CH 17

: Paladin of Mercy and Punishment (2)

Jamie was heading home with Black after a brief chat. My head was complicated.

The Zenith he knows doesn't help anyone. Since their Lord, how many people believe and follow them?

Have the tenets of Zenith changed over the years?

Their Bibles were still there, but it could not be ruled out that the method of interpretation had changed.

'Anyway, it probably won't be.'

The person who knew Janice best was none other than Jamie. Its divinity comes from 'violence'.

Even if the end was 'peace', it was Zenith that acquired a large amount of divinity in the process of war.

Whoever leads the violence helps someone?

Especially considering his disposition, it didn't even make sense. That ferocious bastard will do his best to use his servants to help others.

'So that's suspicious.'

No good will be done without Janice wishing for it. There must be some purpose.

I don't know what that is, but I thought that what's going on at Highs right now is part of that process.

'I can't let that happen in a land that will be mine.'

Heis is the land that will be the first stepping stone to bring down the gods.

He had to stop this mess from happening, even for his own future.

Queek-

As Jamie was making his resolve, Black pointed somewhere.

A man with dazzling blonde hair was lying in the dark. Looking at his clothes, he looked like a traveler.

However, he had something very unpleasant in his body.

Jamie frowned and ordered Black.

"Let's go down."

Black landed his master softly.

Jamie strode over to the man who had fallen.

priest?

What he felt in his body was divine power.

He looked over the man's body. He was wearing a sword that looked quite expensive around his waist, and the material of the clothes he was wearing was also quite luxurious.

Jamie recognized the man's identity at a glance.

'You are a high priest.'

Not only the appearance, but also the enormous divine power felt in the body was proof of that.

And it's not just a high priest.

Jamie had been tormented by people like the man in front of her a long time ago. When I remembered that time, my eyes frowned.

'Why is the paladin lying on the floor?'

Queek!

Black fluttered his wings, saying he looked weird too. When I glared at him by his flapping wings, Black pretended to be ignorant and looked elsewhere.

"This child."

Queek-

Now he even pretends to whistle. without even knowing the fire.

Jamie clicked his tongue and looked at the paladin again.

How do I pay interest?

kill me-

chin-

The man grabbed Jamie's ankle.

At the sudden action of the man, Jamie hastily covered her face with black.

He shook his head and shook his head. Both cheeks were hollow because they were thin.

The man opened his mouth with difficulty.

ship ."

'ship?'

ship !"

'What's wrong with the stomach?'

I'm hungry !"

The man who screamed squeezing lost consciousness again.

Jamie looked at the man's back with a puzzled look.

A paladin each could have been starving and lying on the side of the road?

He shook off his leg and took the man's hand. His droopy hands even looked pathetic.

"Wow, I'm drunk~ Why is the world spinning like this?"

"Hey, bro! Let's walk straight!

"Ouch. my oh! Ha ha ha!"

"I think this person is very drunk."

"So. Calm down! Yes?!

Then three drunken people walked out of the alley.

Two of them were struggling to support the overly drunk man.

"Hehehehe!"

"Let's see if I'm drinking with my older brother again!"

"At this age, I am drunk Well?

The oldest of the three men stopped talking and looked somewhere.

What's wrong?

"Is there anyone over there?"

Huh?

The young man looked where he was pointing.

A very blonde man was lying on the floor.

"There are people in the world who are worse than you and have fallen on the street."

Damn it. One more load has been added."

"Just go."

"Kazua, Kazuu!"

"Shut up, brother!"

A young man covered the drunken man's mouth from time to time.

"I don't know if I haven't seen it, but how do I get past it? I will take it."

"Your eldest brother is a gentleman."

A man called Big Brother started to lift the blonde man with a grin.

OMG! Joota!"

"Brother, be still!"

Branch.

They each took on one person and went home.

Jamie watched them quietly in the shadows and then came out.

I didn't know that someone would suddenly appear.

