Taming the Evil Saintess

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Catacombs leading to the Cathedral.

Surprisingly, the entrance was connected to the Imperial Capital.

Reluctantly, we left the Mercenary Guild and headed towards the Imperial Capital, which inevitably made us a bit tense.

To be precise, it was Ophelia who was tense.

“Hey, if I run into that harlot again…”

“What does it matter if she’s a harlot? She’s the next Empress of the Empire.”

“But that woman hit on you like crazy!”

“Where do you see that as hitting on? At this point, if I pass by a street vendor, I’d say they’re hitting on me too!”

“She even proposed to you!”

“That was a joke!”

“What’s so funny about that? What kind of joke comes with being naked!”

Ophelia seemed to growl at the mere mention of the name Adelheit, sounding like Pavlov’s saint.

With a sigh, I calmed her down and took a look at the state of the capital.

The Sword Saint Albrecht approached me, having sent scouts into the inner city. He pulled back his deep hood as he spoke.

“I heard from my subordinates that it’s quite a mess out there.”

“Why?”

“The Imperial National Church has half-declared war on the Cathedral.”

“…Oh.”

This was the information Yurede had given me.

The envoy group sent by the Imperial National Church to the Cathedral for inspection had been imprisoned. The Cathedral had yet to make any statement. Rumors even circulated that they were colluding with demons, so it was only natural that the church, which was all about faith, would be ready to risk a military conflict.

Yurede had said that mediating this religious war would be impossible without a figure that symbolizes the continent’s faith.

Saint Ophelia.

She is the key.

“…Let’s take a detour.”

However, I had no intention of throwing Ophelia into the midst of a religious issue.

She had already endured enough trials. Just recently, I heard how she was ostracized by the nuns at the academy and ended up lost in the catacombs.

Therefore, I had no intention of adding another burden to Ophelia.

“How devoted.”

Albrecht chuckled wryly, and I merely shrugged.

“How are we planning to detour?”

“Well…”

I glanced at the Black Eagle Mercenaries trailing behind our wagon.

“They look like untrained mercenaries, don’t they?”

“…That might be a bit harsh, but it’s true too.”

Albrecht nodded reluctantly.

“Adding about seven or so more shouldn’t cause a huge problem, right?”

In other words, my plan was as follows:

Disguise ourselves.

As cheap mercenaries.

*

“Hey, Elliot.”

“What?”

“Is this really okay?”

“Of course, so stop worrying.”

I had spent plenty of time living as a mercenary, so wearing a shabby leather tunic felt completely normal. Albrecht, Azar, and Cecilia all had enough experience in the field to know what a mercenary’s appearance was like.

The real issue lay with Emily, Ophelia, and Erwin.

First of all, Ophelia and Emily were far too elegant.

With pale faces and slender figures that couldn’t even wield a sword. Of course, Ophelia might be strong enough to beat most knights, but she still looked fragile.

So I decided.

“You two are apprentices.”

“Apprentices?”

“More like trainee… mercenaries.”

“Sure, that sounds good.”

Emily nodded, accepting it, but Ophelia frowned sharply when she looked at my clothes.

“Hey, this is… men’s clothing.”

“Did you intend to wear women’s clothes?”

“Just to clarify, I am a woman.”

“Yeah, I know that. But where on earth do you see female apprentice mercenaries?”

Of course, they exist, but they would definitely stand out.

I sighed and offered her the clothes.

Ophelia blushed slightly as she muttered.

“W-What will happen to my chest if I wear this?”

“Hey, if you wear a loose outfit, it won’t be noticeable.”

“Shut up.”

“I have bandages.”

“…”

Ophelia glared at the clothes I handed her with a sour expression.

It was clear she didn’t want to wear them at all.

“Put it on.”

“No.”

“Put it on, I said.”

“I don’t want to.”

“Should I take it off for you?”

“Then go ahead and try…”

Ophelia’s eyes widened in shock, and I had to endure the piercing gazes around us.

Only Emily was bright-eyed.

“…I was wrong.”

That was my first apology.

Perhaps feeling better, Ophelia took the clothes with a victorious smile and entered the room.

I felt like I lost, and it pissed me off.

“So, what about me?”

Meanwhile, Erwin asked.

Not that it was a pleasant moment, but strangely it felt timely.

