Chapter 132
"What? Damn it, those bastards."
Klone grabbed her mace and tried to rush outside.
At that moment, Sieg stopped her.
"What are you planning to do?"
"What else would I do? I'm going to kill all those paladin bastards."
"And if you die, who will take us back to headquarters?"
Klone shouted as she pushed Sieg aside.
"Then help me take those bastards down!"
Sieg spat curses under his breath as he watched Klone storm out.
Liam quietly asked Sieg, "What should we do, my lord?"
Sieg pulled out a mask and put it on.
"Keep our involvement minimal to avoid exposing our identities. If we can't stop the paladins, take Klone and retreat immediately. Felix, you must not use paladin swordsmanship."
"Ugh. Yes."
Sieg and his group donned masks and hurriedly followed Klone.
The entrance to the hideout was already a chaotic battlefield.
A secret paladin squad disguised as mercenaries was brandishing swords at the organization members.
Klone rushed into the fray, swinging her mace.
"Die! You bastards!"
Whack!
The paladins were knocked back by Klone's mace.
Seeing her swing the mace so fiercely, it was hard to believe that she was a nun.
As Klone screamed and swung her mace, creating chaos, the paladins had to step back.
Then one of the paladins stepped forward, holding a shield that was strapped to his back.
"In the name of the Sun God, we shall execute these heretics!"
They weren't even bothering with disguises; they openly invoked the name of the Sun God.
All the paladins brought out their shields and drew their swords.
Although not as skilled as the Empire's, the paladins of the Holy Kingdom were also well-versed in shield swordsmanship.
Especially in such chaotic battles, a shield was effective.
Thump! Thump!
With their shields, the paladins advanced, blocking the arrows and swords of the Rose Society members.
Sieg had encountered paladins from the Holy Kingdom in his past life, and their tenacious fighting style sent a shiver down his spine.
'They're even more troublesome than regular knights on the battlefield.'
Even when Klone disrupted the shield formation with her mace, another paladin quickly stepped in to form a solid defense.
If the battle dragged on, the Rose Society would be at a disadvantage.
Sieg spoke to Liam and Felix.
"I'll circle around and disrupt their defense. You two should take Klone and retreat once the situation allows."
"Ugh, do you think that sister will listen to us?"
"Do your best to persuade her."
Leaving Felix and Liam behind, Sieg used invisibility to conceal his presence and circled to the rear.
Even there, paladins stood firm with their shields.
Sieg drew his sword and unleashed the "Hammer of Light" at the paladins.
Boom!
A massive pulse of light struck the paladins.
"Damn it! It's magic from the Rubern people!"
As the paladins struggled to regain their balance, Sieg unleashed his lightning skill on them.
Crackle!
The paladins, gathered in a tight space, were simultaneously electrocuted.
"Ugh!"
The paladins who were hit directly by the lightning foamed at the mouth and collapsed.
Sieg unsheathed the Bahamut and charged at the remaining paladins.
Boom! Boom!
As he swung the Bahamut imbued with the Energy of Metal, the floor and ceiling cracked open.
The paladin who clashed swords with Sieg had his wrist broken and fell.
"Ugh! It's the heretic's magic!"
Outside the building, more paladins disguised with shields kept pouring in.
'They've brought a lot of them.'
Being geographically close, Tempel and the Holy Kingdom seemed to have infiltrated the city with many disguised paladins, given that the Turunn family didn't strictly control movement between cities.
Sieg struck the paladins' shields, then unveiled the "Shield of Light".
Woooong!
A massive shield of light manifested in front of Sieg.
As the paladins slammed their aura-infused swords against the shield, they were instead knocked back by the rebound effect.
Sieg extended his hand, pushing the shield forward.
Swoosh!
As the shield exploded, a massive torrent of light surged in all directions.
Taking that opportunity, Sieg knocked down the paladins and dismantled the defensive formation clashing with the Rose Society.
Sieg approached Klone, who was fiercely swinging her mace at the paladins, and shouted,
"More paladins are coming! We have to leave now!"
Despite being hot-tempered, Klone was one of the main leaders of the Rose Society.
She reluctantly calmed down and agreed with Sieg.
"Bastards! Everyone, scatter!"
At Klone's command, the organization members quickly dispersed.
They set fires throughout the hideout.
Having prepared in advance, the fire spread rapidly.
Klone gestured to Sieg and his party.
"Hey! This way! If you don't move, you'll get caught in the explosion!"
Sieg and his group followed Klone down into the hideout's basement.
It was a secret passage connected to an old underground sewage system.
They hadn't been down the sewer for long when a massive explosion echoed from above.
Rumble!
The sound of the building collapsing was heard.
Sieg now understood how the Rose Society had evaded the eyes of the Holy Kingdom for decades.
'They're pure guerrillas.'
Klone gestured to Sieg and his group.
They had to pass through the filthy underground sewer to reach the passage that connected to the outside.
Having undergone similar training at the academy, Sieg and Liam entered the sewer without hesitation, but Felix couldn't endure the smell and began to retch.
"Blech!"
Klone shook her head at Felix's reaction.
"So weak."
* * *
It took the group over two hours crawling through the underground sewer to reach an exit leading outside.
Felix looked pale as a ghost.
Klone tutted at Felix.
"This kid needs some serious toughening up."
"If the Rose Society has a training exchange program, I'd like to send him there."
"Oh, that sounds fun."
Klone laughed, then kicked aside the grass hiding the ground, causing it to thud as it hit the dirt.
She moved the wooden board buried in the ground and retrieved a backpack from inside.
"We'll hike over the mountain to headquarters. Bring some essential supplies."
Sieg shook his head at this.
"No need to bring supplies. I've already prepared."
Klone tilted her head in curiosity at this.
