Holy Knight?
"Exactly as I said. The Black Rhino tribe has united with the largest five orc tribes—including the Red Raptor and Blue Hippo tribes—to launch a coalition war."
Jay, whom they'd met after leaving Elvenheim, delivered the news concisely.
"A coalition war is a bit unusual, but it's been nearly fifty years since the last one. The Empire seems to think it's for the best, actually."
"For the best...?"
"If the orcs keep slaughtering each other and their numbers dwindle, the threat to the west diminishes accordingly."
"Damn it... Why now...?"
Tiny clutched his head at those words. In his knowledge, the orcs' worst civil war was still years away.
Did I take Batar's words too lightly? Is this really the seed sown by the late emperor? Or is it because of the history I've changed?
His mind grew tangled.
"What about the Sword Emperor? Didn't His Grace say anything? He must have planned some response!"
As Tiny asked urgently, Garen and Jay frowned in unison, though their responses differed.
"...Response? Tiny, war is practically destiny for the orcs."
Garen challenged him from a perfectly commonsense standpoint, but Jay let out a deep sigh.
"I agree with Sir Garen on principle, but His Grace seems to think differently."
"What?"
"Before I even relayed the information, an orc came knocking at the family gates. It seems His Grace was already aware—and even investigating—beyond just prior knowledge."
"Hajal kept his promise, as expected."
Garen smiled in satisfaction, drawing brief attention, but Jay kept sighing as he eyed Tiny.
"He's emphasizing to His Imperial Majesty the possibility of a great tribe emerging to unify the orcs—or that it could be a demon worshippers' scheme—and persuading him for Empire-wide intervention. If needed, he'll mediate with our house's forces alone."
"What!?"
Garen's shocked gaze fixed on Tiny as well.
"That's why public opinion toward House Valentia is turning sour. I wondered why he was doing this, but it seems you know something, Sir Tiny. Don't you?"
Jay's tone carried conviction. Tiny bit his lip hard.
Honestly, it still looks more like the late emperor's scheme.
But the words he could say were predetermined.
"...It's highly likely to be the demon worshippers' doing."
Jay's brow furrowed instantly.
"What madness are those lunatics plotting now?"
It was a one-sided claim without evidence, but having witnessed legendary beasts appear even in neutral Carun, Jay couldn't dismiss Tiny outright.
Still.
"No, before that—how do you know, Sir Tiny? If you have another intelligence network, please share. We need to exchange information. Desperately."
The question was inevitable for the head of Valentia's Blackwing spies.
"Uh...?"
Tiny clutched his head again.
Should I just tell them everything? They're trustworthy.
The thought surfaced once more, but the Sword Emperor's warning flashed immediately.
—If it leaks even a little, you're burned at the stake.
Hah, fuck...
Fighting the temple meant clashing with every human nation at minimum. Befriending other races wouldn't help either. Orcs, beastkin, and dwarves revered their ancestors but didn't deny the Goddess. Elves prioritized the World Tree over her but acknowledged her existence.
In short, no power on the continent would shelter the temple's enemies.
He'd wrestled with this dilemma repeatedly, and the conclusion remained: this option was off-limits.
So his response was set.
"You know my background by now. What organization would I have?"
"...True enough."
From the Empire's slums, only fourteen years old. His phenomenal growth and talent were so singular that people forgot his origins. Plus, achieving the impossible twice at that age—Jay had simply overlooked it.
"Then how exactly...?"
Tiny gave a wry smile at Jay's baffled expression, adding the most plausible explanation.
"I can just sense some of what those scum are up to, and roughly how far the ripples will spread."
Garen reacted first.
"Like an elf sorcerer's innate bloodline ability?"
"Something like that. And with my two successes, His Grace trusts it fully."
Jay nodded but soon wore a grim look, voicing doubts.
"Carun was neutral, so aiding on a grand scale made sense, but orc infighting? The Empire's upper echelons would welcome it. Unless a legendary beast like the kraken appears."
Tiny shook his head at Jay's expectant gaze, hoping otherwise.
The orc wars had happened in his past life too, but no world-shaking beasts emerged—just a war of unprecedented sacrifice.
If I say it'll cause massive human losses, would he buy it?
No chance. "Humanity" was a foreign concept until the Demon King's army descended.
