Chapter 73
Chapter 73.1. Lancelot’s Adventure (2) Part 1
"Stop! What are you doing?" A sharp, high pitch voice dominated the inn’s first floor, forcing the paladins to suppress their spirits.
The unknown power in the voice seemed to restrain the paladins. As a woman descended from the stairs, the paladins knelt on one knee in unison to show their respect.
It was the person they admired, Saintess Hillis.
Hillis passed by the kneeling paladins and approached Lancelot’s party situated in the middle of the first floor.
"Lady Saintess! It’s dangerous!" A paladin objected.
"Be quiet!" The saintess said.
Once again, the Knights were unable to lift their heads as if a strong pressure was being exerted on them.
The saintess approached Mac and bowed her head to apologize, "My subordinates have been rude."
In Hillis’s eyes, it seemed like her subordinates had surrounded innocent civilians and threatened them, but rather, Mac had deliberately lightly provoked the paladins’ subconscious without anyone knowing. However, since the paladins remained unaware, there was no way that Hillis could have known, having come down late.
When Hillis bowed and apologized, the men groaned indignantly. They blamed themselves more than anyone else for making the honorable saintess bow her head, but they were bound by Hillis’s orders and couldn’t open their mouths.
Mac licked his lips at the change in the situation. In reality, it was better not to get in a fight as one of the group’s escorts, but he couldn’t help but feel some regret.
"I don’t understand what’s going on, so can you explain the situation to me?" Hillis enquired while tenderly smiling.
Mac shrugged and gave Lancelot’s back a slight push. "I’m just an escort. The leader of our party should answer such a difficult question.”
"Vice-captain?" Hillis pressed.
Suddenly pushed forward, Lancelot looked at Mac in surprise, but Mac just returned a handsome smile. Lancelot wanted to ask why he should deal with a situation he didn’t cause, but he couldn’t vent his feelings at this moment.
Lancelot stopped himself from acting when he recalled Denburg’s teachings. If the other party didn’t notice your own side’s faults and apologized, there was no need to tell them about your faults.
Since the situation was already like this, he decided to be confident. Either way, their level seemed to be too insufficient to notice Mac’s provocation.
"That’s, maybe we could stay at the inn too, heuk!" Lancelot looked at Hillis with tearful eyes.
It was Denburg’s wise saying that those who cry first survive for sure. As a tear slid down Lancelot’s cheek, Hillis understood everything that Lancelot wanted to say.
When they were forced to beg for a room and unable to stay because the inn was fully rented, the paladins tried to chase them away by raising their fighting spirits to the point where the inn was shaking.
Her understanding wasn’t necessarily wrong. Even the innkeeper who was watching the whole situation felt the same way.
The reality was a little different, but it became true with Lancelot’s performance. Lancelot’s innocent-looking eyes were convincing enough to fool even Hillis, who was used to dealing with the old raccoons at the temple.
"Do you guys have anything to say?" Hillis asked.
The paladins had nothing to say in response to Hillis’s rage. To be specific, they were bound by the previous order of "Be quiet" and couldn’t open their mouths.
At the lack of any response, Hillis admonished the paladins with cold eyes, "You all are priests. Of course, I know that it is your job to wield the sword, to become the shield of God, and to crush God’s enemies, but before that, a priest must share God’s mercy. Yet, persecuting the innocent, do you think that’s what you should do as a priest?"
Still, the paladins could not answer. Hillis continued to preach without caring.
"Have you ever thought that each of your acts could dirty God’s name? The poor, the rich, the noble, and the wicked are equal before God. As the saintess, I am disappointed by this display. So-"
Hillis, who finished speaking like a squadron leader, took a deep breath and shouted, "Drop your heads, you bastards!"
At Hillis’s command, the paladins responded perfectly and put their heads on the ground, holding their hands behind their backs. [1]
The sight made Lancelot flustered, "Uh, um, that might be a little excessive...”
Looking at the paladins’ veins bulging out of their necks and their heads supporting their body weight, Lancelot asked Hillis for leniency.
At the very least, Lancelot had originally intended to get Leisha to be able to stay in the inn, not have the paladins be violently punished.
"No, this is a trial from God. You don’t have to worry too much about it," Hillis stated.
