## Chapter 227 – Holy Knights
We’ll be short on supplies with the continued fighting, so I should find somewhere nearby to sell off the looted clothes and equipment. I can probably just ask a passing soldier for directions.
“Elise? What are you thinking about so intently?”
Elise, who was walking beside me, was staring blankly into the distance. I wondered if she was seeing some kind of heretical illusion, but there was nothing out of the ordinary.
“…Saint.”
At my call, Elise looked at me.
“Yeah? What is it?”
“The trio couple, you said?”
Ah, was that bothering her?
Well, aside from heretics and monsters, Elise has a relatively normal way of thinking, so it might have been a culture shock for her. She must be concerned after seeing that yesterday.
“A little strange, huh?”
“It seems a unique relationship.”
“Well, it is unique. But I don’t think it’s necessarily wrong. Love comes in many forms.”
“That’s a little difficult for me to understand.”
“Love is always difficult.”
As the elder, I decided to offer some good advice.
“Love is… an equation. One that can never be solved. It’s like… an equation. Trigonometry… Vectors… Something like that. Love is.”
Whether it’s an equation, trigonometry, or vectors, I don’t really know, but I think love is something similar to an equation. Because I don’t really know love either.
But one thing is certain: math problems have answers.
Claudia and Winia were the answer.
That was the conclusion I came to between the liberal arts man Kim Kat and the science man Kim Kat. F is for burning down Fire Village. L is for Love.
“It’s a good thing when a marital relationship is harmonious. It’s truly a blessing that the three of you get along so well.”
“Is that so? Well… yeah. It is a blessing.”
Truly, God bless.
The relationship is harmonious as well.
Winia may have a foul mouth, but her swearing has already entered the realm of charm, so I don’t really have any complaints. What’s there to dislike when she likes me?
Our married life is also satisfying enough to share love every day, and since forming the trio couple bandit gang, we haven’t been struggling financially.
It’s a very harmonious life.
“Come to think of it, Saint, you could be said to be a married man.”
“Not just said, I am a married man. Hmm… The awkwardness in the word ‘married man’ makes me wonder, does the Order of the Radiant Cross forbid marriage?”
It’s something I’ve been curious about.
Can people in other world religions get married?
Of course, the rules vary from church to church, but what about the Order of the Radiant Cross?
“That’s not the case. If we forbade marriage in a religion for humanity, that would be quite the irony. It’s just that we refrain from it because we are dedicated to bringing about paradise. Of course, even though we refrain, I’ve never seen anyone get married in the church.”
“So everyone in the organization is an old bachelor or spinster.”
“Hehe. That’s right. Of course, I am too…”
She’s at an age where she’s very interested in that kind of thing.
Is that why she asked?
“It’s a bit of a waste for Elise to be an old maid.”
Elise would probably be wielding her mace without a second thought whether she was 20 or 30. A life stained with holy violence. That is the fate of religious people in this world.
But it’s a little sad that they only focus on serving God and never learn about true love.
I am Kim Kat, a man who knows love.
That’s why I can say it.
“Elise, life is long. You never know what might happen. So, if it’s not evil or straying from the path, I think it’s right to do what you want to do.”
“…The right thing, you say?”
“Yeah… Heh. I’m talking too much. Let’s ask that soldier over there where we can sell this stuff.”
“…Understood.”
I asked a passing soldier where we could sell the supplies. He kindly gave us directions, and we headed that way. Apparently, they were buying up looted goods at a temporary supply depot.
“I’m the temporary supply officer. Will you show me the looted goods?”
“Here, we’ve brought some useful stuff.”
I took out all the items we had taken from the bandits today.
Clothes, weapons, and other miscellaneous equipment.
“Oh, goods taken from defeating the bandits. Let’s see… I’d like to buy it all for about 4 silver.”
It’s a little lower than I expected, but it can’t be helped in a place like this. I quickly agreed to the deal for 4 silver coins and handed everything over.
