Cleaning Up (1)

Once the situation was somewhat settled, it was Bigrin’s turn to finish up.

Bigrin, who had declared the Celestial Realm Mantra on herself with the holy power that had risen by then, maintained that state while going around under Ludvik’s protection.

Yona had wondered what the point of that was, but when she saw the dead who had unintentionally entered that realm as Bigrin walked around, each letting out strange screams and burning black, she realized, ah, so that’s what it’s for.

Meanwhile, Ceres was checking the damage to the Cathedral Knight Order, with three killed in action and four lightly injured.

“This much is fortunately not a big loss. What do you think, Sir Louis?”

At Ceres’s words, Louis nodded with his visor down.

She only sees the knights as numbers on paper anyway.

Although he didn’t expect her, as the Chief Elder of the Celestial Church’s Capatia branch and a mage, to have any particular view on life, Louis couldn’t openly agree given the situation where his subordinates had died and been injured.

“I will send the injured back to Capatia.”

“Do so.”

Louis turned around with his visor down.

They couldn’t recover the bodies of the deceased and only retrieved their equipment.

Killed by the dead, they had become dead themselves, and when last seen, they were staggering around wearing that equipment, so retrieving it wasn’t difficult.

His heart was heavy.

Although he had firmly resolved to end his life on the battlefield, on the battlefield against demons, when witnessing the death of subordinates like this—

He didn’t know.

What meaning does it really have?

“You did well today.”

Someone patted Louis’s shoulder.

Turning around, he saw Ludvik standing in front of him, his face stiff and visibly tense.

“…The Celestial God will value them. The souls of your comrades.”

It was comfort he hadn’t received from Ceres.

Louis slowly pushed up his visor.

As the visor rose, his slightly obscured vision cleared.

Ludvik’s figure slowly came into Louis’s view.

“You really fought hard today. Your fallen comrades have surely found eternal rest in the embrace of the Celestial God.”

Louis hesitated, not knowing how to respond.

Ludvik, who had seemed merely frivolous, to whom he had spoken curtly.

If he speaks like this now, how should one respond?

Moreover, with such an expression, it becomes even more difficult to know what to say.

“…You too, Hero, were truly worthy of your title. It was our inadequacy that failed to support you properly.”

“Not at all. Rather, it’s a day where I realized my own inadequacies. Especially when I look at that holy knight over there.”

Ludvik and Louis’s gazes turned simultaneously.

Where their gazes fell, a holy knight in silver armor, boasting a physique nearly equal to Kairoc’s, was standing.

*

Because it was salvation that came at a moment when she truly thought she was about to die, that holy knight left a deep impression on Yona.

The silver armor was cool, and honestly, for Yona who still retained her masculinity, he was someone very much worth admiring.

“Thank you for saving us, Sir Holy Knight.”

Yona bowed at the waist on behalf of her group.

The holy knights who participated following that holy knight showed truly remarkable performance.

While Capatia’s Cathedral Knight Order of just ten people showed an amazing feat of blocking that enormous number of dead, the twenty-four holy knights who pushed in late from the opposite side literally slaughtered the dead like a grinder as they advanced.

Yet not a single one died in battle, and there weren’t even any injured.

Among them, the most outstanding performance was by this large holy knight, where bones and flesh scattered like flower petals in the wind every time he swung his shield and morning star.

Scarlet stared at Yona, who was expressing her gratitude, for a long while.

Just as Yona was starting to wonder about Scarlet, who was staring without any response, Scarlet answered.

“I am called Scarlet. And in this battle… it was thanks to the Capatia Cathedral Knight Order members who fought hard and blocked them well. Because of that, we were able to easily become the hammer of the Celestial God and strike down, so the credit goes more to them.”

Scarlet answered in a booming voice.

The deep, low voice created an atmosphere that made listeners feel at ease, but hearing that voice, Yona suddenly felt a strange sense of discomfort.

‘The voice resonates a bit…? What is it? Is it because he’s speaking from inside the helmet?’

Well, what does it matter.

It’s not an important issue.

Kairoc seemed to have recovered and was fine now too.

“Thanks to you, I survived again this time. I think, with this level of performance, I might be eligible to rise to gold rank, don’t you think?”

“Oh my, seeing that the lizard’s mouth is still working, I guess you’re feeling better now.”

Yona teased as she slapped Kairoc’s mouth with her palm repeatedly. But since it was only ticklish to Kairoc, he grinned and took all the hits, then thanked Alec as well.

“Alec, you worked hard. Thanks for protecting us. As expected, you can proudly call yourself a guard from Evian.”

“Ah, it was nothing.”

“By the way, I observed this well even in that state.”

Kairoc beckoned Alec with a gesture.

As Alec approached awkwardly, Kairoc whispered in his ear.

“About that holy knight. His shield technique is extraordinary. When you go to Inpula this time, try to learn some shield techniques from the Cathedral Knight Order. You shouldn’t just be a guard forever, right? Yona, to firmly grasp that bald thunder, you should learn some cool skills too, don’t you think?”

Alec groaned at those words.

It was something he had been worrying about all along.

