Chapter 167: Initiation Ceremony (3)

Inquisitor Paris.

He was a fairly competent holy knight, but he was considered to lack the years of experience to serve as the Commander.

Nevertheless, the reason he rose to the position of Commander was that the previous Commander, Sir Durand, had died in a sudden accident.

-From now on, you are the Commander of the Order of Saint Marcias.

On the unprecedented day when a gate opened in the Imperial Palace, the Holy Emperor had clearly said those words to Paris.

As he said, Paris, who had been the Commander's assistant, had no choice but to become the acting Commander and reorganize the disarrayed order. And soon after, under the leadership of Cardinal Benitus, the work of ferreting out the remnants of the Dark Cult followed.

As more and more cleanup work kept arising, he had conveniently solidified his position as the Commander. Naturally, the gazes of some senior and peer inquisitors were not favorable.

"If you know you're in a position beyond your means, you should also know to decline it yourself."

"I guess he thought it was an opportunity for promotion when the Commander passed away like that."

Those who had been hands-off during the actual cleanup were now running their mouths. As a senior, he couldn't even soothe the atmosphere, let alone incite division within the order.

But as the one who had become the Commander, it wasn't something he could confide in anyone about. As he grew weary living through such creaking days, an unexpected decision came down from the Holy Council.

-The saintess is the [Apostle] of the Lord who will carry on the legacy of Saint Marcias. As she personally wishes to join the holy knightly order, she should be treated appropriately befitting her status.

When Paris first heard that instruction, he doubted his own ears. Suddenly inserting a 12-year-old child, not even a knight, as a deputy-level position?

Of course, it wasn't nonsensical in principle.

The saint was a person promoted to a living saint. Although she had no real authority, in terms of the hierarchy of the Orthodox Church, she was treated almost on par with a cardinal. Considering her lack of practical experience, she was placed at the deputy level, but originally, she was practically a superior above the Commander.

But do things really work that way? If the saintess directly joins the knightly order, the story becomes completely different.

A deputy who trains alongside new squires, how absurd is that!

"Commander, this is truly an outrageous measure, no matter how you look at it! Deputy-level? Isn't she just a little kid who has never even properly held a weapon before?"

"Isn't she receiving too much special treatment just because she's a member of the imperial family? The discipline of the knightly order will be shaken! Please do something about it, alright?"

When his subordinates suddenly clung to him, calling him Commander and complaining, Paris was a bit dumbfounded.

At the very least, this incident had definitely become an opportunity for the Order of Saint Marcias to solidify internally.

Anyway, he also thought this measure was somewhat unreasonable, so he sought out Cardinal Venitus directly to raise an objection.

But the next day, the cardinal, with a face that had become half its size, asked him this.

"You, do you happen to know that after Saint Aurelion received a divine revelation, he received various promotion benefits from the Orthodox Church to smoothly carry out his mission?"

Paris was puzzled. It was a story that didn't even take up a few lines in the actual scriptures, ending with something like 'the saintess received a divine revelation and led the people'.

"What about the incident hundreds of years ago when Priest Granius temporarily served as the Commander to engage in urgent negotiations with the Anatolian lords?"

"...Pardon?"

It was also the first time he had heard of it.

Then, Cardinal Benitus wrinkled his aged face even more gloomily and sighed.

"You don't know? I didn't know until today either! So what can we do? As of now, we have no justification to oppose His Majesty's will. I don't know where he found such historical records, but the evidence and precedents are too clear."

"......"

"The more I think about it, the more frightening he is. Surely he couldn't have memorized even the discontinued scriptures in their entirety, could he?"

If that strict old man had given up, there was truly no other way. Paris' troubles deepened.

In the midst of that, an opinion arose within the knightly order to hold an initiation ceremony for the saint. The initiation ceremony was, in fact, closer to a bad habit of harshly treating new squires and enforcing discipline.

"If she experiences the initiation ceremony, she will surely be frightened and withdraw her admission, don't you think?"

"But even squires who have trained to a certain extent often fall ill after going through the initiation ceremony. If we make the young saint endure such a harsh ordeal alone, what will people think of us?"

