Ch.359Chapter 359 – Rosary (2)

After hearing that former holy knights of the converted Emiris Order were below deck, I stared blankly at Kara for a moment.

“I didn’t hear anything about this.”

“They requested that we keep it as quiet as possible,” Kara said softly.

Looking at her, I quietly asked, “Who authorized them to board?”

“I did.”

So Kara was the culprit.

I suspected she might have done them a favor since she also came from the Emiris Order.

‘Even so, that’s going too far.’

I never imagined she would put former Order members on the same ship with us, who are essentially hostile to the Order.

After taking a deep breath to calm myself, I asked evenly, “Why didn’t you tell us?”

“First, they asked to board just before departure, so there wasn’t time to inform everyone. Their exact reason was that they desperately wanted to serve the goddess and the saint.”

The goddess and the saint?

At those words, I looked at Kara, who nodded and said, “Those guys have converted.”

“…How?”

“Let’s keep that as a trade secret.”

She averted her eyes as if hiding something, then continued speaking.

“Second, while they haven’t directly harmed any of you, considering the relationship between the Order and your group, I asked Diana and the crew not to mention their presence. I didn’t want you to worry instead of resting properly. I also asked them to handle some tasks that needed to be done below deck.”

So that’s why I hadn’t heard about them.

Kara continued, “Of course, even while permitting them to board, I’ve been monitoring them constantly in case they tried anything suspicious. The crew has been keeping regular watch too.”

“Really?”

“Yes. I didn’t tell you because I thought I could handle it myself without making you worry.”

That’s what Kara said.

Looking at her, I quietly asked, “Why did you do it?”

“…I thought they deserved a second chance,” she said softly.

“Just like I was given one.”

In a way, Kara could be considered someone who had received a second chance.

So it made sense that she would want to give others the same opportunity.

It was an admirable way of thinking.

Still, I couldn’t help feeling disappointed about the current situation.

“Even so, letting them board without our permission feels like too much…”

I said quietly to Kara, “I think you should have told at least one of us, Kara.”

We looked into each other’s eyes for a moment.

Then Kara bowed her head.

“…I’m sorry.”

A brief silence fell between us.

After a while, Chris quietly called out to me.

“Um, Sir Kay…”

I glanced at Chris’s face for a moment.

Seeing his pleading expression, I let out a quiet sigh.

‘Perhaps I let my guard down too much.’

I regretted not properly checking the identities of everyone boarding the ship, just to be safe.

Fortunately, they hadn’t shown any signs of causing trouble so far, which is probably why we hadn’t heard anything about them.

‘I should stop here.’

Seeing Kara so dejected made my heart soften.

And Chris was looking at me apologetically too.

Above all, I didn’t want to create tension among our companions who were finally relaxing after I’d told them to rest.

I decided to stop pressing Kara any further.

‘…Let’s think about this differently.’

While Kara’s actions were quite disappointing to me, the result was that we now had former holy knights from the Emiris Order on our ship.

As we needed to enter Gema Port, having their help could make things easier in many ways.

‘There’s no reason not to use them.’

It would have been better if she had informed us beforehand, but looking at the outcome, Kara’s actions might actually make our port business a bit easier.

Since they had defected and even converted, and if they were following Kara’s instructions well, I thought it wouldn’t be difficult to persuade them.

My concern was whether they had disposed of their rosaries like Kara had…

Given our timeline, not much time had passed since bringing the surrendered holy knights here, so I suspected they might not have had a chance to dispose of them yet.

It was a situation left to chance, but even if only fragments remained, we might find a way to use them.

‘…But first.’

I needed to confirm if these people were trustworthy.

With that in mind, I looked at Kara and said, “Kara, would you guide me to where these holy knights are?”

“That’s…”

Kara looked at me with slight concern.

“I won’t do anything to them. I just want to check about their rosaries and whether they can cooperate with us.”

I spoke quietly to Kara.

“If we can get their help, it would make not only sneaking into Gema Port easier but also make us safer. I just want to talk with them first and ask for their cooperation.”

Seeing my calm demeanor, Kara seemed to realize I wouldn’t harm them and nodded.

“I can do that for you.”

“I want to do it myself.”

I told Kara.

Soon, she bowed her head and quietly said, “…Understood.”

“Then let’s go now.”

As I stood up, Diana’s eyes widened slightly.

“You’re going right now?”

“As they say, strike while the iron is hot. I’d like to handle this before resting.”

“…Well, if you want to take care of it before resting, I won’t stop you…”

Diana said this as she rose from her seat.

“I’ll come too. I’ll go with Kara.”

“Ah, then I’ll come too!” Chris said, standing up.

“Those holy knights are people I’ve been concerned about, so I should come along…”

“Alright.”

From what I’d heard earlier, these were people Chris had been looking after, so he must be acquainted with them.

That would make the conversation easier, so his help was welcome.

Of course, in reality, he was probably just worried because I seemed angry at Kara.

Still, I appreciated him coming along.

Soon, Eve nodded and raised her hand.

“Should I come too?”

“No. You and the others should rest.”

I said quietly to Eve.

“Like I said earlier, you must all be tired from diving and resurfacing. Just relax freely.”

“But will you be alright?”

“I’ll be fine.”

While having Eve along would be reassuring, I really wanted her to rest.

