Published at 26th of March 2019 2:14 am

Volume 12, Chapter 2 Seeking Salvation Part 1

This chapter is updated by NovelFree.ml

A lone girl walked the Kingdom’s streets.

There was nothing adorable about her face. There was nothing about her looks that made observers want to do a double take. However, she still drew attention, albeit in a negative sense.

Her beady black eyes slanted upwards, giving the impression that she was constantly glaring at others, while the dark circles around her eyes made people think that she was the kind of person who hung around with criminals in seedy back alleys.

It was useful for walking among crowds, but once she reached city gates and other such places, she would receive intensive scrutiny and searches from the local authorities.

That girl, Neia Baraja, looked to the sky.

Above her, the sky was covered in dark clouds, giving observers the wrong impression that it was close to dusk when it was still daytime.

The heart of winter had passed, but spring was still a long way off.

Neia sighed tiredly, then marshalled the keen senses she had inherited from her parents and walked toward the street which led to the inn where she was staying.

The reason why she had to be so wary even in a city was because she felt a powerful sense of exclusion towards herself, an outsider, ever since she had entered this city.

Naturally, it was nothing more than the girl’s imagination.

After all, when she wore a cloak with the hood drawn up over her head, there was no way to tell whether she was a foreigner. However, she had not been mistaken about the heaviness in the air. She peeked at the passers-by and saw that their faces were downcast and their footsteps were heavy. It was as though they wore the gloominess of winter around themselves.

Under normal circumstances, she might have thought it was because of the overcast weather. However, she felt that the sense of entrapment — or perhaps a nameless melancholy — which she felt here, in the capital of the Re-Estize Kingdom, ought to have stemmed from some other source.

Maybe it’s because they were defeated in battle not long ago. Still, compared to the people of the Holy Kingdom, they’re practically jumping for joy.

Although the southern bay region of the Holy Kingdom was still relatively safe, the northern reaches were essentially hell now.

To the Liberation Army — formed from the remnants of the Northern Holy Kingdom’s army — and to her, who had come here as a member of an ambassadorial delegation, such news was of little comfort.

The more she thought about it, the more depressed she became, and Neia reached to her waist in search of salvation. The cool sensation of steel travelled up her hand.

It was the sword she carried, emblazoned with the crest of the Holy Kingdom’s knight order, which served as proof of her identity.

Usually, a paladin’s sword would be imbued with minor enchantments, but hers was not. That was because this was a sword of the sort issued to trainee soldiers.

Only after completing her training and being officially ordained as a paladin would her trusty blade be enchanted with magic. That was one of the rituals involved in donning the mantle of a paladin. While it was little more than a sharpened slab of steel until she officially became a paladin, it was still a personal weapon which had accompanied her through long years of training and practice. One could not fault her developing the habit of caressing it when she felt uneasy.

The sensation of steel calmed Neia down slightly, and she sighed a cloud of white vapor. Then she opened her cape and quickened her pace.

Her feet dragged every time she thought that she had to report bad news. However, it was because she disliked such things that she had to move quickly, to get this over with as soon as possible.

Finally, the inn where their delegation resided came into view.

It was a high class inn, with prices as lofty as its reputation. It was said to be among the top five in the Kingdom.

As she thought about the tragic state of her homeland, the northern Holy Kingdom, she could not help but feel guilty over how she was basking in such luxury while her countrymen were suffering. The truth was, the female leader of the ambassadorial delegation had opposed staying here precisely due to its decadence. She felt that they ought to reduce their expenses on this journey and use the leftover money elsewhere.

However, her opinion had been rejected, thanks to the suggestion of the male assistant leader.

“As representatives of the Holy Kingdom, if we do not lodge in an appropriate inn, people who see us might think that the Holy Kingdom is not long for this world. Therefore, we need to stay in a superior inn to show that our nation is still strong.”

The assistant leader’s logic was irrefutable. Nobody else in the group could deny him. However, their leader was driven by emotion and could not accept that proposal, and she stubbornly refused to go along with it. After a long deadlock, she was finally persuaded by all the other members of the delegation to reluctantly choose this inn.

However, everyone understood that they could not rack up any unnecessary expenses. In order to accomplish their tasks as soon as possible, even Neia, a squire, had been roped in to carry out missions.

The aim of the delegation’s visit to the Kingdom was none other than to secure aid for the Holy Kingdom. Therefore, Neia and the other members of the delegation were running around trying to arrange appointments with the movers and shakers of the Kingdom.

Anyone could make an appointment, even a squire. There was no problem with that part of the leader’s thinking.

However, Neia was the sole squire among the delegation. The others were proper paladins. Even if she made an appointment, what would the other party think in the future when they found out that others had been visited by paladins, but they had only merited a mere squire?

Surely they would be unhappy. Even Neia knew that much. However, despite her roundabout protests, the orders handed down to her had not changed. As a squire, there was little she could say about it. That said, Neia had not given up because of that.

If it was a personal failure, she could gladly accept it. However, doing so might lead to the ailing Holy Kingdom losing more aid from the Kingdom. Neia could not simply write off the possibility that her failures might lead to more of her countrymen dying with a simple, “Yes, I understand.”

However, the fact that a mere squire had immediately rushed into action without waiting for orders had only made the leader even more unhappy. She seemed to think that everything was Neia’s fault. Fortunately, the assistant leader had managed to smooth things over, but the delegation’s leader had a poor impression of Neia now.

Neia had been selected for this ambassadorial party solely because of her keen senses, which had ensured their safety on the road here. Asking her to contribute in other ways would be a tall order.

But it’s not like I can say that...

Neia looked to the sky and sighed Haaah. Then, she watched as the white mist she exhaled drifted slowly in the air and vanished. As she thought about the uncomfortable reception awaiting her at the inn, her gut began to cramp up.

