CH 23.2

Several soldiers were waiting on standby outside the church, but they were already tied up with ivy.

「Reiji-kun! Over here!」

「Mimino-san!」

It seems that Mimino-san hijacked the guards’ horses.

Naturally, both the young lady and Asha can ride.

Zerry-san had disappeared somewhere along with the woman I was carrying, but she shouldn’t have any trouble.

However, Mimino-san couldn’t ride a horse due to her height. So when I reached out my hand, she took it. I pulled her up and sat her in front of me. And then we started riding away.

「T-Thank you!」Mimino-san said.

「More importantly, where should we go?!」

「We have to leave the Holy City.」

The Earl answered my cry immediately.

He had recovered from the previous shock and regained his calm composure.

「Do you have a plan?」I asked.

「Yes, indeed. –Reiji-san, please clear the way ahead!」

「!!」

There were a lot of things I wanted to ask, such as what happened after I left the Holy City, what was happening right now, but that will have to wait.

There was a barricade in front of the fence, and about 10 soldiers manned it.

(What is this? Did they set up a line of defense in expectation of our escape?)

When I raised the ground with【Earth Magic】and tried to destroy the barricade,【Earth Magic】was applied to counter mine, and suppressed it for a moment.

「It’s my turn!」

Mimino-san invoked her magic,【Flower Magic】.

The trees used for the barricade stretched and wrapped around the soldiers.

Perhaps the mage’s concentration was interrupted, as my【Earth Magic】won and the barricades and soldiers were swept left and right along with the protrusion of the ground.

Our horses jumped across the destroyed ground.

「An emergency messenger of the Earl House! Move! Move!」

By producing a loud voice with【Wind Magic】, the people in the streets hurriedly gave way.

We escaped to the suburbs of the Holy City through the gates of each block.

「Hah, hah, hah…」

Everyone was exhausted, but we couldn’t afford to linger around.

(After all, the criminal who harmed the predecessor Holy King is here…)

Come to think of it, maybe I’m not the only one who is being hunted?

Otherwise, it wouldn’t make sense for Earl Sillys to escape, and he was also tied up with a rope…

「…Follow me, everyone.」

After leaving the horses behind, we followed the Earl for an hour. To a forest.

**

There was a small hut in the forest. It was clean, probably because it was well maintained.

There was a hidden shelf. Within, a magic tool for long-distance communication was stored.

Earl Sillys needed to use it, so we had to wait outside the hut.

「Reiji!」

「Reiji-san!」

The young lady jumped at me from the right, and Asha from the left – to be exact, the young lady stopped at the last minute and she smiled like a noble lady, but Asha hit me with a tackle.

「Reiji-san, Reiji-san, Reiji-san… I am so glad that you are safe! Ug…uGu…Uwaaaaa…」

「Asha…」

I gently put a hand on her shoulder, as she began to burst out crying.

「I’m sorry for leaving again.」

「I-It’s fine. As long as you are safe…」

She embraced me tightly.

What should I do?

Was Asha always so passionate?

Perhaps she was.

「…Reiji.」

「Huh?」

I thought I heard a freezing cold voice. It belonged to Lady Eva, of course.

「Seems like you two have an intimate relationship?」

「Oh, young lady, this is…」

So scary! Her perfect smile makes her even more scary!

My Lady, you have grown to be a great noble… no, I’m still scared!

「Reiji-kun, you are so popular.」

「Mimino-san… Please don’t tease me.」

「Ahaha. Anastasia, Lady Eva, the most important thing to do right now is to exchange information and decide what to do next.」

「…Yes.」

The young lady nodded reluctantly, but Asha did not let go of me.

「Anastasia.」

「…Uh, okay.」

When Mimino-san called out to her once again, Asha slowly let go of me.

Her eyes were wet, but she turned her back to me, and wiped her tears with a handkerchief.

「——Welcome home, Reiji-san.」

Asha turned around and said. I looked at Asha, then the young lady and Mimino-san.

「I’m home.」

I felt a little calm.

On a side note, only the young lady, Asha, and Mimino-san were here.

The other woman was a magic tool expert, it seems. She seems to have escaped with Zerry-san.

When I heard that Dante-san was also in the city, I wanted to meet him so badly, but he is apparently with Captain Maxim.

Maxim-san has to be informed about the events of this day, after all.

