Chapter 445

Chapter 68 Isaac

I’m back…

I jumped off the carriage with the black leather case on my back, rubbing my sleepy eyes with both hands. After blinking a few times, I felt slightly more awake and looked around.

The familiar flowers, familiar slopes, familiar paths between them.

And at the end of the path, the familiar village, now with new changes, with the irregularly arranged stone houses within.

I gazed at the familiar scenery before me, unable to hold back a light inhalation, smelling the fragrance of the rural soil, feeling that even the air was filled with a familiar scent.

I’m back!

Two seconds later, realizing that everything familiar was now within reach, a faint joy of returning home clearly surfaced in my heart.

“Haa~”

On the other side of the carriage, Angel, with messy blonde hair, yawned and stretched his sleepy face. With the assistance of two monks, he stretched his limbs and stepped out of the carriage, walking loosely towards the knight commander waiting ahead.

“Brave warrior of the Holy Church, Deputy Legion Commander of the First Knight Order, Papal Knight Isaac Hebraei.” The knight commander sheathed his sword, knelt down on one knee in front of Angel, head bowed, fist over his right chest, “With the ‘Fist of Judgment,’ I salute you, my Pope.”

As he moved, the knights behind him “clang” together and knelt in unison, creating a scene like a golden wave formed by the sea of people. I heard the commotion from the village entrance.

“Oh, Isaac, get up, get up.” Angel fiddled with his ear, his voice lazy.

He didn’t seem to care much about these formalities. At this moment, he had just woken up from the rhinoceros carriage and hadn’t even put on his golden crown. He casually reached out his hand, warmly helping the knight commander up: “Long time no see, how have you been?”

“Hehe.”

The knight commander stood up, looking at the Pope with a simple smile: “Thanks to divine protection, I’m fine, Your Holiness. It’s just that staying too long in the holy city, without any battles, makes my heart anxious…”

“Haha! I am very happy to see you idle. As long as you have nothing to do, it means the world is still peaceful…”

“Heh… Your Holiness, when you say that, I don’t know whether to express disappointment or say ‘May your wish come true’ insincerely… But that would be pointless. Clearly, we will have battles soon.”

The two began chatting idly.

I only glanced a few times, pausing for a moment on the white cloak behind the knight commander, recognizing it as the Papal Knight’s cloak before shifting my gaze away.

Then, raising my arms high, toes tensing, I stretched a big yawn.

“Mm… Mmm~”

After the yawn, I felt refreshed.

These days in the rhinoceros carriage had left me sore and stiff, barely stopping, and the bumpy road made me feel like my buttocks were splitting. Now, they still hurt…

Moreover…

The lining was pinched… very uncomfortable…

I bent over to pat the slightly wrinkled skirt, rolling my eyes to check the surroundings, seeing most people looking at Angel. A thought crossed my mind, then tilting my head, frowning, I turned to look at the rear of the formation.

I saw the accompanying knights organizing their ranks.

The merchants from the coin house also came down from the carriages. Some were walking over, and I saw Bayard among them. He winked at me as he passed by, smiling, but didn’t stop, moving straight towards Angel and the knight commander.

No one noticed me…

I quickly reached behind to adjust the leather case, pretending to fix it, then pulled the inner lining through the skirt, pulling it a bit, then another bit, feeling it was about right. I twisted my little bottom to test if it was still uncomfortable…

Yes, the discomfort of being pinched was gone.

I stomped my feet and jumped in place, then looked up, tiptoeing, towards the direction of the village.

It seemed like there were many people there…

The villagers seemed to be watching this side. They might be interested in those shiny knights… Are all these knights from the First Knight Order?

It feels…

Different from the knights I’ve seen before… They seem more formidable and disciplined, even standing still exuding an aura of sternness.

And the one leading them is a Papal Knight…

Thinking here, I couldn’t help but look at Angel again, then held my breath.

Ah…

Angel was looking at me.

Not just Angel, even the knight commander and Bayard who had walked past were looking at me…

Why are they looking at me?

I immediately thought of what I had done just now, panicking, my cheeks heating up.

They probably didn’t notice…

Suddenly, the knight commander laughed: “Hey! You’re that Sylvie? The little one who took down the Abyss alone over here?”

“The Abyss in the capital was also taken down by her alone.” Angel added.

They were talking about me…

It felt so impolite.

I narrowed my eyes.

“How is it? Does it suit your taste?” Angel patted the knight commander’s shoulder, and they exchanged smiles, one with a simple grin, the other with a lecherous look. Immediately after, the knight frowned and touched his chin.

