Chapter 236
Chapter 236
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 236
Chapter Title: Bishop Akenar 3
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“Those knights who abandoned their comrade and fled—you’re being awfully harsh on them. They just wanted to live, too.”
Azadin twisted Bishop Akenar’s words, mocking them as criticism of the knights who had fled after abandoning Izmira.
“What a joke. Holy knights, betraying and trying to capture the very guest they summoned themselves.”
Zan, who had been watching the situation, couldn’t hold back and chimed in.
At that moment, Azadin drew the Ceramaite longsword strapped to his back.
“You bastard!”
“What are you doing?!”
The mounted knights charged, thrusting their spears at Azadin, but he parried them with the Ceramaite longsword.
The knights’ bodies were flung up from their saddles, saved from falling only by their stirrups, though their spears snapped in two.
‘They’ve gotten weaker. Normally, that would’ve sent them tumbling off their horses.’
Azadin gave a wry smile, feeling his own diminished strength.
From the knights’ perspective, though, it felt like some kind of sorcery. That single exchange made it clear they had no chance of stopping Azadin.
‘No way! Not with the bishop right here!’
‘The bishop’s in danger!’
These were the same knights who had abandoned their comrades and fled to save their own skins before, but now they threw themselves in front of the bishop.
If Azadin killed Bishop Akenar, there’d be no escape for any of them. Fleeing the pilgrimage caravan had left some room for excuses, but this time, there would be none.
Contrary to their expectations, however, Azadin flipped the sword around and offered the hilt to the bishop.
“You must know whose sword this is, as bishop of Coxhall.”
Bishop Akenar took the blade and examined it.
“I can hardly believe it. This sword... Aurelia Dun!”
“Aurelia Dun?!”
“Surely you mean Sir Plank’s sword?”
Everyone gasped at the name.
Tutor to North Commander Cohen Lionair, Sir Plank had vanished one day, only to reappear as the Death Knight, haunting the area around Coxhall and slaying countless souls.
Many knights had challenged him and met their ends, earning him the moniker “Death of Chivalry.”
Yet in life, he had embodied the virtue of wisdom among the Three Virtues Knights, and the Ceramaite longsword he wielded was one of only four famed blades the order had ever named.
‘Was it really that impressive?’
Azadin himself held no high opinion of the Ceramaite longsword. Heavier than a standard steel blade, with a dull edge that offered little satisfaction in a cut.
It paled in comparison to a sharp, sturdy Azure Steel longsword—or even a well-forged steel sword.
Judging by everyone else’s reactions, though, this Ceramaite longsword—especially the one Azadin held—was apparently one of the world’s legendary blades.
“How did you...?”
“I received it directly from him.”
“What?”
“He knighted me and passed the sword on.”
“?!”
Azadin knew nothing of the prophecy passed down in the Order of Hospitallers, but Bishop Akenar was well aware of it.
The prophecy that the final knight Sir Plank knighted would become the flower of chivalry.
But the man before her now—wasn’t he the Emperor’s Herald?
Unlike the King’s Church, the Order of Hospitallers held no particular enmity toward the Emperor’s followers. True, its members were all Whubris natives, and its recruits mostly Whubris nobles, so they all despised the Emperor’s Heralds on a personal level—but personal hatred was separate from the order’s doctrine.
That said, with the Emperor’s followers having attacked Btuma and Korasar, committing massacres, summoning nagas and beasts to utterly destroy the kingdom, even the Hospitallers couldn’t ignore the Emperor’s Heralds.
“You’re truly saying Sir Plank knighted you? But he became the Death Knight...”
“That’s right.”
“Remarkable. I thought he’d lost his reason by now. If what you say is true, then you’re one of our brothers—a Hospitaller.”
“B-Bishop!”
“That’s impossible!”
Those who heard the bishop’s words were horrified.
An Emperor’s Herald as a Hospitaller? Absurd. Even if the King’s Church and the Hospitallers differed in doctrine, they were still Whubris folk.
Accepting someone who had slain the Yaegas divine race felt viscerally wrong.
“Sir Plank is dead. Ever since becoming the Death Knight, he’s been little more than a shadow of his former self. Hasn’t the order selected a new Virtue Knight since his passing?”
“This man’s an Emperor’s Herald. He’s one of those fiends who destroyed two of the Eight Kingdoms—how can we trust a word he says?”
The bishop, masked as a noblewoman, ignored the others and took a step closer to Azadin.
“If Sir Plank truly knighted you, does that mean you accept becoming a member of the Order of Hospitallers? Even as an Emperor’s Herald?”
“Yes.”
“May I ask why?”
