Night of the Soulless Heathens – 226



#226. The Passion of the Pilgrims 1

Regular pilgrimage.

It was an annual event of the Rescue Knights.

The Rescue Knights usually train in each sector of the Hybris Peninsula and once a year they make a regular pilgrimage to monitor the forces of evil and spread the will of relief to this land carrying out the noble mission of protecting the people from poverty suffering and evil magic.

But as the Age of Jupiter passed the meaning of the regular pilgrimage became distorted.

The Knights Templar who occupy the world’s largest peninsula Octofrius export massive amounts of food to all over the world every year.

The pilgrims escorted the food shipments and went to various places where they carried out only superficial relief work and brought back homeless people vagabonds and criminals who had lost their land to cultivate under the pretext of reforming them.

It is said that the best of them could become knights but in reality they were supplied as serfs.

The knights needed serfs to build their estates and the demand could not be met through marriages and childbirths between serfs alone. Countless serfs died under harsh working conditions.

Thus those who knew the inside story of the regular pilgrimage of the Knights of the Salvation Order looked down on them and called them legal slave traders.

Of course they should keep that contempt to themselves. If they reveal their true feelings the blades of the Rescue Knights will not forgive them.

Even if the Knights of the Salvation Order are considered inferior to the knights of the King’s Church the fact remains that they are clad in steel armor and armed with icy spears.

But sometimes there comes a day when even the swords of the Salvation Knights cannot protect their honor.

Haravos located on the southern tributary of the Kerim Mountains was a city of dwarves.

The pilgrims arrived in Harabos on a ship laden with grain sold the grain and after completing their superficial relief work parted ways with the ship and headed overland to the Hybris Peninsula.

They stopped at every village they went to and gathered up the children of peasants who had no land to leave behind those who had committed crimes and were imprisoned and those who had been accused of being witches but had no property to pay for the firewood to burn them at the stake and this helped to increase their power.

however….

In the wilderness far from the metropolis that symbolizes human civilization I suddenly began to feel strange gazes.

Someone was following them.

Wherever they went there were obvious signs of camp and the corpses of beasts and demons were left behind.

The leader of the pilgrim group selected one of his servants and sent him out as a scout. However after waiting for half a day the scout did not return so they continued on their way as planned and soon found the servant hanging on a tree with his body torn to pieces.

And then suddenly the tree rose. An evil spirit possessed the tree and it turned into a giant monster.

With one punch from the tree spirit the horse fell over and the monk riding on it was smashed to pieces.

The surprised pilgrims fought against the tree spirit and eventually won.

The heroic battle and victory against the giant tree monster would have been a proud tale of bravery for any normal rescue knight to tell at a drinking party but they were not happy at all.

Because the raid was only just beginning.

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Since that day their pursuers have been attacking them openly. Every night thick fog would roll in and the night watchmen would be dragged out by something only to be found dead.

Is that all?

Through the thick fog I could hear the alluring laughter of women and when I came to my senses I saw that the number of pilgrims had decreased.

The serfs and peasants who had free feet disappeared one by one either fleeing into the fog or being possessed by the monsters of the fog until only the prisoners and pilgrim knights who were locked in the prison carriage remained.

The leader of the pilgrimage immediately stopped the pilgrimage and headed toward a nearby city to seek rescue but as they did so the fog grew thicker and the enemy attacks became more powerful and before they knew it they had lost their way.

Then a young female knight from the pilgrimage group suggested a dangerous alternative.

It was the emperor’s gold coin that was taken out.

*********

The leader of this pilgrimage group Beljuan was an experienced rescuer.

His rank within the Rescue Knights is Hospitaler-Paladin. He is the captain of the cavalry detachment.

Although the Knights Templar are treated as inferior to the King’s Church the Hospitaller Paladins are by no means easy targets.

Becoming a Paladin was not a position that could be promoted simply by luck; one had to have a variety of combat experiences and be recognized for their commanding skills.

But the pilgrim leader who had gained such diverse experiences was now feeling afraid.

He had been through many battles against monsters and the followers of the Kurt clan but he had never experienced anything like this.

They don’t even know what the threat is but their opponents are clearly pursuing them with malice and obsession slowly cutting off their hands and feet and there is no way to respond.

In such a car a subordinate came up with a reckless plan.

“Please Captain. Let me use this.”

A beautiful girl with black hair and blue eyes was looking straight ahead. The girl was holding a heretic item.

The Emperor’s gold coin.

It was a strange gold coin that was said to summon the messengers of the evil emperor who served under the Yaeslat Emperor who ruled the continent of Hybris in the past.

“Sir Ismilla. Do you know what that means now?”

The girl’s name is Izmila. Her rank is Hospitaler-Erant and she is a trainee knight.

