## Chapter 796 – Winter in the Capital

Since that day, I’d been living like a beast in heat during mating season.

It snowed a lot outside, so I cut back a little on training and focused on mating. Training efficiency is low when it snows heavily. I just stayed in the warm house all day and had sex.

“…”

Living like that, I started to feel like I couldn’t just spend the whole winter doing that, so I decided to go out.

I don’t go out much these days except to go to church and buy groceries, but I was thinking of going to the library to study during the winter. Sex is good, but a person can’t live doing only that.

I should read something.

ㅡRoyal Magic Library Regular Membership Card.

When I organized all the winnings I’d received, I found something like that. Having this allows me to enter the library on my own. Everyone including Winia is out of their minds right now, so there’s no need to wake them up.

I’ll just go alone.

ㅡCreak.

I put on my Sasquatch fur coat and went outside.

ㅡIt’s chilly.

The air was cold.

But it’s not that cold. As my body has been strengthened, I’m becoming somewhat resistant to cold and heat.

Thinking that, I headed to the city.

Snow was piled up on every roof, but there was almost none on the ground. That’s because they’re using some kind of magic or artifact to clear all the snow from the passageways. So the carriages are driving around like crazy right now.

So this is the center of logistics?

They’re managing the roads so that logistics never stop, even if other things do. As expected, the kingdom’s capital is something else. The way they clear snow is different.

Should I go straight to the church?

“Newspaper! Newspaper!! Newspaper!!! Read the newspaper!! Newspaperㅡ!!!”

A crazy kid was shouting his lungs out over there, waving a paper. I thought he was possessed by a demon, but when I listened closely, he was saying “newspaper.”

“Oh.”

Come to think of it, there are newspapers.

The kid’s working hard from the morning. He’s shouting his lungs out to sell newspapers and make a living in this freezing weather.

A newspaper isn’t bad.

Since coming to the capital, I’ve been relying on the Saintess for information, so I haven’t really read newspapers or anything. Since I noticed it, I should buy one.

“Hey kid. How much is the newspaper?”
“Hukk!”

I went right up behind him and asked, and the kid turned around and collapsed on the ground.

“P, Paladin-nim!!!”
“You know me?”
“Of course! The winner of the Kingdom Martial Arts Tournament!! The Dancing Paladin!!”

Even this little tyke knows my reputation.

“You know me well. So how much is the newspaper?”
“One bundle is 4 coppers!”

Damn it, that’s so expensive.

4 coppers is enough for an F-class adventurer in the boonies to stay overnight in a very shabby, small room and eat one or two cheap meals.

As expected, prices are high in the capital.

“Give me one.”
“Yes!!! Thank you for buying it!!! Paladin-nim!!!”
“Sell a lot.”

I paid the price and received a bundle of newspapers, then went to a nearby streetlight and stood there. Recently, I’ve been living knowing only what the Saintess tells me. This is my first time reading a newspaper.

Let’s see what news there is.

Depending on the content, it will be judged whether it’s more useful than the Adventurer’s Guild bulletin board or not. If the content is substantial, buying it every day wouldn’t be bad.

ㅡRustle.

I immediately grabbed it properly and started reading.

「Greater Spirit Appears!!!」
「Extensive Damage!!」

But the headlines are ominous.

“Damn.”

A Greater Spirit appeared?

Greater Spirits are incomparably more powerful and formidable than Intermediate Spirits. Frankly, Intermediate Spirits can be handled without problems by C-class adventurers. But Greater Spirits are not.

The scale is different.

They are, in the truest sense, serial killers from stories.

Inhuman beings that bring disaster every time they appear.

Born to punish humans who destroy nature, they are crazy bastards who freely wield the extreme power of the elements, forged only with the infinite hatred for humans given by Mother Nature.

ㅡFormidable magicians.

Spirits hate humans who destroy nature more than anything else, and want to kill and devour them. That’s the relationship between humans and spirits. Humans inevitably have to scrape away at nature, which is like the spirits’ blood and flesh, in order to live. It’s only natural that they have to kill each other from now on.

Anyway, it seems a Greater Spirit has appeared.

Damn, I’m reading this closely.

「The Greater Ice Spirit Arquena has appeared and is freezing the world!!」

「Those monsters, assimilated with winter, are joyfully rampaging and expanding their sphere of influence! The Royal Knights have been dispatched, the mages of the Magic Tower have risen up, and the lords of each region have summoned soldiers, but if they are not quickly suppressed, the Salagan Granary will be completely frozen over…」

「According to the predictions of Hasnerd, a mage of the Gakcheon Magic Tower who holds the title of Freezer and also has a high authority as a spirit researcher, if Arquena builds her palace, the area will become a land of spirits, and the ice palace built in this way will be strong even next summer. The probability of that is about…」

「In addition, numerous casualties are occurring! Arquena is extremely cruelly imprisoning the bodies of the victims in ice and displaying them like trophies!! The horror has shocked many people…」

「Spirits are the enemy of mankind!!」

“The world is going crazy.”

Looking at the nearby place names, the Salagan Granary seemed to be located about halfway between Isvant and the capital. Even though it’s halfway, it seems to be a bit more to the north.

Anyway, this is crazy news.

I didn’t expect to hear such news as soon as I bought the newspaper.

A disaster-like Greater Spirit has appeared and is destroying human lands. These bastards must be annihilated as soon as possible.

I read the newspaper with interest.

「This Arquena reappeared after about 35 years, and 35 years ago she appeared in the Merqudia Kingdom…」

Looking at the detailed information and origins written, it seemed to be a newspaper with some nutritional value. But suddenly, a thought flashed through my mind.

