikea Kingdom liked the Emiris Order to begin with. Many nobles kept an eye on them or allied with them for the benefits, but there were also many who didn’t.”

“This terrorist incident has resulted in all those who disliked them banding together, and even some nobles switching sides.”

The terrorist attack had been an extremely reckless move from the Emiris Order’s perspective.

Even if it had succeeded, it would only have satisfied their desire for revenge, but it failed, and they also failed to destroy the evidence, allowing rumors to spread.

“What were they thinking when they did this?”

“Maybe it was just done by someone who lost their mind.”

While that was actually correct when thinking about Phobia, both women thought it couldn’t possibly be that simple.

“They’re fanatics after all, so they often make illogical moves.”

“They’re the kind of rotten people who would assault passersby for ‘dirtying’ their black robes.”

The two women took another drink while saying things that would have made Christina grimace if she were present.

“In conclusion, the situation is serious because they’ve even infringed upon noble authority. I heard that even among nobles who usually stayed neutral or even supported the First Prince, some are now turning to Princess Liriel’s faction out of anger at the Emiris Order’s terrorism?”

Because of this, the Emiris Order in the Mikea Kingdom was facing unprecedented opposition.

“Rumor has it that Princess Liriel was so happy when Count Metis joined her and brought this incident to her attention that she punched the air in joy.”

“…I’d like to think that’s not true, but it’s oddly specific enough to seem real.”

Aria chuckled as she spoke.

But she understood.

‘She must have faced a lot of opposition.’

When the mercenary she hired during the dragon subjugation was declared a heretic, she must have faced more opposition than usual.

Though it wasn’t completely over, the situation had turned in a way that allowed for a major counterattack, which was cause for celebration.

“Speaking of which, ‘The White Dragon Knight’.”

Another rumor accompanying the Emiris Order’s terrorism.

A savior who appeared in Count Metis’s territory and defeated countless monsters with a single blow.

“Well, I think the Count and the Princess exaggerated it a bit.”

“Still, it seems to have become a good story. The merchants who survived there are spreading the tale everywhere.”

Sestas, the gateway city to the Count’s territory, was a place frequented by many merchants.

People who saw Kei there spread rumors, which the Count encouraged, and the Princess encouraged even further, causing the rumors to spread widely.

“So it’s ‘salvation exists even without gods,’ huh?”

“It’s not something a saint should say, but it might be surprisingly accurate.”

Perhaps she had seen things during her time as an inquisitor.

Far from being displeased, Aria was actually agreeing.

“…I knew what his heart was like, but I didn’t know it could do that much.”

“A replica of a dragon’s heart… can it really do such things?”

“Well, they say the black dragon that appeared last time suddenly shrank and transformed into a man in armor, so it might not be impossible.”

Still, Asam wasn’t sure if it could go that far as she took another drink.

Watching her, Aria fell into thought.

“What’s wrong?”

“Nothing. I was just thinking if this is what fate is.”

Aria quietly spoke.

“The cemetery, the columbarium. The mine before that and this incident. All of them involved ‘that man’ and the Emiris Order.”

“That’s true.”

Asam took a sip of her drink before speaking.

“They brought it upon themselves. In the end, they’re facing the consequences of their greedy actions.”

“You can’t escape the consequences of your sins.”

Aria said as she drank her alcohol.

+

My eyes opened.

I immediately listened and heard the sound of wheels rolling.

‘Am I in a carriage?’

Judging by the slight vibration, we weren’t stopped but moving at a good pace.

As I tried to get up, something was pulling on my blanket.

“…I must have worried you a lot.”

Christina and Sera were asleep.

They had placed chairs beside my bed and seemed to have fallen asleep while taking care of me, their faces resting on my bed.

“…Benefactor…”

Christina murmured in a somewhat pleased voice.

I wonder what she’s dreaming about.

I was about to poke her cheek but decided against it and tried to carefully slip out of bed when—

“…Huh?”

“Ah.”

Christina woke up.

But her eyes were still drowsy with sleep.

“Why is my benefactor awake…?”

“Because I woke up.”

“Is this a dream…?”

“No.”

Since she was already awake, I decided to do what I had intended earlier and poked Christina’s cheek with my finger.

Christina stared at me with blank eyes and said:

“I can feel it.”

“This is real.”

As soon as I said that, Christina’s eyes widened.

“Waaah?!”

“Eek?!”

She tried to jump up but fell backward with the chair, which woke up Sera who had been sleeping.

At the same time, my door was roughly opened, and Beatrice rushed in.

