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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: Mod7
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“Chief! Chief!”
The adjutant who had fled the forest with his soldiers immediately called for the village chief. Hearing the adjutant’s sharp voice, the chief rushed out making a great fuss.
“What is the matter!?”
“We have wounded. We’re requisitioning herbs and bandages. Bring everything you have.”
“Th-that’s… our village isn’t that large…”
“Are you refusing the church’s orders?”
“N-no! I’ll bring them right away!”
Though internally cursing, the chief went around the village gathering herbs and bandages. Even with all that, it wasn’t enough to treat all the wounded soldiers, so they had to use the merchant caravan’s supplies as well.
While treating the soldiers’ wounds, the merchant noticed the holy knight who should be commanding this unit was missing and asked with a slightly trembling voice:
“…Where is Lady Elicis?”
“Lady Elicis gave her life protecting us.”
“Wh-what! If Lady Elicis is dead, how will I…”
“Since she fell to monsters rather than witches, your charges will be dropped. You’ll keep your life.”
The merchant felt both relief and despair at those words. Though he might keep his life, it was obvious that all his connections and trade group would be plundered.
He had built this merchant group by risking his life. There was no way he could rebuild it the same way now…
“Yes… I understand…”
However, he couldn’t voice complaints in front of an armed unit. That would only cost him the life he’d barely saved.
And─ after finishing with the merchant, the adjutant frowned at the village chief.
“You said a hunter lived alone in there.”
“Y-yes! That’s right!”
“That was a lie.”
“What? What do you mean…”
“No one could survive alone in a forest full of monsters like that. If someone could, they’d have to be a witch. Which would make this a village of witch followers, wouldn’t it?”
His tone suggested he might just kill all the villagers. The politically astute chief realized why the adjutant was suddenly making threats.
With a holy knight dead from a strategic mistake, they didn’t want to leave any record of owing the village for herbs and bandages. The holy knight’s death alone was a huge loss – if there was also a debt recorded, his own head might roll…
So he used the method commonly employed by other clergy – claiming witch followers and confiscating their property and lives.
If Elicis hadn’t been such a pious and rigid holy knight, they would have done this from the start. They were only acting this way now because Elicis was gone and he had become the unit’s commander.
“Oh no─! Please! Just spare our lives…”
“I’d like to, but I’m afraid you might seek revenge.”
“You come to our village suddenly and call us witch followers? This is truly unfair!”
“You catch on quick.”
In the end, the chief had to collect money as a bribe for the adjutant before they would leave the village. As they watched the unit depart with their money, medical supplies and various other goods, the chief and villagers ground their teeth.
‘Damn it… all that money we saved…’
However, with only two young men holding wooden sticks as their entire military force, the village could do nothing.
Just as they had extorted from those weaker than themselves, they were now being extorted because they were relatively weak.
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“I-I’m Elicis. P-pleased to meet you…”
“─Who says it’s a pleasure?”
Master glared intently at the hand extended toward her. Feeling that gaze, Elicis withdrew her sweating hand and faced Master.
They said it was like a two-meter cockroach fluttering its wings right in front of you – indeed, Elicis was using all her strength just to hide her revulsion at seeing Master.
She was sweating profusely from concentrating so hard on keeping her expression neutral. Considering she hadn’t shown any reaction to kneeling for over ten hours, this indicated how much mental effort she was expending.
“Johan.”
“Yes, Master.”
“What is this thing?”
“The holy knight I mentioned yesterday…”
“That’s not what I mean─ I’m asking why this whore-like woman is in my house.”
“Wh-whore…”
Though she was clearly a member of the clergy, Elicis hung her head with tears in her eyes at being called a whore. If anyone else had insulted her like that, she would have severely punished them to ensure they never spoke such words again… but her opponent was a witch.
A monster who could blow her head off with a single gesture. Someone she’d have to smile and accept even death threats from.
However.
“…Um, Master?”
“What?”
“I hate to say this, but… speaking that way while dressed like that is a bit…”
I pointed out Master’s attire. Though Master had called Elicis whore-like, that was just to insult her.
Honestly speaking, Master looked more like a whore herself. Wasn’t she wearing a short dress that exposed most of her cleavage and thighs? No matter if it was her home, it wasn’t appropriate clothing to wear in front of strangers.
“…Are you calling me whore-like?”
“Ah, no. That’s not what I…”
“But you are. Right? You’re calling me whore-like?”
“Well, that’s…”
“Come to my room in a little while.”
“…Yes, understood.”
I quietly backed away after agreeing to Master’s somehow excited-sounding words. I’d only tried to help but ended up being the one in trouble.
Fortunately, Master seemed to regain her reason and stopped needlessly berating Elicis.
“You said you’re Elicis? You’re a holy knight?”
“Yes, that’s correct.”
“How can we trust a holy knight not to betray us?”
“…I can only ask you to trust me.”
“No-. Sorry, but we’ve been burned by your kind too many times. Words alone aren’t enough.”
Saying this, Master pulled out a necklace from her cleavage. It was an obviously expensive piece with a large purple gemstone.
It looked even bigger than the necklace I’d received, enough to make me slightly envious of how luxurious it appeared.
She held out the necklace to Elicis and said:
“Wear this at all times. At church, while bathing, always.”
“…Why?”