"What is the paladin doing here?"

He didn't look like a Zenithist.

It is clear that he belongs to another denomination, but was he passing through this place?

Whatever it was, he was lucky.

If the people hadn't appeared, Jamie would probably have killed him.

'Is it better? It didn't bother me.'

If he had killed the paladin, his denomination would have started searching for the missing from this place.

I was confident that I wouldn't get caught, but I didn't need to be exposed to a dangerous situation for nothing.

"Let's go back."

Queek-

Black spread his wings.

Jamie grabbed Black's leg and returned to the mansion.

And the next day.

"Oh, nice to meet you. boy!

Breakfast spot on Welton Street.

The blonde paladin I saw yesterday was sitting at the same table with Jamie and eating chicken legs.

* * *

Hahaha! If it hadn't been for the Count's grace, I would have died on the street!

Jamie was looking at the blonde man with an unbelievable look.

The man who introduced himself as Lars was obviously the man the drunkards had taken last night. But why are you here?

"Fufu. where would that be my fault Thanks to the soldiers."

It was the Weltons who took Lars last night. It seems that they found the priest's certification plate while searching for Lars' arms and reported it to the superior.

"Isn't that enlisted person, after all, the Count's? So the Count's grace is right."

At Lars' smirk, Earl Welton chuckled as if he was happy.

"By the way, does the paladin die to the point of starving?"

"Because we are human too. Of course, I've heard that when it reaches the state, it receives its own divinity and lasts longer than ordinary people."

"It is wonderful to be divine."

right? I am always amazed."

Paladin Lars raised a fork and countered the words of Countess Sears.

Earl Wellton grinned at his delightful appearance.

"You belong to the Pyro Church?"

Yeah. Pyro, the goddess of mercy and punishment, is enshrined."

"I was quite surprised when I first heard it. Isn't that right, ma'am?

Yes. I was really surprised."

"Can you tell me why you were surprised?"

Lars blinked his eyes in response to the two of them.

Instead of answering, Sears asked him another question.

"Do you know Bishop Sepira?"

When the name Sephira was mentioned, Lars gave a surprised expression.

"Oh! Is your wife from Apton?"

If you are a priest of the Pyro Church, you cannot know the name of Sepira. Because he was the archbishop of the Apton branch.

Sears smiled and nodded.

"I'm from the Bell family."

"I'm going to meet you."

Lars opened his eyes wide at the word 'Bell House' and knelt down on one knee in front of Sears.

The reckless act almost made Jamie spit out what he ate.

"I'm from the Weltons now, so I don't have to."

"That, though."

Hahaha. Long time no see. To see a Pyro priest prostrate."

"You too."

Jamie looked at his parents in bewilderment.

They took Lars' actions for granted.

'What the hell is this?'

I understand that there is a Pyro Church in Apton, the territory ruled by the Bell family, the maternal one.

But that couldn't be the reason Lars bowed to Sears. A denomination belonging to the territory is like a tenant, if it were to be compared.

Which tenant kneels to the landlord?

The Bell family and the Pyro Church must have had just such a relationship.

And the target for the paladin to kneel had to be at least a bishop-level figure.

'Is there something I don't know?'

The close relationship between the Pyro and the Bell family could be seen just by looking at Lars' attitude. But no matter how much I think about it, I don't know what it is.

In this case, the answer is to ask.

Jamie asked his father, Earl Wellton, with an innocent look.

"Why is he there?"

"It is complicated to explain. I'll let you know later when I get a chance.

Earl Wellton answered in a soft voice.

Jamie clicked inwardly. After dinner, I'll go and ask either of them.

If the relationship between the Bell family and the Pyro Church is stronger than expected, it will be a pain in the ass.

'Pyro. After all, she is also something I have to kill.'

"Stop getting up."

Sears grabbed Lars' arm and lifted him up.

Lars looked at her and said in a moved voice.

"It must have been my mother's will that led me to this place."

