On the training grounds of the Holy Church, four men in linen short sleeves were practicing with swords.
Before them, Ifreya, also changed into training clothes, paced around watching their movements. From the slight nod of her chin, she seemed satisfied with the training so far.
At that moment, Nolan appeared at the entrance to the training grounds in his knight’s uniform. He walked toward Ifreya and bowed slightly as he approached.
“Lady Ifreya.”
“Mm.”
Ifreya nodded in acknowledgment. Seeing that he clearly had something to say, she raised her hand to declare the day’s training over and dismissed them.
A few minutes later, only she and Nolan remained in the vast training grounds. Then he spoke.
“Lady Ifreya, I made contact with the Saintess today.”
“Oh?” Ifreya looked somewhat surprised.
“However… the Saintess unilaterally contacted me, sent a few messages, and then forcefully cut off the communication.”
Ifreya didn’t find that result strange, so she gestured for him to continue.
Nolan nodded and recounted everything that had happened today, along with all the information the Saintess had conveyed.
After listening, Ifreya rubbed her chin, lost in thought. “It seems the corruption of this local church is even more severe than I expected…”
“Still… it must have been hard on them, holding out this long.”
Nolan clasped his hands and asked, “Should I go deal with them?”
He assumed that Lady Ifreya, as a holy knight, would readily agree to his suggestion against such behavior that dishonored the Church.
But to his surprise, she shook her head and patted his shoulder instead.
“No rush. Their crime doesn’t warrant death. Go and give them a warning first.”
“Besides… I don’t believe they could act so recklessly without the support of the lord and the local chief priest.”
“Though their strength is insignificant, we still have to be careful not to corner a rat into biting.”
Nolan, who had been worked up the whole way here, suppressed his anger and lowered his head without a word.
Ifreya glanced at him, nodded silently, thought for a moment, and continued, “Did you get any results on the matter I asked you to investigate?”
Nolan raised his head. “Yes. The knights of Isol City are basically remnants of the old era—knights belonging to the nobility. Currently, all of them inherited their positions.”
“Only…” Here Nolan hesitated, his expression turning strange. “Only the one beside the Saintess—he is the only knight in the last twenty years who did not inherit his position.”
“Going further back, there is only a foreign knight named ‘Thor.’ I heard he had a long dispute with the local church, and he is also the adoptive father of the knight beside the Saintess.”
Hearing this, Ifreya was taken aback. “That little knight named Shilo?”
“Yes.”
“…That makes sense. After all, he was chosen by the Saintess. As for that Knight Thor…”
Seeing Ifreya lost in recollection, Nolan was surprised. “Lady Ifreya, you know him?”
Snapping out of it, Ifreya nodded, then shook her head. Under Nolan’s puzzled gaze, she slowly spoke.
“To be precise, I only know of him. This incident was quite famous back then.”
“Do you remember the city guarded by the Grand Duke at the northern border?”
Nolan’s eyes lit up.
“Of course! That man is a true legend!”
“Mm… yes, he truly is a legend. But I’m not going to tell his story. Rather, it’s a story about one of his knights.”
“A knight who, when a dragon attacked, was so terrified that he charged out, mistaking a wild boar for the dragon—and ended up a deserter.”
“Could that Knight Thor be him!”
Nolan recalled it and was greatly surprised.
Ifreya nodded and continued, “Yes. I never expected that after being dealt with, he would flee to this remote border town.”
“That scumbag doesn’t deserve to be called a ‘knight’!” Nolan suddenly grew agitated.
Hearing this, Ifreya just smiled without disputing it, then patted his shoulder.
“Alright, whether or not he is a knight is not for us to judge. He is a knight of the old era, belonging to the nobility, not the Church. So let the Grand Duke think about that.”
“For now, Nolan, go and give the chief priest a warning. Tell him to stop his little schemes.”
“You’ve had a hard time. After you finish this, take two days off, then join the daily training.”
“Please don’t say that—it’s my honor!” Nolan bowed, then took his leave from the training grounds.
—
Emil, who was processing documents, suddenly sneezed, feeling a sense of foreboding.
The next moment, there was a knock at the door.
“Come in.”
As his words fell, a man dressed like a monk entered.
It was Marco.
Emil glanced up, then lowered his head again, continuing his work as he asked, “Didn’t I tell you to keep an eye on Sery’s clothing shop? Why are you back?”
Faced with the chief priest’s inquiry, Marco bowed slightly. “Chief Priest, there’s basically no problem at the clothing shop lately. I came back because I discovered that other clergy members are also watching that shop.”
Emil’s interest was piqued. He looked up at Marco. “Oh? Tell me, who is it?”
“A female priest. She’s very strong. It seems she can even use magic?”
“A priest?” Emil raised an eyebrow. “I didn’t know I had such an enthusiastic priest here.”
“Well… it doesn’t matter. Since someone’s watching it, you can end your work. Leave if there’s nothing else.”
“Yes.”
After another bow, Marco left the room.
The moment the door closed behind him, Emil, who had been looking indifferent, furrowed his brows.
“Why would a priest help him?”