The noble Neia was supposed to meet was not a very important person — he was not highly ranked in the Kingdom — so not being able to make an appointment with him was not a great setback, but even so her leader would gripe at her.

...Usually, even if you wanted to meet someone important right away, they’d still need some time to research your history and learn more about you. So the earliest you could have a meeting was in a week’s time.

Well, at least that did not sound like she was just complaining about the other party’s refusal.

According to our leader’s instructions, we’ll be leaving the Royal Capital in a few days… our leader, huh...

Their leader was now constantly on edge. She did not look like she could properly control her emotions.

In the past, she had not been that way. Neia knew that much. She had been an easygoing… or clueless person, if one were not inclined to be polite. However, ever since the battle where they had lost the Holy Queen, there had been a dramatic shift in her personality.

“...An unsatisfactory performance, huh.”

As a squire, the only thing she could do about her leader’s unreasonable scoldings was to bow her head and silently accept them.

Even so, this was nothing compared to how the surviving people in the Holy Kingdom were struggling. All she had to do was keep her head down and weather the storm.

After steeling herself for the worst — or perhaps she had given up — Neia reached the front of the inn.

She took a deep breath, pulled back her hood, and then pushed open the inn’s fancy doors.

As one would expect of a high-class inn, she did not step into a lounge right away, but a small room. It would seem it had been designed for guests to clean the dirt off their footwear.

That said, the place she had just visited was in a high-end district, much like this inn, and it had been paved with stone. Neither had it rained, so there was nothing she needed to shake off.

Therefore, Neia went on to open the door before her.

A gust of warm air flowed out and washed over her.

The concierge lay straight ahead of where she had entered the room, while the bar was to her right, and the stairs were on her left. There were sofas used for receiving guests near them.

There were no heating stoves inside the room. However, the fact that there was still a temperature difference despite their absence was probably because of a magic item.

Magic casters in the Holy Kingdom were generally priests, and while they could make some magic items, precious few of them were useful in daily life. In that respect, the Kingdom was technologically superior to the Holy Kingdom. That being the case, how much more advanced was the Empire, which her father had once mentioned?

Although she might never have the chance to visit it in her life, Neia still harbored a vague sense of admiration for the Empire.

Typically speaking, a village girl would only be able to see her village throughout the course of her life. Since Neia lacked any distinguishing qualities as a warrior, she might spend her entire life serving her nation and never get the chance to visit other countries.

In that case, perhaps the chance to travel abroad which this trip afforded her might be a faint silver lining on a grim, dark cloud.

These thoughts ran through Neia’s head as she climbed the stairs, toward the room on the second floor where the delegation was staying. The people in the inn seemed to have remembered Neia’s face, as none of them shouted for her to stop.

Considering the matter of expenses, only the leader and the assistant leader ought to be staying here; the other members should have stayed in cheaper inns. However, pinching pennies like that might make the other side think that there was no future for the Holy Kingdom. In the end, the assistant leader had managed to convince their leader of the wisdom of his words.

Neia reached the door of her superiors’ room and knocked on the door, whereupon it opened slightly. Within were the paladins stationed within the room for protection.

The person they were guarding was the strongest paladin in the Holy Kingdom, who was the leader of their delegation. In that case, they would be more of followers than protectors. Going by that logic, would it not have been wiser for herself to stay behind? Of course, Neia knew the meaning of the phrase “the nail which sticks out gets hammered down,” so she did not comment on that.

“Neia Baraja, reporting back.”

The door opened, and she entered the room.

Before her was a large room. There was a long table in the middle, where her Captain sat.

Captain Remedios Custodio and Vice-Captain Gustavo Montanjes were both seated there. And of the seventeen members of their delegation, more than half of them stood at attention along the walls.

She snuck a peek at the documents piled on the table before them. Most of them had been crossed out.

“Captain. Neia Baraja has returned.”

She puffed up her chest, adjusted her posture, and stated her name.

“—How did it go?”

“My deepest apologies. They declined because of a lack of time. They said they would like at least two weeks.”

“Tch,” Remedios clicked her tongue.

Neia’s gut cramped. Was she expressing her displeasure at Neia, or rather, at the nobles who had rejected them? While both the former or latter seemed likely, she dared not clarify such a frightening matter.

“Really now. Thank you for heading out amidst the cold. Go back to your room and rest, then.”

“Yes!”

Neia suppressed her sigh of relief at Gustavo’s words. While she wanted to leave right away, Remedios called out and stopped her in her tracks.

“...I wanted to ask you before, but did you really tell them that we wanted to open negotiations as soon as possible?”

“—Huh? Ah! Yes! Of course I tried to ask them, but unfortunately they said no…”

“So it wasn’t because of your poor negotiation skills, then?”

“Ah, that, that’s—”

That’s not true, she wanted to say, but who would dare say it? In addition, she already knew that she would not be able to escape this reprimand no matter how she answered.

“...Captain. It is not just the nobles she asked who refused. Other nobles have rejected the request for a meeting in the same way. Among them were some nobles who indicated they could not lend aid to the Holy Kingdom, but who wished to speak nonetheless.”

Remedios glared at Gustavo, who seemed to have spoken up in order to interrupt their conversation. No words passed between them, but the tension built in the air.

“—Neia Baraja.”

“Yes!”

So she was still gunning for her, after all. While Neia had mentally rounded her shoulders in defeat, she did not express it externally, instead responding in a timid tone.

Gustavo had now moved to stand between the two of them, but Remedios paid him no heed and continued glaring at Neia.

“While we are wasting time here, many of our people are being slaughtered by the demihumans led by Jaldabaoth. In addition, four major cities have already fallen, in addition to many more smaller and villages.”

