Chapter 124

Joint Combat Practice 2 (10)

Next Saint Adele Seris.

The name was circulated among the high-ranking priests of Seonghwangdo.

A talented person who will fill the position of the next saint, which was left vacant for a long time after the death of the previous saint Elnir. His reputation had already grown so much that no one dared to lower his name.

The qualification of a saint, who receives the protection of Telos from the pinnacle of sainthood, is not given to just anyone. It was essential to be as pure and beautiful as a piece of drawing paper, yet exuding noble elegance. She had to be born with enormous spiritual power and be able to accept the protection of the Holy Law without difficulty.

Adele... Her divine power was so great that there were rumors that she might be the reincarnation of Telos, to add exaggeration.

There were even rumors going around that the mysterious magic of magic that twisted divine power and used it as if it were magical power was at a level that surpassed the realm of Aspect magic.

No matter what anyone says, the foresight of pulling the timeline and peeking into the future was a miracle that twisted providence.

With her long light yellow hair and always smiling softly and playing the lute, she exudes elegance. Even though she is wearing a burnt blouse and shabby skirt from rolling around on the slum floor, Adele has a divine aura that cannot be explained in words.

However, even she is not without flaws.

He comes from a lowly orphanage in the commercial city of Oldeck. He has tremendous divine power, enough to predict the future, but he cannot control it on his own.

Those things sometimes held her back. However, no matter how many shortcomings were taken into account, there was no one more suitable than her to take over the vacant position of saint.

Eventually, Adele was baptized as a saint and granted the protection of the Holy Law, and was on the verge of becoming the next saint.

With the consent of the Holy Emperor and the Archbishop and the support of the bishops, only the final stigmata baptism remains.

A ritual in which one stabs one’s finger with a dagger and drops the blood into the holy water under the noon light in the square in front of the Holy Emperor’s Temple.

It was a ceremony to reveal her face to the public and announce it to the world, having already completed all preparations to become a saint.

― ‘....’

A day before the stigmata baptism, Adele sat alone at the top of the spire of the Holy City and gazed at the night sky, and gently closed her eyes.

From the orphanage in Oldek to the top of Holy Emperor Capital. It was an incredible rise in status in just a few months. Although the speed was not something she could get used to, Adele still had the sense to live with the flow of the world.

However, after receiving the baptism of a saint and feeling a stronger than usual divine power coursing through my body... I sometimes see a new future.

Adele immediately widened her eyes and concentrated as she felt that a faint twig of the future that had been vaguely untouched had finally arrived in her hands.

What was blooming above the night sky was Adele’s own future, something that had never been seen since some time ago.

-bang!

―Cudangtang!

The next morning, the door to the archbishop’s office opened violently.

The priest rushed in and delivered the report to the archbishop in an urgent voice.

Verdio, who was already an archbishop at the time, narrowed his eyebrows as if embarrassed when he heard those words.

― ‘――――! ―――!’

Everything had already been planned. After today’s stigmata baptism, the birth of a new saint is announced to the public, and the existence of the next saint, known only to the clergy of the Holy Emperor, is finally revealed to the world.

However, Adele Seris, who had been designated as the next saint... gave up on becoming a saint the day before.

There was a lot of commotion. Conflicts arose several times, but in the end, Adele did not ascend to the position of saint of the Holy Emperor.

His enormous spiritual power was recognized as a religious cult, and he was given the position of caretaker of the torch at the top of the Seonghwangdo spire... but the job itself was one that did not have much to do.

In the end, the girl ended up living as a quiet poet who sat on top of the Seonghwangdo and sang while playing the lute.

As such, the position of the saint remained vacant for a long time.

Rumors that the next saint might be born slowly died down... and were dismissed as mere rumors.

There was only a dispiriting rumor going around among the lower-ranking priests that there was a romantic singer reciting old-fashioned folk songs with aplomb at the top of the Seonghwangdo spire.

It’s been 5 years since that happened.

This was the time it took for Saint Clarice, who was revered by all believers, to be canonized.

A divine power so great that it is believed to have monopolized God’s love. The ability to adapt to holy magic that allows one to casually accept the protection of holy magic. And from his innate personality to his mysterious and sacred appearance.

Sitting at the top of the spire, looking at Clarisse receiving the stigmata baptism in the square in front of the Holy Palace... Adele put down the lute next to her.

The high noon sky. A huge number of believers cheered and blessed the birth of the saint.

If a god up in the sky were to look down on the human world, would it look like this?

Adele looked down at Clarice with sad eyes, thinking about such a fleeting thought.

