Chapter 167
Chapter: 167
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>Translator: penny
>Chapter: 167
>Chapter Title: Initiation Ceremony (2)
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Inquisitor Paris.
He was a fairly competent holy knight, but he was still considered too young and inexperienced to serve as the knight order's commander.
Nevertheless, he had risen to the position of commander because the previous commander, Sir Durand, had died in a sudden accident.
"From this moment on, you are the commander of the Order of Saint Marthias."
On the day the unprecedented incident of a gate opening in the imperial palace occurred, the Holy Emperor had clearly said those words to Paris.
As instructed, Paris, who had been the vice-commander, became the acting commander and had no choice but to reorganize the disorganized knight order. Soon after, under Cardinal Benitus's leadership, operations to root out the remnants of the Dark Church followed.
With cleanup tasks piling up one after another, he ended up solidifying his role as commander for convenience. Naturally, this drew unfavorable looks from some senior and peer inquisitors.
"If you know the position is beyond your station, you should at least know to decline it yourself."
"With the commander gone like that, I guess he saw it as his chance to get promoted."
Those who had sat idly by during the actual cleanup had no shortage of words to say. As a senior, he couldn't even soothe the atmosphere, and instead, they were stirring up discord within the knight order.
But as the one who had become commander, he couldn't complain to anyone. While spending his days creaking along like that and growing exhausted, an unexpected decision came down from the Holy Council.
"The Saintess is the [Apostle] of the Lord God who has inherited the will of Saint Marthias. She has declared her intent to personally join the holy knight order, so you must treat her accordingly."
When he first heard that directive, Paris doubted his own ears. Appointing a 12-year-old child who wasn't even a knight as a vice-commander-level officer?
Of course, it wasn't entirely against the rules.
The Saintess was one who had been canonized as a living saint. Though she held no real authority, in the Orthodox Church's hierarchy, she was treated almost on par with a cardinal. The fact that she was at vice-commander level was considering her lack of practical experience; in truth, she was essentially a superior above the knight commander.
But did things really work that way? If the Saintess was personally joining the knight order, the story changed completely.
A vice-commander training alongside new squires? How absurd was that!
"Commander, this is really going too far, even for her! Vice-commander level? She's just a kid who hasn't even properly held a weapon once!"
"Isn't this too much favoritism just because she's from the imperial family? It'll shake the discipline of the knight order! Please do something about it, sir?"
Suddenly, all his subordinates were clinging to him, calling him "Commander" and pouring out their complaints, leaving Paris a bit dazed.
At the very least, this incident had certainly become an opportunity for the Order of Saint Marthias to strengthen their internal unity.
In any case, he too felt this decision was excessive, so he went directly to Cardinal Benitus to raise an objection.
But the very next day, the cardinal asked him this with half his face pale.
"Do you know that after Saint Aurelion received God's revelation and to smoothly carry out his mission, he received various promotions from the Orthodox Church?"
Paris was baffled. It was a story that ended with "the saint received God's revelation and led the people," barely a few lines even in the scriptures.
"And what about how, hundreds of years ago, Priest Granias temporarily also served as knight commander for emergency negotiations with the Anatolian nobles?"
"…Pardon?"
He had truly never heard of that before.
At that, Cardinal Benitus furrowed his wrinkled face even more gloomily and sighed.
"You didn't know? I didn't know either until today! So what can we do? Right now, we have no grounds to oppose His Majesty's will. I have no idea where he found those records, but the evidence and precedents are too clear."
"……"
"The more I think about it, the more terrifying he is. He couldn't have memorized entire volumes of lost scriptures, could he?"
If even that strict old man was raising his hands in surrender, there really was no other way. Paris's worries deepened.
Amid that, an opinion arose within the knight order to hold an initiation ceremony for the Saintess. It was called an initiation ceremony, but in truth, it was close to the brutal hazing tradition of harshly drilling new squires to instill discipline.
"If she experiences the initiation ceremony, won't she surely freak out and withdraw her enlistment?"
