The Good Fortune of Peace and Chastity (2)

The man was in a good mood.

Just last night, hadn’t he suffered the humiliation of being slapped by his superior?

Hadn’t he been cursed at, saying why can’t you bastards bring in white-haired women like the other units do?

But now, this healer he had taken along at his word was truly a tremendous harvest.

She had built a cathedral alone without permission in a village where there shouldn’t be one.

Moreover, a healer who officially doesn’t have the qualifications to run a cathedral.

Add to that white hair.

And even her profession as a healer.

Isn’t she a woman who could be accused of being a highly suspicious element with strong apostate suspicions, or if not that, could even be framed as a demon follower?

For them, who hadn’t made any notable harvests so far, this was literally an amazing reversal.

It’s a harvest that should surely earn them at least a few gold coins.

Money to generously grease their stomachs with oil first when they get the gold coins, and enough to embrace women at brothels.

The man didn’t bother hiding his mood, which already felt like his mouth might split to his ears.

• • • • THUD—!

At least until a huge piece of metal fell in front of them.

• • • • Neigh!

The pack horses, not particularly trained and only used for carrying people or loads, were greatly startled and reared up.

Because of this, they nearly fell off their horses, but the man and his companions fortunately managed to grab the reins and maintain their posture.

“Wh-what—! What happened!”

The man in the lead narrowed his eyes and glared straight ahead.

It was hard to see anything because of the dust cloud swirling high, and he didn’t have the insight to penetrate through such clouds.

• • • • The Celestial God says, do not oppress my people.

A heavy voice as if flowing from the abyss.

As the dust cloud that had risen high gradually subsided, a shadow was slowly rising from within that dust.

• • • • The Celestial God says, know how to pity even those who have sinned.

A low prayer.

He had never heard such a prayer before.

The man wasn’t particularly well-versed in the Celestine Church to begin with.

It’s natural, as he was just playing the role of a kind of disposal unit called the Spider Swarm, and was only sticking around because the earnings were quite good, not out of any faith or sense of mission to the Celestine Church. So he didn’t know that such a prayer existed, and moreover, he didn’t even know that it was a prayer passed down only to the Holy War Knights.

“What are you doing, you bastard!”

The man and his subordinates raised their spirits, each drawing their swords and spears.

They were already in a good mood, and excited by the thought of quickly returning to the main unit, handing over the woman, and receiving their reward.

That time was delayed, and someone appeared in front spouting ominous prayers, so there was no way they could be in a good mood.

“Release that healer. She is not one who has sinned.”

A giant revealing himself from within the dust cloud.

Fully clad in silver armor complete with a helmet, he firmly grasped a morning star in one hand and held a tower shield in the other.

“Th-that’s a morning star…”

“Isn’t that, isn’t that the Holy War Knights?”

“It is the Holy War Knights…!”

The whispers finally reached the man’s ears.

Even without those voices, the man keenly felt that something was wrong from the moment he saw that morning star.

Even for the Spider Swarm, attacking a cathedral knight without a unit was suicidal.

The cathedral knights, cloaked in the Celestial God’s protection, had formidable combat power as they were the core strength of the Celestine Church, to the extent that it’s said the Capatia Empire can exist because of the Celestine Church’s cathedral knights.

Moreover, that morning star is like a symbol of the Holy War Knights, a knightly order directly under the church territories.

When he thought about why such a person was here — something flashed through his mind.

• • • • Holy War Special Forces Captain, Scarlet… that’s me. I’ll say it again, state your affiliation and name.

He remembered that tiny girl.

There’s no way a Holy War Knight would suddenly drop from the sky — well, he did drop now, but even a Holy War Knight wouldn’t have flown through the sky, so it means he must have been nearby.

Then, it points to the fact that that girl really is the Holy War Special Forces Captain — no, he doesn’t think that’s possible, but all circumstances indicate that it’s true.

That girl.

The girl who seemed to have no combat ability at all.

But in front of him is a Holy War Knight.

And what that knight wants is this healer.

The healer, who had been trembling like an aspen leaf, let out a sigh of relief upon seeing Sekti appear before her eyes.

Seeing her visibly relieved as if she really hadn’t expected her to appear, the man gritted his teeth and shouted.

“…There are seven of us! Would the Spider Swarm cower before one, damn it! Hey, we just need to end it here!”

There’s one opponent and seven allies.

The confidence given by this numerical difference was surprisingly strong.

As if collectively hypnotized — yes, no matter if it’s a Holy War Knight, how could they deal with seven people.

Even if we rush at once to prevent them from receiving divine protection, we might somehow manage — such groundless confidence sprouted vigorously among the men.

Moreover, if they lose this healer, even their hard-earned harvest will disappear.

If they return like this, they’ll truly be grilled to the point where it might be better to just die.

“Show why the Spider Swarm is called the Spider Swarm! Boys, attack!”

The men charged towards the Holy War Knight, shouting with all their might.