I also got about 4 silver from picking the bandits’ pockets, and if I add the jewelry I still have, I’m guaranteed about 10 silver in daily income.
Nice.
“Elise, let’s go back now. Tomorrow, let’s show those evil heretics the true power of Divine Friend’s friendship.”
“Of course. Then let’s go in. We have tomorrow’s task to do.”
We returned to the lodgings, and paid 3 coppers to wash up, just like yesterday. Damn it. There was still only one bucket. I need to bring my own personal bucket.
I calmed down Claudia and Winia, who were clinging to me, and closed my eyes.
****
The next day, and the day after that, we scoured the forest around the barony in search of bandits. It was like we were just going to hunt field mobs. An odd atmosphere had formed where it was impossible to imagine that we were going on a human hunt.
It was all because there were no raids.
Unlike what the commander who greeted us when we first arrived had said, the bandits never came in large groups to attack the village. So, we naturally had no choice but to go out and work.
ㅡFwoosh!
“Gwaaaaaaack!!!!”
The fired Fire Bolt instantly roasted the fleeing bandit.
Fire Bolt was a magic with good killing power, but it had a fatal flaw: it burned up all the loot.
The guy who was struggling in the flames turned into a completely charred lump before collapsing. I flipped the corpse over with my foot.
Smells like charcoal.
“Winia, don’t you have any magic that can just hit the head and burn it? It all burned up, so there’s nothing to salvage.”
“I can do that, but there’s no way to stop the fire from spreading to the clothes.”
“Is that so? That’s too bad.”
Today, we succeeded in finding another bandit camp. We ambushed them as soon as we found them and won without much difficulty. Elise, who shot out like lightning, smashed one of them, and I also caught another one and cut him to pieces, so, well.
There’s no way they could have dealt with that.
The guy who was roasted just now was trying to run away.
He was moving so quickly that I had no choice but to deal with him with magic.
“Kkeuaaaaaack!!!”
“Shut up.”
A scream was heard.
That was the sound the guy Claudia was fighting was making. Claudia said she wanted to show off her skills and charged at the bandit who looked the strongest.
“Blackie. Let’s go watch that.”
“Alright.”
Claudia and the bandit’s duel was in full swing.
The three of us sat around and watched the duel.
ㅡClang! Clang!
Claudia, holding two curved swords, smiled bitterly and swung her arms. The bandit, who was slender but had the impression of a serial killer, was struggling to block the attacks.
“Damn it! You bitch!”
Of course, Claudia was just playing with him.
“You bitch! You fucking bitch!”
The guy, who was half crying, started cursing. Claudia didn’t care at all and slashed her sword. ㅡClang! The guy dramatically blocked the slash, but it was all just a performance.
The desperate struggle was just a game for Claudia.
The way she was toying with the weak looked so cool!
Claudia is the best! So cool!
I’m going to become a man like that too!
“Woah! Claudia! You’re the best! Kill him!”
“That sister has really bad taste. But she’s really good at fighting.”
“Heretic! How does it feel to be nothing more than a pastime! Remember this feeling well! It will be your last! A humiliating death! That is your end!”
We each threw in a word and watched the heretic’s end.
The guy glared at us with a face full of rage, but no matter what he did, he couldn’t beat Claudia. It was literally the difference between an ant and a human.
“You fucking bastards! You’re all dead, you fucking assholes! I’ll kill that bitch right now and… Kkeuaaaaaack!!! Cough!!”
All talk and no action.
I immediately booed.
“Hahaha!! What are you going to kill, you bastard! You can’t beat her even if you die and come back to life, you idiot! Claudia! Finish him off quickly!”
“Hehe, okay. How should I finish him off?”
“Kick! Finish him off with a kick!”
“Okay.”
Claudia took orders like a professional wrestler. The bandit was so pissed off at the sight that he burst into anger.
“You fucking bitchesㅡ!!!!”
ㅡSwish!
That was his last scream.
Claudia, who had put her sword back into its sheath, suddenly rushed in and ㅡWhack! She kicked the guy’s chin with a side kick. ㅡCrack. It was a really terrifyingly powerful kick.
