Hyde! Returning to the Agarpe Territory After a Long Time! #1
Nicholas was dead.
He had been the sort of bat-like creature who flipped sides until the very end.
"So you should have just quietly accepted castration."
I had tried to spare Nicholas with a castration sentence. I figured that if he took a whipping from that Roland, even someone as formidable as Nicholas would surely die for real. But Nicholas refused the lifeline I offered him and instead doused himself in oil and walked straight into the fire. There was nothing I could do for him after that.
Poor bastard.
His corpse would be hung from a pole as decoration at the Veneto barracks, they said—a warning that anyone who committed crimes would not meet a pleasant end.
"That Roland fellow has some real skill."
Milione Archibold gazed at the row of corpses strung up beside Nicholas's body and offered genuine admiration. Milione was a human butcher who could tear people apart with her bare hands, so for her to freely acknowledge Roland's whip work meant something. I, too, had come to respect the Black Knight Roland in more ways than one. There were no obvious gaps to exploit. He was as mentally and physically tough as the armor he wore. Truly worthy of being called one of the Church's Six Knights—or was it Seven now?
Of course, I knew better than anyone that no perfect human existed in this world. Even I, more devout and faithful than anyone else, occasionally committed sins and carried weaknesses. Roland surely had a weak point of his own.
"During the trial earlier—didn't Knight Roland react to the word 'love'? That's why he gave Lady Fontina the chance to take the punishment in his place, don't you think?"
I asked. Milione, who had been yawning, simply replied, "What?"
I was an idiot for asking her.
My guess was that Roland had definitely reacted to the word "love." He was a Gold Badge Knight sworn to chastity—a body that must never love anyone. There had to be circumstances. Yesterday he had seemed especially close with Fride, the Pope's secret concubine. Investigating the two of them might prove useful in some future crisis.
More than that—Nicholas, that dog. He really died like a dog.
I suddenly wondered what would happen if my identity as Rust were ever exposed and I ended up dying like a dog. Would anyone volunteer to take the punishment in my place?
Psyche.
My beloved Psyche—what would she do?
While I was lost in those thoughts, we arrived at the Grand Cathedral. Lucy, carrying a large bag, and Sister Midnar were waiting for us.
"Hyde! Mili!"
Whoosh—Lucy threw her arms around me. She smelled of peaches.
"You crazy bitch! Get the hell off him! You peach-smelling bitch!"
Milione hated Lucy as much as ever.
"How did you know I ate peaches last night? Mili, you're amazing!"
Of course Lucy paid her no mind at all. Whether Milione was angry or not, Lucy was too busy looking around.
"Psyche came too! My friend Psyche! Why does your face look so dark?"
Just as Lucy said, Psyche's expression was gloomy. Was it because so many people had died horribly under the whip today? No—Psyche's face had already been a little dark even before Nicholas's trial.
"Psyche, what is the matter?"
"Hyde, I've been calmly thinking about the appointment of the Seventh Knight. It was all so sudden that I still haven't sorted everything out. We'll return to the Agarpe territory for now to prepare for the investiture ceremony in Barakan, but…"
We had planned to return to the Agarpe territory. Go home for a while, recover our strength, and settle some affairs.
"Psyche, you're becoming a Seventh Knight? That's incredible!"
Just as Lucy marveled, it truly was an incredible thing.
"Psyche, this is a good opportunity. You must seize it no matter what. Think positively."
I preferred that Psyche become the Seventh Knight as well. Through her I could keep an eye on the movements of Black Knight Roland, Fride, or even Pope Gregory. But Psyche was full of thoughts about this glorious appointment that anyone would dream of. I had thought she had steeled her resolve, yet I half-worried she might suddenly reverse course and say, "I've decided to refuse after all." Of course, as a member of the Agarpe family already disliked by the Church, she could not simply reject a direct order from Pope Gregory.
"Tch, we have to go back to that boring territory?"
Milione clearly disliked the idea of heading to the Agarpe territory. I spoke with genuine delight.
"Mili, you stay behind at this nunnery! You're under a one-year probation, remember? Stay here, cultivate yourself properly, and polish your skills! No need to go to Agarpe at all!"
I would abandon the crazy woman Milione here in Veneto! It was a brilliant plan, if I said so myself. I really am smarter than anyone!
Milione frowned at me.
"What? No, no need. I'm already on probation."
What was she talking about? She went everywhere she wanted, ate whatever she wanted, did whatever she wanted, got angry whenever she wanted—and she called that probation?
"Hyde, who is the most devout person in this world?"
"Me, Hyde."
