episode_0021

“—-In the Gospel of St. Muller, verse 4, paragraph 96, it is said, ‘The sword of the evil one can harm the body of the good, but it is impossible for it to harm the will of the good.’ May all those gathered here have that kind of mindset and endure without yielding to the threats, intimidation, and sweet talk of the evil one….”

“Waaam….”

The warrior who yawns profusely, Choi Hyun-woo.

His appearance sitting in the front row of the stage naturally caught the attention of most people.

Julia gave him an urgent look, but Hyunwoo just sat up slightly without hiding his bored expression.

“……….”

Hmm….

Today again, warrior Choi Hyun-woo’s reputation is on a negative curve.

But, well, I can understand how you feel.

The endless ceremonies and endless congratulatory speeches.

How many hours has this pointless formality been going on?

(Isn’t it true that the goddess’s vain and extravagant personality is reflected in the actions of her followers? She has always been a woman who can’t do anything without showing off.)

‘Is that so…? Well, I’ve thought several times that the church in this world doesn’t seem to have anything to do with frugality or humility…’

(Hahaha…. Humility. That woman would rather bite her tongue and stick her nose in a dish than bow her head to a man. Thanks to that useless arrogance and pride, she often got into fights with other gods.)

While passing the time by chatting with Luagat like that.

Bishop Auguste, who was looking at Hyunwoo with an uncomfortable expression, coughed lightly and concluded his congratulatory speech.

“–Under the blessings of the benevolent goddess, I pray that the journey to save the suffering saints will be completed safely.”

Go back in time a bit, two days ago.

I gathered together with my warrior party members to discuss the next schedule.

While various opinions were being exchanged, Krimhilt quietly raised her hand and brought up one story.

He told the story of how he wanted to ask the warrior party to be his escort.

The story that Krimhilt told was roughly as follows.

A few days ago, the incident occurred where Saint Eterna was kidnapped by a group of bandits.

Although they deliberately kept the expedition a secret from the outside world for the safety of the saint and moved in a small group, the Baygrant bandits were able to completely track her movements and attacked her.

In all likelihood, information is leaking, and it is highly likely that this is the work of an internal accomplice.

In this situation, it would be useless to try to move secretly, so the religious order is said to have revised its plan to hold a grand departure ceremony and bring sufficient troops to head to the northern territory.

In addition to that.

Eterna, who was originally sickly and timid, developed social phobia due to the previous incident, and was unable to go on the northern expedition.

After much deliberation, the religious order decided to entrust the northern expedition mission to Krimhilt, who possessed divine powers comparable to those of a saint.

Although Krimhilt is currently active as an adventurer, she still belongs to the Goddess Cult, and her actions with the warriors are done with the permission of the cult.

As long as the religious order requires it, it is impossible for Krimhilt to refuse the order.

Of course, Krimhilt herself would gladly accept going on the northern purification expedition in place of her childhood friend, Eterna.

However, if she, the only healer, leaves for an expedition, the warrior party will not be able to receive any proper requests for a while.

To overcome this problem, Krimhilt must have used her own brain to come up with a plan(?) to ask a party of warriors to escort her.

The warrior party’s opinion on this proposal was split exactly half and half.

Hyunwoo tried to refuse the request, showing that he was annoyed.

In the first place, he doesn’t like expedition requests that take up a lot of time, and traveling with a group like the Goddess Cult that is strict about etiquette and rules goes against his taste for wanting to run the party as he pleases and have fun.

Of course, Krimhilt cannot refuse the orders of the sect, and the fact that if she leaves, normal commissioning will be impossible for the time being will not even enter her head.

Julia also agrees with Hyunwoo’s opinion.

And Zion agreed with Krimhild, as I had forewarned.

“…….”

“……….”

I guess it’s because most members usually agree with Hyunwoo’s opinion, so deadlocks like this rarely happen.

Julia, who had an awkward expression on her face, glanced at me and then moved her lips away.

“Hi, Mr. Hire.”

“….Huh?”

“Which opinion do you support, Mr. Hire, for or against?”

“As I said before, I am a guest party member. I do not intend to exercise my right to vote in this situation.”

“But opinions are deadlocked 2-2 within the party… No matter how much time passes, there will be no conclusion. Please provide your opinions for reference.”

“……..”

After pretending to think for a moment.

“I think I should take on the escort service.”

“….Can I ask why?”

“I know that your party of warriors has the top priority of restoring their lost honor and trust. To try to kick away the relationship with the goddess cult, which has more influence on the people than the royal family, I honestly don’t think you’re in your right mind.”

“……….”

“And this is also a problem related to trust within the warrior party.”

“What do you mean…?”

“If you reject this quest due to internal party circumstances, it will be difficult to accept quests related to other party members in the future. If there is a problem with the Royal House of Rekaia, or if there is a problem in the World Tree Forest, and you insist on accepting the quest, do you think you can accept that situation if you are rejected for reasons related to internal party interests?”

“………”

“…………..”

“My opinion is ideal. As I said before, I have no intention of exercising my right to vote, so you guys make your own conclusions.”

After a while.

In a re-vote, Julia came out on the side of yes, and the warrior party ended up accepting the escort request by a vote of 3 to 1.

“Ha….Fuck, seriously…Are you guys out of your minds? You want to go to the northern territory in this cold weather and go for a spin? And go that far away that it’ll take over a week….? I’m going crazy, seriously…..”

Hyunwoo grumbled quite persistently, but in the end his objections were not accepted.

So, the warrior party is a quest linked to the last quest to subdue the bandits.

After accepting the commission, I set off for the Northern Highland County territory with the Goddess Cult.

After the long, long inauguration ceremony came to an end.

The Northern Expedition led by Krimhild–officially known as the –has embarked on a journey.

