< 67 : The White Knight (1) >
Serena Ederlant, the Saintess of Abundance.
She spotted the people coming from the opposite direction while she was traveling with Lian to find the hero.
A girl who looked like a noble.
And a young man with a naive expression who followed behind her.
At a glance, they looked like a lady who was traveling with her attendant.
They didn’t seem much different from Serena herself, who was accompanied by Lian.
Serena’s eyes alternated between the girl and the young man, and then naturally landed on the girl’s belongings.
“You should walk a little more for your health instead of being fussy…”
“Huh…?”
As Serena was listening to Lian’s words, a large book entered her sight.
It was an elegant-looking book wrapped in an antique cover.
It looked quite expensive even from the outside.
The girl held the book in one hand, and in the other hand, there was a gem that glowed and vibrated red.
The gem’s appearance was strangely familiar to Serena.
A book that she had read in the temple flashed through Serena’s mind.
Dictionary of Divine Relics.
It was a dictionary written by one of the heroes who fought in the war long ago.
It recorded the characteristics of the Divine relics that existed during the war.
It was a treasure of the temple.
“Miss…?”
“Is that gem… a Divine relic…?”
The identity of the gem naturally slipped out of Serena’s mouth as she recalled its name.
The gem in front of Serena’s eyes was undoubtedly a Divine relic.
And if she thought about the effect that the Divine relic had, the situation where the gem was glowing in front of her was quite troublesome.
The attention of the surroundings quickly focused on Serena, who unknowingly revealed the identity of the gem.
The girl who held the gem heard Serena’s words and her eyes sparkled.
Lian, who was next to Serena, exclaimed with a bewildered expression.
“Did you say that’s a Divine relic?”
“Yes.”
According to Serena’s memory, that thing was definitely a Divine relic.
The name of the Divine relic was Etalia’s Compass.
The Divine relic called compass had a function that suited its name: it specialized in finding other Divine relics.
It guided the user to where the Divine relic they had in mind was located.
It had some tricky conditions to use, but it also had a powerful performance.
“Etalia’s Compass. A Divine relic that finds Divine relics.”
And more importantly, it meant that these people were using Etalia’s Compass to find Divine relics.
They were collecting Divine relics without the permission of the temple, which managed the Divine relics.
Serena had no memory of any reports about Etalia’s Compass coming up in Crossbridge.
They were illegally possessing Divine relics without the approval of the temple within the empire.
“You seem to know a lot about Divine relics.”
Serena faced the girl who raised the vibrating gem and spoke.
Etalia’s Compass was discovering a nearby Divine relic and emitting a strong light.
Serena had brought a Divine relic for safety in case of an emergency.
The gem in front of her was reacting to the Divine relic that Serena had and kept vibrating.
She had been caught possessing a Divine relic, and she had already talked about their Divine relic as well.
It was impossible to completely deny that she knew about Divine relics.
Serena reluctantly answered the girl’s question.
“Well… I studied a lot.”
“Is that so?”
“Then what about you? Why are you looking for Divine relics?”
Serena tried to dodge the question and asked back at the girl.
The girl tilted her head as she heard Serena’s question.
She didn’t understand why Serena was curious about that.
The girl looked at Serena and then at the gem in her hand and said,
“Why do you care?”
“Possessing Divine relics without permission from the Six Temples is illegal within the empire.”
“You sound like someone who works for the temple.”
“Ugh…”
Did she talk too stiffly?
The girl questioned Serena’s identity as she suspected her to be someone from the temple.
Serena’s face darkened under her hood.
She wasn’t very good at disguising or infiltrating.
She had relied on Lian’s help several times when dealing with other people and hiding her identity.
Even this conversation gave room for speculation because of Serena’s mistake.
As Serena struggled to come up with an answer, Lian stepped forward to intervene.
Flap.
His cloak fluttered as he moved forward.
Lian blocked between Serena and the girl, and took out a ring with a seal engraved on it from his pocket.
It was a ring given to inquisitors who were sent out by Crossbridge.
Lian showed them the ring and joined their conversation.
“It seems like we need to reveal our identity. We are inquisitors belonging to Crossbridge.”
“Inquisitors?”
“Yes. By the imperial decree of His Majesty the Emperor, it is forbidden to possess Divine relics without the approval of the temple.”
“Is that so?”
“If you are using Divine relics legally, it would be better to show us the permit issued by the temple.”
It was a moment when the inquisitor’s seal that he had brought for emergencies showed its usefulness.
