Rust Burns Palchea #3

Black Knight Roland.

He was a man of roughly my height, clad head to toe in black armor. His face was hidden behind a wolf-shaped helm, so I couldn't see it. I'd heard he was famous for never revealing his face under any circumstances.

A highly suspicious bastard. He had to have something filthy to hide, right? I'd never once met a decent person who covered their face with a mask or a helmet.

And sure enough, Black Knight Roland was pure scum.

What the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠hell was this guy doing looking for someone else's wife at nearly ten o'clock at night?

"Are you Miss Psyche of Agarpe?"

Psyche and I had come down to the first floor. Black Knight Roland directed the question at her.

"Yes, I'm Psyche. What business do you have with me?"

"I heard that in this recent incident, you came face-to-face with that man Rust more closely than anyone. I would like you to recount everything about that encounter in detail."

So he wanted a full account of the situation.

Right in front of me, Psyche told him the truth. After listening for a long while, Black Knight Roland hummed thoughtfully, then spoke.

"From what you've said, it sounds as though Rust is obsessed with your purity and devotion, Miss Psyche. It seems he has set his sights on you. That means there is a high probability he will appear around you again."

Roland. ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠This black tin-can head was sharper than I'd expected. As expected, being one of the Six Knights wasn't something just anyone could pull off. Was Roland's intuition even better than Sir Parmas, the so-called master of strategy?

Roland continued.

"Even now, the Blood Crusade is roaming every corner of Palchea, committing arson. And they have been posting notices like this as well."

Flutter—

The paper Roland held out to me had this written on it.

I asked as if I knew nothing.

"The Black Knights' adjutant Nicholas had an affair with Fontina, a married woman of a baronial house? And beyond that, he committed adultery with more than thirteen other married women—is that what this says?"

Roland nodded.

"We are currently verifying the facts. If this is true, he will have violated the Black Knights' code of conduct and will not escape punishment. Nicholas himself denies it, of course."

Of course he'd deny it. His sins had been laid bare for all to see.

I casually added a few words directed at Roland.

"Perhaps the Black Knights' disgrace exposed in Rust's latest work is because of Nicholas. He sold out his comrades to cover up his own wrongdoing."

Reveal another scandal to bury the first—even in this medieval world, it was a common enough tactic. Dump scandals indiscriminately and people's attention scatters elsewhere, until the original point is thoroughly muddied.

At my words, I saw the eyes of the knights and soldiers escorting Roland from behind change.

"Did that bastard Nicholas really spread this?"

"Selling out his comrades to save his own skin? Well, what do you expect from a guy who used to be a bandit. I never liked him becoming adjutant over us proper knight-borns in the first place."

"Silence."

Clank—

Roland raised a clenched fist. When the knights shut their mouths, he spoke.

"The details will come to light at trial. It would be best to handle this quietly within the order rather than through a public trial."

"Sir Roland, if Nicholas claims he was possessed by Rust, please call for me. In this kingdom, no one knows more about Rust's possession than I do."

"Indeed. Understood."

Black Knight Roland bowed his head. Then he turned toward Psyche.

"Psyche, this is a letter sent by Lady Fride."

Fride. I was startled by that heavyweight's name. If Pope Gregory was the sun of the Church, Fride was like its moon.

I asked,

"There are those who call Fride a saintess, aren't there? Why would such an eminent person send a letter to my wife, Psyche?"

"I don't know either. Read the letter."

Swoosh—

With that, Roland made to leave the tavern. But I knew there was still a "debt" remaining between Roland and me. I called after his back.

"What about Miss Lucy? Are you still holding her?"

"We are protecting her in the reception room of the Grand Cathedral. Since the operation to lure out the Walpurgis witches failed, she will likely be released without ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠charges."

"I'll be watching."

"By all means, do so."

Roland swept away with a flourish of his black cloak. Whoosh—

Putting on airs. Guys who hide their faces behind helmets or masks strangely love to put on airs. Maybe because they feel less shame?

"So, Psyche, what does it say?"

Psyche was reading the letter that had been sealed with red candle wax. At my question, she trembled and spoke.

"Tomorrow..."

"Tomorrow?"

"Lady Fride says she's coming to Veneto to meet me tomorrow? She says to perform the purification rite and come to the Grand Cathedral by eleven in the morning. A purification rite means I'd have to pray through the night tonight. I had something I wanted to say tonight..."

Fride. A heavyweight like that was coming to Veneto—quite a distance from the holy city of Barakan—just to meet Psyche?

I had a rough idea of what this was about.

Milione. She returned in the morning.

"Hey, Milli. Where've you been?"

"Got caught up in the riot and slept at a nearby inn. Why!"

An obvious lie. Just last night, vivid testimony about how Las of the swirl mask had been gleefully thrashing witches and Black Knights had been heating up the tavern.

Haaah—Milione yawned. She said,

"But the city was noisy from morning. Besides the Black Knights, all kinds of soldiers and knights are blanketing the streets. Trying to catch Rust? Doubt they'll manage to catch that man, though."

I had vaguely noticed that enough forces to impress even Milione were spread throughout Veneto. Of course they would be. That Fride was on her way to Veneto, after all.

"Fride—that's Pope Gregory's secret concubine?"

At Milione's frown-accompanied question, people around us began turning their gazes one by one, and Psyche gave her a light warning.

"Shh, you mustn't speak of such things carelessly. And Fride isn't a concubine—she's an advisor."

