The Paladin of the Holy Kingdom: Part 1

“Well, originally, the weak like yourselves should have been defended by the Holy Kingdom, those who should have been strong… I really do pity you. If you were under my protection — under the protection of my country, the Sorcerous Kingdom, something like this could not possibly happen. That is because I would have used all my strength to protect the people and strike down the Bafolk.”

Everyone around them was silent.

The Sorcerer King’s arguments were cold and heartless, but at the same time they expressed the truth of the world.

If they could not oppose his words with reason, would they choose to protest with their emotions? However, their fear of the Sorcerer King stopped them from doing so.

“You, isn’t he one of the undead? What are the undead doing in a place like this?”

The father could not say anything to the Sorcerer King because he feared the latter, and so he directed his wrath at Neia instead.

However, before Neia could answer, the Sorcerer King stole a march on her, as expected.

“To help your country, of course. And the fact is, you were all rescued by the undead of which you speak. If you are unhappy with that, why not save this nation by yourselves?”

As he heard that, the father questioned Neia with his eyes. However, she could say nothing.

That was because it was the truth.

If the people of this country were enough to defeat Jaldabaoth, the Sorcerer King would not be here.

The man hugged the boy’s corpse in fear, and then he turned and ran. The people to which the man ran had frightened looks on their faces as well.

Neia heard the Sorcerer King say something, but she did not know if he was addressing the fleeing man or himself.

“Even I would be oppressed if I were weak. Therefore one cannot forget to seek strength. I need to engrave into my heart the fact that beings of comparable power to myself most definitely do exist.”

Part 3

After attacking the first prison camp and freeing the Liberation Army troops imprisoned within, they went after their next prison camp the on the next day.

They were not riding on the momentum of victory. Rather, there were several reasons why they could not do anything else. The most pressing one was because the food stocks in the prison camps were less than they had estimated.

This, in turn, was the result of the twin policies of the demihumans not feeding their captives enough, and regularly shipping food in from a small city nearby.

In addition, the demihumans who accompanied the food shipments were also responsible for inspecting the prison camps for any abnormalities.

Even if they killed all these demihumans and took all their food, the opposition would definitely conclude that something had gone wrong at the prison camps.

Of course, Jaldabaoth would learn of that as well. That being the case, it was very likely that he would dispatch a huge force which Neia and the others would not be able to defeat.

After standing behind the Sorcerer King and participating — but obviously not speaking — in meetings, after a long argument that made Neia’s legs hurt to stand on, they had finally arrived at two possible courses of action.

The first was to flee to the south after liberating one prison camp and throwing in their lot with the armies that ought to be stationed there.

The second was to strike first and conquer the aforementioned small city.

While both of these opposed courses of action had their own merits and flaws, they eventually went with the latter, after the Captain of the Paladin Order, Remedios, shouted for it.

Remedios had a top secret reason for choosing to assault the city.

After questioning the demihumans — and of course, killing them afterwards — the town which was their target apparently contained a someone with royal blood in their veins.

If they were truly of the royal bloodline, it was very likely that the situation would improve. Even if they were not royalty, it would be a godsend if they were a great noble with a certain degree of status and connections. They could bank on the fact that they had saved his life to ask the southern armies to apply pressure, and possibly ask for reinforcements.

However, Neia had her doubts.

“Your Majesty, do you really think there will be a member of the royal family or a powerful noble there?”

Neia had been allowed to ride a horse out of deference to the Sorcerer King’s status. Otherwise, the sort of horse which a low-ranking squire like Neia would have been allowed to ride would have been taken for use as a pack animal long ago.

“I think it’s a trap. Even if it isn’t, the city will be garrisoned with many troops, and depending on the situation there might be demons present. Captain Custodio ought to be very aware of that. Even so, she has decided to fight an uphill battle like this. Sometimes, you need to wager everything on one bet.”

If they did not seek the aid of the south, people would begin to starve soon. If that happened, Neia knew that the Liberation Army would not be able to carry on.