Westward Outing
How on earth had things ended up like this?
Just a little while ago he had been living out a thrilling academy life.
So why was he heading west right now—and with his older brother and sister, no less?
Kyle mulled it over carefully and soon arrived at the answer.
It's all because of those western roiders… no, those Western Kingdom Alliance bastards.
The Alliance scum had dared to commit something unspeakable upon sacred bodies. Enraged, the John Nassens had come down in force, and Kyle had ended up coming along. Which meant that whatever he did from this point forward would count as self-defense.
Of course, strictly speaking, he was partly to blame for telling the John Nassens about it in the first place. If he had kept quiet, his brother and sister would never have come charging down so fast. But people had a way of unconsciously forgetting their own influence on events. Besides, informing the family had been the most natural thing in the world, so he felt no personal guilt over it.
How could anyone do that to a body—harm their own flesh like that? If you were weak, you were supposed to train harder, not commit such a vicious act. From Kyle's perspective, it was exactly like watching a robbery and not calling the police. And it wasn't even pure strength they gained; given enough time the body would completely collapse. These people were worse than Satan himself. Damned bastards who deserved divine punishment!
"We should start by ordering them to track down everyone involved."
"Punishment is one thing, but we have to make sure nothing like this ever happens again."
Lia and Lea were every bit as furious as Kyle. The one silver lining, for now, was that their hatred did not yet seem directed at the Alliance as a whole. How long that would last, though, was the real question.
"Kyle. What's your take?"
"Hard to say. We'll have to see how the Alliance responds first, Brother."
"I sincerely hope that's all it takes. Truly."
While the three siblings were deep in serious discussion, the carriage gradually slowed. Then the door cracked open and a member of the Sword Brotherhood Knight Order carefully poked his head inside.
"Ah—forgive the interruption. Members of the Holy Order have come forward. Would you mind stepping out of the carriage for a moment? They wish to offer a prayer for those departing for battle."
Whenever Imperial forces marched toward a battlefield, the Holy Order would see them off. The prayers for good fortune and the belief that the gods would watch over them lent the soldiers courage. The Imperial family actively encouraged the practice for the sake of army morale. Most likely headquarters had sent word to the local branch this time as well, and the branch had gathered people to wait for them.
"Getting out of the carriage is no problem. But from here on, would it be all right if we simply walked?"
"Running would be fine too."
"Brother, Sister, please…"
Other nobles would take being asked to leave their carriages as a subtle insult. The John Nassens, by contrast, found carriages extremely uncomfortable. The mildly flustered knight made a strangled noise and promised to inquire.
"Those must be the people from the Holy Order."
Where Lia pointed, a group of priests had taken their places. The nearby branch must have dispatched them in advance. As the legion's column came to a halt, they began to pray in an atmosphere of deep solemnity. Grand Duke Schrelitz and the Sword Brotherhood Knights stood nearby as well. In the Empire, people who did not believe in the Holy Order were hard to find—except for one place: the John Nassens, who occupied the far northern edge of the map.
"Doing that doesn't magically create muscle that wasn't there."
"It doesn't reduce muscle loss either."
Truly John Nassen-like remarks from Lia and Lea. At least they had the minimum decency to say them from as far away as possible. Saying such things to the priests' faces while they prayed would hardly have gone over well.
"Brother Kyle."
While he was staring blankly at the praying priests, a soft voice murmured beside him. Kyle let out a startled "Huh?" and whipped his head around—and there she was.
"Saintess?!"
The Saintess who had clearly still been at the Academy yesterday—why was she here? Were there two of them? Or did she have a twin hidden under the veil?
"Shh! Please keep your voice down. My being here is a secret!"
"What?!"
"I heard that you and the Sword Brotherhood Knights of House Schrelitz had vanished. The only place the Grand Duke's house would be heading is a battlefield! I don't know the reason, but once I learned Brother Kyle was going to war, I wanted to at least give you a proper blessing…"
"Wait—so the Saintess came all the way here by yourself?!"
"Not quite."
The next answer came from the other woman standing beside the Saintess.
"…And why are you here too?!"
The woman's identity was none other than Captain Priscilla. Why was the person responsible for guarding Holy Order headquarters standing here?
"I was granted leave."
"Excuse me?"
"More precisely, I requested it. I heard that other members of the John Nassen family had arrived besides Brother Kyle."