No, it’s not God. This is your trial, isn’t it?
Lancelot thought so, but he couldn’t state his innermost feelings when he saw Hillis’s benevolent yet refreshing smile.
Hillis continued while sitting gently on the back of the nearest knight. "I haven’t introduced myself yet. I’m Hillis and am known in the temple as a saintess, undeservingly. I’m associated with the Great Temple Percival.”
"Um, excuse me. Isn’t that too heavy for him?” Lancelot asked.
When Lancelot stated his concern for the paladin lying under Hillis, she looked shocked. "Oh, my! Do I look so heavy?"
"No, that’s not it," Lancelot said.
Hillis smiled at the bewildered Lancelot. Then she patted the back of the knight she was on and asked, "Am I heavy?”
The knight almost answered "Yes!" at that moment, but fortunately, he was still bound by the order "Be quiet" and could not answer.
When there was no answer, Hillis frowned for a while then realized that he could not answer because she had previously issued an order with divine power.
“Answer! Am I heavy?” Hillis asked again.
Upon the repeated order, the knight replied with a roar, "No! Miss Saintess is as light as a feather!"
What Hillis ordered was to answer, not tell the truth.
Hillis looked at Lancelot again and smiled, "So he says. Now, can you tell me who you are?"
Lancelot realized that he had not introduced himself and began to speak, "Oh! I apologize. I’m Lancelot from the 3rd team of the Crow Tribe’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs. I was dispatched as a special envoy to the capital. I’ve heard much about Miss Saintess through rumors."
Lancelot was quick to greet the saintess as he was trained at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Hillis couldn’t help but be surprised at Lancelot’s greeting. Aside from Bloody, who was the head of the Imperial Army, the Crows were closed off to the outside world, with the only external dealings being selling demon byproducts in Warrant.
It was inconceivable that they would meet each other in Zaharam, so far from Olympus Forest.
As per the rumors, he really had black hair and black eyes. The black hair was more common, but she had never seen black eyes.
"I didn’t expect rumors about me to spread even to the Crows. It’s an honor." Hillis said.
"No, even our village and military chiefs were interested to hear about the saintess. After all, one hasn’t been selected since more than 80 years ago."
Eight years ago, on the day of her 10th birthday, Hillis received divine revelation and became a saintess.
The birth of a new saint came 80 years after the death of the former saint, so it had actually been 130 years after their death that a new saint was chosen. It became such a big event that Hillis’ existence became known throughout the Empire and even the world.
"Then are those people Crows, too?" Hillis asked.
Lancelot nodded, "Yes, the one holding a magic wand over there is Leisha Blade. She’s the daughter of Doomstone Blade, known outside as the village chief.”
Hillis was surprised to hear that Leisha was Doomstone’s daughter.
"Ah! That legend!" Hillis exclaimed.
The legend of Doomstone, in which he had blown half a kingdom away, was still being talked about.
It was mainly used to tell crying children that Doomstone would come after them if they didn’t stop crying. In fact, some people considered Doomstone to be a legendary beast or dragon rather than a real-life person.
Hillis also heard about him a lot from her older sister, Vibrio, when they stayed up late at night when she was young.
"How unexpected. I thought her daughter would be, how do you say, very muscular, but she’s so slender. Not to mention that she is a magician also."
It was hard to imagine that there were magicians among the Crows, but contrary to what she thought, there were many magicians in the Crow Tribe.
Although the number was small compared to the Butterfly Tribe, more than half of the village could use basic magic. The percentage of magicians who specialize in magical research was also several times higher than that of the Empire and other kingdoms. Of course, most of them could only use magic at the level of being able to produce light as bright as a flashlight.
In the first place, the image that the Crows were unfamiliar with magic was not only because of Olympus Forest’s environment but also because of Doomstone and Bloody. Although Doomstone traveled outside the village only for a short period, he was able to achieve things that couldn’t even be done with strong magic using his bare hands.
Bloody was also frequently unfriendly towards magic users, which gave the impression that the Crows were not amiable to the field of magic.
Leisha waved at Hillis. "Only one of my brothers is as strong as my father. The other brothers are normal."
"Come to think of it, the youngest son is even slimmer than Miss,” Mac said.
