Chapter 12: An Unexpected Power (2)

　—Even before I received the holy sword, I knew of Saint Emily.

　By the nature of their calling, many clergy and monks gathered at the battlefield were elderly or female.

　Though they seldom confronted the undead beasts directly, they had gathered out of duty and goodwill in a land where those creatures lurked nearby. Elliot himself felt almost reverent toward them.

　Among them, Emily stood out.

　Several apprentice monks had also come, including young boys and girls whose presence in a war zone seemed worrying. Elliot often saw Emily among them from afar, smiling as her clear, cheerful voice carried across the camp.

　He knew the knights admired her and called her a saint because of the lovely young woman’s tireless efforts to save as many people as possible.

　Many knights passionately declared that Elliot’s holy sword was “a blessing granted by the Saint’s prayers.”

　After obtaining the holy sword, he constantly fought at the head of the front line and inevitably suffered more wounds.

　Clergy accompanying the troops immediately treated potentially fatal injuries on the battlefield. When Elliot returned to camp for purification, however, Emily increasingly became the first person to hurry to him.

　As an apprentice, she required considerable time. Still, seeing her work so earnestly, Elliot didn’t mind.

　Throughout the long purification, she smiled and spoke without reserve even to the taciturn Elliot, so their conversations naturally became more frequent.

“To tell the truth, I’m terrified of the undead beasts too. Look, I’m still trembling. That’s why the purification is taking so long…”

　She began confiding such weaknesses in him more often.

　By then, clergy from throughout the kingdom had gathered at the front. There was discussion of retaining the experienced older members while sending young children and women home, but Emily stubbornly remained.

　The garrison at the heart of the campaign was absolutely secure. Emily and the others never left it, so they were almost never exposed to danger or forced to face an undead beast. Nevertheless, they were still near the front.

　Elliot admired Emily’s courage and devotion.

“I’m just a little envious of your wife, safe in the royal capital. I’m sure she has no idea how hard you’re working.”

　His wife in the capital often entered their conversations that way. Poor with words, Elliot usually answered, “You’re working hard too.”

　Eventually, Emily began approaching him more often even outside the purification sessions.

“Elliot, there’s something I’d like to discuss with you…”

　One day, looking sadder than usual, Emily confided a problem.

“…Actually, I think the other clergy dislike me—especially the women…”

　It was true that when someone was seriously injured, Elliot often saw experienced clergy push Emily aside and perform the healing and purification themselves. They completed the work quickly, but…

　Unlike healing, in which wounds visibly closed and pain vanished, purification produced no obvious change that a layman such as Elliot could recognize.

　Perhaps for that reason, once he grew accustomed to Emily’s slow, careful purification, the other clergy’s much faster work inevitably seemed careless.

　Angered by the thought, Elliot encouraged Emily.

“Don’t worry about it. We all recognize your devotion. That’s why everyone calls you a saint. Even this holy sword came from your prayers.”

　Emily’s bright smile returned.

　By then, Elliot had already fallen for the sweet, lovely young woman who always worked so earnestly.

　The exhilaration and accomplishment he felt as the holy sword allowed him to destroy undead beast after undead beast. His comrades’ praise.

　Emily had brought him all of it.

　Like so many other knights, Elliot believed that completely.

　As a low-ranking knight, he had slept in a tent with approximately eight other men. After being recognized as a Holy Knight, he was treated as a senior officer and given a private tent.

　Emily increasingly visited him there at night, and the two spoke outside beneath the stars.

　Their conversations were ordinary: he soothed her fear of the undead, she praised him for his daily battles, and he listened to her minor complaints and offered advice. The topics scarcely changed, but his gratitude and affection for Emily grew stronger each day.

　He naturally felt guilty, but he couldn’t turn away Emily’s lovely smile—the smile of the woman who, he believed, had given him the holy sword and remained at his side.

　When news from the royal capital drove Elliot into despair, Emily was the person who comforted him after he confided in her.

　That was when they crossed the line and became lovers.

　Many knights probably noticed, but the officers and high-ranking knights around them actually encouraged the match, calling a union between the Holy Knight and the Saint only natural.

　Alone after Marcus and the others left, Elliot glanced at the report before him and sighed.

　—Unexpected power can drive people mad, can it?

　He drew the holy sword once more and studied it. Away from the battlefield, it gave off no pale light, but it remained like a trusted companion that had fought beside him.

　—How many people do they think Emily and I saved?

　As Elliot confirmed the holy sword’s presence, his guilt over the betrayal faded still further, replaced by something approaching anger.

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