Only Obedient to Me! Sir Knight Chapter 42

At that sudden remark, Rowy opened his eyes, which he had been keeping closed, and looked at the High Priest. The High Priest was still looking at Rowy with a pleased smile.

“Van… even just when he was leaving the temple, he was not in good condition.”

“Why? Was he in debt?”

“Ahem.”

Of course, that was part of it, but…

“Rather than that….”

“Or, did all the other knights die?”

At Rowy’s blunt words, the High Priest’s expression stiffened for a moment.

“…Does that fellow even talk about things like that?”

“No, it’s just that I haven’t seen anyone who looks like a knight.”

Rowy, born and raised in a knightly family, might not know how to fence at all, but he was good at recognizing a knight.

However, since coming here, Rowy had not met a single person who looked like a knight. Except for that guy named Max or whatever. The High Priest looked at Rowy for a moment and spoke in a mournful voice.

“…Yes. That is correct. Few knights survived the final battle with the Great Demon Mamon. The death of comrades who have been with you for a lifetime is certainly not an easy thing to accept.”

So there were at least some who survived, then. Rowy muttered indifferently.

“…”

The High Priest did not respond to that and placed his hand on Rowy’s head again. Then, he began to recite the prayer. Having learned the sacred scriptures, Rowy now knew what this prayer was. It was a prayer seeking peace. After a moment of prayer, the High Priest spoke again.

“The knights who survived….”

. ꕤ ｡ ˚⋆

Van, having sent Rowy into the prayer room with the High Priest, sat down heavily on the stairs, all strength drained from his body. It wasn’t even the actual cleansing ritual, just a visit for preparation, yet his chest pounded with such anxiety that he couldn’t stand.

‘…If it’s like this now, I won’t be able to keep my sanity when the actual ritual begins.’

Only the priests presiding over the ritual and the subject, Rowy, could enter the ritual site. The thought that he couldn’t be with him made his anxiety grow even larger. Of course, the cleansing ritual itself wasn’t dangerous. Van’s worry was something else….

‘…What should I do if the cleansing fails?’

This was it. The case where the cleansing fails. If it were to fail….

“Haa….”

Another heavy sigh burst out. Van leaned his body against the railing with a troubled face. Most of the time, a demon’s curse is naturally lifted when the demon that cast it loses its power. However, there were times, occasionally like with Rowy, when the curse didn’t lift even after the demon was annihilated. This happened when the curse was so powerful that it had encroached upon the soul, or when the curse was so old that it had gained power as a curse itself.

And in such situations, cleansing was not easy. Since Rowy said he first met the demon two years ago, it seemed Rowy was in the second case, where the curse had gradually grown stronger over time.

‘Of course, it’s a mystery how that demon could cast such a powerful curse.’

Thinking back to when Van had faced it, that demon hadn’t been strong enough to dig into a mage’s solid mental strength. But since making humans lower their guard was one of the things demons did best, it was certain that it had somehow managed to dig into the gaps in Rowy’s heart.

‘Anyway, because his heart is so soft, he gets caught up in such bad things….’

…Who has a soft heart? Thinking something that would probably make Seilan fall over backward if he heard it, Van sighed with worry once more.

‘Of course, it would be best if the cleansing succeeds, but….’

Even though it was a ritual held after a long time, the High Priest was more reliable than anyone else when it came to cleansing. This time, too, he surely wouldn’t fail Van’s expectations.

However… failure happened more often than one would think. Without looking far, the most recently conducted cleansing ritual itself had been a failure. And that last cleansing ritual was… performed for Shane and Turner, the two holy knights who had stood by Van until the very end.

“Ha….”

Van recalled the last cleansing ritual, which had been nothing but pain, with a depressed expression.

. ꕤ ｡ ˚⋆

On the day of the decisive battle against the Great Demon Mamon, though they had set out after long preparations, the Holy Knights encountered a massive number of enemies long before they reached the vicinity of the Great Demon Mamon. It was an ambush by demons and a legion of monsters.

