How to Subdue the Masochist Princess 115

Chapter 115 – Traces of Fanaticism

Atop an altar made up of human and animal corpses, an earnest prayer resounded from a human figure who stretched out his hands toward the sky.

“Lord. I am coming. The daughter of a false god and a monster created by a broken will. I earnestly ask, please give me the strength to overcome the ordeal.”

Then the darkness of the night crept in on the mountain of corpses, and the corpses that had remained warm began to shrink rapidly.

“I-don’t think that this can be forgiven! You’re definitely going to hell!”
“Shh, quiet. Aren’t you praying? Be quiet.”

In the midst of a mountain of corpses, her man, with her smashed armor and broken sword before her eyes, cried out bitterly, but the human figure ignored her and continued her prayers.

By the time the voice of her man, who was the only survivor, had died down, and the mountain of corpses completely drained of life energy had turned into a tower of white bones.

“Yes, Lord. If it is Your will, I will gladly obey. Even if this body is to be destroyed by fire.”

In-yeong recited her last prayer and slowly stood up from her seat.

In the place where he left, there were only a few large and small marbles tumbling around weakly in an unholy black light.

* * *

It was a peaceful morning, no different from yesterday.

The surrounding terrain was still mountainous and sparsely flat, but the imperial road network built by His Majesty the first emperor was still faithfully fulfilling its role even after a thousand years had passed.

Thanks to this, except for a few unavoidable places, the passage of the party marching along the highway was not hindered.

However, even so, long-distance travel was inherently quite boring.

Ophelia, sitting still in her carriage and looking out of her window, grabbed Agnes, who passed nearby, and began chatting with her. It seems that he is tired of looking at the scenery.

“Hey, older sister. Every time I see those knights, I’ve been wondering, isn’t it heavy when you wear her full body armor? In particular, the older sister looks heavier because her breastplate is so thick…”
“Hehe. That’s fine. A knight who has trained his mana can overcome the limitations of his body.”
“Wow! Then sister can pull out a beautiful tree with her bare hands like Sir Wolfgang? She’s amazing ah… But I can’t imagine a pretty little person like her sister doing that.”

At first Agnes was quite taken aback when a person the size of a saint suddenly spoke to her, but thanks to Ophelia’s friendliness as her older sister, they seemed to quickly become close.

… But why am I an uncle? I’m still in my mid-twenties, and I’m at most two years older than Agnes.

Somehow I feel a bit unfair.

“Well, I think that among the knights, maybe only the captain can do it… But I can do something like this instead.”
“Yes?”

—Suaa

Agnes smiles lightly at the girl with a bewildered face and hands over a delicate rose made of ice.

“Wow! It’s so amazing and pretty!”
“Uhm. It’s just a simple grabbing technique, but it’s a little embarrassing to admire it so much.”

It was an admirable ability to use images. Until a few months ago, her inexperienced management was considered as one of the disadvantages for a precious manifestation-type image holder.

I knew that my skills had improved a lot recently, but I thought it would be at that level. After jumping over the wall, it feels like my growth has accelerated even more. Also, she seems to be a genius.

Unlike me, who ignorantly tries to press down on anything by force. I said everything because that picky teacher would rate it highly.

If Agnes had met a great teacher like me, he would have been a knight commander somewhere by now. Her skills were already well above the level of a general manager.

“Sister! But how did you just do that? I learned that knights can’t use magic or divine power at all because of the mana core.”
“Ah, this is a completely different ability from magic. It’s more advanced…”

The sight of two wide-eyed beauties laughing and chatting happily makes the viewer smile naturally.

It was a sight that was far more pleasing to the eye than any other spectacular view. In fact, the presence of the two had a great influence on the morale of the men.

“Captain, I really envy you.”
“Hmm? 1st Centurion. What kind of nonsense are you talking about all of a sudden?”
“Captain, aren’t you both friendly with the two of them? Please tell me the secret to becoming popular with women. Living as an old bachelor, my side is about to ache.”

Thanks to that, the overall atmosphere of the group was very friendly.

“This, I never thought you would say such nonsense. Not even the 3rd centurion. It looks like you’re quite bored.”
“No… I’m quite serious.”

Even the 1st Centurion, who didn’t enjoy idle talk, was not shy about throwing jokes at me.

However, the peaceful flow that was too much for a large-scale mission ended there.

It wasn’t long before an incident occurred that could make the atmosphere of the party that had become looser tense.

“Captain! There is an unusual incident from the reconnaissance party.”
“What’s going on?”

The 2nd Centurion, Pascal, rushes to me from afar and reports.

The expression is quite serious. I couldn’t help but be a little nervous about his attitude.

