CH 40

The time goes back to when Absolute joined Chris and the others.

The church had set up a simple base in the woods for the exercise, and the saint was currently there watching the progress of the plan.

“I have a report. Princess Leone seems to have retreated to the headquarters.”

Upon receiving the report from the holy knight, Saint Eliza opened her mouth regretfully.

“The plan seems to have failed…. Bishop Sirius?”

The man who was called Bishop Sirius by the saint, who was one year younger than him, just kept his head down.

Bishop Sirius, who sounds like a gentle voice but feels somewhat pressured to say something says,

“I didn’t think that there was such a powerful man on Princess Leone’s side.”

“Indeed, that is true. Who the hell is that maid to defeat all the higher species by herself?”

The saint was listening to the report of the upper class monsters being killed with her usual calm expression.

Bishop Sirius was atrophied by the saint’s words, even though it was not his fault.

Saint Eliza, I remember that at first she was just an ordinary girl who was brought from a remote town in the country of Rainana to be installed as a saint. However, now I feel that she has become too devoted to the Church of Rainana and has gone somewhat mad.

There is something wrong with the Church of Rainana in recent years. In the past, the church wasn’t so tightened against evil. However, since the return of Cardinal Nemuria, the Church of Rainana has gone so far as to take action behind the scenes. Even for this operation, it wouldn’t be normal to take action against a nobleman. To be honest, Sirius really wanted to get out of there right away.

“According to the information from Prince Michael, she is probably Maria Stella, a slave and maid of Absolute Ark.”

Anya, a holy knight of the same class and saint Eliza’s bodyguard, added.

“The Stella family has been producing excellent knights for generations. And I’ve heard of Maria Stella. She was recruited into knighthood when she was 10 years old…. Why did she become a slave of the Ark family?”

The original plan was to surround Mist and the others with the main force of higher-ranking monsters, blocking any escape route, and then attack them. However, two incidents prevented this from happening. One of them was the presence of Maria Stella. Maria Stella had defeated almost all of the main upper level monsters that were to attack Mist and his group before they could surround them.

The church didn’t expect that there were people who could defeat a large number of high-ranking monsters among them, with the exception of Absolute. The accident forced the church to suddenly deploy a total of 300 monsters that they had originally been saving as a reserve force.

“It was inevitable that all of the higher-ranked species were wiped out. But, Bishop Sirius, why don’t you move the monsters closer to them? We missed Princess Leone because there was a lag before the monsters could get to them.”

Saint Eliza blames Archbishop Sirius, who is in charge of taming and transferring the monsters, with a smile on her face.

“That’s because I couldn’t use my unique magic in their vicinity. Perhaps some kind of skill or magical tool is at work…”

“You think they had a way to block the transfer?”

“Yes, a magical tool to inhibit transfer… perhaps one of them possesses it. It is possible that Princess Leone is in possession of it, since it was probably made in the Kingdom of Suiroku as a countermeasure against the spatial hero.”

“I didn’t think that there were still magical tools for blocking transference that could be used against the spatial hero.”

The second accident that the saint didn’t anticipate was that they weren’t able to transfer to the place where they were originally supposed to transfer, and as a result, they had to transfer at a distance, giving Mist and his team time to escape.

Of course, this was no coincidence. Absolute knew in advance that the church would use a method similar to transfer. Therefore, he put the “magic tool to inhibit transfer” that he used to capture the negotiator in his luggage as a countermeasure against that. As a result, he succeeded in buying time and allowed Princess Leone to evacuate.

“The Holy Knights I asked you to send to take care of Christina and the others haven’t contacted me yet, so I guess that’s it for this time. Bishop Sirius, please leave before they find you. I will return to the exercise.”

“Yes.”

“Excuse me for interrupting. Saint-sama, a spell has been launched by our group. It seems to be an emergency.”

“I see, then we must return quickly. Bishop Sirius, I’ll see you at the church.”

Saint Eliza said and returned to the group with her escort, the holy knight Anya.

When the saint left, Bishop Sirius made sure that no one was around and took a breath. He was released from the stress and all at once his strength drained from his body.

“Hah, I’m tired, I seriously want to go home. The saint is blaming me in a roundabout way, and I’m having to use monsters to kill people indirectly, and I don’t want to do it.”

Bishop Sirius is a man who is easily influenced.

He was forced to follow the orders of his superiors, but in truth, he never wanted to kill anyone, even if they were bad people.

“I don’t know who’s more evil, the Ark faction or the one who tries to harm people outside of the Ark faction.”

Sirius was about to get up to prepare for the retreat when he heard a feminine voice, still childish, coming from behind him when no one else was supposed to be there.

