## Chapter 705 – Paladin Kim Kat

The Holy Woman rose from her seat, retrieved some documents from the shelf, and approached me.

“This is a temporary access permit. Let’s go.”
“Huh? Are you going yourself?”
“If I, the Holy Woman, don’t go, it’ll be chaos. I’m well aware of the Holy Knights’ violent tendencies.”

That was true, I guess.

Even though the Holy Knights were more loyal to the god Verde than to the Holy Woman, it wasn’t like they didn’t listen at all. If she went to control them directly, not even the Holy Knights would dare to touch the carriages.

“Besides, for something like this, even I have to drag my heavy ass over there.”

ㅡ*Chuckle.*

She stuck close to my side, slightly twisting her hips as she looked into my eyes.

“…My heavy ass, that is.”
“Why are you emphasizing that?”

The Holy Woman certainly seemed to have quite a heavy load, both in terms of breasts and butt… But why was she emphasizing it right now?

“It’s an idiom. Anyway, let’s get an escort.”
“Are you going with just the two of us?”
“Is there a better escort than a Paladin?”
“Of course not. I’m a specialist.”

And so, I stood side-by-side with the Holy Woman and exited the temple. But as soon as we came out, all the believers bowed excessively, which was quite awkward.

She really was someone important.

ㅡ*Click.*

She nonchalantly pulled out a cigarette, stuck it in her mouth, and started walking slowly, smoking on the street as if it were the most natural thing in the world.

It wasn’t bad smoke, so I didn’t mind.

It was different from the harmful cigarettes of modern times.

“I’ll hear the details later, but for now, let me say thank you for your hard work. To arrest those accused of heresy, your first mission, and you’ve already achieved such great results. I’m truly pleased.”
“Hehe, I did my best.”
“You can look forward to a reward as well.”
“You wouldn’t happen to be saying that walking side-by-side like this is the reward, would you?”

ㅡ*Pause.*

The Holy Woman stopped for a moment and looked at me with a puzzled expression.

“…Would you like me to put my arm around your waist or something?”
“Why are you saying that as if it’s so unexpected? Give me something tangible, something tangible. Think about how much I spent on the operation.”
“Heh, just kidding.”

Her princess syndrome was serious.

But she had the looks, ability, and status to back it up, so I couldn’t really say anything. She was the second-in-command of the largest church and one of the kingdom’s three great beauties.

She was a kind of idol.

Of course, everyone would recognize her and be interested.

More than anything, the clothes she was wearing weren’t summer clothes focused on sexiness, but a pure white Holy Woman’s robe that clung to her body. It revealed all the lines of her figure, so it was bound to be stimulating.

ㅡOh, oh! The Holy Woman waved at us!
ㅡBut who’s that next to her?
ㅡIsn’t that a Holy Knight?
ㅡHis armor is black, though?
ㅡThe emblem is the Brass Celestial Society…

Anyway, the Holy Woman’s wave elicited quite an enthusiastic response. Fortunately, they seemed to see me as just an escort.

“You’re really famous, Holy Woman.”
“There’s no one in the capital who doesn’t know me. Didn’t I tell you I’m one of the kingdom’s three great beauties?”

People usually don’t say that themselves.

“Heh, you’re walking side-by-side with such a Holy Woman. What does it feel like? Paladin. I’m very curious.”
“It feels like I’m working.”
“You give boring answers.”
“I answered that way because if I properly expressed this joy, I feel like I’d fly all the way home.”
“Heh, fly away, huh?”

She smiled, seemingly pleased with my flattery.

“I like that.”

We were walking at the Holy Woman’s pace, so the speed was quite slow. I moved along while talking to her about various things. Of course, not about this particular incident. I’d report that formally later.

“Do you know why the Holy Knights are so violent?”

It was a kind of small talk.

“I have a few ideas, but from the way you’re saying it, you’re going to tell me the real reason, aren’t you?”
“You’re quick to catch on.”

