The Regressed Mercenary’s Machinations Chapter 730

Episode 730: There’s something about this. (2)

In the dream, his face was covered, but his pious aura and figure were not hidden. That’s why he was sure.
Since he was already like this, he wanted to check if he was really the founding king. After briefly introducing himself, Giselle immediately asked something he was curious about.
“Are you by any chance… of noble birth?”
“Yes.”
“Can you tell me which family you are from?”
“I am a knight who has taken refuge in the goddess. My family name has lost its meaning.”
It meant that he should not think of selling his family name for profit. His personality was as old-fashioned as his appearance. Giselle clicked her tongue and asked again.
“No, I just wondered if it was a family I knew.”
“……The Ladran family.”
Giselle was surprised by those words. She had hoped for it, and it turned out to be true.
‘Wow. He really is the founding king?’
Before Giselle rebelled and took over the kingdom, Rutania was ruled by the Ladran royal family.
‘So that means that when the war ended and the Kingdom of Rutania was established, the family’s surname was used as is.’
There are many cases where a new family is created when a country is established. In order to become the founder himself.
However, Lionel had somehow used the name of the family he belonged to.
‘Well, it doesn’t matter since he is known as the founder and founder of the royal family?’
However, there were still some parts that were questionable.
― The founder was… … the servant of the saintess.
Berhem, the former king of Rutania, clearly said that.
However, no matter how I looked at it, Lionel did not seem like someone who would be a servant to anyone. He was still a noble noble and a knight of the temple.
‘It must have been distorted somewhere. There may have been other circumstances later.’
Just meeting the future founder was a great achievement. Giselle, who was in a good mood, smiled brightly and held out her hand.
“Let’s do well from now on.”
“…I understand.”
As the two shook hands, the Pope said in a soft voice.
“Lionel is a knight with exceptional talent, even in the Holy Empire. He will definitely be of great help on your journey, so build trust and light each other’s path.”
“I understand.”
“Since we seem to be of similar age, I hope we can become close friends.”
“I also feel the same way. I will try to be close friends.”
After finishing the conversation with the Pope, things proceeded smoothly. First, according to the terms of the request, Giselle and her party received a large amount of support money. The imperial officials also took care of all the travel preparations.
And Giselle demanded numerous artifacts as a reward for capturing Ismogen. She didn’t hesitate to accept anything that contained magical power.
The Pope readily handed over a considerable amount of treasures.
Giselle, who had carefully collected the support money and artifacts, left for the Great Hall. However, the direction she was heading was in a completely different direction than her destination.
Lionel, who had newly joined the group, asked cautiously.
“Aren’t you going to leave right away?”
“Oh, I have something to do before I go. By the way, talk comfortably. Our mood is like that. Our ages seem similar.”
“No. This is more comfortable for me.”
“Didn’t the Pope tell you to become close friends? I’m uncomfortable with stiff relationships.”
“……Okay.”
As expected of an old-fashioned person, he immediately changed his stance when he heard the Pope’s order. He seemed surprisingly easy to handle.
Giselle smiled brightly as she watched Lionel. This was because she now had a way to learn about the process of Rutania’s founding that she had been curious about.
Unlike Giselle, who was in a good mood, Osval looked at Lionel with a restraining gaze.
‘You’re the youngest? You must be the youngest? The atmosphere is no joke… … .’
Lionel had a pious, even sacred, atmosphere. Osval was concerned about that part.
So in order not to fall behind in the hierarchy, he deliberately went to Lionel and said with a frown.
“Hey, you’re the youngest now. That’s how mercenaries are. Just listen to what this man Osval says. Do you understand?”
Lionel looked at Osval with a cold expression. It was a completely different look from when he was dealing with Giselle.
Osval flinched when he saw Lionel’s expression. The other person was just looking at him, but it felt like his whole body was being cut by that gaze.
Lionel, who had been silent for a moment, said in an emotionless voice,
“I’m not a mercenary. So don’t say unnecessary things to me.”
Osval, who didn’t want to be pushed around, answered while tensing his stomach.
“Ah, you’re not a mercenary. Oh, you should’ve told me earlier. Oh, you’re a newly recruited mercenary. Otherwise, that’s fine. Hahaha……”
Osval, who hadn’t even gotten his money’s worth, approached Kyle with a resentful expression and whispered.
“Brother, that kid is so cocky. Can you catch me and give me a hand job? Manly Osval, I’ll be with you until the end.”
“……”
“Tonight? Call?”
“……Just stay still.”
“Brother, are you scared? To a newbie?”
