An Unexpected Plea
The thunderous shout of “Please, I beg you—!”—or perhaps it would be more accurate to call it a roar—could not have failed to draw every eye in the solemn monastery. The suspicious visitor, his face hidden behind a crude helmet far too large for his head, was relentlessly blasting his booming voice at the clearly flustered receptionist. The guardian priests of the monastery, each known for considerable strength, didn’t dare drag him away. There were three very good reasons for their hesitation.
First, even an ordinary person with no connection to combat could instantly sense the extraordinary aura radiating from him. Second, the handful of fearless priests who had already tried to remove him were now sprawled across the floor like tumbleweeds in a western film, thoroughly subdued. Third, the object he had presented as “identification” in response to the receptionist’s repeated questioning was none other than a sealed royal warrant proving his connection to the palace.
Faced with a combination so far beyond the scope of a mere employee that it made the mind reel, it was only natural for the poor receptionist to fall into a full-blown panic.
“I-I’m terribly sorry, Sir Knight. No matter what your connection to the royal family may be, the list of priests is classified information belonging to our order. Without explicit permission from the Pope’s Office, I cannot show it to you.”
“I see! But surely, could you not reconsider that decision just once more?! There is a matter of utmost importance that I must confirm using that list!”
“B-but…”
“I will gladly accept any reprimand or offer whatever compensation is necessary for my rudeness later! So please, I beg you!”
“Even so…”
“I beg you!”
Someone save me.
The receptionist’s eyes, brimming with that pitiful plea, occasionally darted around in search of rescue. Yet she instinctively knew that no one could possibly pierce through that towering wave of presence and sheer vocal power. As she wept inwardly, a calm voice cut through the chaos like gentle rain on a wildfire.
“What seems to be the problem?”
“S-Sister!”
The moment that serene voice quelled the uproar, the receptionist’s gloomy expression brightened as if she had found light in the darkness.
“I am the person in charge here. If you have any questions about our order or matters you wish to discuss, why don’t you speak with me instead, Sir Knight whose name I do not yet know?”
“I see! So you are the one responsible for this place! Pardon me! It is a pleasure to meet you!”
Neither the fragrant aroma of black tea nor the refined décor could dispel the murderous tension that now filled the reception room.
“I’ll skip the pleasantries and get straight to the point! I request that you hand over the complete list of every priest currently serving in this monastery!”
It was an incredibly bold and brazen demand. Even for a knight directly tied to the royal family, showing up at a monastery without prior notice and immediately demanding classified information from the order was unheard of. It was rude. It was senseless. It was so outrageous that mere words like “reckless” or “impolite” felt utterly insufficient. The proposal was so absurd that the most rational conclusion was that he must be an agent of some heretical cult sent to sabotage relations between the Pope’s Office and the royal court.
“May I ask why?”
Yet despite the knight’s audacity, the nun’s composure remained perfectly intact, showing not a single crack. Her masked face and the way she spoke—with the refined poise of someone wearing an invisible mask over her entire being—made her seem like an emotionless doll.
“The truth is, we are searching for an old comrade from whom we were tragically separated! Having gathered multiple eyewitness accounts and testimonies that he was seen in the vicinity of this monastery, we came to the reasonable conclusion that he may be serving here. That is why I have come, even at the risk of being rude!”
“Oh? From the way you speak, he must be quite a precious comrade to you.”
“Yes! He is!”
The silence between them did not last long. At most, it was the brief moment it took for the nun to lift her teacup to her lips and savor its aroma. Hardly enough time to collect one’s emotions or steady one’s breathing. Surprisingly, it was the nun who broke the heavy quiet first.
“However, something feels a bit strange. If he truly parted with you due to unavoidable circumstances and then vanished without a trace, that would be one thing. But if he has taken up a new life in another region, could that not also be interpreted as him having no desire to encounter you and your party again?”
“……”
“Kindness is relative, after all. I do not doubt that your earnest feelings toward your comrade are beautiful and noble. Yet goodwill that disregards the other person’s wishes can sometimes cast a darker shadow over the heart than malice itself. If you truly cherish this comrade, would it not be more appropriate to respect the reasons that forced him to leave your side and honor his wishes?”
“……”
Clatter.
Perhaps unable to find a proper rebuttal to the nun’s sermon, the knight remained silent. The only sound was the rough scrape of his oversized helmet as he shifted. His gaze slowly dropped to the floor. The nun continued in a gentle, almost motherly tone, as if soothing a child.
“As for the list, I can show it to you at my own discretion. However, even if you reunite with your comrade in this manner, you will never be able to change the true intentions he holds in his heart. After all, a person’s will is—”
That was the exact moment it happened.
CRACK!
A horrifying crash—half the sound of crumpling metal, half the sound of splintering wood—shattered the peaceful atmosphere of the reception room in an instant.
“W-what…!”
The table between the nun and the knight had been split cleanly in two. Only then did the nun realize that the knight had slammed his own head into it with tremendous force. Even the mask covering her face could not hide the shock that flooded her expression.
From amid the flying splinters of wood and shattered fragments of the helmet, a desperate voice burst forth like a sword strike.
“Please, I beg you—!”
The head that had punched straight through the table was now pressed flat against the floor. It was the very picture of groveling, an utterly vulgar and shameless posture of begging for alms. The sight was so far removed from the dignified demeanor he had shown until now that the nun’s calm finally shattered for the first time.
“I beg you! If you want compensation, I will give you anything! I will do whatever is within my power! So please! I implore you to hand over the list!”
I never expected him to go this far!
That was surely what the nun’s flustered reaction meant. Having already figured out the knight’s true identity long ago, she knew better than anyone just how utterly wrong it was for him to bow his head to her like this.
“P-please, this is unacceptable! Raise your head at once!”
“No! Until you grant my request, I will not lift this head from the floor even an inch!”
She had absolute confidence in verbal sparring. If he tried to intimidate her with force, she had even planned to use that against him. But never in her wildest dreams had she imagined that a living legend—someone admired by all, whose every deed was celebrated as the work of a hero—would behave in such a pathetic manner. It was inevitable that her mind would fail to keep up with the shocking reality before her.
Unfortunately, that was not the only unexpected variable.
“Hey! Hero! Didn’t I tell you not to slam your head on the ground just anywhere?!”
“Apis! How many times have I warned you not to move so violently! Look at this! The invisibility spell I went through all the trouble of casting has come undone again!”
“Ugh…”
Like old bark slowly peeling away from a tree trunk, translucent shards began falling from the air in several directions. Beyond them stood figures so renowned that no citizen of the capital could possibly fail to recognize them.
The great heroes.
The Hero’s Party.
N-no way…!
A single horrifying possibility flashed through the nun’s mind. She had already received reliable intelligence that the Hero’s Party was tracking the priest using their own special methods. But she had assumed it would be only the Hero herself, or perhaps one or two of her party members at most.
They’re all here?!
The size of the mental scream that erupted inside the nun’s heart at that moment rivaled the roar of a dragon.