Chapter 79
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 79
Chapter Title: Our Sanctuary
-----------------------------------------------------------------
I stood up from my seat and moved closer to the wall.
I traced a picture on the white stone wall with my finger as I explained. I didn't actually draw anything.
"This is the Holy Land. The Brad Kingdom wouldn't have just abandoned this land because they hated it. Even if they left it alone, taxes would pour in, and it's a strategic point connected to Fiore. You think they'd let go of it without a second thought?"
"Hmm..."
"The top Holy Knight of Hellite built a fortress here, and an ogre was playing lord, so they just left it dirty like that."
"That makes sense."
Fred nodded.
I returned to the table and pointed my thumb at myself as I continued explaining.
"What do you think would happen if rumors spread that some unheard-of vagrants chased out the ogre and took over the fortress?"
"They'd get greedy. Land, wealth, power—the more the better, right?"
Bang!
I slammed the table hard.
"That's it."
Requiya's eyes gleamed.
"Ah! Fiore must have been watching too. So, something will come from both sides soon."
"Exactly. What we have isn't just ogre scraps."
Now we're finally getting somewhere.
These guys have no clue about real estate value.
Situations always change.
You can't stay in one spot at the same temperature forever.
If you have a brain, you have to plan according to the current situation, watch the trends around you, and predict how events will unfold.
I'm a Holy Knight who's read a bit of great men's biographies, so I know this stuff.
"Processing the ogre corpses to solve our food supply isn't the end. There are many trials you have to overcome to stay here. It won't be easy."
When I was an ordinary human, I was too busy surviving day to day to realize it.
But now that I have some physical and mental leeway, I feel like I... kind of get it.
Like I know a little about how to live?
"In other words, for the time being, Requiya and Fred need to play diplomats to avoid unnecessary friction."
No matter what the meeting concludes, any Holy Knight with a middle school education or higher in modern society could infer the movements of neighboring countries.
If anyone thinks my reasoning is wrong, they're definitely a heretic.
The world's dumbest idiot, and...
Anyway, I'll find you and burn you at the stake in the name of God.
'That aside. Steron keeps bothering me.'
He promised to cooperate, but Steron's expression wasn't great.
A guy with no facial changes openly showing 'I'm unhappy'—how could I not notice?
I couldn't read his thoughts, which made me uneasy.
Not anxious, just uncomfortable.
I have to resolve discomfort right away.
As Captain, I don't want any discord.
"Steron. If you have something to say, speak freely. No one will blame you."
Steron seemed to ponder for a moment, then let out a silent, long breath.
And he stood up.
Just that motion exuded dignity and grace.
It truly felt like the bearing of a knight.
Yuderg, once a renowned knight himself, parted his lips slightly in admiration.
'Yuderg looks nicer the more I see him. Kind of dim-witted. Sigh, smells like a fool.'
Steron, impeccably dressed, finally spoke.
"You said there would be a chance to speak privately and converse, so I stayed silent. But my dull mind couldn't comprehend, and it seems I showed an undesirable expression. My apologies first."
What the hell is this guy saying?
Why open his mouth so formally?
Because it's an official setting?
"I'm not sure where to start... First, regarding your intent to operate the Holy Land Fortress—."
Steron's tone was extremely cautious yet earnest, and his lengthy speech was coherent.
"—Externally classified as a sanctuary, making it a home for those not of Hellite's people will inevitably raise suspicions—."
His words were laced with politics.
That's how Steron's speech felt to me.
He sounds polite, but underneath, he's circling around and criticizing.
Yeah, he's annoying.
'The kid seems nice, but he's subtly rude.'
Ultimately, his point boiled down to: how dare we settle here?
"—Though I accepted the Captain's orders, sitting at the same table as the Captain is irreverent, and freely sharing opinions is unprecedented rudeness—."
It was saying how can the Captain mingle with underlings, but beneath it lay absolute worship for 1st Holy Knight Captain Luke Seid.
Ugh, this guy's exhausting. Should I just kill him?
"Ah-, fuck thi..."
Ibu muttered something unclear if it was sleep-talk or sincere, nodding with eyes closed.
It was frustrating and boring, but I let Steron keep talking.
I promised everyone a chance to speak freely.
"—In the end, it might tarnish the Holy Kingdom's prestige and the Saintess's glory. That's all."
Whew, fuck. Finally over.
So damn boring.
I opened my mouth the moment Steron finished.
