Ch.205EP.46 – Everyone Has a Plan (3)

“Sometimes I think, Instructor, that you are a ‘genius’.”

“???”

Crunch.

While casually stomping on the head of the guy spouting nonsense about bloodlines, I hear this random comment.

‘Genius…?’

Me?

It was a compliment I’d never heard in my entire life—no, in my previous life either.

Even my grandfather who raised me in my past life said, “I’ve never seen a blockhead like you,” and my middle school teacher taught me reality by saying, “Han-ah, you’ll never succeed through studying” as I always dragged down the class average.

Yet, someone calling me a genius?

“…Are you messing with me?”

Ihan picked up the mace dropped by the Holy Knights.

Someone who mocks an adult needs some loving discipline.

“I’m not mocking you. I sincerely admire you.”

But the guy maintained a sincere expression without showing any sign of panic.

“You see, I’ve been fighting against the Temple for a ‘very long time.’ But each time, I was manipulated by their schemes and had to taste the bitterness of defeat. Yet, Instructor, you not only see through their schemes at once but crush them. And so easily at that…”

“?”

“To put it simply, I’m amazed at how easily you accomplish what I couldn’t do.”

“…You’re exaggerating.”

“Not at all.”

Finding Heize Roche was surprising enough.

No, how did he even know she carried demon genes?

“She’s emitting an aura similar to Pierre, isn’t she?”

“…Please don’t speak as if everyone can see it. Only you have that ability, Instructor.”

“?”

“…This is what’s infuriating.”

Is this how others felt when looking at me?

Roen, who was properly experiencing mirror therapy, felt his blood pressure rising slightly.

“Haha…”

Derrick scratched his cheek awkwardly.

He somewhat understood Roen’s feelings.

Trying to lighten the awkward atmosphere, Derrick explained what had happened before they came here.

“Um, to report, thanks to the Instructor ‘quietly’ resolving things, the Academy hasn’t shown much reaction. Lady Karin deserves credit too.”

“I already know your woman is competent, no need to mention it.”

“Th-That’s not what I meant…!”

“Forget it. It’s annoying to watch… Anyway, you caught all the spies, right?”

“…We caught all suspicious individuals. What’s notable is that many tried to harm themselves as soon as their identities were exposed. They seem thoroughly trained.”

“Tsk, vicious bastards.”

“Yes, truly…”

Now visible, the two boys’ sleeves and stomach areas were spotted with burn marks and bloodstains, showing they had been busy.

Not their blood, but their opponents’. Evidence of fierce battles and pursuits.

Ihan clicked his tongue.

He felt anew that the Temple as an organization seemed to be going insane.

They seemed to be trying every trick to escape.

…However.

“With these guys captured, they have no way out.”

“Right. And we have not just anyone, but a Holy Knight—no, a minor lord of the Lohengrin family.”

“Lohengrin?”

“Oh, didn’t you know? This man is Erhin de Lohengrin. The current commander of the Holy Knights.”

“…This guy?”

Ihan wore an expression wondering how a Holy Knight could be so weak, and Derrick gave a bitter smile.

…He doesn’t seem to realize how abnormally strong he himself is.

“You might know this, but Lohengrin is called the family of Holy Knights. They’re famous for only following the Temple’s orders. The Holy Knights are enough evidence to pressure the Temple, but Erhin is decisive proof. They have no escape route.”

Derrick thought capturing someone from Lohengrin was the decisive move.

Even if the Temple tried to deny it, they absolutely couldn’t.

Derrick was confident…

“I wonder if things will work out that easily?”

“…Is something bothering you?”

Derrick showed caution at Ihan’s meaningful response.

From experience, he knew that when the Instructor reacted like this, it usually meant he had noticed something concerning.

Sure enough.

“I’m not trying to jinx it, but I don’t think we can do anything with just this.”

“What?”

“…Why do you think that?”

The last tense question came from Roen.

