Chapter 45: The Lump Called Moritz (2)

To start with the conclusion, it was all a misunderstanding.

Not the kind of disgusting situation where Moritz secretly loved me or anything like that.

If there was a problem, it was probably that the misunderstanding was only cleared up after I’d already thoroughly beaten him up.

“Explain. Why were you tailing me, and why do you want to go to the battlefield too?”

“Ugh…”

Moritz, who was squirming on the ground, glared at me.

But his gaze felt different from how he usually looked at me.

“Light…”

“What?”

“There’s light coming from you. When I look at it, it makes me feel a bit at ease.”

I glanced down at my own body.

Just as he said, a gentle light was emanating from me.

It wasn’t that my skin was glowing, but rather, my flesh was imbued with Divine Grace thanks to the effect of the Sacred Bones.

“So that’s why you were following me?”

“Hmph! That’s only because you failed to notice.”

“Oh, really?”

Just as I was about to raise my foot at the guy still acting defiant while lying flat,

“Stop! P-please, that’s enough! Isn’t this far enough already!”

“Get lost, you traitor! You said it was a secret between men!”

“Brother…”

Huger, who was trying to stop me, shrank back under Moritz’s resentful gaze.

I held back a sigh at this ridiculous situation, when Moritz spoke to me.

“Anyway, I also got permission from the Lord. I’m going to the battlefield with you.”

“That place is crawling with far more miasma than here. If you’re just going to wet yourself, don’t bother coming.”

Moritz was the one who’d collapsed just from the faint miasma spread across the continent.

Could he even swing a sword in a battlefield overrun with Undead?

“I have Bartenberg Bloodline too. Don’t look down on me!”

“I’m not looking down on you, that’s just reality. Looks like you haven’t even been sleeping properly lately.”

Just like the other retainers of the Bartenberg family, there were dark circles under his eyes.

In the end, Moritz’s mental fortitude was lower than that of the other Knights—practically at the level of an ordinary person.

“Don’t tell me you plan to just stick to my back on the battlefield too?”

I had no interest in that.

I didn’t know why the Lord even allowed it, but there was no reason for me to drag along such a useless burden.

“Just stay home.”

“Richard!”

Thud—Moritz slammed the ground.

He calmed his anger for a while before finally speaking.

“Being ignored by you really pisses me off! And the Knights laughing at me too!”

The way he looked at me with his twisted face didn’t seem angry, but rather as if his pride had been wounded.

“But more than anything, what frustrates me most is my current self! I need to change!”

What had driven him to the edge was trauma.

A weak-hearted person, forced to face the overwhelming darkness of the Demon King.

Moritz said he’d roll through the mud of the battlefield to shake off that trauma.

“I’m not asking for your permission, I’m notifying you!”

“Yeah, fine.”

“…What?”

“Go or don’t, do whatever you want.”

Maybe it was because I changed my attitude so easily.

Moritz stared at me blankly.

“Come to think of it, this is a good opportunity.”

He was relying on my light—my Divine Grace.

There weren’t many chances to make one of the Bartenberg siblings into a believer.

“But, if you follow me even once more, or do anything to drag me down, I’ll abandon you without mercy.”

“A-alright.”

I let out a small laugh as I watched my brother nodding earnestly.

Who would’ve thought that the ferocious Moritz would become as meek as a lamb.

***

[Lone Swordsman’s Sword Star – Activate.]

Kakak—!

A sword of light appeared in the air.

It could be controlled by my will, or grasped and wielded directly.

“Wow, whoa…”

While I was in the middle of training at my private training ground, I heard a voice of admiration from the side.

It was Moritz, staring at me with a dumb expression.

“If you’re not going to train, then leave.”

It’s been a week since I warned him that I’d abandon him if he followed me even once more.

Moritz had started following me around all day, every day.

He even quietly started coming into my private training ground, but I decided to just ignore him instead of kicking him out.

That didn’t mean I accepted him as a companion.

‘Maybe if he turns over a new leaf someday.’

The reason he kept following me was probably his nature—weak to the strong, strong to the weak.

Trying my best to ignore his annoyingly persistent gaze, I focused on my training.

That’s when a Knight came to the training ground.

“Young Master Richard. The Knights who were dispatched have returned together with the residents of Snowfall!”

Finally, the believers and followers had arrived.

“Where are the residents?”

“They’re waiting in the reception room.”

I left Aaron and Moritz in the training ground and headed straight there.

My whole body was drenched in sweat, which felt unpleasant, but I had to finish my tasks first.

“Let’s see how many will become believers.”

There were a total of 31 residents from Snowfall.

Of those, 10 were already believers, and the rest were followers.

Given the devotion of the followers who’d been praying diligently, it seemed likely they could all become believers.

“Young Master Richard, we greet you.”

When I arrived at the reception room, the five Knights standing there bowed their heads deeply.

“Good work. But why are you all here?”

“We wanted to greet you, Young Master Richard.”

“Have you been well?”

It seemed they’d absorbed a lot of miasma on their way back from Snowfall.

Judging by their eager gazes, they probably wanted some healing from me.

Pat, pat—

Feeling burdened, I put 50 Faith into each of their shoulders.

“Ah! I feel purified!”

“Alright, off you go now.”

Only then did the uninvited guests finally leave.

I approached the door to enter the reception room.