The price of not distinguishing between courage and recklessness was the loss of life.

In an instant, seven corpses with their heads burst open were strewn across the mountain path, which instantly became a bloody mess, and the blood flowing from there formed a ditch and flowed down.

“Are you alright?”

Scarlet, who had cut the rope binding her wrists with a dagger, asked Serad.

Shaking her wrists, which had turned pale from the blood not flowing properly due to how tightly they had been bound, Serad looked at the Holy War Knight.

“…I’m Scarlet.”

The voice coming from inside the helmet had a buzzing resonance, so it couldn’t be heard properly.

At a glance, it sounded like a man’s voice, so she couldn’t believe it was that short little girl who had been with her until just now.

“This way you’ll be-believe me, right?”

Scarlet took off her helmet.

Then the girl — Sekti, who looked particularly small compared to that armor, revealed herself.

“…So you really were a knight.”

Serad said in a small voice.

It was hard to believe, in truth.

She had seen her wearing armor, but she had never seen her move in it, had she?

It’s hard to believe that such a small girl could move in such huge armor, and after seeing her instantly slaughter those seven men — killing them with just seven swings of her weapon — it becomes even harder to believe.

“Are you… going back to the village? Then I can es-escort you… if possible…”

A hesitant, stammering voice.

It was quite amazing how much a person could change just by taking off their helmet.

Serad thought of the people she had seen while leaving the village.

People closing their windows in every house, peeking outside through the cracks.

Those people were all, without exception, people who owed Serad a great debt.

People who brought fruits or grains, saying they brought them instead because they had no money.

And Serad, who willingly provided healing even while receiving those things.

But this is the result.

Even though she was caught up in this unprecedented situation and dragged away, not a single person stood up for her.

But she couldn’t blame them.

Because not everyone has the courage to stand up to violence that cannot be resisted.

“…No.”

Even so, could Serad go back and live with them as before?

Not being able to do so, Serad shook her head.

“Do you… have somewhere to go…?”

Sekti asked her in a timid voice.

If you’ve received a favor, you should repay it.

That’s the belief Sekti has lived by.

She owes a debt to Johannes too, so she must repay it — that belief had become quite excessive, but she couldn’t just ignore this situation that had befallen Serad either.

“…Lukasia, Lukasia…”

“Lukasia, do you mean the Kingdom of Lukasia…?”

“Yes. The port of Lukasia in the Kingdom of Lukasia. That’s… my hometown. It’s quite far though.”

“I… I see. Then… I’ll… go with you there.”

Sekti, who had been stuttering, seemed frustrated with herself and put her helmet back on.

A long sigh could be heard from inside the helmet, and only then did Scarlet speak in a calmer voice, as if relieved.

“I will surely repay the favor I’ve received. That is also a principle of the Holy War Special Forces.”

It’s also something He always emphasized.

Swallowing those words, Scarlet began to walk towards the village with Serad.

Her warhorse was still in the village.

“There’s a ship. At the port of Lukasia.”

“We have to cross the sea. Is it a sturdy enough ship?”

So, how to enter Katus.

Since they can’t enter proudly, they’ll have to smuggle in, and when asked about the method, that was the answer that came from Alebbian.

“Katus is… all military ports. Not trading ports. The inspection—”

“What nonsense are you talking about? I asked if it’s a sturdy ship, why are you saying strange things?”

Yona’s sharp voice scolded Alebbian.

Going to Katus is fine. She understood the intention, and also knew that there was a demon she had to subjugate there.

But getting there is the problem, isn’t it?

“Stop with the Zen riddles and answer the question. Do you think everyone is as sneaky as you?”

“Sneaky, you say.”

Alebbian’s ears drooped.

She looked visibly hurt, but unfortunately, Yona didn’t care whether Alebbian was hurt or not.

“Me, Alec, Rubina, Kaiyak, and Mr. James. Can these five people safely enter Katus or not? Just answer that. How am I supposed to understand when you answer about military ports or whatever? How are you even a professor with that brain? Is that idiot Friki so stupid because he’s your student?”

“Th-that’s not it… Yona, pr-pretty one. Listen to me.”

“Oh come on, forget about ‘pretty’ and whatever, just answer! Can we get in or not?!”

“Y-yes, you can.”

“Okay, I got it. Now that I understand, go buy some snacks. Rubina says she’s bored.”

The carriage was passing through a small village.

Among them, the only one free to move around besides James was Alebbian, but Yona didn’t send James on any errands at all.

Instead, all of Yona’s care was Alebbian’s responsibility.

“Did you think taking care of a saint was easy? What are you looking at? I said go buy snacks.”

“…Alright.”

The carriage stopped, and Alebbian got off with slumped shoulders.

Watching Alebbian’s back as she trudged towards the village, Yona finally snorted with satisfaction.

‘Let’s see how you like being treated badly for once. I’ll make you regret choosing the wrong saint.’

Yona was thoroughly determined.