“While wearing it, if you sense the church might take action against us, grip the gem tightly and pray. If you do that, I’ll trust you.”
It was an extremely difficult yet simple request, so after brief consideration, Elicis took the necklace. She seemed to have judged that if she refused this request, she wouldn’t be able to leave this cabin at all.
When she grabbed the necklace, Master’s face bloomed with a satisfied smile as she said:
“Good! Now I’ll trust you. Johan? Escort her to the village.”
“Yes, understood.”
“Come straight to my room when you’re done escorting. Don’t take any detours, okay?”
“…Yes, I’ll come right away.”
Watching Master lick her lips, I swallowed nervously and stood up. Then I left the cabin with Elicis.
She said nothing until we left the cabin, but the moment we stepped outside, she started gasping for breath while leaning on me.
“Hah! Hah-! Haah, haah…!”
“…Are you okay?”
“Y-you- how can you stay so calm?”
“Well, I am Master’s apprentice.”
“…Amazing. It’s admirable.”
Seeing such a strong holy knight react this way made me slightly curious about how others saw Master.
However, I had no desire to experience it myself. Hadn’t I just told Master a few days ago that I liked her, that even her face was beautiful?
If I were to see Master’s face and feel revulsion, and show it─ Master might not survive the devastation and take her own life. If a great witch went berserk trying to die, who knew how many casualties there would be.
“Never mind that, let’s head to the village.”
“…Right, I want to leave quickly.”
“By the way, I’ve been wondering something.”
“What is it?”
“Why do you speak so stiffly now when you acted like a refined young lady in the village?”
I’d been curious since she woke up. I just hadn’t found the right moment to ask.
When I asked the reason, Elicis tilted her head as if it were obvious and said:
“That was an act. A merchant wouldn’t speak stiffly.”
“…You’re a good actor? Why not keep using that speech style?”
“I cannot. I’m not a merchant but a holy knight. I cannot use such frivolous speech. However…”
After a brief pause, she broke into a full smile on her face that I’d thought could only be stern and said:
“If you want me to, I will.”
“…Ugh.”
For a moment, my heart skipped a beat.
…This fact would have to remain secret from Master.
I guided her to the village while clutching my pounding heart.
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“To think you were alive, how can this be…”
After getting over the initial shock of learning Elicis was alive, the chief quickly began treating her with extreme courtesy.
Though he knew she was a holy knight, the treatment was excessively generous.
The reason became clear before long.
“Th-the adjutant requisitioned goods from the village, but he seems to have forgotten to write a receipt…”
“…I understand. I’ll write one.”
After writing receipts for the goods the adjutant had allegedly taken, Elicis even borrowed a horse before leaving the village.
Though it was an old and shabby horse, she had to be satisfied just having a horse in such a village.
While riding back to the city, Elicis encountered the soldiers who had gone ahead of her.
“Adjutant!”
“…Lady Elicis? You’re alive!?”
The adjutant who had been leading the unit in her place broke into a bright smile upon seeing her face. Likely because he would no longer bear the disgrace of having abandoned his superior officer to die while fleeing.
After rejoining the unit, Elicis was able to reach the city more slowly but safely than before. Upon arriving in the city, she left various follow-up tasks to her subordinates and headed to the church.
Arriving at the building used by holy knights, Elicis went straight to see the captain. Holy knights returning from missions could meet the captain without appointments.
“Lady Elicis. Did your mission go well?”
“Yes, it did.”
“You can write the report later… how was it?”
When asked, Elicis swallowed the tension rising in her throat. From now on she would have to lie. Deceive the captain, deceive her subordinates, deceive the church – and beyond that, deceive God and herself.
Though she was bound to be discovered, thinking God wouldn’t care much about her lies, Elicis reported what had happened in the village, omitting everything that occurred at the cabin.
“There was nothing related to witches in that village. However, there were many monsters. Very many…”
“Monsters aren’t our jurisdiction… I’ll report that separately to the royal army. Any other notable findings?”
“None.”
“Very well, you may go. I’ll arrange for you to rest fully until tomorrow.”
“Thank you.”
Elicis said this as she left the captain’s office. Perhaps because she had lied to someone she’d never imagined lying to, her heart was still racing.
‘This must be the right thing…’
Never forget kindness.
However, this had essentially repaid the life-saving kindness from this incident. If the church sent her again…
‘Then we’ll be enemies.’
Thinking of Johan’s face, Elicis headed to her quarters.
And despaired at the tasteless meal and hard bed.
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“─So who looks like a whore?”
“…Y-you do, Master.”
“Heeh, is that so.”
Evangeline looked down at Johan as she said this. It was torture. He worried he might have upset her with this incident.
Just because he had immunity to curses, just because he could look at her lovingly, didn’t mean he could act without restraint. This incident had probably crossed that line…
“Where?”
“Pardon?”
“Which parts look whore-like?”
However, Evangeline didn’t act as Johan expected.
Stretching out one leg, she lifted the chin of Johan kneeling before her and, making what she thought was her most seductive expression, said to him:
“Tell me exactly which parts made you think I looked like a whore─ which parts made you so aroused?”
Gulp-.
Johan unconsciously swallowed.
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Eva’s kinkiness is hot.
Hug her and put her in bed.
throw her into bed and seggs her immediately