The four cities in question were, respectively: the capital Hoburns, which housed the Great Cathedral that was regarded as the high temple of the Holy Kingdom’s faith.

The port city of Rimun, which lay to the west of the capital.

The fortress city of Kalinsha, which was the closest to the wall, and the first to be attacked by the demihumans.

And then there was Prart, the city between Kalinsha and Hoburns.

In other words, most of the major cities of the north were now under the control of Jaldabaoth’s demihuman hordes.

“In addition, they’ve captured many of the survivors, who they have imprisoned in camps made from captured villages and cities. Just the mention of being sent there is enough to chill one’s blood.”

“Yes!”

Those camps were surrounded by walls, and nobody had personally witnessed what was happening inside because nobody had managed to infiltrate the interior. However, the rumors said they were guarded by demihumans. Those people who had probed as closely as they dared said they could hear groans and screams of agony from within.

In addition, what was more convincing was the fact that nobody felt Jaldabaoth, as a demonic ruler, would grant any form of humane treatment to his human prisoners.

“So knowing all that, you still came back with results like this? Did you really try your best? Normally you’d have something to show for it if you did, no?”

“Yes! My sincerest apologies!”

Indeed, she was right. Remedios was correct. However—

The thought that welled up in Neia’s heart refused to fade away.

In that case, what good is the Captain of the Holy Kingdom’s paladin order if she failed to rescue those prisoners?

She dearly wanted to retort with those words. However, as a squire of the Holy Kingdom, she could not possibly say such a thing.

“Since you feel sorry, what do you plan to do? What can you do to show concrete results?”

Neia was at a loss for words.

At the heart of it, Neia was just an ordinary citizen of the Holy Kingdom. She had neither a noble peerage, power, or wealth. She was not even a paladin, just a squire. There was nothing which Neia, as she was, could offer a noble of the Kingdom which could appeal to them. In that case, all she could do was—

“I’ll work harder.”

—Psychology. However, it would seem that answer did not meet with Remedios’s approval.

“I’m asking you how you intend to work harder. Futile effort is—”

“—Captain.”

Gustavo interrupted Remedios as she was about to say something.

“Why not leave things as they are for now? After all, it’s about time we began our preparations, no? The esteemed members of Blue Rose will be arriving soon. If we take too long welcoming them, we will upset them, won’t we?”

“Indeed. Squire Baraja, work harder and do better next time.”

“Understood!”

Remedios made a shooing motion with her hand. In other words, she was saying Hurry up and get lost.

“My apologies, Captain Remedios!”

Even though she was tired, Neia was shouting All right! in her heart and trembling with joy as she made to leave the room. However, her ally from just now transformed into her most dire adversary in an instant.

“Captain, may she be present when Blue Rose arrives?”

Gustavo’s words made Neia’s vision black out for a moment. However, this was a topic that involved her, since she was a squire.

Remedios looked at her adjutant. It was completely unlike the way she had looked at Neia. Her eyes were so caring that it seemed like she had changed personalities at some point, and it confused Neia.

“Really? Well, if you say so… but why?”

“The main reason for bringing her along as a squire was because she has exceptional senses. Perhaps there might be things which only she can notice.”

Many paladins and squires had died during the battles with Jaldabaoth. However, quite a few of them had survived. Even so, the reason she had been chosen to accompany their group was precisely because of her senses.

While paladins were excellent fighters, they were little different from the average commoner in other respects. On this mission, there might be a need for someone to pass unseen, spot the enemy at a great distance, pass through encirclements, and perform other such tasks, which meant that they would need someone who possessed such reconnaissance skills.

Under normal circumstances, one would call on an adventurer or hunter, but most of them were already dead, and the remainder had already fled to the south or to other countries. Therefore, with no more experienced candidates to choose from, Neia had been selected.

While she was far inferior compared to her father, she harbored some pride in the fact that her senses were sharper than those who had only been trained as paladins. She was very happy that her talents could serve her nation, but that feeling was steadily being worn away. Now, she was starting to resent the fact that she had been chosen.

“Really? ...Well, if you think so, then that’s fine. I’ll allow it.”

“Thank you very much, Captain.”

“...Squire Baraja. Like we just said, you will remain in the corner of the room and listen to our conversation. If anything happens, inform us. ...Now go back to your room and freshen up before coming back.”

“Understood!”

Finally, I’m free, Neia thought, but then Gustavo followed behind her just as she made to leave. After they left the room, he spoke quietly to her.

“Sorry about the Captain.”

Neia halted in her tracks, turned around, and then she voiced the doubts she had been harboring in her heart all this while.

“...Did I do something to upset the Captain? I mean, I’ve heard that the battle where we lost that city changed her completely, so what happened?”

“...Many paladins died in the battle with Jaldabaoth, including the Holy Queen-sama and the Captain’s sister.”

I know that. But so what?

The same thing had happened to Neia.

Both her father and mother were dead. People like this were hardly uncommon throughout the Holy Kingdom. Of course, she could not actually say that.

“Without a place to vent the grief and anger she felt from that, the Captain chose to take it out on you. I think the reason why she did not do so with us paladins was because we fought and suffered with her.”

What the hell, Neia grumbled in her heart.

In other words, all this was because Neia had not taken part in that battle.

This was just unfair.

Half of Neia’s fellow squires had travelled to the same city and many of them had ended up dying. The reason why Neia had not been in that half was due to her luck, and not because of any choice Neia had made.

“Let me also say this: please bear with it. Right now, the Captain is irreplaceable to the Holy Kingdom.”

“...Even if she takes her anger out on others and gives them a hard time, then?”

“Indeed.“

Gustavo looked at her with a pained look in his eyes.