"Then let's show her actual training under the pretext of a rehearsal. We'll have her directly experience some of the training that new squires go through. With that much, there won't be any significant backlash."

That seemed like a plausible opinion. Could a young girl, who had been revered as a saint, insist on joining even after witnessing the brutal training of an actual knightly order?

So, Commander Paris summoned the saintess to the training ground the very next day.

"......?"

But somehow, the situation unfolded a bit differently than he had thought.

Even after seeing the inquisitors in full plate armor with a fierce aura, not just light armor, the saintess merely expressed admiration without much change in her expression.

"This is the public authority that Brother mentioned...!"

...Public authority?

Facing the saintesss eyes that were growing unexpectedly starry, Commander Paris felt an ominous premonition for some reason.

Hyah! Take this! Hah!

On one side of the training ground, squires swinging flails with menacing spikes could be seen. As instructed by their seniors in advance, they were diligently playing the role of vicious criminals while sweating profusely.

The murderous intent was so palpable that it seemed they would beat someone to death at any moment, but.

"That is the safe weapon that the elder brother mentioned...!"

...Safe... what?

Commander Paris broke out in a cold sweat. Something was going terribly wrong.

And his bad premonition reached its peak after placing a weapon in the saintess's hand.

The heavy flail that ordinary people struggle to swing with both hands, the saint lightly lifted with one hand and began twirling it around, imitating the squires.

For those small hands and slender arms to handle such weight, it meant she was already naturally circulating Aura through her muscles......

'Did the saintess undergo Aura cultivation training?'

Before he could even ponder that question.

Clang! Crunch!

The flail was lightly swung, and the breastplate of the plate mail covering the dummy was instantly crumpled like paper!

"......!"

"Phew."

While the entire knightly order turned pale with shock, the saint lightly exhaled the breath she had been holding. Somehow, she seemed to instinctively know the timing to stop breathing.

"Aiming at armored dummies instead of people somehow puts my mind at ease. If I hit like this, they won't die, right?"

The members of the Order of Saint Marcias collectively flapped their mouths with ashen faces.

You just turned someone's heart and lungs into mush with a single blow!

Paris rubbed his temples, which were starting to throb. Something was getting seriously twisted.

In the midst of that, the two princes, who were present as guardians and observers, were also very grating. Especially the 3rd Prince.

The way he smiled leisurely, raising the corners of his mouth crookedly as if he had expected this, was unbearably unpleasant.

"Then, Saintess. We are about to start basic physical training, but will you be participating?"

Then, all the inquisitors began circling the training ground with solemn faces.

The saintess followed behind them without a word. Still lacking a training uniform, she grabbed the hem of her long priestly robes and trotted along, the fabric fluttering about!

'Urk, how cute......!'

The inquisitors clutched their hearts. Of course, that sentiment didn't last long.

'Why... Why isn't she getting tired?'

Since it was endurance training, they weren't running at full speed, but it was still impressive for a young girl to keep up with the pace of grown adults without falling behind. Yet that speed didn't decrease one bit.

Not only that. The leisurely appearance of not breaking a single sweat no matter how much she ran.

'Commander. We've already exceeded our usual training volume by twice?'

'Shut up! Are you going to be humiliated in front of the saintess?'

'But at this rate, the members won't be able to endure it. We're in heavier gear than usual, aren't we? There's a limit to relying on divine power to replenish stamina!'

True to those words, soon the squires began dropping out one by one, and eventually, all the inquisitors collapsed on the training ground, gasping for breath.

Huff! Gasp!

Hah! Pant!

"You train to the point of exhaustion like this. To maintain this level of training even during the birthday celebration period, it must be impossible without truly lofty sense of duty and thorough self-discipline."

"......"

Saintess Sisle spoke in admiration, but no one responded. They were already too exhausted to even make a sound.

Originally, it was tradition for senior knights to harass and berate struggling new squires.

But now, the actual newcomer, the saintess, was the only one leisurely walking among the inquisitors sprawled on the ground, drenched in sweat, and distributing divine power to them.

