Chapter 147
Chapter 147
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 147
Chapter Title: Papal Palace (1)
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Even Lilia, who had suggested checking the face, didn't think they'd learn anything from it—even assuming the contents inside the helmet were intact and unmashed.
If it had been someone in the church's intelligence network, it would've been on the suspect list from the start. The ability to spread plague wasn't common, making it hard not to pinpoint.
In short, it was pure curiosity. Since they'd dug it up from the dirt mound anyway, why not take a peek before incinerating it?
She truly hadn't imagined it would look like this.
A flat nose and shovel jaw were just ordinary facial features.
But combined with green skin, pointed ears sticking upward, and long fangs protruding from the lower jaw outside the mouth, it could never be called human.
"...An orc, huh."
Hamel let out a groan.
Lilia's brows furrowed slightly. Racking her memory, she said,
"Orcs... I think I've read about them in the Fiend Compendium. They inhabit only the Great Primeval Forest, right?"
"Fiends?"
Galen frowned.
"I even talked to this guy. Do fiends speak?"
"It spoke?"
"Yes. And even if we overlook that, this one was a mage, wasn't it? Not some scrub—a Gem rank."
"W-Well, I don't know much either... The compendium only mentioned their appearance and habitats."
Lilia trailed off, glancing at Hamel. Galen looked at him too.
He'd recognized it as an orc right away, and as the overseer of the Southwest Archdiocese where the Great Primeval Forest was located, he surely knew more than they did.
"I don't know the details myself. There's not much known about orc ecology to begin with."
Hamel shook his head.
"However, it's shared among the church's upper echelons that they can speak human languages and possess enough intelligence to develop their own martial arts and magic."
"Th-Then, isn't that something you shouldn't just tell us casually?"
Hamel chuckled heartily at Lilia's slightly worried question.
"What's the point of hiding it now? Soon enough, Bishop Lilia, you'll outrank me. Hearing it now or later makes no difference."
"But Brother is listening too... Is that okay?"
"You two don't seem like the type to keep everything that airtight anyway..."
"N-No, that's not true?! I keep secrets I'm supposed to!"
"Just kidding, kidding. Lord Galen is fine. He's not one to blab."
"Of course. My lips are sealed."
"M-Mine too..."
"Anyway."
Galen patted Lilia's timid protest down and asked Hamel,
"I might just be ignorant, but it doesn't seem like that huge a secret."
"Honestly, I think the same."
Hamel replied with a wry smile.
"Probably hidden to avoid needless panic. Orcs rarely emerge from deep in the Great Primeval Forest anyway."
Without substance, rumors twist endlessly. If word got out that speaking monsters lurked in the deep woods, how uneasy would nearby villagers feel?
They'd share it for preparedness if encounters were frequent, but since they almost never happened, it was better to quietly erase their existence than stir discomfort.
Galen nodded at Hamel's reasoning.
"Makes sense. Except for the part where an orc holed up like that suddenly pops out and causes this massive incident."
"Exactly. Even as intelligent fiends, who would've thought they could reach Gem rank? I hope it's not a sign of something bigger..."
"The church will prepare, right?"
"They won't dawdle, at least. Orcs are the one fiend type given special treatment even within the church. His Holiness will devise countermeasures."
Good enough.
This world's church was light-years from the incompetent, corrupt cliché trope. They'd handle it fine.
"Need this corpse by any chance? As evidence to submit or something."
"No need. The three of us saw it—that suffices. Moving a poison-rotted body would just spread harm."
"I'll dispose of it then?"
"Please do."
"Step back a bit, Lilia."
"Yes!"
Galen retreated a few steps as Lilia led, then lightly snapped his fingers.
Illusory Inferno's mana enveloped the armored intruder's corpse and ignited it—along with the still-leaking poison.
"Evaporate the contaminated water... and draw out the poison from inside the dirt mound a bit more. Bishop Hamel, you can head back now."
"Sure?"
"Yes. We'll wrap up soon and follow. Keep the area sealed for a while, if you don't mind."
"Consider it done."
Hamel bowed his head and turned away.
While receiving Lilia's ongoing treatment, Galen manipulated the flames and a spirit simultaneously.
The pooled water around them gathered toward the spirit. It gulped it down, shrinking all the while. No matter how much it drank, it vanished endlessly somewhere.
"Is that okay? It's poisoned."
"It only drinks pure water. It doesn't eat dirt from muddy water or salt from seawater."
"Ah. So the water drains, leaving just the poison?"
And the extracted poison ignited in the flames the moment it dispersed into the air.
With no more interlopers, Galen opted for a smarter magic approach.
He recalled the spirit and widened the distance from the dirt mound.
Whirrrrr!
The area around the mound filled with Spiral Eddy mana. The vortex spun fiercely, sucking in all nearby air.
Roarrrrr!
Adding a dash of Illusory Inferno mana perfected a splendid flame storm.
Spiral Eddy hadn't been used in combat, so its mana was full; poison without magic support vanished helplessly in the blaze.
