The Road to the Holy City, Part 7
Weapons forged by a god. Thus, Divine Weapons. Yet, despite their grand name, they weren't exactly cheat items possessing world-shattering power. Even so, to the people of the Holy Kingdom, they were highly revered as traces left behind by the Main God, and it was an undeniable fact that they were Sacred Relics imbued with the Goddess's divinity.
Upon seeing the Divine Weapon of Pilgrim Hills—the Breastplate of Saint Redmane—Yohan's impression was simple:
"Fucking hell, those greedy bastards."
"Shh. What if someone hears you?" Annie scolded him, her voice laced with panic at his sudden profanity.
To be fair, the Breastplate of Saint Redmane did look the part. It was housed inside a transparent glass case that stood well over two meters tall and wide. A subtle, elegant silvery sheen coated the surface of the plate armor, glowing softly as if brushed with holy oil, which only heightened its majestic aura. To top it off, parchment sheets inscribed with prayers were sealed to it with melted wax, making it look so divine that anyone who laid eyes on it would marvel at the blessing of the almighty god.
The problem, however, was the sheer number of souvenir stalls cluttering the exhibition hall. There were miniature breastplates, breastplate-shaped cookies, breastplate-shaped bookmarks, and handkerchiefs embroidered with breastplate patterns. That wasn't all—they were even selling beer under the brand name 'Saint Redmane.' It was hard to tell whether this was a cathedral or a bustling marketplace. And standing at the absolute peak of this commercial madness were the life-sized replica breastplates.
"Every single one of them is absolutely blinded by greed."
"I can't even argue with that, because it's true," Annie muttered.
Yohan finally understood why the Holy Kingdom was so exceptionally wealthy despite its relatively small territory. The business acumen of these religious fanatics was something even the merchants of Burgund could learn from. If they could, they would probably dig up Saint Redmane himself just to sell his autographed merchandise. Yohan sincerely believed that.
"Holy shit, they actually have it."
And they really did. Although it was just a souvenir, a stamp modeled after Saint Redmane's thumbprint was being sold in plain sight.
"Welcome to Saint Redmane Cathedral. Is there a particular item you are looking for?"
As Yohan stood there blinking in disbelief, a priest managing the stall suddenly approached and spoke to them.
"We are fine. We merely stopped by the cathedral to rest during our long journey, so please do not mind us."
Just as Yohan was about to play the part of a clueless country bumpkin, Annie stepped between them and flashed her Inquisitor's badge.
"T-This... An Inquisitor from the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith! You have traveled from afar."
"Yes. I was on my way back to the Holy City after completing a mission in the provinces. This man is a local farmer I met along the way..."
Annie immediately introduced Yohan's cover identity to the priest. But for some reason, she spun an unnecessarily long tale.
"Oh, merciful Lord! To think that a man who lived without ever hearing the teachings of the Church has decided to journey all the way to the Holy City through a fateful encounter!"
"Indeed. He possesses a truly devout heart."
The priest looked deeply moved by the story Annie had fabricated. Yohan, on the other hand, had to bite his tongue to keep from bursting into laughter as he watched Annie lie with a straight face.
—Pfft...
Even the Goddess let out a snicker inside his head.
"Young brother, our Saint Redmane Cathedral always welcomes pilgrims like you. The journey to the Holy City will be arduous, so I shall pray that you find comfortable rest, at least during your stay here in Pilgrim Hills."
"Ah, yes. Thank... you."
Overwhelmed with emotion, the priest grabbed Yohan's hand and shook it warmly. Yohan subtly turned his head to glare at Annie. Though she maintained a stoic expression at a glance, a closer look revealed the corners of her eyes twitching and her lips trembling. She had lied so shamelessly, yet even she was struggling to hold back her laughter.
The two strolled around the cathedral grounds until Yohan's motion sickness completely subsided.
"Whew. I feel like a human being again."
"Has the motion sickness passed?"
At Annie's question, Yohan nodded silently. He then walked past the fountain and headed straight toward the teleportation station.
—I have committed this place to memory as well. We can retrieve the breastplate on our way back to the village.
Just as the Goddess said, they had confirmed the physical existence of the Divine Weapon displayed in the cathedral. Now, it was time to step onto the teleportation magic circle bound for the Holy City once more.
Entering the station with Yohan, Annie headed straight for the ticket counter, while Yohan watched her quietly from a few paces away.
"We are heading toward the Holy City. Two adults and two horses. The earlier the departure, the better."
"Yes, we happen to have slots available for the next scheduled departure on the hour. How does that sound?"
"Perfect. We'll take those."
Whether it was a blessing or a curse, they didn't have to wait after booking like they did yesterday; they were able to board the second teleportation magic circle almost immediately.
"Sigh..."
Yohan let out a heavy sigh the moment he entered the chamber inscribed with the magic circle. Although he had fully recovered by now, he knew that another bout of dreadful motion sickness was bound to hit him after the long-distance teleportation.
"You only have to endure it four more times, including this one. So please, show your subordinate an exemplary attitude as the leader of our knight order. Commander."
During the brief wait before the magic circle activated, Annie, who had been quiet, suddenly leaned in and whispered in Yohan's ear.
"I'd rather you just insult me."
Yohan replied in an irritated tone, shaking his head. All this talk about the knight order and being the commander—Billy was one thing, but Annie doing it too was clearly just to tease him.
