The Paladin of the Holy Kingdom: Part 1

CHAPTER 2 SEEKING SALVATION

Part 1

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.