Sieg opened the bag he was carrying and pulled out items from his inventory.
"A pocket space backpack? I knew Draker was wealthy, but does he have such things at his disposal?"
"It's personal property. Let's wash up and change into these clothes. Our pursuers will be on us soon."
The group went to the stream to wash off the filth and changed into the clothes Sieg had taken out.
Then they headed straight into the mountains.
The Rose Society, accustomed to guerrilla warfare, had a significant advantage in individual battles in the mountains.
Klone looked surprised at how well Sieg's group handled the hike.
"Do they teach mountain climbing at Draker?"
"...... You seem quite interested in Draker."
At Sieg's words, Klone chuckled. Sharing such trivial conversations, Sieg's group continued hiking until they found a rock that could shield them from view for camping before sunset.
Sieg efficiently took out the camping equipment.
Liam and Felix naturally gathered stones and wood to create a fire pit that wouldn't be visible.
Sieg placed some packaged food from his inventory into a pot and boiled water.
With hot soup, bread, and grilled jerky, the meal was so satisfying that it was hard to call it camp food.
"Huh, even soup from Draker......."
"That's categorically false, so stop it."
The four of them each took shifts on night watch, ensuring they rested.
The first shift was taken by Sieg and Klone.
He took this opportunity to ask her what he hadn't earlier.
"Why did it surprise you to hear about a healer class outside Rubern?"
Klone looked at him incredulously and replied.
"That's because the Blessing of Light is exclusively bestowed on the bloodline of Rubern."
"The Blessing of Light? Is it like the Blessing of Aura or the Blessing of Magic?"
"It's not the same, but somewhat similar. Though much of the data on our side has been lost, it's presumed that the Blessing of Light is a hereditary ability of the Rubern."
"A hereditary ability. So what exactly is this Blessing of Light? Does it refer to healing abilities?"
"That's just one type of light magic. The Blessing of Light is like a talent for learning and using light magic. Like the light magic is infused into my mace or your sword."
In quests, it was also mentioned that only descendants of the Rubern lineage could inherit light magic.
'The Blessing of Light. I didn't know it was a hereditary ability.'
While chewing on jerky given by Sieg, Klone spoke in a lamenting tone.
"Ha, it took me nearly a decade to learn the Breath of Light. Yet this Draker guy uses it the moment he picks up a mace."
Ignoring Klone's lament, Sieg asked another question.
"Is the holy energy something that can be trained too? It seems to be used to channel light magic."
Klone shook her head.
"Only those of the Rubern bloodline can use light magic. We holy knights have to manifest power through holy weapons infused with their power."
"Hmm, exactly what is this holy energy? It seemed different from aura."
After pondering for a moment, Klone spoke.
"How do I put it? It's hard to explain. It's about wholeheartedly loving god."
"...... That makes it even more confusing."
"It's difficult to explain in words, but it exists. As you practice mental discipline and call upon god, a deep warmth fills your heart. That's what generates holy energy."
Listening to Klone's explanation, Sieg found it similar to how he generated mana in the middle dantian.
'Could it be that holy energy is the mana of the middle dantian?'
Pondering one theory, Sieg quickly shook his head.
There hadn't been any distinct traces of the middle dantian or mana when Klone used the Breath of Light.
It seemed he would have to meet someone from Rubern's lineage to solve this mystery.
When dawn broke, the four continued their journey through the mountains toward the Rose Society's headquarters in the northern region of Tempel.
To leave as little trace as possible, they took mountain trails, occasionally catching rides to loop around their path, resulting in a rather complicated journey.
It took them two days, but eventually, they reached the headquarters.
Felix was startled when he saw the Rose Society's headquarters.
"This is the headquarters? It looks like just a farm!"
Without a word, Klone promptly kicked Felix in the shin.
"Aagh!"
"Stop saying nonsense and follow. Especially refrain from saying strange things in front of the princess."
Felix rubbed his shin as he whispered to Liam.
"Ugh. Senior Liam. That woman must definitely be a witch, not a nun."
Liam, embarrassed, quietly stepped aside from Felix.
Following Klone's lead, Sieg's group entered an old mansion next to the farm.
As they waited in the parlor, Klone went to bring the captain of the knight order.
While Felix explored the mansion and Liam remained vigilant against any potential danger, a neatly dressed sister, Klone and a woman, emerged from the staircase a few minutes later.
Klone accompanied the woman, holding her hand as they descended.
The woman was all white — her face, hair, everything was like snow.
She wore a white dress adorned with a blue rose brooch.
Sieg realized that the woman, who walked arm-in-arm with Klone, could not see.
The woman sat across from Sieg, and Klone stood behind her.
The pure white woman gave a clear smile as she began to speak.
"Nice to meet you. I am Arina Rubern, responsible for the Rose Knight Order."
Though she seemed like she had never been through a battle, her frail demeanor belied a voice imbued with the sort of authority one would find difficult to disrespect.
'No wonder the Rose Knight Order have maintained their presence for so long.'
"I'm pleased to meet you. My name is Sieg Draker,"
Sieg said to Arina Rubern.
Upon hearing this, arina covered her mouth and laughed.
"I even heard it from Klone, who kept going on about actually seeing a Draker. Pureblood Drakers are said to have horns on their heads, sharp teeth, and always...."
"And they cackle like devils when they smile."
"Oh! That's right. I cannot see your face, Sieg, but just from your voice, you don't seem like that at all. Comfortable, stable, yet powerful resonance. I can feel you're truly strong."
Sieg realized he was gradually drawn into Arina's words.
He shook himself out of it and mentioned the purpose of his visit.
"The reason I sought to meet the Princess is to...."
"Have you come to deliver the Book of Light that Rubern lost long ago?"