Gotta Do What’s Gotta Be Done
The Saintess held the highest status in the Gaia Empire, second only to the Pope. If you expanded the scope to the entire continent, her symbolic importance far surpassed even his. Squire Vins Hyunzen had thought himself lucky when he was assigned as her escort.
He should have wondered why someone of her stature would be saddled with a mere squire, but unfortunately, Vins's regrettably limited intellect didn't stretch that far.
"Fuck!"
Vins's dream of schmoozing with high nobles while guarding the Saintess had shattered miserably during his first relief mission. While the nuns and holy knights mingled with the aristocracy, this damn brat of a Saintess ran around the filthy slums. And in the next mission, and the one after that, the little girl chose the lowly scum of the slums over the nobles in their splendid mansions.
Being dragged everywhere just because he was her escort was routine, and overtime was common, but his pay as a squire never budged.
"Isn't the Saintess just a money-making tool?"
"She's so pure and young. The Pope's just exploiting her."
"He's too cheap to assign a holy knight, so he stuck her with a squire."
"Shh. If anyone hears, you'll get excommunicated and exiled."
Overhearing the nuns whispering behind the building, Vins finally realized why a squire had been assigned to such a noble figure as the Saintess.
His days dragged on with twice the work and far more losses than gains. Then, to add insult to injury:
"Pardon? Desk duty?"
The bolt-from-the-blue order left nothing for his holy knight resume—not a single line.
"Yes. They say the Saintess's health is an issue. She'll be staying in the temple with no outside activities for a while, so you'll be on desk duty too, naturally."
"Under...stood."
That useless bitch. Running around those filthy slums, dealing with that trash—she'd caught some disease, hadn't she?
A few days into desk duty, Vins hadn't gone a single day without cursing the Saintess.
'God's chosen girl? Divine blessing? Bullshit. She's just a stumbling block in my life.'
Late that evening, Vins headed to the guard captain, inwardly ripping into the Saintess as usual. Some idiot in white clothes—Saintess impersonation or whatever. He wished they'd handle this crap themselves.
"Why the hell does the holy knight order have to deal with this...?"
"White clothes are prettier! White clothes are my clothes! Why do I have to wear black?!"
"Lai, let's change. There are more important things than clothes, right?"
"That's...! That's true, but...!"
The commotion reached him even before the small jail by the city gate. Vins, ready to vent his frustrations, clamped his mouth shut.
First, the guard captain was there—someone a squire couldn't just mouth off to.
Second, there were two women whose beauty defied belief.
"Captain. What's going on?"
"Oh, Vins. Good timing. Sorry for the false alarm. The charges were dropped while I was reporting to the temple. Turns out she's just an independent nun."
"N-No problem. Glad it worked out. I'll head back."
"Wait, Vins."
The captain approached, slipping him some money and whispering.
"Can't let this hurt our reputation, right?"
"R-Reputation?"
"We nabbed an innocent woman."
"Ah... yeah."
"So, escort her to her lodging and cover it with this."
"Got it. I'll handle it."
The captain flashed a satisfied smile, clapped Vins on the back, and left the jail.
"I'll guide you to some nice lodgings. Follow me."
The money was short for a decent inn, but who cared? When would he next walk flanked by beauties like these?
For this moment, he didn't even mind the Saintess who'd stuck him on desk duty.
"If you need anything during your stay in Hollidral, please don't hesitate to contact me."
"How would I contact you?"
"Lai, don't worry about it. No need for an escort—go do what you need to."
"R-Right. Then I'll be off."
On the way back to the temple, those images lingered: the brown-haired beauty tilting her head, and the redhead glaring at him like vermin.
That contemptuous gaze had nearly made his soul flee.
"Hey, squire. What's with the spacing out?"
"Ah? S-Sorry!"
"It's fine, it's fine. Happens. Just don't let it happen again."
Vins sighed in relief as Is Extrang gripped his shoulder hard and walked off.
A parachute into the holy knights via the Extrang marquis's influence. Arrogant slacker by default, he'd force himself on any woman who caught his eye—but his power was untouchable.