The Holy Knights’ violence… It was so extreme and frenzied. If someone who didn’t know better saw it, they’d sit down and piss their pants.

“The Holy Knights are warriors who fight on the front lines against evil beings.”
“That’s right.”

Wherever it was, they didn’t care and didn’t shy away from danger. They were as noble as firefighters crawling into flames.

The problem was that they were crazy bastards.

“No, to be precise, you could say they’re warriors made to fit the specification of fighting on the front lines.”

Made?

“Evil beings are always trying to tempt and corrupt humans. That’s even more intense on the front lines.”

The Holy Woman spoke as if she were stating the obvious.

“Therefore, what can protect the Holy Knights from such threats…”

Faith?
Armor?

“It’s not blessed armor or anything like that, but fanaticism stemming from brainwashing.”
“That’s a terrible story.”
“It’s less terrible than the fact that this world is terrible.”

That was also true.

“The Holy Knight training course is literally about raising warriors to prepare for the Holy War. The training camp is just the graduation exam. They’re already ‘complete’ before that.”
“Complete?”

Complete in terms of combat power or faith?

“As warriors capable of withstanding the Second Idol War.”
“Ah.”

The Idol War.
I’d heard about it a lot.

“I know it was a great war. But… Could it be that there are signs of something like that? Is that why you’re preparing?”
“Half right, half wrong. There are always signs. We’re just preparing for it.”
“It doesn’t feel like it’s happening right away.”
“That’s why we’re preparing and trying to stop it.”

The Holy Knights were made to carry out that inhuman war.

I already knew something similar, intuitively.

“The Holy Knights are inefficient because they’re excessively violent.”
“I’ve heard and seen it many times.”
“Our Pope is, of course, aware of that fact. But he thinks that even if it’s inefficient, it’s the most effective and stable.”

They gained infinite violence in exchange for never being corrupted. It was a little inefficient, but the effect was certain. That was the Pope’s idea.

“Your thoughts are a little different, Holy Woman.”
“Yes, that’s right.”

That was the part where she thought differently.

“Isn’t this confidential?”
“The Paladin can know. Anyway, changing the subject, the Inquisitors of the Order are fairly clever. So you can rest assured.”

The Inquisitors of the Order.
I felt like I’d be meeting them soon, but honestly, I couldn’t trust them.

“Aren’t they going to kill them while pretending to interrogate them?”
“At least as far as I know, that hasn’t happened.”

Hadn’t happened?

“Even in this state, people who need to be interrogated are sometimes caught. The Holy Knights don’t unleash violence based on suspicion alone. They unleash it when there’s evidence. The Inquisitors are the same, but they’re a little more rational.”
“Oh, so those with just suspicions can still go in for interrogation.”
“That’s right. Only… When it’s clearly revealed that they’re heretics.”
“Let’s skip that part.”
“Are you being considerate? Thank you.”
“We can talk about cruel things at the scene.”

It seemed that the Inquisitors were still trustworthy. They’d done interrogations several times, though rarely. Heretics always appeared somewhere. They were arrested if they were suspected.

Then I’d just have to keep that in mind.

And so, we arrived at the city gate.

“Heeok! Holy Woman!”
“The Holy Woman has arrived!!”

As soon as we arrived, the soldiers went crazy and gathered around, and the Holy Woman nonchalantly handed over the document and said.

“I brought an access permit. Is there a carriage of the Brass Celestial Society waiting here?”
“There are three! The reason is the escort of heretics!”
“Take it.”
“Yes!”

The soldier who received the document said loudly.

“You may enter!!”

The effect was immediate.
It seemed that the kingdom and the church had agreed on everything.