He couldn’t understand. Weren’t all those priests extremely annoyed with Shilo?
“And a priest that strong, and I don’t even know who it is?”
He found it hard to accept that something was happening in this city without his knowledge.
The reason he had sent Marco and the others to lurk around the clothing shop in this manner was actually to monitor and exert pressure at the same time—even if they were discovered, it didn’t matter.
After all, Marco and the others had been ordered to protect the shop.
As for whether there was any real danger around the clothing shop… wasn’t that obvious?
But now a strange priest had appeared out of nowhere, making him worry that Shilo might go back on his promise to hunt the monsters.
Just as he was thinking this, hurried footsteps sounded outside the door again—seemingly more than one person.
The door was knocked, and Emil composed his expression, returning to his usual smiling demeanor.
With permission granted, the door opened. A tall knight entered, supporting a pale-faced priest at the threshold.
Looking closely, the knight’s right arm hung limp as if dislocated. His hair, face, and clothes were covered in dirt and dust.
As for the priest… aside from her robes being a bit dirty, she had no other injuries—just looked shaken and terrified.
After assessing the situation, Emil dropped his smile, put on a concerned look, and rose to walk over, casting a holy spell to heal the two.
“Knight Leon, and Priest Natalie, what happened to you?”
“Weren’t you just handling the Adventurers’ Association matter?”
“How did you end up like this?”
Leon, who had been keeping his head down, clenched his fists and began recounting what had happened in the association.
When he heard that it was yet another unknown priest who had done it, Emil’s expression turned somewhat strange.
“Her again?”
Hearing this, Leon, who had been feeling embarrassed from being beaten down by a priest, perked up.
“Yes, Chief Priest! Please punish her properly!”
“That woman has no regard for the Church at all. She treats your orders as nothing. You know this mission was specifically assigned by you.”
Emil cast a deep look at the two.
Leon was young, but he was one of the knights who had always followed Emil—he had inherited his father’s position and remained loyal.
Natalie, on the other hand, had been shoved into the Church by the lord—she was the lord’s youngest daughter. If she was wronged here, the useless lord would inevitably come looking.
Having no other choice, he put on a very angry expression.
“Don’t worry! I will definitely handle it. The Church doesn’t need such a priest!”
Just as Leon showed a pleased expression, another figure of similar tall build appeared behind him.
The man was also in a knight’s uniform. He shoved Leon aside with some disdain, stared straight at Emil, and spoke in an unfriendly tone.
“Chief Priest, who are you talking about handling?”
Upon seeing this person, Emil was startled at first, then immediately put on a smile as if delighted.
“Knight Nolan! What brings you here? Does Lady Ifreya have new instructions?”
Nolan gave him a cold look.
“Chief Priest, can you answer my question first?”
Emil’s expression stiffened, a barely perceptible flash of malice in his eyes.
Normally, a chief priest outranked an ordinary knight. But Nolan, a knight from the imperial capital, was vastly different from Emil, who served as a chief priest in a remote region.
Though the other still addressed him as Chief Priest, he clearly didn’t truly regard him as one.
Before, he had at least shown respect, but now he seemed completely contemptuous.
Emil was puzzled, but he still explained, “Well, Knight Nolan, it’s like this. A priest violently assaulted these two and willfully defied the Church’s orders. So I was about to punish that priest.”
“A priest bullying a knight? How interesting.” Nolan replied with feigned surprise, but then his tone shifted, his eyes chilling again.
“However, now that you mention it, I actually did witness such a scene just now.”
“But… the actual situation seems a bit different from what the Chief Priest described.”
A flicker of shock passed over Emil’s face. His eyes darted as he hurriedly tried to explain, only to be cut off by Nolan.
“Oh, I forgot to mention—that priest is traveling with us.”
“Alright, you may continue.”
Emil’s face turned as nasty as if he had eaten something foul, and he couldn’t squeeze out a single word.
After waiting for a while and seeing no reaction, Nolan continued.
“Since you won’t speak, I’ll go on.”
“I came on Lady Ifreya’s orders to bring you something and deliver a message.”
As he spoke, a book with a leather cover materialized in Nolan’s hand. The gilded title and decorations proclaimed its significance.
He handed it to Emil. The latter hesitated, then obediently took it.
“This is the latest edition of the scripture published by the Imperial Center. I hope the Chief Priest will thoroughly read its contents, teach them to the other clergy exactly as written, and ensure they follow it.”
“Additionally, Lady Ifreya asked me to convey this message to you.”
Nolan deliberately cleared his throat and changed his tone.
“Chief Priest Emil, I know what has happened. I don’t know how you feel about it.”
“But I can only offer you one sentence: if you still cling to the outdated customs of the old era, I won’t hesitate to step in and bring the Church of Isol City into the new era.”
“That’s all. I hope the Chief Priest has taken note.”
Without waiting for Emil’s reply, Nolan turned and left, even politely closing the door behind him.
Staring at the shut door, Emil’s eyes turned as vicious as poison-coated daggers. A sinister smile twisted at the corner of his mouth, resentment and venom seething beneath his gaze.