Although shield techniques are mainly defensive, someone like Alec could be considered quite proficient in shield defense. Moreover, having gone through several crises during this journey, he had developed even further, so honestly, at this point, he could aim for promotion to silver rank.

But that’s not all, is it?

If he wants to continue traveling with Yona, defense alone is not enough.

‘…More impressive techniques, huh.’

The dead falling with each swing of the shield.

To the point where it was hard to tell if it was a shield or a blunt weapon, that figure so adept at striking with the shield.

It was truly a unity of offense and defense.

Someone famous where I used to live once said something like this.

What?

National power lies not in defense but in attack.

What does that mean?

It means that if you only defend, you’ll eventually get robbed, so you need to attack and kill them before that happens.

As Yona had once said, although Yona might be a bit strange in the head, she’s still a woman, isn’t she?

She would probably prefer a reliable companion who is skilled in both defense and offense rather than one who only defends every day.

Alec’s worries began to deepen.

And those worries deepened even more when he noticed Yona looking at the holy knight.

To Alec, that gaze seemed clearly filled with admiration, which made him even more concerned.

Cathedral Knight Captain Louis directed his members to return to Capatia Port for the evacuation of the wounded.

The escort duty was assigned to the knight order from Inpula, and among them, the exceptionally large holy knight—Scarlet—had boarded the carriage and was riding along.

Seeing Scarlet maintaining a straight posture, sitting upright on the seat without even removing his helmet, not even the visor, Yona started to feel a bit overwhelmed.

‘If I return to being a man and become a holy knight, do I have to live like that too?’

She couldn’t help but have such thoughts every time she looked at Scarlet.

There was still some doubt about whether her holy power would remain if she returned to being a man, but she believed it would.

If her holy power disappeared, it would be difficult to make a living.

And if her holy power remained, should she continue life as a healer?

That’s a bit pessimistic too.

So becoming a holy knight would be cool and good, but seeing that figure, being a holy knight seems a bit much too.

And behind her with such thoughts, a map was spread out on the table.

Seated around that table were Ceres, Ludvik, and Scarlet, discussing the investigation into the cause of the anomaly that occurred in Semec this time.

“The possibility of it being a necromancer is very low.”

Scarlet asserted.

At those words, Ludvik and Ceres’s gazes immediately turned to him.

“Think about it. If it were a necromancer, there would be no reason to target Semec specifically. Semec is not the only place with corpses. Wherever people live, there are bound to be corpses, and there are even larger communal cemeteries. To target Semec, which would incur the wrath of the Celestial Church if tampered with, is not something a mere necromancer would do.”

“Hmm, I agree. Indeed, as Sir Scarlet says, the scale is too large for a necromancer to orchestrate. Moreover, the risk is too high.”

Ceres stroked her chin while listening to Scarlet and Ludvik’s words.

Just as the two were starting to wonder about Ceres’s expression, which seemed pleased about something, Ceres called Yona.

“Miss Yona, could you come over here for a moment?”

“Yes?”

Yona, who had been playing a hand-clapping game with Rubina, patted Rubina’s head at Ceres’s call and approached the table.

Seeing Yona’s expression, clearly not having properly heard what was being discussed as she was suddenly called, Ceres smiled brightly.

“Miss Yona, how do you feel right now?”

“How I feel? Um… just normal. Why?”

“Do you feel excited or, um… in heat, something like that? Don’t you feel anything like that?”

“H-h-h-h-heat?!”

Yona’s face turned bright red in an instant.

“T-t-t-there’s nothing like that!”

“Is that so? Hmm, then maybe not. I see. Well then, Sir Scarlet, what do you think is behind this incident?”

Scarlet fell into thought for a moment.

Then, raising his hand covered in a gauntlet, he extended only his index and middle fingers while curling the other fingers.

“There are two possibilities.”

“Two?”

“One is the vampire, known as the walker of eternal night. This is also one of the higher demons.”

“And the other one?”

Scarlet curled his middle finger.

Slowly waving the remaining index finger, Scarlet continued speaking.

“A lich. The king of rotten mages. This case is the most troublesome. It’s like having two lives. Destroying the body doesn’t end it—”

And at that moment, Yona interjected.

“You have to destroy the life vessel, right? Isn’t that correct?”

It’s knowledge from the previous world.

The walker of eternal night, or the no-life king as vampires are called, is commonplace, and while liches are also common, their distinguishing feature is that life vessel.

So— she wanted to show off her knowledge.

However, the atmosphere didn’t turn out as Yona had thought.

There was no reaction like “How does Miss Yona know that—” or “Wow, Miss Yona, that’s amazing!” Instead, the piercing gazes of all three people—Ceres, Ludvik, and even Scarlet—were directed at Yona.

“…Um, is that not right? Or… never mind…”

“Miss Yona.”

Scarlet slowly stood up from his seat.

Although of equal height to Kairoc, he looked even larger in width due to his armor. As Scarlet stood up and looked down at Yona, an indescribable pressure weighed down on her.

“How do you know that?”

The surrounding air was growing chilly.

Yona’s golden pupils began to shake uncontrollably.

“And, while we’re at it, you should also explain about that tattoo on your right arm. In great detail.”

Yona’s back began to get soaked.

With cold sweat.