/
“Hmm, hmm. Sir Carlos? That cat is obviously a stray cat—”
“Shut up!”
With a sharp cry, Carlos strode in front of the baby cat rolling on the weeds.
“Are you saying you dare deny my words as a paladin? I, the Holy Father’s sword, make the judgments! Move away now!”
Damian, who had been following quietly, rushed to Carlos. Did he get too attached to the cat while pulling weeds?
“I really can’t stand this! What kind of paladin would do something like this!”
And the two literally fell apart. Damian got on top of Carlos who was falling and was about to hit him.
“Hey!”
Startled, Sir Mel jumped forward. The Imperial Knights and the Paladin of the Vatican started fighting just like that. Catherine was constantly chanting ‘Oh, oh my!’, conscious of Percyville, who stood quietly.
“Ugh, go away!”
It was really unfortunate. Carlos shouldn’t have turned roughly then. Even though it was Damian who rushed in without a second thought, Carlos had to quietly fall to the ground and solve the problem peacefully.
“Huh—”
At least if he didn’t want to see the wig fly off.
“Oh my!”
Rose’s exclamation exploded inside the mansion, perhaps because she was watching secretly.
A long silence settled in the weedy garden. They couldn’t say anything or even comfort them. As Carlos’s face turned white, Damian, who had been entangled with him, opened his mouth belatedly.
“I, I’m sorry.”
「Pft Hahahaha!」
At the sound of frivolous laughter, everyone’s attention was directed to one place. To be exact, the cat that was rolling on the weeds.
「Bald! Haha, he’s bald!」
It had to be. This high, human laugh was not from Damian or Percyville, but from the cat Catherine was feeding.
“—The cat can talk?”
No way, are you saying what Carlos said was true?
The cat’s laughter gradually quieted in the chilly atmosphere. A cute little lump jumped up and down, waving its tail.
「Oh! No. I just canceled it! I don’t know how to speak!」
“A-as expected, a devil’s pawn! Look, wasn’t I right, Sir Percyville!”
Carlos shouted, wearing a wig while crawling in a hurry. Regardless, Percyville, who yawned, seemed to have no interest.
“Sir Mel, arrest that woman right now! In the meantime, we should fight that cunning devil—!”
「This bald subject is so noisy.」
It really happened in an instant. The cat, which was about the size of a fist, grew as huge as a statue in the fountain in the square, biting Carlos as he ran towards Catherine and spat it out.
「Uwekk. Maybe because you’re bald that you don’t taste good.」
Catherine looked absurdly at the amazing and funny scene. Then, when she felt Percyville’s gaze on her, she belatedly screamed.
“Kyaa!”
So that he would never remember her from the past.
“D, Damian! I’m scared!”
“Huh?”
Damian looked at her with the look ‘don’t say any nonsense.’
Carlos took one step closer, two steps closer, with grass all over his body. His face was burning with a mixture of anger and embarrassment as if it was about to explode.
“How dare— you dare ignore me? Me, Benzene’s second son?”
「Bald head deserves to be ignored.」
The cat, who grew smaller again, answered, grooming its front paws under its ears. Was there a person inside of him?
“I will burn the dirty devil, the arrogant devil worshiper along with this house!”
Carlos pulled out the sword. At the same time, the golden light shining like the sun spread to his sword’s surface. Catherine scrunched up her face, staring at the mysterious light.
‘Please don’t touch the mansion. Please don’t make a hole in my land.’
Did Catherine’s prayers work? A savior appeared and held Carlos back.
“Enough.”
Her savior was none other than Percyville.
“This is the end of the game, and we’re going back to the hotel. I’m getting hungry.”
Scratching the back of his neck, he turned his back without hesitation and headed towards the front door of the mansion. He didn’t even look at Catherine for a moment, the opposite of what he had been doing yesterday. He had completely taken his attention away from her.
“What do you mean, Sir Percyville! How can you run away when the devil is in front of you!”
“It’s okay to have a seizure with just one cat. Working as a dog for the Holy See is enough. Not for a faithful paladin like you, who turns his eyes away when he encounters a devil.”
That was the same as before and now. The point was that when other priests heard it, they would choke in disbelief.
The Pope must have known and favored Percyville’s character, so he was invincible within the sphere of influence of the Holy Seer. It meant that there were no obstacles because of the Pope’s trust.
Carlos clenched his teeth and shouted.
“I
 I can’t tolerate it! How can you make such irresponsible remarks, Sir Percyville! Our mission is to purify the continent—!”
Percyville, who stopped walking, turned toward Carlos.
“Huh? Did I hear it wrong? Who dares not tolerate me?”
Carlos’s breathing, which had been rough, gradually subsided. So did the light on his sword. Percyville spoke slowly and sullenly, with his hands in his pockets.
