The Paladin of the Holy Kingdom: Part 1

“Wait! Please wait, Captain Custodio! The Sorcerous Kingdom which is our destination is ruled by an undead king, so what if this is one of the Sorcerous Kingdom’s ships?”

“What!? He brought a Ghost Ship onto dry land and then used it? ...What the hell is this?”

It was only natural that Remedios would be dumbfounded.

The undead could control other undead. However, what kind of undead being could put a Ghost Ship, that would originally have sailed the seas, under their command?

Soon, the ship revealed itself in its entirety.

Indeed, it was truly a Ghost Ship.

It was broken down all over. There was a huge hole in the side of the hull, and the deck planks were curled upwards in many places.

It was gigantic, even bigger than the Holy Kingdom Navy’s flagship “Iron Hammer of the Holy King.” If it were not so dilapidated, it would give off an impression of tremendous power.

The last of its three masts flew aft sails, while the others had regular square sails. However, they were all torn and tattered, and they did not look like they could accomplish their mission of propelling a vessel.

There was an abnormal sharpness to the way its prow protruded forth. It looked very impressive, like it had been polished. In addition, it glowed with a dim, mystical light, and it gave the feeling that the ship was proud of itself.

After that, the most eye-catching feature was the ensign it flew on top of the main mast. It bore the symbol of the Sorcerous Kingdom.

The ship floated a meter off the ground as it moved forward.

Soon, the ship passed by the group — who were frozen in place by the bizarre sight — from the side.

Nobody was able to move, and then the fog began to thin. Did that ship spew fog as it sailed? No, if that were the case, then the fog would have been thickest when one was near the ship, so they should not have been able to even see the hull itself. It was probably like some sort of concealing layer that shrouded the area around the ship with fog.

Or perhaps it was a cage to keep its prey from escaping. Neia was scared stiff by that thought of hers.

The Sorcerer King… an undead king. He might turn out to be a very scary person.

When she heard he had summoned gigantic goats of uncertain origin, she had imagined them as adorable sheep, so perhaps Neia might have underestimated the Sorcerer King in some small way.

It made her uneasy.

Just like how paladins viewed the undead as enemies, the undead might consider paladins to be their enemies too. If that were the case, the fate of their group would be—

Even so, they had no choice but to beg him for aid, in order to meet Momon, the man who had once fought on par with Jaldabaoth. Neia wiped her sweat away with her palm.

“...The fog’s cleared. Everyone, let’s go.”

The undead king who ruled these bizarre beings.

Neia gathered up her resolve.

The Sorcerer King is undead, yet he permits humans to live… What sort of person is he, really? Well, I won’t be able to see that side of him, being a squire and all.

Part 3

In the distance, she could see the outermost of E-Rantel’s — the capital of the Sorcerous Kingdom — three walls, and the imposing gate set into it.

However, neither of them could draw Neia’s attention away from the two gigantic statues which flanked the gate.

They depicted an undead creature which held a bizarre staff that resembled snakes coiling around each other. Those statues were probably made in the image of the Sorcerer King, Ainz Ooal Gown.

Despite being a good distance away from them, Neia could make out the intricate detailing of the statues. In all likelihood, she would not be able to find a flaw in them even at the statues’ feet.

Then, she saw several human-shaped creatures working near the statues.

Eh? Ah… aren’t they too big? Aren’t they as high are those walls? While I know the statues are large… who are those people working down there, anyway?

The others seemed to have the same questions as Neia, and the paladins began discussing the identities of those human-like creatures.

“...Those aren’t humans, are they?”

“Yeah. Are they Giants? Although, they don’t seem to be the same as Hill Giants…”

Neia, a mere squire, had never seen a Giant in the flesh before, but she had heard about these beings during her monster knowledge class.