“If you don’t know which side is worse, I’ll tell you. You’re one-sidedly evil.”

The voice came from Sirius’ ear.

The next thing he knew, a blade was being held against his neck.

(What? No way…. When did you get behind me?)

“Don’t move. If you open your mouth or move without permission, I will kill you. Nod quietly when you understand.”

As he was told, Bishop Sirius nodded slowly. Then the person behind him swung the blade she had been holding at his neck and stabbed deeply into his right shoulder.

“Gyaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!”

He is stabbed with the blade and blood spurts out.

(Why, I did what you said… why did you stab me?)

“It’s your punishment for moving when I told you not to move. Do you not have ears?”

(You told me to nod! Damn, this guy…this is bad. She’s too unreasonable. I have to get out of here.)

He tried to use his magic to escape, but he had to get past her eyes to do so.

“I knew from observing you that in order to transfer, you had to create an opening and go through it. That’s why I have to hurt you all over so you can’t move before I take you in.”

Bishop Sirius shuddered as he anticipated what was about to happen to him. He was stabbed in the shoulder, which made him bleed and his breath become ragged.

“Don’t think that you will die easy if you lay a hand on my master. Master is kind, cool, and stronger than anyone else. He always sacrifices himself to protect others. I will never allow a little rascal like you to touch Master. I will kill all the master’s enemies.”

(What is she talking about? This guy…she’s from the Ark family? Oh, it’s over… where did I go wrong in my life?)

“It’s retribution for trying to hurt the people Ur cares about. Don’t worry, I won’t kill you. The master will be furious with me.”

After that, to prevent me from screaming, she first crushed my throat and broke every bone in my body. Luckily, I lost consciousness in the process, so I probably didn’t feel the pain for long. The sound of bones being broken continued to echo through the base.

“It’s over…newcomer, take me and this guy back to the compound.”

“Ah yes, senpai.”

The negotiator, who had been watching from a distance when Bishop Sirius was being hurt, had the two of them transferred to the Ark mansion on Ur’s order.

The negotiator was left hanging in the empty bishop’s base after transferring Ur and the main culprit.

“Ur-senpai is also a dangerous person…after all, the Ark family is dangerous. I have to escape before they kill me. I’ve got to go report to Ark-sama now that we’ve captured the main culprit… I want to go home to my friends.”

The negotiator muttered helplessly as he looked up at the night sky.

******************************************

After parting with Bishop Sirius, the saint headed for the campsite to join her group.

When she arrived at the campsite, the smell of blood was in the air.

Sensing something was wrong, the saint saw an unbelievable scene.

The saint’s campsite had turned into a sea of blood.

Scattered about the sea of blood were the corpses of the holy knights who had spent so much time with the saint… and among them was a monster covered in blood and flesh, feasting on the corpses of the holy knights. Anya’s eyes widen and the saint Eliza quietly gazes at the scene with cold eyes.

“Oh no…everyone…what are you doing!”

Anya’s loud voice made the monsters who were eating the meat notice the saint. The monster turned toward the saint. It was a dark-skinned ogre.

“Is that an “enhanced” specie of ogre? There should be no one in this forest except those released by the church…could it be…that he betrayed us? Cardinal Nemuria.”

The saint, unfazed by the death of her friends, calmly analyzes the current situation.

Then, in this worst-case scenario, she came up with a possibility. A betrayal from her friends.

(The plan has failed… could they be trying to get rid of her to keep her quiet?)

The saint shook her head to the side as if to deny her own thoughts.

“No, that’s not possible. Anya, get ready! ,<power increase>  <speed increase>  <regeneration healing> <damage protection>  <lucky critical> <sword of slash>  and skill, <incitement> Anya, be my sword and destroy the monster!”

The saint continuously invoked her magic and skills to strengthen Anya, the holy knight.

A fierce battle unfolded between the strengthened Anya and the enhanced ogre. However, Anya was supported by the saint Eliza. No matter how wounded she was, the saint would heal and give her strength. No matter how many arms and legs were torn off, no matter how much blood was spilled, Anya continued to fight.

And after a fierce battle, Anya was victorious over the enhanced ogre.

“It’s impossible. Did Cardinal Nemuria really try to kill you? If so, he would have gathered more monsters…”

I was troubled by the feeling that he was a little short of murderous intent to kill the saint.

After thinking for a while, the saint went to the bodies to get the names and numbers of the dead holy knights. There were eight victims. The total number of the saint’s group was 10. This meant that everyone except the saint and Anya, the holy knight, had been killed.