They had revealed that they were from the temple, but it was hard to guess Serena’s identity from that alone.
It was a second-best choice to avoid the worst.
Serena breathed a sigh of relief in her heart at Lian’s attitude, who stepped forward to replace her.
She believed that Lian would handle everything as long as it was not too serious.
As Lian, who introduced himself as a heretic inquisitor, demanded a permit from the group in front of him, the girl smiled and clenched the jewel.
“You are the ones who worship a false god, aren’t you?”
“False… god…?”
“A false god? Don’t tell me you…”
At the unexpected story, Lian and Serena’s voices burst out at the same time.
A false god.
The girl in front of them was denying the six gods of Crossbridge.
There was only one force on the continent that could deny the six temples.
The cult of heretics who served the evil god.
They were the only ones who denied the six gods.
Swoosh.
Lian drew his holy sword from his waist as the situation turned ominous.
“A false god, isn’t that right?”
“Are you… a follower of the evil god…!”
“There is only one who can be called a true god, and he is always glorious.”
The people in front of them were undoubtedly followers of the evil god.
They thought they were just treasure hunters looking for holy relics, but it was a more serious situation than that.
Lian gritted his teeth as he faced the girl holding a book.
His faith had been insulted.
And by a wicked group of people who served the evil god, no less.
A faint light began to emanate from the white holy sword that Lian held.
“A follower of the evil god, I can’t let this go.”
Serena, who was behind Lian, also raised both hands and drew out her holy power.
If they were facing heretics, there was no way to avoid a conflict anyway.
She planned to use holy spells to help Lian if a battle broke out.
Maybe it was because Lian was showing signs of excitement as he drew his sword.
The girl stroked her book with a gentle voice and said,
“You seem to be upset.”
“Shut up! You heretics!”
“It seems like this is not the holy relic we were looking for, and it would be troublesome to waste any more time here.”
But unlike Lian and Serena, who were preparing for battle, what came out of the girl’s mouth was a disappointing story.
She said she would give up on the fight and leave.
The girl declared that she would leave this place without any resistance.
But there was no way that Lian and Serena would let her go.
Lian glanced at Serena and blinked his eyes.
He pointed his holy sword at the girl and said,
“Do you think I’ll let you go easily?”
“You’ll have to anyway.”
“What nonsense are you…”
“———Alpha.”
The girl ignored Lian’s words and stroked the black dragon on her shoulder.
The black dragon responded to the girl’s touch with a small cry.
At that moment, the shadows around her began to rise.
Whooosh!
A black body emerged from the spreading darkness.
A shadowy figure that looked like a giant beast’s mouth blocked the way between the four people.
The shadow that rose up in an instant swallowed up the girl and the young man who were in front of Serena.
“What is this…!”
“Didn’t I tell you? You can’t stop me.”
A golden glow flashed in the darkness, staring at Serena and Lian.
It was the gaze of a predator looking at its prey.
Lian quickly backed away, holding Serena in his arms, as he saw the size that he couldn’t even guess with his eyes.
Of course, even as he did so, the beast of shadows was slowly closing its mouth.
The girl hidden in the shadow of the beast looked at Lian and Serena through its parted mouth.
She spoke with a gentle voice from within the closing shadow.
“I hope we can meet again.”
“…”
“Well then.”
Crash!
With a loud noise, the beast’s mouth closed.
At that moment, the huge darkness that had swallowed them up was sucked into the shadows.
The evil magicians who manipulated shadows disappeared into the sunlight as they were.
It was an unbelievable sight even with their eyes.
People who were standing there disappeared into the shadows.
It was a mystery that even the great magicians of the empire could not reproduce.
“What is this…”
Lian looked at where they had been with empty eyes as they disappeared in an instant.
The spreading shadows were gone in no time, and only the blazing sun remained in their place.
Was it reality that they faced?
Or was it an illusion?
It was a situation that was hard to believe even with their own eyes.
Lian looked at Serena and opened his mouth as he stared blankly at where they had been looking for traces of shadows.
“Saintess. Are you… alright?”
“Yes…”
“I think we need to reconsider our journey ahead.”
Evil magicians who wielded shadows.
The followers of the evil god that Serena and Lian faced were much more powerful than they had expected.
They watched the traces of the shadows for a long time after they disappeared.
There was no sign of the people who had vanished like a mirage.
“…They seem to be very dangerous.”
“I agree with you.”
The two of them started to move again after Serena, who had hugged her cloak, showed signs of hunger.
