Chapter 83 - Eighty-Three ... A Saint Against His Will

Chapter 83: Chapter Eighty-Three ... A Saint Against His Will

Chapter Eighty-Three ... A Saint Against His Will

"I-I’ve heard that it can be defeated with consecrated arms."

"Or so they say of arms that hold the mystery of magic, my lord."

"So you’re telling me there’s no way right now."

Who would carry such precious arms around, when this wasn’t even an important battle? Franklin let out a groan.

Then one knight hurriedly offered an idea.

"My lord. Still, wicked things like that can be purified by fire. Let’s bring it down, pin it, and purify it with fire."

"And how exactly do you mean to bring it down?"

"You have us, don’t you? The five of us knights will face it together. We’ll bring it down somehow, and then you can finish it with fire."

"Hmm... But then our honor..."

The knight’s proposal drew sour looks from everyone. Monster or not, for knights to gang up on a foe instead of facing it squarely? And it didn’t look like a monster, the way an ogre or a troll did. The Death Knight looked more like a human knight, which doubled the shame of it.

"Huh. We’re all about to die, and honor is what matters? Besides, that thing is a monster. It’s undead."

"That’s true, but..."

"Coming out to hunt bandits and dying like dogs would be the real disgrace. Let’s think about surviving first."

Only then did Franklin and the knights realize why they were suffering like this, and their faces reddened.

They had come out to catch bandits. Being stuck here like this was a disgrace in itself.

"Very well."

In the end, Franklin had no choice but to accept the knight’s proposal.

It was better than dying like a dog.

So he declared, more fiercely than ever before...

"I’ll take all of this upon myself. If any dishonor comes of it, the responsibility will be mine alone."

"Ohh! My lord."

And just as they were steeling their resolve...

"My lord! An army is coming!"

A messenger came running up from behind as fast as he could.

"What? An army? An army of the undead?"

"We’d better prepare for battle."

"Right. Let’s give it everything we’ve got."

The messenger answered with a flustered look.

"No, my lord. They’re our allies."

"Allies?"

"Yes! The Gold-rank lord of Lupton has come here with his soldiers. We’re saved, my lord!"

Franklin and his knights stared at him, speechless.

"Thank you... for your help, Lupton."

"Not at all. Brothers in faith ought to help each other, of course. Are you hurt anywhere?"

"Ahem. No, thanks to your help."

Franklin apparently had some shame after all, because he didn’t hold his head quite so stiffly in front of Jan.

"By the way, it looks as though you suffered more than I expected. Then again, the undead did attack you, so it’s no wonder."

Jan said it as he looked around.

There were wounded everywhere. There wasn’t a single man who was unhurt. Every one of them had at least some small wound. That was how hard the forest’s undead had attacked.

"What? You met the undead too, my lord?"

Jan turned toward the voice.

As he was thinking that, the knights beside him asked in surprise.

"Is that so surprising? Of course we met them."

"B-but then how do you look so unharmed... Ah, no, not that I wish you’d been hurt."

Realizing he had misspoken, the knight hurriedly made excuses. Jan gave him a small smile as he answered.

"There’s no need to explain. You mean we were attacked by the undead, yet we don’t seem to have suffered any losses?"

"Y-yes, my lord."

"I have the Great Sage of the Forest with me, don’t I?"

"Ah!"

Only then did Franklin and his knights let out a sigh.

With a mage like that, they certainly could have defeated the undead without much loss.

Even so, one question still lingered.

The Death Knight.

Great Sage or not, that was not something one could easily kill. Perhaps they hadn’t encountered it?

But when they heard Jan’s answer, the faces of Franklin and his knights went pale with shock.

"The Death Knight? Ah, you mean that undead knight giving off black aura everywhere?"

"Y-yes, my lord. So you met it!"

"We did. We ran into it the moment we went in."

"Don’t tell me... you defeated it?"

"Hm?"

"Well, naturally we defeated it. That’s why we’ve come to you, isn’t it?"

"You defeated it?"

Why were these people making such a fuss? Jan tilted his head, not understanding.

"May we ask how you defeated it? Did the Great Sage over there help you?"

"The Great Sage? No. He was far off at the time, so I fought it alone. I just gripped my sword like this and struck it hard, and it died with a thud."

At his words, every one of them stared at him with their mouths hanging open. Just as Agphiel had a little while ago.

"It didn’t seem like much, for all its reputation. Hm? What’s wrong?"

It was truly a mystery.

In any case, despite all the twists and turns, Jan and Franklin’s armies made it safely out of the cursed forest.

After all they had suffered in the forest, the soldiers were all busy praising the faith and making the sign of the cross.

The commanders, of course, with their complicated grown-up concerns, had other things on their minds.

A noble who had chased a band of bandits like a fool and been badly beaten in a cursed forest would be dishonored, wouldn’t he?

So they began dressing up this "adventure" into a plausible achievement.

Franklin, who had ignored the warnings and gone into the cursed forest, became a faithful lord and knight who had heard rumors of undead there and charged in to fight them. The mercenary captains became honorable men who had gladly run toward danger.

To anyone who knew the truth, it would have been a laughingstock. But in fact, Jan himself couldn’t escape this dressing-up either.

"Praise our lord! His lordship worked a miracle to banish evil and destroyed the Death Knight!"

"Ohhh! Truly, the knight of faith!"

"A true worker of miracles."

"Heavens, why did we not know of such a saint sooner?"

When Jan returned to the banquet hall along with Franklin, everyone was cheering and saying things like that.

No matter how many times he said it wasn’t so, the rumor seemed to have spread too firmly to make any difference.

What’s more, the Papal See’s envoy was twisting his words, taking them as modesty.

"Why... how..."

All of a sudden, out of nowhere, Jan had become a saint who had received a miracle and purified the Death Knight.

At this absurd mess, Jan sighed and felt his head spin.

"It’s better this way, so just keep quiet."

"Pardon?"

"Isn’t it better to say you smashed the Death Knight by receiving a miracle than to say you beat it with sheer brute strength?"

"But that’s a lie, Master Agphiel."

Agphiel shrugged.

"A lie? Strictly speaking, doesn’t your strength come from a divine blessing too? Even if it is the blessing of a heathen Ruler. Heh heh."

"Ugh... Fine. Never mind."

There was nothing for it.

It was the kind of thing that made his head ache.

But what could he do? It had already happened.

’I’ll just have to hope nothing goes wrong at the Papal See.’

In the end, there was nothing to do but accept it.