Among them were Evan and the others who had been ordered to take care of Christina.

(Why even Evan and the others who had been asked to take care of Christina? It is possible that Bishop Sirius was the sole culprit.)

But there’s also a possibility that the Ark family is behind this, but I hear that Absolute is scrambling east and west to save his friends. She thought that it was impossible for the Ark family to have the monsters work against them.

The eight people who died this time were holy knights who had supported the saint from childhood, both publicly and privately. She made a sad face and prayed for the souls of the deceased.

(When did I stop grieving the deaths of my friends? It’s not funny that I, such a heartless person, am a saint. Right now I’m just an actor playing the role of an ideal saint. But that’s fine… all I want is revenge against the Ark family.)

Seeing the saint praying for her friends, unaware of the saint’s heart, the holy knight Anya cried aloud.

After that, the saint was protected by the teachers who came to the rescue. The teachers all sympathized with the saint as she prayed with a sad expression on her face, and no one doubted that she was a victim.

However, this was also staged by the saint. She made a sad face and played the role of a poor woman in response to the death of her friends.

She played both the victim and the perpetrator, but she was also good at winning the sympathy of those around her. That is Saint Eliza.

(At any rate, I need to find out who is behind this… If Cardinal Nemuria is the enemy, that’s not good.)

She was a saint who was thinking about something else while praying for her friends.

The negotiator, who was the one who released the monster in the saint’s camp, was observing her from a distance. To report the result to his master.

♢♦︎♢♦︎♢♦︎♢♦︎♢

“The saint survived. The bodies of the four people killed by Ark-sama were disposed of in the form of those killed by the monsters, plus the four people killed by the enhanced specie of monsters and the one captive captured by Ur-senpai will be the results.”

After the exercise was over, the negotiator gave a report about the situation of the saint in the soundproof room of the Ark family’s mansion.

Absolute entrusted him with handling the saint’s cronies, the holy knights, in order to test the negotiator’s skills. As a result, the negotiator had the knights attacked by monsters, just like the church did.

(I asked him to capture some monsters in preparation, but this was how it was done. As expected of a negotiator. He’s a valuable asset that can be entrusted with this kind of work, not just teleportation. I was right to catch him.)

“Was it really okay not to kill the saint?”

“Yes. I know she didn’t make this plan by herself. I let her go free to see the scale of the enemy, but I’m certain that the whole church is involved. I gathered evidence to make sure they don’t get away this time.”

“If Ark-sama kills her secretly, won’t that be the end of it?”

“If it was a low-level person like a holy knight, that would be the end of the story, but we have to be careful when dealing with people in positions such as saints and cardinals. Religion is a messy business.”

The main thing is to gather evidence and to fill the moat.

We have a video magic tool of the saint with the bishop, who is the main culprit. Now all we need is evidence against the cardinal and we can legitimately get rid of the saint.

While I’m wondering what to do, the negotiator calls out to me.

“Ark-sama, would you like to make a deal?”

“Well…say it.”

“At the moment, there is still no evidence that you can finish off the cardinal, right? If that is the case, I will bring proof that the cardinal of the Church of Rainana will not be able to escape. In return, will you free me from slavery?”

Absolute gives a slight look of thought.

(Negotiators do not make a deal on what they cannot handle, so he must have some idea of the evidence.)

“Negotiator, I order you, tell me what evidence you know.”

The negotiator, now a slave, cannot disobey the orders of his master, Absolute.

“There is a secret account book in the hideout of the Black Fairy, a dark organization in the Suiroku Kingdom, and through me they have trafficked with the empire several times. There is Cardinal Nemuria’s signature in it. I thought that might be evidence…”

The negotiator regretfully spit out all he could think of. The slave contract didn’t allow him to negotiate with his master as an equal.

(The kingdom of Suiroku…it was the location of the next event where the hero saves the country from the dark organization. Unlike the original story, the hero who has no connection with Princess Leone wouldn’t be involved in the event. So I honestly don’t care about this event. But if there’s proof, I can go there during a long vacation.)

“I understand all you’ve said. If you can really bring it, I’ll let you go.”

“Really?”

“But you won’t be released until ten years from now.”

Absolute is acting on the assumption that there will be a war with the country in the future. The number he found was 10 years.

The negotiator despairs of 10 long years.

“No way…can’t you do something about it?”

“I won’t give up this one. Or you can have another one. Now, I’m done talking. I’ve been called into the academy for an interview, so tell Maria and the others I’ll be late.”

The negotiator is an effective pawn for Absolute. So, he made the maximum concession he could.

The conversation ended and Absolute left the room. The negotiator kept staring at his back.