Chapter 228
Chapter 228
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 228
Chapter Title: Pilgrimage Unit's Tribulations 3
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The regular pilgrimage unit of the Salvation Knights Order also served as an escort for grain sales, consisting of one full cavalry detachment.
1 Hospitaller-Paladin captain.
1 Hospitaller-Bannerlord vice-captain.
7 ordinary Hospitaller-Knights.
7 lower-rank Hospitaller-Errants.
And 15 light cavalry Squires, making a total of 30 cavalrymen in one cavalry detachment.
It was a force more than enough to turn one or two small fiefdoms into scorched earth. Add in the infantry following the cavalry, and even great nobles like counts or dukes would be tearing their hair out.
But now, the only ones left in this spot were the Hospitaller-Errant Izmira and the Squire Herald McDougal.
“What the...”
Izmira was stunned by the fact that the holy knights had abandoned her and fled. At that moment, voices began to sound from beyond the fog.
“Hahaha. A wise choice.”
“Izmira! Izmira of the Salvation Knights Order! Surrender and come with us. Then this will all be over.”
“W-Who are you?!”
“You'll find out naturally if you follow us.”
“What the...”
But at that moment, the female thief restrained Izmira.
“You idiot, don't answer. They can pinpoint our location by sound!”
Sure enough, a javelin flew toward the spot where Izmira's voice had come from.
The female thief and her younger brother quickly raised their shields to protect Izmira, but this javelin wasn't aimed precisely and struck a nearby rock, sparking flames.
“Whoops. Sorry about that. No intention to kill. Just thought it'd be easier to drag you along if you're injured.”
“No intent to kill, so rest easy, Miss Izmira.”
The foes beyond the fog sneered as they said this. It was the behavior of cats toying with cornered mice, confident in their own superiority.
In this situation, the female thief pressed Izmira.
“So, here's the thing. Holy knight princess. Will you promise us compensation?”
“But I...”
“Your authority is more formidable than you think. Or what? You expect us to devote ourselves without even promising pay? Might as well run then?!”
“No! Scattering now is exactly what the enemy wants!”
At that moment, a man emerged from the prisoners' cage. The gaunt, twisted man had somehow picked up a dagger from the corpses and approached, coughing harshly.
“Since I saw you use the Emperor's gold coins, I doubt you have the right to complain about a lowly one using some blood magic.”
“True enough.”
“No, wait a minute.”
Izmira panicked, but with only her and McDougal left from the pilgrimage unit, she had no choice.
“This blood snow and fog is blood magic. A spell to tear us apart, and its effect is tremendously potent.”
The scrawny prisoner mage's words prompted the female thief to ask,
“So? Are they better mages than you?”
“No, rather, blood magic has been growing stronger lately. The era of Jupiter must be approaching.”
The prisoner mage said this and sliced his fingertip with the dagger, drawing blood.
“Thanks to that, this lowly one's blood magic is strengthening too.”
A red spider emerged from his blood. The spiders scattered rapidly, attacking nearby leeches, devouring them, sucking their blood, and multiplying in number.
“......”
Izmira paled at the sight.
A blood mage, this female thief, and even her half-orc giant of a brother—none of them were ordinary.
“Come on, promise it. Holy knight princess. If you don't promise compensation, we'll run off too.”
“A-Alright. If you help me, I'll pardon you and promise you attendant status as compensation. Just don't call me princess.”
“Oh. Attendant? Nice. That'll do.”
The half-orc man gleefully bashed approaching undead with the sword he'd taken from his sister.
“What's nice about it? Still just lackeys to the Hospitallers.”
“Attendants get a house to raise a horse in and three serfs. Decent pay. Not bad if you're thinking of settling down.”
The blood mage said this and beckoned the half-orc.
“But those blood spiders are my familiars, so don't pop them. Cough, cough.”
“But I hate spiders. They climb up my body. Hate it.”
“My spiders are attacking the leeches on your body to help. Popping them puts this lowly one in a bind.”
“Right, sis?”
“It's true. I know you hate spiders, but endure it.”
The female thief confirmed it.
“So, how do we escape...”
“Since we used the Emperor's gold coins, won't a herald come?”
“No way an Emperor's herald is that close by. Heard they recently ransacked Korasar over there.”
At that moment, strange noises began from beyond the blood fog.
“Gahk!”
“Argh!”
Screams rang out, and the blood snow pouring from the sky suddenly quieted.
“?!”
“What's going on?”
“B-Beats me?”
But shortly after, a human voice came from beyond the fog—not theirs.
“Anyone here call for the Emperor's herald?”
A young man's voice pierced the blood fog. Calm like a waiter announcing an order ready at a busy restaurant, it froze everyone.
“Uh. Here...”
Izmira started to stand thoughtlessly, but the female thief stopped her.