“It’s... because Sir Plank wished it. No—because I’ve long held faith in the Three Great Archangels and their devotees.”
Azadin started with Sir Plank as an excuse but soon abandoned it for his honest feelings.
He had lost Aldis, who had been everything to him. He had sacrificed Arael without even reconciling.
Yet even after losing it all, his faith endured—and that was why he accepted Sir Plank’s knighting.
“Pfft.”
“Ha.”
“He’s lost his mind.”
The reactions varied.
The surrounding knights sneered, gasped, or shot him looks of contempt at Azadin’s words.
Raw hatred poured onto him without filter.
Of course it would—the Soulless Blasphemer claiming to hold their faith. They themselves weren’t always so certain of it.
“Very well. Then I take it you wish to join the Order of Hospitallers?”
“Yes. So long as it’s not an organization that abandons comrades, oppresses the weak, and pillages.”
“Excellent. Then in the name of Coxhall’s Bishop Akenar, I appoint you Hospitaller-Errant. No need for a formal knighting—you’ve already received one.”
“What?!”
“Bishop! What are you...”
“Shall we head to Coxhall, then? I have many questions for you on the way—would you ride in my carriage?”
Bishop Akenar gestured toward her carriage.
Sharing a carriage with her was an immense honor no mere squire knight could dream of. But Azadin knew little of such things.
“Very well. I’ll join you.”
Azadin accepted her invitation and moved to board the carriage.
Just then, his gaze fell on Zan. She was mouthing something silently, her lips moving.
‘She’s a target too.’
Bishop Akenar was one of the northern Aragas attackers’ goals. Makes sense for Coxhall’s bishop.
‘I’ll need to stay alert.’
Heeding Zan’s warning, Azadin boarded the carriage.
“Um, excuse me...”
The villagers approached Azadin and the carriage.
“What is it?!”
The bishop’s guards shoved them back.
“Oh, we just wanted to say thank you.”
“Thank you?”
“Yes. Thank you for saving us, sir knight.”
“Hahaha. That’s nothing—of course! It’s a holy knight’s duty!”
“......”
The villagers thanked Azadin, but the late-arriving Hospitallers strutted about instead.
From their view, hadn’t these Hospitallers just meddled while they were catching fleeing lizardmen?
“Right. A holy knight’s duty.”
Azadin gave a wry smile, waved to a village child mimicking his fighting pose before boarding. The child cheered, raising both hands in joy at being noticed.
‘Cute kid.’
Azadin committed the child’s face to memory and climbed in.
The bishop’s carriage boasted luxurious red silk interiors.
The bishop, masked as a silver noblewoman, offered the seat opposite her to Azadin.
“I’ll dirty your fine carriage. Oh—and now that I’m in the Order of Hospitallers, should I address you formally?”
As Azadin asked, the listening guard and coachman bristled.
“You insolent cur! Do you know who she is? A mere squire knight should show her respect!”
“Hm. So you acknowledge me as a squire knight—as a Hospitaller?”
“Urk.”
“Of course. I, Bishop Akenar, have recognized him. Anyone who doesn’t call him knight insults my honor.”
As the coachman fell silent, Bishop Akenar declared it herself.
She spoke loudly enough for those outside the carriage to hear, which pleased Azadin.
‘I don’t know what schemes she’s hiding, but she’s straightforward. Even if she’s a venomous viper, she’s far preferable to those petty holy knights.’
Azadin decided to show her respect.
“Understood, Bishop. Then I’ll gladly accept your invitation.”
Azadin brushed off his clothes and sat opposite her.
“Hehe, no need for that. Call me comfortably. I’m just a widow who inherited an undeserved position because of my bloodline.”
“Widow?”
“Yes. You didn’t guess from the mask? Then I suppose I should start by explaining why I’m Coxhall’s bishop.”
*********
Coxhall was a coastal city bordering the Arangi Inner Sea, famed as a trade port with Btuma.
It imported sugar and spices from Btuma and shipped them inland, generating vast customs revenue as a trade hub. Thus, Arangi’s kings had long managed it directly, making it practically the second capital.
Several Arangi kings had even planned to move their capital here, but efforts failed repeatedly due to inability to transport the Quartz Throne.
Instead, they built a palace and visited often to oversee it. Accordingly, both the King’s Church and Order of Hospitallers established dioceses here, zealously proselytizing.
Coxhall’s Hospitaller bishop was a woman named Akenar—high noble of Chitai and former queen of Arangi.
Beautiful and wise, she enjoyed the people’s high regard, but bore no children with the Arangi king.
In the end, he divorced her and remarried a princess of Esander. Former Queen Akenar then joined the Order of Hospitallers, taking up the bishopric of Coxhall.