He wasn’t taking the Instructor’s confident words lightly.

To such a question, he replied calmly.

“I think the Temple is full of crazy people.”

“What?”

“And they’re not just crazy—they’re filthy crazy. And in my experience, such filthy people never admit their wrongdoing.”

“…Even with such obvious evidence?”

“It’s precisely because the evidence is obvious that there’s a problem. It means this…”

They’re going to overturn everything.

As a soldier who had been deployed to a region with religious warfare for a year in his past life, he couldn’t help but know.

How cruel and insane humans can become when using religion as a shield.

That’s why when forces claiming to follow God commit acts, they literally…

‘They commit unimaginably insane acts without hesitation.’

Ihan shuddered for the first time in a while.

It wasn’t out of fear.

This was just…

‘Even rats are cuter…’

A shudder caused by disgust from physiological rejection.

*

*

*

Rumble.

A sky full of dark clouds.

The southern sky, famous for not raining in autumn, was unusually gloomy with thunder-laden dark clouds dominating.

Well, it wasn’t a big problem.

It was rare, but dark clouds in autumn weren’t a major issue.

“Today’s the Temple prayer meeting, why is the weather like this?”

“Let’s hurry and get seats. We don’t want to get caught in the rain outside.”

“I don’t want to go today…”

“Hey! That’s blasphemous!”

As a reminder, weekends in Pendragon weren’t days off for the people, but days to attend Temple prayer meetings.

So even if it rained or snowed, they had to attend the prayer meeting.

That’s why many people heading to the Temple were preparing umbrellas or raincoats, anticipating getting wet.

But.

“Huh? What’s that?”

“What?”

“…Knights?”

And not just any knights.

Armor dyed teal blue with <Unicorn> emblems on shields and armor stood out, and the people’s expressions turned pale as paper.

“Th-The Teal Unicorn Knights!? It’s Galahad’s knights!!”

“!!!?”

Galahad.

The only ducal family in Pendragon and the highest noble house.

Though belonging to Pendragon, they had enough power to establish an independent country anytime.

Their scale and power already matched small countries, and being composed only of elites, their strength was extraordinary.

And now the Teal Unicorn Knights, Galahad’s greatest military force, were on the move.

Each person emanating a spirit that seemed to burn the air.

However, there was someone with an overwhelming presence that dominated even such knights, mounted on a black horse three times the size of normal horses, with an aura that made the sky tremble.

And someone among the people dared to speak his name.

“D-Duke Blake, Your Grace…!!”

“!?!!!”

A noble dragon descendant whose face ordinary people would never see.

And Duke Blake wasn’t just any dragon descendant.

Except for the founding king, the Knight King, he was the bloodline of the greatest king in Pendragon’s history.

“God of War…”

…The bloodline of the God of War.

Thud!

Thud…

Several people had already knelt.

Especially middle-aged and elderly people who remembered the God of War immediately bowed their heads in respect upon seeing him.

Those who remembered the great king in life couldn’t help but react this way.

During the time when the kingdom had become the poorest in the south, even the continent, due to the previous king’s incompetence, when rebuilding the kingdom seemed better than saving it…

The God of War disposed of all the incompetent royal personnel and royalty, ascended to the throne himself, and not only stabilized the kingdom but also repelled and even won over hundreds of invasions from other countries, raising the kingdom from the ashes.

During the God of War’s lifetime, all royal families on the continent paid respect to Pendragon, and even now, other countries still remember and honor him.

…Even though he was an enemy, he was respected.

If other countries were like this, what about the kingdom’s own people?

“You fools! What are you doing so disrespectfully!”

“E-Elder?”

“Don’t block His Grace’s path, you fools!!”

Young men retreated at the old man’s spirit.

Or rather, this was closer to ‘loyalty’ than spirit.

“What’s going on?”

“Wh-Where is His Grace heading?”

“That direction, c-could it be…?”

