Chapter 184

Even after Jelsroin’s seclusion, her cult dedicated themselves on their own to fulfill the will of the goddess they respected and loved.

— I heard you made a great contribution in the war this time? Well done.

— Yes. And the Goddess urgently…

— Hey, this guy is a heretic, so take him away quickly, contributions be damned.

— Your Majesty the Emperor! Please hear me out to the end… Argh!

…Sometimes they expressed love in such a secretive manner.

Anyway, time passed, and currently, the Jelsroin cult was living quietly, only among themselves underground.

Constantly watching for traces of Harden near Akerandir.

Jelsroin researchers are fiercely debating whether Jelsroin would have been designated as a heresy even if she hadn’t confessed to Harden.

In addition, they debate whether the burden of Jelsroin played a part in Harden’s refusal to become Hiloa’s apostle and remaining as a Holy Spirit.

***

‘Anyway, it was indeed the fault of Harden, who set the flag!’

Both emotionally and practically, it really was.

If he sensed a suspicious indication, shouldn’t he have spoken a bit more precisely?

Roan slightly frowned as he finished speaking.

“To explain it briefly, it is like this. So, this time they are probably chasing us like that to seize the principal’s emblem.”

“““…”””

At that, all the people in the carriage wore dumbfounded expressions.

‘I thought you said you didn’t know well?’

For someone who supposedly didn’t know much, Roan was suspiciously well-informed about the Jelsroin cult.

Hummmm—

How old are you? You’re not sixteen, right?

You can be honest with us~

Even the two authorities, who had been quiet lately, went so far as to ask this.

‘Isn’t this considered not knowing much?’

Of course, Roan was rather puzzled by their reactions.

He had deliberately left out detailed information like Jelsroin’s famous scriptures, the shape of the holy emblem, and characteristic holy magic, though?

Yusina tilted her head and asked.

“But just liking something makes you a heretic? Of course… it seems a bit excessive, but isn’t it too harsh?”

“That’s right. Although it looks a bit bizarre, it doesn’t seem like they are doing directly bad deeds…”

Sion also nodded in agreement with Yusina’s words.

Roan frowned at the two’s carefree words.

‘These guys don’t know how scary heretics are.’

Harden wouldn’t resort to the extreme measure of designating a heresy unless it was serious.

There was always a reason for it.

Since the chase had started quite a while ago, it was about time they made their move in earnest.

Roan glanced out the window and spoke to the two.

“Look at that.”

“?”

Yusina and Sion followed Roan’s gaze.

Unlike earlier when it was just four carriages, something was a bit strange.

Neighhhhh—!

Unlike the Blue Dawn Horse, the spirit beast commonly used for spatial holy magic carriages, the Jelsroin cult used a summon called the Blood-Red Galloper.

Several priests riding Blood-Red Gallopers were approaching a bit closer to the Paladin Merchant Guild’s carriage.

Hearing only up to that point, one might think it was just a characteristic of the cult, but…

“Is, isn’t that blood?”

Seeing it running around dripping blood with only muscles and bones left without skin, a gut feeling arose that it was not a normal cult.

Whoosh— Boom—!

“Kyaaa!”

Moreover, they even launched a highly dangerous blood holy magic toward the carriage!

‘It is probably just a warning to stop, and they have no intention of actually hitting it.’

Attacking a running spatial holy magic carriage was already a major crime.

“Do you still think it was too much to designate them as heresy?”

“N-No…”

“L-Long live the principal… Or rather, a million years.”

Sion and Yusina turned pale white, wondering what kind of crazy bastards those were.

Tirmy spoke to Gordon.

“Stop.”

Now that they understood the situation, all that was left was to sort it out.

“Pardon? Ah, yes! Stop! Stop!”

At Tirmy’s instruction, Gordon immediately sent a stop signal to the caravan.

Screeech— screeech—

Before long, the carriage released the spatial holy magic and came to a stop on the road.

Confirming this, the four Jelsroin carriages also stopped, positioning themselves in front and back as if surrounding the guild.

Step, step, step—

Soon, dozens of people wearing the dark red robes of the Jelsroin cult got out of the carriages and began to surround the guild.

However, they were not wearing their hoods, and their bizarre makeup, painted red and white on their shaved heads, caught everyone’s eye.

— Kyaaaa!

— Blood! Heart! Love!

— Jelsroin! For the blood!

Furthermore, they created a turbulent atmosphere by shouting such bizarre things.

Bel was startled and asked Roan.

[Eek! Isn’t that real blood?]

‘It’s just paint.’

[Whew!]

Fortunately, even if they were crazy heretics, they weren’t crazy enough to smear actual blood on their faces.

Of course, the guild members of the Paladin Merchant Guild confronting them were not to be trifled with either.

As former holy knights, they had seen far grosser sights.

— These bastards, they look like heretics at first glance?

— I’ll catch them all and tear them to death!

— You heretical scum worse than bugs, I’ll pull out your guts and use them as a clothesline!

— I should pickle their eyeballs in alcohol!

…In fact, looking only at the severity of the curses, it seemed even worse than the Jelsroin cult’s side.

— …D-Did you really have to go that far?

— We are both in the position of serving a deity…

— You haven’t even properly listened to what we have to say yet…

— We even intentionally fired our holy magic safely…

It was so bad that a few Jelsroin followers, who had been shouting wildly, were hurt and muttered like this.