"That's why I'm saying this. Everyone who has welcomed the Lord into their heart has become a temple, right? Just by being next to you, Hyde, it's the same as being in a church or a nunnery."
Very logical of her.
I had sometimes seriously wondered whether Archbishop Archibold's wife had secretly had an affair and given birth to Milione. Compared to Archbishop Archibold or his eldest son Alter Archibold, the youngest daughter Milione was an extremely irreverent woman. Maybe they weren't even blood-related—I had genuinely considered it. But listening to her talk today, she really did seem to be an Archibold daughter after all.
"Lucy, Sister Midnar. Let us board the carriage then."
Lucy had been invited by Psyche as a guest of the Agarpe territory. Sister Midnar was Psyche's swordsmanship instructor and Lucy's guardian.
It had already been half a month since we left Veneto. We arrived at the Agarpe territory. The journey by ship and carriage had been tiring, but seeing the Agarpe lands where autumn had already arrived in full seemed to melt the fatigue away at once.
"We're home."
Home, huh.
Without quite realizing it, I had come to think of this Agarpe territory as my home. My father-in-law was here, my mother-in-law was here, and my brother-in-law Dihon was here too.
"Sex!"
"Dihon, I told you not to say things like that!"
…Brother-in-law?
I felt dizzy watching my brother-in-law Dihon, whom I had not seen in so long, having his ear yanked by my mother-in-law, Countess Wilhelmina. What on earth was going on?
"Hyde! Our magnificent son-in-law has returned! Nothing happened while you were away? Your face has gotten so thin! So very thin!"
Countess Wilhelmina welcomed me like a mother greeting a son who had returned from a long journey. It was a moment that warmed the heart in many ways. After dealing with the sharp-edged nobles and knights of Veneto and Fierenzo, the warmhearted people of the Agarpe territory made me feel a little more at ease.
I asked my mother-in-law, Lady Wilhelmina.
"Mother, Young Master Dihon's health seems to have improved greatly."
"Very much so! Lately he climbs trees and goes up and down the hill several times a day. It's all thanks to the medicine our son-in-law made for him!"
Wilhelmina looked extremely happy, yet there was also a shadow of worry. I did not even need to ask the reason—the slightly meddlesome countess launched into the story herself.
"What am I to do? That Dihon boy is completely absorbed in that Rust fellow's books and keeps saying wicked things!"
"Ang, Kimotin!"
"……."
"Brother-in-law, for your information, 'Ang, Kimotin' is the magic spell of Sir Roland that appears in NTR. When Sir Roland the Black Knight activates his true-sincerity mode, he commands the Black Flame Dragon and becomes re-al-ly, in-cred-i-bly, strong!"
I was going to lose my mind.
Where had the pure, frail boy Dihon gone? By the time summer passed and the autumn leaves turned red, Dihon had become strange. No wonder Lady Wilhelmina was worried.
Of course, I knew how to fix this.
"At Young Master Dihon's age, children are easily influenced by their surroundings. Where did he read Rust's books? They are a bit… for children."
The NTR I had written was an adult novel. Even in the twenty-first century, if words like "sex" or "pussy" appeared, it would get an 18+ rating even without any direct sex scenes. If a pure and chaste man like me simply said "sex" or "pussy," that alone would earn an 18+ judgment. From a writer's perspective it was a little regrettable, but from a clergyman's perspective it was only natural. Imagine minors reading characters in a novel saying "pussy" or "cock." Ugh. And now ten-year-old Dihon had seen that! Absolutely horrifying!
"Mother, do not worry. I will take care of it."
Backstreet Nymph's Village.
It was time to write the next volume. Perhaps I would do a little writing while resting—.
With that feeling, we unpacked our luggage.
A welcome party was held in the Agarpe territory for Lucy, Milione, and Sister Midnar—a truly grand and magnificent banquet. You could feel how much the territory's finances had improved. There were many soldiers and knights as well. Among them was Parmas, one of the Six Knights.
"Young Master Hyde, welcome back to the Agarpe territory. Even if you had not returned, this Parmas was already helping Count Doban run the place perfectly, you know."
Parmas. The oldest among the Gold Badge Knights glared at me. He seemed to dislike me because of the various problems that had occurred in Fierenzo.
I dislike you too!
I glared right back at Parmas and said,
"Sir Parmas, now that we have returned, it would be fine for you to leave the Agarpe territory. My wife Psyche has become the Seventh Knight, and the available forces have increased considerably."
I had summoned Parmas to Agarpe because the territory suffered from chronic shortages of resources and soldiers. But now that Psyche had been appointed Seventh Knight and would receive soldiers and subordinate knights dispatched from the Church, the presence of Sixth Knight Parmas was no longer necessary.
