The Paladin of the Holy Kingdom: Part 1

However, those were words she had spoken in the past, before she knew the truth of the world. Things being what they were now, it seemed a nigh-impossible aim to achieve.

“Hmph! He’s gotten cocky now that he’s crossed the wall, but to think he didn’t bring his demihuman army with him!” Remedios fumed angrily.

Was it really like that? No, it ought to have been that way. Yet, she could not peel away the undeniable sense that something was wrong which coiled around her heart.

“...Don’t lower your guard, okay? Is this the way you ought to be treating an opponent of such power?”

“Of course, Calca-sama! I don’t intend to be careless at all! With this holy sword, I shall relieve the demon of his head and present it to you!”

No good. I can’t calm her down any more.

That was what Calca thought, but she was not worried about her. That was because Remedios was a different person when she stepped onto the battlefield.

“Ahh~ there’s no need to bother with the head, but your loyalty makes me very happy. In that case, regarding the plan to defeat Jaldabaoth… can you buy us some time?”

“But of course. Your servant has already dispatched an advance force to carry out our plans.”

At that moment, Calca felt a dull ache in her heart. That was because carrying out that order was actually sending them out to die. The soldiers would be going out to fight Jaldabaoth, despite having no chance of victory.

One of her duties as a monarch was to trade the lives of the few for the survival of the many. Therefore, she could not weep or wail here. The soldiers were giving their lives for her, so she would need to put on a show to convince them that this was a glorious assignment.

She would have to play the part of the supreme queen, the Holy Queen who was respected above all others.

“In that case, let’s head out!”

The ringing clap of her hands was the signal for everyone to make their move.

Part 4

Remedios gripped her holy sword and slashed a demon — her Vice-Captains had told her its name, but she had completely forgotten it — in half. Imbued with holy power, the blade could inflict grievous wounds upon evil beings, and it was doing so to great effect. She had cut down the demons rampaging through the city one after the other. The fallen demons vanished as thick white smoke steamed from their wounds. Within seconds, there was no trace that the demons had ever been there.

However, the signs of how the demons had ravaged the city remained.

“How could this be!?”

She looked at a fallen soldier — not one of the vanguard troopers, but a local patrolman — and Remedios bellowed in rage.

His leather armor had been cleanly severed, and the hands clutching his abdomen were stained a deep red. She could even see the pink of his innards. His face was well past the point of paleness, now a bloodless white.

While she had almost no medical knowledge, her own experiences supplied enough information for her to make a judgement. There was no time to send the wounded soldiers back to a casualty collection point. She would need to treat them on the spot with magic.

The soldiers were not yet dead, but it was neither a miraculous survival, nor was it because the soldiers were simply that good, so was this the demons’ aim? That said, she had no idea what the demons were planning.

Still, the option to simply let the soldiers die did not exist in Remedios’s heart. Nobody would ever discard the brave soldiers who had chosen to become a shield for their nation in order to buy their country time. And the most important thing was that she was a paladin of righteousness.

“Begin healing him!”

Remedios was accompanied not just by the elite paladins behind her, but also by several priests. Her order was directed at them.

In response, one of her Vice-Captains stepped up and whispered in her ear:

“Would it not be better to let the medics in the rear aid him? If we use the priests’ mana here, we might run out when fighting Jaldabaoth, which might be the demons’ aim—”

“—Ahhhh, you talk too much! This is an order! Heal him to the point where he can move on his own! Also—”

At this point, Remedios glanced at the adjutant beside her and said:

“—I can’t hear you muttering through your helmet, so speak up!”

“Ah, no, it’s fine…”

“Very good!”

The healing magic mended the soldiers’ wounds swiftly. Of course, the recovery was not complete. After all, this was only a first tier spell, and it could not fully restore a soldier on the verge of death. Even so, it was enough to heal the soldiers to the point where they could stagger around. Since the soldiers were no longer in danger of dying, there was no need to heal them any further. Remedios still remembered her sister’s incessant nagging to wisely use limited resources.

“You brave gentlemen, stay that way and listen. We’ve performed first aid on your wounds, so fall back. After that, let the medics at the rear tend to you.”