[Vol. 8] Chapter 98: The Holy Knight, the Thief, and the Assassin
Bowen glanced again at the girl in front of him. Her furry ears and long tail clearly showed she wasn’t human. Around her neck was a magical restraint collar, and faint bruises could be seen under her collar as she moved. Most disturbing of all was her tail, partially bandaged, but still bloody, with nearly half of it cruelly cut off.
Bowen quietly clenched his fists but stayed calm. He stood up and walked quickly toward the two sides still locked in fierce battle.
“Everyone stop!!!”
As the captain and strongest warrior of this Holy Knight unit, Bowen Bernard carried great authority. The moment he shouted, more than ten elite knights instinctively stopped attacking and looked toward the young man with short golden hair as he approached.
“Careful, Captain! They might be—”
One knight started to warn him, but Bowen didn’t explain. He just passed through the outer ring of his soldiers and walked up to the two girls, who also stopped fighting when they saw him coming.
“Praise the Goddess. I am Bowen Bernard, captain of the Special Operations Unit One of the ‘Grace of the Goddess’ Holy Knights. We are here under orders to capture members of the Lombard family, who have betrayed the Goddess and fled the Church. My men attacked you earlier without knowing the situation, I sincerely apologize. You two... are not part of the Lombard family's forces, right?”
“Huh... Holy Knights from the Church? Oh, so you’re government soldiers or something... Geez, why didn’t you say so earlier!”
Hearing Bowen's explanation, the two girls looked at each other. The one with short, pale blue hair, wearing light clothes and holding a dagger, her belt full of bottles and tools, seemed a bit simple-minded. She immediately relaxed and believed Bowen without much thought.
The other girl, with dark bluish-gray hair, wore a tight black outfit and carried one long and one short thin sword on her back. She was clearly more cautious. However, she seemed familiar with the Holy Knights’ armor and the crest of the ‘Grace of the Goddess.’ After quickly scanning Bowen from head to toe, she nodded slightly, then pointed toward the only exit, now buried under fallen rocks.
“The main forces of the Lombard family have already escaped through that hidden tunnel. They spent over a hundred years secretly building it. The exit leads to the western outskirts of the Angel City. From there, if they travel another hundred kilometers west, there’s a manor. Hidden inside is a one-use long-distance teleport gate that can take them straight into the Austre Empire.”
“If you want to catch them, you have less than half a day to reach that manor before they do.”
The short-haired assassin girl spoke briefly and clearly, revealing very important information. Bowen and the other knights couldn’t help but change their expressions. She didn’t waste time, and pointed toward the injured girls, as well as the confused thief girl standing next to her.
“The Lombard family has been secretly working with poachers from the Human United Kingdom. Together, they’ve been running an illegal slave trade operation, which is strictly forbidden. These girls are all innocent victims they wanted to silence. Luckily, I and this thief happened to arrive in time to save them. You should know how to handle the rest.”
“Also, this tunnel was destroyed when the Lombard family fled. It has completely collapsed and can't be used anymore. You’d better send your people to chase them through the city gate. Remember, the west gate.”
With that, the girl turned and left without another word, leaving behind the thief girl, who clearly wasn’t actually her partner.
For a long moment, everyone stood there stunned. Finally, Bowen came to his senses and quickly placed a fist over his chest in a knight’s salute of gratitude. He called out loudly:
“Thank you, miss, for saving these innocent girls! Could you please tell me your name? I need it to report to Her Holiness, the Holy Pope!”
The girl paused for a second but didn’t turn back.
“Is that what you're thankful for...? Hmph. No need for thanks. I came here to investigate the poachers anyway. Saving them just happened along the way. As for my name...”
“Shadow,” the assassin girl said, “Holy Knight and little thief... we’ll meet again someday.”
As soon as she finished speaking, the girl who called herself “Shadow” suddenly turned into a dark mist and silently sank into the ground, disappearing without a trace.
…………………………………………
Holy Empire’s Capital, Angel City, Western Outskirts
On the main road outside the city, a large convoy of carriages and horses was moving quickly toward the west. The guards escorting the convoy looked fierce and dangerous, fully armed with swords already drawn and gleaming in the sunlight. Travelers and merchants who saw them from afar hurriedly stepped aside, too scared to go near a group that clearly looked like trouble.
This area was part of the western outskirts of the Holy Capital. With the recent appearance of the Goddess, the excitement still hadn’t died down. Every day, countless pilgrims and worshippers came here from all over the country, hoping to see something sacred. Many merchants also came, trying to take advantage of the crowds to sell their goods.
Most people on this road were heading toward the Holy Capital. So a large group leaving the city in the opposite direction was a rare and strange sight.
Of course, most of the people here were just ordinary citizens. They had no idea that chaos was breaking out inside the city at that very moment. And they definitely couldn’t imagine that, right when the Goddess had appeared before everyone, someone would actually dare to do something so bold and treasonous.
But... not everyone saw things the same way.
“Hmph... the Goddess? Nonsense! Damn that filthy b****... just wait. One day, I and the Lombard family will take back everything we lost!”
Inside a smooth, custom-made luxury carriage, the current head of the Lombard family, Rudolph Lombard, glared out the window at the passing scenery. Once a member of the Holy Order, he slammed his fist onto the soft cushion beside him, his face twisted with anger and hate.
He never imagined that his family, which had existed for hundreds of years, would suffer such a huge, humiliating loss while he was in charge. What was worse, even the Lambert family, one of the three divine bloodline families in the Holy Empire who had always been close allies, had quickly cut ties with them right after the incident, trying to protect themselves.
And all of this was because that damned Goddess suddenly showed up, turning his family into everyone’s target overnight.
Yes, he didn’t believe in the so-called Goddess at all. The Lombard family had started out as merchants over 300 years ago. After the Holy Empire moved its capital and the Holy Order was formed, they had joined the Church, turning themselves into a religious family. But in reality, they always focused on real profit and loss. Of course they weren’t going to waste time praying to some goddess who might not even exist.
They joined the Church and pushed their way into the Holy Order simply because it made things easier. In this country, if you just praised the Goddess and claimed your actions were her will, you could get away with anything, no consequences, no responsibility. People would believe you and cooperate with you like fools. Who wouldn’t want such an easy life?
What a joke. Did people really think the Lombard family was the only one doing this? Out of the millions of believers in the Church, how many joined with no personal gain in mind? Everyone just wanted a better life. The methods were different, that’s all. So why did his family have to be the one punished?
Was it because the Lombard family was too honest about what they wanted, while the others pretended to be faithful?
Hah! What a joke. It's just one group of hypocrites laughing at another.