Chapter 102

We returned to Wyvernfit, and I felt frustrated at the thought of being stuck on this suffocating ground for a while longer while Saint Matheos kissed the floor and blessed the earth.

“Saint, I miss the sky.”

“I will never ride again. Not ever.”

“But it seemed like you enjoyed it. You could hardly speak from joy, could you?”

I asked as if I didn’t understand anything.

Matheos glanced at me with his dark eyes, looking annoyed.

He muttered as if in embarrassment, “I fainted.”

I awkwardly laughed and said, “Should I escort you to the cathedral?”

“No, that’s alright. I’ll call for a carriage or just walk there.”

I shrugged and stepped in front of Matheos.

“You know that I kidnapped the saint, right?”

The setup was such that the saint, who was forbidden from using wyverns due to doctrine, needed to hurry to the Alchenbersa Monastery.

“Yes, Duke. I remember.”

“But if I release you, I’ll officially get dragged in front of the holy knights and beaten.”

The wyvern trainers brought other wyverns.

This meant I didn’t want to get beaten.

Matheos ruffled his black curls and spat in anger.

“Act like a duke and take it proudly! You should accept the consequences you deserve with composure.”

I smirked and tugged at the saint’s robes.

“Still, a duke should be able to enjoy some rights without consequences, or else people won’t dare to dream of rising in status, will they?”

“Isn’t it a world where hardworking commoners cannot defeat the nobility? Don’t spout foolishness like a bandit, knowing nothing about the world.”

“Let’s go.”

“I will excommunicate you if you don’t let go!”

If I had said that with the holy knights standing by, I would have been trembling, but this was Wyvernfit, symbolizing imperial power.

Moreover, I had heard that line about 360 times during the 36 acrobatic flights, so I was starting to get used to it.

I climbed onto a new wyvern saddled up and soared back into the sky.

Saint Matheos screamed.

“Duke Valen! You are surely either the price of the miracle I invoked or the very chaos trying to disrupt this world!”

I shouted back without thinking.

The charm of the sky was that there was no one to hear me.

“Yes! What the saint says is true! The ancient one resides in my eyes, the ancient one flows in my blood, and the ancient one dwells in my wyvern, so since I am also ancient, do as you please!”

“Be careful! Don’t dive too fast!”

“But if you strike me with the flames of purification here, you will fly in the sky on a wyvern without an owner until the wyvern tires and lands! Hahaha!”

“The God of Radiance will strike you down!”

“If you get struck by lightning now, the saint will get hit too!”

The bell tower of the cathedral came closer.

The capital citizens surrounding the walls pointed at us, and priests and holy knights rushed onto the grass.

Among the clueless onlookers, I saw several well-dressed court nobles.

No matter how strong the faith of the God of Radiance was, there couldn’t possibly be this many people on a weekday.

“…It must be Sunday.”

“How can you forget the saint of Sunday?”

As I grinned mischievously, the saint tightened his arm as if he would break my waist.

“I know that you took a long detour citing bad weather instead of coming in seven days.”

“Ah.”

“Instead, this is good. Since it’s Sunday, there will be many bishops out, so I might as well declare the appointment of the Pope. I plan to choose Bishop Argos.”

…I felt like I had just heard a hugely significant political announcement.

“The Pope…? Are you serious?”

“Yes. I’ll leave the church administration to the Pope, as I want to focus on what I can do better.”

“Such as?”

“I’ll go out to charitable events, speak well, and gather money to help the poor, and I’ll go to areas stricken by magical realms or floods to bring purification.”

I said, surprised, “I didn’t expect the saint to realize the importance of the former.”

“I’m no longer a seminary student. Isn’t it the duty of leaders to help those who want to work in the field?”

Furthermore, Matheos added, “In some way, I’ve found the need to visit the field directly. I’ve received a new miracle from the deity, and I’ve learned that there’s an infiltrator sect strong enough to enter the monastery.”

I nodded quietly.

I had ultimately been unable to capture that infiltrator priest with the hood that looked like a flat helmet.

I searched the cliffs while riding my wyvern, but couldn’t find a drop of blood or a burnt piece of flesh.

“I will do my best to help the imperial family as well. If knights are needed, just let me know. This Valenciaunos will come running even if I’m asleep.”

I said confidently.

Matheos looked at the church’s lawn and the holy knights getting closer.

“Duke, don’t think you can brush it off with laughter. I believe you will need to cleanse your sins through whipping penance.”

“Haha. You’ve caught me. Then I’ll have no choice but to use the ‘throwing’ tactics of the Silver Knights.”

“Yes?”

I turned my waist on the saddle and loosened the leather belt that was fastening Matheos to the saddle.

His already pale face turned even whiter.

“What, what are you doing?”

“Hold on tightly enough that my hand won’t break!”

As I pulled the reins, the wyvern’s descent began.

I could hear the crowd’s pointing and shouts.

“The Duke Valencius who kidnapped the saint has returned!”

“That lunatic rode a wyvern to the cathedral!”

“Burn the bandit duke at the stake!”

“A grave sinner who kidnapped the saint!”

“Saint, how much suffering have you endured so far?”

Two holy knights, Angelica and Angelo, looked up at me, wearing armor that glowed faintly with divine power.

Their intent to bend me in half upon landing was clear.

But I had no intention of setting foot on the ground.

“Now.”

“What? What for?”

As we passed over the church wall, I grabbed the saint’s hand with my right hand and pulled hard, making him dangle in the air.

The citizens, seeing the saint swinging 10 meters above, gaped in shock.

Faithful nobles and elderly people even fainted in shock.

