Chapter 20: Lies
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 20: Lies
“Village Chief! Village Chief!”
The adjutant, leading his soldiers out of the forest, immediately called for the village chief. Hearing the adjutant’s sharp voice, the chief scurried over and presented himself before them.
“What is it?!”
“We have wounded. I’m requisitioning herbs and bandages. Bring out everything you have.”
“Wh-what are you… Our village isn’t that large…”
“Are you defying an order from the Church?”
“N-no, sir! I’ll bring them right away!”
Cursing inwardly, the village chief went around the village, gathering herbs and bandages. It still wasn’t enough to treat all the wounded soldiers, so they had to use supplies from the merchant caravan as well.
As the soldiers’ injuries were being treated, the merchant, realizing the holy knight who was supposed to be leading the unit was nowhere to be seen, asked in a slightly trembling voice.
“...Um, where is Knight Elesis-?”
“Knight Elesis lost her life saving us.”
“Wh-what! If Knight Elesis is dead, then what happens to me…?”
“She fell to a monster, not a witch, so you’ll be cleared of suspicion. You’ll get to live.”
At those words, the merchant was simultaneously relieved and devastated. He might get to keep his life, but it was obvious that the connections and the caravan he had built would be completely exploited.
It was a caravan he had truly risked his life to grow. If he were told to rebuild it now, there was no way he could create another one just like it…
“Yes… I understand…”
However, he couldn’t voice his complaints in front of a unit armed with spears and swords. If he did, he might lose the very life he had just managed to save.
And then—after finishing his conversation with the merchant, the adjutant turned to the village chief and scowled.
“You said a hunter lived alone in there, didn’t you?”
“Yes, yes! That’s right!”
“That was a lie.”
“Pardon? What do you mean…?”
“There’s no way someone could live alone in a forest teeming with monsters like that. If such a thing were possible, they’d have to be a witch. In that case, this must be a village of witch-followers, correct?”
His tone made it sound as if he intended to kill every last villager. The politically astute village chief realized why the adjutant was suddenly threatening him.
With the holy knight dead due to a strategic miscalculation, he didn’t want to leave behind any record of being indebted to the village for requisitioning herbs and bandages. The death of a holy knight was already a huge loss; if a line about that debt were added to the report, his own neck would be on the line…
Thus, he resorted to a method commonly used by other clerics: brand them as witch-followers and confiscate their property and their lives.
If Elesis hadn’t been such a devout and rigid holy knight, she would have done so from the start. The reason he was acting this way now was because Elesis was gone, and he was now the commander of this unit.
“Oh, no! Please! Spare our lives, just our lives…!”
“I’d like to, but I’m afraid you’ll seek revenge. So I can’t.”
“You suddenly show up in our village and call us witch-followers? This is truly unfair!”
“You catch on quick. I like that.”
In the end, the village chief was only able to get them to leave after collecting money from the villagers and slipping it to the adjutant as a bribe. Watching the unit depart with their money, medicinal supplies, and all sorts of other goods, the chief and the villagers ground their teeth.
‘Damn it… all that money we saved up…’
However, for a village whose only soldiers were two young men armed with wooden sticks, they couldn’t even think of resisting.
Just as they had extorted from those weaker than themselves, they were now being extorted simply because they were the weaker party.
“I-I am Elesis. It’s a p-pleasure to meet you…”
“—And who said it was a pleasure?”
My teacher said, staring down at the hand extended toward her. Feeling her gaze, Elesis withdrew her sweat-drenched hand and met my teacher’s eyes.
Was it like seeing a two-meter-tall cockroach flapping its wings right in front of you? Indeed—Elesis was using all her strength to hide her feelings of disgust as she looked at my teacher.
She was concentrating so hard on keeping her expression neutral that sweat beaded on her forehead. Considering she hadn’t shown much of a reaction despite kneeling for over ten hours, it meant that the mental toll on her was considerable.
“Yohan.”
“Yes, Teacher.”
“What in the world is this?”
“The holy knight I told you about yesterday…”
“That’s not what I’m asking—I’m asking why a whore like this is in my house.”
“A-a whore…”
Hearing such an insult despite being a cleric, Elesis bit back tears and lowered her head. If anyone else had insulted her like that, she would have delivered a stern punishment to ensure they never spoke such words again… but her opponent was a witch.
A monster who could blow her head off with a single gesture. She was someone you had to smile and endure, even if she threatened to kill you, let alone insult you.
However.
“…Excuse me, Teacher?”
“What?”
“This is a bit awkward to say, but… for you to say something like that, dressed as you are…”
I gestured toward my teacher’s attire. She had called Elesis a whore, but that was just to insult her.
To be honest, my teacher’s outfit was far more whorish. Wasn’t she in a short dress that revealed most of her cleavage and thighs? Even if we were at home, it wasn’t something to show to a man from outside.
“…Are you calling me a whore right now?”
“N-no, that’s not it…”
“Yes, you are. Right? You just said I look whorish, didn’t you?”
“Well, I mean…”
“Come to my room in a little while.”
“…Yes. Understood.”
I agreed to my teacher’s words, who for some reason looked excited, and quietly stepped back. I tried to help for no reason and only ended up in trouble myself.
Fortunately, my teacher seemed to have regained her senses and didn’t continue to berate Elesis without reason.
“Your name was Elesis? You’re a holy knight, right?”
“Yes, that’s correct.”
“How can we trust that a holy knight won’t betray us?”
“…I can only ask you to trust me.”
“No. Sorry, but we’ve been burned by you people so many times. Words alone aren’t enough.”
As she spoke, my teacher pulled a necklace from her cleavage. It had a large purple gemstone and looked expensive at a glance.
