The Successor of the Saint Does Not Fight - Chapter 5

Chapter 5: Exorcists and Holy Knights

“I apologize for not explaining it beforehand. Those carriages were arranged by a foreign merchant. Its contents were rare herbs imported by ship.”

Upon our return to the church branch, Dozel had already completed the paperwork for requesting reinforcements.

When I asked about the cargo, he promptly responded.

“Since they were foreigners, they didn’t know that demons inhabited that mountain pass. So, they inadvertently included it in the trade route and passed through carelessly. That’s what they said.”

“I understand… Thank you.”

Even after the explanation, a lingering unease persisted within me.

If the damage was limited to just one incident, I might have accepted it.

However, if a carriage carrying expensive cargo disappeared, wouldn’t any merchant desperately take measures to prevent a recurrence?

The reported damage caused by the White Wolf by now, particularly to carriages, totaled 35.

It seemed overly negligent to consider them all to be arranged by the same merchant.

It almost seemed as if they intentionally tried to escalate the extent of the damage.

“Um…”

“Miss Meril, is there anything you’re uncertain about?”

“No, this should be okay. I’m feeling sleepy.”

Despite those lingering doubts, I wasn’t really trying to uncover the truth.

I was only pretending to investigate to delay the impending battle.

In the first place, it was evident that the demon was behind all of this.

As I released a big yawn, Dozel remembered something and mentioned it.

“Oh, Miss Meril. Regarding the reinforcements from headquarters, it seems the request is likely to be approved. Additional personnel may arrive as early as tomorrow.”

“What! Seriously?”

“Yes, it’s not from the exorcists but from the Holy Knight Order.”

“What’s going on? Why?”

I sighed.

The church had two kinds of forces: the ‘Exorcists,’ born with miraculous powers like my mother, able to face demons alone, and the ‘Holy Knights,’ regular soldiers armed with holy weapons.

The latter seemed to be more about quantity than quality.

“Don’t worry. To back you up on your first mission, they’re sending in their best.”

Dozel assured me.

“Well… Thank you very much for that.”

Well, it was unusual to deploy more than one exorcist to the same place.

Since I was already recognized as an exorcist myself, allowing reinforcements was already an exceptional treatment.

(But entrusting it to those guys still makes me uneasy. I’ll delay the battle until I can reach out to Mom, the Saint.)

I yawned once more and headed towards the guest room where I slept.

By the way, the lower-ranked ones were having an impromptu sleepover in the chapel.

The longer we delayed the extermination, the more their fatigue would build up, but I hoped they would endure it as a kind of social training.

Back in the guest room, I settled into the rather stiff and cheap bed.

Before falling asleep, I allowed myself to think, just a little…

About more excuses. Expedients. A pretext to avoid the confrontation with that demon.

———————

The reinforcements arrived late the following night.

About twenty of them, dressed in jet-black cloaks that exuded a somewhat ominous aura.

To be honest, the Holy Knights I knew looked quite different.

Many of those stationed in the Holy Capital wore fine silk cloaks with silver armor, and behaved nobly like aristocrats.

The lower-ranked ones behind me also wore puzzled expressions.

It seemed they were thinking the same thing.

“The garrison forces and the active forces have completely different roles. To hunt down cunning beings like demons, we need warriors who are just as cunning.”

Dozel explained to us as we wore puzzled expressions.

“Oh, I see… I had no idea. I thought all Holy Knights were like those in the Holy Capital.”

I responded.

“Haha. Those are more like symbols to reassure the residents. The ones truly protecting the people are those who fight covered in blood and sweat, smelling like mud.”

Dozel explained.

Though the rugged individuals in front of us seemed to carry more of a scent of alcohol and tobacco than mud, I refrained from pointing that out, given their late-night arrival.

“Well, I appreciate the lesson. You seem to know a lot about it.”

I replied diplomatically.

“It’s nothing significant. I’ve just been doing odd jobs for a long time.”

Dozel briefly glanced at the black-clad Holy Knights.

“I’ve already communicated the policy of delaying execution until guilt is confirmed. However, they also want to directly verify the demon target before taking action. I apologize for the suddenness, but would you be willing to accompany them to the mountain pass from now on?”

“Huh? Right now?”

“Yes. They want to confirm the opponent first and then plan their tactics.”

When I looked towards the Holy Knights, the man leading them nodded quietly.

“Miss Meril, what do you think?”

One of the lower-ranked individuals asked.

I pondered for a moment.

Honestly, I wasn’t enthusiastic about it.

However, there was no guarantee that the barrier would continue to be effective in the future.

It might be necessary to have a plan in case of an emergency…

So, after careful consideration, I’ve decided to go along with it and keep an eye on things.

“If you’re committed to postponing the execution here, I don’t mind accompanying you.”

I responded.