I smiled brightly and replied.

“Well, typically, there’s usually one or two women in a mercenary group.”

“Oh, really? Does that make me the only girl then?”

“Of course, those women are harlots.”

Afterwards, I had to dodge arrows for several minutes.

*

Despite the circumstances, we successfully entered the capital.

As expected, according to Albrecht’s intelligence, the church was filled with believers, including missionaries, shouting in unison.

If I were to summarize it in Ophelia’s words, it would be:

“Hey, you filthy bastards at the Cathedral!”

Of course, stripping it of all the embellishments, that summary still held true.

Currently, the Imperial National Church expressed serious dissatisfaction towards the Cathedral. Expressing dissatisfaction. A simple phrase, but for the church to use such shocking words towards the Cathedral’s Pope in a public place was unprecedented.

To put it simply, it was akin to grabbing someone by the collar and saying, “Let’s throw down.”

“….”

Ophelia watched the assembling believers silently, her lips pressed tight.

Sporting a bandana to hide her long hair, she looked nothing short of a bandit. However, despite her fierce appearance, she was undoubtedly facing significant inner turmoil.

“Hey, Elliot.”

“What?”

“I…”

“Don’t worry about it. It’s not your problem.”

I wrapped my arm around Ophelia’s shoulder and pulled her in the direction we needed to go.

Ophelia is a saint.

But being a saint doesn’t have to confine the direction of one’s life.

“….”

Ophelia let her body relax against my rough grip and spoke softly.

“Thank you for caring.”

“….”

I didn’t really respond.

*

As for supplies or equipment?

There wasn’t much preparation needed.

It wasn’t as difficult a path as when we crossed the Erosion Zone to take down Vermina, nor was it far enough to require camping. Above all, if we let things go as they were, the Imperial National Church truly seemed ready to lead the Knight Order to invade the Cathedral.

Therefore, we intended to end the fight with the Cathedral swiftly.

“Is this it?”

I spoke while looking at Yurede’s map.

This magical map showed our location, so it didn’t take much effort to find the entrance to the catacombs.

When we broke down the small stone wall blocking the entrance, the cold air poured out from a staircase engulfed in darkness.

“…Ugh.”

Ophelia seemed to have gotten some trauma as she clamped her lips shut.

“Are you alright?”

“Of course, I’m fine! Do you think I’m an Anju or something?”

“…”

“Answer me.”

“Of course not.”

Ophelia pouted her cheeks out in dissatisfaction and pulled the Branch of the World Tree from her hand.

“Shall we go in?”

“Yeah.”

We descended the staircase.

The passage was narrow with steep drops, and there were broken areas here and there, so we had to watch our step carefully while going down.

Fortunately, thanks to Emily using dim magic, we didn’t have to struggle much to see in the darkness.

“Oh! Little mage, you’re amazing!”

“Hehe.”

Emily’s nose was a bit higher due to the mercenaries’ excitement.

I could understand why Archmage Eldarian desperately tried to keep the truth from Emily.

He must want to protect such an innocent and carefree child.

On the other hand, we weren’t so innocent…

“What are you glaring at?”

“I wasn’t really looking at you.”

“You definitely had a face like you were feeling very dissatisfied.”

“Yep.”

“You bastard.”

Ophelia was ready to pounce, but I was faster to cover her mouth.

“Shh!”

“Just wait.”

I slowly turned my head, sharpening my senses.

It wasn’t just me. The Black Eagle Mercenaries had all developed their senses from the north. You couldn’t survive without it in that environment.

Simultaneously, my near-superhuman hearing caught the clattering sounds coming from the depths of the catacombs.

At first, I thought it was the sound of weapons clashing against the walls, but it wasn’t.

“Not human sentries.”

The sound of bone clashing against bone.

In other words.

“Skeletons.”

“Sounds about right, boss.”

Barton nodded in agreement with my words.

I sighed and drew my weapon, and the other mercenaries did the same.

After all, the catacombs are the perfect breeding ground for skeletons.

Moreover, creating wicked monsters like skeletons can only be done by necromancers from the Demon King’s army.

“It seems the Cathedral has already been largely consumed by the Demon King’s forces.”

“…Yeah.”

Ophelia nodded darkly.

Her lips trembled slightly.