Chapter 464

“Retreat? Are you serious, Sir Pellman?!”

“If the Archbishop finds out about this…!”

The Paladins of Astraea were baffled by their commander, Pellman’s order.

It was only natural. Devout paladins, hardened in their faith, could hardly accept an order to retreat in the face of the enemy. Had it been a comrade who uttered those words, they would have scolded them outright.

“…I won’t entertain any objections. Retreat. I will personally explain to the Archbishop.”

Fortunately, Pellman, the high-ranking paladin, was not a commander so weak-willed as to bend to his subordinates’ protests. After issuing another stern warning to the paladins, he sheathed his sword and stood tall, defenseless, facing me. As if daring me to strike.

“Retreat?”

I chuckled and pulled my sword closer. Since I had decided to play the role of Ka`har, I needed to act strong here.

“Do you think I’ll just stand by and watch?”

Well, actually, I *was* planning to just watch.

If I wanted to annihilate them, picking them off one by one while their forces were scattered would be the best strategy. But I didn’t want to break the Astraea Church Order’s spirit—I didn’t want to crush their necks. Slaughtering them in such a cowardly way would only breed resentment. They’d come at me, swearing to kill me to the last man. That would be troublesome.

So, to stop them, I had to crush their combined forces head-on, shattering their will to resist.

“Well, surely a warrior among warriors like yourself wouldn’t strike a man who has sheathed his sword from behind, would you?”

Pellman turned his back to me and began walking toward his paladins. Even though he knew full well that if I charged now, he’d die without even being able to resist.

He’s got guts. I like that.

But even if it was for the sake of Astraea’s doctrine and his superior’s orders, I couldn’t forgive him for raising his sword against the citizens.

“Ha, you’re quite the smooth talker. Fine. I’ll allow you to retreat. In fact, if you retreat all the way back to the Holy City, I’d be grateful.”

As I relaxed my stance, Pellman nodded slightly, as if he had expected this, and turned to respond.

“…That would be difficult. Whether you wish it or not, we will meet again soon.”

“Looking forward to it.”

I smirked arrogantly and gave him a nod. The paladins under Pellman still wore expressions of disbelief, but as their commander urged them on, they reluctantly extinguished their divine light, grinding their teeth.

The first step of the plan was nearing completion.

“Who do you think you are…! Who do you think you are to run away?!”

A rough shout erupted from the crowd gathered behind. A voice filled with anger toward the Paladins of Astraea. It was clear they couldn’t tolerate the paladins retreating unscathed.

“Comrades! Draw your bows! We must avenge the blood of the fallen-!”

“Shut up.”

I spun around toward the voice and hurled a dagger from my sleeve. Straight at the man who had jumped up, shouting and inciting the protesters.

Yeah, I knew someone like this would show up. It’d be weird if they didn’t.

– *Swoosh!*

The black iron blade tore through the air like a bullet. The dagger grazed the man’s ear and slammed into the building behind him, exploding with a deafening roar and shattering the wall.

– *Crash!*

The pile of shattered bricks collapsed. A cloud of dust rose, and through the haze, the building’s exposed interior was revealed.

“Uh, uh…”

Perhaps his eardrums had burst from the shockwave, as the agitator clutched his ears and collapsed, groaning dazedly. He must have known it too—if the dagger had been even a few inches closer, his head would have been obliterated without a trace.

“Did they… did they attack us?”

“Weren’t they here to help us…?!”

The bewildered citizens instinctively took a step back. Yeah, they couldn’t help but be shocked. Even if they were filled with enough fighting spirit to start a riot, they’d never seen a wall collapse from a single thrown dagger in their lives.

Pellman glanced at me and, taking advantage of the citizens’ distraction, quickly led his paladins away. Toward the towering Astraea Church Cathedral in the distance.

Good. Everything’s gone according to plan so far.

I glared coldly at the protesters, frozen stiff by my display.

The first step of the plan—forcing the Paladins of Astraea to retreat—was a clean success.

Now, it was time to take the second step.

“Who gave you permission to speak?”

It was time to deal with these rioters.

—

“I told you, didn’t I? This city is now mine. Was it so hard to understand what that means?”

It means you’re no longer free.

I spoke to them in a voice as cold as ice. With Durandal still drawn, I exuded even more killing intent than I had when facing the Paladins of Astraea.

