Chapter Index

    The Betrayal of the First Holy Knight Order

    The Betrayal of the First Holy Knight Order

    Winter in Wentos County is colder than winter in other regions.

    Just as summer is very cool and pleasant, winter brings a truly hellish cold.

    “Uma…”

    “Yes, yes, come here.”

    Sirr, who had slowly and clumsily but by himself approached Riel, settled into her arms.

    It was only a few months ago that he stood up by himself, but he had already managed to take his first steps.

    Perhaps he liked the warmth of the living room where the fireplace was crackling, as Sirr smiled brightly in Riel’s arms.

    “Hehe”

    “You like it that much?”

    “Uma! Like!!”

    And two women were watching this scene.

    No, can it even be called watching?

    They had their hands clasped together in prayer.

    “Indeed, World Tree, you even learn to walk very quickly.”

    “……”

    One was speaking in an admiring voice, while the other was praying quietly without saying anything.

    How should I put it, two adults praying to a baby.

    It’s quite a peculiar sight.

    “Um… what brings both of you here so early in the morning?”

    “Ah, young lord.”

    The two people turned to look at me.

    One was Commander Alma, a Holy Knight belonging to the church and the commander of the Holy Knight Order.

    And the other was Vice Commander Remia, a priestess and Alicia’s colleague.

    The two of them had recently fled here to Wentos County with their subordinates.

    No, not just with their subordinates.

    They had even brought the Pope, who could be considered the top figure of the World Tree Church.

    “Once again, thank you for hiding us.”

    “N-no, I too am being targeted by the church… or rather, by the Cardinal. We’re in the same situation, so helping each other is possible.”

    That’s right.

    The two of them were now fugitives.

    From the hands of the church… or more precisely, from the Cardinal who currently controlled the church.

    Before I graduated from the academy, the two of them learned the truth.

    Based on Riel’s information, the two of them went to meet Alicia and heard the truth from her.

    The death of the World Tree, the rampage of Saint Bellia.

    And even the atrocities of the Cardinal who had seized control of the current church.

    Naturally, neither of them wanted to believe the shocking fact of the World Tree’s death.

    For the two of them, who held faith in the church, or more precisely in the World Tree that the church served, it was an unbelievable and terrible story.

    But since it was true that there were concerning matters, such as the Cardinal’s atrocities a year ago and the incident in the kingdom, the two of them put the situation on hold.

    What made these two believe Alicia’s words was when we visited the Ignis Duchy after our graduation.

    After graduation, Riel was planning to stay at our house in Wentos County rather than her own home.

    She was going to stay in the county and receive education as a countess under my mother.

    I’m not exactly sure what education as a countess entails, but my mother said it was a very important matter, so I simply agreed.

    Therefore, we decided to stop by the duchy first before heading to the county.

    Of course, not just me and Sirr, but also Phyllis and Miss Lilu accompanied us to the Ignis Duchy.

    For me, it was almost the first time since I had fought the elf assassins there.

    The Ignis Duchy had completely transformed.

    While looking around the greatly changed Ignis Duchy, which showed how hard Young Master Andrew had worked, Riel and I headed toward the ducal mansion.

    On our way to the ducal mansion, we saw a woman running toward us with a pale face.

    She had an anxious and urgent expression, but it was also like finding an oasis in a desert.

    “Oh, that person is definitely from that time…”

    As Riel muttered this, I looked closely at the woman running toward us.

    She must have been in her mid-twenties, with a very beautiful face and a dignified appearance.

    But perhaps she had been through some hardship, as that beautiful face was very gaunt.

    I felt like I had seen her somewhere before, but I couldn’t remember clearly.

    “Ah… ahh…”

    The woman ran earnestly, then stood in front of us and looked around as if searching for something.

    “Um… what… I’m sure it was here…”

    The woman was searching around as if we weren’t even present.

    At that moment, another woman came running after her from behind.

    “Remia!! Stop right there!!”

    The appearance of that woman was one we knew well.

    However, she was now wearing casual clothes instead of priestess robes.

    It was Alicia Melrot, soon to be Alicia Ignis.

    “Sister Alicia?”

    “Riel? That’s right, you were about to graduate…”

    Alicia, who recognized Riel, stopped in her tracks.

    The woman called Remia approached Alicia, grabbed her shoulder, and pleaded.

    “A-Alicia, I definitely… I definitely felt the presence of the World Tree here… The World Tree must really be alive…”

    The woman, Remia, pleaded to Alicia almost tearfully.

    Alicia wore a slightly awkward expression and glanced at us.

    No, more precisely, she seemed to glance at Sirr, who was in Riel’s arms.

    “Uh?”

    Did Sirr sense Alicia’s gaze?

    He tilted his head and looked at Alicia and the woman called Remia.

    After a moment, Alicia sighed deeply, removed the woman’s hand that was grabbing her, and then held that hand with both of hers.

    “Calm down, Remia.”

    “I-I felt it… While offering my morning prayer, I definitely felt the World Tree around here.”

    “Yes, you’re right. What you felt was real. So please calm down.”

    Alicia’s gaze turned toward Riel.

    Riel seemed to understand the meaning of that gaze, nodded, and approached while holding Sirr.

    I too moved along with Riel.

    “Remia, try offering a prayer again.”

    “What?”

    “Try offering a prayer here again. Then you’ll naturally understand.”

    The woman, Remia, made eye contact with Alicia, then carefully knelt on the ground and offered a prayer.

    After a few minutes of prayer, she suddenly opened her eyes wide and raised her head.

    “Wh-what…”

    Her gaze was fixed on Sirr, whom Riel was holding.

    Sirr too was staring at Remia with his red eyes.

