## Chapter 728 – Paladin Kim Kat

“So, take your pick.”

Saintess Kadia laid out the documents she had taken from the drawer onto her desk. There were quite a few. Considering the Church’s standards, she had been collecting quite a lot of troublesome cases.

I scanned through them one by one.

Starting with the ones that could be dealt with quickly… But looking at them, there was all sorts of stuff.

ㅡGenerally speaking, evil deeds.

So, reports of suspected heretics or the appearance of demons, as well as various other incidents, were reported to the Great Temple.

Churches scattered throughout the land kept track of the surrounding trends and reported everything.

The Saintess sorted through them, assigned tasks to the Holy Knights, and organized teams to send out. Of course, they focused on matters related to demons or heretics.

Trivial matters were simply acknowledged, and unless they were serious, the Church didn’t deal with them. Because those were mostly the Lord’s job.

The Holy Knights’ duties and the Lord’s duties were distinct.

“There are quite a few.”

The things on this desk were all tasks that were either difficult or impossible to assign to the Holy Knights.

Looking through them, there were all sorts of trivial matters, just as I had thought.

Well… it wasn’t really the Church’s job. But the reason the Saintess hired me in the first place was to handle these kinds of tasks. Also, because I was a quasi-priest.

“Are these really troublesome matters?”
“It’s best to check them all first. I’ll explain afterward.”
“Yes.”

Monster or bandit exterminations were handled by the Lord near the affected area. In fact, even the Adventurer’s Guild could resolve minor issues with ease.

Even if the Lord didn’t bother, they could resolve it cost-effectively by spending a little money.

But the important thing was the tasks they couldn’t handle, tasks that exceeded the Adventurer’s Guild’s quest difficulty of C-rank. These were the ones the Lords had to resolve directly by sending troops.

ㅡMoving the army.

This was a somewhat ambiguous issue.

In the borderlands like Krasheim or Isvant, it wasn’t a big problem. However, it could become a problem when deep inland.

The nobles of this world were often friendly with each other, but conversely, they frequently fought among themselves as they pleased.

Therefore, if you recklessly moved the army to resolve some issue, various pressures could come in while the army was away, or the movement of those troops could unintentionally provoke other nobles.

That’s why moving the army sometimes became ambiguous. If you lived as a Lord, wouldn’t you encounter such a situation once in a while?

Anyway.

The document I picked up was about an incident that had occurred near a certain territory.

“This is…”

Looking at it, it seemed like some incredibly powerful monster had appeared, and the Lord was in a lot of trouble.

The adventurers were helpless. And they had commissioned a mercenary group, but they were badly defeated and failed to subdue it. Because of that, other mercenaries weren’t taking the job.

These kinds of incidents required the mobilization of troops to resolve directly, but recently, there was discord with the neighboring territory, so they couldn’t recklessly withdraw their forces.

It was exactly the situation I had just been thinking about.

Just a trivial matter.
A matter that the people there should handle themselves, not the Church.

“I understand, but… Saintess. Isn’t this something we should be doing?”

I was hired to do things that the Holy Knights couldn’t do, but this seemed a bit different from my mission.

Still, I had been resolving religious matters to some extent.

This wasn’t that kind of thing.

“That’s right. Even though this Saintess hired a Paladin to handle troublesome matters, the task that the Paladin chose is a bit different in nature from those `troublesome matters`.”

The Saintess was aware of it too.

“And yet, it’s included in my list of directives?”
“Check the location.”
“The location?”

I examined the map enclosed with the document and looked at the location.

But looking at this map…
It felt like I had seen it somewhere before… Oh.

“This is… that area, isn’t it?”
“Doesn’t it strike you?”

The map depicted a familiar mountain range. That is, it was the territory beyond the mountain range where that inhuman village held hostage by the Manticore was located.

ㅡThat was marked on the map.

“The Lord of that territory wrote a letter directly to the Great Temple to inquire.”

The Saintess began to explain.

“It hasn’t been concluded that it’s a matter of heretics or demons. So, regardless of the circumstances, the Lord should resolve this directly.”
“Yes.”
“But they said it seemed impossible to resolve on their own and asked if we could help. Of course, not for free. The Lord’s side offered a price first.”

What price?

“There are no religious facilities established in that territory.”

ㅡHoo.

The Saintess, who had lit a cigarette, took a deep breath of smoke and exhaled before continuing.

“So, they offered to directly construct a Brass Celestial Angel Church in the territory and pay regular tithes. They asked if we could help if they showed this much sincerity. It seems they want to strengthen their relationship with the main Church on this occasion.”

They were saying that if the Church resolved this matter, they would bear the cost of building a church in their territory. The Church couldn’t just be built anywhere. Everything had to be discussed with the Lord.

“If there’s a church, it’s a great help to the territory. Conversely, the church also benefits.”
“Are there any benefits besides tithes?”
“There’s no harm in maintaining a good relationship with the Church. More than anything, it’s about planting our forces in aristocratic society. You could say it’s an expansion of power.”

That was certainly true.
Because it was creating a pro-Church faction of nobles.

Although the Brass Celestial Angel Church was a group of believers who worshiped God, they weren’t free from this secular world. In order to establish the order and norms they desired, they needed power and influence.