Anger raced through her body. She wanted to shout at him. Neia knew that woman was strong, but still, Neia had also done her part in getting them safely to the Kingdom. She had spotted the demihumans’ lookouts and she had been more careful than anyone else when they pitched camp at night. Neia had a role in getting the ambassadorial party to their destination. That being the case, Neia did not feel she was any less valuable than that woman.

However, Neia quashed her feelings as they boiled up.

She had to bear with this for the sake of the people suffering in the Holy Kingdom. Allowing any of them to be lost, and thus prolonging the plight of countless people, was the most foolish course of action imaginable.

In addition, she would be free of this duty once she returned to the country. Thus, all she would have to do was bear with it for a while longer.

Neia smiled and nodded.

“Understood. If it is for the sake of the Holy Kingdom, I will endure it with a smile.”

♦ ♦ ♦

Blue Rose arrived at the inn not long after Neia returned to the room.

Neia waited, among the paladins who stood motionless by the walls.

Soon, the door opened, and a group of people entered.

She was not a fangirl of theirs, but their reputation still shone brightly in the Holy Kingdom, and it made Neia’s heart flutter. These were great people of her gender who had ascended to heights which she herself could not reach. Personally, she would have liked to ask them all kinds of questions. That said, she could not do such a thing.

They’re… one of the three adamantite ranked adventurer teams in the Kingdom. Blue Rose… they’re awesome...

While she had heard their descriptions and names from rumors, this was the first time she had seen them in the flesh. There was quite a big discrepancy between how she had imagined them from their stories and how they actually were.

Standing at their head was Blue Rose’s leader. She was a priestess who bore the holy symbol of the Water God, the wielder of the demonic blade, Kilineyram — Lakyus Alvein Dale Aindra.

Her beautiful features were such that even her fellow females might fall in love with her, and it was hard to believe she was a top-class adventurer of the like which only fighting geniuses could be. If she wore a dress, she would be the very picture of a princess from the dreams of a commoner like Neia

That beautiful woman spoke with a gentle voice that matched Neia’s image of her.

“Thank you for your invitation. We are Blue Rose.”

Remedios, who had stood up to welcome them, nodded slightly to express her gratitude.

“I cannot thank you enough for accepting our invitation, honored members of Blue Rose.”

“We are the ones who are grateful to receive an invitation from the paladin who bears a holy sword and who has skills to match, Remedios Custodio-sama.”

Their exchange contrasted Remedios’s formulaic greeting and somewhat stiff tone against Lakyus’s natural way of speaking. It would seem she really was a noble heiress.

“Ah, I’m the one who should be happy to meet the wielder of a demonic blade like yourself. Ahem. Please take a seat. The people around us are all paladins of the Holy Kingdom. It would be good if we could all listen in. Erm, if there’s time after that, I would like very much to see the demonic blade.”

“Gladly, and the chance to behold your holy sword would delight me as well. Then, let us do as our host bids and take a seat, everyone.”

The members of Blue Rose each sat down in their own way. Some of them had already folded their arms and grasped their elbows. It made one wonder if their bold attitude came from knowing their strength or if they were simply acting in a manner that best fitted it.

“Shall we start by introducing ourselves?”

The Vice-Captain answered, probably to help Remedios out.

“No, there’s no need for that. News of your exploits has made its way around the Holy Kingdom. Ah, and while it’s a little late for this, I’m the Vice-Captain of the Paladin Order, Gustavo Montanjes.”

Lakyus smiled gently at Gustavo’s answer.

“Really now. It would be good if that news was flattering.”

“Ah—”

“—Yes. We’ve heard nothing but good things about you. In truth, your heroic exploits make my heart beat faster in excitement.”

It would seem Remedios wanted to say something, but Gustavo had interrupted her. After that, he smiled to Lakyus like nothing was the matter.

“That is quite pleasing. While I wish to ask about the details of those thing you heard, we are here today to fulfill a request. It is not our intention to waste our client’s valuable time. That being the case, let us discuss the particulars of this request.”

“Hmm~ Before that, I’d like to ask the name of that girl—”

Neia jumped in fright as she realized one of the twin thieves was pointing at her. The other one was also looking at her in interest.

The two of them ought to be the twin thieves known as Tia and Tina. Despite being members of Blue Rose, which was famed even in the Holy Kingdom, there were no rumors or tales of their deeds. They were a pair of mysterious individuals.

And now those individuals were pointing at her.

She felt like she had suddenly been shoved into the limelight from the shadows of an audience seat. Thoughts like why, what is this, what’s happening and other such phrases bounced around inside her mind.

“That girl doesn’t have a warrior’s body. Different from our musclehead’s.”

“Oi! What was that supposed to mean!?”

The person who had spoken up was Gagaran, the lady warrior who was built like a brick sh*thouse.

“Exactly what I said. ...She’s not a warrior, no matter how you look at it. Now this is a warrior.”

“Oi oi, you can train your body with experience, you know.”

“So you’re going to evolve then, Gagaran?”

The thieves’ faces quietly hardened.

“Don’t be mean, I feel sorry for that girl.”

“Hey! Is it me or have you gotten full of yourself since you went training with me? Oi!”

“Nothing’s changed. It’s just that my sides hurts when you grab me with your ridiculous strength when I’m sleeping—”

“—That’s enough out of the two of you… I’m sorry, that’s just how we are.”

“Please pay it no heed. Her name is Neia Baraja. She has keen senses, and she’s made a lot of contributions during our journey here.”

“I understand.”

The reply was flat and emotionless, not cute in the slightest.

“...Mm. Well, while that was our fault, we haven’t made any progress at all. If nobody minds, shall we begin discussing the matter? Also, there’s no point talking like fancy nobles, is there? Let’s get right to it, shall we?”

“Evileye,” Lakyus said in a reproachful tone.

That was the arcane magic caster Evileye. Clad in her mask, she could use powerful spells, but she never removed it under any circumstances. She had a very petite frame — some rumors said she might be from a small-bodied species.