We, the warrior party, rode in the same carriage as Krimhilt and traveled together.

The bishop, who was the client, explained that he wanted to escort her as closely as possible as she was the key figure in this purification expedition and provide her with various conveniences during her trip.

— Dagdak, dagdak, dagdak, dagdak…

Even though it was running at a fairly fast speed, the inside of the carriage barely felt any shaking.

Should we really say that this is the chariot of the goddess cult that sucks the blood of the common people?…

It’s hard to believe that this is a medieval-level civilization, with such high-performance cushions and suspension installed.

“Over there…..”

The leisurely journey continued for a while.

Krimhilt, who had been humming a tune while eating the snacks she had prepared in advance, as if she was going on a picnic, opened her mouth.

“Excuse me, Sister Zion….”

“…..Huh?”

“While I was away, where did you buy some kind of chest-pang-pang elixir?”

“……….”

“I’m jealous~ Where do they sell it? I want to drink it too~.”

“That’s not it…. There was a demon you fought while saving your friend last time. You got cursed by that guy.”

“Is that so? Hehe…. If you get cursed by a demon, your breasts get bigger… Where should I go to get cursed by a demon?”

“…………”

Is that something that can come out of the mouth of a priest of the Goddess Church?…

A few days ago, the morning after I returned to my lodgings after having a secret meeting(?) with him.

Naturally, it is said that there was considerable commotion within the warrior party.

To the party members who asked what happened, Zion said as I told him.

“When I woke up in the morning, I suddenly became like this. I went to the Magic Academy for a checkup, and they said that I had detected a cursed magic. I think the demon that killed me in the bandit den must have put a curse on me when he died. I was prescribed a ring to suppress the cursed magic, so there shouldn’t be any problems right away.”

He replied, “Yes.”

But not everyone seemed convinced by that…

Since you can’t kick out a party member just because their breasts have grown a little, an atmosphere has been created where nothing more can be done.

one side.

It is said that from that day on, Hyunwoo’s attitude towards Zion changed.

Originally, Hyunwoo was not very keen on welcoming Sion to the party.

Since he has a strong taste for big women and doesn’t really like straightforward women, Sion’s appearance and behavior probably didn’t suit his taste.

However, I convinced Hyunwoo to recruit her because I thought her high attack power, mobility, and rear support ability were essential to our party’s composition.

The fact that Zion was being ostracized within the party before I rejoined undercover was probably partly due to Hyunwoo’s taste issues.

Could it be because Zion, who was like that, suddenly got plump F-cup breasts?

Hyunwoo’s eyes, which were furtively looking at Sion while sitting on the opposite side of the carriage, were filled with blatant desire and interest.

A few hours later.

As the sun began to set and it became difficult to ride horses any longer, the Knights began preparing to camp.

Finding a suitable campsite, pitching a tent, building a campfire, preparing a meal, etc.

All the chores were taken care of by the Knights Templar and the sect’s attendants, so we rested comfortably and waited for the meal to be prepared.

The night watchmen will take care of it… Group travel is definitely convenient in times like this.

Tonight’s dinner menu is tomato stew and cheese pancakes.

The warrior party members sat down in the middle of the campsite and started eating…..

I sat down in a corner and started to fill my stomach.

— Slurp… well, well… gulp….

(Hmm…. It tastes pretty good. It’s not as good as what you made, but…. It looks like you have a pretty good chef.)

‘Of course, it’s a knight order that protects Krimhilt, one of the most important figures in the Goddess Cult. The cooks and servants must have been selected through a strict selection process. They must have used only the highest quality ingredients.’

While we were evaluating the food and tilting our plates.

I noticed Zion walking towards me after receiving his meal from the kitchen.

“………”

She was quite a beauty before, but…

With her natural elf beauty and added sexiness and charm, she now has the charm to capture people’s attention just by passing by.

Even though they are members of the Knights Templar, a group that values discipline and strictness in its own way…

The number of men casting sinister glances at Zion as she passes by is by no means small.

“–Zion.”

at that time.

Hyunwoo called out to Zion, who was trying to pass by.

“I’ll forgive you for what happened last time, so come over here and sit down. But people are watching, so wouldn’t it be a bit unpleasant for the warrior party members to sit and eat separately?”

Hyunwoo naturally offers to sit next to him.

In the side of his face, with a gentle smile on his face, there is even a hint of arrogance that suggests that he will naturally accept his offer.

Zion, who was looking straight at him, answered in a calm tone.

“Thank you for the offer, but I have to decline. I have a prior engagement.”

“Huh…? Oh, no…. What are you talking about all of a sudden? A pre-arrangement…?”

Are you confused by the completely unexpected answer?

Hyunwoo stammered and tried to question her, but Sion ignored him and came towards me.

And then….

— Thud….

I sat down in a seat close enough that our shoulders touched.

“….Didn’t you say not to do anything too conspicuous for a while?”

“Haha…. What the heck, you did something like that and now you’re trying to get away with it?”

“Well… That’s not it.”

“I don’t know about you, but I have no intention of hiding my feelings for you. I’m sick of being dragged around by that annoying idiot anymore….”

“Okay…. Whatever you want, do it.”

“Okay. I’ll do whatever you want.”

Zion and I having a meal together while chatting happily.

I took the food to my mouth while keeping my expression as calm as possible, but…

No matter what, it wasn’t easy to pretend not to see Hyunwoo’s reaction as he glared at me with a murderous expression as if he was going to pull out his sword at any moment.

okay.

I wanted to see that expression.

For you, who has been liked by every woman in the world so far, this feeling of betrayal is not something you can easily let go of.

but….

This is just the beginning.

Because I will take away, destroy, and trample on everything you have enjoyed so far.