episode_0138

000

In the early morning, the streets of the royal capital, with the sun rising, are gradually filled with the energy of those preparing for business. That we were able to spend last night safely must surely be thanks to the protection of the king and the clergy. Even if they tossed and turned a little in their sleep, or don’t quite remember the dream they had last night, the citizens of the royal capital live their busy lives day by day.

Walking hurriedly through the place where the same daily routine is about to begin is a small maidservant in a maid’s uniform. The girl, who looks to be around 10 years old, is walking along humming, with her black hair tied in a single braid.

Behind her, a woman in a white dress was following, walking slowly. She was wearing a fedora on her head, and covering her face with both hands, so it seemed like she couldn’t see well, yet she was somehow managing to avoid the signboards and other obstacles.

“Ah…”

As she let out a sound full of despair and shame, Rubella, whose appearance is comparable to a noble young lady, but strictly speaking, is also the girl walking ahead. She is a servant of the Trommel family, along with her magic sword, Barisada. Moreover, with the status of direct servant of the mistress, Aurelia Trommel. Originally, it was already past the time when work would have started, but thanks to a night out, it was only after a sufficiently late hour that she was returning the way she had come and heading to her workplace.

“Really. I know you wanted to see him after a long time and cheer him up, but why do you look so down?”

Lisa looked at her partner following behind, shrugging her shoulders as if she didn’t understand.

Unlike Rubella, she was in a good mood.

She and Rubella are connected in soul. When Rubella feels joy, she also feels joy. When Rubella is sad, she also feels sad.

In that respect, everything she felt last night flowed into Barisada, and Barisada, who had experienced something so pleasant that it was a little troubling, dressed neatly early in the morning, as always, to greet her master, greeted her sisters (the other battle maids), and left the Duke’s mansion.

In the room she went up to with the guidance of Suseu, Rubella was making sounds with her head against the wall, and Cleon was holding her arms and body as if trying to stop her self-harm.

Apparently, she had remembered everything that had happened in the middle of the night and seemed to have lost her mind from the shame.

Barisada, with the help of Cleon, calmed her down. She said that she couldn’t understand at all why Rubella was feeling ashamed.

She was able to meet her loved one after a long time and confirm their feelings for each other. Is it so embarrassing to have her true feelings revealed so much?

“It would be easier for Rubella if she were honest. Then Cleon would definitely like Rubella more, right?”

“Quiet… It’s impossible, so I’m doing this…”

Rubella glared at Barisada as if to kill her through the gaps in her spread fingers.

Barisada felt the chilling gaze running up her spine, shuddered, and approached her, who was covering her face, and grabbed her hand.

“Really. It’s not that it’s impossible, it’s that you’re not trying. Rubella is. Let’s go back to the mansion quickly. There’s a lot of work to do at the mansion today!”

“W-wait a minute. Don’t pull my hand. Aren’t people around watching?”

“Hey! Maid girl! Are you late again today? Your younger sister must be having a hard time!”

“Hahaha!”

“Keuk, keuek…”

As this scene was repeated several times, the shopkeepers in the street ended up remembering their unique appearance.

Rubella’s face turned red, but she couldn’t say anything and was dragged by Barisada towards the Duke’s mansion.

When she changed her clothes and headed to where Labita was, Nora, who was already working, looked at Rubella and smiled brightly.

“Labita! Rubella is back! Can I say it now?”

“Yeah. Nora. Tell her.”

When Labita instructed Nora with a smiling face, Rubella had a bad feeling and was about to say something, but it was drowned out by Nora’s voice.

“Eh- so. Welcome back from snuggling so intimately that you neglected your work. How many times did you go last night?”

“Keuk. Don’t talk nonsense.”

“Oh my, what is that white liquid flowing on your thigh?”

Rubella flinched and looked down at her thigh, but when she realized there was nothing there, she snapped to her senses and turned to Labita.

“L-La. Bi. Ta…!!!”

“Hahahaha! Look, Rubella has a ghostly face!”

“Stay right there! You old hag monster!!”

“Really. When are you going to work?”

Barisada sighed as she watched the two people start a chase scene with brooms in their hands.

001

At the same time, Cleon opened the door of the unfamiliar lodgings and announced his return with a small greeting. When he heard the sound of the poorly oiled door closing from behind with a creak, ah. He thought he had finally returned home and felt a sense of relief that he could rest a little easier.

Last night’s intense act was a bit physically taxing, even for Cleon.

Originally, he wanted to start the search right away, but he thought it would be a while before he heard from the Duchess, so he thought it might be a good idea to take a nap during the day, and took a step forward.