“No, that’s fine. I’m not good at all this plotting stuff myself.”

“Captain…”

“...Fufu. Well, the other side’s boss has given their approval — how about ours? Besides, once they’ve paid the appropriate fee for the information, they’ll be our clients. Let’s not bother with feeling each other up and get to the question of money. Won’t it be better to seal the deal sooner rather than later?”

“Haaah,” Lakyus sighed, and Evileye continued, seemingly sneering at them.

“Well, our boss has given her okay too, so shall we firm up the details before we talk about payment? I take it you want to talk about the one who’s been running wild in your country. Jaldabaoth?”

“You knew?”

“OI oi, do you think we wouldn’t know something the nobles did? The Kingdom has traders who use sea routes too, you know. Plus, the Adventurer’s Guilds do exchange information as well. That said, how about it? Want to share what you know, too? Frankly speaking, we’d be happier to obtain information than money.”

“Mm… may, may I have a moment to discuss this with Gustavo?”

Evileye waved to indicate that they should proceed, and then Remedios and Gustavo rose and entered the adjoining room — the bedroom.

“Then, can we use this flask?”

Gagaran pointed to the flask of water and the glasses around it as she addressed Neia.

Why me, Neia fretted as she replied, “Please do.” She wanted to praise herself for her perfect tone and not letting her voice tremble.

After Gagaran had poured water for everyone, Remedios and Gustavo returned.

“We’ll pay your fee, so can you tell us what you know?”

Huh, Neia thought. For some reason, she had the feeling that Remedios, who had complained about the expense of staying in an inn, would not approve. While Gustavo had probably said something, Neia had no idea what reasons he had used to convince her.

“That’s fine too, although I think we’d be able to tell you what you need to know if you told us about the state of the Holy Kingdom now.”

“Please let us pay the appointed fee.”

Gustavo promptly placed a small pouch on the table.

“Mm. Oi.”

Evileye jerked her chin at one of the thieves. In response, she swiftly reached out and snatched up the pouch, lightly bouncing it up and down in her hand. Then she caught it and nodded to Evileye.

She was probably trying to see if it contained the expected amount by the sensation from throwing it up and catching it.

“All right. Then I, Evileye, shall explain on their behalf… Although, like I said just now, asking for all the information we have about Jaldabaoth is a bit like trying to seize a cloud. Let’s start by talking about what happened in our country. But before that, I want to verify something with you. Your Jaldabaoth looks like this, right?”

Evileye took a pen and paper from beside the table and began drawing with fluid strokes. However, the picture she produced could only be regarded as childish scribblings as best.

Remedios was about to say, “No, that’s not…” before one of the twins snatched back the paper and tore it in half.

“What the hell are you doing!?”

While Evileye was furious, the other twin snatched away the pen in the meantime and drew swiftly on the new piece of paper, then showed Evileye the finished product. The masked magic caster muttered, Uguu… in a disgruntled tone. The truth was, it was of far greater quality than the picture just now.

His appearance was very difficult to describe with words. He was dressed in foreign clothing and wore a strange mask. After seeing the picture, Remedios angrily clenched her fists and growled like a wild beast.

“That’s the bastard.”

After seeing this, the twins and Evileye ceased their feuding and turned back towards Remedios.

“Then we’ve verified one thing, that this is the same per— the same demon. Well, if demons like that could appear one after the other, we’d be in trouble. Thank heavens for small mercies, as they say. Now—”

Evileye then proceeded to narrate the events that had transpired in the Royal Capital, and Neia winced in her heart.

She knew Jaldabaoth was strong. And she knew that the demon army and that scaly demon existed, so she was not shocked by them. But the fact that there were five maid demons who could each take on an entire adamantite ranked adventurer team by themselves deepened her sense of utter despair.

I don’t think anyone spotted those maid demons in the Holy Kingdom. So they’re Jaldabaoth’s trump card? To think he had something like that...

“—Then, what would you estimate Jaldabaoth’s difficulty rating to be?”

Gustavo’s question caused Blue Rose to look at each other, but in the end it was still Evileye who spoke on everyone’s behalf.

“Let me get this out of the way first; this value is just a conjecture. It might be higher, it might be lower, so I hope you’ll keep that in mind. We estimate that demon’s difficulty to be around two hundred.”

“Two hundred…”

Gustavo gasped. Neia very nearly gasped as well, but she managed to resist that impulse. Some of the paladins lining the walls were not so successful. Remedios was the only one to remain calm, her expression unchanged.

If Neia recalled correctly, difficulty one hundred monsters were not something which humans could defeat.

“Exactly how powerful is a rating of two hundred?”

Evileye seemed to have a bit of trouble answering Remedios’s direct question.

“While difficulty two hundred beings have never appeared in the human world before… well, old Dragons would be roughly around one hundred.”

“An old dragon… while I’ve never fought those before, would that be around the same as the Guardian Deity of the oceans?”

The Guardian Deity of the ocean referred to a Sea Dragon which dwelled in the ocean.

It had two arms and feet and a long, thick tail that replaced its atrophied wings. It resembled a Sea Serpent more than a Dragon, and its intellect was on par with or surpassed mankind. It was quite a benevolent being that would protect ships if it was properly venerated.

Neia had the very good fortune of seeing it once, from a distance, when they had gone to Rimun on holiday.

It had raised its head high above the surface of the seas, and it was a sight majestic enough to earn it the title of Guardian Deity. It was hard to imagine a human being could defeat such a being.

“Captain Remedios. If we use defeating the Guardian Deity as a baseline… hm, if there were a fisherman here he’d be giving us the stink-eye. Still, that means he’s twice as strong as an old Dragon.”