It looked even bigger than the necklace I had received as a gift, so tempting that I felt a flicker of greed.
She held the necklace out to Elesis and spoke.
“Wear this at all times. At the church, when you bathe, always.”
“…Why?”
“Wear it, and if the Church makes any move that might harm us, clutch the jewel tightly and pray. If you do that, I’ll trust you.”
It was a request that was both incredibly difficult and simple. Elesis hesitated for a moment before taking the necklace. It seemed she had judged that if she refused, she wouldn’t even be able to leave this cabin.
As she took the necklace, a satisfied smile bloomed across my teacher’s face.
“Good! Now I’ll trust you. Yohan? Escort her to the village.”
“Yes, I understand.”
“And once you’re done, come straight to my room. No detours, you hear?”
“…Yes, I’ll come right away.”
Watching my teacher lick her lips, I swallowed my nervousness and stood up. Then, I led Elesis out of the cabin.
She remained silent until we were outside. The moment we left the cabin, she started gasping for breath and leaning on me.
“Heok! Heok-! Haa, haa…!”
“…Are you okay?”
“You, you—how are you so calm?”
“Because I’m my teacher’s disciple.”
“…Incredible. It’s almost admirable.”
Seeing this strong holy knight react this way made me a little curious about how my teacher appeared to others.
However, I had no intention of experiencing it for myself. Wasn’t it just a few days ago that I told my teacher I liked her, that even her face was beautiful?
If I were to see my teacher’s face and feel disgust, and then let it show—she might not be able to overcome the despair and might even kill herself. And I had no idea how many casualties there would be if a great witch of her caliber went on a suicidal rampage.
“Whatever, let’s just get to the village.”
“…Right. I want to leave this place quickly.”
“By the way, there’s something I’m curious about.”
“What is it?”
“You were acting like some young lady from a good family in the village, so why is your tone so stiff now?”
I had been curious ever since she woke up. I just hadn’t had a good opportunity to ask.
When I asked, Elesis tilted her head as if it were obvious.
“That was an act. A merchant wouldn’t use such a formal tone.”
“…You’re a good actress. Why don’t you keep talking like that?”
“I cannot. I am a holy knight, not a merchant. I cannot use such a frivolous way of speaking. However…”
She paused for a moment, then a smile bloomed on her face, which I had thought was only capable of being stern.
“If that is what you desire, then I shall do so.”
“…Whoa.”
For a moment, my heart pounded.
…I’d better keep this a secret from my teacher.
Clutching my racing heart, I guided her to the village.
“To think you were alive, what in the world…”
The village chief, who was briefly shocked to learn that Elesis was alive, soon began to treat her with the utmost hospitality.
It was an excessively lavish treatment, even knowing that she was a holy knight.
I found out the reason soon enough.
“The, uh, adjutant requisitioned some goods from the village, but he must have forgotten, as he didn’t provide an IOU…”
“…I understand. I will write one.”
After writing out an IOU for the items the chief claimed the adjutant had taken, Elesis borrowed a horse and left the village.
It was an old, shabby horse, but she had to be content with the mere fact that a village like this had a horse at all.
As she rode toward the city, Elesis came across the soldiers who had gone ahead of her.
“Adjutant!”
“…Knight Elesis? You’re alive!?”
The adjutant, who had been leading the unit in her stead, broke into a bright smile upon seeing her face. It was likely because he would now avoid the disgrace of having abandoned his superior to die.
Rejoining her unit, Elesis was able to reach the city, slower than before, but safely. Upon arrival, she left all the cleanup to her subordinates and headed for the church.
Arriving at the building used by the holy knights, Elesis went straight to find the Commander. Holy knights returning from a mission could meet with the Commander without an appointment.
“Knight Elesis. Welcome back.”
“Yes, sir.”
“You can write the report later… How was it?”
At the question, Elesis swallowed the tension rising in her throat. She had to lie now. Deceive the Commander, deceive her subordinates, deceive the Church—and further still, deceive God and herself.
She knew there was no way she wouldn't be caught, but figuring that God wouldn't care much about her little lies, Elesis reported what had happened in the village, excluding everything that had occurred at the cabin.
“There was nothing related to the witch in that village. However, there were many monsters. A great many…”
“Monsters are not under our jurisdiction… I will report it to the kingdom’s army separately. Anything else of note?”
“No, sir.”
“Alright, you may go. I’ll see to it that you can rest until tomorrow.”
“Thank you.”
Elesis spoke and left the Commander’s office. Perhaps because she had just lied to someone she had never even considered lying to, her heart was still pounding.
‘This must be the right thing to do…’
A debt of gratitude is never forgotten.
But with this, the debt for saving her life was as good as repaid. If the Church were to dispatch her again…
‘The next time, we are enemies.’
Recalling Yohan’s face, Elesis headed for her quarters.
And despaired at the tasteless meal and hard bed.
“—So, who looks like a whore?”
“…Y-you do, Teacher.”
“Heeh, is that so.”
Evangeline said, looking down at Yohan. It was hell. He was worried he had gotten on her bad side this time.
Just because he had a constitution that nullified curses, just because he could look at her with affection, didn’t mean he could act recklessly without any boundaries. This time, he had probably crossed the line…
“What part.”
“Pardon?”
“What part of me, and how, is whore-like?”
However, Evangeline didn’t act as Yohan expected.
Stretching out one leg, she lifted the chin of the kneeling Yohan and, making the most seductive expression she possibly could, spoke to him.
“Tell me, one by one—what part of your teacher did you see that made you think she was so whorish? What part of me did you see that got you so turned on?”
Gulp-.
Yohan swallowed without realizing it.