Soldiers marched in, the sound of gleeful clanging high in the air, followed by knights mounted on splendid horses.
Those who appeared on the main street of Terra Kaine. Shining on their chests was the emblem of the sun.
The emblem of Noacurio, the “Kingdom of the Sun”, the light … that brings life and prosperity.
With the collapse of the Ciel-Terra’s national framework and the almost total annihilation of even the Royal Order of Knights, the only people who could protect the people by force of arms were Noacurio’s advancing army. The people, who had been spending anxious days, welcomed the arrival of their salvation with enthusiastic cheers.
At the head of the ceremonial procession was a warrior in knight’s armor, wearing a surcoat with a great eagle’s crest. He was a military man in his late thirties.
Commander of the reinforcement force from Noacurio. He was Patrick Bruno Randall, also known as Count Randall of the Frontier.
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“I am so glad you could make it in time. You saved this city and my life. I will never forget your kindness.”
” What? We the people of Noacurio desire the peace of Ciel-Terra, as we are all friends of this country.”
Marks greeted Patrick at the castle gate and shook his hand in a humble manner that did not compromise his dignity.
Patrick, on the other hand, behaved in a dignified manner so as not to embarrass Marks.
It was a political greeting based on the power relationship and position of the two countries.
Marks’ secret plan against the “Rose Princess of Hellrage” was to call in the Noacurio army.
The Noacurio army, which was stationed in the former Duke Gerald’s territory of Wesala, was taking a wait-and-see attitude, as the “Princess Rose of Hellrage” was attacking mainly west of the royal capital. However, Marks had enough material to make Noacurio bite.
However, because of the nature of the situation, they could not move on their own, and it took some time for the Noacurio army to coordinate with the home country. That was why they arrived at the last minute.
Thanks to that, they arrived just in the nick of time, but it was no use. Patrick was going to be involved in the politics of Ciel-Terra from now on.
“By the way, … who’s that over there?”
Marks asked Patrick, pointing toward an old woman in red, brown, and white robe, who was standing there as if it were natural.
Surrounding the old woman were a few grim-looking men dressed in priest’s robes with hoods covering their faces.
The mysterious old woman appeared in the city with a holy beast prior to the arrival of Noacurio’s army.
If anything, she was the one who drove away the “Rose Princess of Hellrage”, but Marks had no idea who she was.
“Oh, that…”
Patrick’s eyes wandered in the air for a moment.
“She is Morgana. She is a Special Technical Advisor to our army.”
“Haa…”
Marks didn’t press the issue any further, as the words were muddled in his mind.
Patrick, the commander of the reinforcements, had to be afraid of this person. If that was the case, Marks judged that there must be a “reason” for it. It was best not to get too deep into it.
But there was a man here who did not read the atmosphere that way.
“Who are you? How dare you take my prize and then let it go? You should have left it to me. How dare you show your face?”
Erminio sneered at Morgana.
The “Decisive Drolette” had also come out to greet them along with Marks.
Marks already had a general understanding of Erminio’s personality.
Erminio couldn’t stand it if he wasn’t in the limelight at all times. He would get angry if he saw someone else in front of him who would take over for him.
Therefore, even though his own plan had already been defeated, he was stingy because Morgana let the “Rose Princess of Hellrage” slip through his fingers, looking as if he had just won the dragon’s head.
Seeing Erminio, Morgana smiled quietly and said,
“Are you saying that you could have beaten her without my help? You don’t have that kind of power. It’s foolish to say that you could do something that you couldn’t do.”
“What?”
Erminio’s cheeks twitched.
“Fufu, I wonder if I misheard you. By all means,… here, are you calling me a fool? A son of the great Drolet family, a servant of the Father, a servant of the Great God, a roaring swordsman and hero, intelligent and good-looking, this Erminio Drolet is … a fool!? Hey, you old hag!!”
Erminio, who spoke rapidly, grabbed Morgana by the collar.
Lifted up, Morgana stood on her tiptoes.
One of the temple knights (the armor was exactly the same, so Marks couldn’t tell which was which), who couldn’t stand to watch, stopped Erminio.
“Boy, you’ve got to keep your antics to yourself around here…”
“The discussion is about how to exterminate the undead. Interfering with that is like interfering with God.”
“Huh?”
Even when pressed by Erminio in a form of indignation, Morgana was still just smiling, as usual, in a relaxed manner.
And.
“It’s not good to interfere with God, is it?”
At the same time she said that.
One of the hooded priests who had been standing behind Morgana moved with blinding speed, grabbed Erminio by the face and slammed him to the ground.
“Guha…”
Boy!”
“Kyaaaah!? Erminio!”
The attack was not only fast, but so unrelenting that even the two temple knights, who were considered to be the equivalent of 6th class Elites, were unable to break through. After Erminio was knocked down, the two finally pulled out their swords, and Loretta screamed.
Erminio grabbed the hooded man’s arm and tried to push him back.
“What are you doing!? Y-you have no idea who I am! I am … of the Drolet family!”
“Oh, I beg your pardon? Who knows. I only do what God wants me to do. What I do is what God does. Even the Pope would not interfere with what God is doing.” Is it possible?”
“Even the ‘Moon Eaters’ are nothing more than trash before the power of the Drolet family!”
“‘Moon Eaters’ ah?”
Moon Eaters.
It was the name of the strongest and deadliest elite anti-sorcerers and anti-undead unit of the Holy Kingdom of Diletta. Their strength and notoriety for their willingness to use any means to achieve their goals are well known throughout the world.
(TLN: sorcerers = evil magicians)
For some reason, Erminio thought that Morgana was related to the Moon Eaters.
And no matter how many Moon Eaters there were, they were no match for the Drolet family in terms of domestic political power.
But even so, Morgana kept a calm face.
“I don’t want you to compare me with them. They don’t understand God’s will. They abandoned me saying, ‘You’ve gone too far’.”
Erminio seemed to think that Morgana would tremble if he mentioned the name of the Drolet family.
But when he saw, that Morgana didn’t seem to mind, he looked horrified, just beyond comprehension.
“What is this…”
“Adventurer. This person is not from the Holy Kingdom of Diletta, but from the army of the Kingdom of Noacurio. And … would you please not provoke her? It is impossible to change her mind.”
Patrick said with a face like he was biting a bitter bug.
“Technical Advisor, you can put a stop to this. You can put your differences aside.”
“There’s no need to contradict me, I’m just doing my job.”
“I understand. Let’s talk about work.”
“That’s it. It’s about time you told me why you called me here. Marquis Edfeldt.”
A man who had been watching the proceedings from a distance finally opened his mouth.
Judging from his appearance, he must have been about forty years of age. He was wearing shining blue-black Orichalcum armor. He had the lean physique of a military man, but his black hair, which should have been neatly coiffed, somehow looked unkempt. He had no arms. Instead, what looked like a metal framework protruded from the armored man’s right shoulder. It was like he had become a metal skeleton only from the right shoulder down.
Bertil Lagerbeck, former Commander of the Second Order of Knights.
The woman standing by his side, with her whip-like body and hound-like eyes, was Kaya Lanner. She was one of the survivors of the Second Order.
“Well, I have a general idea, but…”
Stroking his beard with his magical artifact, Bertil let out a quiet sigh of exhaustion.
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