I hope we can join up together soon.

「Let me tell you what has happened up until now.」Lady Eva said.

The young lady left the country and headed for the Lev Magic Empire to search for me.

A coup d’etat occurred in the Holy Kingdom, and Duke Grenjido took on the title of Holy King once again – that is, he usurped the throne from the active-duty Holy Queen.

(…This is a seriously dangerous situation. But since Duke Grenjido is a usurper, maybe I won’t be punished? But then again, he is still the predecessor Holy King…)

I was worried about such a thing, but the young lady continued the explanation.

When the young lady returned to the Holy City and tried to prevent the renovation of the church into a goddess temple, she was captured by Duke Grenjido.

And that’s when I appeared…… I see.

「So then, why did you come to the Church, Reiji? And where have you been?」the young lady asked.

「As to where I have been until now, I was in Canion. As you had guessed, my lady. It was only recently that I left that place… And as for the reason why I jumped into the church, it was because Duke Grenjido had become the “Apostle of the Goddess”.」

I explained a little regarding the apostle.

「Reiji, are you able to sense these “Apostles”?」

「No, it’s not actually me — which also leads to me breaking the stained glass.」

Right as I was saying that–

「——Everyone, I have a matter to discuss.」

Earl Sillys came out of the hut.

His expression was tense.

Naturally, we fell silent and approached the Earl.

「Actually, I prepared this place as a means of contacting Border Earl Mule.」

Border Earl Mule…… The man who wears a bear pelt on his head.

I think his daughter, Lady Mira, got along with Lady Eva.

「The Border Earl has not yet returned to his territory and is staying in two neighboring territories of Duke Ebene. Duke Ebene belongs to the Holy Queen’s faction.」

Duke Ebene is a halfling, the same as Mimino-san. And in contrast to his malicious father, Lord Ethan seems to be an honest person.

When I resigned my job as the young lady’s escort and tried to leave the Holy City, Duke Ebene sent a troop of soldiers to capture me. I don’t have any grudges because of that or anything, rather I feel sorry for the soldier I beat up at that time. And I even have a little sympathy for Lord Ethan who had no choice but to obey the orders of his father.

「Since the other dukes are endorsing Duke Grenjido, Duke Ebene took it unto himself to investigate the reason for that choice… and it seems that he finally got a glimpse of that information.」

「What happened, father? The Five Great Dukes betraying the Holy Queen is not something that would normally happen, isn’t it?」

「Yes. It seems that Grenjido promised that when the coup is successful, he would halve the number of Dukes and hand over all their concessions.」

「…Unbelievable. They exchanged their loyalty for a concession?」

「That’s how much power the Duke Houses hold. It’s not just that their power will be doubled, but it also has a synergistic effect. As the number of dukes decrease, the power of each of their voices increases. Their political influence will increase greatly.」

「Is there any way we can change their mind?」

「No, Duke Ebene seems to have given up on that option. Instead… Duke Ebene has teamed up with Border Earl Mule and Duke Luciel.」

Duke Luciel is one of the Five Great Dukes, and like Duke Ebene, it is one of the Duke Houses which did not betray the Holy Queen.

「We will raise troops to recapture the Holy City.」

「!!」

The young lady stiffened.

War– No, the Earl and the Dukes decided to have a civil war.

「…Is there a chance of victory?」I asked.

The young lady looked at me in surprise.

She must have tried to think of a way to avoid the fight. However, civil war is a last resort. She must have thought about and dismissed a number of options up to this point.

If civil war is the only option, then there is no choice but to do it.

「There is.」

The Earl nodded.

「Reiji-san, I am certain there is something you have to do, correct?」

「Yes.」

I answered without hesitation.

It is to restore this world.

It’s not about going back to before the “World Union”.

I have to prevent the world from being completely enveloped by the goddess’ mental interference and surveillance.

I heard before coming here that the goddess is conducting mental interference and surveillance through the temples.

I don’t know how much of my thoughts the Earl has grasped.

「Reiji-san, can you help me a little before that? I need your help.」

「Understood, of course.」

I made a promise.

To fulfill my purpose, it is better to have as few goddess temples as possible.

Earl Sillys exhaled slightly.

As if feeling relieved from the bottom of his heart.

「Please get Her Majesty the Holy Queen out of the Holy Palace.」

It was quite a difficult request.