Chapter 130
Chapter 130
Chapter 130
Their Story (1)
Shortly before Rudian and his party arrived at the Great Forest.
Not long after they left the capital, Maria and Rebecca, who had slipped out as if chasing after them, were still calculating the timing to approach while maintaining distance.
"But is this the right way, sister?"
"Yes, at least Rudian will definitely be wherever my brother is."
Maria nodded confidently in response to Rebecca's question.
Anyone who has used the Green World even once becomes connected to the master of the Green World through a one-way path.
Elvin, who had used the Green World in the imperial palace in the past, had since become practically Maria's ward, though he was completely unaware of this fact.
'For some reason, I can't detect Rudian, but it's probably because of that eyeball monster, right?'
Among Rudian's acquaintances, Maria was currently the only one who knew of Adi's existence, aside from Yev.
"Big sister! I brought something to drink!"
Just as the rising temperature was becoming stifling, one of the succubi who had followed Rebecca somehow procured a cool beverage complete with ice from who knows where and offered it to her.
"Oh, right..."
Rebecca accepted the drink with a somewhat reluctant expression.
'She didn't put anything suspicious in it, did she?'
Things had been fine so far, but she couldn't let her guard down.
"Here! For Maria too!"
"..."
Maria also accepted the drink without words but with a somewhat pleased expression.
'What on earth were they thinking when they decided to follow us...'
She had desperately suppressed all twenty of them who wanted to come along, reducing the number to five, but she still couldn't prevent them from accompanying her altogether.
'But honestly, I can't deny that it's too convenient, which is sad.'
Whenever there was something uncomfortable or needed, they would catch on like ghosts and somehow fulfill those lacking aspects.
They moved as naturally as the tongue in one's mouth, to the point where it would now be somewhat burdensome to send them away.
"Our clan has many who serve high-ranking demons! We were originally summoned to this world for such purposes too."
Having also worked as palace maids, was this level of service like chewing gum to them?
Either way, Rebecca learned for the first time in her life that travel could be this comfortable.
As they were gulping down their drinks to beat the heat, one of the succubi tilted her head and spoke up.
"But... Wouldn't it be better to join them soon and ask for forgiveness?"
"..."
As soon as those words ended, heavy silence enveloped the carriage.
"Master probably knows by now that you've run away from home, and he's probably waiting to see when you'll join him."
It was a pointed observation from the succubus who had accurately assessed the situation, but for some reason, there wasn't much reaction from the two women.
"W-we said we were heading to the western coast!"
"It's just travel, after all!"
The succubus directly translated the two women's excuses that weren't really excuses.
"In other words, you're afraid of getting scolded."
"N-no!"
Rebecca denied it in shock, but Maria turned her head away in embarrassment, avoiding eye contact.
At that frustrating sight, the eyes of the watching succubi twitched slightly.
"Rather than getting scolded a little, by now Master and that princess might be lovingly snuggled together sharing their love, you know?"
"...!"
Both women's eyes widened at those words.
"We do support you sisters, but honestly, if Master is happy, we don't really care who he ends up with."
The two knew full well that those words were provocation, yet they couldn't stop their lips from trembling.
"So, will you continue to waste time, or will you join them?"
"L-let's go..."
Rebecca found herself nodding without realizing it.
Maria also didn't offer any particular opposition.
***
However, their reunion would be delayed a bit.
"...What is that?"
When they had approached within roughly a 50km radius of Rudian's party, who had already entered the Great Forest.
"Priests? Holy knights?"
Maria discovered priests and holy knights clad entirely in black and frowned.
"The color... Something's strange about it."
Even Rebecca, who had little knowledge of religion, had never heard of priests who wore black.
"Looking at the emblems, they serve the goddess Nos and Garganta. But... I've never seen such attire before."
Priests who serve the dark Nos use deep navy blue as their symbol, while servants of vengeful Garganta wear priest robes of deep red close to blood color.
However, these people were wearing black priest robes and armor completely different from both religious orders' symbolic colors.
'It seems like they're... Chasing something?'
Moreover, the direction they're heading seems to be... The same as ours?
"Let's follow those guys for a bit."
"Huh? What about joining them?"
"I'm concerned about their purpose."
Maria's intuition wasn't quite at the level of prophecy, but it was developed to an almost approaching degree.
That intuition told her that those people were absolutely not unrelated to them.
Maria and Rebecca tracked the holy knight orders of the two religious orders while hiding their presence as much as possible.
And as time passed, they became certain that those people's target was 'Rudian's party.'
"...What should we do?"
"..."
For Rebecca, experiencing such a situation for the first time, she had no choice but to leave the decision to Maria.
"Let's join them for now. Rudian doesn't seem to have noticed the existence of his pursuers."
Since they were approaching from dozens of kilometers away, it was understandable that Rudian hadn't noticed them.
Yev might have noticed, but Yev wasn't particularly interested in her surroundings except for food, so she probably didn't know they were being tracked...
However, as they say, if the tail is too long, it gets stepped on.
As Maria and Rebecca's time tracking the holy knight order grew longer, the holy knight order conversely noticed their existence as well.
"Good day, sisters."
"..."
"You've been secretly following us all this time. May we know the reason?"