Lancelot became furious at Mac, "No! Den’s figure is! His figure... it’s not thick, but wouldn’t it be slimmer than Leisha noona?”
Lancelot couldn’t say that Den had a thick figure.
"Wait! My figure is thicker than Den’s?! Lancelot! You have to be truthful!" Leisha suddenly felt insulted.
Even if it was true, it was hard to ignore someone saying she had a thicker figure than a boy.
Lancelot ignored the teary Leisha and gave a fake cough as he introduced Mac to Hillis. "Hmmhmm! This is the vice-captain of the warrior corps, one of the main armed groups of the Crows."
"I’m Mac,” Mac said.
"Nice to meet you," Hillis replied with a smile.
Looking past Hillis’s graceful smile, Lancelot asked for leniency once again when he saw that the paladins still had their heads on the ground, sweating profusely.
"Isn’t it okay to stop now?” Lancelot asked.
Seeing that his tactic of crying first to survive ended up in this scenario, he felt uncomfortable, as he felt that it was all his fault.
At Lancelot’s request, Hillis shook her head. "No, they persecuted innocent people. As long as you serve me, if you’ve done something wrong, you need to be punished."
"Even so, we are Crows and didn’t feel threatened.”
The sight of Lancelot persistently persuading Hillis moved the paladins and made them feel guilty at the same time. It was because Hillis’s point was not wrong, even though they were unknowingly provoked into attacking.
"However, did you all reveal that you were Crows first?” Hillis asked.
Lancelot wanted to say yes, but looking at Hillis’s eyes, he felt that he couldn’t lie.
Lancelot was forced to remain silent.
"If you didn’t reveal it first, they were just trying to intimidate innocent people. More than anything else, even if they knew, they shouldn’t have raised their fighting spirits to that extent."
Hillis was adamant. The innkeeper was holding his breath in a corner when Hillis approached him. The innkeeper was still shaking from the paladin’s fighting spirits. The power of the paladins was too much for an ordinary innkeeper, and he was swept away by it.
"It’s easy for those with strong powers to forget about their surroundings, but it’s fine."
Hillis hugged the innkeeper. She rubbed his back and released warm energy from her hand to calm the innkeeper, who had been shaking as if he had malaria.
Everyone on the first floor of the inn was aware of the innkeeper but just realized that they had ignored him.
The touch of Hillis was very pious and pensive and warm.
1. The order that Hillis gave is a military punishment order where you are in a prone position with only your head and feet touching the ground, and your arms are behind your back.
Chapter 73.2. Lancelot’s Adventure (2) Part 2
On a dark night after sunset, several men wearing a turban and a protective mask to guard against the sand got off their camels and looked around. They looked nervous as they lit up the surrounding area with torches.
"Found it! It’s here!"
Hearing a cry from a little distance away, the men quickly headed in its direction. There were nine corpses carrying weapons and a wrecked wagon buried a little in the sand.
"Captain Malecia! Welcome!" The man who cried out said.
When the people who found the bodies saw the incoming men, they stopped searching and saluted.
"It’s fine. Keep going."
When the oldest-looking middle-aged man called Captain Malecia spoke, the men resumed their search without even a glance needed.
"You guys help, too."
Malecia habitually massaged an old scar that took one eye and ordered. The men wearing turbans split up immediately and went to help with the search.
"What happened?” Malecia asked as he lowered the protective mask.
The highest-ranking young man in the search answered with a stiff posture, "Yes! He was already dead when we found him!"
"I see that. What I asked is how they died and who did it."
The young man responded to Malecia’s point with a stiff look. "I apologize!"
Malecia gazed indifferently at the young man. Anyone could tell that the man was very nervous. There was no way he could do his job properly like that.
Malecia, feeling helpless inside, turned his eyes to the bodies and continued, "It’s fine. I’ll find out how he died myself. So where’s the luggage they were transporting?"
The young man broke into a cold sweat. "That, That’s... We can’t find it.”
“What!”
When Malecia suddenly went from speaking quietly to yelling, the young man was terrified and apologized, "Sorry, I’m sorry!"
"Damn it!"
Malecia checked the bodies while ignoring the frightened young man. The chance that the killers took the luggage that these bodies were carrying was high.
