Faith, Justice, Prayer, And Power

The Shadow Necromancer――Sid Ranorus.

Flo spoke slowly.

Annise listened quietly.

When Flo was still only an apprentice Holy Knight, she met Sid Ranorus in the S-Rank Dungeon 【Crimson Night Moon】, back when he had not yet been put on the wanted list.

She had been separated from her companions by a dungeon trap and was attacked by monsters, and Sid Ranorus had rescued her.

They had fought together to defeat a gigantic monster called Vanargand, and she had felt a pleasant bond.

And—then there was the recent unprecedented catastrophe.

When the capital was threatened with annihilation by a large-scale dungeon collapse, it would not be an exaggeration to say that Sid Ranorus’s support helped avert disaster.

To Flo, Sid Ranorus could not possibly be the monster the Royal Palace and the Holy Church claimed he was.

“…………”

Flo told Annise all of that.

“I—don’t know what I should do.”

A young man accused of regicide had awakened as a Shadow Necromancer and once became a continent-shaking threat.

But she couldn’t believe Sid Ranorus was the kind of person to kill without reason; even if he had the power to topple a nation, she believed he was not the type to actually stage a coup.

There might be some circumstances.

If—what if the fault lay with the Hero party?

What if the Royal Palace is exercising its power to hide the truth and is unilaterally condemning Sid Ranorus?

Flo had met the Hero party only once.

One member of the Hero party once came seeking treatment after suffering an arm injury from a monster’s poison.

Flo was shouted at in an intimidating, loud voice by the Hero party’s Heavy Knight Garren, and was terrified.

Between the Hero party and Shadow Necromancer Sid Ranorus—if one had to choose whom to trust, it was obvious Flo would choose Sid Ranorus.

“But… but… just the fact that Sid Ranorus is alive makes people uneasy about the Shikai Tribe.”

“(That’s right—if Flo’s dream is to be fulfilled, Sid Ranorus’s existence is too much of a hindrance.)”

Flo wanted to remove the discriminatory attitudes toward the Shikai Tribe that had been born from the Holy Church’s dark history.

But when the Shikai Tribe member Sid Ranorus killed the Second Prince Sylvan, the Shikai Tribe’s status sank further.

The populace fears Sid Ranorus and is anxious that he has not yet been captured.

Fear and anxiety will eventually turn into anger and resentment—and be directed at innocent members of the Shikai Tribe.

Let Sid Ranorus live?

Or kill Sid Ranorus?

If she chooses the former, the road will be hard, but it would be the path Flo idealizes.

If she chooses the latter, after a degree of compromise the goal of her dream would come much closer.

But the latter—that is the same as the Holy Church’s act of massacring young sprouts out of fear that the Shikai Tribe might awaken as Shadow Necromancers.

To protect ten million people on the continent, to massacre a thousand potentially threatening Shikai Tribe members.

Is that not the same as exterminating one Shikai Tribe member to protect the roughly one hundred survivors?

Furthermore—voicing opposition to Sid Ranorus’s extermination means going against the Holy Church’s policy.

If she did that, in the worst case she could be stripped of her clerical status.

If that happened, the orphanage could no longer be run, and someone raised by the Holy Church since birth could hardly endure a life deprived of faith.

Even so――she did not want to bend her will.

“No matter how much I think… no answer comesto me… What should I do…!?”

Flo grabbed Annise’s clothes, tears welling at the corners of her eyes.

With an upward glance like a kitten seeking rescue, she was asking Annise for advice.

The dependable, saint-like figure she showed to the orphanage children was nowhere to be seen.

No matter how brave, noble, or pure she lived, she was still only a twelve-year-old girl.

“That’s something Flo herself must decide.”

“…!?”

She gently pulled Flo close and stroked her small head.

To make sure Flo understood she was not being pushed away.

“Normally, when someone worries this much and still gets no answer, people pick the easier option. But Flo didn’t choose the easy path. So whether it’s the College of Cardinals’ orders or a friend’s words, this is something you must decide with your own heart.”

“Miss Annise… but—”

“But whatever choice you make, Flo, I’ll respect that decision.”

She touched the corner of Flo’s swollen-red eye with her finger and gently wiped away the tear.

The Saintess’s daughter (Flo), bathed in moonlight, was as lovely and merciful as an angel from the scriptures.

“That’s what friends are for.”

――Besides, I’m basically a lazy nun who didn’t take sides to begin with.

――I don’t believe in God, but I want to support you, Flo… that’s what I think.

“Friends…? Me and Miss Annise…?”

“Oh? Did you not like that…?”

“N-no! It’s not that! I… um, I’ve never had anyone I could call a friend until now… Miss Annise, you’re my first friend!”

“(Her first friend—hmm.)”

Hearing that, Annise remembered being told the same words before.

She thought of Sid Ranorus’s slave—Rinrin Ringland.

“(Come to think of it, I wonder if Rinrin is doing well?)”

The Ragiu Tribe girl in a charming maid outfit might be looking at the same moon.

She remembered Rinrin.

She had been so lively it was hard to believe she was a slave, and she trusted and clung to her master Sid Ranorus.

“(Sid Ranorus—maybe he’s not a bad person after all… if that’s the case, I…)”

Faith and justice.

Concentrated power, minority tribes being trampled.

Commands from others and one’s own will.

“(Maybe I should try too… Do what I really want to do.)”

Influenced by Flo’s zeal, Annise felt even her long-cooled passion stir with a small warmth.

＊＊＊

――A few days later.

――In the Knights of the Stigmata’s conference room in the Grand Cathedral.

The Second Stigmata—Johanna Hohenzollern—having confirmed that the surviving members of the Knights of the Stigmata had gathered, looked around at everyone and then slowly announced.

“The Shadow Necromancer—Sid Ranorus’s location has been discovered.”

“――!”
“――!”
“――!”
“――!”

The other members tensed at Johanna’s words.

“He murdered Second Prince Sylvan and his comrade, the former The Seventh Stigmata Lilium, and he was the mastermind behind the recent large-scale dungeon collapse—and above all, if his skill is perfected it could threaten the very existence of this nation.”

“(Eh… Sid Ranorus was the mastermind behind the large-scale dungeon collapse…?)”

Flo was shaken by the unexpected fact.

“Th-that can’t be! If anything, without him the capital would have sustained terrible damage by now!”

“Evidence has already been found. He likely took such measures to both weaken the capital’s forces and at the same time bolster his own.”

“…………”

Flo wanted to believe it was a mistake, but under the pressure of the other members she could no longer defend Sid Ranorus.

“In the next assault operation, we of the Knights of the Stigmata will bring our full strength and ensure the extermination of Sid Ranorus.”

“(Finally, it has come.)”

“(Sid Ranorus, this time for sure, you—)”

“(We have to make up our minds, huh.)”

“(Sid Ranorus…)”

Johanna continued.

“Everyone—offer your souls as a sacrifice to the sword, and place your prayers upon the scales.”

“Offer your souls as a sacrifice to the sword, and place your prayers upon the scales.”
“Offer your souls as a sacrifice to the sword, and place your prayers upon the scales.”
“Offer your souls as a sacrifice to the sword, and place your prayers upon the scales.”
“Offer your souls as a sacrifice to the sword, and place your prayers upon the scales.”

A convenient maxim that dulls the fear of death.

Words Annise hated.

――The day of the decisive battle was near.