Though the tone was polite, surrounded from all sides and asked with murderous intent, only the tone was polite.
"What business do you have with Rudian, rather? You've been following him very secretly."
"Ho...?"
The priest who had stepped forward representing the holy knight order slightly twisted his lips at Maria's assertion.
"It seems you sisters are companions of that cursed one."
TWITCH!
This time Maria's lips twisted.
She immediately glared at the priest with a murderous smile.
"Cursed one? Not the hero who defeated demons and saved the Empire and humanity?"
"One who possesses power he cannot handle. One who should naturally return that glory and power to God but has not done so. What else should we call such a person if not cursed?"
"So you're madmen."
Maria was certain that they were not a force formally belonging to any religious order.
Even before Rudian's appearance, the Psychic Luminous had been in contact with various gods' religious orders from the shadows to keep demons in check.
However, their statements and ideologies were sufficiently normal and sound.
She had never seen madmen crazy enough to openly display fanaticism like these people.
"What do you mean by power he cannot handle?"
"That massive black battleship."
GASP!
"Surely you know, sister, as a noble of the Morian Empire? That unidentified battleship that appeared not far from the Empire's capital and destroyed the Demon King."
Probably that thing they called the incarnation of a machine god and relic of a demon god... Or something?
Maria had actually boarded that battleship before, so she knew well how absurdly powerful it was.
Naturally, she understood why they coveted it so much.
"So, how do you plan to deal with Rudian who has that battleship?"
"We've been racking our brains over that problem too. We'd prefer to resolve it peacefully if possible."
Maria desperately held back the sneer that was about to emerge.
She'd be a fool not to notice that this was deception.
"H-how would you resolve it peacefully?"
"..."
Unexpectedly, Rebecca, who was weak against priests, asked hesitantly.
While Maria was internally apologizing to her, the priest smiled and said,
"It seems you sisters have connections with that cursed one."
"...Huh?"
The priest's finger pointed toward Maria.
"So if we put that sister in front, wouldn't he peacefully comply with our persuasion?"
While Rebecca was mulling over the meaning, the priest continued.
"Of course, we'll need to clean up beforehand the sister who harbors demons and those vulgar monsters behind her."
"...Ha."
At words filled with such blatant hostility, Maria abandoned even the minimal respectful tone toward the priest.
"The vulgar ones are you. And you call yourselves priests?"
"Of course. I am Cardinal Gimel, leading the Dark Holy Knight Order of the Nos religious order. I am certainly a priest who serves God."
The opponent's identity was a bigger figure than expected.
A cardinal meant someone who ranked at least in the top 10 within the religious order.
However, this time they had picked the wrong opponent.
Maria smiled coldly as she looked directly at the cardinal.
"If you had properly watched that battle, you wouldn't have looked down on me like this."
"...What are you trying to say?"
"Just that I realized you only superficially licked the surface?"
While the cardinal and holy knight order were puzzled, Maria began to seriously draw up her power.
Since they targeted Rudian and even insulted Rebecca, they would have to pay the price with their lives.
That's when it happened.
"Ah, sorry!"
"...!"
From what seemed like a gap in the holy knight order's encirclement far away.
A traveler with a huge backpack revealed herself with an awkward smile.
'Who is that?'
The holy knights naturally pointed their swords at the unwelcome guest threateningly, and the traveler raised both hands in a gesture of surrender.
The holy knight asked the cardinal for instructions, and naturally, the answer was...
"We cannot leave witnesses alive."
As soon as those words ended, the holy knights unhesitatingly brought their swords down toward the traveler's neck.
However...
"No! These people are dangerous!"
THUD! THUD! THUD!
"...Huh?"
The holy knights who were about to strike down their swords collapsed as several impact sounds were heard.
THUMP!
"...?"
Cardinal Gimel, who was watching the situation, as well as the other holy knights and even Maria, looked at the traveler with bewildered gazes.
'What? She should definitely be an ordinary traveler?'
Until now, only Rudian had been able to avoid Maria's detection.
For everyone else without exception, it was impossible to hide their level or skills in front of Maria.
But... What is that person?
"K-kill everyone here immediately!"
"Killing is too much! Isn't that too sudden!"
The flustered cardinal gave orders to the holy knights, but there was no way they could handle Maria, who had begun moving in earnest.
Moreover, the skill of the suddenly appeared traveler was also extraordinary, beyond what one could expect from a simple mercenary or knight.
"W-what are these monsters!"
Maria with simple telekinesis.
And the traveler with lightning-like speed and precision subdued the holy knights.
When less than ten holy knights remained standing upright.
"Retreat! Retreat!"
Nearly a hundred holy knights forgot even to collect their comrades and fled with the cardinal.
"Wow, thank you. I thought I was definitely going to die."
In the concluded situation, the traveler who had suddenly gotten involved in the fight approached Maria with a hearty laugh.
"We should be the ones apologizing since you got involved in our affairs."
Maria responded while not lowering her guard against the appearance of this incomprehensible enigma.
Maria tried not to get too involved with the other party, but the traveler with peculiar sociability kept talking to her.
"I'm Alba Caesar. I'm traveling as a hobby."
The traveler who introduced himself as Alba removed his hood while greeting them, revealing neatly arranged red hair.