"You can't enter."
I was immediately greeted by unexpected words from the guards that I repeatedly blinked a few times.
"Can't enter?" I repeated, narrowing my eyes dangerously at the middle-aged man who stopped us from entering with his spear.
"Yes, unfortunately. No one is allowed to enter when the sun has set." The guard sounded nonchalant, but I noticed some nervousness in his voice.
'The sun has set, huh?'
I chuckled slightly in an amused manner.
The sky overhead was painted with hues of orange and pink, signaling the arrival of the twilight hour. The colors blended together seamlessly, creating a breathtakingly beautiful display that seemed almost otherworldly.
Not only that, I could still see half of the sun's body peeking out on the horizon, just right behind us. We were in the west, so it was really clear where we came from and what time it was.
So, why did they reject our entry? The sun hadn't even set yet.
"You see the crest on our carriage, right? And you certainly know who I am." I asked with a deep voice, filling my tone with a threat.
Well, I knew the reason, but it was incomprehensible. We were clearly reading a carriage belonging to the Castitas Church. It was like an unwritten law to let us enter as the church only used their crest for important reason.
And apparently, the guard also knew about that.
Gulp–
The guard nervously swallowed his saliva and nodded. His face was visibly pale as his body trembled from fear.
"Y-Yes."
"Then… Why did you stop us?" My eyes narrowed in a dangerous slit. Even Sandra looked at the poor guard with a deadly stare, who stood alone in front of us as his friends hid behind the city gate observing us.
"I-It's an order from Duke Bluerose." The guard admitted, shaking in his place. "W-We can't allow anyone to enter the city after the sky has turned orange." He continued, looking at me with fear.
It seemed like my bloodlust had leaked slightly because I was pissed off. The girls inside the carriage also stopped conversing, sensing that something was wrong.
I took a deep breath and pulled my bloodlust back. No need to get pissed off over something like this. If they kept exposed to my bloodlust, they would faint and unable to answer my question.
"Listen," I said, my tone calm. "I have a higher position than Duke Bluerose. And you have no authority to stop a carriage belonging to Castitas Church. Even if the gate is closed, you will open it when you see the crest, you understand?"
I tried to be as calm as possible, but the guard still seemed to be afraid of me. How funny it was.
"I-I understand, but…"
For some reason, the guard looked hesitant under his half helmet while his eyes drifted left and right nervously. His hand fidgeted as he tried to convey something as he pointed at the crest of Bluerose Duchy on his left chest. A blue rose with a white lion head in the middle.
His mouth moved slightly without making a voice. Reading his lips, I found that he said something like, 'Please order me to allow you to enter, Sir. I can't go against the Duke's order.'
Oh, he wasn't afraid of me but at Duke Bluerose. I nodded slightly at him. Somehow… I felt bad for getting pissed off earlier. I knew it wasn't his fault but the one behind him.
But maybe it was because we were close to the mastermind behind the mess that targeted me that I just wanted to destroy them.
However, I needed to hold my image as the good guy. The Paladin was here to slay the evil and free the citizens from the tyrant. I wasn't supposed to be the evil in this bonus story of mine.
In the end, it led to a good guy against a bad guy. Though behind that, I knew that it was a bad guy (me) against a really evil guy (Duke Bluerose), and it was just our personal beef that somehow involved many people.
Looking inside the gate, I noticed the ones who were peeking at us were all young guards. They looked at the middle-aged guard anxiously, worried about him.
'It looks like the others trust this guard.'
"Using my authority as the Paladin, I order you to let us pass," I spoke to the guard with a commanding tone as I used the <Paladin Crest> to show that I was genuine.
The guards all kneeled at once when I showed my crest. They already knew I was the Paladin, as the news about me had reached this area already.
"Y-Yes. W-We will follow your order, Sir."
With quivering lips, the middle-aged guard stood up and turned around, ordering the other guards to clear the path for me. Many had been denied their entries, so our carriage entered the gate smoothly.
The middle-aged guard whispered when it passed the gate, "Please be careful. The Duke has acted strange and given strange orders in the past 3 days."
He kept his head low, but I nodded at him still. It seemed like the guards weren't involved in the Duke's plan, and only the knights from the Duchy who were talking to Otto were. Guards and knights were different positions.
Unlike guards who could become one just by applying, knights needed to be recognized by the country through a test. Their position was higher than a normal guard like this man.
Also, the Duke and the church probably hadn't announce that Alexander Bluerose was a Sinner to the citizens. Why? There could only be one answer.
'Not only this city, but there is also something wrong with the church.'
The atmosphere inside the Duchy was strange. For a large city that was even larger than Academy City, there were way too few citizens on the streets. The street lights weren't also fully lit even though the sky darkened quickly.
Something strange happened here. Whatever it was, I could quickly guess it was connected to the guard's act earlier.
Not allowing people to enter the city when the sun had set. Did something happen in the city when darkness arrived? Sandra didn't report something like this.
"Where should we go, Sir Paladin?" Sandra asked as she turned to me, sensing something was wrong in the city. "The city has changed so much in 2 days. The atmosphere has changed." She added in a low voice.
As expected, the city began to change after she returned to report to me. Should I call it a coincidence? Or did they notice Sandra lurking around, so they held off on their plan for the time being?
Anyway, I needed information. While I was strong, I didn't want to move recklessly and endanger Emilia and Eliza. Getting them caught wasn't ideal.
"Let's stop at the church first," I replied, looking at a clock tower in the distance with the Castitas Church's crest right above the large bell.
It was the only structure that was totally visible from the west gate due to its height. The main church's building was also massive, but it was hidden by many other buildings. I could also see the tower belonging to the Duke's mansion, but it was lost in size when compared to the clock tower.
"I want to find some information from the church first and know why they aren't doing anything."
Hopefully, the Archbishop in charge of the church in this Duchy was informative, just like Sana.
Castitas Church's building in Bluerose Duchy was slightly bigger than the one in Academy City, but the two naked Angel statues near the entrance weren't any different.
However, the number of knights patrolling around the church was unusually low. Some of them noticed my carriage approaching them, and when they saw me in my Paladin uniform I got from Sana, I changed before arriving in Bluerose Duchy; they immediately made a line to greet us.
"Welcome, Sir Paladin!"
Our arrival was without any prior engagement. It was a surprising sight that they immediately lined up like this. A rather normal sight I had seen many times in the church, but… the knights seemed to be nervous.
"Stop, Sandra."
I asked Sandra to stop the carriage before we passed the last line of the knight and jumped down, looking at the fully-armored man in front of me. Amongst the others, he was the strongest. Or at least that was what my instinct honed in battle told me without using <Appraisal>.
"What's your name," I asked with a friendly tone, smiling slightly so I didn't alarm him.
Getting himself in a salute position with his right hand on his left chest, the church knight replied.
"It's Gerald, Your Holiness."
"Alright, Gerald." I nodded slightly and then turned serious. "Can you guide me to the Archbishop responsible for this church?"
"Certainly." Gerald immediately responded with a clear, loud voice. "What about the carriage?"
"As for that, can the other knights help my companions to get settled inside? Thanks."
"Yes!" The knights nodded at once.
Some of them approached the carriage and began to guide Sandra where to stop and let the passengers down while I followed Gerald.
With eye contact, I ordered Sandra to keep her eyes on the surroundings. Even if we were in the church, we were already within Bluerose Duchy, our enemy's territory.
I wasn't confident they weren't foolish enough to the point they would attack the church. Knowing the Duke had been charmed by Beatrice, anything was now possible.
Sandra sent an acknowledged nod to me as she followed the knight's direction.
"Please this way, Sir."