It was necessary. If I didn’t intimidate them like this, controlling them would be impossible.

The city’s residents, who had taken up arms and rushed out, incited by someone’s provocation. Most of them were ordinary citizens, but among them were agitators with malicious intentions, lurking like tumors.

If only I had the discernment to pick them out… Sadly, I didn’t have that ability, so I had no choice but to forcefully restrain them.

To resolve this situation, I first had to stop this insane fighting. After that, I could find the mastermind behind this riot and tear them limb from limb, putting them on display.

…Of course, even if I did that, it wouldn’t end there. Once blood had been spilled and resentment had built up, it wouldn’t be over just by finding and eliminating the agitator.

Even if they learned that their protest was someone else’s scheme, would they stop? Of course not. There would be casualties on the protesters’ side.

Even if they lost their cause, their hatred wouldn’t disappear. They’d fight to the end, swearing revenge.

That’s why I declared this city as occupied territory. If they wanted revenge, they’d have to get my permission first.

And when they realized that was impossible, their anger would turn toward me. They’d try to kill me first, not riot.

Not that they could.

After absorbing their anger for a while, once I drove off Astraea’s main force when they arrived… everything would be resolved peacefully.

The citizens, unable to satisfy their hatred, would live on with their sorrow and anger, but at least they’d live.

Isn’t that better than dying?

—

After reviewing the plan, I lit a cigarette and pointed Durandal at the citizen militia. As if to say I’d cut them down if they so much as twitched.

“You are my prisoners and my property. In other words, slaves. Do you think slaves can speak out of turn without their master’s permission? Unless you want to be torn apart and die.”

I spat out harsh words along with cigarette smoke, scanning the citizen militia.

Most of them were young men clad in armor provided by the Kranuus Church. There were a few women and boys mixed in, but not many.

The skewed composition… might mean that not the entire city supported the militia’s cause.

“Slaves…? Slaves, what are you talking about…?!”

“Crazy, what are you saying…?”

My harsh words seemed to have shocked them, as the citizen militia began to murmur. I scanned them with sharp eyes, carefully observing their expressions.

I was hoping to spot those who showed frustration instead of panic or anger, or those who, like the man who had collapsed earlier, would protest my words and incite those around them. I planned to investigate those individuals first.

“Sir Median, what are you saying? Enslaving the citizens? Wasn’t that just a false pretext to drive out the Paladins of Astraea?”

But instead of the citizen militia, it was the Paladins of Kranuus who protested.

…Oh right, these guys were here too. I almost forgot.

“False pretext? I don’t recall saying anything like that. You must have misunderstood.”

I flicked the ash off my cigarette and approached the Paladins of Kranuus. Spinning Durandal in my right hand.

Perhaps sensing my approach as a threat, his face began to show wariness.

“First of all, what are the Paladins of Kranuus doing here? Engaging in full-scale war with the Astraea Church Order—that can’t be an order from the central diocese of the Holy City. So, is this the local Archbishop’s independent decision?”

No matter how I thought about it, it was highly likely that the Paladins of Kranuus joining the citizen militia was the local Archbishop’s independent decision. With the Cardinal’s suicide and the Kranuus Church Order’s complete loss of political influence, it was unlikely that the Kranuus Church Order would recklessly clash with the Astraea Church Order.

Unless they wanted to completely ruin the Church Order.

“…That’s correct. Archbishop Radenis of the Arad Diocese ordered it. To save those oppressed by the harshness of the scales and show them Kranuus’s mercy.”

See? Just as I thought.

“Mercy, huh.”

I sneered and mocked him. Mercy, my foot. His true intentions were obvious.

He wanted to restore the Holy Kingdom’s ‘purity’ through conflict—something like that. Just like their former Cardinal, Erich.

The lower-ranking paladins might have truly acted out of mercy, but someone at the Archbishop level was a different story. An Archbishop-level figure couldn’t possibly be unaware of what would happen if they provoked the Paladins of Astraea.

Suppose they drove out the Astraea Church Order in Arad. Would that be the end of it? Before they could even savor their victory, the main force of the Astraea Church Order would come. How did they plan to stop that?

The only way to stop it would be for the central diocese of the Kranuus Church Order to step in and block Astraea’s main force, but that would immediately start a religious war.

Probably, this Archbishop Radenis guy wanted that war. Just like Erich.

…These guys still haven’t learned their lesson, even after their Cardinal died.