Volume 2 - CH 322

Chapter 0322 Mistakes

Translator: Jay_Forestieri

Editor: Tseirp

After leaving the Centaurs, the search party returned to Onge, the northernmost town in the northern country of Arjeplog, after a three-day journey.

They didn’t encounter the Red Bear on their way this time.

Perhaps it deliberately avoided them.

However, the harpies attacked them again.

And once again, they were protected by ice walls.

They left the carriage at the Onge church.

Around the carriage, which Ryo had frozen to prevent any mischief, were knight-looking men hanging around.

“They’re back!”

One of the men shouted, and from all around, the knight-looking men started gathering.

In the distance, the priests and deacons of the Onge church were looking at them, trembling.

They were looking toward them and bowing repeatedly. They seemed to be apologizing.

It looked like they were terrified of the knight-looking men…

Then a man, presumably the leader, came forward and said:

“We are the Knights Templar. I am Andre de Bachelet, commander of the third detachment.”

(Templars!)

A certain water-attribute magician was feeling elated inwardly after listening to the self-introduction.

The Knights Templar… a knight order of the same name exists in Earth’s history.

The Knights Templar on Earth was founded in 1119, after the First Crusade, to protect pilgrims to Jerusalem.

Subsequently, their assets, including land donated to the Knights Templar, became enormous.

In the 12th and 13th centuries, they conducted international financial services in Europe and were so powerful that the royal families of various countries, as well as the Vatican, opened accounts with them.

In the end, however, the Knights themselves were subjected to the Inquisition and destroyed by King Philip IV of France, who wanted to seize the enormous fortune of the Order.

Ryo recalled the history in his mind.

He might have been grinning a little because of that.

And Niels was giving him a sideways glance,

“Ryo is up to no good again…”

He muttered.

Etho then stepped forward to ask.

“So how may we help you Templars?”

He was courteous in the way he addressed them, but the look in his eyes and words were authoritative.

Normally, Etho is a gentle and quiet priest, but his three years as an adventurer and his ability to rise to the level of a B-rank adventurer as a priest is no joke.

It was, at the same time, a competence as a servant of God, something that the members of the Knights Templar, who are knights but also clergymen of the church, could feel well enough.

But the commander, Andre de Bachelet, said:

“Give us the information you’ve obtained about the Demon Lord.”

“We refuse.”

Etho declined instantly.

“Wha…”

He probably wasn’t expecting to be refused so openly.

The commander, Andre, was absolutely mortified.

The other knights, who had been overwhelmed by Etho’s presumed aura as a priest, came to their senses and grew angry.

“Son of a… do you know what will happen if you offend us?”

Saying that, Andre, the commander, took a step forward and…

“Ughoo.”

He slipped and fell.

It was so sudden that no one uttered a word.

But Zeke, instantly, understood what had happened… or rather who had done that.

He glanced at Ryo beside him.

Almost simultaneously, Niels, Etho, and Amon also realized it.

But they didn’t look at Ryo.

They just gave a small sigh.

“This…”

Andre tried to stand up while saying that….

“Whoa.”

He slipped and fell again.

“You scoundrels…”

Seeing this, all twenty members of the group who started rushing toward them… slipped and fell.

The scene was quite spectacular…

And all of them, just as they were about to get up, slipped and fell again…

Their nightmare had begun.

Zeke glanced at Ryo at his side, but Ryo looked the same as usual. The same look as always.

Unbelievable, no one could tell that he was generating magic…

So naturally.

For all twenty-one people, <Ice Bahn> was being generated under their feet when they tried to stand up, and only on the side where they put their weight.

The timing of their attempts to stand up, of course, varied, yet the instantaneous generation of magic captured everyone’s situation in real-time.

It was amazingly precise magic control.

Being utilized to create such an astonishingly ridiculous situation…

The technique behind it lay in ultimate precision.

Harold and Gowan, not understanding what was going on, were shaken at first, but when they saw that Niels and the others were acting normal, they finally got it.

Ryo was behind it.

Then they looked at Zeke.

And Zeke nodded silently.

They, too, said nothing and decided to continue watching.

As the scene continued for a while, Etho walked over to the priest and deacon of the Onge Church, who were huddled together on the other side of the Templars, and called out to them.

“Priests, we will be taking our leave then.”

“Eh…oh, okay… Um, what about…these knights…”

The priest then asked the most logical question in response to Etho’s words.

“Right… I’m not sure what’s wrong with them… but it could be a disease or a curse… Perhaps they’ll recover in a few hours, but there is nothing a lowly priest like me can do about it. If you know a larger city nearby that happens to have a high-ranking priest, you might want to call them?”

“I-I see… There is a bishop in the neighboring Dune City. I’ll call for him right away… and ask him to come see you, Sir Andre, so please hold on!”

The deacon called out loudly, and Andre, the commander who kept slipping, nodded and waved his hand, “Go”.

After asking the deacon to prepare the party’s horses, the priest quickly mounted the carriage and rode out of town.

By then, the knights who kept sliding had given up on getting up.

Waiting for the bishop to come.

They had already accepted that this was a supernatural phenomenon and that the bishop would have to do something about it.

Seeing that the Knights Templar had given up on getting up, the search party of Room 10 and 11 left Onge City.

Inside the carriage.

“The issue was solved in a rather smart way, wouldn’t you say.”

Niels gave a small shake of his head to Ryo’s words.

Etho and Amon chuckled.

While Harold and Gowan looked at each other.

And Zeke…

“Ryo-san, did you try tripping us over at the ‘Café de Chocolat’ in the royal capital before?”

He asked in a surprisingly straightforward manner.

Ryo was most surprised by the directness of the question.

“Can’t say I know what you are talking about.”

“Um…”

Ryo was being evasive, and Zeke interrupted him… taking the initiative.

“Perhaps if I were to come across an adventurer that says stuff like, I’m a C-rank adventurer just so you know! And I’m going to inherit a dukedom in the future! I can do whatever I want to a place like this! I just might try to trip them over, who knows.”

“Eh…”

Zeke was absolutely mortified, and Harold’s face turned bright red.

When someone you respect finds out about a past you don’t want them to know about, your face tends to do that.

Hearing this, Niels shook his head slightly.

Etho and Amon laughed more emphatically than before.

“Yeah… that was my bad.”

Harold admitted his fault, though in a soft, really soft voice.

He’d grown up a lot since then.

Ryo thought he was a very nasty guy when he first met him, but he admits that he has grown since then.

Of course, admitting wrongdoing and growing up does not erase the mistakes of the past.

But those who admit their mistakes are much better people than those who don’t… or so he believes.

“Harold. If you make it back safely to the royal capital, you should apologize to the waiters at the ‘Cafe de Chocolat’ for the trouble you caused.”

“Yes…”

Ryo said something very decent, Harold nodded, and the party approved.

Admitting one’s mistakes and to keep progressing.

Perhaps that is the way to grow as a person.