Some people realized what was in the direction the knights were heading and were horrified.

[Grand Temple].

The knights were moving toward the headquarters of the Light of Radiance, and people turned pale with fear.

“…How can we stop them…”

Unable to find the courage or reason to stop Galahad, they could only watch as they proceeded.

* * *

It wasn’t just the people who were wary of the duke’s rare procession.

Even the knights who had sworn loyalty to Duke Blake were watching him cautiously.

‘Is His Grace very angry?’

‘He must be furious.’

‘Who would have thought the Temple would pull such a stunt.’

‘They’ve really crossed the line.’

Even they were horrified, and after the horror came rage.

After all, to dare create a ‘fake daughter’…

And to use that fake to deceive His Grace and plot to manipulate Galahad—every knight without exception was indignant and showed anger toward the Temple.

They wanted to storm the Temple immediately, but since Duke Blake maintained his composure, they didn’t act on their own.

The same was true now.

“……”

His Grace maintained silence, and his particularly rigid demeanor suggested he was barely suppressing uncontrollable anger.

How much rage must he be harboring?

“…I think we’ve got it wrong.”

But hearing such whispers from the members, Lac muttered to himself and shook his head.

Somehow everyone else seems to think His Grace is enraged, but…

‘That’s not what I see.’

Having served him for a long time, he knows.

When His Grace gets angry, he actually gets more excited and angry than Lac.

He doesn’t remain so calm.

So, being this calm means…

‘He’s not angry, this is…’

“…Lac, I have a bad feeling.”

“!!”

“You already know, don’t you? That I’m not particularly angry.”

“That’s…”

“Ha, I’m glad I raised you well. You can even read your master’s mind.”

“Th-Those are humbling words, Your Grace.”

“Enough of that. That interesting knight said so, didn’t he? ‘The Temple isn’t elegantly crazy, but filthily crazy.'”

“…Your Grace, that’s just the words of a mere ruffian.”

“Well, I think he’s an excellent strategist.”

“??”

“I think there’s a reason he said that.”

“……”

Deep thought.

The duke pondered what scheme the Temple might be plotting, and Lac felt disgruntled.

He felt an inexplicable sense of defeat at His Grace’s high evaluation of that ruffian.

…However.

Clop, clop.

“……”

The closer they got to the Temple, the more Lac felt an inexplicable unease.

How to put it…

‘The air…?’

Unpleasant air.

Messy, no…

In the ruffian’s words.

‘It’s filthy.’

Lac approached the Grand Temple with a hardened expression, and when they finally arrived…

“──.”

“Isn’t this Duke Blake! I was just about to send someone to your mansion, and here you are. This is embarrassing, Your Grace.”

Whoosh!

…He could identify the source of the unpleasant air.

“How shocked we were to hear about heretics trying to manipulate Your Grace and endanger the Temple… Haa, we are quickly ‘purifying’ the Temple, but we haven’t yet finished identifying how many apostates remain. But don’t worry, Your Grace.”

Drip, drip…

“The Temple will, as always, catch the apostates.”

Whoosh…!

“…C-Crazy bastards.”

Someone’s murmur broke the silence and spread widely.

But no one could deny those words.

After all.

“You… how many have you killed?”

“Pardon? Kill? —We merely purified the apostates.”

“……”

In the Grand Temple’s garden.

Hundreds of heads skewered on stakes without bodies, and bodies without heads burning in fire.

And among the skewered heads-.

“Sigh, who would have thought the Pope would do such a thing. With retirement so close, why would he commit such an act…”

The current Pope’s head was dripping blood, his face frozen in an expression of agony.

The duke, Lac, and the knights maintained silence as they witnessed this scene of madness.

No, they couldn’t help but be silent.

Before their incomprehensible, unacceptable madness, they couldn’t bring themselves to ask any questions.

“Truly, filthily crazy.”

“……”

Lac no longer denied his lord’s statement.