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19: Zenith Church (2)
Lars was up early in the morning to swing his sword. He was a priest and a swordsman at the same time, so he trained steadily without missing a single day.
“Phew.”
As he wiped the sweat, he looked outside.
It was dark when he entered the training hall, but it seemed like several hours had passed since then.
When he came out, servants, who were fulfilling the Count’s order, handed him a towel.
Although the assistance was unfamiliar to him, priest Lars owed too much debt to the Count.
“Thank you.”
“You’re welcome.”
Lars simply thanked and took the towel to wipe his sweat.
“How long has it been?”
“It’s still not late for breakfast. I think you should wash up and go right away.”
Seeing the servant who smiled and informed him, Lars smiled.
He coughed a few times and headed to take a shower.
As expected, Count Welton’s reputation was confirmed in the Seldam Kingdom. Even the bathroom was fantastic.
Lars thought that his church’s baths were quite good, but the private baths of the high-ranking nobles were different.
When was he going to get such a valuable experience again? He felt a little guilty as he was supposed to be a priest but was enjoying the luxury.
“Are you enjoying your stay?”
“When I was in the church, the bed was like a stone, but here, it is like a cloud. As soon as I lay down, I fall asleep.”
“You always make us feel good. Haha!”
The Count laughed at Lars’ words.
“I hear that a lot.”
Sears smiled and offered him the meal.
After eating breakfast, Count and Lars went to have tea.
“What do you plan on doing today?”
“I was thinking of walking around the city.”
“I did give the order, but what a priest can feel is different from ordinary soldiers.”
“I think so too. And I would need a guide.”
Lars was unknown to Haiss.
He might end up wandering around aimlessly, and getting a guide would be effective in achieving his goal.
The Count had the same idea. He thought for a moment and then turned his head to the side.
Lars looked at where the Count had turned his head. There was a little boy holding a teacup which was big for his tiny hands.
The boy noticed the two of them looking at him and asked.
“What is it?”
“Jamie, would you help this uncle?
“Count!”
“It is fine.”
“It can be dangerous…!”
“It is fine.”
Lars was startled by the Count’s words and tried to stop him, but the Count seemed determined.
“You just need to show him around the city.”
“Hmm…”
Jamie looked at Lars.
Lars had a bewildered expression and smiled awkwardly.
‘I’d say it’s dangerous.’
Lars tried to tell the Count that it could be dangerous.
It wasn’t like it was dangerous for a child to guide him. But it was the kind of danger where even an expert class paladin would be in danger.
Maybe the part about being dangerous for expert-level paladin was an exaggeration.
However, it was that kind of a risky situation.
‘Yesterday, the Count and that paladin talked until late night.’
He heard it directly from a servant. Their relationship wasn’t that close, so why would his father have a long conversation with a stranger?
Maybe the stranger was a good-natured person, but the Count was someone who would only talk about necessary things.
There would be no way that Lars, who was from another place, would talk with Count for that long.
Jamie was reluctant to go around with a paladin, but he wanted to discover Lars’s secret. Maybe it had something to do with the Zenith church.
“Sure!”
Jamie nodded his head brightly.
Count Welton stroked his head and told Lars.
“He will be a good guide.”
“If it’s my son, he would be a great guide.”
Said Sears.
Lars looked at Jamie with a complicated expression.
Even though the Countess has the right to stop it, she didn’t. As if she’s sure that if he was with the child, there would be no problems.
“Alright. Our handsome young master, please take care of me.”
Lars winked and held out his hand.
“… I will take good care of you.”
Jamie grabbed the hand, holding back the nausea rising in him.
“This is Belbart street. You can say it’s the biggest street in Haiss.”
“I remember this. I have memories of passing out that night, struggling with hunger.”
Jamie looked at Lars with pitiful eyes.
Come to think of it, the place where he found the man wasn’t far from Belbart street. He was down like a corpse.
Feeling Jamie’s gaze, Lars coughed.
“Please guide me elsewhere.”
“Follow me.”
Jamie didn’t travel around in Haiss too much himself, but his strong memory never forgot the path he took.
“If you go there, you will see a fountain. There is Dilante square, you can think of it as the main centre of Haiss. It is where most people gather.”
“This is the violet commercial district. You don’t have to give explanations all the time.”
“This way is the Pion administrative region. I am not going to explain.”
“From here on, it’s farmland owned by Haiss people. It is also one of the top three producers in the kingdom, so it is a very important place for the city and the kingdom.”
Lars clicked his tongue as he looked at Jamie. For a 7-year-old kid, he had great stamina.
Is that all?
The explanation was so clear, and it seemed like he was well aware of the land.
He seemed to understand why Count Welton had recommended Jamie as the guide. He was smarter than most people in the administration.
Of course, that wasn’t the true reason why Jamie was there.
“Thank you. We went through all of Haiss. Now that I’ve remembered all the paths, I think I will be able to walk around alone. Thank you again.”
Lars squatted down and looked at Jamie.
Despite it being unpleasant, Jamie replied with a smile.
“I had fun too.”
“Then, should we head back now?”
Lars reached out to grab him.
Jamie didn’t hold hands. And he didn’t even follow the man to guide him. He wanted to hear what exactly happened with the Count.
“There is one thing that I am curious about.”
“About?”
“What did you talk about with my father yesterday?”
Jamie asked the question with pure and innocent eyes.