"But even squires who've trained to some extent often end up bedridden after the initiation. If we make the young Saintess go through that harsh drilling alone, what will people think of us?"
"Then let's show her actual training under the pretext of a rehearsal. Have her experience part of what the new squires do. That won't lead to any backlash."
It felt like a fairly plausible idea. Would the young girl, who had been pampered as a saintess, still insist on joining after seeing the brutal reality of the knight order's training?
And so, Commander Paris summoned the Saintess to the training grounds the very next day.
"……?"
But somehow, the situation unfolded a bit differently than he had imagined.
Even upon seeing the inquisitors clad in full plate armor, exuding a fierce aura—not lightweight gear—the Saintess showed no change in expression and simply exclaimed this in admiration.
"This is the public authority that big brother mentioned…!"
…Public authority?
Seeing the Saintess's eyes growing increasingly bright and sparkling, Commander Paris felt an ominous premonition.
Hyah! Hiyah! Uracha!
On one side of the training grounds, squires wielding flails adorned with vicious spikes were visible. As instructed by their seniors in advance, they were sweating profusely while steadily acting the part of vicious criminals.
The sharp killing intent was palpable, as if they were ready to bludgeon someone to death at any moment.
"That's the safe weapon the Grand Prince mentioned…!"
…Safe… what?
Commander Paris broke out in cold sweat. Something was going seriously wrong.
And his bad premonition reached its peak after handing a weapon to the Saintess.
The heavy flail that even ordinary people struggled to swing with two hands—she effortlessly lifted with one hand and began twirling it around, mimicking the squires.
To handle that weight with such a tiny hand and slender arm meant she was naturally channeling aura through her muscles…
'Did the Saintess train in aura cultivation?'
Before he could even harbor that doubt.
Crunch! Crack!
The flail swung lightly, and the breastplate on the straw dummy crumpled like paper in an instant!
"……!"
"Whew."
Amid the entire knight order paling in shock, the Saintess lightly exhaled the breath she had been holding. It seemed she instinctively knew the timing to hold her breath.
"Aiming at a straw dummy in armor instead of a person makes it feel somehow easier on the mind. Hitting it like this won't kill anyone, right?"
The entire Order of Saint Marthias stood with pale faces, mouths agape.
You just turned what would be a person's heart and lungs into pulp with one blow!
Paris rubbed his temples, where a headache was beginning to throb. Something was thoroughly tangled.
In the midst of that, the two princes sitting as guardians and observers were extremely irritating. Especially the Third Prince.
The way he smirked with the corner of his mouth crooked, as if he had known this would happen, laughing leisurely—it was infuriating beyond words.
"Then, Saintess. We're planning to do basic physical training now. Would you like to join?"
Then, all the inquisitors began marching around the training grounds with stern faces.
At that, the Saintess followed behind them without a word. Still without training clothes, wearing her long priestess robes, grabbing the fluttering hem and trotting along cutely!
'Ugh, a bit cute…!'
The inquisitors clutched their hearts. Of course, that sentiment didn't last long.
'Why… why isn't she getting tired?'
It wasn't full sprint since it was endurance training, but it was impressive that a young girl kept pace with grown adults without falling behind. And yet, her speed didn't slow at all.
Not only that. No matter how much they ran, she showed not a drop of sweat, completely at ease.
'Commander. We've already exceeded our usual training volume by double.'
'Quiet! You want to embarrass ourselves in front of the Saintess?'
'But at this rate, the knights can't hold out. We're in heavier armor than usual, right? Even sustaining stamina with holy power has its limits!'
As said, soon squires began dropping out one by one, and before long, all the inquisitors were sprawled out on the training grounds, gasping for breath.
Huff! Guh!
Heok! Hah!
"You're training until you're completely drained like this. Even during the Nativity period, training at this intensity—truly, it must be impossible without a lofty sense of mission and thorough self-discipline."
"……."
Saintess Sisle spoke in admiration, but no one responded. They were too exhausted to even speak.