The sound of the wooden floor twisting, different from the sound he had heard from the door, stimulated his ears.

He hadn’t heard that sound when he was staying at the Keumgwangyeong or Layla’s mansion, but he barely remembered that he always heard it when he was staying in old buildings, in decent accommodations.

And another sound, different from the sound of his footsteps, was getting closer and closer to him. Light and slightly short strides. Layla would be a little more leisurely. He could tell that there was a mix of joy and anticipation in that step, which was one beat faster than hers. And as Cleon himself expected, Sasha, with a smiling face, appeared around the corner of the living room.

“Mr. Cleon! You’re back!”

“Good morning. Sasha. You’re up early today too.”

“Yes! I got into the habit of getting up for morning jogging at the Academy… I couldn’t go out today because I was organizing the luggage I couldn’t finish yesterday.”

Cleon nodded as he looked at Sasha saying that, and slowly moved his heavy footsteps like walking on top of a mud pit to head to his room.

The new accommodation was structured so that Cleon had to pass through the kitchen on the way to his room, so he was inevitably bound to run into Kuon, who was in the midst of preparing breakfast.

“Sorry Cleon. I couldn’t go out to the entrance.”

When Kuon, who was busily moving her hands, barely made eye contact with Cleon and said that, Cleon also shook his head and replied.

“No. I’m okay. Oh, and I’m going to sleep a little. Don’t prepare my portion.”

“What?! I already made it…”

“Ah- sorry… It’s okay. Kuon’s food is delicious even after it’s cold.”

“That’s not what I meant… Really.”

When Kuon, who seemed noticeably disappointed at Cleon’s words, said that, Cleon scratched his head and said ‘sorry’ before turning to go back to his room.

Tap tap. He turned around when he felt a touch as if someone was tapping him from behind. There, Layla with a smiling face was seen.

“You look tired. Customer.”

“Haa. …Haa?”

Layla, who was saying incomprehensible things, stuck a potion bottle with a blue medicine in it and a syringe needle attached to it directly into Cleon’s thigh.

With a tingling sensation, the medicine penetrates into Cleon.

“Wh-what. You, what…”

“Come on. Come on. Calm down and take a deep breath.”

Cleon is embarrassed by the sudden situation, but Layla strokes Cleon’s head, who is bending forward, as if she had expected even that.

The medicine travels through the blood vessels and spreads throughout the body, gradually erasing the fatigue that was heavily weighing down Cleon’s body.

“…No, really, what is this?”

“It’s my special fatigue recovery drink. I had it prepared before I heard from you that you were coming back this morning.”

Now Cleon could understand that Layla had scoffed when he sent her a telepathy. Perhaps she was expecting him to come back exhausted. Being not honest is similar for Layla as much as Rubella is, although not that much. He understood her psychology to some extent.

Regardless, Cleon puts his hand on his pounding chest and looks at Layla with uneasy eyes.

“What are the side effects…?”

“It’s like drawing energy from the next day in advance, so when the medicine wears off, you’ll be crazy sleepy, right?”

It was similar to the effect of the magic called ‘advance payment’ that Layla had used before and was banned.

Layla still pulled Cleon, who had a suspicious look on his face, and went to a place where Kuon couldn’t hear, and quietly spoke.

“Kuon has to attend the temple today at the request of the clergy. I wish I could go with you, but I have other things to do.”

“…You’re telling me to follow her, right? What are you going to do?”

“That man named Setos that I saw at the Trommel mansion yesterday. Did you feel anything after seeing him?”

Cleon remembers his face at Layla’s words. Certainly, he had a face that felt familiar somewhere, and the reaction he showed to Kuon was not normal.

In addition, he knows Kuon’s aunt.

“Maybe that man is Albein’s biological father.”

“… …”

Cleon’s heart pounded heavily for some reason after hearing those words. He had definitely heard that Albein was the illegitimate child of a nobleman. And her mother’s mind was broken due to the breakup with the nobleman and she returned to her hometown.

It’s a story he heard from Kuon and no one else.

“…Kuon seems to have vaguely noticed it too. But it’s not a good idea to bring up Albein’s name in front of that man.”

“You’re right. So. What are you trying to do?”

“It’s a background investigation to see if our assumptions are correct. There’s a reliable informant in the royal capital. You stick to Kuon today and see if that man comes. Just in case. And, what you need to be careful about is not just that man. Kuon is in a slightly complicated position within the clergy right now. You have to protect her.”

Layla brought her fist to Cleon’s chest and looked at him with strong eyes.