Malecia examined the bodies for as much information on the killers as possible. There were no sword injuries on the body. No, let alone sword wounds, the bodies were too clean. There was not a single sign of external damage.
It was fortunate that the bodies were not decomposing yet and that there was no sign of a desert monster having dug up and eaten the bodies.
Malecia stripped the bodies of their clothes. Perhaps because of the sweltering climate of the desert, the post-mortem rigidity was not in full effect yet, so it was not too difficult to strip the bodies.
After Malecia stripped the bodies, he noticed one common factor with the bodies. Each had a big black, red bruise in the middle of their chests.
Malecia gently pressed the body’s chest. The fingers that pressed the chest sunk in; he couldn’t feel the ribs protecting the heart. Malecia picked up the dagger and slowly split open the chest.
After opening each body, Malecia found that each body’s heart and ribs were cleanly destroyed in one blow. This was the skill of an expert.
Malecia was certain. It was such a clean murder that it made those who kill with a single stab to a vital point look like amateurs.
Was it an assassin?
No, there’s no sign of poison being used on the body. He never heard of an assassin that didn’t use poison. If there were one, as an assassin, he would be nothing more than a third-rate fool, regardless of his skills were good or not. In addition, it seemed more appropriate to call it hunting rather than assassination, as it was such a clean kill.
So was the killer a hunting expert? It wasn’t possible to find out that much information.
Malecia stood as his thoughts arrived at a dead-end.
"You guys retrieve the bodies and continue searching the surrounding area,” Malecia ordered.
"Yes, sir!"
Leaving behind the rigid young man saluting, he called over the subordinates who had arrived with him.
“We’re going back,” Malecia said.
“Yes!”
Malecia and the masked men climbed on their camels and began riding quickly. Their destination was Zaharam, the holy place that the desert was named after.
* * *
"Haaa~ That was a nice sleep.” Lancelot yawned and stretched as he laid in bed.
Not only were they able to get rooms at the inn last night with Hillis’s care, she even paid for all the accommodation fees as an apology.
As Lancelot was getting out of bed, Mac came into the room. "Oh, you’re awake?”
Judging from Mac’s damp hair, he seemed to have woken up early, exercised, and taken a quick bath.
"Yes. Did you sleep well?” Lancelot asked.
After greeting Mac, Lancelot smiled as he and Mac went down to the first floor of the inn for breakfast.
"Oh! Crow Tribe friends! Did you sleep well?”
On the first floor of the inn, the paladins were already sitting and eating breakfast.
Lancelot greeted them brightly before asking the paladins carefully, "Yes, um. Did you even sleep last night?"
At Lancelot’s question, the paladins laughed wildly.
"Ahahaha! Of course, we slept well!”
"Yes, yes. Miss Saintess mercifully stopped the punishment at only one o’clock in the morning."
“Yes, so merciful!"
It was just past 9 pm when the paladins were punished with their heads on the ground. Lancelot calculated that the paladins had their heads on the ground for four hours.
Nevertheless, the paladins’ words didn’t contain any trace of lies.
While Lancelot was stuck dumbfounded, Mac naturally squeezed into the group of paladins and stole a piece of bread before saying slyly, "Wow! The saintess is so merciful. Don’t you think so, Sir Diplomat?"
Mac’s cunningness made Lancelot speechless. The paladins nodded heavily at Mac’s words. "Ahahaha! So, this guy also knows!"
"That’s right! I know some stuff! Hahahaha!" Mac said.
Lancelot took a step away from the group of paladins.
"Why are you moving further away?"
I just don’t want to be close to you sadistic perverts.
Swallowing these words, Lancelot laughed instead and said, "Haha, I wonder what’s for breakfast?"
Lancelot moved through the group of paladins while the innkeeper diligently carried beer and food to the table, seemingly fine after being treated by Hillis last night.
Somehow, Mac was already shoulder-to-shoulder with the paladins and looked like he was trying to throw a drinking party in the morning.
"Don’t drink to the point of being drunk!" Lancelot said.
Mac waved his hand as if telling Lancelot not to worry.
"Kyah! That’s the stuff!"
The paladins cheered in admiration at Mac one-shotting the beer.
"That’s manly!"
"That’s cool!"
