The Paladin of the Holy Kingdom: Part 1

“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?”

Part 2

After the talks with Blue Rose ended, the diplomatic delegation from the Holy Kingdom to which Neia belonged made an early departure from the Royal Capital. This was because they had already seen that nobody in the Kingdom was willing to aid the Holy Kingdom, researching Jaldabaoth’s true form would need several month’s time, and also because they knew that the only one capable of beating Jaldabaoth was Momon.

In addition, the thought of the Holy Kingdom’s citizens suffering made them anxious to do something for them.

They rested their horses as little as possible, sometimes even casting spells on them, and they travelled east along the roads at speeds that normal travellers could not match.

They passed the final village of the Kingdom, and now they were at the buffer zone between the Kingdom and the Sorcerous Kingdom.

The gently-swelling hills blocked the travellers’ lines of sight, and they could catch the occasional glimpse of a densely-packed primeval forest. It felt like a monster might leap out at them at any time. This might have originally been the Kingdom’s territory, but that was all. The chance of being attacked by monsters had only decreased. It was by no means gone.

On terrain like this, Neia’s sense of vision and smell sharpened, and she forged ahead.

There’s no sign of creatures waiting in ambush nearby. No tracks of large carnivores near the road either.

There were many patches of bare earth exposed on the road. If they continued onwards, they would be entering territory which had formerly been controlled by the Crown, whose roads seemed to have been paved. Paved roads were more convenient for travellers, but to Neia, the bare earth from just now would make it easier to spot best tracks.

Neia looked at her hands.

She did not like these hands.

It was not that she resented the hardening of her hands from her training. It was simply distaste for her lack of talent.

She might have inherited her father’s keen senses, but sadly, she had not received anything from her mother.

Neia’s mother had been a famous paladin in her time, and she had excellent sword skills. However, as her daughter, Neia had no talent for the sword, no matter how much she practiced. Strictly speaking, the bow techniques passed down from her father meant that she could use bows skillfully even without any training.

No, the fact was, Neia was fortunate just to inherit that half of her heritage. However, the skills used by the paladins which Neia so admired could only be used with melee weapons. For Neia, who wanted to become a paladin, being talented with ranged weapons was a waste.

Once more, she gripped the reins tightly.

She straightened her waist and adjusted her position on the saddle. She had spent a long time on horseback after leaving the Royal Capital, and her butt and thighs were quite sore now.

She could have asked the Paladins to use low tier healing spells to get rid of the pain. However, she was a girl, and she was a little embarrassed to ask that of them. Also, it was still not yet at a level where it would affect her ability to work the reins, so that made it even more difficult to ask.