Normally, it was tradition for senior knights to drill and berate the whimpering new squires.
But now, the actual newbie—the Saintess—was the only one lightly walking among the sweat-soaked, collapsed inquisitors, sharing her holy power.
The girl's figure was holy and endearing at the same time, but she was also the culprit behind this mess. Complex emotions flickered across the inquisitors' faces as they looked at the Saintess.
"Well, since this is just a rehearsal today, let's end it here…"
As Commander Paris began to send the Saintess back.
"This much won't impress you, Sisle. This is just light physical training for the holy knights."
Prince Mores, wearing a somehow irritating smile, slyly interjected.
"The other holy knights train at this intensity every day, right? Isn't that so, Logan?"
At that, Prince Logan nodded solemnly.
"Constant training is a knight's duty. But among the five holy knight orders, this one might be the best? We in the Lilium detachment prided ourselves on intense training, but after seeing the Order of Saint Marthias today, I feel we've been too complacent. I need to reflect."
"……."
The inquisitors, hearing that sincere admiration, exchanged anxious glances.
Hey, what do we do? We won't have to do this every day from now on, will we?
But unlike the two genuinely impressed, Prince Mores's face clearly showed he was enjoying it immensely.
"Come on, Sisle. You're a member of the holy knight order now, so how about training with them to the end until the Grand Mass? I called them out for once, after all?"
For a moment, black devil horns seemed to overlay the prince's head.
'He's deliberately egging her on, isn't he?'
'Hey! You devil!'
'I'm off-duty today and got dragged out! Please spare us!'
As the inquisitors screamed silently, the Saintess tilted her head.
"But I've learned weapon techniques and finished stamina training. What's left?"
"Swordsmanship."
"Swordsmanship?"
When Prince Mores pointed it out, the Saintess asked back, seeming a bit flustered.
"But I heard the Order of Saint Marthias values life. So they don't use swords unless necessary…"
At that, the inquisitors stared at each other with bewildered faces.
Did we say that? We've heard "bring them alive to the torture chamber" plenty, but?
"What are you talking about, Sisle? Of course holy knights must value life. But any imperial knight fundamentally needs to master the standard imperial knight order swordsmanship. Where did you hear that?"
To Logan's question, Sisle hesitated slightly before answering.
"Ah, um. He said swords are scary because they can kill people. And then…"
Sisle had believed Orden's words completely. But she couldn't bring herself to tattle that he had told her.
However, Logan listened seriously, then soon sternly scolded Sisle.
"What careless thinking is that, Sisle? You didn't decide to join the holy knight order with such a light mindset, did you? If a knight fears killing, who would see you as a comrade and trust you with their back?"
"Comrade…"
"Yes. Suppose you're facing devil worshippers or demonkin. If you see them harming people but can't stop them because you haven't learned how to kill, would you make excuses?"
"……!"
"The sword of the person you hesitate to strike might pierce the heart of the holy knight next to you in the next moment. Then, in front of his bereaved family, would you say you did your best to save lives?"
At that harsh reprimand, Sisle's eyes shook fiercely.
But the girl who had fought alone against a slow-approaching death for years was strong. Clutching her trembling hands together and looking at Logan, her eyes soon hardened with resolve.
She turned to Commander Paris, bowed politely, and said.
"I was foolish, Commander. From this moment, I will participate in all the knight order's training."
"No, you don't have to…"
As Paris tried to dissuade her, sweating profusely, the Saintess let out a soft laugh. It was a clear, pure laughter that rang transparently through the air.
"Yes. You all held back today out of consideration for me and did only light training, right? But from now on, I'm a member of Saint Marthias. From this instant, I will share all hardships with my comrades. I'm prepared!"
"……."
The faces of the inquisitors sprawled on the ground turned ashen in an instant.
In the now solemn training grounds, only one person turned his head away, face red from holding back laughter.
'Kkhkhkhk! Ah, this is driving me crazy!'
[…Isungjin, you devil!]