“——Let me sort out what you all said.”
Ulysses sat in Ginny’s living room with a headache. The Righteous Knight of the Cross Purification Knights, Sir Trislock, and several of his close subordinates still knelt before him.
“So, more than two months ago, you received letters from people claiming to be the mine chief of Lem Mine and the mayor of Lem Town. They said werewolves had appeared in Abe Village. Under the werewolves’ temptation, a village woman from Abe Village had fallen and become a witch who committed adultery with werewolves. This witch was exceptionally cunning. She helped the werewolves corrupt the villagers of Abe Village and wreaked havoc in the surrounding areas, bringing great disaster to both Lem Mine and Lem Town.”
“According to the rules of your Crusader Knights Order, you charge fees before mobilizing. So you wrote back to the mine chief of Lem Mine and the mayor of Lem Town to demand the commission fee. Only after the commission fee arrived at the Crusader Knights Order did you set off for Abe Village.”
“Unfortunately, your horses fell ill on the way. Treating them was too expensive, so you had to sell the horses and switch to walking. A few days ago, you finally realized your group was moving too slowly, so you used the money from selling the horses to buy train tickets to Lem Town.”
“In Lem Town, you saw many werewolves but no sign of the commissioner, the mayor. When you asked the townsfolk about the mayor’s whereabouts, you got the cold shoulder. They told you the previous mayor was already dead. You assumed the situation had deteriorated to the point where the witch and werewolves had eroded the entire Lem Town. You planned to first kill the witch as the mastermind and the werewolf who committed adultery with her, then slowly clear out the other werewolves in the area… That’s correct, right?”
“Yes, Earl.”
After Ulysses succinctly summarized their group’s foolish actions over the past two months, Trislock felt ashamed. His entire face turned blood red.
The current queen differed from her grandmother in her attitude toward religion—it was neither warm nor cold, neither salty nor bland. After the old pope was summoned by the Lord, the queen directly disbanded the army once belonging to the Holy See. The Crusader Knights, with their deep faith, refused to abandon their “mission” even after no longer being part of the Holy See’s forces.
Under the leadership of the previous knight commander, the Crusader Knights retreated to the countryside and became a folk organization similar to witch hunters.
Given that most knights ate like bottomless pits and drank like sponges, the order’s food expenses alone were considerable. Add in the wear and tear on equipment from daily training, and the medical costs for injuries, and the Crusader Knights Order operated at a chronic deficit. For that reason, the order had no choice but to relocate to remote rural areas with low costs, cheap goods, and increasing isolation.
By now, the Crusader Knights acted just like witch hunters: they only mobilized after receiving a commission and securing the fee from the client.
Otherwise, the order constantly received letters claiming someone had spotted a witch consorting with demons in some place, requesting the Crusader Knights to come and exorcise her. By the time the knights arrived, they often learned it was a wronged wife slandering her husband’s mistress, or a street prostitute labeled a witch, all in an attempt to use the knights’ hands to eliminate a thorn in their side.
On the flip side, those willing to pay a hefty sum to hire the Crusader Knights were rarely joking.
The order’s headquarters was in such a remote location that not only was there no fashionable telephone from the capital, but electricity itself hadn’t reached there. The mail carrier only went once a week. When no mail arrived for the Crusader Knights Order, the carrier didn’t even bother checking if any knights had letters to send.
All the order’s communication with the outside world relied on letters. As a result, not only was the frequency of information exchange with the outside low, but events that weren’t particularly important to the knights—like Earl Grant’s sudden death and his sole son inheriting the title—weren’t included in the letters sent to the order.
The downfall of Tobias and Petty, master and servant, along with brothers Francis and Francois, happened in a single night. How could Francis, who had sent the money to mobilize the knights, have imagined that just days later, Tobias and their father would be sent to the gallows, while he and his brother would be thrown into the deepest mine pit?
Oblivious to the outside situation, the Crusader Knights set off for the destination based on the client’s information after receiving the money. On the road, Sir Trislock never thought to write back to the order, and the order had no way to contact him since the horses’ issues derailed them completely from the planned route and timeline.
Most critically, the order still didn’t know their client had been tried and executed—to avoid alerting the enemy, Tobias had Francis and the others keep their commissioning of the Crusader Knights a strict secret. After Tobias and Petty died, Francis and Francois lived “good” days where they couldn’t even sleep their fill. how could they spare a thought for the Crusader Knights or other motley forces?
No one knew Tobias had commissioned the Crusader Knights to eliminate the werewolves and witch, so naturally, no one wrote to the order to cancel the commission. Even if someone had written to cancel Tobias’s commission, as mentioned earlier, the order couldn’t contact Trislock anyway.
“Just from two portraits, you found Mary and Lang… I don’t know whether to call you lucky or Mary and Lang too unlucky.”
Reality unfolded like an absurd play, leaving Ulysses feeling utterly ridiculous. Absurd as it was, upon closer thought, it made the world feel capricious—sometimes reality outdid drama in exaggeration.