* * *

“I didn’t know you had such a desire to show off, Senior Ed.”

It seemed like something was thrown out loud.

The location was a carriage storage area at the beginning of Maxes Bridge. Most carriages passing through the Maxes Bridge stopped here, so it was actually considered a meeting place among merchants.

Naturally, since it was within the territory of the Elte Company, when Lortel entered the storage room, all the employees opened their eyes wide and bowed their heads.

“What... overnight... anyone would think I was under hypnosis.”

“So to speak... it’s a bit long.”

Lortel and I were consciously not looking back.

Behind it, there was a glass window blocking the entrance to the storage room, and on the other side was the saintess Clarice, glued to the window, looking inside with eyes full of moisture.

Behind them, there are two guard knights hesitating as if they are embarrassed, and behind them there are a lot of passers-by looking at why the noble and dignified saintess is stuck to the window in such an ungainly manner.

Even after I left the nail salon with Lortel, Clarice was always attached to me, so I couldn’t help but get a lot of attention wherever I went.

If I tried to move away or increase the distance, he would start crying and grab my arm, so there was nothing I could do.

If you go into the carriage storage like this, you can’t help but look excitedly instead of collecting information, so I decided to leave the saintess in the carriage for now... but outside the window, she was crying like a lost puppy, so everything was just fine.

Lortel took a deep breath and went to the counter and quietly called the owner.

The owner, who bowed his back like a sickle and greeted Lortel, looked at Lortel’s eyes and answered for fear of offending him. When Lortel said something, he ran behind the counter in a cold sweat.

Lortel came back, grabbed my arm, and made me sit on the waiting chair in the corner of the storage room, and he sat down next to me.

“First of all, you said it was urgent, so I agreed to go with you. Was there a good reason for me to give up even the last sparring of the joint combat training and rush here...?”

He said that he had moved it the way he wanted, so now he wants to explain.

I sat hunched over and sighed. It was unclear where to begin to explain, and more than anything, if you glance up, you can see Clarisse’s face stomping her feet outside the window.

“I think I need to consider the importance of the reason to be able to calculate how much I will charge. I always maintain a cooperative attitude with senior Ed, but... you know very well that my price is not that cheap, right?”

“Yeah... I know.”

Lortel was smiling, but there was a strange feeling of anger mixed in. The face, which appears to have bulging criss-crossed veins, is not consciously looking at the glass window.

“I know very well how attractive you are. However, I don’t quite understand the fact that the saintly woman who used to walk around the professor’s building with a noble appearance until yesterday has changed overnight like a sunflower in the middle of the day~”

“That has to be the case. In fact, I also understand. Because this doesn’t work.”

Time spins and spins, but I can’t remember it all. So, from my perspective, it is difficult to know where to start explaining.

“...How much is it...?”

Lortel looked at my shoulder, which had a large cut, and then quickly squeezed the wound to prevent any more blood from flowing out. When I let out a groan of pain, he looked embarrassed again, but quickly put it together.

It is not strange for anyone to panic and drop their body.

However, Lortel continues to speak while holding on to his spirit.

“Compared to the cost of my life... I’d probably have quite a bit of change left over.”

Her voice trembles slightly, but just maintaining this level of reason is already beyond the mental power of a human being.

“I have some change.”

“That’s right. It’s quite a lucrative business. Do you have time to explain the whole story?”

“Unfortunately, there isn’t one. As you can see.”

The shadow cast through the broken window belongs to Velbroke, the Holy Spear Dragon that covers Aken Island.

The sight of him looking down at the bachelor while letting out a horrifying scream only feels awe, not fear.

Lortel unfolded the blood-stained note and placed it in my hand.

“There were 13 sightings. Most of them seem to have come from magic goods dealers. It looks like the Holy Emperor and the Archbishop were wearing masks for concealment and leading a detachment through a remote street. Most of the other attendants went straight to the Trix Hall. “They say they headed there. It may not be much since the information was hastily gathered, but most of them point to one place.”

“Where are you...?”

“It’s the academic cathedral inside the faculty building. Among the students and faculty, there is a place prepared for the members of the Telos Church.”

“I’m going there... is there a need to hide my movements...?”

“I guess I did it because there was a need.”

The cathedral of the Telos Church, located inside the academic building, is located in the corner of the academic building. It is larger than expected because there are quite a few Telos believers among the students and faculty.

Since the emperor and the archbishop came to the academy, it is not unusual for them to visit the cathedral located inside the academy.

