Volume 7 Chapter 1 Part 1 (1/2)
In order to save Millie, the group rode the Elder Dragons to the Church's headquarters.
There they met Lilis.h.i.+la, cardinal of the Church. She requested s.h.i.+n to capture Bulk, a fanatic follower of the ”Summit Faction”.
Bulk had not only kidnapped Millie, but also imprisoned Hermie, a girl bearing the name of ”Holy Woman”.
s.h.i.+n's party, acting alongside Lilis.h.i.+la, a.s.saulted Palmirack -the facility serving as the Church's headquarters- and successfully rescued both Millie and Hermie
”what will I do now, you ask?”
”Yes. We could save Lady Hermie thanks to you all. Once this information spreads, all the others who had to endure Bulk's arrogance will want to thank you.”
About 30 minutes had pa.s.sed since Hermie and Lilis.h.i.+la had reunited.
It was already well into the night.
The guard knights ran off to convey the word of the Holy Woman's rescue, while Hermie and Millie were resting in another room, guarded by Wilhelm.
s.h.i.+n sent a message to Tiera, asking her to come to Palmirack.
s.h.i.+baid, guided by a knight, headed to Bulk's room to collect any remaining submission items, like the ”Submission Collars”.
s.h.i.+n, Schnee, and Lilis.h.i.+la were discussing the rewards in the room a.s.signed to the female cardinal.
s.h.i.+n didn't wish for any reward; instead, he wanted to be considered a ”mysterious helper”, but Lilis.h.i.+la wouldn't agree. She strongly argued that the others wouldn't agree either.
Concerning the efforts spent on this operation, at that point in time the date had changed, thus it was 3 days in total. The only money spent was on lodging fees at the inn. There was no particular expense to be refunded.
What s.h.i.+n's party had done was simply infiltrate Palmirack and take down Eline and Bulk.
s.h.i.+n understood that it was the most important part, but for him it had been an easy feat; that's why there was such a difference of opinions between him and Lilis.h.i.+la.
Even if they were to receive a reward, something too generous would, on the contrary, make it difficult for them to accept it.
s.h.i.+n's name had already begun spreading because of the Balmel defense battle. If he was grandly awarded by the Church here, it would only invite greater trouble their way.
It was too late to say things like ”I don't want to stand out”, but his honest desire was to avoid as many problematic situations as possible.
”I would really appreciate it if you kept my name hidden.”
”Your name? But to me this seems to be a great chance to gain recognition.”
”Our reason for coming here was to save Millie, the rescue of milady Holy Woman waspardon my bluntness, but it just happened along the way. Besides, after knowing about what Bulk was doing, I'm sure that anyone would have tried to do something, no matter what they could or couldn't do, without concern for what could be gained or lostdon't you agree?”
Any proper human being would have been disgusted at Bulk's actions.
It was the same for s.h.i.+n's party, which also happened to have the power to stop Bulk. That's all there was to it.
”At the very least, is there anything you need? I have asked for your help saying that I would give anything in return. After everything you have done for me, letting you go empty-handed would brand me as ungrateful.”
”Aaah, well, I didn't mean to say we wouldn't need anything, so please calm down.”
s.h.i.+n moved a step back from the slightly too close Lilis.h.i.+la and laughed wryly.
s.h.i.+n understood well enough that from the standpoint of someone who had been saved, not being able to express grat.i.tude would be hard to bear. s.h.i.+n was thus thinking about what to ask for as a reward.
”Is there something you need?”
”Yes. There are 3 things we would like to request. First, we would like to collect any remaining collars like the ones used by Bulk. I would like to do so before they pa.s.s onto others' hands, to examine their structure and effects. We would then dispose of them ourselves, and if we can come up with an item to nullify their effects we will offer it to you too, of course.”
Leaving behind items that grant the power to control others would eventually give birth to other Bulks. History itself tells how even holy men and women can succ.u.mb to desire.
In addition, there was the necessity to research a method to nullify their effects, other than s.h.i.+n's ability. In order to build and test a collar removal item, having the collar themselves was a prerequisite.
The request to hand over items that instantly force others to obey one's will, would likely be a difficult decision for Lilis.h.i.+la, thus s.h.i.+n considered it a fitting reward.
”I see, even we are not immune to temptation after all. I shall entrust them to you, s.h.i.+n-sama. Considering your actions until now, I am positive that you will never use them as Bulk did.”
Contrary to s.h.i.+n's expectations, Lilis.h.i.+la accepted his request with ease.
According to Lilis.h.i.+la, Bulk supposedly had other allies within the Church; candidates for the position of ”next Bulk” were not scarce. Rather than risk keeping the items, letting a trusted person have them would be better.
Lilis.h.i.+la's trust towards s.h.i.+n was deeper than he thought.