Just diving into the sea and coming back up must have been exhausting, so I wanted her to rest early today.

Besides, Kara would be there, and Diana was coming along too, so there shouldn’t be any problems with the negotiation.

Eve soon nodded.

“Alright… I’ll rest a bit, sorry.”

“That’s good.”

“But you have to rest tonight too, Kay. Understood?”

I wondered why she was emphasizing “tonight” here.

Seeing Eve and Sera exchange glances, I could guess what Eve meant.

“You need to rest well in a warm blanket. Right?” Sera chimed in.

These two were incorrigible.

On the other hand, I was grateful for their continued kindness.

“Yes, I’ll come back early so I can rest well tonight.”

“You *must*,” Eve said with a small smile.

I then turned to Kara and said, “Please lead the way, Kara.”

“Understood.”

With a slightly stiff expression, Kara stood up.

“I’ll guide you.”

“Thank you, Kara.”

“…Leave it to me.”

Her voice had softened compared to earlier, and Kara nodded with a slightly relaxed expression.

Soon, Kara led the way out of the room, and Diana, Chris, and I followed behind her.

“By the way, what does ‘strike while the iron is hot’ mean, child?”

“…It’s just a saying.”

I deflected Diana’s question.

+

We followed Kara down the stairs.

Greeting crew members we met along the way, we headed toward the bottom of the ship where I had never been before.

When we reached a certain area, Kara pointed to one of the cabin doors lining the corridor.

“It’s there.”

“They’re all gathered there?”

At my question, Kara shook her head slightly.

“Actually, they’re using two cabins, including the one next door. They said they didn’t need special treatment, so five of them are sharing two cabins.”

Kara looked at me and asked, “Should I just call their leader?”

“Call all of them.”

Diana looked at me when she heard my request to call everyone.

“There are too many to gather here. Let’s meet in a suitable location.”

“Is there a place nearby where everyone can gather?”

At my question, Diana pondered for a moment.

“…The storage room is closest.”

“Let’s go there.”

No point in going back up to the dining hall after coming all the way down here.

Hearing that, Kara looked at me and said, “I’ll bring them there, so go ahead and wait.”

“Alright.”

Soon, Kara walked toward the room she had pointed out earlier.

And I followed Diana to the storage room with Chris.

“Um, Sir Kay. About that…”

“It’s okay, you don’t need to feel sorry anymore.”

I put my hand on Chris’s shoulder, who had been looking apologetic since earlier.

“Rather, Chris, you said these people were ones you cared for. What were they like from your perspective?”

“…They seemed like people who had lost something important in their lives and were dejected, but then stood up again thanks to Kara.”

Chris said quietly.

“To be honest, I don’t think they would harm us…”

“Really?”

“Yes. Though I hadn’t heard they had converted.”

“I wonder what religion they converted to?” Chris said quietly.

‘So they converted to a religion Chris doesn’t know about.’

A religion that Chris doesn’t know but Kara does.

While I was wondering what religion it could be, we arrived at the storage room.

Diana explained the situation to the two sailors guarding the storage room, and soon they were seen opening the door.

Looking at the well-organized interior, Chris muttered, “There’s no place to sit and talk. Should we look for chairs or a table?”

At Chris’s words, I immediately looked around.

Then I pulled over a nearby box.

“Ah, we can use boxes as chairs…”

“I brought this for you to sit on. I can stand while we talk.”

After saying that to Chris, I pulled another box near Diana.

“Please sit.”

“How polite. Thank you.”

Soon Diana sat on the box.

Then Diana looked at Chris and said, “You sit too.”

“But…”

“It’s polite to accept such kindness. You can return the favor another time.”

“Another time…”

“Well, it seems you already give in many other ways normally.”

Diana said quietly in a tone suggesting she already knew everything.

And Chris sat on the box with slightly flushed cheeks.

“…Um, Sir Kay.”

“Yes?”

“Kara didn’t do it with bad intentions…”

“I know.”

I said quietly to Chris.

“Maybe I reacted too irritably because I’m tired… but honestly, we need to be concerned about our safety too. I genuinely think it’s unfortunate that Kara didn’t tell us something we should have known.”

“Is that so?”

Chris said quietly.

Diana also opened her mouth quietly.

“You were a bit sharp, but it’s not something you shouldn’t express dissatisfaction about. Kara made a mistake.”

“Come to think of it, you must have known too, Diana. Did you think we knew?”

“I did, actually.”

Diana said quietly.

“I apologize. I should have checked, just in case.”

“No need.”

It’s not really Diana’s fault.

She might have postponed it thinking it would cause unnecessary trouble if she brought it up.

“Let’s focus on the matter at hand. Despite Kara’s mistake, thanks to her, we might have a way to safely enter Gema Port.”

“Understood. I won’t say more.”

Diana replied.

And the next moment, we sensed movement outside the storage room.

‘They’re here.’

Soon, Kara entered through the storage room door.

Behind her, five men in sailor’s clothing followed.

They soon lined up in front of us, and the one who seemed to be their leader stepped forward and saluted.

“Holy Knight Kurus and four others, reporting as summoned.”

The holy knight greeted us with a somewhat awkward motion that could hardly be considered in the Emiris Order style.

And Kurus, who introduced himself, looked at me and bowed his head slightly.

“…I apologize for the late greeting.”

Looking at the holy knight, I quietly nodded.