“Indeed. We’ve determined that he’s stronger than the legendary Demon Gods who were defeated by the Thirteen Heroes. That is to say, his appearance in the human world would be a great tragedy and multiple nations will be destroyed. That’s how powerful he is.”

“Although, I hear that when Jaldabaoth was wreaking havoc in the Kingdom, he was driven off by Momon-dono. That would mean Momon-dono must be just as powerful, right?”

Remedios swallowed, and then continued.

“Or does that mean — he used some kind of special item when defeating Jaldabaoth?”

That was when Evileye’s attitude changed.

Neia could not see her face, but she had the feeling that her face was flushing under that mask of hers.

“I don’t think he used any such item. However, Momon-sama fought magnificently when he duelled Jaldabaoth. I was fighting Jaldabaoth’s subordinates back then, so I did not see the full fight, but it was a terrifying battle. It was a battle fought by a hero among heroes, a champion among champions.”

“Is, is that so?”

It was all Gustavo could do to squeeze those words out after being crushed by Evileye’s presence as she leaned herself out.

“Precisely! Ah, what an amazing battle. Momon-sama defended me while he was fighting Jaldabaoth, you know.”

“So he fought Jaldabaoth — that monster — and drove him off? Is that true?”

“What? Are you saying what I saw with my own two eyes was a lie?”

Evileye countered Remedios’s question with a vicious retort. Gustavo struggled to clear the uneasy mood in the air.

“Ah, no, what our Captain meant was that if Darkness could attack some weak point of Jaldabaoth’s, perhaps we could do something too. I apologize for not clarifying.”

“No, we should be apologizing for the immature tone our Evileye is taking with a client.”

That reply came from Lakyus. What was this, when the two main players were sidelined and their supporting cast went on to smooth things out between themselves.

“Hm… well, assuming Jaldabaoth really does have some weak point, Momon-sama must have won by attacking it. Still, it’s hard to imagine a demon like that would leave his weaknesses unguarded.”

“Indeed… perhaps he used an item or a subordinate to make up for it.”

While this was the first time she had heard of the maid demons, Jaldabaoth had several powerful demon minions.

After questioning demihuman captives, they knew there were at least three of them.

There was the demon who ruled the wilderness where the demihumans lived.

There was the demon who ruled the port city of Rimun.

And then, there was the scaly demon who commanded the demihuman army.

“So, can you tell us in detail about that scaly demon you mentioned earlier?”

“That’s right, can you tell us what abilities it has?”

“Yes I fought it before, so I’ll take Evileye’s place and describe it in detail.”

She described its abilities and how they fought it. Lakyus’s tale ended with Brain Unglaus — a man on Gazef’s level — slaying that demon.

“...That’s strange. Jaldabaoth hasn’t made any movements after conquering the Holy Kingdom’s capital, but that scaly demon’s been commanding the demihuman armies in his place. Wasn’t it already defeated?”

“I see… however, we’ve met this Brain fellow before, and I don’t think he was lying. It’s probably not a unique demon, just a high level one.”

“In other words, Jaldabaoth can conjure that demon any number of times as long as certain conditions are met? Or perhaps he can summon the same demon multiple times?”

Neia could not cast spells, but she had heard this during her lectures.

It was difficult to summon multiple beings with summon magic.

In other words, when a summon spell was active, casting another summon spell would cause the previous summon spell to end. The currently-summoned monsters would go back from whence they came and new monsters would be summoned in their place.

However, people capable of high tier summoning spells could simultaneously conjure several weaker monsters at once, of the sort that one would evoke with a low tier summon spell. For instance, one could use a fourth tier spell to summon multiple monsters that could be invoked by a third tier spell.

“I don’t understand at all. His method of summoning demons is still a mystery. While it felt like he was summoning them with spells, he couldn’t have summoned multiple demons of such power… but if he could, that would beg the question of why he did not do so in the Kingdom. Perhaps if he were a magic caster who specializes in summoning, he could simultaneously summon multiple copies of such a creature…”

“So even if we defeated the scaly demons, Jaldabaoth could immediately resummon it?”

“Just so. However, that refers to the situation where Jaldabaoth conjures them with magic. If he used some kind of special ability to do it, that would be another matter entirely.”

“So you don’t know much about that side of things?”

“Sorry, but I don’t. We know very little about him.”

Evileye sounded clearly disheartened.

“...Erm, I didn’t get any of that at all, you know?”

“...I’ll explain it to you later, Captain.”

“No, start clarifying now. I haven’t been able to keep up since just now.”

This is our Captain… the person in charge of all of us...

“That being the case, was that disgusting insect maid one of Jaldabaoth’s summons too?”

“I don’t know. I don’t want to think that way…”

Blue Rose’s members began discussing among themselves.

“Erm, may I ask a question?”

Everyone turned to look at Neia after she nervously spoke up, and the tremendous pressure made her regret doing so. Perhaps it might be better for someone other than her to bring this up. However, the die had been cast, and after firming up her resolve, she asked:

“This might be a very basic question, but where did Jaldabaoth come from? Was the name of Jaldabaoth passed down from earlier days?”

“That is unclear. We’ve studied all sorts of literature, but we haven’t been able to find that name in any of them. We’ve also tried looking for clues based on his appearance, but similarly, we haven’t been able to make any headway either.”

“Could it be an alias? Maybe he caused trouble under a different name in the past?”

“I doubt that. To demons — this applies to angels as well — their names are a very important part of their very being. If a demon wants to show up, it has to engrave its name into the world. Therefore, they can’t use false names. Experiments show that using a false name might even cause them to disappear on the spot.”

Neia knew next to nothing about demons and angels, but if an adamantite ranked magic caster said so, then that ought to be the case.

“As for his origins, if he came from the other side of the continent, then it’s only natural that there’d be no information about him… but after thinking so much, every possibility seems equally likely, and so there’s no telling where to begin.”

