Note: Some readers asked to change Eli’s title and a poll was made in Discord to choose the new title, The Holy One is now used in place of Messiah. Thanks for the feedback guys, happy reading!
The next day, as scheduled, we departed for the Lilcan Peninsula, located in the southeastern part of the Vatican.
Undiscovered dungeons were bound to be in places out of human reach. Inevitably we had to climb a steep mountain.
It seemed that we were almost at the destination marked on the map.
Thesilid, who was climbing the mountain a little ahead, raised his head and stared in one direction.
“I can feel a presence. It seems that the people sent by the Vatican are here.”
“They are pretty good seeing they found it on time.”
“I think Sir Clovis played an active part. Since the Holy One he finally found disappeared right in front of his eyes, he must have become almost obsessed with finding this dungeon.”
“Haha.”
I thought it was a joke and laughed, but there was no smile on Thesilid’s face as he looked at me.
He added, as if he had thought of another thing.
“Well, from the point of view of the Cardinals, they must also be thinking the same.”
“It’s not like I ran away without saying anything. I made an appointment to meet again, and above all, I took you with me. Is there another companion as trustworthy as the owner of the Holy Sword?”
“That’s actually the problem.”
“What?”
Thesilid didn’t explain, only glossed it over with a bitter smile. It was Agnes who answered the question.
<Hm-hum, the church is pretty strict about relationships between men and women. From the point of view of the Council of Cardinals, it must feel like a Saint and the owner of the Holy Sword have fled for love at night.>
“……”
Oh, I hate this, it’s too conservative here.
“Well, anyway.”
Thesilid changed the subject.
“We will run into the Holy Knights soon. It would be better to dress neatly to match the dignity of The Holy One.”
“Ok, got it.”
I took out the outerwear that I had tucked into my satchel bag because it was inconvenient to use it while climbing.
It was the same white paladin uniform worn by Thesilid.
[‘The Scales that Judges the Soul’ likes it and applauds saying it suits you well.]
[‘The World-building God’ says that the only thing that can be saved from the evil cult it’s the uniform’s costume design.]
Thesilid blankly stared at me for a moment and then increased the level of intimacy by himself.
“It’s good because we’re wearing the same clothes, so I can feel we are tied the same way to the Vatican.”
“I like everything.”
We bypassed a large rock and turned the corner. At last, a fluctuating dungeon gate came into our view.
There were about sixty people waiting in front. It far exceeds the size of two orders of knights.
They were resting in peace, still unaware of Thesilid’s and my approach.
I stopped walking for a moment and looked at the Holy Knights, seeing a few familiar faces.
First, Clovis. Then there was Hestio with braided black hair and Ephael with free-spirited blonde hair.
There, I also saw Helcion O’Dreck, whom I forgot to release the Silent debuff.
Thanks to that, I was able to identify the Knights.
“The Knights Templar and Knights of Grace were attached as supervisors.”
“The Ministry of Prosecution and the Ministry of Doctrine sent one each. It seems that the number of people has been reinforced in line with an S-class dungeon subjugation.”
Then, the voices of the members were heard.
“Are they really going to subjugate this one just the two of them?”
“Didn’t you hear what The Holy One said? She said that she can do an S-class alone.”
“When I saw her using Descent during the Harvest Festival, it seemed like she would be more than enough by herself.”
“But the demonic energy measured in this dungeon, from just the gate, is quite high even among S-ranks. It’s an S-class on the verge of becoming an SS-class.”
“Isn’t the owner of the Holy Sword only experienced as an A-class sub-tank? To be honest, he’s not trustworthy.”
“That’s why we brought in elite tankers. If the owner of the Holy Sword doesn’t do it right, we’ll put them in.”
The tone of belittling Terry and putting him down was evident. Thesilid they knew was an aura expert and had bishop-level divine power, but that was the first round of his life.
Thesilid laughed bitterly.
“I guess I was really weak in the first round. Well, I’m weak even now.”
“Don’t be discouraged. You are the only tanker I approve of.”
“That’s touching.”
“Right? So if a boss attack bounces at me, calmly continued to deal damage to it. Don’t let other guys around get the aggro and snatch the boss from you, just tank.”
“……Just don’t use heels on me. That way, the boss won’t be provoked by you.”
“Can’t do that, I became a healer to heal you.”
“……”
Thesilid made a subtle expression without saying anything.
I don’t know when he’ll start believe.
Thesilid and I got out of the blind spot and walked all the way toward the gate.
“Oh, my! Your Grace the Holy One!”
“Yes, this Grace has come. With Sir Thesilid!”
Each of the two knights called their leaders.
“Welcome Your Grace.”
The leader of the Knights Templar, Clovis, greeted me.
“Greetings, Your Grace. I am Rex Easter, the leader of the Knights of Grace.”
A man with brown sport-cut-like hair in his early thirties introduced himself. Behind him was Helcion, whose tongue was still sealed.