Lars’ eyes widened at the sudden question.
He knew that the kid was the curious type. There was an orphanage run by his church, so he dealt with children quite a lot of times.
But the curiosity of children was short.
‘I thought, at the very least, he would ask what a paladin was doing here.’
He didn’t think that the kid would ask about the conversation with Count Welton.
He knew Jamie was mature, but this was different from being just that.
He wasn’t sure how to respond.
“The Count and I, we thought that Jamie was handsome and that you would become a great man once you grow up.”
“Do not lie.”
Jamie said.
Lars was heartbroken. He didn’t think that a child would give him a disgusted look. Just how mature was the kid!
Seeing Lars’ reaction, Jamie clicked his tongue. Did this guy really know who he was standing in front of and lied to?
“It is true. We talked a lot about Jamie!”
“If you don’t want to say it, just say so. No kid would believe such a lie these days .”
The word ‘you are a kid too’ came up to his throat.
With a puzzled look, Lars scratched his cheek.
“Sorry for lying. It is an adult matter, so I can’t tell you.”
An adult matter.
As soon as Jamie heard that, he felt like he had been hit.
The man roamed the city under his guidance.
To learn the geography of the land.
The question ‘why’ came up.
‘Something is happening here.’
If so, then something was left behind. There was one place that he hadn’t guided yet.
“There is a place we haven’t been to.”
“Huh? A place we haven’t been to?
“Zenith church in Haiss. We haven’t been there.”
When he heard the word Zenith church, Lars’ eyes flashed.
Jamie didn’t miss that.
‘I don’t know if this is related to Zenith, but we might unfold something interesting.’
Jamie guided Lars to Zenith church.
“The market is huge.”
“It is a market that runs from Belbart street. I heard that we get the daily products from here.”
A place that handled the food that went up the lord’s table.
All of them were of high quality.
The more he looked, the more he realized that there was no other estate like Haiss.
“That.”
Lars looked at where Jamie was pointing.
A while building that looked like it had been made with care was standing in the distance.
The symbol of Zenith was drawn on it.
“Hmm. It has been a long time since I have been to Zenith church.”
“You were in Zenith church?”
“The god I serve is different, but we people communicate. We had a close relationship with the Zenith church in the past, but we don’t get along now.”
Not on good terms?
Although the 12 Gods were powerful on their own, it was the bond that made them strong.
And the reason why Dark Magician Diablo Volfir was defeated was that he couldn’t overpower them all together.
However, it was said that the current relationship between Pyro and Zenith wasn’t good. It was incomprehensible to Jamie, who had been defeated by them.
“Why?”
“Hm… it is complicated. This is just another adult’s matter.”
Damn it. That man never gave out any information.
Jamie cursed the man and decided to find it by himself later.
They were passing by.
Just across the road, the Zenith Church was there.
To come to the church on his own feet, Jamie was annoyed with himself.
“Uh? You!”
Just then, on the other side of the street, a boy with a broomstick raised his finger at Jamie.
“You, it has been so long?”
The boy approached Jamie with a bright face.
Jamie frowned at this.
“Do you know him?”
“No.”
At Lars’ question, Jamie shook his head.
It was his first time seeing that kid. However, the kid was acting as if he had known Jamie for a long time.
Did they meet anywhere?
Jamie wasn’t the kind to forget whom he had seen once, but he didn’t bother remembering things he wasn’t interested in.
He tried to remember, and several scenes passed through his brain at once.
A very late night.
‘Yes. That kid I saw while walking out of the alley after transforming Azad and Raiza. That mannerless bastard.’
“Hey!”
The boy, Ricky, approached him with a bright face waving his hand.
And-
Clank!
“No-NO!”
The wheel of a carriage passing by the street was caught onto a stone and began to tilt.
The horses raised their front legs. The joint of the carriage broke, and the two horses moved.
“Ack!”
The coachman who was holding the reins couldn’t withstand the force of the carriage as the horses moved away.
In an instant, the carriage was on its own. It left its path and began to curve at an incredible speed.
The terrifying rattling sound of it.
“Uh?”
Ricky, who was running, stopped.
A black shadow fell over him.
The carriage, which had strayed from the path, headed in his direction.
“Damn it!”
Lars began to release holy power towards Ricky and ran for him.
An expert class paladin was close to a superhuman.
The wide street was around 100 meters. If one put their mind to it, it would take 3 seconds to run.
However, it would take even less than a second for the carriage to hit Ricky.
It was then.
Distance, speed, evasion, restrictions, defense.
[Chain Area]
Earth, air, and sky.
Chains of Mana came out with them.
The chains wrapped themselves around the carriage, which was about to fall.
Hold!
The carriage was smashed and the debris splattered in all directions.
Even in such a state, the carriage still accelerated with force breaking away from the chains.
The chains shouldn’t break.
And the carriage which escaped seemed tough to hold.
Jamie clenched.
He did use a lot more strength than before, but at this rate, it looked like Ricky was done.
‘Black.’
A black shadow rose above his head.
But something moved before that.
“This is too much!”
Slash!
A sound of something being cut.
And a large back blocked the front of Ricky.
Shhhh!
The wagon was cut into two.
The glow of the setting sun shone through the split.
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Ricky felt relief from that light.
“Are you fine?”
Ricky answered the paladin’s question.
“Huahhhhh!”
He burst into tears he had been holding back.