Swish—Parmas stroked his white-grown beard.
"I came to this territory because you requested it of Archbishop Archibold. But I cannot withdraw now. I have heard that Walpurgis is heading toward the Wall of Sloth."
Walpurgis and the Wall of Sloth.
My brow twitched at those words. Ah, so that time had already come. It had been autumn back then too.
Lucy, who had been drinking the water from a finger bowl, asked,
"What's the Wall of Sloth? And this water is super delicious! The Agarpe territory must be a land with tasty water!"
"Lucy, that is water for washing hands, not for drinking."
Sister Midnar frowned. Then the lord of this territory, Count Doban, cleared his throat—ahem. Everyone's eyes turned to him.
"The Wall of Sloth. For Sir Parmas here, Sister Midnar, and myself, it is a land with many stories. Ah, back then we were enemies, were we not? Truly, the world is a strange place, is it not? We who once fought surrounding that castle are now sitting around the same table!"
By "stories" he meant the war of twenty years ago. Count Doban continued,
"So, what do you think this time? With people of this caliber, do you think we can breach that impregnable wall and take the castle?"
The Wall of Sloth.
It was a place where walls piled up like mountains were extraordinarily sturdy. Five hundred years ago, the legendary architect Buildman had constructed the walls to stop the armies of the founding king Unizer. Of course, no matter how high you build walls, you cannot stop those who walk with God. In the end the castle fell and became territory of the Allied Kingdom. Still, it was sturdy enough that for five hundred years of history, no one except the founding king had ever breached it—it was called an impregnable fortress.
Even when I was called Rust, I had quite a hard time conquering that place. The idiot sitting as its lord refused to listen to a single word I said.
Hmm—Sister Midnar hummed thoughtfully.
"If the witches of Walpurgis are heading there… if they join hands with the Great Sin of Sloth, it could become quite troublesome in many ways…"
"Mother Superior, what is the Great Sin of Sloth?"
Curious Lucy asked. She seemed to have far too many questions about this outside world. Milione answered this one.
"Agiles. A man once called the strongest knight of the Allied Kingdom. The only knight ever to receive the Platinum Medal from the king. He was so fast he was called Agiles of Lightning."
Agiles, the kingdom's only Platinum Knight. Imagining that existence, Milione cracked her knuckles. Did she want to fight a strong person? Absolute madwoman.
Doban added a word as well.
"He was an extremely strong man. I faced him several times myself and never won once. No—no one present here could have beaten him. And such a man was guarding the greatest fortress…"
But Parmas snorted.
"Count Doban, that is a very old story, is it not? Right now that fellow is nothing more than an idiot who still has not surrendered to the Church and the Pope. He has been holed up behind those walls for twenty years without coming out. He might already be dead."
No.
He was not dead. I knew that well. But I agreed that he was an idiot. He was a fatso who just sat behind the walls eating and shitting. And because of that bastard, Parmas was going to camp out in the Agarpe territory. How irritating.
"I will take care of capturing the Wall of Sloth. While I am at it, I will also finish off the witches of Walpurgis. Today's date is September 2nd, so—give me just half a month."
At my words, Parmas flared up completely.
"Half a month? Ha! A wall that no one here has dared approach for twenty years—by what means do you plan to take it! Do you know anything of military strategy? Of siege tactics? Brat, do not speak so carelessly!"
Parmas spoke as if he took pride in the wall he himself had failed to conquer. Since he could not do it, no one else could either—something like that?
"Parmas, if within half a month the wall falls and the Great Sin of Sloth surrenders, you will have to call me Master."
"Master? Fine! If you succeed I will call you Master and even dance naked in the marketplace! But if you fail, as punishment for bearing false witness I will personally whip you."
"No! Hyde would die from a single hit of the whip without lasting even one stroke!"
Psyche, who had been sitting demurely all day, cried out in great alarm. We all knew how terrifying a Gold Badge Knight's whipping was from the affair of Nicholas and Roland. Just as Psyche said, if I took even one hit from the whip I would die instantly. I was completely confident I would die right away. In fact, Parmas might actually be intending to kill me. Was he that upset that I had made a fool of his disciple Selim? No—it was less that he cherished Selim and more that he hated the scratch on his own reputation.
But there was no problem.
"Very well. Then if things go as I say, I will also whip Sir Parmas. Honestly I do not particularly want to see an old man dancing naked. Who would want to see that?"
"Fine! Go ahead and try! You ignorant, stupid fool!"
Ignorant, stupid fool, was it?
Five years ago I had many nicknames, but there was one I hated most of all.
Rust the Land-Eater.
I will show you exactly why I was called that.