“Don’t get me wrong. Carlos. I’ve come this far not because I trust your stupid blockhead. It’s just because the mornings in this peaceful city are boring.”
It was a remark that crushed even the worst opponent’s pride. When Carlos stared at Percyville with bloodshot eyes, Percyville smiled, narrowing his unique eyes.
“Aren’t you going to close your eyes? If it’s unfair, you should have come at me. Of course, you should be prepared.”
The accompanying paladin tapped Carlos on the back. Just because they are called paladins does not mean they are all allies. There must have been a clear class between them, as is the case with aristocratic society.
“Good luck, goat poop.”
After leaving only a trace of the storm he started, Percyville left.
—Did he really leave? She felt relieved because he was out of sight, but she didn’t think she could relax completely unless he completely left Christopher.
Sir Mel was the first to open his mouth in the middle of the silent garden.
“Hahaha! I almost got in trouble because of the devil who turned into a stray cat.”
「I didn’t transform. Both are me.」
“Well, it’s a relief that it’s been roughly resolved. I’m busy with the security management of the parade at noon, so I’ll have to go, Miss Phanya, but I’ll only be away for a very short while.”
Sir Mel seemed uninterested in whether the cat was a devil or a person covered in leather. If it were in Orléans, everyone would have run away in panic.
‘Is it because he’s a member of the Grand Duke Cesare?’
To become a wizard, they must make a contract with the devil. The reason is clear. This is because humans have to borrow the power of the devil’s true name to use magic.
The imperial family of the Iterana Empire has inherited the blood of wizards from generation to generation, and accordingly, they are friendly to wizards and have actively fostered them. But the Vatican was the exact opposite. To them, the devil was just an object of subjugation.
They did not reach out to the wizards and devils belonging to the state, but that was enough. The Vatican drove out and hunted numerous wandering wizards as devil worshipers under the guise of a mission. For this reason, the Empire and the Vatican had no choice but to be hostile for a long time.
In Christopher, the land of the Grand Duke, there was a tendency to idolize wizards, so the power of the Vatican was weak.
Rumor has it that Sir Mel was once a Grand Duke’s knight, so it was probably for that reason that he did not put much meaning to the existence of the devil.
When Sir Mel left, the mansion became quiet again.
“So what’s your name?”
「Hmmmm! The name of this body is the Great Ruler of the Night!」
“It’s too long. Can I just call you meow?”
「Hn, if Catherine chose it, that’s not bad either.」
Damian shook his head with a frown on his face.
“I didn’t know I would work at a house where someone raises devils as pets in my life.”
The cat entered the mansion with confident steps as if it were its own house. The way he shrank again was too cute.
“Oh my, oh my!”
Rose, who became heart-eyed, hugged the cat with a groaning sound. Damian and everyone else didn’t care much about Meow’s identity, so it seemed like the cat was naturally accepted as a member of this house.
After lunch, Rose quickly threw away her maid’s uniform at the speed of light and became as beautiful as any other lady.
“Rose, where are you going?”
“Didn’t I tell you before? I’m going to the square to watch the parade.”
Rose replied with red cheeks. Catherine couldn’t understand her words at all.
“Are you really going to go see it after already seeing the paladins in the morning?”
“It’s fine because they’re handsome! Their faces are innocent!”
Rose seemed unwavering in her decision. Catherine couldn’t say anything to her face, and smiled helplessly.
Shortly after Rose left, it became noon – the scheduled time of the parade. After much consideration, Catherine also headed to the square. She didn’t have any other thoughts, she just wanted to see the parade on the way back from subjugation that was hard to see at least once.
She thought it might be too late, but luckily it’s not. The end of the road was less crowded. Catherine stared at the parade quietly approaching from outside of the crowd.
“It’s coming!”
The sound of drums and trumpets were heard. The golden feathers of the Vatican flew, and pedigree horses carrying the paladins walked side by side along the road. It was followed by a huge white carriage, a priest, and lancers.
In the end, the goat festival plan was canceled.
There were also familiar faces in it. Loud sighs burst out here and there as a man’s dark brown hair fluttered in the autumn wind.
“The pride of the Vatican! Sir Percyville!”
That would be true if one just looked at the face.
“Sir Percyville! Please look this way!”
“The Holy Sword of the Vatican!”
“Ah, today is the day I see him with my own eyes—!”
As if meeting a famous play actor, the women felt their foreheads and staggered. They swooned, not knowing the unfortunate truth. They were all fantasies that would disappear into a handful of ashes the moment Percyville opened his mouth.
“Lily’s holy knight!”
“Percyville! Blow a kiss this way!”
“Sir Percyville!”
The parade drew closer, and finally, Percyville passed Catherine. She instantly moved away just as his expressionless face appeared.
At least she thought she had.
“Ah.”
Why was Percyville looking at her?
Time seemed to have stopped.
Catherine instinctively touched her face.
It was a perfectly bare face.