However she was wearing full dwarven armor and was armed with an Azure Steel shield and a ceramite longsword. This was not the kind of equipment a mere apprentice knight could equip.

Perhaps she was from a very wealthy family and became a member of the Knights of the Rescue for some reason. She seemed to be the only one who took out the Emperor’s gold coin.

“That is the Emperor’s gold coin. It is a tool to summon the Emperor’s evil spirits and soulless blasphemies. From the moment we use it our pilgrimage will be defiled. There is no guarantee of life for using it…”

Of course the leader of the pilgrimage group did not really have any aversion to the emperor’s gold coins.

No it’s true that I feel a sense of rejection but it’s not so strong that I would risk my life. I would do anything to survive this situation.

From his perspective as the leader of the pilgrimage group it would be the same whether he dies from that mysterious enemy or is later purged for using the emperor’s gold coins.

‘Izmila. I don’t know if you’ll take responsibility but do you think I’m crazy enough to approve it? That’s stupid. Just write it yourself and report back later.’

The leader of the pilgrimage group was suffering from Izmila’s simplicity which lacked political investigation(?). It seemed like it was time for him to show his experience.

“Why should I not know the desire of the young men under my command to live? But my faith commands me to devote myself entirely to virtue rather than to the power of such a blasphemer. Originally I should have scolded you for possessing it but I understand the mind of the young. However wandering in delusion is the privilege of the young not of an old man like me. Sir Ismilla. Only a young man like you with a promising future can commit a blasphemy. An old man like me can never….”

‘Even if I can’t do it if you young people do it the higher-ups will forgive you. Above all you have so much so no matter what you do the higher-ups will look upon you favorably.’

He continued his speech at length. While he was making excuses to avoid responsibility as much as possible hail suddenly started pouring down on their heads.

“Eww!”

“What the heck?! What is this!”

“It’s bloody bloody!”

“What the heck is this? Hic?!”

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The knights who had raised their shields to block the pouring hail screamed. Ice made from frozen blood rained down on their heads.

“Sir! I beg you again! Please let me use the Emperor’s gold coins!”

Izmila raised her Azure Steel shield and appealed to the leader of the pilgrimage.

At that moment a young woman’s voice rang out among the criminals trapped in the cart.

“Hey you idiot! That old man is like ‘I don’t want to take responsibility so do it yourself!’ Don’t you understand what I’m saying?”

“What?!”

Izmila glared at the criminal who had hurled insults at her. A young woman with a scar on her face was sitting cross-legged under the large man’s body using him as a roof.

“Oh it hurts Sister.”

“Shut up and do it. You big guy. I won at rock-paper-scissors. I know this is nothing compared to your sturdy body.”

In fact this man had a muscular body like a giant ancient god statue.

Half-orc. There are those born between orcs and humans who inherit only the muscular body that is the curse of orcs instead of their amazing intelligence. This man was one of those bad examples.

“But about that game. I don’t have a pinky so isn’t it too much to say I won’t hit you? You always win.”

“That can’t be helped because I’m good at games. I have to spread out five fingers to see. Do you understand?”

“I hate that game.”

“It’s a family tradition. Just shut up and do it you idiot.”

The woman was sitting underneath her brother a large half-orc while he shielded her with his shield.

“Hey you. Are you talking to me? Even if you insult me you insult the devotion of Lord Beljuan the leader of the pilgrimage group and the Hospitaller-Paladin…”

“Ahem. Sir Ismilla. Now is not the time for that. Protect your comrades. You never know when the enemy will attack.”

“yes?”

Izmila was perplexed by the reaction of the pilgrim leader who suppressed her questioning in this situation. Doesn’t that make it seem like what that female thief is saying is true?

“Oh sir. So are you saying that I can use this emperor’s gold coin?”

“Ahem.”

“….”

Izmila began to hesitate as she noticed Sir Beljuan’s expression.

Although she was the one who took out the gold coin she also felt uneasy when the commander blatantly showed his unwillingness to take responsibility.

A young monk who could not stand to see this scene stepped forward. The young man who was not a hospitalist but a member of the religious order drew a triangular magic circle on the floor.

“Your Majesty I ask you with all due respect if I may use the Emperor’s gold to shoulder this responsibility?”

“Oh Mr. McDonald.”

“If summoning the Emperor’s messenger is a wicked sin like selling one’s soul then I will take full responsibility for that sin. I will take full responsibility for it. Of course I do not know if it is a responsibility that only someone as lowly as I can take but how can I hope for the well-being of this one person when everyone’s life is hanging in the balance? However if the Emperor’s messenger is a gold demon as rumored….”

“….”

There is too much to say.

Izmila unable to bear it any longer placed the gold coin on the magic circle herself.