Drinking beer that was cooled by the night breeze of the desert, the paladins and Mac danced and sang.
"Ohhh~! My friend! Don’t look over at that woman in the harbor! Don’t look over at her, for I’ve already been possessed by her red skirt!"
"Don’t look!"
"Drink!"
They sang songs that one would have never thought paladins would sing and cheered with their glasses of beer. Lancelot sighed as he saw Mac in the center of it all, one-shotting a glass of beer that looked bigger than his head.
"What’s all this about?" Leisha asked, having come down to the first floor at some point.
Lancelot was thinking about what to say but just answered instead with a sigh. At his answer, Leisha gave up asking any more questions and ordered breakfast.
After a long bout of drinking, they gradually calmed down when Hillis came down late, stopping entirely by the time she finished her breakfast.
"Oh my? Why did you stop? Continue shoving the beer down your throats. You bastards."
At Hillis’s benevolent smile, the paladins began to sweat.
"Oh, no. It’s okay,” they said.
"Why? It was so nice to see you guys ruining our future plans. Shall I also have a drink?” Hillis asked.
"Sorry! Please, anything but alcohol!"
"You can’t! Anything but alcohol, please!"
When they knelt down, trying to dissuade Hillis from drinking, Leisha suddenly became very curious.
"I wonder what happens when she drinks that they are begging so much?"
"Who knows?" Lancelot said.
Lancelot was also slightly curious. Then he saw Mac opening a bottle of wine, and he approached Hillis.
"Eeya, don’t be so upset. You’ll feel better if you have a nice cold drink,” he said.
After speaking, he poured the wine into Hillis’s cup.
"Thank you." Hillis thanked him and began to drink the wine.
"Isn’t that wine?”
Lancelot nodded at Leisha’s question.
Upon hearing that, the paladins began to shout.
"No!"
"Everyone run!"
Hillis’s face started to turn red, and she started hiccuping. "Divine, hiccup! Punishment!"
White lightning rose from Hillis’s hand and turned into the shape of a whip.
"How dare, hiccup! You, hiccup! Run!"
The whip swung at a paladin who was closest to the inn’s entrance.
Realizing that it was already too late, the paladin covered himself with mana for protection.
"Ahhhhhhhhhhh!"
Though he was protected with mana, it was not enough to block Hillis’s magic. He was electrocuted and pulled towards Hillis.
"Oh my! Hiccup! Poor thing. Hiccup!"
The paladin was unconscious from being electrocuted as Hillis stroked his head, healing him.
"God’s, hiccup! Mercy."
Then hell began.
* * *
Malecia knelt on one knee in front of the altar to show his respect. Once finished, he got up and spoke to the man standing next to the altar.
"I’m sorry, but the carnelian crystal appears to have been stolen by unidentified criminals on its way here."
An old man wearing a black hooded cloak was enraged at Malecia’s report. "What! You’re calling that a report?!"
"I’m sorry, I should have paid more attention to it. It was my incompetence that caused this."
At Malecia’s apology, the old man let out a roar of anger. "You call that an excuse! Are you speaking like that because you don’t know just how important that crystal is?!"
The old man angrily tried to hit Malecia’s head with his staff but stopped when he saw Malecia’s fierce eyes.
"I request that you treat me with wisdom."
Although Malecia was subordinate to the old man, his background prevented the old man from acting recklessly. The old man knew this well, so although he was angry, he could not express it anymore.
"You...! You!”
Malecia left his seat and the angry old man behind.
"Where are you going!"
At the old man’s cry, Malecia glanced back at him. The old man flinched at Malecia’s gaze.
"We have to find the criminals in order to retrieve the carnelian crystal.”
"Whew, do you know who the criminals are?"
Malecia replied with a grin at the old man’s trembling voice.
“The last report said there were three rich young men and women with black hair whose wealth would be of great assistance. They said they were going to rob them on the way, so it is likely that those three black-haired individuals are the culprits."
After he finished speaking, Malecia swiftly left the room. The old man vented his anger long after Malecia had left the room. "You...! A petty powerless prosecutor!"
The old man wanted to break something, but there was nothing he could break in the altar room. Furthermore, he was not in a position to leave the room recklessly. He had no choice but to keep his anger inside and wait in the altar room until the ritual was over.