Ch.472Episode 17 – The Blood-Drinking Tree

At the exact moment Lucia was German suplexing Camilla on the beach, a similar situation was unfolding thousands of kilometers away in the desert.

Arkande had literally fallen from the sky with a thud.

Though not fatal, the impact must have been substantial as he lost consciousness. Having executed a perfect headfirst dive into the sand, the outcome was hardly surprising.

I used every ounce of strength I had to pull his sand-buried body out. After examination by a professional medical personnel (unlicensed), it was concluded that apart from mild concussion symptoms, there were no other issues.

“The healing is complete, so he should regain consciousness soon.”

“Really?”

“Don’t you trust me?”

Veronica glanced at me with an expression full of discontent.

“It was just a simple concussion. I can treat symptoms like this with my eyes closed.”

“Are you bragging?”

“Of course!”

Her confidence really reaches the sky. What an exasperating person.

I shook my head in disbelief.

Episode 17 – The Blood-Drinking Tree

After successfully treating Arkande, Veronica began discussing the actual plan.

“You want to gather your comrades. Having a specific goal is good, but do you have a way to find them?”

“Of course.”

The knight knocked his gauntlet against his breastplate.

“I know several places where my comrades might be hiding. When we get close enough, we can sense each other’s presence.”

“Oh, that’s good. But instead of searching for them, can’t you just call them?”

“Well, there is a way to call them directly, but…”

His voice trailed off oddly. He seemed somewhat uncomfortable with the idea.

After a moment of silence, as if choosing his words carefully, the knight began stroking the chin part of his helmet.

“The angels I can summon that way are not my comrades.”

“If not comrades, then what?”

“Let’s say neighbors. Or perhaps acquaintances.”

Meaning they weren’t close.

So even among angels, there are different relationships. I glanced at Veronica wondering if she knew anything, but she seemed just as puzzled.

Anyway.

It seemed finding his comrades would take considerable time. Finding the “angels” the knight mentioned wasn’t something that could be resolved overnight. We’d probably need to establish a base and operate from there for at least a week.

“Alright. Let’s decide on a hideout first.”

“Yes. Let’s secure lodging before anything else.”

I was about to ask if they knew of any good places.

Veronica and I spoke simultaneously.

“Veronica. Please find us a safe house.”

“Get us a place to stay, Major.”

“…?”

“…?”

*

As I led the two people and whatever-it-was—human or angel—toward the safe house, I pondered deeply.

There’s an old saying that if a man lets a woman lead him by the nose, he’ll bring ruin upon himself.

How true that was.

“I never thought I’d hand over a house deed to a woman…”

“What nonsense are you muttering?”

Slap! Someone’s foot stuck to my right cheek. It was Veronica, sprawled out on the sofa.

“What the hell are you doing?”

“You were talking crazy, so I thought I’d playfully snap you out of it. Yeah.”

I was so taken aback by Veronica’s boldness that I couldn’t say anything for a while.

I finally pointed at her lying on the sofa and spoke.

“What do you mean crazy? This is my house, you know?”

“You called it a safe house. Doesn’t that mean it belongs to the company?”

“I told you, it was transferred to me by an acquaintance!”

The house I brought them to was a safe house I managed in the Mauritanian continent. Specifically, one located within Hassan warlord territory.

It was a residence procured by Viktor, an orc informant I’d been connected with since my Imperial branch days.

I used it as a base when establishing relations with the Hassan warlord, and it’s where the shaman who betrayed the warlord and Camilla had their showdown. Being a safe house, it was meant for temporary stays when needed, so it had been abandoned since the end of that operation.

Thinking I wouldn’t need it anymore, I tried to return it to its owner.

But when I met Viktor, he insisted that “a house is only good when someone lives in it” and told me to just take it.

“You have good acquaintances. I wish I had a friend who’d just gift me a house.”

Hearing that I’d been given the house, Veronica clicked her tongue enviously. It was a bit absurd seeing someone who was supposed to be a saint behaving this way. Shouldn’t she be free of material desires?

Isn’t there something Buddhism emphasizes? About leaving the bondage of worldly troubles, transcending the three realms, and achieving some kind of freedom…

“A wealthy person like you is envious of a mere house like this?”

“Isn’t the grass always greener on the other side?”

Ah, so that’s why she went after the man her sister had her eye on.

Of course, I couldn’t say that out loud. She wouldn’t listen anyway. It would be like preaching to deaf ears.

