Huh, was it you people who did this?
The Holy Knight Captain, Maya, panicked and grabbed her mace. Azadine shook his head.
Were just a group of rchants, adventurers, and pilgrims.
Ah, I see. Is-is that so? Then what happened here?
It seems the villagers were attacked by black magic. When we arrived here, we found that they had been transford into undead and attacked us.
Huh? Are you talking about the residents of this sawmill? Oh, my goodness. But all of you managed to keep them away?
Ah, it wasnt just us. There were other rchants and rcenaries, but they didnt even enter the village and said they were going back.
I see. Had you not co here, I would have been trapped there for who knows how long.
Are you okay? How long were you locked in there?
Im not sure Though I could endure it because there was food and water inside the warehouse
Could I take a quick look inside?
N-No.
Maya quickly resisted Azadines request to look inside the warehouse.
But we could probably find a clue about this incident inside, dont you think?
Theres nothing like that in there!
Why are you so sure about that?
Uh, th-the thing is
diam chose that mont to speak.
The Holy Knight probably had to take care of any natures call inside the warehouse in a corner sowhere. Im sure shes taken care of the big business, but since one would have to go often for the little business
Waaaah!
Maya dropped to the ground with a thud. Apparently, she had wanted to keep the fact that she had to relieve her bladder inside the warehouse a secret. That was why she had blocked Azadine and the others from entering the warehouse.
Thats not a big deal. May we please go ahead and investigate the warehouse?
No. Before that, excuse , but who are you? Investigations like this were originally the specialization of the Holy Knights. Rather than making useless speculations, its better for soone trained for this to control the situation.
Mayas words made complete sense. After all, she didnt want anyone to see any tracers of waste that she had left behind. Of course, Azadine, as an Emperors ssenger, had received investigative training.
The Emperors ssengers did not only receive martial arts training but also had to study and morize various types of accidents, murders, criminal cases, and so forth as part of their training. However, since his opponent was a Holy Knight of the Kings Church, he couldnt exactly reveal that he was a ssenger, could he?
At that mont, diam chose to co forward instead of Azadine.
That trained person would still be locked in the warehouse had we not co, so isnt it okay to leave this incident to us? Rather, well take responsibility for this investigation, so please follow us inside.
At the reminder of her involuntary imprisonnt, the captain quickly fell silent. That disgraceful mory would end up being brought up again, so she had no choice but to stay silent.
L-lets do that.
Maya gave up and permitted the party to look inside the warehouse.
Azadine looked inside and found that the warehouse had served as a food storage area and also had a large tub of water. She seed to have managed to survive due to these things being in storage. Judging by the ss she had left, she had probably been trapped inside for about a day.
Looking at the door, there were traces of it having been struck by a sword. Nearby was also a broken short sword that had been tossed away negligently.
So this captain had more than just that decorative mace on her.
She had been ard with a short sword and a shield when she entered this warehouse and beca trapped. She seed to have tried to use her short sword to open the door but had broken it and thrown it away.
Were you trapped here for around a day?
Yes.
Before that, the villagers were still alive, yes? The mont you were trapped was when the village was raided. Is that correct?
Yes.
Maya, who had given that reply, was examining the undead corpses nearby as if she was looking for sothing.
Ah, by the way, apart from , did you see any other Holy Knights?
Holy Knights?
Well, I had been sent here to subdue wyverns under orders from the Bishop. Of course, to hunt these evil beasts, we needed hunters.
In the Holy Knights Order, there were many trainee knights who had to perform a variety of deeds to gain enough rit to beco formally promoted.
At the sa ti, my Father was in a position where he had to supervise the trainee knights, so I ca here together with them.
Father?
Ah, yes. My Father is a Holy Knight of the Church too. From one generation to the next, we are upholding the Law of the Kings Church as father and daughter!
She proudly stood with her chest pushed forward.
Its not sothing to be proud of at all, though?
Azadine inwardly laughed at her words. According to the tenets of the Kings Church, a Holy Knight was not allowed to have children. Otherwise, sending those who lost a battle of inheritance to the Kings Church would be aningless. It would be better to kill them. Otherwise, they could have children, regain secular power, and reinstate themselves.
To prevent such situations in the past, these fallen nobles would have been forced to either join the priesthood or be castrated. However, as the rules of the Holy Knight Order beca more lenient, the rule of castration was the first to be removed. So as the more immoral Holy Knights indulged in carnal pleasures, they would occasionally have children. However, children born this way would simply be illegitimate children that would be given to the Church.
In other words, this female knight, Maya, was born an illegitimate child.
If she was a child born before he joined the priesthood, her father would have beco a priest, not a Holy Knight.