Anyway.

— Kyao! Kyaooot!

— Grrrrrr!!!

While the two sides confronted each other, growling.

A man from the Jelsroin cult stepped forward and stood before the guild members.

— Hmph! Are you the heretic leader?

— Doesn’t matter! I will personally boil your bones well and give them to our guild’s dog!

— Guys, is there anything to look at? Chargeeeee!

At last, the excited guild members tried to pounce on the Jelsroin cult without instructions.

Brave former holy knights who didn’t care about anything when the opponent was a heretic or a black mage!

The representative of the Jelsroin cult gestured frantically, looking highly flustered.

“N-No! We didn’t come to fight—”

— Shut up! We won’t be fooled by the wicked tongues of heretics!

— I will salt and grill your tongue well and give it with the bones!

Of course, they didn’t listen at all.

‘…Is this a merchant guild or a butcher shop?’

Listening to them, Roan clicked his tongue at the detailed usage.

Gordon and the others, who had been trying to discuss counteractions inside the carriage, were also greatly shocked.

“A fight is going to break out at this rate!”

No matter how brave the former holy knights were, the heretics also seemed to possess a formidable strength.

They were far greater in number, and heretical sects were easy to be severely defeated by if their characteristic holy magic wasn’t well-known and dealt with.

It was a situation where they might take damage if they clashed without proper preparation.

Gordon and the others inside the carriage swarmed outside.

— P-Professor.

— Merchant Leader Gordon?

At that, the guild members hesitated for a moment right before clashing.

First, Gordon hit the heads of the guild members who were on the verge of running out one by one, and scolded them.

“You idiots! Think a little! Think! Are you still tin cans walking around in armor?!”

— But Leader! They are heretics!

— I’d rather face black mages!

‘Hmm, correct.’

The guild members looked resentfully at Gordon, who scolded them without understanding their feelings.

“Guild members, Hiloa has told us to avoid unnecessary fighting!”

“I trust you aren’t planning to engage in battle without the leader’s instruction!”

As Sion and Yusina also joined in to urgently hold the guild members back, they calmed down quickly.

With the Saintess Candidate and the Saintess, to whom they owed loyalty, even mentioning Hiloa, they could no longer act impulsively.

— Well, if those individuals say so, it can’t be helped…

— We were indeed too hasty.

However, even if the physical clash was prevented, their innate tempers couldn’t be helped.

— You guys should know you saved your lives thanks to them!

— If you don’t want to die, run away quickly and dig into the ground like mole crickets!

— Boooo!

“…Then, may I finish what I have to say now?”

The representative of Jelsroin seemed thankful for now that a fight did not break out despite the countless curses and insults poured upon him.

Then he bowed politely and introduced himself.

“I apologize for stopping your steps despite the impoliteness due to urgent business. I am Fidellto Zoltan, a priest serving the Goddess Jelsroin. May this be a journey where precious blood is not shed.”

Unlike his appearance painted with red and white paint, Fidellto exuded the elegance of a nobleman of pedigree, looking only at the content of his greetings and behavior.

Seeing that, the guild members felt ashamed and lost their momentum.

— Ahem. Guys, let’s behave.

— Pretending to be polite for a heretic…

‘Who is the heretic and who is the former holy knight?’

Roan was watching the scene from inside the carriage in bewilderment.

Anyway, Fidellto continued with his business.

“By the order of the Goddess Jelsroin, we only wish to obtain the emblem of the Holy Spirit Harden displayed by your guild. Of course, we will provide reasonable compensation for it.”

— Compensation?

— Are you saying you’ll take the Holy Spirit’s emblem for a measly sum of wealth!

Regardless of the guild members’ anger, when Fidellto clapped his hands, several followers went to the carriage and soon brought over a large chest, groaning under the weight.

Creak—

“““!!!!!”””

The people watching the situation unfold from inside the carriage were startled upon seeing its contents.

Glittering gold coins and jewels filled the chest to the brim.

“This is an expression of love offered by the Goddess to the Holy Spirit. If you need anything else besides this, we will grant it all within our power.”

— It’s… not a measly sum…

— Uh… I didn’t expect compensation to that extent.

— S-Still, it’s the school’s property, so there’s nothing we can do.

The guild members gulped, looking at the amount of wealth that was hard to even see in a lifetime.

Harden’s emblem was of course an immense treasure, but in fact, it was not worth as much as that chest.

…Harden could easily create an emblem just by lightly placing his hand on a suitable cloth.

As if he hadn’t expected the crazy heretics to act in such a way, Gordon asked Tirmy.

“Professor, what should we do?”

Tirmy thought for a moment, and then,

“Follow me.”

tossed this single phrase to Espard and dashed out.

“Uh, yes, please wait a moment, Professor!”

Espard also followed her in a hurry.

The guild members cheered as they saw Tirmy.

— Professor Tirmy!

— The Professor came out!

— Hahaha! Now you guys are dead meat!

In fact, looking only at status, the professor leading the off-campus volunteering was far higher than the leader of the caravan.

In other words, the practical leader of this caravan was Tirmy, not Gordon.

“P-Professor Tirmy?”

— They said it’s P-Professor Tirmy…

— Twilight Duelist Tirmy?

Meanwhile, the Jelsroin followers who heard the name Tirmy trembled just at the thought of her nickname.