Suppressing my nature to avoid venting frustration.
"Steron."
"I await the Captain's wise judgment."
"Wise judgment" is quite the compliment.
I'm a learned Holy Knight, so I know that.
A slight, very slight irritation melted away, fatigue gone.
Is this why people become captains?
Still, a Holy Knight must say what's necessary.
I called him, but what to say first?
Borrowing Luke's nature would be good, but I'll speak comfortably. My nature fluctuates— no, I can change my nature at will.
"I'm not doing whatever I want just because I'm Captain. Let's all join hands and think together."
The bandits clasped hands.
I was so dumbfounded my thoughts stalled.
I'm not saying pray, you idiots!
This is Steron's fault.
He drove my brain to the brink of shutdown.
"The Holy Knights I've seen are super rigid. No flexibility. I get it. In a strict organization, doing only what's ordered turns you that way."
The Holy Knights and everyone narrowed their eyes.
Glare or deep thought? Hard to tell.
"Others too. Every time I do something, they keep questioning. I thought why, and it seems they attach meaning to my actions. Right? Or not?"
A few with pursed, blunt lips nodded.
Among them, Requiya and Erakins.
Only Fred smiled like he got it.
"I just led the bandits. No, precisely, they followed my journey. What's meaningful about that? Met a snake demanding ten as feed. Killed it. Barely survived to here. Needed Ibu's power, so woke him."
"Fuck! Wasn't sleeping!"
I patted the startled Ibu's back and put him back to sleep.
"Not hugely helpful yet, but Ibu will get strong soon. Maybe stronger than me. I need someone stronger. Where was I?"
Asked Crook.
Thinking of Ibu or bringing him up makes me dumb too.
Crook, scribbling furiously with quill on parchment, looked up.
"Waking Ibu—."
"Before that."
"'To save the people persecuted by heretics, we came to this land!'"
"Is that right?"
"Precisely."
So confident, must be true.
"Then ogres attacked. Couldn't talk. Brains full of fight, fight, fight. Killed them. To not die. That's it. Don't attach meaning to my actions."
Holy Knights and Yuderg cast eyes down, mulling my words.
Bandits seemed to give up understanding.
"Is my explanation hard?"
No one answered.
Ah, what can I do.
Tried casual my-way talk, but I'm not eloquent.
"Sometimes skip meals if no appetite. Not yielding food to subordinates. If energy left, plow fields, hunt. Not for their sake. Came here to survive. They followed. Not suffering for them— whew."
Thinking of past hardships pissed me off again.
Grabbed brow, calmed mind.
When's Silver Star coming? For real.
Bam!
"Anyway!"
"Fuck off—!"
Knew Ibu would freak, but slammed table hard.
Felt like it'd focus minds.
"Drinking booze is just drinking. Not grand act. Don't overmeaning and suck up."
"I didn't suck up?"
Roginin, stone-faced, said sullenly.
"No. I mean—."
"I understand the explanation of Captain's actions. Not from noble or special intent."
Yuderg smiled faintly.
Steron slowly nodded in agreement.
"Good. You get it. Follow Yuderg's example. He gets it like a shot even if blunt. Now, my thoughts on the fortress."
Steron's eyes lit up.
Most uncomfortable topic, natural reaction.
"This place is a sanctuary, and it's not."
What, spraying gasoline from a fire truck?—
"The moment Ibu woke, Hellite's sanctuary was lifted. The instant we entered, it became ours."
I don't know anymore.
Whatever happens.
"Crook. Before coming here, I declared something. Remember?"
"Of course. 'We claim the fortress in the name of Holy Knight Kalruk and his brothers!' I remember clearly."
Is that right?
That guy's got a talent for twisting.
Fred, Yuderg, Requiya nodded.
Erakins nodded vigorously.
Ah, so many agreeing—must not be twisted.
I dropped suspicion, continued.
"We claimed it, so it's our sanctuary."
"Fuck, Ibu's house."
"Yeah. Also Ibu's house. Don't forget why it was built."
Persuading free people is this hard.
Should've just done dictatorship, screw freedom.
Kill resistors, lock up, bury.
Ah, tiring. Wish someone helped.
"We claimed the fortress, then designated it Ibu's house, and Ibu permitted them to live here."
"Fuck, Ibu did? When did Ibu permit— hic!"
I poked Ibu's side.
No fat, felt ribs directly.
'Help out, man.'
Ibu read my eyes, changed expression.