The Holy Knight Searched For The Black-Haired Saintess

While Seyi was heading to the royal capital of the Elf Nation Anemosgive.

S-rank adventurer Phylite, and her lover the adventurer Bols, finally made it through the Stampede Territory.

After crossing the Stampede Territory, they parted ways with the companions they had been partying with, and Phylite and the others headed south.

It happened along the way.

“Phylite. Let’s take a break. Even the horses are tired, for real.”

“Indeed. Is there somewhere we can rest?”

“From what travelers say… the Elf Nation is in a seriously bad situation right now.”

Before entering the Stampede Territory, they had gathered information in advance.

“Apparently a mysterious illness is spreading across the whole country.”

“A mysterious illness…?”

“Yeah. Seems like a lot of people get hit in the lungs and throat. And they say the water’s so contaminated you can’t even drink it.”

“My…”

Bols warned her.

“Even if you want to find the saintess, you gotta stay alive, you know? In exchange…”

“The saintess is wonderful!”

Huh? Bols stared blankly, while Phylite continued.

“Now we understand why Seyi-sama went to the Elf Nation Anemosgive! She must have gone to help the elves in their time of crisis…!”

Phylite was a Seyi believer, so she interpreted everything Seyi did in a favorable way.

“We cannot waste time like this! We must hurry into the Elf Nation at once! There must be many people in need there! As adventurers, we too should do work that helps people, just like the saintess…!”

“No… wouldn’t it be better not to…?”

Unlike Seyi’s group, Phylite’s party had no means of protection against the mysterious illness.

Even if they went, he could only see a future where they got sick and went down.

Even so, Phylite’s respect for Seyi, and her desire to meet Seyi, were strong.

In the end, Phylite pushed through, and they entered the Elf Nation, but…

“Wh-what the hell is going on here?”

A lush great forest spread across the Elf Nation. The air was not stagnant, and the water in the lakes they stopped by along the way was not contaminated either.

“This is way different from what we heard, so what the hell is going on…?”

Bols and the others were taking a break by the shore of a clear lake.

Then…

“Oh my, are you travelers?”

An elf girl came to draw water from the lake.

She introduced herself as Lala.

“Yeah, Lala-chan. We’re traveling, but things are different from what we heard.”

“Ah, I see… that was how the country was before the saintess arrived.”

“A saintess, you say…!”

Since Seyi’s group headed to the Elf Nation, they had thought they would meet residents who had interacted with her at some point.

But to meet someone who knew Seyi right after entering…

“Yes. The saintess saved our village and then left like the wind! This lake used to be like sludge, but the saintess purified it in an instant!”

“As expected, the saintess’s power is wonderful!”

Unlike Phylite, who blindly believed in Seyi, Bols voiced a simple question.

“But hey, why didn’t the saintess go to Lala-chan’s village first? I get it if the villagers asked her to purify it, but…”

“Hmph… good grief. You don’t even understand that?”

“Huh? What’s that. You understand, Phylite?”

“Yes, of course. I understand everything about the saintess!”

So far, not a single one of her analyses had ever been correct.

But no one here knew Seyi’s true intent.

“When you’re a saintess, you can sense abnormalities without anyone telling you! Because she already knew the Elf Nation had an illness spreading across the whole country before she even came here!”

That was completely off the mark. Seyi visited this country for sightseeing (and also, supposedly, to search for Zenith’s mother), and she stopped by this lake first because she wanted to bathe.

“Seyi-sama surely has special ears that can hear the voices of people in need! Ahh…♡ Amazing… wonderful…♡”

Needless to say, she had nothing like that.

She was simply getting caught up in trouble wherever she went.

“Traveler, you think so too, right! The saintess is an amazing person!”

“Ugh… this girl is going along with it…”

Lala talked about the saintess’s story, the one who saved her village.

Just as Phylite was shedding tears of emotion at its greatness.

A chill ran down Phylite’s spine. It seemed Bols felt it too.

The two of them stepped in front of Lala and took their weapons in hand.

“W-what’s wrong, you two…?”

“Someone dangerous is coming this way… a serious threat.”

Pushing through the bushes appeared a tall, blond knight.

Silver-white armor, a white mantle, and a pendant of a snake wrapped around a staff hanging from his neck…

“! Th-that’s a Holy Knight of the Tendo Church!”

Yes… the person Seyi met and helped was from the massive religious organization that governed healing in this world, the Tendo Church.

He was a Holy Knight, part of that organization.

“Why is a Tendo Holy Knight even here…!”

Bols directed hostility at the Holy Knight who appeared. That could not be helped.

Basically, the Tendo Church was kind to humans. But that applied only to people within the organization.

Normally, Holy Knights protected only believers. Everyone else was discarded as irrelevant.

Adventurers, whose motto was freedom, did not get along with Holy Knights, who prioritized only the peace of the organization and its believers.

So while Holy Knights had a bad reputation among adventurers…

Separate from that, there was also a reason Phylite’s group was wary.

Simply put… Holy Knights were strong.

Perhaps because they received the blessing of holy power, Holy Knights of the Tendo Church were far stronger than ordinary adventurers.

Even now, an unusual aura drifted from the blond knight. The trees rustled, and the lake’s surface vibrated.

“Wh-what… are you…?”

Then the blond knight opened his mouth.

“…I’m sorry. I’m looking for someone. I do not intend to harm you.”

The Holy Knight drew back his aura. They could not fully drop their guard, but he did not seem intent on fighting.

Phylite and the others lowered their caution level just a little compared to before.

“Looking for someone…?”

“…Yes. Black hair, and uses incredible potions.”

“! That’s…”

Seyi’s figure flashed in Phylite’s mind.

She almost said Seyi’s name at once, and stopped herself.

Phylite was not an idiot. The opponent was a Tendo Holy Knight.

They prioritized only people in the organization and believers.

Seyi was a saintess not affiliated with Tendo. If so, the church might consider her an enemy.

Because the logic would be that saintess miracles were something Tendo monopolized, so Seyi’s existence was not permitted.

“What do you intend to do if you find her…?”

Depending on the answer, they had been prepared to cross swords here, but…

“…I ended up falling in love.”

““Huh…?””

Phylite and the others were dumbfounded.

Meanwhile, the blond knight said, cheeks reddening.

“…I ended up loving that person more than anything. Strong, kind, cool… like a holy mother. I fell in love with her…!”

Phylite sighed in exasperation.

If that was true, it meant she had fallen in love with Seyi, the saintess outside of Tendo—meaning the target.

“…I want to find her and confess my love…! That’s why I’m searching…!”

“I-I see… by the way, what are you going to do? Find her and tell her you want her to have your kid or something?”

“…That’s impossible. I’m a woman.”

“Hah!? A-a woman…!?”

She did have an androgynous face, and that voice.

She was slender, and if you were told she was a woman, it fit.

“T-the one you’re looking for is a woman too, right?”

“…Yes. But gender has nothing to do with love. When I met her, I understood. This feeling of truly loving someone has nothing to do with being a man or a woman…!”

Got it. She was dangerous. Bols thought. Better not get too close.

“Hey, Phylite. Let’s get away quickly…”

However…

“I understand! I understand!”

“Eeeh… she’s going along with it…”

Phylite also adored Seyi, so she must have felt sympathy.

“If you like, would you not pursue her together with us?”

“…Is that okay?”

“Of course!”

…And so, a new companion joined Bols’s party.

“By the way, what’s your name?”

“…Me? I’m Ufhcok. Holy Knight Ufhcok. Nice to meet you.”