Evileye shrugged.

“...Say. What if you got Jaldabaoth’s appearance wrong? Was the Jaldabaoth you looked into the Jaldabaoth in the picture? What if that appearance of his was a deception?”

“Ho,” Evileye leaned over the table towards Remedios. “Can you go into more detail?”

“We managed to press Jaldabaoth in that form quite badly, and then he revealed his true form…”

Remedios closed her eyes.

“It was an utter defeat for us.”

“Can you be more specific?”

“Telling them that much should be fine, right, Gustavo?”

“Yes, no objections here. If we can learn more about him from his appearance, hiding that information would be harmful instead.”

“While I feel a full disclosure would be better….”

Remedios began muttering and grumbling, and then she told Evileye about Jaldabaoth’s appearance.

Halfway through, Remedios’s face twisted in anger. She had probably recalled the battle that nobody here knew anything about.

“I see, then we’ll continue our investigations based on what we have just learned. We’ll keep you informed with our findings, so could you tell us if you wish to stay in the city?”

“We haven’t decided that yet. In any case, does that mean you do not know anything about that form of his?”

“—Lakyus, do you remember?”

Lakyus shook her head.

“That’s how it is. Sorry.”

“I understand. Then, after we make our decision, we will contact you immediately.”

“But in that case, we’ll have to consider the worst-case scenario — the possibility that his appearance in the Kingdom was intended to create a false impression, so he deliberately refrained from showing his true power.”

“In other words, our country was Jaldabaoth’s true objective, and that he had some other plan for the Kingdom?”

“Perhaps. If the Kingdom was his main priority, he would have shown his true form like he did in the Holy Kingdom, no? Or was it because he was startled by Momon-sama’s strength, and chose to protect his true identity rather than let his plan be ruined? I really don’t want to think that’s the case.”

Evileye’s words left the room in a gloomy silence, so profound that even the faint sounds of breathing seemed very loud. Who would speak first? In this tense atmosphere, Lakyus proved her bravery.

“Now then, let me say again — we’re in the same boat as you. We want to know more about Jaldabaoth. Frankly speaking, everything we’ve learned is basically analysis from our encounter with him. We have no inkling of Jaldabaoth’s aims, true identity, or abilities.”

“Maybe we could summon demons to learn about Jaldabaoth… But that will stain the soul… And even if we summon low ranking demons, it’s quite likely that they won’t know anything about high ranking demons. In that case, we’ll need to contact a summoning adept…”

“Unfortunately, we don’t know anyone who’s good at summoning demons.”

Evileye had been the first one to supplement Lakyus’s words, followed by one of the twins.

Surely nobody would, at least not under usual circumstances, Neia mused.

Diabolists were typically evil beings, and fortunately very few of them were powerful in their own right. That was because most of the time, they either destroyed themselves or they were slain by death squads.

Of course, there might be some experts in the field who had submersed themselves into the darkness, but they typically hid themselves and did not make friends.

“Still, just waiting there to die is very frustrating. The next time that monster comes to the Kingdom, I want to make him weep with my own two hands. In order to do that, I need to learn as much as I can about him.”

“Also, he was not leading any demihumans in the Kingdom. If he recruited the demihumans due to his failure in the Kingdom, then we’ll need to be even more wary of him.”

Those words were spoken by Gagaran, and then the other twin.

“Is that why you wanted to know what we knew?”

Everyone in Blue Rose nodded. Lakyus summed up for them.

“We'll pay a sum equal to the fees we'd receive for a similar request..”

“Captain. May I handle the upcoming negotiations?”

Remedios immediately agreed with Gustavo’s question.

“—In place of money, we would like some other form of payment.”

“What is it? While we would like to meet your wishes, we can’t do everything… However, if you want to make contact with powerful nobles, that could be arranged.”

“Is that so? Thank you very much. However, we were not thinking of that — could you come to our country and fight alongside us?”

The room was silent once more. It lasted several seconds — no, perhaps it was longer. The next sound they heard was that of Lakyus leaning on her chair.

“I am very sorry, but we cannot offer that form of payment.”

“...We’re gathering intelligence because we don’t want to die. Doing that would be counter to our purposes.”

Evileye shrugged, as if to say there was nothing that could be done about it.

“We won’t ask you to fight Jaldabaoth. All you need to do is wait in the rear and help with healing magic.”

“Bullsh*t, you don’t have the luxury of doing that.”

Gagaran’s words left them speechless.

She was correct. The northern half of the Holy Kingdom was now subjugated by Jaldabaoth’s beastmen, and all they could do was mount a feeble resistance. Many of the people had been incarcerated in camps, and the surviving paladins were hidden in caves as defeated soldiers.

“No, that’s not the case. We stopped the demihuman advance in the nick of time.”

They still held the south, where the Army and Jaldabaoth’s forces were staring each other down, so saying that they were at the edge of extinction might be accurate.

To Neia, who knew what was going on, Gustavo’s words sounded more like lies than the truth.

“Can you come, in that case?”

“I refuse.”

Remedios sat up to ask her question, and Evileye flatly rejected it. Given the way everyone in Blue Rose remained silent, she was most definitely not alone in her opinion. They must have all felt the same way.

“...Frankly speaking… we might have stopped them in the nick of time, but we’re also at the end of our rope. The Holy Kingdom is in ruins, but the southern troops are still intact. However, they alone won’t be enough to beat Jaldabaoth.”

Gustavo poured a glass of water for himself, drank from it, and then continued.

“The reason why we haven’t been completely conquered yet is because the navy has been pinning down Jaldabaoth’s army on the northern coastline and holding them off. If Jaldabaoth manages to figure out some way to deal with that and advances his troops to the south, they won’t be able to offer the slightest bit of resistance.”