Galen, blankly enjoying the fire show, glanced sideways.
It had grown oddly quiet. Lilia's expression wasn't exactly bright.
"Something wrong?"
"N-No. Nothing."
"Doesn't look worry-free to me."
Galen poked her cheek with a finger, then froze. It had been an absentminded gesture; even he was a bit flustered.
Lilia's slightly widened eyes soon curved into a crescent moon. The faint shadow had vanished.
"It's not worry, really. Just a little doubt."
"Doubt? About what?"
Galen lowered his hand casually and asked. Lilia smiled radiantly, answering a touch seriously.
"I wonder if there's some hidden context with the orc we don't know. Fairies are fairies, after all."
"...Ah."
"Huh? You get it right away?"
"I've thought about it too."
As Lilia's eyes rounded, Galen shrugged.
"They speak human tongues, use martial arts and magic. Why not treat them as a separate race like fairies?"
"Yes. Even as a specially treated fiend, it feels... forced, like they're lumped in against their nature?"
"Just from the description, it does feel off. I wondered the same."
Fiends had intelligence but no true sapience—they never deviated from beastly instincts, no matter how clever.
Their strength came purely from physical prowess. Like lions or tigers strong by birth, not training.
Orcs, with conversational sapience and the ability to grow via martial arts and magic, clearly didn't fit neatly as mere fiends.
"But does it matter?"
"Huh?"
"We crushed the armored guy not because he was a fiend, but for his evil deeds. Would we have spared him if human?"
"Identity or not, he needed killing."
"Exactly—doesn't matter. If we meet a good orc later, we'll worry then."
"Oh, that's a way."
"And from the church higher-ups we've met, it doesn't seem like they erased the name with ill intent. No need to overthink."
"You're right."
A spotless, bright smile bloomed on Lilia's lips.
"Brother never says anything wrong."
"Hope the world has only evil orcs, then. To stay perfect."
"Eh, a little off is fine. It's the persuasiveness that counts. Your words always convince me!"
Lilia beamed back at Galen’s teasing, then softly whispered,
"So, keep relying on you from now on?"
"You got it."
Galen smiled back.
Soon after, the Paladin Order arrived to handle the village cleanup, and the Cairo incident settled smoothly.
Compared to areas truly ravaged by the plague—or rather, the Forest Depths—patient numbers were low, and with ample clerics, it was manageable.
"Um, Lilia? You can support me a bit less firmly now..."
"Want a piggyback? Or I can carry you bridal-style."
"...I'll stick with the support."
"You're the patient, Brother! You should be bedridden, but you're so stubborn I allowed this—behave!"
"Yes, ma'am."
Having burned out all poison from the sealed zone, Galen—under Lilia's ironclad nursing—helped purge residual toxins outside too.
By circulating air in set areas with toned-down Spiral Eddy, gathering leftover Illusory Inferno mana, and incinerating it.
"I have no face to show you two."
Diana, rushing over after hearing from Hamel, bowed deeply.
"Paladins, yet we did nothing... I'm too ashamed to speak."
"Not nothing—you pursued the culprit relentlessly."
Galen waved it off casually.
"But you two caught it. We did zilch—"
"I volunteered for rear guard from the start. Culprit was stronger than expected, but otherwise plan worked. Don't sweat it—I gained good experience... Right, Lilia?"
"Yes!"
Lilia beamed innocently. Diana, briefed by Hamel, managed a wry smile.
Reaching Gold in one's twenties warranted a name in a noble house's history as generational genius.
Diana was a prodigy cleric ordained bishop before thirty.
But before Lilia, humility was automatic.
Jealousy? That needs close gaps. She'd admired her as a high bishop; now it was pure awe.
"Anyway, we're truly fine—no need to apologize... Oh, Lilia mentioned you Paladins met weirdos too?"
"Yes. Not comparable to the true culprit Lord Galen faced, but clear accomplices."
"Squinty-eyed man, right?"
"Indeed, but..."
"I saw him too."
"...Pardon?"
Diana blinked in surprise. Galen explained briefly.
"Grinning face, polite speech, sword-form magic weapon with massive destructive power. Shame I blasted his upper half—could've checked if his face changed post-death."
"N-No, that's plenty. We can't ID them exactly, but knowing he was in two places near-simultaneously..."
More for the report. After swapping info with Galen, Diana thanked them again.
As Diana finished Paladin duties and headed to patients for clerical work, Lilia tugged Galen's arm.
"All done, Brother? Time to rest for real! Even your flames are fading!"
"A bit more rest would be... fine, I'll rest properly."
She looked ready to knock him out, so Galen obeyed meekly.
She'd already overdone it generously.
It took five full days for Galen's complete recovery.
Not bedridden the whole time—merely expelling every trace of poison.
Even with Lilia constant, it took that long; the Forest Depths' condensed malice was vicious indeed.
Anyway, Galen was fully healthy again.
And two weeks later.
A summons arrived for Lilia.
Stamped with the Pope's seal.