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chapter 14
Charred, split hair and soot-stained cheeks. For a duke, he looked incredibly shabby, but his eyes blazed a pale green, utterly out of place for the North.
Whooooosh… Behind the duke, a cape speckled with sparks flared in the wind.
“Commander.”
“Y-Yes? Your Grace─”
“Arrest the traitor.”
“Eh?”
The commander’s expression went blank. Liam, equally dumbfounded, stared in disbelief, while the duke pointed at the commander’s head, looking at Liam.
“Liam ‘Commander,’ what’s going on?”
“……”
“This one tried to drug me to make me fall off my horse, and all these subordinates tried to kill me. Arrest every last one of them.”
Only then did Liam’s eyes focus. The instant he drew his sword, Rodier was already cutting down the hands of the vermin blocking the commander and fighting him. Liam and his knights were meant to support the operative and protect the duke.
Liam stabbed the sword into the belly of a knight who tried to strike him, then immediately ran toward the duke.
“Insane…!”
The commander, cursing loudly, pulled out a vial of medicine from his chest and smashed it. Sticky liquid ran down his hands, seeping into the gaps of his rough lips.
Veins bulged in the whites of his eyes. A booster. Rodier, pushing forward at speed, faltered for a split second, and the commander hastily moved out of his attack range.
His target was the same as Liam’s.
The eyes of Duke Chartreuse sharpened. She also drew her dagger, but it was only about the length of her forearm. She quickly began to fall behind, overmatched.
“Your Grace, you seem tired. Perhaps you should just give up?”
“……”
“Cats are flexible and balanced, but their strength is lacking… You know how felines and big cats are categorized, right?”
The arrogant voice grated on her ears. Could she intervene? The thought made the duke’s heel falter for a moment.
A demonic smile spread across the former commander’s face. He reached out to grab her by the throat.
“Haha…!”
His laughter echoed through the air.
At the same time, yellowed front teeth and fangs scattered like harvested grains.
Rodier, unhesitatingly seeking a gap, briefly halted his steps. Then, just as the duke had done, a black silhouette sprang from the rock, gripping the former commander’s neck like a carnivorous trap, teeth gone.
“Ugh… uh…”
The only sound the commander could make.
Smash! Crack! Snap! Clearer sounds erupted immediately after.
Eonian Vascaglia.
The one who protected the duke from the attack. Another human Liam had felt uneasy about.
Liam watched as the commander’s face turned into something like mush. If he had been quietly arrested, he would have thought, “Serves him right, now I’ll make sure he’s destroyed,” but seeing a full-fledged knight crushed by a priest erased even that thought.
Even more shocking, Eonian wasn’t just hitting him; he regenerated the commander’s crushed face with holy power, restored it, then hit and tore into it again.
‘Isn’t that… a torturer’s technique…?’
Cold sweat formed on the back of Liam’s neck. Grateful as he was, this was a terrifying man.
“……”
Sherilotte, standing on a jagged rock, looked down at Liam biting his lip while watching Eonian. She called out to Eonian, who had utterly crushed the former commander.
“Duke Vascaglia.”
“……”
“Duke Vascaglia!”
Only when she called his name did Eonian stop his violence. He twisted the commander’s wrist and turned around.
“…Why?”
“Short words, aren’t they?”
“Why, Your Grace?”
“Stop. He’s already unconscious. Arrest the others as well.”
When she mentioned the other traitors, some knights tried to flee down the mountain, but Rodier and the other operatives pierced their Achilles tendons with needle-like blades. Watching the knights fall like harvested grain, Eonian let out a low murmur of admiration.
He tied the commander with a rope and washed the blood off with a water pouch. After cleaning his hands and face, he smiled gently, returning to the kind priest they knew.
“You all fight remarkably well.”
“Hey, tie him properly! …Yes? Ah, yes.”
“I got too excited earlier. I apologize if I startled you, Commander.”
“Not at all… in life, such things happen.”
“You are understanding.”
Rodier and Liam both rubbed the back of their heads, glancing at Eonian. A knight who had long protected the North would naturally take offense at being “threatened,” but if someone usually kind suddenly turned cruel even to them… that would be difficult. Eonian was the only priest at Lavre Castle, even if temporarily assigned.