As soon as we arrived at the safe house, Veronica sprawled out as if she owned the place. We decided to let the unconscious Arkande rest in bed until he regained consciousness.

Looking around the living room and hallway where I sensed no presence, I spoke up.

“Where is the knight?”

“I saw him go into that room earlier.”

Her finger pointed to an empty room. I wondered what he was doing in there.

I briefly considered peeking inside but quickly abandoned the idea.

“So what do we do now? Can we really find these angels or whatever they are?”

“I don’t know either.”

Veronica shrugged her shoulders and played it cool.

“Unless we know what plan the knight has, we can’t make any definitive judgments. I have some expertise when it comes to demons, but angels are something I’ve only read about in texts.”

According to her, “angels” are transcendent and mysterious beings that frequently appear in scripture.

Celestial beings who assist and serve the heavenly deity. Angels, appearing not only in scripture but also in paintings and sculptures, are inseparable from religion and considered companions in religious life.

“For example, church choirs and worship formations were originally modeled after angelic formations. Angels are mentioned so frequently in statues, religious paintings, and scriptures that there was a period when angel worship and faith intensified. This led to a heated debate in the Vatican about whether it constituted idolatry.”

In that sense, angels and demons stood at opposite ends of the spectrum even in how they were treated.

One side was loved to the point where people worried about idolatry. The other was immediately subject to execution orders and dismemberment upon sight.

“That makes sense when you put it that way.”

I nodded in understanding.

While demons need to be actively tracked down, from a religious perspective, there’s no reason to pursue angels. Theologically, they’re closely associated with God and are inherently benevolent beings.

In truth, even if people wanted to track them, they probably wouldn’t know how.

While demons have caused trouble here and there, I’ve never heard rumors of angels appearing on Earth. Veronica agreed with this assessment.

“If a demon crawled up from hell, we could easily find it with holy relics. The Navigator’s Map, the Shattered Dragon Scale, Lucernatus, Plaga, Saint Balthasar’s bones… though those would be hard to borrow since they were boiled. Anyway.”

We concluded that we currently have no way to find the comrades the knight mentioned.

The knight claimed he had a method, but there was no guarantee it would work. Yet doing nothing was also problematic.

So we tried to formulate a plan considering the possibility of the initial method failing, but we couldn’t come up with anything satisfactory.

“Hmm…”

I sat shoulder to shoulder with Veronica, pondering.

What should we do?

The most reliable approach would be to seek expert help.

Religion.

“I think we should seek help from people in the church.”

Though we weren’t certain if he was truly an angel, if the knight was indeed one, we needed to enlist religious assistance.

Veronica rested her chin on her hand with an indifferent gaze and muttered.

“If even I, a saint, can’t get a grasp on this situation, would those old fogies be of any help?”

“Not those old fogies. What about the High Priest?”

“Ah!”

The High Priest. Looking back, the High Priest seemed to know the knight better than anyone.

Judging from how the High Priest had earnestly requested that we treat the knight in the cedar coffin with respect, and from the knight’s attitude suggesting some kind of acquaintance with the High Priest who sent the letter, the two figures appeared to know each other quite well.

Perhaps the High Priest might know where the knight’s comrades are.

“Or Arkande might know. His tribe has been guarding the cedar coffin for generations.”

“Could there be more coffins in the tribe?”

“Maybe…?”

It was too early to make definitive judgments, but there was a possibility that more angels existed in Arkande’s tribe.

Of course, this was just speculation. Good if true, no harm if not.

“That’s a reasonable guess. Let’s see how the knight plans to find his comrades and then decide. Do you agree?”

“……”

“Major?”

…Sigh.

“By the way, doesn’t something seem odd?”

“What seems odd?”

“The knight.”

If he truly is an angel.

“Why didn’t he reveal that he was an angel from the beginning?”

*

The grandfather clock announced that the appointed time was approaching.

A bird perched in the yard.

With its body slightly tilted back, muscles tightly tensed, sharp beak firmly closed, and fierce eyes gazing skyward.

Then came the ascent.

The divine beast resembling a hawk took off from the vast land. Aquila, having flown thousands of miles at its master’s request, returned once more to its master’s embrace.

After watching the hawk’s powerful ascent, Veronica opened the envelope, gathered its contents, and handed them to the knight.

As the helmet nodded slightly up and down, a rustling sound came from between the gauntlets.

The knight held two pieces of paper in his hand.

“I found it.”

A letter from the High Priest and a map.

“The place where my comrade sleeps.”