'The path to success is open!'
The women he'd just seen flashed through Vins's mind. Tell Is about them, latch onto his coattails—couldn't that pave over the career ruined by the Saintess?
"Lord Is!"
He hadn't expected Is to ignore beauties like that.
"If they're that stunning, a knight's honor demands I guide them myself. With my comrades."
As expected, Is rounded up his crew and headed straight for the inn.
Up to then, Vins was sure he'd hit the jackpot...
"Gaaah!"
"Hurry! Go take him down!"
After the man who seemed to be with the women entered the warehouse, a scream echoed from inside. Vins cautiously peeked in.
There had been twenty knights. Now, all but six lay sprawled on the floor.
Excluding the three felled by the redhead, eleven knights had dropped to one man in seconds. Shock froze him.
"No way..."
He'd shrugged off the redhead handling Is's lackeys. Her revealing outfit showed a sleek, toned body, and her daggers suggested thief or assassin style. Dim warehouse, even with torches—it fit her strengths. Plus, Is's group were weak for knights.
"But this..."
The black-haired man's form blurred—then his foot slammed a knight's solar plexus.
"Hrk!"
-Thud!
Hiding behind the flying knight, the man pivoted on his right foot leftward, roundhouse-kicking the face of the knight bracing to catch him.
"Hyah!"
As the man paused, two knights swung at upper and lower body.
Even simultaneous, the strikes had a hair's difference. He slipped into the faster one's guard like an embrace, yanked the sword arm, and slammed it down.
"Argh! My shoulder!"
Using the throw's momentum, he hurled the seized sword into the other knight's shoulder—as it swung low.
-Thwack!
The remaining two—Is and Royan—charged the still-rising man.
Even rotten, top-class: strongest Is rocketed forward, kicking the man's side.
"Agh! My nose! My face!"
Using Is's kick as propulsion, the man smashed his fist into Royan's nose.
-Thump.
Fluid like water, masterful technique, one-strike knockouts on every knight. Is dropped to his knees in terror.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
I could hardly believe I'd done it myself. My body moved exactly as I thought—perfectly.
I didn't know their skill level in this world, but as knights, they had to be strong.
Their moves were obvious, counters popped into my head instantly, and my body acted before I could blink.
-Thud!
"Doesn't feel real, but gotta do what's gotta be done."
Hearing about their outrage from the innkeeper, seeing Lai crying here, spotting Alicia bleeding—I'd already resolved to act.
"Y-You demon...!"
You were demons to someone too. I might not be qualified to judge for them, but for Lai and Alicia? Yeah, I was.
-Crack!
"H-How can you call yourself human?!"
-Crunch!
"As a fellow man, how can you do that shit without a care?!"
Whatever Is yelled, after crushing the last guy's balls, I turned to him.
Our eyes met—his face went sheet-white, and then—
-Piss.
"Heh... heh... b-bro... d-don't huwt me..."
I hadn't planned this.
"Lai, this guy's really lost it, huh?"
Lai, who'd been trembling in the corner during the fight, hurried over and clung to my side, checking Is.
"Yeah... totally broken."
"Can't trust you, but if you say so."
"Hey! My power's weakened, but I can still read states!"
"Fine, whatever. So, what do we do with these?"
I was pondering the nineteen bleeding-from-the-crotch guys and the one with the map drawn on him when—
"Cluster, I'm back."
"Alicia!"
"Lai, good work."
Alicia returned to the warehouse. She looked patched up at least.
"You okay?"
"Of course. Just a hole in my gut—nothing natural healing can't fix."
Her stomach, once pierced, was flawless—no scar.
She'd taken hits protecting Lai, but nothing life-threatening. Relief washed over me.
Not that I could complain after punching the guy who'd gutted her.
"You, gatekeeper. Come here."
"Y-Yes! I-I just followed orders! Mercy, please!"
"Relax. Run an errand for me, and I won't hit you."
"A-Anything! Your orders!"
"Loot their pockets and bring it to me."
Did the neutering for free—time to collect surgery fees.