CH 99

“What’s happening today? Is there no battle?”

“Since the reconnaissance ended yesterday, the advance team will be deployed. Even if a battle breaks out right away, it won’t be an all-out war, but war doesn’t always flow as expected,” Damon answered calmly, munching on bread in front of him.

“I don’t have anything to do yet… right?”

“Yes, it would be good for everyone if there isn’t.”

Even though I understood that, I couldn’t help but feel a bit depressed. Needing a priestess meant that the other side started using black magic, so it would be nice to have nothing to do, but it didn’t feel good to stay still when everyone was busy.

As if he knew how I felt, Damon said, “Still, Lady has the most important role. In the end, it will be your bow that will destroy the Demon King.”

“I know, I do.”

After finishing the meal, I went out and saw the troops now ready for battle. Damon whispered, quietly leading me towards them, “Please go and encourage them. They’ll be delighted.”

How could I not do it after seeing their expression upon seeing me?

I smiled, slowly approached them, and shook the hand of the highest-ranking knight among them.

“Don’t get hurt, and come back safely.”

As if the knight commander didn’t know what to do, he bent down excessively and lightly held onto my fingertips.

“Priestess, since you came out to see us off like this, I think we will win today’s battle.”

I lightly grabbed his hand, shook it, and put some divine power into it. I also shook hands with the vice-captain next to him and several other knights, one after another.

“Woaaah!”

“Thank you, Priestess!”

The knights blessed by the Priestess knelt down and thanked me. 

I shrugged my shoulders at their cheers, but it was an overreaction to the light blessing, so it was a bit burdensome.

Fortunately, as Enoch approached, they calmed down and looked tense again.

“The advance team is responsible for identifying the location and size of the enemy. Try not to overdo it and constantly report on the situation.”

“Yes, I understand.”

Perhaps because it was in the forest, a team of agile knights was put in place rather than a large army. 

Then, as I was watching them depart, I heard Enoch’s stern voice. “Did you use divine power?”

“Yes? Very little…?”

I didn’t do anything bad, but I felt guilty. Enoch said with a smile, “Thank you for taking care of them, but you’ll have a lot to use soon, so you’d better save it as much as possible.”

“…Yes, I will.”

Enoch was busy reviewing the operation on a large conference room desk, and I sat next to him and just watched him.

Even if I tried to go elsewhere, Enoch would not allow me to leave his side. Finally, when he started, he told me to stay by his side, and he really kept his word.

Even so, it was impossible to exchange much words with him, as knights came and went, reports were constantly posted, and short meetings continued to be held.

At other times, he seemed very busy going through paperwork, and most of all, he seemed nervous.

It wasn’t too obvious, but I felt bad he was handling it all alone.

‘Is there anything I can do to help?’

As I pondered about it, another knight came in. “Your Highness, I have something to report.”

“What is it?” Enoch hadn’t taken his eyes off the papers.

“We found no signs of brainwashing on the guy we caught yesterday.”

Only then did Enoch raise his head.

“No signs of brainwashing, huh? Then what he said yesterday was true.”

There was a rare displeasure on his face, which had not shown much emotion throughout his work.

“Yes, he really didn’t know that Duke Rupert Clifford was the Demon King. He didn’t believe us at all even when we told him.”

“Anything else?”

“I heard that the Duke who had become the Demon King really seemed to be worried about Erin Spilet, no, I mean the Priestess…”

“That’s hilarious.”

Enoch hit the desk with a thump and got up. I flinched a little, but I wasn’t surprised. I thought I knew where his overreaction came from, so I stayed silent.

After the knight left, I looked up at Enoch with my hands on my chin. Enoch turned to me when he felt my gaze.

With a smile, I said, “I won’t go.”

“…Yes, I know.”

Enoch pushed his disheveled hair up and slumped into his chair. Embarrassed that his true intentions were revealed, he smiled awkwardly.

“But how does the Demon King know me and ask to bring me to him?”

Enoch stared at me but hesitated to speak.

“Do you know something?”

