Chapter 7: Encounter With the Witch Part 2

Released:

“Damn it.”

A brief sigh carried a whirlwind of emotions. Orishin smirked mischievously. It was a mystery who side he was on.

[Come to think of it, you rambled on about all sorts of Abyss trivia when you tried to take me down, didn’t you? An Abyss expert through and through. You even taught the saintess a thing or two, huh?]

“Shut up, horsehead.”

Morgina removed one of her gloves and threw it at Orishin. With an “Ahh” Orishin ducked behind Kriel’s back once again.

“If they even called in smaller churches like Eve Kaha’s, that means they’ve summoned every single saint or saintess capable of moving right now. Why?”

“Well, it’s because a lot of Abyss relics have surfaced. If it had just been one or two, that little brat of a Priest King wouldn’t have collapsed clutching the back of his neck.”

Morgina spoke of the Priest King with a casual tone, and Kriel was reminded yet again that this violent woman held the authority of a saintess.

“Still, he’s the king your people chose. You could at least pretend to respect him.”

“It’s true he’s an immature kid. The only reason he eagerly grabbed the position of Priest King, which the elder priests of other churches wouldn’t even glance at, is purely because he’s so young. It’s a bit pitiful, honestly.”

The Holy Kingdom had always stood as the frontline against the Abyss. The Priest King who was chosen by the Church was the supreme commander of their war efforts. Although the title of “king” carried weight, it was rare for one to face the Abyss directly in battle.

“Because he has to live a life locked up on the throne at a young age.”

The position was essentially one in which one could be buried alive under a mountain of paperwork. The Priest King had the ultimate responsibility of receiving reports on the state of the Abyssal Front from every corner of the world, of analyzing the movements of the demons as detected by the roving wandering, and of issuing the appropriate orders.

It was definitely a prestigious role, but it was also a burden the experienced priests were more than happy to see bestowed on someone else.

Kriel sighed. This witch had a rough idea of his identity. She had seen him wielding blood power during several missions he had undertaken for the Western Army.

For an ordinary priest, this would have been enough to immediately brandish the mace of repentance. However, Morgina who was uncommonly flexible, or perhaps cunning for a cleric…she merely shrugged it off and let things slide with a “let bygones be bygones” attitude.

Under Morgina’s gaze, Kriel could easily discern her eagerness to accompany him. He could refuse, of course, but doing so would surely complicate matters, starting with purifying Orishin and spiraling into an array of other headaches.

Given the circumstances, it would be better to agree to Morgina’s request and let her handle Orishin’s purification.

At first glance, it seemed like Orishin’s purification would remove Kriel’s justification for his own desertion. However, Kriel had his own plans.

To fully resolve the matter in Loran Village, Orishin would need to be returned to his original place, and that is specifically the mountain behind Loran Village where the spirits could also be restored. Just as a soldier’s leave officially ended only after reporting back to their unit, Orishin’s return to Loran was part of Kriel’s mission.

His plan was simple. He would finish all his tasks in advance, then wander the world until he grew tired of it. By the time his commander forgot about him, he would leisurely return to his unit and submit his discharge papers.

Although Orishin’s return to Loran would be delayed, the spirit itself had practically begged, crying, “I will give you leather, jewels, anything you want; just purify me!” It was safe to assume that this counted as his consent.

“I’ve told you everything, so now it’s your turn…”

Morgina’s gaze shifted to the ghost unicorn head floating behind Kriel. A sharp click of her tongue sounded from her lips.

“You really need to take better care of yourself. I don’t know what it is this time, but I bet you jumped in like a fool again, saying, ‘Fine, I’ll take care of it’.”

[A fool? Come on. Whoever heard of a fool wielding a sword and threatening people?]

“Oh, please. How long did you travel with that guy? At first, I thought he’d stepped right out of some chivalric romance novel.”

In a way, it wasn’t too far off. While he hadn’t leaped out of a book, he had entered the world of a game. Lost in thought for a moment, Kriel finally responded a beat too late.

“I only did what was expected of a knight.”

“Exactly. How many knights these days actually live by those ideals? They’re all just barbarians in plate armor. Except for that old commander in the Western Army, but he doesn’t count. He’s not from these times anyway.”

Morgina casually lumped knights and old men together in her criticism without missing a beat, then crooked her finger at Orishin. It was a gesture for him to hurry over. Grumbling under his breath, Orishin slowly approached her.

“Where’s he lodged now?”

A broken Bicorn horn was set down on the table.

“Goat horns? No, it’s bigger than a regular goat. Is it from a monster goat?”

[Uh… was that my horn? Well, I was promoted to two horns and then demoted—]

Before Orishin could ramble on, Kriel interrupted and gave a concise summary of the situation. Orishin had fallen under someone’s curse and transformed into a Bicorn, and Kriel had defeated the body. To purify Orishin’s soul, they had come all the way to the Holy Kingdom.

[You’re good at this. If you weren’t a knight, you could’ve been a scholar.]

“What’s this?”