“The reconnaissance party led by Captain Victor Decen encountered an isolated direwolf from the group. They succeeded in subduing it without much damage, but it is said that it was strangely strong and ferocious compared to an ordinary individual.”

Even so, it was a rough terrain with many mountains. Moreover, my subordinates, who are knights and not ordinary soldiers, would not make such a fuss about encountering a large wolf at most.

It is a unique entity that is worth mentioning with such an emphasis. Somehow, it reminds me of the mutant ogre I defeated in Viscount Bartok’s territory.

I have a strong feeling that something is wrong with this.

“I see. Do you have any additional references or evidence?”
“Here is the object found in the monster’s corpse.”
“This…”

Upon accepting a cracked orb from the 2nd Centurion, I could only swallow the silence.

Although it was noticeably smaller in size than the ones I had seen so far, it was clear that it was a vessel of some kind where Eclipse’s minions stored their power.

Can it be made to be used on monsters now? No, maybe that ogre at that time also ate this and went on a rampage.

“Good job. It’s clear that this is not normal, so increase the reconnaissance force and report immediately if a similar situation arises.”
“Yes!”

After I was bitten by the 2nd Centurion, I fell into trouble for a while.

Of course, this situation was not completely unpredictable. The purpose of this mission obviously included the search for cultists.

However, the current location is still Viscount Rosen. It was an area quite far from the Argon territory. That means we still have a day and a half to go to our destination.

But already, such an unusual situation is happening. All sorts of ominous assumptions started running through my head.

Has the territory been attacked again? Or the deception of enemies? If that’s not the case, is the information from the leader of the Knights of Ropes that the situation in the Argon Territory has fallen into a lull was wrong?

It was a difficult situation to interpret in a good way.

The mission, which I thought was insignificant, became very complicated. Maybe something more serious than I expected.

First of all, we will have to convene a meeting at the next resting point to drastically revise the operation plan, and prepare countermeasures for possible variables.

‘Sigh… After all, things can’t be solved easily.’

Although it is their mission to not know when and how things will change, this kind of thing happens when they are together with the saintess and company. I have no luck or support.

In the midst of looking at the distant mountain for no reason, not wanting to reveal his mixed feelings in front of his subordinates.

“What’s the matter, young brother?”

The door of the far ahead wagon suddenly opened, and an old man with a terrifying look with eyes full of pure white divine power gleamed, striding toward us.

“Ah, Your Excellency Cardinal! You’re welcome. There’s something I’d like to discuss…”
“I can feel the traces of the evil magic in the object in my hand. Something must have happened.”

He’s obviously the strongest ally in the current situation, but his bloody spirit was reminiscent of a messenger from hell, and even I flinched for a moment.

It was inevitable that nearby men would be agitated.

“Great, Grand Inquisitor…!”
“What? Didn’t you just say advisory role? What’s going on?”

Then, Cardinal Malleus grabbed my wrist holding his marble and began to stop me.

It was unbelievably formidable for a skinny old man. His physical ability alone far exceeds that of quite a few knights.

“Devil? Cultist? What has appeared? Where are the ones to be condemned by the fire of the gods?”

The strange behavior of an old man who is experiencing it for the first time is quite embarrassing. He was obviously a gentleman with a calm personality. Why are you doing this?

Could it be that the devil’s energy blinded his eyes? He is not a wild beast that goes mad at the smell of blood…

“Hey, Your Excellency. It’s just that signs of enemies have been reported. No demons or cultists have yet appeared.”
“Hmm?”

When I carefully conveyed the truth, shaking off the bony grip that exerted superpowers, the old man, who was radiating divine power from his whole body, not enough to emit eye light, finally calmed down.

“Keuheum. This, I made a mistake unintentionally. I’m sorry. It’s been such a long time since I’ve been in a real fight.
“…”
“Uh huh, it’s true. What’s with that unreliable reaction?”

The appearance of an old man who cleared his throat as if nothing had happened and became calm.

Is this the ‘personality flaw’ of the Grand Inquisitor that I’ve only heard about? Contrary to the ugly rumors going around, I thought he was a pretty normal old man when I experienced it myself.

After all, notoriety does not spread in vain. It was all for a reason.

They say that there is a paper difference between religiousness and madness, and I feel like I know something I shouldn’t know.

“Hmmmm. Anyway, please tell me if something happens. It’s directly related to the safety of the saintess. I’m frail, but I’ll do my best to help.”
“Thank you, Yeha.”

Yes, what Couldn’t a person have at least one flaw?

I’m also the type of person who goes a little too wild when excited during a battle, so I wasn’t in a position to talk about it.

If that kind of madness is directed at enemies, that’s rather good. After all, it was clear that he was a wise and trustworthy old man in his normal state.

So it will be fine.

… You’ll be fine, really?

Ah, suddenly I miss Alicia very much.