That was why being a father and daughter pair of Holy Knights was not sothing to brag about. As he had a hunch, Azadine asked about the appearance of her father and his trainee knights. Once he heard their description, he ca to a conclusion.
So they were the ones that I killed.
This forest and sawmill bordered the farm that Azadines party had left the day before. The Holy Knights dispatched to hunt the wyverns probably had accidentally killed farrs with arrows while shooting them in the forest. To cover up the incident, they had tried to kill the witnesses, but one had run away, leading them to decide to massacre the whole village and et their ultimate end when they t Azadines party.
But a person involved in that incident was still alive. Salasmas Knight, Captain Maya, was the daughter of Sir Kazrek, who Azadine had killed.
I dont know what happened, but my Father is an extrely outstanding Holy Knight. Hes skilled in martial arts and has a righteous character. Hes not soone whod struggle at the hands of just so undead.
Is that so?
Azadine laughed. Sir Kazrek had certainly been a strong opponent. Azadine had killed him with an unexpected attack, but he would have been a difficult opponent in an official duel.
But was he really an outstanding Holy Knight?
If he was truly an outstanding Holy Knight, he wouldnt have a daughter.
He had broken the rules of the church and fathered an illegitimate daughter. How could he be an outstanding Holy Knight?
Aside from that, the knight he saw and his trainees were a gang that had recklessly shot their arrows and killed civilians. They were also caught trying to cover up their mistake by committing mass slaughter.
She might be favoring him as they shared the sa blood, but he was in no way an outstanding Holy Knight.
He may have been an outstanding father, but I should keep my mouth shut about this. I dont want to get involved with this woman for no reason. I dont want to end up fighting with her just because I killed her father. Thatd just leave a bad aftertaste in my mouth.
Therefore, he decided to keep his distance from her.
Are your weapons and tools with the horse? I didnt see a horse that beca an undead. If you think its safe, you can scout the nearby area with the rchants and the knights to find your horse. You never know. You might even find your colleagues.
Then what about you?
Well investigate the warehouse here and the village a bit more.
Azadine said that and sent her to survey the surrounding area.
Azadine examined the warehouse a bit more but found nothing special.
So what should we do now?
diam asked.
Should we make this sawmill our base and explore a little more? Or should we retrace the path we ca from like the other rchants are doing?
Well take this sawmill as our base. If the phenonon occurred here was the spell casters act, wed need food and water supply.
And if not? Usually, matters related to black magic occur because of a grudge held by soone who was murdered and turned into a vengeful spirit.
The living needed a lot of training and talent to use black magic. However, those who beca vengeful spirits would imdiately be able to use black magic. Disasters like these were usually caused by those kinds of spirits.
Then do we have to keep acting like powerless children? It might be very burdenso for you.
diam said this with the female Holy Knight in her mind.
Azadine had forbidden diam and Ismail from using their bows. If the children used their bows with evident skill, theyd be imdiately identified as mbers of the ssenger Clan.
They had to hide it from the rchants, but it was even more important to hide it in front of a Holy Knight. More than that, however
If the person who committed this incident here is a human, then that person probably
Right?
diam could roughly guess who Azadine had in mind as the culprit.
Disasters involving black magic were usually caused by a vengeful spirit. If a person went through mortifying experiences throughout their lives and did not get a proper funeral at their death, perhaps due to being murdered, they would typically return as evil spirits. Such evil spirits also brought with them a curse.
However, sotis there were incidents where the black magic used was of such extre power that they truly beca disasters. If this was such an incident, the most likely culprit was the woman who had been enslaved because she was a mber of the ssenger Clan.
They would have to see if she was murdered and had beco an evil spirit.
I dont know if she died and beca a vengeful spirit or if she is alive and learned to practice black magic. The probability of the latter is
The latter is possible to so extent.
Azadine said this as he considered past cases of similar incidents.
Black magic spells required more talent than formal study. If she had truly inherited the blood of a ssenger as well as the magic book of Flower Bird Wind Moon, it would not be strange for her to have suddenly awakened as a black magic user.
Then, considering your personality, wouldnt you want to try to persuade her?
Why do you think that?
Because you value nature and its beauty. But if it was , Id kill her. Though having sad mories and an agonizing past makes sympathize with her, you cant use a broken container out of sympathy. Isnt using a new container more effective and less expensive?
Regardless of how pitiful ones past was, there was no need to use a broken container out of sympathy. The human spirit, once broken, was hard to recover.
Sotis, people who have strong minds may go through terrible pain and do not lose themselves in them but rather forge themselves to beco stronger and sharper. However, those who cannot do so end up being broken and crushed. While you could sympathize with these broken people due to their circumstances, it was not wise to trust them.
diam, who had spoken her piece, then smiled.
Regardless, if you succeed at persuading her, Id respect that.
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