Morgina let out a disbelieving laugh, as though she couldn’t believe what she was hearing.

“So, in the end, you picked up something strange again and got a stray spirit attached to you, didn’t you?”

[I’m not a stray spirit! Your goddess herself would’ve told you to call me Elder!]

“If you were a proper elder, you wouldn’t have fallen into corruption. Honestly, aren’t you actually younger than me?”

[You think so? I’ve lived longer than this entire kingdom has existed!]

Orishin raged, but there was no comeback to the factual verbal jab about his ancient self having fallen to corruption. He could only sink into despair.

Morgina shot a triumphant smile at Orishin, who muttered to himself from a corner, “I can’t believe I got hit by the Abyss at my age…” The unicorn head sulking and rubbing its horn against the wall didn’t even notice her victorious expression.

“All I need to do is purify that, right?”

“Yeah.”

Kriel answered slightly hesitantly. He wasn’t sure if he could entrust Orishin to this woman. However, she was definitely the most skilled priest he could get right now.

“So, your request is for me to escort you while you search for the Abyss relics?”

“It’d be nice if you called it a joint exploration. But I bet you’re thinking you’ll do absolutely nothing outside of the guarding part, huh? Lazy as ever.”

“I’ve never been the diligent type.”

“Oh, so you’re the kind of guy who charges headfirst with a sword to help total strangers, but you can’t muster a bit of kindness for your lady?”

Kriel let out a laugh, part disbelief and part exasperation.

“If you’re a lady, then I must be a paladin blessed by the gods. What ridiculous jokes you come up with.”

“Oh, so as long as you’re playing the paladin, I get treated like a lady?”

Morgina tossed something with a flick of her hand, and Kriel instinctively caught it.

It was a raven pendant, similar in design to the one Morgina wore herself. The only difference was that hers was black, while Kriel’s had a faint red glow to it.

“That’s the symbol of a Grand Warrior of our church. It’s roughly equivalent to a paladin’s rank.”

A Grand Warrior. It was a title bestowed upon those who fought on behalf of others. It was also referred to as a champion. A position that symbolized the honor and power of the church.

Typically, this rank was held concurrently by the leader of the Paladins, so it was exceedingly rare for an outsider to be appointed. It was only ever considered when a highly esteemed knight happened to be a devout follower of a specific god, and there were no suitable candidates among the Paladins of the Eve Kaha church.

Kriel, however, didn’t even believe in Eve Kaha.

“Are you sure you can just throw something like this at me?”

“And who’s going to judge me? I’m the Saintess! The will of the god is with me. Even Grandma High Priestess told me to do as I please.”

[Wow. With that temper, she still manages to show respect by calling her Grandma High Priestess?]

Morgina snapped her fingers, and divine power in the form of ravens swarmed around Orishin, pecking at him from all directions. The room was filled with a strange cacophony of cawing and screeching.

Ignoring the noise, Kriel carefully examined the pendant. There was a feeling of pressure at his fingertips, as though something was squeezing them tightly. The divine power appeared to clash with his nature as a dark knight. If he were to wear it, it might feel like a necktie tightened far too much.

Still, it didn’t seem like simply wearing it would drain his life force or cause any immediate harm. As Kriel continued to study the pendant, Morgina, perhaps interpreting his gaze in her own way, quickly added,

“You’ll have to return it once this job is done. …Unless you’d rather join the church, in which case you can keep it.”

“Is it absolutely necessary for me to wear this?”

Morgina pouted; her lips jutted out in sulky way.

“Hey, I prepared this for you, you know? If you’re not even wearing something like this, how do you think the priests from other orders will see you? It’s a declaration that I and my church are vouching for your status.”

“Well, you’ve got a point. I’ll accept the request.”

“Good. I’ll get you a room, so clean yourself up and get polished. In a few days, we’re going to meet the Priest King together.”

“What about the purification of the spirit?”

“Ha. I’ll have it done before dinner.”

***

[Ha~! Useless! Useless! You can’t even perform a proper purification, yet you dare flaunt the title of Saintess? You should be impeached!]

“You insolent bird!”

Perhaps Orishin had grown accustomed to being a ghost, or maybe he had simply gotten used to the movements of Morgina’s summoned ravens. Either way, he now glided effortlessly through the air and dodged the ravens by the slimmest of margins.

Thanks to this, the dining hall of the Great Temple of Eve Kaha became a place of noise, but the priests in charge of distribution continued to distribute food calmly, perhaps because they were used to the ravens.

“…I’m sorry. That spirit isn’t usually like this,

When Kriel apologized first as if he couldn’t bear the embarrassment, the priests waved their hands. An old priest smiled calmly and whispered kindly to Kriel.

“We understand the spirit’s true nature, Sir. But as for the Saintess’ personality, we are quite familiar with it, so there’s no need for you to apologize.”

[Kuhahahahaha! Are you angry? Tough luck! You’ll never purify me with your skills! This is the limit of your divine power!]

“I’ll cut you to pieces!”

Kriel wished he could shove them both aside and eat his meal in peace.

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