At those words Kyle shook his head hard in a clear don't you dare.
Please, Captain. My brother and sister are on a completely different level from me.
At minimum you would need two fighters of Imperial Ten Strongest caliber—or more—just to have something resembling a real fight. No matter how strong Priscilla was, she could never last alone.
"But the Saintess requested an escort, so I ended up coming this far. I did suffer quite a bit overtaking the Imperial army's march while on leave, though."
Fatigue was plastered all over Priscilla's face as she spoke. It made sense—she had finally secured leave, only for the Saintess to suddenly ask her to come along as escort.
"Still, I never expected to meet so many John Nassens here."
A sharp light filled both of Priscilla's eyes. Kyle knew instantly what thoughts that light contained. She might not match Yulika, but no powerhouse was entirely free of a competitive fighting spirit. Lia and Lea had also sensed Priscilla's aura and were now glancing sidelong at her. The itch to throw down if the chance presented itself was written all over them. Only Kyle's presence seemed to be making them hold back—for the moment.
"Please speak with the Saintess. I'll just go exchange greetings with those two for a moment."
"Of course."
"Captain. Not here. Later. Please."
At Kyle's warning-slash-plea, Priscilla nodded. She was well aware that escorting the Saintess came first right now. She would also soon learn just how massive a presence she was trying to handle alone.
"I never imagined you would actually be heading to a battlefield."
Once Priscilla was gone, the Saintess began in a worried voice. Kyle responded with an exaggerated show of unconcern.
"Your worries are unfounded, Saintess. You saw it last time, didn't you? Even against Captain Priscilla I…"
"I am not questioning Brother Kyle's strength in the slightest. What worries me is…"
The Saintess tapped her own chest lightly. Kyle tilted his head, wondering what she meant, until she continued.
"A battlefield is a place where people take lives. And that act… it goes beyond mere questions of strength or weakness. It is something extremely dangerous—and tragic."
"…Ah."
Kyle finally understood what the Saintess was truly worried about. She was not concerned that he might be hurt physically, but that he might be hurt mentally. No matter how strong you were, spilling blood and taking a human life was an entirely different matter. All the fights Kyle himself had experienced so far amounted to a handful of duels. He had never once taken a life—of that he was certain. It was not something to treat lightly. Killing a monster and harming a person were both killing, yet the stress they inflicted could not even be compared.
"The brothers over there are wonderful people as well, of course. But Brother Kyle is especially kind. So… so I worry that this place—here—might get hurt."
"…I understand completely what you're worried about, Saintess."
That she would even concern herself with something like this drew a spontaneous sigh of admiration and gratitude from him. Was this what a Saintess was? Was this why every character, knowingly or not, had come to rely on her? He found himself thinking it was truly fortunate that he had grown so close to someone like her.
"Please come back safely, Brother Kyle. Body and heart both. I will pray that neither is wounded."
So saying, the Saintess clasped both of Kyle's hands tightly. A faint golden light lingered for a moment, then faded.
"Thank you, Saintess. And I'm sorry—for making someone as precious as you come all this way…"
"No. I came because I wanted to. Hearing you say that makes me sad."
"Understood. Um… Saintess?"
"Yes, Brother. What is it?"
"There's something I wanted to ask."
Honestly, he had debated whether he should even ask. It was a question he had meant to pose ever since the time he had brought Nel, but he had missed the timing. Now that the same situation had come up again, he decided he might as well.
"Last time you gave me that blessing, right?"
"Yes. I did."
"If I remember correctly, you… pressed your lips to my forehead then."
"…Eh? Uh, u-um… Th-that… I think I did! Did I? Probably?"
"You did. But when you blessed Nel after that, and when you gave me the blessing just now, you didn't do that."
At Kyle's words the Saintess's face flushed scarlet in an instant. Her eyes blinked rapidly and she kept looking away—anyone could see she was a girl desperate to dodge the question. Looking at her, Kyle found himself smiling faintly.
If a typical male lead from a romance fantasy had been standing here, he would have completely failed to notice. He would have walked right past the fact that the woman in front of him held feelings for him. But Kyle was not like that. It would have been stranger not to notice. And if he could grow even closer to his favorite character, what could possibly be better?
Just a little more teasing around the edges of her heart! he thought, about to speak—when the John Nassen willpower forcibly manifested itself.
"Could it be that the type of blessing changed? And if it did, what kind of effect does it have on the body?"