Episode 27: A Distorted Doctrine and the Faith of the Saint ④ ～ The Advance Unit Encounter・ Instant Kill ～

"The children should go inside the buildings and the guards should tighten the defenses. I will go to the enemy forces."

Irene gave clear instructions in the midst of the panicked atmosphere of the adults. At that moment, Setsu-chan opened her eyes.

"The bad guys are here, seems like it's my turn."

"Yeah, it's your turn, but to go to sleep. Sleep tight, *pat pat*."

　Irene put Setsu-chan to sleep again with graceful movements. ……Still, we'd be a lot more comfortable if Irene stayed in the city.

"There are some things we want to ask the church people, so we'll be the ones to go. You can calm the children down inside, Irene."

"Don't worry, we'll wipe them all out."

　Falty and I grabbed our weapons and dashed outside, racing through the streets. Without waiting for the gates to open, we jumped over the wall and ran out into the open, where we could see a cloud of dust in the distance, signaling that an army was approaching. In addition to the priest-soldiers in their clerical robes, the group also included thugs and mercenaries who had lost their way. As there were many people wearing relatively light armor and no siege weapons were seen, perhaps it was a vanguard unit that was also acting as a scout? Even so, there were still several hundred people, so it was a considerable group.

"Let's rush in because I don't want to fight near the city and get people killed in the crossfire."

"I agree on that point."

　I ran off as soon as I heard Falty's words.

"There might be a lot of them, but they're not really anything special. How will you kill them? "

　Ignoring the Devil who was running alongside us as if it were only natural, we came face to face with the Church's army at a point quite far from the city.

"Stop! What are you doing here? Who is your commander? ! "

　When I shouted at the top of my voice, the enemy stopped moving, as if they had noticed me, who had drawn my sword and taken a defensive stance, and Falty, who had taken a shooting stance.
　A cavalryman wearing fine armor, different from the foot soldiers, responded to us.

"That's me. ……Is it really you, Celestial Knight? You're alive? And those dirty long ears, is that the Divine Bow?"

　Hey, hey, how can you say such things? Falty is the princess of the Elven Kingdom.

"Unfortunately, my life is quite dirty. But this is supposed to be a land ruled by Irene, isn't it? It's not peaceful that you're leading an army here, is it? "

"Hmph, that lowly whore is no longer a saint, but a traitor who has turned against the church. An execution order has been issued! If you side with that woman, you will be considered as guilty as her."

"There's no such thing as 'guilty' or 'not guilty'. Irene hasn't done anything wrong. Aren't you one-sidedly deciding to call her a traitor?"

"Stop talking, you brat! ! ! ! ! ! It is extremely rude for you filthy, inferior savage barbarians to even think of giving us humans any advice! ! You deserve a thousand deaths! ! ! "

　The knight shouted while pointing at Falty. I'd heard about the devout sect's discriminatory attitudes, but they were even worse than I'd heard. Or rather, what confidence do you have when you can't even handle Falty?

"That's a pretty bold thing to say, but do you really think you can win against three of the hero's comrades? "

　Of course, I don't intend to let them escape, and I want to wipe them out here to put an end to my worries, but…… I want to extract as much information as possible, so I kept talking to them. Falty's veins were popping out of her head, but she endured it…… When we were traveling, she would get angry easily when provoked, even screaming at it when she was bitten by Mimic, but I'm a little moved by how much she's grown.

"Fuhahahahah! I see. You didn't know, did you? There is no longer any need for such a thing as a goddess. The era of clinging to crumbling deities is over.
　You fools boast of the borrowed power given to you by the goddess, but it is not your own power! !
　However, with Roger's cooperation and years of research, the Empire has finally succeeded in analyzing part of the goddess's power and recreating it artificially through “magical science”! !
　And now, we devout followers have returned with weapons provided by the Empire to defeat the Saint! ! There is no way such a defeat could happen! Our victory is assured―――Know that the era in which you were the absolute power is over! ! "

　That's an interesting statement. It doesn't seem entirely untrue that the Empire defeated the calamity on its own. The pieces of the story are gradually coming together.
　If the Empire really became capable of defeating a calamity on its own, it would make sense to get rid of the hero party that had served its purpose.
　……However, if the devout members of the church claim that our power is borrowed from the goddess, then aren't their weapons, which they are so proud of, also borrowed from the Empire……? Well, I'm grateful that he was so smug and talked so much, because I was able to hear a lot of information I wanted to know. Should we capture this commander and extract information from him?