“Nice to meet you, Sir Rex. And it’s been a while, Lord Clovis, Lord Helcion.”
“Yes, Your Grace.”
Only two voices answered. Pretending not to know Helcion’s desperate eyes, I spoke to Clovis and Rex.
“Then I’d like to enter right away.”
“I beg your pardon, Your Grace.”
The owner of the voice was Clovis.
“Judging from the level of the demonic energy, this dungeon is estimated to have a boss inside the 300th rank.”
The S ranks I had so far were in the 500th to 700th place. The gap was obvious.
“Rather than entering right away, why don’t we send a scouting party to obtain environmental information before going in?”
“I know the information you need. So don’t worry.”
He had surprised eyes.
It seems that it was worthwhile to show my real personality at the Vatican three days ago. Because now they didn’t bother me by asking how I knew that.
It was decided to enter the dungeon.
“Since I gave you a hint that this place was a Thousand Year Ice Castle, I believe you have thoroughly prepared for the cold.”
“Of course.”
“Then let’s go in.”
Clovis and Rex shouted to their respective knights.
“Everyone, prepare to go inside!”
When I glanced back, the two orders of knights were already lined up in unison.
I met eyes with Hestio and Ephael standing between the rows of people.
Well, looks like they have a lot to say. I should say hello first based on the situation later.
“Let’s go.”
I took a step forward.
[<System> You have entered the S-Class Dungeon, ‘A Thousand Year Ice Castle in Permafrost’.]
Whi-ing!
The sky was low and dark. It was because of heavy dark clouds covering the whole area. The pure white snowy fields beneath it vehemently rejected the intruders.
The violent wind and vicious cold scratched and beat our whole bodies.
“Co-Cold……!”
“Ouggh……”
Everyone hurriedly took out the supplied fur cloaks and caps and put them on. It was the same with Thesilid and me.
“Hey, look over there.”
The silhouette of a castle could be seen in the direction Thesilid pointed.
Clovis came to me.
“The blizzard is strong! We’d better hurry to the castle!”
“It’s in vain to just go straight in. We have a place to stop first.”
I resolutely cut off any more unwanted opinions and turned around while looking at the map.
We must have walked for about 30 minutes through a raging snowstorm before a huge ice sculpture was seen in the distance.
[<System> The ‘Snow Queen’s alter ego’ wakes up.]
Whi-whirring!
The blizzard became more violent.
“Wh-what……!”
“Argh! I will fly away!”
Due to the strong wind, it was daunting just to stand still.
“Eli, stay behind me.”
Thesilid, who seemed relaxed for some reason, acted as a shield right in front of me.
“I-I will become a snowman!”
“No more forced march, Your Grace!”
When the Holy Knights started to complain about pain, a mysterious voice that pierced the sharp winding sound and entered my ears was heard clearly.
<Ah, Kai.>
“……!”
The embarrassed knights checked each other’s faces to see if they were hallucinating or not.
<My Kai, you came back.>
“Wh-what?”
Then someone raised their head and shouted.
“Hey, look over there! In the sky……!”
“What……?!”
A woman was looking down from high in the sky. Dressed in a pure white dress, she shone beautifully as if replacing the moon.
<I waited. I’ve been waiting so long. My beautiful boy, Kai.>
It was an inorganic face like a statue. There wasn’t even a slight line of emotion on her lips. Even so, her voice was very desperate and sad.
<Kai, you were destined to be by my side forever, not by Gerda’s.>
“Gerda……? Kai……?”
Around that time, several knights recognized her woman’s true identity.
“No way……The Queen of snow……?”
“Queen of snow? What is that?!”
“Well, you know that one, from an old fairy tale……”
<Ah, Kai…… I will make you happy in this Ice Castle, forgetting the world, forgetting the cold, just like before!>
When the voice of the Snow Queen was strangely raised by a pitch.
A vortex of snow and wind slowly began to swirl around her, rising up to where she stood in the air and even higher.
Clovis asked me.
“Are we attacking?”
“Isn’t your role to be a supervisor?”
“If you give me an order, I will support you.”
I almost laughed for a moment. Support? Such a generous word. If I agree here, interesting things are bound to happen later.
After being reported of the so-called ‘support’ I received, the Council of Cardinals will get a good excuse to oppose the formation of my Knights Order.
“Stop talking like a fox.”
“……”
Clovis averted his eyes as if something had pricked him.
I checked that leader Rex was also approaching nearby and said.
“I will not attack. Look at the Queen’s mouth.”
Lips that do not move and in between them, there was something sparkling that shone bright enough to pierce the retina.
“See that shiny shard? I need that.”
“How do I take it?”
“Sir Rex, you are very proactive. But you don’t have to.”
“What?”
“The Queen will give us the shard on her own.… Although the method is a bit bad.”
[<System> Warning. ‘The alter ego of the Snow Queen’ chooses ‘Kai’.]
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