“My, his eyes are as lively as fresh fish.”
“Ugh!”
Having struck the backs of all the former commander’s traitorous subordinates, the priest calmly moved among the remaining knights, aligning them.
Returning to the rocky wall with Sherilotte, Eonian placed her waist on a nearby stone slab by lifting her slightly. Liam’s eyes went wide as Eonian spread his arms.
“Hmm, our Duke has returned safely despite the assassination threat. Shall we celebrate, just among ourselves?”
Wow… his voice was powerful, yet slightly husky. Eonian smiled broadly, bowing his head.
Sherilotte’s eyes were wary; she couldn’t predict what he might say next.
Surely he won’t mention the rift’s location, or that the volcanic eruption was caused by… them.
“Everyone, what shall we do with these trash?”
Sherilotte’s eyes hardened as she glanced at the sky, still not night.
“Don’t you think they deserve proper punishment? For daring to assassinate their lord, these traitors of the highest order.”
“Indeed!”
Rodier raised his arm and shouted, and everyone else followed suit. The chorus of sharp voices grew stronger.
“These bastards, we should kill them all…”
“Yes, who knows when they might strike again… I was annoyed by their sneaking around in the East too.”
Sherilotte bit her lip at his cunning. They wanted to act while hatred was still fresh and people were exhausted.
“Then, will you leave it to me?”
And that act was neither punishment nor trial.
‘Marriage.’
“A religious trial.”
‘Marriage.’
“I will use a sacred relic to oversee the judgment of the heretic.”
Using a relic now meant demonstrating his usefulness to the North’s main forces. Failing to sway them, he turned to influence Sherilotte’s surroundings.
Eonian pulled out the Quisa Cross from his robe. Channeling holy power through the veins in his forearm, the relic absorbed it.
“This relic is perfect for discerning the impure. It inflicts excruciating pain on vile evildoers.”
Perhaps because he was a priest, the exhausted knights’ eyes lit up.
“If they suffer from this, we execute them via summary trial. If not, they serve a term in prison and are released.”
It likely wasn’t a relic to detect traitors; it simply allowed the priest to attack those he chose. Eonian aimed to gain justification with it—a cunning move.
“How about it, Your Grace?”
Holding the cross, Eonian turned to Sherilotte, seeking approval. Having stirred up the atmosphere, he left the final say to her. Her expression hardened.
‘…Unbelievable.’
Technically, she was in charge, yet it felt like he was.
Sherilotte sighed quietly. Should she just ignore it and drive him off? She had effectively sealed the rift herself. The one desperate now wasn’t her, but him.
Originally, he prized his honor, but now he appeared savagely aggressive. She couldn’t be sure he’d follow her instructions, and his intentions were unclear… many reasons to avoid being on the same “team” as him.
Just as Sherilotte was about to speak…
“Ouch….”
“Are you alright? Sprained your wrist?”
A whisper came from behind. She wasn’t especially sensitive to magic, but the newcomers standing close were clearly heard.
Then, Eonian, holding the cross, subtly approached them. Sherilotte’s mouth slightly opened.
“What will you do?”
He held the injured newcomer’s wrist behind his back, channeling holy power into it.
‘Wait… could it be…’
Sherilotte quickly scanned the loosely standing knights. Their clothes were torn or bloodstained, yet no wounds were visible.
Could it be… he treated them after knocking out the traitors and walking around?
Sherilotte exhaled in disbelief. She was ready to dismiss him, but now…
“Good.”
“So, Your Grace, my point is─”
“You have my permission.”
There was no arguing with that.
Sherilotte’s smile spread, folding her arms. Eonian, ready to add further explanation, was taken aback.
“…Eh, eh?”
“Don’t speak foolishly. Proceed with the trial. Make it summary, but ensure the procedure is proper.”
“……”
Eonian’s ears twitched. Touching his cheek, he glanced at the knights.
Rodier shrugged at him. Feigning ignorance, they made Sherilotte laugh once more.