“…….”
When Kyle raised his fist without saying anything, Osval ran away.
Although he didn’t take Osval’s side, Kyle didn’t like Lionel either.
His every action was filled with a strange confidence and arrogance. It was as if he was shouting with his whole body, ‘I’m different from you guys.’
‘Tsk. Showing off.’ He
was actually pretty good. He was from a noble family and a promising knight of the empire. He was a temple knight directly under the Pope. He
was a completely different talent from Kyle, who was from the countryside. On top of that, he had a handsome face.
Anyone who saw him would say that he was a hero, and it really pissed Kyle off.
‘But I’m better in skill. Maybe?’
He had received training that was almost like abuse(?) from Giselle and had a lot of real-life experience. He really was like a weed.
So if he fought a guy who was grown up like a greenhouse flower, he wouldn’t lose. That’s how it should be.
Was it because Kyle had been staring at the back of Lionel’s head for too long? Lionel looked back, feeling the stinging gaze.
Their eyes met for a moment. However, Lionel turned his head again with an indifferent look.
‘That bastard… . . . ’
Kyle ground his teeth at the gaze that seemed to ignore him.
There are times when you feel uncomfortable from the first time you meet him. To Kyle, Lionel was that kind of person.
They instinctively felt that they were different.
Unlike Kyle, Yulien and Deneve were kind to Lionel.
The two were busy talking to him and taking care of him, worried that the new member Lionel might feel uncomfortable. This was because the members of this mercenary group led by Giselle were quite rough and dirty.
Kyle snorted as he watched the two of them.
‘Huh, even if you treat him so well, he thinks of us as his subordinates. He’s just being polite because of the Pope’s orders.’
Lionel wasn’t rude to the members. However, it was clear that he kept his distance from people.
At least Julien showed some respect for her because she was the leader. Since Giselle had negotiated directly with the Pope, she was polite to him on the outside.
However, she did not even make eye contact with Deneb. Instead, Deneb was nervously watching Lionel’s expression.
It was understandable. Lionel was a temple knight who served the Pope directly. As a low-level priest in the countryside, Deneb could not even dare to look at her.
In fact, Lionel ignored Deneb as if she did not exist.
‘A real low-level priest doesn’t even treat you like a person.’
It wasn’t just Lionel. Even though she had met the Pope in person, no one paid any attention to Deneb.
To them, Deneb was a worthless existence. No, she was embarrassing to even mention.
As a low-level priest, she followed the mercenary group around and tarnished the reputation of the church.
So they treated her as if she did not exist at all.
The other mercenary members felt it too. However, since it was a matter within the church, it was not something that anyone could interfere with.
At least the priests of the Great Hall were people he would never see again, so he could let it go, but since even Lionel, who he had to keep hanging out with, was so blatantly showing that kind of attitude, Kyle
couldn’t help but feel angry. ‘That cocky brat… … . He’s so great, right? I’ll really have to take care of him later
.’ Kyle glared at the back of Lionel’s head and kept licking his lips. He honestly wanted to knock down that brat.
The awkward atmosphere continued because of Lionel’s subtly overbearing aura. The other mercenaries were also starting to feel uncomfortable with Lionel.
However, Giselle knew that but didn’t care.
‘Let him do whatever he wants.’
Right now, Lionel was basically an informant for the Pope. He wanted to know how he would end up fighting alongside the warrior and founding Rutania.
That’s why he planned to just watch for the time being.
The place that Jisel led the party to was the great temple of Serana, located in the most remote part of the imperial capital.
“Wow…….”
The party exclaimed in admiration at the sight of the great temple of Serana.
The black stone walls towered as if they would split the sky, and the huge gray hall without a single window seemed to send a silent warning to the living to refrain from entering.
An eerie silence filled the area around the great temple. Even the sound of breathing seemed to sink into the heavy air. That silence inspired awe in those who saw it.
Osval trembled slightly and whispered to the mercenary next to him.
“Oh my, what kind of temple is like a haunted house? Isn’t it?”
“Are you scared?”
“Men are never scared. But ghosts are scary because my attacks don’t work on them. There’s nothing you can do about that.”
“……Yeah.”
The high priests of Serana greeted Giselle and her party with expressionless faces.
“Welcome. You said you would stay here for a while?”
Giselle answered with a pious expression.
“Yes. Before we leave on our journey, I would like to pray to Serana and repent for my sins.”
“……Of all places, here?”
The priest looked slightly surprised.
Serana is the goddess who symbolizes death. That is why, despite being one of the four major religious orders, she was treated a little differently from the other religious orders that worshipped the goddesses.