    “Perhaps you hadn’t told her about Sirr?”

    At my quiet question, Alicia also answered quietly.

    “Since we weren’t sure if she was an ally or not, I thought it was too early to tell her about Sir.”

    “…It seems she suffered a lot because of that.”

    Remia was now offering prayers with her head bowed, tears streaming down her face.

    Despite her still gaunt face, there was a relieved smile on it.

    Anyway, through a similar process, Commander Alma, who was also waiting at the ducal mansion, confirmed Sirr’s identity.

    The new World Tree Sirr, born after the death of the original World Tree, Yggdrasil.

    Upon confirming his existence and simultaneously acknowledging that the World Tree Yggdrasil had truly died, the two women acted quickly.

    If the World Tree was already dead, then the one directing the Cardinal’s atrocities while pretending to be the World Tree must be Saint Bellia.

    The church had to be restored to its original state immediately.

    However, a problem remained.

    Sirr’s power was insufficient to reveal that he was truly the new World Tree.

    One had to be close to Sirr to feel the power of the World Tree that he emitted, and they couldn’t take Sirr to the church.

    There’s no telling where Saint Bellia’s influence might extend within the church.

    For Sirr’s safety, they couldn’t do that.

    Then, what if they, as renowned Holy Knights and battle priestesses, tried to persuade the church people directly?

    Even that would probably be impossible.

    Even if Commander Alma tried to persuade them, only fellow Holy Knights would likely follow her.

    The same goes for Vice Commander Remia.

    Their influence is weaker than that of Cardinal Gerald.

    Above all, even if it was revealed that Sirr was the new World Tree, there was no guarantee things would turn out well.

    Not all people in the Central Church belonged to the church solely out of deep faith, like these two.

    For wealth, for power, and so on, the church is also a place where all kinds of people gather.

    Even if they claimed and proved that Sirr was the new World Tree, would those people stand against the Cardinal, forsaking the privileges they currently held?

    It would probably be difficult.

    What they could do was to bring to our side people who were beyond the Cardinal’s influence.

    And above all, those with strong faith.

    And there was a central figure among them, none other than the Pope.

    The head of the faction opposing the Cardinal, and the top figure of the church.

    It was clear to anyone that securing and protecting him would be of great help.

    That’s why they first quietly returned to the church.

    To build their own faction, to rescue the Pope.

    After sending them off, Riel and I headed to Wentos County.

    We arranged for them to come to Wentos County if they successfully completed their mission at the Central Church.

    Although the church’s influence has greatly diminished in the kingdom, church members, believers, and priests are scattered throughout the kingdom.

    And they serve as the Cardinal’s eyes.

    Then, in a place in the kingdom where the church’s influence doesn’t exist at all.

    That place was Wentos County.

    The two women, Alma and Remia, leaving the Ignis Duchy behind, first headed to the capital.

    It was to rendezvous with the subordinates they had left in the capital.

    After sending a telegram ahead and arriving in the capital, their subordinates had already completed preparations and were waiting for them.

    The subordinates, who had briskly finished preparations to be ready to depart at any time, were lined up.

    “We are now returning to the church.”

    The subordinates responded vigorously to Commander Alma’s words.

    Leading such subordinates, they left the capital, traveled a considerable distance, and returned to the Central Church where they had been stationed.

    After traveling for several days like this.

    Commander Alma, who was leading the way on horseback, instructed everyone to stop when the church came into view in the distance.

    The Holy Knights looked at their commander, Alma, with puzzled faces at the sudden instruction to stop when the return destination was right in front of them.

    Commander Alma came forward in front of her subordinates while still mounted on her horse.

    She called out loudly.

    “I ask everyone to listen carefully.”

    It was very rare for Commander Alma to hold everyone in place and give a speech.

    Therefore, the subordinates looked at Commander Alma with eyes full of curiosity.

    “From now on, we will carry out the rescue of His Holiness the Pope.”

    At Commander Alma’s words, all the subordinates’ jaws dropped.

    Until now, Alma had been enduring the discomfort of the effectively detained Pope, holding back to prevent her subordinates from being harmed in the power struggle.

    Now, this Commander Alma was ready to confront the Cardinal and rescue the Pope.

    “…As everyone knows, this means becoming enemies with Cardinal Gerald. We probably won’t be able to return to the church for a while.”

    At those words, the subordinates wore complicated expressions.

    Commander Alma, directly facing the expressions of her subordinates, quietly opened her mouth.

    “If there are those who cannot accompany me, raise your hands, and I will let you leave here.”

    At those words, some raised their hands.

    Most of them were children from famous priest families or Holy Knight families who couldn’t leave the church.

    Alma called them out, asked for forgiveness, and gave them a vacation that was close to confinement.

    With a promise to release them when they left this place.

    They couldn’t accompany Commander Alma due to their circumstances, but since they revered the commander, they accepted the promise.

    “Consider it like taking a few days of vacation.”

    Saying that, they headed to a nearby village inn that Commander Alma had secured.

    Of course, there weren’t only such people.

    “Commander, have you gone mad?!”

    Holy Knights who were already connected with the Cardinal.

    Since she had already identified such individuals, she immediately ordered them to be restrained.

    And they too were confined, with a promise to release them when they left later.

    These individuals had to stay quiet under surveillance until the operation.

    “…To the rest, thank you very much for what must have been a difficult decision.”

    Commander Alma bowed her head deeply to express gratitude to her subordinates.

    “Now, I would like everyone to move according to my plan.”

    Thus, the First Holy Knight Order began to move beneath the surface of the Central Church.

    It was about a month later when they rescued the Pope and safely arrived at Wentos County.

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