The Paladin of the Holy Kingdom: Part 1

The vile odor intensified, and there were several screams.

“The undead!”

“It’s a Skeleton! Why!?”

“Those bastard humans! They sold us to the undead!”

“They’re actually using the undead! Those filthy humans!”

“Mama—! Save me—!”

“My boy—!!!”

The Sorcerer King stopped at the entrance. As expected, even the Sorcerer King was puzzled by this.

“Ah — ahem! Silence!”

After the Sorcerer King bellowed his order, the noisy room fell silent. Of course, that was only for a moment. It immediately filled back up with a racket that was several times louder than before. They were wailing about roughly the same things. No, there seemed to be more voices bemoaning their fate and begging for mercy for their children, regardless of what happened to themselves.

“...Haaah.”

The Sorcerer King sighed, as though he were tired. After that — he slammed on the door. His bony white hands possessed incredible power, and the door bounced away, swinging out until it struck the wall with an incredible sound. The demihumans fell silent immediately.

“Shut up. The next one of you who speaks without permission had better be ready to die.”

The Sorcerer King took a step into a room that seemed to have been frozen in silence — with some parents trying desperately to cover their children’s mouths — and the demihumans all retreated from him.

“I did not come here to kill you. On the contrary, I am here to save you.”

Usually, Neia the human would have a lot of difficulty trying to read the face of a demihuman such as an Orc. However, just this once, Neia was absolutely confident in herself.

Every single one of them was going No way.

“Explaining to everyone at once is troublesome. Send out a representative.”

A moment later, an Orc looked like he was about to rise, but the Orc beside him stopped him. However, he still took a step forward.

He may have been a skinny Orc, but he had clearly possessed a strong body once.

“...May I assume that you are the representative?”

The Orc said nothing and simply nodded.

“...What’s wrong? Why do you not speak?”

“Ah, perhaps it is because Your Majesty ordered them to shut up just now?”

“While I felt that I had given my permission, it would seem nobody understood it that way. You, the Orc who has stepped forward, I permit you to speak. Begin by stating your name.”

“I am Dyel of the Gan Zu tribe — Dyel Gan Zu.”

“Dyel, then. Here is my first question. Are there people here you do not know, or whose personalities have changed drastically?”

“No, no, there’s nobody like that.”

“Next, tell me why you were imprisoned here.”

“...You know that demon called Jaldabaoth, right?”

“Of course I do. He is my enemy. Rather, you could say I came here — to the Holy Kingdom — in order to kill him.”

Their faces still said No way, as expected. Indeed, Neia might have thought the same way before she had come to understand the Sorcerer King. However, Neia was different now.

Neia looked at the Sorcerer King’s profile, and then she spoke.

“It is as His Majesty says. I am a person of this country. In that case, you should be able to understand, right? Jaldabaoth led an allied army of demihumans to invade the Holy Kingdom.”

Dyel’s face changed slightly.

“Wait, a human — probably, a female.”

What did they mean by “probably?” she thought, but to Neia, judging the sex of an Orc would be very difficult. It would probably be the same way for them as well.

“We did not attack this country. Nobody from the Orc tribes should have helped Jaldabaoth. Because of that, he brought us — who defied him — along to this place as punishment.”

“Hm… and what did Jaldabaoth do after he brought you here?”

The Sorcerer King’s question seemed to given Dyel and the other Orcs a powerful shock. The Orcs who looked like mothers clutched their children tightly. After that, there were sounds of moaning and vomiting.

“...What happened here, seriously?” the Sorcerer King could not help but say.

“Ah, it seems I’ve asked a question I shouldn’t have asked. Shall I bring some water? Or do you want something else?”

The Sorcerer King’s attitude seemed to have changed. For some reason, he seemed very nervous. Perhaps he felt guilty about asking the Orcs about a question that had dredged up bad memories. While it might be somewhat rude to think of him that way, the Sorcerer King looked like a parent trying to comfort another child which their own offspring had driven to tears.

This is something only a king who counts both humans and demihumans as his subjects would do...

To the people of the Holy Kingdom, demihumans were the enemy. Therefore, under identical circumstances, they would not say anything kind or comforting.

“We do not want anything else. But we beg you not to ask us what happened. You would not enjoy hearing it, and it was a hellish experience for us. If you order us to speak of it we will do so, but I pray you will do it away from others. Please.”