Chapter 18 (2/2)

Of course, the church of Flora would be on guard, and send a large party of holy knights to escort the girl, but the Bishop did not worry. He had on his side someone who had surpa.s.sed human limits, an aura master.

Bishop Rain had approached Earl Wellington immediately.

“Is that true?”

Earl Wellington had jumped up from his seat the second that he heard that Archbishop Aznan was in command of the escorting party.

“All right. I will take care of it.”

“You must prepare an alibi carefully. That you left your territory cannot be found out by anyone.”

“Do not worry. Knowing how to create alibis are a necessity for a high n.o.ble.”

“We will do the deed in a foreign country, so without solid evidence, the church of Flora will not be so quick to bring up the issue.”

“I am an aura master. No need to worry about such things.”

This was the reason that Bishop Rain and Earl Wellington was sitting in a carriage now, in a country far away from their own. A holy knight knocked at the door of the carriage.

“The b.a.s.t.a.r.ds have approached us. We should make preparations.”

Earl Wellington opened his eyes once again at the words.

“Have you prepared the hers.h.i.+on?”

“Of course. It’s brand new, without any engravings on it yet.”

“Good. Take it out.”

Bishop Rain pulled out a large wooden chest from under the seats of the carriage. He opened the wooden chest to reveal a s.h.i.+ning silver armor.

“I am convinced of the influence of your church. For you to be able to actually procure the rare hers.h.i.+on.”

“It was procured with difficulty, with the donations of our hard working church goers.”

Earl Wellington gingerly took out the armor from the wooden chest and put it on.

“It must function the same way as the one I use?”

“Yes, we had it ordered so in secret from a mage tower.”

“Good.”

Earl Wellington pushed a burst of aura into the armor. To manifest aura outside of their bodies was an ability only used by aura masters. An amazing thing happened next.

Charararak.

The armor began to expand rapidly, and spread out to cover the entirety of Earl Wellington’s body. Hers.h.i.+on was a name of a magic armor that automatically wrapped around its user when aura was pushed into it.

A little while later, Earl Wellington stood covered from head to toe in silver armor.

The armor seemed to be thinner than the armor usually worn by knights, but it was not a problem for an aura master. With aura backing it up, hers.h.i.+on was almost impossible to penetrate when compared to regular steel armor.

Earl Wellington unsheathed the sword from his waist.

“Hm, very good.”

A satisfied smile crept up on Earl Wellington’s face. The sword was well balanced, and was weighed just like the sword he was used to using.

“You’ve prepared well. Good. I will go now.”

“Please, take into consideration the will of the church.”

“I have already told you, that it depends on the girl’s answer.”

Earl Wellington walked on after answering.

Dududududu.

Two horses fiercely galloped along, raising a thick cloud of dust behind them. Luke and Kurotan rode upon the horses, having rode nonstop in a pursuit of the escorting party of the church of Flora. Their bodies were covered in dust.

After they had departed from Lea marquisate, they had not stopped other than to rest the horses. They had literally wrung out the last of their stamina to chase after Isabelle.

Luke’s face brightened when he saw the building marking and regulating the border.

“Finally. We can find out whether or not the church of Flora has crossed the border if we ask the soldiers guarding the border.”

Luke slowly reined his horse into a slower pace. The horse was foaming at the mouth and seemed to be close to pa.s.sing out. Kurotan also slowed down behind him.

“Whoa, whoa, slow down.”

The two horses’ sides heaved as they slowed to a stop. Kurotan remarked in admiration.

“Truly, their stamina is far more enduring than a wolf’s.”

Luke did not retort, as he had no energy left from riding the horses so hard. After drinking from a water pouch, he poured some out into his hand for his horse as well.

Chapchapchap.

The horses lapped the water up, and their breaths slowly began to grow calm. Luke threw Kurotan a piece of jerky he had pulled out from his bag.

“We cannot rest long. Let’s start off once again when the horses are recovered.”

“All right. What is the plan for when we finally do catch up to the escorting party?”

“Try to negotiate first. To allow me to meet Isabelle.”

“Do you think they will let you see her?”

Luke smiled bitterly as he shook his head.

“As a potential Saintess, the probability of them letting me see her is low.”

“Then why?”

“First, to let Isabelle know that I am here. It will help her to not lose hope…”

Kurotan chewed his jerky as he c.o.c.ked his head in curiosity.

“This is too complicated for me. Anyway, tell me if there is an opportunity for me to fight. I have recovered my aura, and I will swing my axe for you…”

Luke stared at Kurotan.

“Kurotan. There are thirty holy knights. It’s not a force that the two of us can handle.”

“I do not know such things. I will fight when you tell me to.”

“Ah, as simple as an orc.”

The horses recovered soon enough, and the two set off. The soldiers patrolling the border far away seemed to spot them, as they raised their spears in preparation for their arrival.

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