ㅡCrack!
The neck that was hit by the kick was torn off as it was, and flew high like a launched missile. The death scene with the spine coming out was quite impressive. The flying head drew a parabola and got caught in a tree.
“Claudia! You’re so cool!”
I ran up and hugged Claudia.
She, looking refreshed, put her hands around my waist.
“Yeah, yeah. But it’s a bit disappointing. I can’t seem to find a strong guy. Could it be that there’s no one nearby who has received a blessing?”
“I guess not? I can’t see anyone like that.”
We were like that for a while before looting the spoils. It was a very smooth operation. It seemed like we could make a lot of money. Should I really save up a lot of money and buy a rare metal sword?
I was happily rummaging through the corpses when it happened.
ㅡDrip.
Water fell from the sky.
I looked up and saw that it was raining.
“Hey, hey. It’s raining.”
“…This is annoying. It’ll take a while to get back.”
It was raining little by little.
Looking at the state of the gathering clouds, it seemed like it would rain more, not stop. I quickly packed up my things and put on my backpack.
“Let’s call it a day and go quickly. It’s going to rain more.”
I’m going to get soaked if I go back.
As I was thinking that, the rain started to get heavier.
“Saint. It would be better to take shelter from the rain.”
“Okay!”
In the end, we had no choice but to go into a small cave nearby to take shelter from the rain. It was dangerous to move around when it was raining in many ways. It’s better to go even if it’s a little late.
I don’t want to get sick and not even break even.
“Ugh, I’m all wet.”
Claudia, who had taken off her hooded cloak, shook her head as she said that. Elise also shook her head, and so did I. Winia didn’t shake her head. The wide-brimmed conical hat that the mage was wearing acted as an umbrella.
It’s even waterproof.
“Ah, damn it. Only my nipples got wet.”
But her breasts are so big that only the tips seem to be wet.
It’s so amazing.
“Blackie. If there’s anything to burn inside the cave, go get it. Let’s light a fire and dry off.”
“Okay… Ah, that’s right. I have some oil.”
“Blackie did something useful for once. Then give me the oil and go get some kindling.”
“I will.”
“Saint. I’ll light the way.”
ㅡFlash.
Elise turned on Holy Light, and the surroundings brightened.
As expected, Elise is in charge of lighting.
Inside the cave, there were occasional fallen leaves and branches. I picked them up with Elise… Is it just an empty cave?
“Judging from the fact that there are no other traces, it seems to be an empty cave.”
“There’s really nothing like that.”
It seemed to be an empty cave after all. We moved for about twenty minutes. We were able to gather enough kindling to light a fire.
“…Ah. Blackie’s here?”
“What are you two doing?”
“Nothing. Just set that up so we can light a fire.”
“Okay.”
There was a strange atmosphere flowing between Claudia and Winia. Damn it! I should have come a little later…! Anyway, I gathered the kindling I brought and made it into a bonfire.
Then let’s ask Winia to light the fire.
As expected, mages are omnipotent.
You don’t have to worry about fire if you’re with a mage.
It was when Winia brought her staff to the kindling.
“…Wait.”
Claudia said in a low voice.
Immediately, everyone drew their weapons and stuck to the cave wall while holding their breath. We had been working together for a long time, so no special words were needed.
Something was coming.
ㅡSwish.
It was dark outside, and the sound of rain was heard.
In between, a faint sign of people was felt.
ㅡThud.
“Huh?”
A man with a tattoo of Azathoth’s symbol on his face stepped into the entrance of the cave. At the same time, he made eye contact with me. He made a questioning expression as if he had seen something strange.
“ㅡKim Kat Thrust.”
In an instant, reflexively, as if possessed by something, my sword shot out.
It was an old habit of stabbing first if I judged someone to be an enemy.
The guy with the sword in his solar plexus tried to say something, but spat out blood instead.
“Cough?!”
Like that Metal Slug 3 zombie bomb.
Those are good memories.