“What’s going on? What, ah?”

As she rushed in, Beatrice stepped on Christina’s clothes and fell as well.

In the process, Beatrice grabbed Sera to avoid falling, causing Sera to fall too, and all three of them began rolling around beneath my bed.

“What’s happening? Please answer me!”

It must have been quite a commotion, as I could hear Eve calling from outside.

She must have been at the driver’s seat, yet she could hear all the noise from here.

I could feel the carriage gradually coming to a stop, as she probably thought something serious had happened inside.

“What a mess.”

I said, looking at the three people clutching their waists below.

+

Since we had already stopped, we decided to take a meal break.

A place was set outside the carriage, and Sera brought out not her usual cooking but fire-roasted jerky.

“Jerky?”

“Miss Seraphina hasn’t left Kei’s bedside for days. So she’s been eating hastily prepared meals.”

“I’m sorry for causing trouble.”

Sera usually never skipped cooking no matter how tired she was, so the fact that she had been eating hastily prepared meals meant she had stayed by my side and worked hard.

When I readily apologized, Eve smiled.

“It’s fine since Kei woke up well thanks to that.”

Despite her words, Eve’s face looked somewhat gaunt.

In fact, everyone except Beatrice seemed to have gone through quite an ordeal.

“Just to be clear, I took all the night watch shifts?”

“Y-yeah.”

I was suspicious that Beatrice might have had it easy, but she immediately refuted that.

Can she read my mind too?

“How long was I unconscious?”

“Two weeks.”

My thoughts momentarily froze.

“What did you say?”

“Two weeks.”

I just blinked at Christina’s words.

Seeing my reaction, she continued:

“It was chaotic during that time. Your breathing and pulse were very slow, your body temperature dropped, and Sera and I were terrified you might suddenly pass away. We were anxious about your breathing stopping, so we tried everything—holy magic, medicine, all sorts of things. There wasn’t much improvement, and we were worried about nutrition, so we had to find ways to feed you. And then…”

Words poured out of Christina’s mouth as if she had been holding them in for a long time.

It wasn’t just me who was surprised; Eve and Beatrice were also blinking, watching Christina.

Except for Sera, who was nodding in agreement with Christina’s words, the rest of the group was overwhelmed by Christina’s demeanor.

Having seemingly said everything she had been holding in, Christina exhaled softly and said quietly:

“…I’m so glad you woke up, Benefactor.”

“Yeah.”

I nodded and looked at everyone.

“I’m really sorry for worrying you all.”

“If you understand that, please keep what you said before?”

Eve said with a smile.

‘…Ah, that.’

She must be referring to what I said when I sent Beatrice and Christina to defend the walls in Sestas.

I think I told them I’d pay them back because it was expensive.

“I will.”

“It’s a promise.”

Eve said with a smile.

Feeling the atmosphere lighten, I asked the question I had been wanting to ask.

“So where are we?”

“The elven country, Albheim.”

Eve explained.

“We’re currently traveling on a road that’s only permitted for visitors to the country.”

“Permitted road?”

“Take a closer look around, helmet.”

At Beatrice’s words, I examined our surroundings.

“Except for this one road, it’s all trees.”

Apart from the wide road where we had stopped our carriage, trees were densely packed on both sides.

I could see birds and insects flying inside, and there were even trees bearing fruit.

Sera spoke up beside me.

“They told us at the border that we need to follow this road. Elven rangers patrol and monitor this area, so they warned us not to stray from the path.”

“Is there something important here?”

“I think it’s partly because they value the forest, and there are also villages where ordinary elves live, so they’re preventing unnecessary incidents in advance.”

Sera added that despite the intimidating content, they had actually approached us kindly.

“However, our destination is in the capital, so we still have several more days of travel ahead.”

“How much longer do we need to go?”

“About ten more days from now, I’d say.”

Eve said.

“Fortunately, the road itself is safe, so if we travel a bit at night too, we can shorten the time.”

“Let’s not push ourselves too hard. We’re all tired.”

Eve nodded at my words.

“So this seal is near the capital?”

“It might be in a restricted area, so we plan to gather information first.”

I nodded at Christina’s explanation.

Like in Count Metis’s territory, there might be some complicated sealing mechanism, so this was a necessary procedure.

“I hope nothing goes wrong.”

“Me too.”

‘Isn’t it about time we could travel peacefully?’

We had been through so much already.

It was time for an easier journey.

‘It’s okay to have such dreams, right?’

With that thought, I chewed on the jerky.