Chapter 225. A Forgotten Castle and a Sealed Queen (5)
It was not wartime, nor had martial law been declared, so 1,500 adventurers could not take the train all at once. Even though trains were made for military purposes, ordinary citizens could not be randomly restricted from using them.
As such, Guild Director Glont decided to move by splitting the adventurers into five units. The people from the headquarters and I ended up heading to Asterium alongside the temple people, with the platinum plate adventurer Ruin in the lead.
"You must have obtained a first-class seat from the paladin gentleman. Is it fine for you not to go there?" I asked Hillis, who was sitting in front of me with her chin resting on the window.
The seat I sat on was part of a four-person cubicle seat for official use, so it was uncomfortable and narrow compared to first class.
Hillis shook her hand slightly at my question. "It’s okay, it’s okay. Right now, there are only stuffy old people in the first-class compartment, so it’ll be uncomfortable.”
No, I feel uncomfortable if you’re here. But Hillis smiled faintly, not interested in what I thought.
"Really? But aren’t you two uncomfortable?" I turned my head slightly and asked the two big men.
"Hahaha, this priest is fine, Brother-nim."
"Of course, it’s uncomfortable."
The priest, Ruin, smiled as bright as his shiny hair, while Albatoss answered with some dissatisfaction.
Honestly, it was acceptable for Hillis because she was small, but it was very uncomfortable for those two muscular people to sit together in this narrow cubicle.
"If you feel uncomfortable, how about going back to your seat? As far as I know, Paladin-nim’s train ticket was bought by the adventurer’s guild."
This I knew because Demuir and I went and bought first-class train tickets for Albatoss and the Consecrated Paladin Division at the train station before we departed, using the adventurer’s guild money.
Albatoss glared at me fiercely. "It is my duty to stand by the Saintess-nim. How dare you ask me to betray my holy mission!”
Because of that mission, Fiona, Demuir, and Flam, who were supposed to ride with me, were kicked to the first-class cars and replaced by the three people in this cubicle.
I wish I were the one being kicked out. I said with a sincere sigh, "Well, why don’t one of you two go next to Hillis? You don’t have to insist on sitting next to me in this small space."
Albatoss and Ruin responded to me at the same time.
"Hahaha, how can my unworthy self cause inconvenience to the Saintess-nim?"
"Isn’t it only right that Saintess-nim should be at ease!"
No, but still, it’s weird for three people to sit in a seat made for two. In addition, these two were muscular and were each almost the size of two people, so it felt like five people were actually sitting together.
"Then how about losing some muscle? You both are the size of two people each, which is why it will be uncomfortable sitting next to Hillis."
Albatoss was outraged by my comments. "What? How dare you tell me to give up this strong muscle? You’re out of your mind."
Ruin also agreed with Albatoss. "Ahhh, it’s a pity you don’t know this beautiful world of muscles. Rather, it seems like Brother-nim needs to build up your muscles. Let’s pray together for Brother-nim’s muscles."
As Ruin put his hands together, Albatoss also put his hands together and began praying for grace to help me build muscles. I’m going to go crazy.
"Puhut, if it’s really uncomfortable, you can just come next to me.”
Hillis said with a smile, and I also smiled as I replied. "Then shall I?"
"Where do you think you’re going?" Albatoss looked at me sharply while in prayer, but I sat beside Hillis, shrugging lightly.
I felt a sense of freedom when I went from being squeezed into an open space.
"Why? How dare you interfere with the Saintess-nim’s suggestion!" When I imitated Albatoss’s tone, Albatross was furious before becoming conflicted internally.
He didn’t like me sitting next to Hillis, but he couldn’t disobey Hillis’s suggestion (order). Hillis and I looked at him and smiled playfully.
"But I never would have dreamed that Brother-nim and Saintess-nim knew each other."
When Ruin asked this, Hillis replied with a light laugh, "Hohoho, we just somehow ended up growing close. He is one of my few friends who treat me openly despite my status as a saintess."
"Hahahaha. It’s also God’s blessing to meet a congenial friend."
I was rather surprised that Ruin was such a high-ranking priest but had never met the saintess face to face before. The saintess only revealed her face to the archbishop-level or cardinal-level priests. Hillis’s existence was that important to the temple.
Well, besides her being important, it seems like Ruin also wanders a lot. It was said that Ruin almost received the posthumous title of cardinal but refused it to become an adventurer. As a cardinal, the radius of his activities would be limited, so it didn’t seem right for someone who loved to wander like Ruin. Rather, it was funny that a cardinal-level priest was called a pagan priest.
"Oh, but I thought you left home to meet your friend. What’s this sudden volunteer work?"
Hillis complained when I asked her out of the blue. "What sudden volunteer work? Isn’t it normally a saintess’s job to reach out to people who need help?"
Yet, for someone whose job was to help people, didn’t she mass-produce people who needed help in the past at the casino?
"And it’s true that I’m going to see my friend; my friends are currently in Asterium. I’ll introduce you later. They’re pleasant friends, so you’ll like them.”
Hillis smiled with delight. But why am I suddenly getting an ominous feeling?