“In other words, it’s a task needed to make one Lord our ally. But… it’s a bit much to assign it to a Holy Knight. Even with that purpose, it’s a bit much for the Church to move for the Lord’s benefit, don’t you think?”
“It certainly seems a bit like that.”

It was almost something that mercenaries would do.

Because it was protecting a noble for a price.

It was a bit outside the doctrine. Of course, the Holy Knights included subduing monsters in their duties, but they also recognized the power of the nobles.

To put it simply, they believed that the nobles should resolve their own issues. If there was a problem in the territory due to monsters? And people were dying because of it? Of course, the Holy Knights didn’t like that.

But helping was a different matter.

It was a matter that the Lord should resolve directly. The Holy Knights thoroughly adhered to that unless it was a matter of heretics or demons. That was the rule.

And this case had the potential to violate that. So the Holy Knights couldn’t do it. That’s why she was trying to get me to do it.

“Well, you can think of it as killing two birds with one stone.”

Killing two birds with one stone.

“Coincidentally, the location is close to the area where the Holy Knight who died in the line of duty was tracking an unknown monster, and the incident itself is said to have been caused by some monster. It could also mean investigating that.”

The unknown monster that the Holy Knight who died in the line of duty was chasing. Coincidentally, the location was similar, so it was a bit suspicious, but it wasn’t confirmed yet. If I thought of it as an extension of that, I could go investigate.

“In addition, it’s an opportunity to accept the conditions set by the Lord and increase the Church’s power. This Saintess is quite calculating, so that’s why I included this task in the Paladin’s directives.”
“Hehehe, you’d be good at business.”
“Aren’t I already doing well? Being a Saintess is similar to business.”

That was true.

“Well then, does this just mean solving the incident in that territory? It seems like I can finish it faster than I thought. I’ll start with this.”
“Good. I’m looking forward to seeing how quickly you handle it.”
“Just trust me.”

I read the received directive in detail.

There wasn’t much information about the incredibly powerful monster that was terrorizing the territory. Only that it wasn’t larger than medium-sized and that there were quite a few casualties.

In other words, it was a situation where an unknown monster-serial killer had appeared.

Several adventurers had died, and a small mercenary group had been destroyed. There were also many civilian casualties, but I didn’t think I couldn’t do it.

Of course, if my women stepped up, they would slaughter it like they did the Manticore, but even if my wives were excluded and I did it myself, it would be possible.

“You’re reliable as always. I was wondering if you needed any special comfort.”
“Hehehe, just the fact that the Saintess is thinking about that is comforting. Don’t worry. Even though I’m sad, I’m someone who knows how to control my emotions.”

A true warrior can freely control their emotions. My Rage Savings Account was also a skill that I was able to master in a similar context.

Crying and releasing my sad emotions yesterday was also a similar thing.

“I’m glad to hear that. But if you have any concerns, you can always consult this Saintess. I can always make time for the Paladin.”

I was grateful for the thought, but I couldn’t take up the Saintess’s time, who was already working hard.

“How could I take up the Saintess’s time when you’re so busy? But I’m really grateful for the thought.”
“Hmm…”

The Saintess, who heard my answer, tilted her head for a moment and looked at my eyes.

“Saintess?”
“It’s nothing. Thanks to this Saintess’s hard work, I haven’t been that busy lately, so don’t feel pressured.”
“If that’s the case. Then I’ll go home and review the directive.”

I left the Great Temple like that.

* * *

“Did you get another job, Darkie?”
“Yeah. I went and asked, and they gave it to me right away.”

When I got home, Winia greeted me.

“Why don’t they let you rest a little? Why do they give you so much work? Aren’t they making you suffer too much?”
“Hehehe, really? But it’s good to have a lot of work.”
“What’s good about it? I know Darkie is really diligent, but you need to rest and live a little. It’ll hurt your body.”
“That’s true. Then should I just do this job and rest a little?”

I couldn’t rest for a long time. Of course, I knew Winia was worried, but wasn’t now the time to work? If I laid the foundation now, it would be easier later. More than anything, my body wouldn’t get hurt.

The Heavenly Demon’s body was absolute.
It was virtually invincible.

“So, what’s the job?”
“This time, they said I just have to go kill a monster and come back. It’s a simpler job than I thought. There’s not much to investigate, just kill it.”
“It’s a simple hunting job for once. But what are you catching?”
“That’s unknown.”

I didn’t know for sure, but if I was lucky, it could be the unidentified monster that the Holy Knight who died in the line of duty was tracking. The area was similar, and the damage was similar.

Of course, it was more likely that it wasn’t.

“They don’t know much either. They’re getting beaten up by some guy they don’t even know, so they commissioned the Church to catch it.”
“Hmm… is that okay?”
“I’m okay with anything.”

I knew my strength well.

I was now strong enough that I wasn’t ashamed of the title of Paladin. My mana had clearly increased compared to before, and my ability to handle it had become sharper.

My body, tenacity, and mental strength had all been upgraded.

Most guys couldn’t even hand me their business card.

Even the veteran knight Baron Salberin was crushed by me. But doesn’t that friend appear in my dreams? I thought it would be nice if he came out as a set with Vugal and Mersin.

Anyway, the guys I’ve killed have their pride, so I’m not someone who’s going to get beaten up.

“The job is a bit simple, so I think I can go and come back quickly. Do you want to rest at home this time? Honestly, it’s hard to travel long distances by carriage. It’s also boring.”