Ch.72Chapter 72 – Behold, A Miracle Has Occurred (2)

After Aisen Beventus was cured of her illness, she was moved to the mansion for recovery.

“I’m truly grateful. Thanks to you, my daughter lives. I don’t know how I can ever repay this debt.”

Margrave Beventus kept expressing his gratitude to me.

He must cherish his youngest daughter deeply to thank me so profusely.

They say fathers become completely devoted to their daughters… seems Margrave Beventus is no exception.

“Now that the young lady has safely awakened, you must feel greatly relieved.”

“Indeed I do. My youngest daughter’s illness has been my greatest concern throughout my life.”

Margrave Beventus opened up about his feelings as he took my hand.

“Thank you, truly. Thank you so much. If you ever find yourself in difficulty, come to House Beventus and ask for me. On my honor as a knight, I swear that I and House Beventus will always be a great support to you.”

Margrave Beventus swore on his honor as a knight that he would be a great help to me.

A knight’s oath.

I remembered seeing this in the fixed dialogue that appears when heroines of the “Knight” class in Erasto Chronicle reach their breakthrough limit.

When a Knight-class heroine breaks through her limit, the game explains what a knight’s oath is in detail, followed by unique dialogue for each heroine… honestly, I can’t remember all their unique lines.

After all, Mina was my favorite heroine anyway.

However, since coming to this world, I’ve learned that the knight’s oath, which I had considered merely a limit-break phrase, was not something to be taken lightly.

A knight’s oath literally means swearing on all the years one has lived as a knight.

Breaking it would mean denying one’s entire life.

“Is it appropriate to mention a knight’s oath so casually?”

“Do you know why a knight first took up arms?”

Rather than answering my question, Margrave Beventus posed one to me instead.

Why did knights take up arms?

Isn’t that too easy a question?

Since ancient times, people have taken up weapons to protect themselves or their families.

“To protect someone, isn’t it—Ah!”

At that moment, I realized his intention in countering my question with his own.

“That’s right. A knight is fundamentally someone who took up arms to protect others.”

Margrave Beventus knelt on one knee before me.

He didn’t seem to mind at all that Etherna was nearby.

“When a knight who couldn’t properly protect his own family meets a precious connection that enables him to do so, what difficulty is there in lending that connection a hand?”

With that, he bowed his head to me.

“I am truly grateful, Pathos the Demon Sword Destroyer. I will never forget what you’ve done in saving my daughter. I say again, on my life and honor as a knight, I will help you whenever you face difficulties.”

“I will not forget your oath.”

I accepted the knight’s oath that Margrave Beventus made to me.

It was another moment that showed just how much he loved his daughter.

◈◇◈◇◈◇◈◇◈◇◈

Justin, the branch manager of the Black Feather Belsarem branch, was performing his duties in his office.

Since Pathos and Etherna had gone to Beventus territory, all that remained was to wait for news of what had happened there.

Using a communication crystal, which cost about one silver coin per use, was prohibited unless for urgent matters, but this case was an exception.

This mission was particularly important as it involved House Beventus, Justin’s family.

Justin sat at his desk processing documents while waiting for the communication crystal to activate.

The Black Feather Belsarem branch also functioned as a merchant guild, so the documents Justin was handling were related to trade matters.

About two hours after Pathos and Etherna had departed for Beventus territory via the teleport station…

—Woong

The communication crystal on his desk began to vibrate.

This meant someone wanted to speak with him through the crystal.

Justin put down the document he was working on and picked up the crystal.

When he infused a little mana into it, the cloudy crystal cleared, and a person’s image began to appear.

“Black Feather here. What can I do for you?”

[Justin, is that you? It’s me.]

From the familiar voice and the casual way the person addressed him, Justin immediately recognized who was contacting him.

“Lord Patriarch?”

It was Dorian Beventus, the Margrave and patriarch of House Beventus, the family Justin belonged to.

[…Thank you.]

After a brief silence, the Margrave who had contacted Justin through the communication crystal expressed his gratitude.

Justin was shocked to hear the words “thank you” from the Margrave’s mouth.

Throughout his life, Margrave Beventus was someone who received thanks from others, not someone who would ever think to express gratitude himself.

Yet here he was, thanking Justin.

“Could it be…”

[Yes, it’s as you suspect. Aisen has awakened.]

Justin could see traces of tears at the corners of the Margrave’s eyes through the crystal.

“That’s wonderful news, Lord Patriarch.”

[Indeed. You’ve worked hard too. Let’s meet at the family gathering soon.]

“Understood. I wish you well until then.”

After the magical communication ended, Justin placed the crystal back on his desk.

A sigh of relief escaped his lips upon hearing that Aisen Beventus had awakened.

“That’s a relief. The problem was resolved without any issues.”

Aisen Beventus had been suffering from Prezmerine disease, which was practically a curse.

The illness that had plagued her was now completely gone.

‘This information should remain just between us for now.’

Someone with the ability to cure Prezmerine disease—

Such a person possessed immeasurable value.

Justin’s mind quickly began calculating the potential benefits and costs.

But only for a moment.

‘What am I doing? Instead of helping someone who has done our family a great service, I’m calculating profits and losses.’

Justin decided to stop his calculations.

After all, Pathos was a valuable guest who had helped both him and his original family, House Beventus.

So he decided to put aside profit calculations for now.

Instead, he resolved to give Pathos an unexpected gift.

“Let’s see, I’m sure it was here somewhere.”

He was searching through the deployment roster of Black Feather operatives.

After rummaging through the list for quite some time, Justin found a name.

“Serin Ecatos. Seems she’s currently with House Ecatos.”

It was Serin Ecatos.

She was the woman whose Diamant had been repaired by Pathos’s ability, and who had decided to ask Pathos to fix her family’s treasured sword.

“With her excellent swordsmanship, she should be able to protect Lord Pathos from the threats of riffraff.”

Interference from other religious orders would be handled by Etherna, the Sun Order’s Chief Inquisitor.

Therefore, Pathos needed a strong shield to keep away troublemakers.

“I’ll need to prepare a new deployment roster soon.”

Justin muttered to himself, mentally deciding to assign Serin Ecatos to Glesius Academy.

However, there was something Justin didn’t know…

“My friend, do you have a capable person who could be assigned to that boy, Pathos?”

“There is an agent currently on standby who recently stepped back from active field duty in the Imperial Intelligence Department.”

“By my authority, I order that this person be assigned to Pathos. To protect an exceptional talent, we must take action from our side as well.”

“Don’t worry. That person will keep Pathos safe.”

“I trust your foresight.”

Emperor Decatro IV and Bergen Steyler had decided to send someone even more capable than Serin Ecatos—someone perfectly suited for Pathos’s current needs.

A tense situation would eventually develop between Serin Ecatos and the emperor’s agent, causing another commotion, but that was still in the somewhat distant future.

“So, what is this person’s name?”

“Lisa Energen. Rather than sending a grim-looking man, it would be better for young Pathos to have someone of similar age and the opposite gender.”

And so, unbeknownst to him, Pathos had gained two bodyguards…

“Behold! A miracle has occurred! Everyone, welcome Lord Pathos, the apostle of the Great Goddess!”

“What?”

…and was currently in a very serious situation.