As Jay said, at this point—demon worshippers or not—the Empire would cheer as its western orc threat self-destructed.
Time for some grand exaggeration.
"No legendary beast, but a unified orc race invading the Empire could spark a racial war. Wouldn't that be scarier than any beast?"
"The war-crazed orcs actually unifying? Even then, war-ravaged orcs versus the Empire?"
Jay raised doubts again, but.
"The Empire doesn't just face orcs."
He had to concede.
"Ah... "
Northern werebeasts, eastern kingdom alliance. Skirmishes persisted north, and the alliance—under thirty years into official truce—remained potent.
"If orcs attack, those others will pounce like they've been waiting. Obvious, right?"
"Your ability let you see that far, Sir Tiny?"
"...More precisely, I saw the continent blanketed in death and ruin after the orc wars."
A false performance to dodge scrutiny, but partly true. Recalling his past life's apocalypse hardened his expression naturally.
Jay bit his lip, the emotion transmitting.
Then.
"Not just the Empire, but the whole continent... His Grace ordered us to assist you however possible. Somehow, it feels like aiding a legendary hero. Well, that might be more rewarding anyway."
Seeing Jay thump his chest and laugh, Tiny cracked a faint smile.
People are easier to sway with emotion than reason.
Once emotion stirs, reason fabricates justifications to follow.
I know that all too well.
The mighty knight who'd lived venting fury, slaughtering scum without mercy. Deceptive when needed, ruthless in action—yet ultimately praised.
One reason: he targeted only monsters, beasts, or vile humans.
Through scorn, condemnation, even warrants, he'd proven it with his life. That principle moved hearts.
Tiny knew it intimately.
If not for the Demon King's army, I'd still be living that way.
Tch. Too busy to cleanse every city's human trash.
Then, Jay—who'd pledged aid—voiced a harsh reality.
"Still, His Majesty won't budge. National policy needs solid proof. Even House Valentia can't act officially."
"I know."
"Moreover, Sir Jenas or Sir Garen here can't step in either. It'd give pretext for Empire interference in orc wars—complicating things badly."
"...Yeah."
"Hm, this is tricky. Stop the war—no, halt it since it's started... Only one way comes to mind, but even that's slim."
Tiny nodded instantly in agreement.
"I have one idea too. And I think it has a shot."
Jay blinked in surprise.
"...Mind letting me in on it?"
Garen glanced between them, lost.
"Meet the orc great warrior..."
"We need Warlord Zerik."
Their words overlapped.
"...Wow."
Jay's exclamation felt mocking—self-consciousness?
"Tch."
He'd heard it in his past life, so he knew.
—The war that cost orc history's greatest losses. No victor.
—I regret not knowing why such folly happened.
—I saw it as tribal fate and stayed out, but seeing the world like this, maybe I should have intervened.
Zerik, the great warrior in sacred Bator, had authority to halt internal orc wars.
Problem was.
"...We need proof demon worshippers incited it. Without that, it's just tribal strife—no great warrior will act."
"Yeah."
"...Precisely. Your feats in Carun and the Empire won't suffice alone. The current great warrior is notoriously stubborn and rigid."
Clear evidence required, as Jay said.
Zerik never bends once stubborn. Need ironclad persuasion.
And Tiny lacked full confidence it was demon worshippers.
Late emperor or demons? Timing suggests the latter, but...
Even if demons, where was proof? Past life revealed no links beyond the war's scale.
Then Batar's words resurfaced.
Humans in Black Rhino tribe? Demon worshippers?
No—even if so, non-magical agents like Husel would infiltrate for non-violent ops.
Not proof.
So.
"...Persuade from another angle."
"Pardon?"
"I have a way. Head to Bator first."
"That sounds ominous... Mind sharing with me too?"
"No can do. Not certain myself."
Tiny gave a wry smile.
But issues didn't end there.
Returning to Elvenheim after Jay.
"Catch those circling outside without entering, then you discern if they're truly demon worshippers. Where are you going now? Wait just three weeks—no, one month—I'll wrap it up."
Estina's words shackled his feet.
The war's already started. Every moment counts...
Her point was valid; he just sighed.
And after she left, disaster piled on: an absurd event.
"Heh, a holy knight dispatched from the Central Temple requests to meet you. A temple knight in Elvenheim—quite the novelty."
Elder Eurina delivered news of this unforeseen obstacle.