“Hehehe, to create non-existent military discipline. You’re really good at it.”
“Isn’t it all because I’m beautiful?”
“You’re one of the kingdom’s three great beauties, after all.”
“Personally, I think I’m number one.”
“I haven’t seen the second or third, so I can’t agree with you.”
“Do you think I’m worse than the princess or the archmage?”
“I just found out that there’s an archmage in the running.”
“You don’t need to know. She’s worse than me anyway.”
“You’re absolutely right.”

Everyone was worse than Claudia anyway.

I immediately approached the carriages with her.

“Holy Knight Anderson, Holy Woman!!”
“Holy Knight Harmat, Holy Woman!!”
“Holy Knight Ewald, Holy Woman!!”

As I approached, the disciples who were riding in the driver’s seat jumped up and shouted loudly while bowing. You guys only do this when you come to observe.

“Good work, new Holy Knight members. Did you assist the Paladin well?”
“Yes!”
“Yes!”
“Yes!”

As expected, a loud answer.

“It must not have been easy to escort the heretics, but you managed to hold back your anger well. Start the escort right away. Drive the carriages to the temple.”
“Understood!”

And so, the carriages entered, and the Holy Woman and I followed them.

“I’ll ask you about the condition of the new Holy Knights later.”
“Just tell me.”

As we walked endlessly, I soon began to see the Great Temple building in the distance.

As soon as we reached the entrance, the Holy Woman instructed the Holy Knights guarding the gate.

“We’ve arrested those suspected of being heretics. They’ll be heading straight to the interrogation room, so I forbid any action without my permission.”
“Heeuh…! Heeuh…!”
“Heretics…!”

The two gatekeeper Holy Knights seemed to be in pretty bad shape. They kept glaring at the carriages and breathing heavily.

“Holy Knight. Calm down. I forbid you from touching the carriages. We haven’t investigated yet, so we can’t identify which ones are heretics.”
“Understood…!”
“Yes…!”

Still, they listened because the Holy Woman ordered them to.

“Let’s go in.”

ㅡ*Creak.*

And so, we entered the Great Temple with the three carriages.

The site of the Great Temple was really huge. There were several huge buildings, and there was a training ground in the center. It was filled with gifts on all sides, so it could be mistaken for a castle. Or a fortress.

“That’s the interrogation room.”

The interrogation room was in the corner.
It was a small two-story building, and the basement seemed to be the main part.

“It’s a really scary place, as it’s where sins are revealed. But there’s no doubt about their skills. They’ll be able to find out whether they’re heretics, simple criminals, or innocent people. Of course, if they’re innocent, there’s nothing to fear.”
“That’s a relief.”

After a brief explanation, a man with a strange atmosphere wearing a brass mask walked out of the building. He wasn’t wearing a helmet. He was just wearing a mask, and strangely, his arms and legs were slender.

ㅡHe’s not a warrior’s body.

No, not necessarily. If there was mana and divine power, the body was just an aid.

“Inquisitor Ssleesian. Gather all those waiting. The scale of the interrogation is… Paladin. How many?”
“About thirty.”
“Over thirty.”
“Understood, Holy Woman.”

The voice of the Inquisitor called Ssleesian sounded somewhat cold.

“For now, just keep them detained. I’ll send the data by tomorrow.”
“Understood, Holy Woman.”

He went back into the building.

“…Are you a Holy Knight?”
“Not right now. Now then, let’s get the people to be interrogated down.”
“Ah, yes.”

I immediately opened the doors of the carriages with my disciples and let the people inside down.

“Get out.”
“Get out!!!!!!”

We separated the women and men.
Both groups were almost trembling.

“Don’t even think about doing anything stupid!!! This is the Great Temple of the Brass Celestial Society!!”

Anderson was doing a good job.

“…!”

The men were just trembling in fear.

Soon, several masked Inquisitors came out and worked with my disciples to drag the people down to the basement. The coffin that the preacher was in was also moved there.

I hoped that black and white would be distinguished.

“Then, Paladin. Let’s hear the report now.”
“Let’s go.”

I took the evidence and returned to her office with the Holy Woman.