However, that was the thinking of a man from the north, who knew Jaldabaoth’s power. The people of the south would probably have different plans. For instance, driving off Jaldabaoth with their own might.

While part of the reason for that was because they had not shared their intelligence, it was also due to the long-standing feud between the north and the south.

From the start, many of the nobles in the south had always protested the fact that a woman — skipping ahead of her elder brother — was to be crowned as Holy Queen for the first time in history.

For that reason, in order to avoid a rift between the north and the south, the former Holy Queen ignored even such baseless allegations as “The Holy Queen assumed her position because she had something going on with the temples, and she was secretly assisted by Queralt Custodio.”

After that, the south did not escalate matters any further and thus a full-scale confrontation was averted, but that was only because the north and south had been in a balance of power. Now that the north was in ruins, the south no longer had any reason to hold themselves back any more. Thus, the south began snubbing the north now.

Even in the face of Jaldabaoth’s invasion, the humans still bore grudges against each other. Neia simply found that laughable. In addition, there were whispers of a power struggle for the position of the next Holy King, and it only served to make Neia, a commoner, even more unhappy.

“That’s quite bad.”

“Indeed. The navy has very few assets which can do battle against flying demons, and their battles have taken a terrible toll on them. If this keeps up, they won’t be able to hold off Jaldabaoth’s army forever. We need strength to overcome this situation! Please, I beg you, lend your strength to us! All we need is a month or two! We can pay anything you want! I beg you, please save the Holy Kingdom.”

As Gustavo bowed his head to them, Neia and the other paladins went “Please!” and bowed as well.

The room was silent once more, and then Lakyus’s voice spread through it.

“Please, raise your heads. And — I am very sorry, but we cannot go to the Holy Kingdom.”

“Why!?”

Neia jerked her head up at the sudden shout from Remedios. She saw Remedios had risen from her seat and was glaring at Lakyus.

“There’s no way Jaldabaoth will stop at conquering the Holy Kingdom! He’ll gather his strength there and then invade the Kingdom, you know! If you don’t beat him now, he’ll become even stronger in future!”

“You are correct. The possibility of that is very high.”

“Since you understand, why aren’t you helping us!? And it’s not just you, it’s also the nobles of this country, of our country! None of you get it! Isn’t now the time to come together and fight as one!?”

“...The reason why this country’s nobles won’t lend you their strength is slightly different from our own. What do you know about the Sorcerous Kingdom?”

It was a frightening place ruled by the undead, a city taken from the Kingdom and used as the heart of a nation. That was all the average citizen of the Holy Kingdom knew about it. As Remedios said as much, Lakyus smiled bitterly to her.

“That’s true, and it’s largely accurate… but it’s wrong in some places… While the undead are everywhere, the humans there live safe and peaceful lives.”

“...Eh? In a country founded by the undead, who hate the living?”

“There are many kinds of undead, and the Sorcerer King is a ruler of the undead. Ordering the undead under his command not to harm human beings and enforcing that order is a simple matter for him.”

Evileye made a noise of disapproval.

“Evileye… Mm, anyway, we still have the Sorcerous Kingdom before our eyes to deal with, so it’s hard for them to aid your country. Also, a lot of people perished during the battle with the Sorcerous Kingdom, which will have grave consequences in the future. The nobles who appear so well-off are hardly as well-to-do as you might think.”

“Even so, isn’t Jaldabaoth a problem that should be taken care of as soon as possible? The fact is, countless people are suffering because of Jaldabaoth. And the Sorcerous Whatever hasn’t harmed anyone, has he?”

“...Fighting on two fronts at once while you’re exhausted is very dangerous. I trust I don’t need to tell you that, right?”

Remedios shut her mouth.

“Also, it’s the same with us. Two of us were killed in combat with Jaldabaoth and while they were resurrected from the dead, they still have not regained their full strength yet. If we invade Jaldabaoth’s territory in this state, we might all end up being killed.”

“Didn’t Gustavo say that you wouldn’t need to fight Jaldabaoth?”

“What the heck, she actually believed that…”

“Tia! Excuse me. Ahem. I’m very sorry, but I don’t think things will turn out as you imagine. So long as it involves the risk of facing Jaldabaoth, we will refuse this job. We need to become stronger than we are now in order to prepare for the future. ...This is just a hypothesis, but we need to get ready in case Jaldabaoth decides to attack the Kingdom once more.”

The faces of every member of Blue Rose were unmoved. It would seem they could not be swayed.

Soon, Remedios managed to squeeze a few words out.

“Then, who else is there who can save our country?”

Blue Rose’s members looked at each other.

“There’s only one person,” Evileye replied. “Or rather, he’s the person you should have gone to in the first place, no?”

“...Who’s that?”

“Momon-sama, of course. The Momon-sama who beat off Jaldabaoth.”

“Ohhh! Did he!?”

“A moment, Captain Custodio… If I’m not wrong, he’s…?”

“You’ve heard, haven’t you? Yes, Momon-sama is now in the Sorcerous Kingdom and is one of the Sorcerer King’s subordinates. Therefore, you will most likely have to convince the Sorcerer King to help you.”

“Geh!” Remedios grunted bitterly.

Neia understood how she felt. Any citizen of the Holy Kingdom would have very complex feelings about asking anything of the undead.

Considering she, as a squire, felt that way, how much worse would it be for the captain of an order of paladins who bore a holy sword? However — Remedios looked forcefully at the members of Blue Rose.

“...If that is the best way to defeat Jaldabaoth, then let’s do it. No, that’s all we can do. If we can, we’ll pin our hopes to that Momon—”

“—I believe it’s Momon-sama, Captain.”

“Er, yes! Can you please write a letter introducing us to Momon-sama?”

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