The girl's appearance was both sacred and adorable, but she was also the culprit who had caused this mess in the first place. Complex emotions clouded the faces of the inquisitors as they looked at the saint.

"T-today is just a rehearsal, so let's call it a day......"

As Commander Paris began to speak to send the saintess back.

"It's troubling if you're this amazed, Sisle. This is just light physical training for holy knights."

Prince Morres, wearing a somewhat nasty-looking smile, slyly interjected.

"The other holy knights must train at this intensity every day, right? Isn't that so, Logan?"

Then, Prince Logan solemnly nodded.

"Ceaseless training is the duty of a knight. But indeed, among the five holy knightly orders, this place might be the best? Our Lilium Special Forces also prided ourselves on conducting high-intensity training, but after seeing the Order of Saint Marcias today, I feel we were too complacent. We need to reflect on that."

"......"

Hearing that heartfelt admiration, the inquisitors exchanged glances with anxious hearts.

Hey, what do we do? Don't tell me we'll have to do this every day from now on?

However, unlike the two people who were purely admiring, Prince Morres had an evident expression of amusement on his face.

"Now, now, Sisle. Since you're now a member of the holy knightly order, how about training with them until the end before the grand mass? They called you here, after all."

For a moment, it seemed as if black devil horns overlapped above the prince's head.

'He's deliberately instigating her, isn't he?'

'Hey! You devil!'

'I'm here on my day off after being called in! Please spare me!'

As the inquisitors let out silent screams, the saintess tilted her head.

"But we've already learned weaponry and completed physical training, so what's left?"

"Swordsmanship is left."

"Swordsmanship?"

When Prince Morres pointed it out, the saint asked back, seemingly a bit confused.

"But I heard that the Order of Saint Marcias values life. So they don't deliberately wield swords......"

Then, the inquisitors looked at each other with dumbfounded faces.

Did we say that? We've heard a lot about keeping them alive to bring them to the torture chamber, though?

"What are you talking about, Sisle? Of course, it's natural for all holy knights to value life. But basically, as a knight of the Empire, one must learn the standard swordsmanship of the Imperial Knights. Where did you hear such a thing?"

At Logan's question, Sisle answered with a bit of hesitation.

"Ah, um. He said swords are scary because they can kill people. So......"

Sisle had wholeheartedly believed Orden's words. But she couldn't bring herself to tattle on him for telling her that.

However, Logan listened to the story seriously and soon sternly rebuked Sisle.

"What a thoughtless mindset, Sisle. Surely you didn't decide to join the holy knightly order with such a frivolous attitude? If a knight fears taking lives, who would ever think of you as a comrade and entrust their back to you?"

"Comrade......"

"Yes. Suppose, by any chance, you were facing off against a demon worshipper or a demon servant. While clearly witnessing them harming people, would you make the excuse that you couldn't stop them because you didn't learn how to kill?"

"......!"

"The sword of the person you hesitate to strike down might pierce the heart of the holy knight next to you in the next moment. Then, would you say you did your best to save lives in front of his bereaved family?"

At that strong rebuke, Sisle's eyes quivered intensely.

However, the girl who had fought against slowly approaching death alone for several years was a strong child. Gazing at Logan with trembling hands clasped together, the girl soon had a firm, resolute look in her eyes.

She turned to Commander Paris, bowed her head respectfully, and said.

"I was foolish, Commander. From now on, I will immediately participate in all the training of the knightly order."

"No, there's no need for that......"

As Commander Paris dissuaded her while breaking out in cold sweat, the saint laughed gently aloud. It was a crystal-clear laughter that resonated transparently through the air.

"Yes. Today, you all went easy on me out of consideration, right? But from now on, I am also a member of Saint Marcias. From this moment on, I will share all the moments of hardship with my comrades. I am prepared!"

"......"

The faces of the inquisitors lying on the ground instantly turned gloomy.

As everyone in the training ground turned solemn, only one person merely turned his head away with a face reddened from holding back laughter.

'Snicker snicker! Ah, this is driving me crazy!'

[...Lee Seongjin, you devil!]