In any case, having clarified that Sir Trislock and the Crusader Knights Order bore no blood feud with Ye Tang and Lang, Ulysses could finally breathe a sigh of relief.
“Sir Trislock, you may rise.”
“Thank you for your courtesy, Earl.”
After letting Trislock stand, Ulysses explained to him the relationship between Ye Tang and Lang, the origins between the werewolves and Abe Village, Lem Town, and Lem Mine. He also informed Trislock why Tobias, Francis, and the others had met such ends.
Clutching his helmet like an iron bucket, Trislock stood mute for a long while. He truly couldn’t accept the facts Ulysses described right away.
“…Earl, forgive my rudeness. May I ask you a question?”
“Ask away.”
“If what you say is true, and that lady… Lady Mary is truly just an ordinary village woman, how could an ordinary village girl possess such astonishing wisdom? Moreover, just now, she confronted me using content from the holy scriptures. How would she know the contents of the holy scriptures? She doesn’t even seem like someone who believes…”
Ordinary village girls were poor. Even if not poor, they wouldn’t spend money on books. Gorgeous dresses, luxurious jewelry, expensive shoes and bags, scarce cosmetics and perfumes… Didn’t women always talk about those? In his life, he knew of young ladies who loved reading romance novels, but he’d never heard of village girls who liked books.
Moreover, this village girl wasn’t reading romance novels but something dry and boring… Cough, no, he didn’t mean to disparage the holy scriptures. He meant the sacred content was profound and deep, incomprehensible to ordinary people.
“This…”
As Trislock brought it up, Ulysses, lost in recollection, couldn’t help curving his lips.
He wasn’t a devil; he didn’t make people work without sleep or rest. During breaks from official duties, he would invite everyone for red tea and pastries. He also allowed his subordinates to handle their own affairs or rest nearby.
During breaks, Ye Tang only drank tea and skipped the pastries because she feared crumbs would dirty her book.
Seeing her read with such relish, Ulysses couldn’t resist asking, “Mary, what are you reading?”
Ye Tang then held up the book, letting Ulysses see the cover.
“The holy scriptures? Why are you reading this? Planning to convert?”
Ulysses, furrowing his brow, didn’t want Ye Tang to convert or believe. The queen not only didn’t believe but deliberately suppressed the Holy See’s power.
After these days together, Ulysses already saw Ye Tang as one of their own. He had reported every detail about her to the queen in full, and the queen instructed him: Be sure to bring this wise person to see her.
If Ye Tang converted or believed, regardless of her original intent, she would stand against the queen. This was dangerous because the queen’s camp had plenty of advisors—one more or less didn’t matter. But the queen absolutely wouldn’t allow the Holy See a chance to regain its strength.
Depending on Ye Tang’s answer, Ulysses might have to change his attitude toward her.
“Do you know how she answered?”
Without waiting for Trislock to respond, Ulysses already smiled and said, “She called it: ‘Just learning it as general knowledge.’ …Hmm, from your look, I know you’re thinking the same as I did then: ‘What kind of village girl treats the holy scriptures as general knowledge?’ But now, my thinking has changed—”
A glint of respect and a faint affection he himself hadn’t noticed flickered in his lake-green eyes as Ulysses lowered his gaze and smiled.
“Perhaps Mary had already anticipated she would one day face believers like you who see werewolves and beastmen as mortal enemies, so she began studying her enemies in advance. Preparing to confront you.”
“——”
Sweat dampened the knight’s collar. Thinking of that woman who had pressed a black hunting gun to his chin and torn the necklace from his neck, Trislock now knew for sure Ye Tang hadn’t stumbled upon the antidote by chance.
——The poison designed for beastmen harmed humans too, but the difference lay in dosage: the same amount would rot a beastman’s wound to the bone, while for humans, it merely blistered the skin like a scald from boiling water.
The Crusader Knights had a habit of carrying antidote in pendants engraved with the order’s emblem. This prevented knights from accidentally injuring their own or, if captured by beastmen, being force-fed the poison the knights used on arrowheads—with their own medicine.
Of course, the biggest reason was the turncoats among beastmen who collaborated with humans, betraying their kin and comrades. These turncoats often attacked alongside their kin to avoid detection. Turning beastmen wasn’t easy; each turncoat was a precious asset humans cherished. Unless absolutely necessary, the Crusader Knights wouldn’t abandon one they’d turned.
For all these reasons, Crusader Knights always carried a small amount of antidote.
A woman who could defeat a Crusader Knight with the holy scriptures—it wasn’t surprising she’d study their habits.
Trislock was speechless for a moment. Only after a long while did he find his voice.
“…If everything is truly as you say, then it was inevitable she’d be slandered as a ‘witch.’”
“After all, if petty villains didn’t slander her as a ‘witch,’ how could they confront a wise woman of such intellect head-on without suffering defeat?”
Seeing Trislock’s sincerely convinced expression filled Ulysses with an inexplicable pride.
“After all, that’s wisdom even Your Majesty desires to obtain.”