“Mm..

She looked too small. Short arms and thin legs, with delicate skin, might not be much fun to play with.

“Cough, cough!”

Hearing his words, Beaudet couldn’t help but cough twice, as if he had choked on saliva. Then he turned his head to one side, his shoulders slightly trembling.

“Uh…”

Angel clearly was also surprised, but he quickly revealed an even happier smile. “How do you know if you don’t try?”

“…”

What?!

I was stunned at first, and once I understood what they were saying, the anger flared up in me.

…Short arms and thin legs, not much fun to play with?

Damn it—

“Baldy, what did you say?!”

I widened my eyes and hurried over with small steps, stopping beside Angel and standing in front of the knight captain, looking up at him. I wanted to scold him, but suddenly realized…

He really is huge.

The imposing figure before me made me involuntarily think of Uncle Pagos back in the Frost City… In front of him, I felt the same way.

If I didn’t look up, just level with my gaze, I could only see his waist.

And this knight captain seemed even more fierce than Uncle Pagos.

At some point, he had taken off the helmet he was wearing, exposing a bald head. Bending down to look at me, sunlight shone on his head, like a fiery sunset, a bit dazzling. Coupled with his fierce appearance and the strange tattoo on half of his face that resembled flames, it was quite oppressive.

Especially for me…

I would have to jump very high to possibly hit his nose.

But at that moment, that fierce face looked at me, first showing surprise, then confusion, and then an innocent expression.

“What…” The knight captain rubbed his bald head, looking somewhat bewildered at Angel, “Did I say something? I didn’t say anything… Why is she angry?”

“Maybe she doesn’t want to play with you.” Angel shrugged.

“Do you not want to play with me?” The knight captain looked at me again, his expression even more innocent.

“…”

This guy…

Is he really that naive or pretending?

I was speechless, wanting to point out the ambiguity in his words, but how could I really bring myself to do so? But I couldn’t stay silent either, so I glared at him for a while, then turned my head away, “You just insulted me.”

“Insulted you? How did I insult you?”

“You… called me small.”

The knight captain’s tone was shocked, “Isn’t that true? How can that be an insult?”

“…”

I was speechless, my emotions fluctuating rapidly. My mouth opened several times, trying to refute him, but I couldn’t think of what to say.

…So frustrating.

“Hahaha—”

Angel laughed without any restraint.

“Alright Isaac, if you keep speaking so recklessly, you might turn into an ice sculpture… yeah, you could stand at the village entrance as a statue for people to worship… but I don’t think anyone would worship you.”

“So brutal?” The knight captain scratched his bald head.

“Of course… let me tell you, even I got beaten up badly along the way, several times! If not for the divine miracle of healing, you’d see a bruised and battered Pope right now… oh, by the way, she holds grudges easily, so be careful these days, don’t get hit in the nose—”

“Angel,” I interrupted him.

The Pope’s smile immediately disappeared, and she took a step back, her face serious as she looked at me, her voice lowered, “Don’t fight here! It’s not good with so many people watching, let’s go home and talk.”

…Who the hell wants to go home with you.

Really, I’ve had enough of this shameless attitude.

During this long journey, I roughly figured out the nature of that man. The more you reason with him, the more he gets excited; when you ignore him, he gets even more excited, until you beat him up, then he’ll behave for a while, but soon he’ll start being arrogant again. You can’t argue with such a person, otherwise, you’ll get so frustrated you’ll die.

“I think we should go to the village first.”

You guys can chat slowly…

“Huh? Oh, go ahead, go ahead… but don’t run around, just stay in the village.”

Angel warned, but I ignored him, nodding at Beaudet on the other side. With a stern face, I walked past the knight captain… still feeling angry, so I deliberately bumped into his arm hard.

Clang!

Ouch…

I hit his armor, it hurt a lot…

But I had to endure it, not showing any weakness.

I pretended nothing happened, quickened my pace towards the village, but I listened carefully. I heard the knight captain give a low grunt, followed by the clanking sound of armor, as if he had been pushed back two steps.

Serves him right…

After taking a few steps, a slightly excited voice came from behind, “Little one, strong stuff!”

…Little one?

My steps paused slightly.

I gritted my teeth and continued walking forward.

“Hey—”

“Let’s find a chance to play, let’s fight!”

…Damn it!

Isaac, I’ll remember this.

While I was thinking angrily, I rubbed my sore shoulder and quickened my pace towards the village.