“Block them from this side!”

“They’re swarming from over there too!”

“Captain!”

“Aack!”

The miscalculation was that there were far more demon summoners than the church had identified. The holy knights, who had only prepared to face Mamon and hadn’t expected to be attacked by such a large force, fell helplessly.

While fighting a desperate battle against the endlessly pouring demons, the Holy Knights were nearly wiped out. However, they could not turn back now. Stepping over the bodies of their brothers, they silently marched forward toward their original destination, Mamon’s lair.

“Max!”

“Oh, no! Lay him down here, quickly!”

“Max, pull yourself together!”

However, at the injury of the youngest, who hadn’t even reached adulthood yet… everyone had no choice but to stop walking.

“…It’s serious. If we leave him like this, he’ll die. Even if he’s lucky enough to survive, it seems we’ll have to amputate his leg.”

Turner, who was examining Max’s wounds, shook his head with a grave face. Anxiety clouded everyone’s expressions.

“We should have kept checking to see if it was safe….”

“…”

That Max, who had been far away from the battleground, would be attacked was something no one had expected. Max, who had not yet received his official knighthood, was not participating in this battle and was scheduled to return to the temple first after providing rear support. Van—no, Captain of the Holy Knights, Dare—fell into deep thought, leaving Max, who had collapsed with serious injuries, behind.

‘Isn’t he still too young to lose his life like this?’

…Moreover, Max wasn’t the only one injured. Dare scanned the survivors with gloomy eyes. Fortunately, the demons and monsters had been mostly dealt with, but….

‘We haven’t even met Mamon yet, and the bleeding is already too severe.’

The only ones capable of proper combat, excluding Dare, were the Vice-Captain, Shane, and the senior holy knight, Turner—just the two of them. In a desperate situation, Dare finally made a decision.

“…Everyone, take Max and return to the temple for now.”

“What does that… you’re going to Mamon alone, Captain? That is absolutely impossible!”

“That’s right. That’s absurd.”

A fierce opposition returned immediately to that decision. It was natural. Because the Holy Knights were all people who had sworn to dedicate themselves to God. Not fearing death and willingly throwing away one’s life for a mission was something a servant of God should rightfully consider an honor, but….

“…”

When that life belonged to brothers who had been together for a lifetime….

“There have already been too many sacrifices. I cannot lose you all as well.”

The High Priest used to scold Dare, saying he was too sentimental to fulfill God’s will. It was true. The path of burying every sacrifice in one’s heart and moving only toward God was… a greater trial for Dare than facing a demon. But the end was right before his eyes. Dare looked at the mountain range where Mamon’s presence could be felt.

“Mamon is right nearby now. I have already eliminated all the demons who received Mamon’s power, so facing him alone is enough for me. Therefore, take Max and return home now.”

It was a painful voice. Vice-Captain Shane, who had been expressing his dissatisfaction with the Captain’s decision through silence, eventually sighed.

“Haa…. You all take Max to the temple first. I and Turner, who are still capable of fighting, will go with the Captain.”

Dare shook his head at that.

“You go back too. I’m going alone.”

“There is no way we will ever let you go alone, Captain.”

“That is correct.”

Stubborn eyes glared at Dare. Dare also faced Shane and Turner with a firm gaze. However… there was no more time to argue. Mamon was moving. If they didn’t catch Mamon here, all these sacrifices would truly become meaningless.

“…Then Shane and Turner, only the two of you come with me. The rest, return.”

And this choice… remained a deep regret for Dare even to this day.

. ꕤ ｡ ˚⋆

“So what happened? …Don’t tell me you really sent them away alone?”

Rowy, who had become completely engrossed in Van’s past story, asked while even clenching his fists. The High Priest, who looked at such a Rowy as if watching a grandchild performing a cute trick, continued speaking.

“…In the end, the injured knights decided to return to the temple, and Dare headed to Mamon’s lair with Shane and Turner.”