The wyvern rode the wind, gliding over the grass within the cathedral grounds, and just before the wyvern’s feet touched the ground, I pulled the reins and turned sharply to the right at low altitude.

Thump!

With its wide-spread 20-meter wings holding the wind, the wyvern gained power to thrust back into the sky.

The saint’s feet touched the ground again, and I let go of his hand.

“I look forward to meeting you again, Saint.”

“Return before you face punishment, Duke Valencius.”

The wyvern flapped its wings and soared back into the sky.

Angelica and Angelo looked up at me with audible breaths.

I let out a smug grin and turned in the direction of the imperial palace.

* * *

As soon as I returned to the annex, I summoned an attendant to request an audience for dinner.

After bathing in hot water, Rudi was waiting for me in a neat maid outfit, holding my clothes.

“Welcome back.”

Seeing her gentle voice and glimmering green eyes through her glasses made me realize I was home.

“Yeah. I almost died at the cathedral.”

“I’ll help you get dressed.”

Wearing a plain white shirt and a shiny white uniform, with a red sash and a golden belt, I applied a bit of perfume before combing back my platinum hair.

“I heard voices insulting the Valen name at the market.”

Rudi’s voice sounded oddly excited.

I briefly suspected that she had challenged someone to a duel or shot them in the back of the head with magic.

“Don’t worry. I didn’t pay attention to it. This must be yet another malicious rumor.” However, I wanted to know what happened to me.

Her eyes seemed unfocused.

Her voice lacked inflection.

I answered quietly, “I hung the saint 10 meters up and flew around the church on a wyvern.”

Rudi’s mouth fell open.

“My goodness… you really did something incredibly brave.”

Her eyes unfocused.

I sighed deeply.

“Duke Valen! What on earth have you done? Holy knights and a furious crowd have come to the imperial palace!”

Lady Trentia, fully armored, burst through the annex door.

Under her white veil, I could see her red eyes trembling wildly.

“They’re about to turn into a mob. The Constables from the Black Iron Knights have all stepped in, but it’s not calming down.”

Oh dear.

I assessed the situation through my experiences before the return.

“Did someone jump the palace wall?”

“No.”

“Did His Majesty use magic?”

“No. The Emperor wouldn’t use magic on his citizens!”

Good, then there was nothing serious.

“It’s nothing major. Get used to it from now on.”

“What?!”

“And soon, the Church will express their gratitude to me through you. When they call from the cathedral, that’s what it will be.”

To the people, it seemed I had returned almost a month after the kidnapping, but those higher up were all aware of the truth.

There was an issue at the monastery, and I had hastily delivered the saint while taking all the blame.

The Church would handle that part well.

Rudi let out a deep sigh of relief.

Her eyes regained focus, and her voice returned to its usual tone.

“I see you had all this planned behind the scenes. I don’t know what for, but I’m relieved.”

“Yeah. Thankfully.”

“Now, even if court noble’s attendants insult the Valen name in the market, there’s no need to challenge them to a duel. Duke Valen clearly has a plan.”

I stared at Lady Trentia, unable to think of a reply for a moment.

“Lady.”

“Yes, Your Grace.”

“How much has Rudi’s dagger skills improved?”

Lady Trentia spoke as if she were very proud.

“Her dash, concealment, ambush, martial arts, and grappling have all surpassed the average.”

“If she has surpassed the average…?”

“She’s a sword user—no, since Rudi hasn’t formally learned swordsmanship, I’d say she’s now a mana user. Yes. She has become a mana user.”

The stage where one can amplify their body by manipulating mana within, the first step of being an extraordinary person.

It was an extraordinary achievement for someone who began training after turning twenty.

“My word! Rudi. Congratulations.”

Lady Trentia continued, “She has really kept up diligently. She has meditated every day, trained in the drill grounds with knights, and gained practical experience by dueling with poorly-behaved attendants from other court noble families. Her loyalty and persistence are something I’d like other juniors to learn from.”

Rudi blushed as if she weren’t used to receiving compliments from a knight.

“It’s nothing like that. I just want to be of help to Duke Valen…”

“Thank you.”

Rudi turned her blushing face away.

Wait a minute.

“But that means you’ve been beating up other families’ attendants with that skill? What a headache. Why do you want to get insulted alongside me?”

“I’ll cut some fruits for you.”

Ignoring me, Rudi giggled and ran off to the kitchen.

I couldn’t help but laugh.

* * *

There was a staircase leading up to the office behind the audience chamber.

While I was climbing it, going over the report I needed to make, I ran into a familiar face.

“Sister?”

“Little brother?”

With her navy blue hair flowing and a colorful robe decorated with gold and silver, holding a staff topped with a large gem, it was the genius mage Sererassie.

“You’ve come to report to me before. Are you starting mass production of scrolls now?”

She smiled brightly like she was happy to see me, but her face twisted at my question.

“Do you think it’s just scrolls? I’m being made to create all sorts of magic tools. At this rate, my free research will be buried in the grave.”

“Haha. It’s said that geniuses die young from illness or are exploited by rulers for life, you see.”

That’s what skilled kings did. They exploited geniuses.

Sererassie nodded.

“Right. Since you’re also a genius, that’ll happen to you too. How can you find such creative ways to screw over the Church? It was truly amazing and refreshing.”

Surprisingly, it was a compliment.

Mages and priests didn’t usually get along.

“Well, it’s a long story. I’ll tell you about it tonight.”

“I’m looking forward to it. But I might not see you tonight.”

“Why?”

“The Emperor seems to be in a rather bad mood.”