What he felt from the end of that fist was trust in Cleon, and at the same time, a will to leave Albein to her.

Cleon silently nodded and got up with his fatigue completely gone.

“Kuon. I’ll have breakfast too after all.”

002

“This is… Astera Great Temple…”

Kuon’s voice rings out from next to Cleon. Her expression couldn’t hide her surprise as she widened her eyes. Cleon was also about to be overwhelmed by what was in front of him.

It was a huge building. Among the various buildings Cleon had seen, the largest was still Monarch’s Hall, which he had seen in the center of the Academy. But unlike that one, which had a strong feeling of being fake, the one in front of him was much more majestic, huge, and even more brilliantly reflected sunlight in white, reverently guarding its place near the royal castle, the center of the royal capital.

The huge building was built by restoring ancient blueprints, and the number of supporting pillars is 72. The huge marble temple, with prayers densely engraved on it, draws up the magical power connected to the ley lines and scatters a kind of blessing called the protection of God throughout this royal capital.

This is the headquarters of the Holy Protection Order of the Saint, which is currently spreading throughout the continent and has the mission of protecting mankind from demons and disasters.

It was restored after being heavily damaged in the war with the past empire, and it is said to have been rebuilt more solidly and powerfully.

Well, that’s right. It was none other than the hero and the holy sword, and the saint, who saved this continent from the evil hands of the empire. It was a war that proved that the Savior legend of the Holy Protection Order of the Saint was not wrong.

“Amazing…”

“Yeah…”

Just in case, Galatea, disguised as an ordinary sword, was hanging on his waist. Galatea was vibrating with a whirring sound as if she felt uncomfortable with the divine magic power felt near the temple.

[Are we going inside from now on? I don’t like it…]

Cleon comforted Galatea, who was complaining, in his heart and looked at Kuon.

“What are you doing today?”

“It seems to be a volunteer activity by clergy members of the Order that is held regularly. Making holy artifacts or treating injured people.”

A holy artifact is a type of magic tool produced by the Order, and it was only a difference that the Order uses the name magic tool because the image is not good, so they were just calling it by another name. The difference is that the magical power contained is divine magical power, not ordinary elemental magical power.

The holy artifacts produced by the Order are mostly rosaries, starting with rosaries, and things that act as amulets. It is said that if clergymen put their heart and soul into making them stitch by stitch, items that naturally exert the effect of protecting the wearer are created without using complicated formulas like magic tools.

Recalling what Kuon had said before that the basis of divine magic is a heart for people, it is certainly amazing. But unlike magic, which only exerts its power through meticulous calculations, it is said that divine magic requires high cultivation as a basic requirement, but it feels like divine magic, which exerts its power with such a mindset and prayer, is more of a mess. Of course, it is generally said that divine magic is more difficult than regular magic, which meant that it was difficult to have and maintain such a mind.

Divine magic, which heals people’s bodies, soothes their minds, and purifies the tainted, is certainly the opposite of magic for destruction used by Layla, Beatrice, Cleon, and others.

Cleon instinctively felt something ominous about divine magic, which has such a powerful power, just like destructive magic of the same level.

“Anyway. Let’s go inside. The priest we met last time said he would guide us.”

Cleon nodded at Kuon’s words and passed through the entrance of the temple, and as she said, he could see the priest who had visited the Academy before waiting for Kuon.

“You came on time. Thank you, Ms. Kuon. Many clergy members are away from the temple on dispatch missions right now. I was having trouble because there were fewer people who could participate in regularly held volunteer activities. Are things going well with your colleagues that you mentioned before?”

“Yes. I haven’t been here for only a day, so there hasn’t been much progress yet. But I think the start is not bad.”

When Kuon bowed her head and greeted the kind priest with a kind smile, the priest this time looked at Cleon and spoke.

“Mr. Cleon. I’m really sorry for taking up your colleague’s time. I hope you can gain a little peace of mind while you are here.”

He didn’t know if it was a polite remark or if it was his true feelings. Cleon thought that he couldn’t be rude to the priest who was being kind to him in front of Kuon, so he could only quietly nod his head and answer that he understood.

They also knew that Cleon was a magic swordsman and that he was from the Black Magic clan.

But thanks to the education policy of Emereus and Eska, there were no clergy members who openly persecuted them in front of other people. There were people who were plotting behind the scenes or whispering.

The priest walked ahead with slow steps and led Cleon and Kuon to a large chapel where church members were gathered. The chairs were all pushed to one side, and wounded soldiers, old men with twisted backs. And, starting with adventurers who seemed to be feigning illness for the purpose of beautiful nuns, a considerable number of people gathered in that place and were seen talking to the clergy members attached to each of them.