“Are you crazy? You don't just pop out when called?”
“But maybe it's an Emperor's herald?”
“Dunno. What do you think, blood mage?”
“...That one's killing my spiders. They're vanishing at tremendous speed, so a considerable powerhouse.”
“Yeah?”
“Looks like the others are retreating. Though it could be a trick.”
Meanwhile, the fog was dissipating too. The fog magic was dispelling.
Someone had removed the caster, or the caster was withdrawing the spell to plot against them.
As they hesitated, unable to decide, a human voice reached them.
“There you are.”
A young man wearing a bird mask approached.
“Hey! Grab that guy!”
“Yeah! Sis!”
The half-orc youth jumped up, swinging his sword as he charged forward. At the same time, the female thief leaped sideways to widen the angle and hurled a hand axe.
Counter the hand axe, and you'd be defenseless against the half-orc's charge. Counter the charge, and you'd take the hand axe.
But.
The bird-masked youth casually snatched the flying hand axe with his hand, without even drawing his sword—just using the scabbard to block the half-orc's monstrous sword with the hilt and guard.
It was an attack laden with brute force like an axe felling a great tree, yet the youth blocked it nonchalantly with the sword's grip, then lowered his stance.
In that instant, something astonishing happened.
-Whoosh!
The half-orc's massive frame flew into the sky, then crashed awkwardly to the ground?
A pinnacle martial technique using the opponent's force against them, but to the ignorant, it looked like sorcery.
“Urk!”
The female thief rushed in to save her brother, spitting saliva from her mouth along with her twin daggers. A small steel bead shot from her mouth toward the youth's mask while she slashed dazzlingly from both sides, but...
The youth sighed and extended his sword.
Again, without drawing from the scabbard—a seemingly casual reaction, but the steel bead from her mouth ricocheted off the hilt.
And.
-Skree!
Twisting the sheathed sword, he swept away the slashes coming from both sides futilely.
“Huh?!”
Then the youth's arm headed for the female thief's chin, bending his middle finger to flick her jaw with a snap.
It looked comical, but suddenly the female thief's eyes spun.
“Huh?!”
She toppled over.
“S-Sis!”
The half-orc freaked out and hauled himself up.
“Sis?”
The youth, about to draw his sword, flinched at the word and paused.
“Stop!”
Then Izmira stepped forward.
“I'm the one who called you! Emperor's herald!”
“Hm. In that case, calm this guy down a bit.”
The youth dodged the half-orc charging at him with sword raised.
“Uwaaah! This bastard hurt my sis!”
The half-orc charged with tears and snot streaming, swinging his sword like a club. Even as it struck rock, the blade chipped, shards drawing blood across his face—he ignored it, wielding the broken sword like chopping firewood.
“Hey, stop it, Kuntachi! No snack?!”
“S-Sis?!”
No snack made the half-orc flinch and halt his attack.
“Ah, calmed down? Good thing. Was getting annoyed since I didn't know who the client was and didn't want to kill you.”
The youth shrugged as he said this.
“I'm the Emperor's Herald, 1st Herald Azadin.”
“1st Herald?!”
“Well, top among the Emperor's heralds, you could say. You're very lucky. I happened to be nearby, or you'd have been dead.”
“Ah, I see.”
The blood mage clapped.
“Good. This lowly one had some confidence in his skills. Honestly, if you were the lowest-ranked Emperor's herald, I'd have lost mine.”
“Lowest-ranked, huh?”
The herald who'd introduced himself as Azadin gave a wry smile.
It was absurd that this blood mage was flaunting arrogant pride against the herald clan. But now wasn't the time for pride contests.
“So, who's the client?”
“This lowly one.”
A man appearing in his late teens or early twenties stepped forward. Herald McDougal was claiming to be the herald's employer.
“Lord McDougal?”
“Lady Izmira. Using the Emperor's gold coin to summon him was a noble choice for the pilgrimage unit. But relying on outside power within the knights—especially devilish beings like the Emperor's heralds—will surely cause issues later. So leave the responsibility to a lowly one like me, and Lady Izmira, you must walk a clean path without a single stain on your record.”
The Salvation Knights Order didn't forbid the Emperor's heralds by doctrine like the King's Church, but they shared the same prejudices.
Ultimately, the Salvation Knights were subjects of Hybris.
No reason for them to feel fondness toward the herald clan—called soul-less irreverents, slayers of the divine king.
“But the client is that young lady, right? Now I see clearly.”
The herald, apparently able to identify the client, pointed at Izmira.
“Yes. I'm the one who used the gold coin, the client herself.”
Izmira said this, and the herald nodded.
“Good. I've saved you all, so the request is fulfilled, right?”
“No. You have to get us out safely...”
“I think I've done plenty for one gold coin, but you're greedy too.”
Azadin shook his head.