"Well, that's all I have to say. ……I was talking this much to buy time for the soldiers to prepare. The magic power for firing has already been charged! I will bury both the Celestial Knights and the Divine Bow along with the Saint. Alright, magic artillery, fire! ! ! "

　At the knight's words, the soldiers raised long, thin objects―――From the perspective of someone with knowledge of a previous life, this feels like a musket to me, holding it and getting into a firing position.

"Falty, Devil, get behind me―――Heavenly Sword, Evil Sword! "

　Dozens of soldiers' gun barrels were pointed at us, but I instantly activated the barrier.
　Not knowing how powerful the shot would be, I activated the Evil Sword at the same time as the Heavenly Sword and created a barrier reinforced with black miasma. ―――At the same time, loud explosions rang out and magic bullets were fired, hitting the barrier one after another and causing cracks to appear. The evil sword's miasma filled the cracks like plaster and blocked all shots, but that was close. If it had been just the Heavenly Sword, it might have pierced through. It seems they have good reason to be confident.

"Fahhahahaha! ! The hero's party were no match for us! ! This is the power of civilization! ! Now you learned your lesson, you worthless insects. Come, let's take their heads…… Huh? ? "

　When the dust settled and saw that we were still alive, the knight was surprised and let out a silly exclamation.

"I see, that was very informative. That's quite a feat. You're really amazing. ……However, that was pointless."

"W-w-w-w-w-w-w-w-wh-why are you unharmed? ! Surely we have enough firepower to break through the Celestial Knights' barrier! ? No way, did those scum from the Empire betray us! ! ! ! ? "

　No, I don't think it was planned. If I had only had the Heavenly Sword, there's a high possibility that I would have been easily defeated, so I think you guys should be grateful to the Empire.

"Hurry up and load the weapons, reload the next round quickly! ! "

"――――There's no way I'd let you do that! ! "

　Falty drew back the Sovereign Lunar Bow and fired an arrow, which pierced the heads and bodies of the soldiers, scattering them in pieces. Their guns may be powerful, but they can't fire in rapid succession.

"Fuh, fuhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh! ? Fuuuuuuuuu! ? No, no, this can't be true! ! Those Empire bastards? ! Damn it, anyone, hurry up and shoot them! ! "

　The knight was shouting his anger at the Empire while commanding his troops, but I think the Empire had provided excessive military force as agreed, so I don't think it's right to turn on them, but I won't say anything.

"Raoul, I'm going to destroy them all with continuous fire from the safety of the barrier. Is the barrier holding up okay? "

"No problem here."

"Of course! That evil sword is my masterpiece! That's why."

　Falty's words were followed by replies from me and the Devil.

"U-Uwo? ! Damn it, retreat! I'm getting out of here! We must report the existence of these guys to the main force―――"

"――――What a shame, can't let you get away."

　Cutting down the soldiers blocking the way to the knight, literally clearing a path, I rushed forward, jumped onto the horse, and dragged the knight down.

"Hyiiiiiii? ! "

"On the battlefield, unexpected situations are inevitable. It was your luck that you weren't used to the battlefield."

　Saying that, I cut off both his arms without letting him draw his weapon, then broke both his legs.

“Aaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh! ! ? "

　The knight lost consciousness with a foul scream, and the soldiers quickly fell into disarray.

"It's easier than shooting birds... I shot all the guys with the dangerous long tubes, so now it's just regular soldiers! "

　With those words from Falty, magical arrows rained down on the army, carefully wiping them out.
　……These guys weren't used to fighting, so we were able to defeat them easily thanks to their carelessness and overconfidence, but the weapons provided by the Empire should not be underestimated. Since we've gone to all this trouble, let's collect them and use them to defend Irene's town…… The real battle will be against the main force, as the knight said.
　As I fought off mercenaries and thugs wielding swords and spears, I pondered how to deal with the main force.

---

 ToC  

If you enjoy the translations, you can support me by donations or read “Beyond the Hero’s Death” ahead in patreon.

Disabling your ad blocker for this site is also appreciated, worry not, there are no intrusive ads shown.

---