”I would truly appreciate it if you get in touch with us, the moment you succeed in creating a collar removal item.”
”It's quite a problem if I'm the only one able to do something about them, after all.”
Will it be possible to make them? How much time will it take? There were still too many unknowns in the equation, so the topic was closed by agreeing to communicate whenever the desired effect was created.
”What is the second request, then?”
”The second is information. We would like you to tell us everything you know about the Sacred Place. If possible, we would be grateful if you contacted us whenever you learned something new in the future.”
The Sacred Place still hadn't been researched enough, but if anything had been discovered already, s.h.i.+n wanted to know in advance. The Church had a great number of believers, so in this head church of Sigurd there was likely a great concentration of information as well.
Information about the Sacred Place was known only to the top members of the guilds; survey missions of its interior sometimes claim the lives of an entire expedition teams. It was that dangerous a location. Information about it was more than worthy to be requested as a reward.
”We have doc.u.ments with collected information about the Sacred Place. I shall have someone bring them to you. As long as it is within my capabilities, if any new information comes up, you'll be the first to know.”
”Thank you very much. Our third request concerns the ”Summit Faction”. We would like to ask you to find out more about the ritual site Bulk spoke of. It would be great to know where the faction's base is, but we are more worried about the ritual right now. Because there may be others other than Bulk bringing sacrifices there. ”
The first priority for s.h.i.+n's party was to investigate the Summit Faction, as the disappearance of s.h.i.+n's support character Filma had not been resolved yet.
It was s.h.i.+n's 3rd request, but higher than anything else in priority.
”These are the rewards I am thinking about.”
”Are these three requests really enough? For us they would barely suffice to claim we have repaid you”
”Well, I thought they were rather large requests, honestly. You don't need to feel so much obligation, you know?”
Lilis.h.i.+la was serious, yet somehow felt under pressure, so s.h.i.+n tried to pacify her.
”No, that will not do.”
Lilis.h.i.+la, however, clearly expressed that s.h.i.+n's words had not convinced her.
”Please listen. This rescue operation, if it wasn't for you and your party's cooperation, would have had no chance of success. If we embarked in it by ourselves, most, if not all of us, would have been killed, Hermie and Millie would have been sacrificed, while I and the other women would have probably become their playthings.”
Lilis.h.i.+la spoke clearly and firmly. If s.h.i.+n's party had not joined their struggle, that future would have been almost certainly inevitable.
Wilhelm alone too, would not have been able to enter Sigurd before Bulk's entourage left the city.
There would have been no one able to subdue Konig or Eline; in addition, with Hermie equipped with the submission collar, there was no possible way for Lilis.h.i.+la to emerge victorious.
There was even the possibility for the whole Church to fall under Bulk's control.
Because of all this, s.h.i.+n's appearance was a true miracle for Lilis.h.i.+la; it wasn't strange that they saw it as a message from G.o.d.
”When I said I would give you anything, I included my own self. And this is why.”
”I seehowever”
”I said those words because I was ready for anything. Please understand.”
”Oh, I see, so that's what you meant”
s.h.i.+n fretted, expecting a phrase like ”I give my own body to you” to come out, but was relieved when it didn't.
You saved my life, thus now I am yours. A common occurrence in some fantasy fictional works.
s.h.i.+n, however, was not the type of person to happily accept an offer like that.
”Allow us to ask for your help when something happens, then. We aren't omnipotent, after all. The first request can probably be taken care of easily, so for the time being we would be grateful if you could focus on locating the Summit Faction's base of operations and the ritual site Bulk talked about.”
”Understood, we will gather all the information we can. Whenever you may need our help, please say so without hesitation.”
s.h.i.+n told the enthusiastic Lilis.h.i.+la to contact the Golden Company if they learned something. Lilis.h.i.+la was surprised at s.h.i.+n's connection to the Golden Company, but immediately nodded with a serious expression.
”I think that's all for now.”
”If that is really all, it would be no problem if you desired me too.”
”Er, I'm not sure why we are going back to that topicI will not, of course?”
As the phrase he thought he had dodged came out of Lilis.h.i.+la's lips, s.h.i.+n's face muscles stiffened.
”The women alongside you are an Elf and a High Elf. Female Elves never join parties with men, unless they deeply trust and are comfortable around themand it seems they are with you, s.h.i.+n-sama, so I thought you had that kind of relations.h.i.+p. You like elves don't you? I'm an elf too, you know.”
”You've got it all wrong!! Aaahhhhhhhh!!!!”
So screamed s.h.i.+n in the depths of his heart.
s.h.i.+n had no idea about the difficulties of female elves in joining parties with males. Knowing that someone aware of it would think he made himself an elf harem was a small shock.
”Anyway! As far as men are concerned, there's s.h.i.+baid too! Why do you pair only me with those two?”