The Serana religious order was often taboo simply because it worshipped death, and there were many who were reluctant to even set foot there.
However, since they were going to pray here, the priest could not help but be puzzled.
Giselle smiled broadly and said,
“Other places are not bad either…but there is no better place to spend time quietly, right?”
“Hmm, that is true.”
The priest nodded.
Serana’s sect has the fewest followers, and unlike other sects, its priests focus on silent practice, meditation, and inner cultivation rather than proselytizing.
Aside from officiating at people’s funerals, they rarely engage in external activities.
In the sanctuary where silence always lingers, they only explore the truth of the ‘end’ and do not pay attention to the hustle and bustle of life.
There was certainly no better place to calm one’s mind and spend time in silence.
If only one could adapt to the eerie and heavy atmosphere.
The priest said with a blank expression.
“Understood. I will provide a place to rest. You said you need as much space as possible, right?”
“Yes. I would like a place that can easily accommodate 100 people.”
Jisel was the only one who was practicing penance. The others simply waited for him and stayed in the temple’s lodgings.
Even so, the priest was a little curious about why he had requested such a large space, but he did not ask further.
The priests here always considered it a virtue to maintain composure and cut off interest in the secular world as much as possible.
He did not doubt Jisel’s status. Because he had an ID card that the Pope had guaranteed, and most importantly, the famous temple knight Lionel was with him.
While moving according to the priest’s guidance, the group was busy talking amongst themselves.
“Why did we come here?”
“Who would know what the Vice-Captain was thinking? If we worry about it, it’ll give us a headache, so let’s pretend not to know.”
“But what about the prayer of repentance? Isn’t the Vice-Captain a person who wouldn’t regret going to hell?”
“Crazy people are good at talking crazy. It’s just crazy talk.”
“That’s right, that’s right. We shouldn’t take every single meaning. If we think about it, we’ll go crazy too.”
Lionel was slightly embarrassed when he heard the mercenaries muttering.
‘What? What kind of person are you to be evaluated like this?’
Giselle had been given an important mission by the Pope. He seemed a little arrogant, but since it was important to properly carry out the mission, he had decided to watch for the time being.
But he was getting such an evaluation from his subordinates. He kept thinking that something was wrong.
Leaving Lionel, who was confused, the group all went into their assigned quarters. No one seemed to care about what Giselle was doing.
Giselle was guided to the prayer room called the ‘Silence Room’.
The prayer room was a dark space located deep inside the temple that even priests hesitated to step foot on.
The vast interior, with huge pillars lined up like shadows, had no windows and only gray walls and floors. It was
a gloomy space with no decorations, no icons, or anything else. Left alone there, Giselle smiled and pulled out something from the subspace.
It was the corpses of the knights she had collected and the items imbued with magic power from the Pope.
“The energy here is really clean(?) and good. I can make a lot of great friends.”
No matter how much Serana is the goddess who rules over death, her roots are divinity. It is different from black magic filled with resentment and malice.
Giselle immediately began making death knights. She dared to create evil beings in the temple of the sacred goddess.
A day later, the priests of Serana, who had been quietly practicing in silence throughout the temple as usual, tilted their heads.
“What is it? Why do I suddenly feel so uneasy?”
“Is it because I haven’t slept well lately? Or is it because I’m lonely?”
“After practicing for years, I think I’ve accumulated a lot of anger inside me… … .”
“It feels like the devil has descended upon the world.”
Not knowing what was happening right now, they tried to regain their composure as usual.
However, that only lasted a day or two. As the days passed, the strange feeling grew worse.
After three days, a tangible energy stabbed their whole bodies. It was an energy that was strangely similar to their divinity, but different.
The priests’ doubts deepened as
they continued to do so. ‘Who would practice while emitting such energy? Is something bad happening?’
‘This… … It seems like black magic… … No, it feels like our energy… … Ah, this is confusing.’
‘Hey, no way… … Some crazy guy would dare to cast black magic in the sacred Great Hall. That’s impossible.’
‘It must be a mistake. Our divine power is a bit shady… … .’
They tried to somehow clear their minds and find composure according to the doctrine. However, it was becoming increasingly difficult to do so.
Ugh… … .
Now, it seemed as if they could hear an unknown scream coming from somewhere. It seemed to be coming from a deep abyss.
In the end, all the priests stopped their practice and stood up from their seats. They had to find the source of this strange phenomenon.
Their eyes were directed to… … the ‘Room of Silence’ where Jiselle was staying.