Advisor — Fride. A famous woman. Most of the rumors said she was Pope Gregory's secret concubine and shared his bed. Origin unknown. Age unknown. All that was known was that, fitting her role as advisor, she gave Pope Gregory various "advice." And occasionally handled practical affairs as well. ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠A shadow power behind the throne, you might say? She was a woman of so many secrets that even I had never met her.

Why would such a woman summon Psyche? Well, time would tell.

With that feeling, eleven in the morning arrived. The streets were so orderly and rigid it was hard to believe a major riot had occurred just the day before. A path formed by sword-bearing knights and soldiers. Along that road, a single carriage entered.

"It's Fride!"

"Let's get a look at her!"

"I heard she's so beautiful even the Three Flowers would have to yield!"

"That's why the Pope is wrapped around her skirts!"

People were desperate to see Fride. A woman so beautiful even Psyche would have to yield? No such woman could exist in this world.

When the carriage finally stopped, Roland approached and opened its door. Swoosh—

A woman in pure black, wearing black gloves, a black hat, and a veil, stepped down. She looked like a widow in mourning dress, not a single inch of skin exposed.

Can't see a thing. But the fact that I can't see anything only stimulates my imagination more. How beautiful must she be to be wrapped up this tightly?

She entered the Grand Cathedral. And we met face-to-face before the reception room.

"Hyde, you may not enter the reception room."

Roland stopped me. But from beneath the black veil, Fride spoke.

"It's fine. Psyche is Hyde's wife. Husband and wife are one flesh. I think it would be good to admit Hyde as well. He needs to hear this too."

A very hoarse voice. I'd expected a voice as beautiful as a nightingale for the Pope's concubine, but it was strange. With that feeling, I entered the reception room.

Psyche and I sat side by side, Fride sat facing us, and Knight Roland stood guard around them. Where was Milione—I was thinking when Fride spoke.

"I'm a busy person, so I'll get straight to the point. His Holiness Pope Gregory has appointed you, Psyche, as a Gold Badge Knight of the Holy Order. Virgin Psyche. That is how you will be called."

"What?"

Psyche was flustered. I'd roughly anticipated this content, so I felt more of a figures kind of mood. Fride soon added,

"The new Great Sin Seat, Rust. His Holiness has officially recognized that existence. The Order of Six Knights, originally established to face the six Great Sin Seats, will now be expanded into an Order of Seven Knights to face the seven ultimate sinners. Psyche, you will become one of them."

"I-I'm becoming a Gold Badge Knight—"

Psyche seemed greatly shocked. And she seemed to realize something.

"But weren't Gold Badge Knights only appointed from those who had sworn a vow of chastity? I already have a husband."

"But you are still a pure virgin. Only that purity will be able to face the wicked demon of lust. I feel the providence of Lord Elohim in all of this. I give thanks for all that the Lord has arranged..."

Fride clasped her hands in prayer. Psyche asked her, looking flustered.

"...Wait a moment. Does that mean I have to keep the vow of chastity going forward as well?"

Fride continued speaking toward Psyche.

"Going forward, we will dispatch twenty knights and three hundred soldiers to Agarpe. And the Agarpe territory will henceforth pay a tithe of one-tenth rather than one-fifth to the Church."

The manpower shortage problem. And the financial problem. If Psyche became a member of the Seven Knights, the two issues that had most plagued Agarpe would be solved at once.

Fride's words weren't finished.

"His Holiness plans to remodel the royal palace of Royal Road and build a Grand Cathedral. The guard of the new Grand Cathedral to be built at the center of the Six Horns may well be entrusted to you."

Wait—the Six Horns what?

I knew it was rude to interrupt, but I had to ask.

"Lady Fride, I sincerely apologize for interrupting, but there is something I must ask. Do you know what the Six Horns are?"

"Priest Hyde, I do not particularly enjoy people interrupting my speech, but I too was once a woman of Midbar. Therefore, just this once, out of fellow-countryman sentiment, I shall specially answer. Sir Roland, the map."

That Fride was a Midbar native? New information acquired.

"Look here. This is a map of the kingdom."

A map of the Allied Kingdom. That vast region was spread across the table. Soon Fride pointed to certain regions with her hand.

"The Fierenzo Grand Cathedral of Durgien. The Veneto Grand Cathedral of Palchea. The Mountain Temple of Argilam. The Saint Patro Cathedral of Barakan. The Theological Seminary of Antioch. And finally, the Underground Church of Cartacom."

Scribble, scribble—

Six points. When Fride connected them, a strange shape emerged. It was a star with six points. The Star of David. A pattern of that kind.

"The shape that appears when the Grand Cathedrals built across the kingdom are connected is the Star of Unizer. The royal secret art that every human of the Unizer royal line, from the great founding king Unizer onward, sought to complete—"

Swoosh—

Finally, Fride's hand pointed to the center of the six-pointed star.

"There were stories that its effect would grant any wish or bring eternal peace to the royal house. Of course, whether the effect was real or not, the Unizer royal line was eventually wiped out."

Whether it was some cultish medieval secret art or a real effect wasn't my concern. What mattered was that I'd figured out what the center of the Six Horns meant.

According to Lucy's words, the human who knows the answers to all the world's questions. The one who stands at the center of the Six Horns. The ruler of the capital, Royal Road. That was a phrase referring to the king of humans.

The king knows my true identity?