"Activating the magic circle in ten seconds. Passengers, please..."
Before long, a bright light accompanied by a resonant hum erupted from the magic circle on the floor. Yohan squeezed his eyes shut and swallowed hard.
Flash!
The long-distance teleportation magic was finally unleashed.
"Ugh..."
Yohan groaned as the inevitable wave of dizziness and nausea washed over him. However, it was significantly more bearable compared to the first time.
"See? It's much better, isn't it? It's hard to endure at first, but you quickly get used to it after using the magic circles a few times."
That was indeed a relief. Yohan let out a sigh from the bottom of his heart.
"Let's get some fresh air outside before we move on again."
Yohan nodded at Annie's suggestion. Immediately after, the two led their horses out of the station.
"By the way... since we're just zipping around using these magic circles anyway, is there really any need to drag these horses along?"
As they stepped onto the main street after leaving the station, Yohan asked Annie, who was walking beside him. Even though every teleportation station they passed through had stables outside, dragging along horses they weren't even riding was proving to be quite a hassle.
Annie nodded, understanding his frustration.
"True. But we have no choice. There is no teleportation magic circle that connects the nearest city directly to the Holy City. Once we arrive at our final stop, we have to travel by land."
"Ah, I see." Yohan sighed at her explanation.
"Of course, it's a different story going the other way. There are plenty of magic circles leading out of the Holy City. In fact, inside the Papal Palace, there are magic circles that can take you directly to the frontiers, including Easthold, in a single bound."
Undoubtedly, those were magic circles reserved for Holy Knights and Inquisitors, completely off-limits to ordinary citizens. Besides, there was barely any demand to use them as civilian transport anyway.
"Whew, then let's just take a quick look at this town's cathedral and head right out."
"We should easily reach our final stop by today. We'll rest there for the night, and then ride our horses to the Holy City the following day."
"Sounds like a plan."
It was exactly as Annie had predicted. By the time they arrived at Patermachi, the final stop before entering the Holy City, the sun that had been high in the sky was already dipping below the western mountains, painting the heavens in shades of gold and indigo. After leaving their horses at the station's stables, the two stepped out onto the main street directly in front of the station.
"This is Patermachi, the final gateway to the Holy Capital Justia."
"Ah, yes. Impressive."
Yohan replied half-heartedly to Annie's kind explanation. At first, he had been unable to hide his awe at the Holy Kingdom's uniquely elegant and magnificent stone architecture. But after seeing similar structures several times over, even the grandest and most lavish buildings failed to surprise him anymore.
"Heh. You look completely exhausted."
Annie chuckled at his reaction, though her own face was clearly etched with fatigue.
"To be honest, I'm exhausted too. Let's find an inn first."
Yohan nodded at her words. But a moment later, his eyes widened.
"Aren't we going to the cathedral? Or is it already closed?"
Yohan asked, completely forgetting that he was supposed to be playing the role of a simple farmer devoted to the Central Church. To achieve their plan of stealing the scriptures and the Divine Weapons, visiting the cathedrals where the weapons were kept was an absolute necessity. Yet, hearing that they were going straight to an inn without stopping by the cathedral naturally raised his suspicions.
"What do you mean? There are no Divine Weapons kept in Patermachi. I explained this to you yesterday while showing you the map, didn't I?"
"Ah. Right."
His brain must have been sluggish from the fatigue. Only after hearing Annie's response did Yohan recall the explanation from the previous day.
"Yaaawn—"
Wearing an embarrassed expression, he stretched his arms wide and let out a massive yawn. He was indeed incredibly tired. While the long-distance teleportation magic circles allowed them to travel vast distances at incredible speeds, the fatigue that accumulated from the teleportation magic was nothing to scoff at. Well, at least on their way back, they would be using their Goddess's power for continent-scale teleportation, which had almost no side effects.
"Shall we head out, then?"
"Yeah, yeah."
The two immediately began visiting inns across the city to secure a room for the night. However, for some reason, almost none of the inns had any vacancies. In the end, Yohan and Annie had to wander around for nearly two hours after leaving the station before they finally managed to rent a single room.
"Seriously, what a pain in the ass."
To make matters worse, it was a cramped room with only a single bed, yet the price was even more expensive than the standard room at the luxury inn they had stayed at in Easthold the night before.
"Is there some huge event coming up or something? Like some saint's feast day, or maybe the Pope's birthday?"
Yohan slumped into a wooden chair that looked like its legs might snap at any moment. He grumbled in an irritated voice.
"I'm not entirely sure about that... Wait a moment."
Annie was about to answer his question but stopped mid-sentence as if something had just crossed her mind.
"My mind must have been sluggish from the fatigue as well. Around this time every year, Patermachi hosts a festival commemorating a former Pope."
"Good grief."
His suspicion was spot on; the accommodations were completely booked because of a festival. The exorbitant price for such a shabby room was undoubtedly due to the peak festival season.
"So, just how great was this Pope that they throw a city-wide festival for him?"
"Theodore IV. He was originally from the Holy Knights, not the priesthood. He was a Pope from long ago who defeated a powerful demon known as the Demon King of his era."
"Say what?"
Did she just say 'Demon King'?
The heavy drowsiness that had been weighing down Yohan's eyelids vanished in an instant, and his eyes snapped wide open.