* * *
"Iyaa, first class is comfortable. Thanks to it, I arrived comfortably."
"Thank you."
"Thank you. I arrived comfortably thanks to you."
Flam, Demuir, and Fiona, arriving at Asterium after two full days, thanked me.
"Are you making fun of me right now?” I arrived after being in a narrow cubicle, struggling and barely getting sleep between a paladin and a priest, but those three felt no fatigue from the trip.
"Hahaha, we’re not teasing you. We’re just saying thank you purely because we got to experience first-class thanks to you."
Demuir put his arms around me and smiled. I slightly twisted Demuir’s arm around my shoulder. "Argh!"
"Oh, I’m sorry. Unlike all of you, my shoulders are stiff because I hardly got sleep in such a small place. That was a mistake." Fiona and Flam nodded and said it couldn’t be helped.
The people of the temple headed for the Asterium parish, and other people from the headquarters, adventurers, and I headed for the adventurer’s guild branch.
Demuir sighed quietly as he looked at the Asterium branch. "I never thought I’d be going to a dangerous area again.”
Asterium was such a safe city that there was even a duchy located there. However, as Demuir was born and raised in the safe capital, he seemed to view Warrant and Asterium as the same type of places.
"Well, Asterium is a safe city compared to Warrant. It also has good public order.” Demuir nodded and took comfort in my consolation.
* * *
Bloody casually twisted his body to avoid the joint attack of the White Tiger Knight Division, who was aiming for his neck and both sides. He then moved quickly and slashed the knights who attacked him with a wooden sword.
"Uuk!"
"Cough!"
No matter how much armor the knights were wearing and despite the fact that Bloody’s sword was wooden, sword aura was flowing weakly through it, and with the powerful strength of the Crow Tribe, their armor was crushed.
"Get it together!" When the leader of the White Tiger Knights yelled fiercely from the back, the knights became agitated and attacked.
Each of the five knights’ swords was aimed at Bloody’s head, back, right flank, left arm, and leg. Bloody used the wooden sword to deflect the attack aiming at his side and put a strong aura on his left hand to grab the blade aiming for his head.
He pulled the blade of the sword with his left hand to block the one heading for his left arm. After that, he jumped in place and avoided the sword trying to cut his leg while giving the knight aiming at his back a roundhouse kick.
"Kuack!"
The knight aiming for the back fell down, and Bloody hit three knights with his wooden sword while pulling the blade in his left hand.
“Keuk!"
"Uaak!"
"Uack!"
Bloody smacked the last knight with a wooden sword.
When all the knights of the White Tiger Knights collapsed, Bloody clicked his tongue. "There’s still a long way to go. They’ll have to be trained a lot more."
Bloody’s harsh assessment brought the fallen knights to their feet in dissatisfaction. The knights returned to their positions and tried to pounce on Bloody when sudden clapping stopped them.
"You have arrived, Your Highness the Duke?"
When the captain of the White Tiger Knights saluted, Duke Asteria raised his hand lightly and received the salute. Behind the duke were Leisha and Lancelot.
"Your body seems to have healed fully."
When the duke looked around at the knights full of bruises, the knights lowered their heads in embarrassment. No matter the fact that the opponent was a Crow, he was a patient who was lying in bed not long ago. They did somewhat deserve to be ashamed for being beaten up by someone who was just a patient.
"Yes, thanks to your consideration, I’m fine. Should I say I’m feeling even better than before? Hahaha!"
Bloody made a full recovery after shaking off the rebound from using the forbidden technique, the Dance of the Fireflies. His life was in danger after risking it to use the forbidden technique, but after using it, the sense given to Bloody by the Dance of the Fireflies gave him a path to a higher level.
"What have I done for you? It was Leisha who worked hard to make the medicine."
At Duke Asteria’s praise, Leisha laughed and shook her hand. "Ha, no, it was thanks to Your Highness the Duke for acquiring high-quality magical materials."
Leisha also treated the duke with ease because she heard in Hestia’s letter that Duke Asteria was her maternal grandfather. However, it was a secret, so she called him Your Highness the Duke around other people.
"Hahaha, so modest. Alchemists in the estate all admired your alchemy."
"It is all thanks to my teacher’s teachings."
She was embarrassed because the convenient magic that was considered miscellaneous in her hometown was seen as great outside the village. Still, it didn’t feel bad. Leisha felt like she could understand the feelings of her runaway little brother.
"Oh, now that I think about it, Glont’s come back up. Is it okay if I go see him?"
Bloody was surprised when Duke Asteria asked. "Oh, Glont hyung is here? Why?"
"Of course, that’s because I called him. I asked him to clean up after the flood of demons.”
Bloody laughed his head off at the duke’s words. "Ahahahaha! Your Highness is probably the only one who asks Glont hyung to come and go like a servant! Hahahaha!"
"So, are you going to go?"
Bloody nodded at the duke’s question. "Yes, I should go."
"Then I’ll come with you. I have some business."
The duke smiled mischievously and asked Leisha and Lancelot, "Won’t you two come with me?"
The two nodded at the duke’s suggestion.
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