One room stood out for its glittering decoration. In the center, a red carpet extended all the way to the edge of the wall, and a luxurious throne was prominently placed on top of it.
Sitting on such a throne was a magnificent man in his prime age————the king who ruled the country of Lapis Lazuli, he looked at a kneeling man with a serious expression on his face.
“……So, what additional information do you have for me?”
“Yes, it’s about the former exclusive knight————who attacked Emilia-sama.”
Kneeling down, the man told the king without looking at him.
“It seems that these wicked have spread throughout the kingdom. The other day, one of our royal knights discovered…… a wicked man with a hideous dragon emblem painted on his arm.”
“It’s an abomination to think that…… there’re others inside the kingdom besides him.”
“Yes…… Therefore, the entire palace is now being searched to see if anyone has infiltrated.”
The king frowned.
If a wicked of the evil cult was found in the royal palace, the center of the country————where trusted people are gathered, it could shake the country.
The evil cult was so entrenched in the country————that even if the weeds were removed, their roots still remained. Therefore, the failure to deal with the spread of this evil cult made him raise his eyebrows.
“……Continue.”
“Understood…… currently the intelligent bureau is interrogating that evil person. In doing so, we have succeeded in getting him to tell us a number of things, so we are pleased to report to Your Majesty.”
The man took a sheet of paper from his pocket and read it.
“The purpose of the evil people is the “resurrection of the evil dragon”. By returning all the creatures to the earth————they will create new salvation.”
“……”
“And it seems that the resurrection of the evil dragon requires the blood of royalty and the blood of the holy ones received by the goddess.”
“That’s why he attacked Emilia…….”
“No doubt about that.”
It was no different than what he predicted at the beginning.
The resurrection of the evil dragon required noble blood————royal blood, and sacred blood would be, as it said, the blood of one who had received the blessings of the goddess in one’s life.
There was no such a person————other than the saintess.
“And as for the sacrifice————this one’s a bit trickier.”
“…… Trickier, huh?”
“Apparently, the sacrifice is a vessel used to resurrect an evil dragon, and there are no clear standards for such vessels. They just indiscriminately implant the factor of the evil dragon and look for someone with enough quality to endure it,————so it seems that the evil cult has yet to find a vessel.”
“Where’s the trouble with that? If they haven’t found it, what’s the problem?”
“No, it is a big problem.————Without exception, those who are implanted with the factor lose their ego and they repeatedly kill with their malicious feelings,————eventually leading to their own death. If it spreads to the people————.”
“That will be bad…….”
If such a factor was spread, the people would be harmed.
If that happened, the country would fall into chaos, and it was clear that innocent people would be sacrificed————. The more it spread, the more difficult it would be to control and it would not be a problem of the kingdom alone.
“Share the information with the surrounding countries and tell the Church to strengthen the security of the saintess. And send out troops to strengthen the city’s security……. They may be hiding in Emilia and Cecilia-sama’s academy as well, flush them out immediately!”
“Acknowledged!”
The man was hanging his head.
The king held his head in his hands as the darkness that had somehow taken root in his country.
If anything should happen to Emilia or the saintess, the problem would not be contained within the country alone.
♦♦♦
At the entrance to the Forest of lost————away from there, Caesar was sitting with his greatsword. From this position, he could see the entire forest, which was perfect for spotting the magic signal at any time.
“Say, Joseph-san? Are you sure you were right about that party?”
Caesar asked while sitting cross-legged in his spare time.
“Ee~, it’s no problem.”
The response came from a young man wearing a robe that covered his entire body.
Like Caesar, he was one of the instructors in charge of S-class practical classes.
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“You should have put Julis Anderberg and Cecilia Ametysta in the same party in terms of competence, shouldn’t you? The saintess specializes in support, but not in combat.————In that respect, I have no complaints about her ability, but I don’t think she should be forced to be in that party.”
Caesar was concerned.
Certainly, even this academy, which supremely valued competence, wanted to make sure that nothing happened to its students.
Therefore, he thought that Cecilia should have joined the same party as Julis in order to ensure her safety and to develop her ability.
Besides, the attendance of the saintess to the academy was asked by the kingdom. No matter what the training was, she must not be in any danger.
If something happened, it would not only be a problem for the academy and the country, but also for the neighboring countries.
“No, no, no, that won’t be a problem. In her party, there is Emilia-sama who has the ability to follow Julis-kun and Byrne-sama who has double attributes, so everything will be all right.”
“I know it, but……”
Joseph told him that there would be no problem with Byrne, Emilia, and Cecilia together.
Caesar, who balked at that, didn’t know about the incident at the cafeteria. If he had known about it, he would have been very defiant.
This was due to the fact that Emilia and the others, perhaps out of sheer negligence, did not report the incident to the school.
“Besides, she cannot be strong if she is protected by the strong all the time. Although she is a supporter type, she must also wish to improve her strengths……. You know exactly what I mean, don’t you?”
“Well, it’s true that you can’t be strong if you’re only being protected…… as an adventurer I can comprehend that…….”
“Right…… if anything goes wrong they will launch a magic signal and we will go protect them, so there will be no problem————They can develop their abilities and deepen their friendship……, it’s a killing two birds with one stone.”
Joseph smiles briskly.
Seeing him did not dispel Caesar’s uneasiness.
Essentially, a saintess’s job was to protect and heal others in the rear. Even if she was an adventurer, that was the basis of the party, so there was no need to have Cecilia, a saintess and healer, developed her strengths.
However, Caesar had seen many healers who still wanted to gain strength.
So, he couldn’t deny Joseph’s words.
Caesar sat cross-legged and keeps a constant watch on the forest.
As an instructor, he was committed to the growth and safety of his students————
“I look forward to seeing their growth hereafter.”