“…There were similar activities in Elresia, but this is the first time I’ve seen so many people gathering.”

“…Well, if the Order’s activities are so active, I can understand why clinics and hospitals are closing down.”

The priest smiled wryly at the two people who were sending surprise with slightly different directions.

After that, Kuon started making holy artifacts first. And Cleon sat next to her, folded his arms, and looked around to see if any strange people were approaching her.

When he turned his gaze to the humming sound coming from the side, he could see Kuon skillfully passing beads with holes through the thread.

The amulet she makes will surely be completed with a strong power to protect others.

Suddenly, perhaps sensing the gaze looking at him, Kuon handed Cleon the thread and beads.

“Would you like to try it too, Cleon?”

Cleon’s eyes widened at the sudden suggestion. But he soon smiled wryly and shook his head.

“…Me? No. I’m okay. I’m not a clergy member, so I’m afraid a curse might be attached if I make it.”

“That’s not true. Even if you don’t have divine magical power, if you have a heart that truly thinks of others, you will surely complete a wonderful holy artifact.”

Just like Layla did when she asked Cleon for Kuon, Kuon looked at him with eyes believing in Cleon.

Cleon, unable to resist that strong will, reluctantly took the thread and carefully passed the thread through the hole.

“Wow! You’re good, Cleon! When I did it for the first time, it took me tens of seconds to put one on!”

“…Really? Maybe that’s because I don’t have a heart in it.”

“Really. You’re just saying things like that. Hehe. It’s okay. Do your best.”

Kuon encouraged Cleon, who was making a sullen answer for no reason, with a gentle smile.

Cleon felt a little dazzling from such Kuon, so he turned his gaze back to the rosary he was making.

At that time.

Cleon hurriedly turned his head to the opposite side when he felt the presence of a gaze that seemed to be staring at him eerily-

There, a woman was standing, looking at them with a gentle smile.

Long hair with a mixture of silver and sky blue, a sacred veil and a tiara, the symbol of the Pope, on her head.

A flowing clergyman’s robe covering her entire body. And the eyes seen in the smile.

He didn’t even need to use magic vision, he could tell that divine magical power containing brilliant light was flowing out of her body even if it wasn’t going through.

Until a little while ago, there was no one with such a presence in this place.

When he thought the surroundings had suddenly become quiet for a moment-

“E, Eska-nim…? It’s Eska-nim!”

“S, Holy Mother Eska-nim! Why is Eska-nim here!”

The voices of the people quickly spread throughout the hall, and he could see them trying to get closer to see Eska, the Holy Mother and Pope.

“Berastol.”

“Yes. Eska-nim.”

When Eska called someone’s voice, a woman covered from head to toe in plate armor blocked the way with a shield so that people could not pass over to her.

Then, no one could pass through that invisible wall and knelt down in that place, bowing their heads or offering prayers.

“I’m sorry. Everyone, today… I didn’t come here to give a sermon or pray. For a personal meeting. That’s why I came.”

Eska quietly asks the church members for understanding, speaking clearly and distinctly. One word at a time.

There was an unknown power in that voice. It was as if she was conveying her emotions to the church members as they were. A feeling of apology.

“Today, I am here not as the Pope or the Holy Mother. As an ordinary church member. Please, don’t mind me. Please continue today’s event.”

When Eska said that, the church members who had gathered to see her returned to their original places one by one.

Berastol watched the scene, returned the shield with divine magical power to her back, and stood silently behind Eska. It was a still posture as if a knight’s armor was decorated separately.

“I’m glad that the church members seem to be considerate. Right? Cleon. And- Ms. Kuon.”

“Ah, yes… Yes! Th, that’s right…”

Kuon answered with a stammer while nervous when Eska called her name.

And Cleon answered with a slightly uncomfortable look.

“…It’s been a while. Ms. Eska.”

“E, Ms. Eska…? Cleon, who used to call Talcheck-ssi and Sophia-ssi by their first names…”

Kuon muttered to herself, looking at Cleon’s docile attitude with a surprised face.

“Yeah. It’s been a while, Cleon. I wanted to see you.”

Eska, as if Cleon’s reaction was natural, stretched out her hand from the clergyman’s robe, which had large sleeves, and placed it on Cleon’s head.

Although that growth had stopped in her teens. That look was like the expression of a mother meeting her child after a long time.

Truly, a face befitting the Holy Mother of the Order. Kuon was sparkling with small admiration and respect as she looked at her.