However, he tried to sneak in with only Byeoldong Daeman. In particular, it is strange that as soon as I arrived at Aken Island, I put aside all other plans and went to the cathedral first.

Lortel held back his trembling voice as he held my wound tightly and looked straight into my eyes.

“Let’s go out first.”

* * *

Clarice was forcibly pulling on the door to the storage room that was half crushed and wouldn’t open.

Looking around... it was full of people who were already covered in blood. Thanks to the protection of the Holy Law, Clarice herself was safe, but it could not protect the lives of the two knights who tried to protect her.

“Uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu...!”

Clarisse tried to pull the storage door open with a half-crying face, but it was too much for her limited strength. In the end, the moment I tried to destroy it by using holy magic...

-Bang!

The door was shattered and thrown away by the strong magical power coming from inside.

The one who walked out from there was Lortel, who was supporting Ed.

“Ed... senior...! No... no...!”

Clarisse swallowed another sigh. The death of Ed, whom she had watched dozens of times, remains like a trauma to her, and seeing him bleeding gives her goosebumps again.

Ed just raised his head and nodded that it was okay. However, despite Ed’s reaction, Clarisse just ran towards him and swiped his face.

“Senior Ed... Senior Ed....”

Clarisse traces Ed’s body here and there, looking at the injured area, without even paying attention to Lortel. She rubbed her eyes as if she was going to cry at any moment.

“I can still barely move one horse. Although the wounds are severe... I can probably make it to the teaching building. That’s a good thing.”

Lortel trembled for a moment as he looked at the Holy Spear Dragon covering the sky, but soon gritted his teeth and maintained his composure again. Although I’m said to maintain my senses in any situation, I couldn’t help but feel dizzy when the situation turned this quickly.

“Release the horse. I need to ride that thing.”

Ignoring the saintess who was making a fuss and looking at Ed, Lortel did as Ed said and quickly loosened the reins attached to the carriage and pulled the horse.

Then, he took out the saddle from the wagon cargo area, placed it on the horse’s back, and quickly tied the fixing frame and leather straps.

“No matter how many saddles there are, it’s hard to ride with more than two people. One of the three will have to stay.”

“The saintess and I have to go. Let me explain... it’s a long road...”

At those words, Lortel opened his eyes and looked at Clarice and Ed alternately. Ed is covering his wounds and clutching his horse’s saddle, and Clarisse is clinging to Ed and shedding tears.

And in the sky, the Seongchangryong roars as if it will destroy the world at any moment. It was a series of dizzying situations, but Lortel finished organizing his thoughts by sighing.

“Get on quickly, saint.”

“Ah ahhh...”

Ed quickly grabbed the reins of the horse and got on, followed by Lortel pushing the saintess up and riding her.

After picking them up, he looked up and saw that they looked like a man and a woman running away from each other in love... Lortel felt a burning sensation in his stomach.

“I’m sure Ed has thoughts, too. The situation is moving so quickly and there seems to be no time left, so I will completely trust Ed.”

Lortel suddenly said this and grabbed one side of the horse’s saddle tightly.

“Thank you, Lortel. I will definitely pay this debt back later.”

“No, you have to pay now.”

Lortel put one foot on the saddle and pulled up, pulling his body forward, grabbing Ed’s chest as he sat on the horse, and pulling his upper body down.

And then he kisses me deeply... and quickly jumps down the horse again.

“Eeek... Eeek...??”

Seeing that scene, Clarice completely blushed, covered her mouth tightly... and just let out a moan as if she was embarrassed.

“The second one is me too, Senior Ed.”

It was something he did in an instant, as if he was asking Clarisse to watch it.

“Well, we have to get insurance here too.”

Then, he put down his saddle and smiled seductively at Clarisse.

“Holy woman. Everything in this world has a reputation, so if you carelessly stick to the products that others have marked... things get complicated.”

From the naive Clarice’s point of view, she couldn’t refute anything and had no choice but to just stare at her parents.

Ed also looked at Lortel with his eyes wide open, probably quite embarrassed, but Lortel smiled that charming smile and slapped the horse’s buttocks.

One o’clock was a busy time. Before I could reply, the horse ran away screaming.

Lortel looked at the horses running and crackling like that, then quietly turned around and looked up at the sky.

“Yes... if I’m not confused... the century of disaster unleashed by the Holy Spear Dragon must have ended three hundred years ago...” The

majesty radiates from its gigantic form. Looking at that scene, Lortel smiled awkwardly.

Those who laugh in the face of crisis are those who ultimately win. I was sincerely hoping that this adage would hold true this time too.