“I’m not certain because I only rely on records about the Demon King.”

“Tell me anyway.”

“Unlike other demons, the Demon King controls the human body as soon as it possesses it, so he has very little memory of his life… But if a certain thought is very intensely imprinted in the head of the host, then the memory remains.”

“Very intensely imprinted…”

It flustered me a little to hear that. Did Rupert think of me that way?

Then he should have been nice to me before. I had no idea why you avoided me so much and acted so ruthlessly. I felt like I had moved your feelings towards the end, but I didn’t expect it to be that extent.

“It’s a bit new, huh?”

I didn’t know what to say to Enoch.

Enoch looked back at me then turned to the document as if he had found nothing to say.

Suddenly, there was a commotion outside. I could hear Liam, Enoch’s aide.

“Your Highness, Your Highness! I think you should see this!”

Enoch and I turned to each other before rushing outside.

It seemed that the knights who had gone out to battle had returned in a hurry.

“What’s going on?”

They all looked as pale as a sheet.

“Tell me what’s going on.”

“T-that…”

A few people who had come to their senses quickly began to stutter. When I looked closely, they were the people who had shaken my hand earlier.

I grabbed the hand of the knight commander I saw earlier and lightly infused divine power into it. Only then did his face become more relaxed.

Enoch didn’t seem to like it, but since it worked, he remained silent.

The knight commander caught his breath and slowly explained the whole incident.

“There was a light skirmish halfway up the mountain. We tried to avoid friction as much as possible but couldn’t help it because we were confronted head-on.”

The knight commander had a look of regret, but Enoch shook his head and said, “Go on.” 

“At first, it looked like we had an advantage because there were only a few of them. Then, one by one, casualties started to appear… The dead suddenly jumped up and began to attack us all at once.”

One of the priests–Johann, who had a lot of war experience–muttered, “Undead…”

“As a result, the number on their side gradually increased, and we decreased, and in the end…”

Enoch stopped the knight commander since he was starting to get overwhelmed from recalling the incident and patted him on the shoulder.

“I got it. That’s enough.”

“Haa, thank you, Your Highness.”

Knights crossing the line of fire would not be so frightened just because they lost a fight. They must have been surprised by the strange situation.

“Undead?”

Priest Johann bowed at Enoch’s question and said, “Yes. What that knight just said is a kind of black magic, and a corpse that has come to life is called the undead.”

“I’ve heard of it, but I know the power of each individual isn’t great.”

“Yes, they can only use half of the body’s strength. However, as the number of casualties increases, so does the power. And since the dead do not feel pain, it would have been difficult for ordinary knights to deal with them.”

“Let’s go in and talk.”

I naturally followed Enoch, but when he saw me, he hesitated for a moment before walking again.

Priest Johann, Liam, and some knights came in as well. As soon as Enoch sat down, he said, “The undead are tricky, but why were outstanding knights so frightened?”

“Of course, the battle itself is like that. But if you think that you will become like that after you die, you can’t help but be afraid.”

Johann shrugged, and Enoch nodded slowly, his finger on his chin.

“How do you defeat them?”

“Just blow off the head of the undead corpse.”

Even though Johann was a priest, he didn’t hesitate to speak.

“Being already undead means a loss of troops. Is there any other way?”

Then Johann looked straight at me and said, “Prevent them from being undead in the first place.”

“Is this something I can do?”

“Yes, if the priestess helps us, it will be much easier than doing it among us priests.”

“Wait a moment.” 

Enoch tried to interrupt the conversation, but I talked over him and asked Johann, “What can I do?”

“It’s simple. You just need to give a blessing. I saw some fairly unscathed knights earlier. Didn’t the Priestess save them?”

“I refuse. There are too many of them,” Enoch interjected again, and this time I was also silent.

Surely, if I blessed everyone, the consumption of divine power would be too great. But then the battle against the Demon King would be more difficult.

While Johann and Enoch pondered, Damon quietly raised his hand in the corner. 

“How about sharing holy water?”