But it was incredibly noisy on the other side.

I pressed my ear to the door and heard a voice.

“Evil has descended upon the sky, and the Seed of Darkness has taken root everywhere!”

“Oh, despair!”

Mary’s voice, as if giving a speech, and the residents’ collective sighs.

But the noise didn’t end there.

“But those who carry faith in their hearts have nothing to fear!”

“Yes!”

“We shall cry out! O Hor! O Saint!”

“O Hor! O Saint!”

It was hard to listen to with a clear mind.

This felt like some kind of cult.

Bang—!

“Believe! Believe and…”

I opened the door and was met with a wild scene.

Mary was waving the Bartenberg banner, and the residents were passionately responding.

It was utter chaos.

“Huh… S-Saint?”

In the middle of their feverish excitement, they turned to look at me.

“Hello?”

Maybe it was because my appearance had changed so much.

A silence fell over the reception room.

One. Two. Three.

“Uwaah! Saint!”

Exactly three seconds later, Mary, who’d been giving a freedom-fighter speech, burst into tears and threw herself into my arms, and the residents began wailing and chanting Hor’s name.

‘Ah… this is insane.’

I was starting to regret calling them here.

***

“Our Saint! Our Light!”

“As expected of the Saint! There’s an aura radiating from your whole body…”

“Ah, enough! Can you all be quiet for a moment!”

It took quite a while before things calmed down enough to talk.

The residents kept bursting into tears whenever they saw the light emanating from me, which only delayed things further.

“First of all, Mary, you’ve really worked hard.”

“Sob! Not at all. I was just doing what needed to be done.”

Mary waved her hands in humility, but her contribution was truly immeasurable.

The fact that every villager prayed without missing a single day was thanks to Mary’s tireless efforts at spreading the faith.

If not for her, at least half of them would have given up on the endless prayers by now.

Sigh

I looked closely at each of the residents’ faces.

“They’re not in great shape.”

Gaunt faces and tired eyes.

They were no different from ordinary people.

But one thing was different: the more fear grew, the more deeply the residents fell into Horgyo.

To a degree that bordered on dependency.

“Your prayers have greatly strengthened the Lord. Thank you.”

“Oh! Is that true?”

“There’s still much to do. Listen quietly.”

After quieting the crowd before it got rowdy again, I continued.

*The Lord is deeply moved by your faith and wishes to reward you. Believers, line up.”

The reward was nothing special. I simply handed each of them a Holy Stone I’d prepared.

“Here. This is called a Sacred Stone.”

“A Sacred Stone!”

Roman, the village elder, teared up as he accepted the stone.

In truth, it was just an ordinary pebble with a touch of Faith imbued in it.

“Always keep it with you. The Blessing of the Lord will be with you.”

“I’ll be buried with it when I die!”

But the simple folk wept with gratitude.

I felt a pang of guilt, as if I was selling snake oil, but there was no helping it.

In the future, the number of believers would only increase, and I couldn’t afford to keep giving out extravagant rewards.

“Alright. Everyone received their reward?”

“Yes!”

Now it was time to conduct the conversion ceremony.

“Followers! Are you ready to become believers at last?”

“Yes! We have prayed as earnestly as the believers!”

The 21 followers responded with confidence.

And it turned out they weren’t just boasting.

[Maria has become a believer.]

[Jin has become a believer.]

[Friya has…]

“Oh! Congratulations to you all.”

All 21 became believers.

It would have been stranger if any hadn’t, given their devout attitudes.

“O Hor! O Saint!”

“Enough. There’s still work to do.”

It was finally time to get to the main topic.

I had everyone take their seats and spoke up.

“The reason I called you here is because I need your help.”

“Please, tell us anything!”

“Right now, countless Knights are fighting against darkness. On the battlefield, miasma runs rampant, and fallen comrades rise again in horrifying forms.”

The place where darkness is thickest.

And the place where my believers and I can shine brightest.

That’s the battlefield we’re heading to.

“The Lord has awaited this moment. Together with your Prophet.”

“Y-you mean…?”

“Let’s go to the battlefield and spread the greatness of the Lord.”

The believers fell silent. They only stared at me with wide eyes.

Looks like it won’t be easy to work them for free.

I’d probably need to offer some enticing reward.

“If you go to the battlefield with me as Prophets, I’ll give you a great reward…”

“Really?”

Mary immediately asked, her eyes sparkling—clearly, she was very interested in the reward.

“Of course. I’ll give you ten Sacred Stones each…”

“Th-that’s not it! Are you truly saying the Lord regards us as Prophets? That He has truly awaited this moment with us?”

“Of course. Why do you ask?”

I didn’t understand Mary’s reaction, so I asked again.

“Waaaah!”

Suddenly, the believers began to cry out. Tears streamed down their faces once again.

“W-what the… Why are you all crying?”

I couldn’t keep up with the flood of emotion.

“A revelation from the Lord! The Prophets have risen on the battlefield!”

“They have risen!”

“Give faith to the faithless! Let us fulfill our duty as Prophets!”

“Let us fulfill it!”

Mary wildly waved the Bartenberg banner, shouting at the top of her lungs.

She was nothing like the Mary I knew, veins bulging in her neck as she shouted.

“Ha… What have I gotten myself into?”

I pressed my forehead.

These people in front of me were definitely my believers, but why did they look more like a group of fanatics?