"Live a sinless life."

"Not harsh mercy. I didn't expect to be greeted here."

As Lars sat down, he said over and over that he couldn't believe it.

"Come on. All the food will be cold."

"I will eat well, thank you very much."

At the Count's suggestion, Lars started eating.

It's warm as usual, but this morning, a different kind of warmth drifted over the table.

'I'll pretend.'

Except for one person.

* * *

After the meal, Earl Wellton brought Lars to his office.

They chatted briefly over tea.

okay. How did you get here? There would be no reason for the Pyro to come all the way to the east."

Initially, the influence of the Pyro religion in the Kingdom of Seldam was minimal. Fortunately, the Pyro Church was located in only a few provinces near Apton.

"Did you come here with the intention of expanding your power in the East?"

"It is not. I came here for a different reason."

"Any other reason?"

"I am chasing someone."

Lars' expression became serious.

"He is a person who conducts terrible experiments that no human being should ever do."

"Isn't there a tribe that does such things other than warlocks?"

"I am not a warlock. No, in a way, it's not much different from the Warlocks.

"Who the hell is that?"

"I am a chimera creator."

The Count's eyes widened.

It was because I never imagined that the word 'chimera' would come out of Lars' mouth.

"Are you saying that someone is making chimeras illegally?"

That's right. The bigger problem is that it's not just an ordinary chimera.

"Can a chimera be normal?"

Hahaha. I don't mean that. Well Before I speak, may I ask you a favor?"

" If you can listen."

"This issue is a top secret even in the church, so we cannot talk about it casually. So if you can help me, I will tell you."

So, I'm asking you to cooperate.

Yeah.

Lars looked at the Count with a nervous expression on his face.

He did not know that the land he had reached was Heis, the Welton family estate, but this was truly a God-given opportunity.

Earl Wellton is a powerful sword master. If he helps, things will be easier.

Hmm.

The Count tapped the table with his finger and began to ponder.

"A chimera maker."

A chimera is an artificial lifeform created by combining the strengths of several living things. That alone is not a sin. But the world treated them as sinners.

It was because they used 'human' as their material.

I don't know if this is the case with all chimera creators, but at least all of the chimera creators that have appeared so far have.

'The fact that it is treated as a top secret in the denomination.'

The Count looked at Lars, who was staring intently at him.

Paladins do not deal with mana. So you can't use an auror. So, it was not easy for a general knight to feel the status of a paladin.

But the Count was a sword master. The one who reached the apex of the sword. No matter how different the power used, it was not difficult to read the spirit of the opponent.

Lars wasn't just a paladin. The spirit that he felt was at least expert in terms of the level of a knight. He did not reach the Master, but his skills must be at the level of a knight commander.

Such a person was tracking the chimera creator alone.

"I can't guarantee that I will help both physically and mentally because of my position. But since I know the relationship between my in-laws and the Pyro, it's a bit hard to just skip it.

"That said ."

"I'll help you."

Lars's face lit up with joy.

Thank you very much!

"Goodbye. So why is the Pyro after the Chimera Maker? And why didn't you ask the Kingdom for help?"

Chimera creators are the enemy of mankind.

If they had requested support from the kingdom, they would have supported their troops.

"If you ask the kingdom, it will certainly be of great help, but if you do, the prestige of the Pyro will be greatly reduced."

"What do you mean? If it was to the point that telling someone would diminish your prestige, shouldn't you have told me too?

"You are Earl Wellton, so I asked you. You are not the Belgian and in-laws."

If Sears wasn't the wife of the Bell family, he wouldn't have even talked about it.

"What I'm going to tell you from now on is that you should never go outside. Please.

" Do it."

"The chimera creator the Church is pursuing. That guy."

Lars' eyes narrowed coldly.

"I used the divinity of the Order of the Pyro to create the Chimera."

" What do you mean?"

"There are more than ten priests who have been sacrificed at his hand."

- Continued on next episode -