ㅡGreater Ice Spirit.

“…”

For some reason, Naias, whom I fought tooth and nail last winter, came to mind… Well, it must be a random thought. It doesn’t make sense. That trashy bastard becoming a Greater Spirit.

Anyway, there were various other news items besides that.

But most of them were stories about what happened where in the capital, or the conclusion of legal battles. Aside from the big headlines, it can be said that there is no particularly useful information.

Still, it’s worth 4 coppers.

If I ask the Saintess, I might be able to find out more details.

First, I put the newspaper in my coat and headed to the library.

* * *

“Here, my regular membership card.”
“Just a moment…”

As soon as I arrived at the library, I showed my regular membership card to the guard at the entrance. He flipped through something like a book he was holding for a moment, then shifted his gaze to my face.

“The winner of the Martial Arts Tournament… Paladin-nim?”
“Oh, you know me?”
“Yes, the information is listed here. Your membership card is valid, so please enter.”
“Thank you.”

As expected, there’s no problem.

I went straight inside. The back of the regular membership card stated that I could borrow up to five books in total, so I should borrow all sorts of things.

The inside was warm.

It’s a bit better now that I took off my Sasquatch coat.
I was only wearing a short-sleeved shirt inside.

ㅡ…

As I walked towards the bookshelves, various passersby looked at my face once and stopped walking.

Then they covered their mouths.

“Hehehe.”

I immediately gave them a smile and bowed. It’s a problem that too many people are recognizing me. Anyway, with that kind of feeling, I looked through the bookshelves and chose a book.

But.

“…”

From the moment I entered the library until now.

I couldn’t stand something that was bothering me. So I headed to the red book corner. Could that great mage I saw when I started the Martial Arts Tournament… could that woman really be the same person?

I can’t stand the anxiety if I don’t confirm it.

I believe it’s not. It’s just that she’s a mage, and her hair color is the same greenish color, so the impression was imprinted in that way, so I’m thinking that.

ㅡGulp.

I finally arrived at the top floor.
I went straight to the familiar corner.

ㅡAnd right there.

In front of the place where the red books were displayed, a person wearing a robe was sitting alone on a small chair, reading a book.

Extreme tension.

I slowly approached and picked out a book from the bookshelf as if nothing was wrong, and at that moment, the person sitting there raised their head. What I glimpsed was… greenish hair!

“…!”

Her eyes widened when she saw me.

“Y, you are!!!”

Shock!

All I could do was be shocked! ㅡThud! I collapsed on the spot! How could there be such a crazy reality!!!

She was the great mage!

I had been nonchalantly having such crazy conversations with the great mage without knowing anything!!!

“U, ugh! Ughaaaa!”
“I, I think you’ve mistaken me for someone else.”

ㅡDrag.

She immediately got up from her seat, walked past me with quick steps, and disappeared. I, who had been frozen for a while, had no choice but to go down to the first floor almost crawling, and left the library as if running away and headed to the Great Temple!

What I had suspected was real!

How am I supposed to go to the library in the future!

It’s hard to calm my mind… such an inhuman encounter…!

“Hoo!”

I barely calmed my mind and entered the Great Temple to find the Saintess. I’m attending every other day anyway. She’s too busy with work to spend much time with me right now, but she’ll tell me everything I ask.

“Ah, you’ve come.”
“Good morning.”
“I have something to give to the Paladin… Here. This is it.”
“What is this?”

Something like a letter.

“A letter came to the Paladin from the Radiant Star Cross Society. I wondered why it came, but when I thought about it, didn’t you have a nun who was friendly with that side? You asked about the letter last time too.”
“O, oh!!!”

I immediately took the letter!

ㅡRadiant Star Cross Society!

A letter came from Elise!!!!

“It seems it’s from her.”
“Yes!!! I went to send it right after I asked last time!”
“…If the Saintess’s memory serves me correctly, that nun was small in stature, were you two particularly close?”
“Particularly close! She’s my close friend!!”

I felt quite happy to receive Elise’s letter. I immediately put it in my coat. It’s a bit much to read it here, so I should read it when I get home.

Anyway.

I have something to ask the Saintess.

“Oh right, Saintess. I have something I want to ask you, do you have time? It won’t take long.”
“…Just a moment.”

ㅡThud.

“Hoo…”

The Saintess put down her pen and stubbed out the cigarette she was holding in the ashtray.

“If the Paladin, who always serves for the sake of the Order, asks, I can make time even if I don’t have it. Tell me.”
“This.”

ㅡRustle.

I immediately took out the newspaper and put it on the desk.

“I bought a newspaper on the way, and it said that a Greater Spirit has appeared. Do you have any information about this?”
“…Haa.”

The Brass Sky Angel Society is quite good at gathering information. Besides things about demons and heretics, they probably know about these things too.

“Is that so. A Greater Spirit, of course I’ve received reports about it. It’s currently invading the granary, and a subjugation plan is being established with the Royal Knights as the main force.”

As expected.

“Oh oh. Is there anything organized?”
“Are you interested?”
“I’m a little interested. Anyway, there’s not much work to do right now because it’s winter, right?”
“That’s the situation. I’ll take it out for a moment, so sit down.”

The Saintess got up from her seat and took out a bundle of documents from a bookshelf on the left wall of the audience chamber.

“This matter was already in a state where the formation of a subjugation force had been agreed upon, so I didn’t interfere. Above all, this kind of thing should be done by the local lords or the Royal Knights, not the Order.”
“That’s right.”

Holy Knights do catch monsters, but that’s only the second priority. The first priority is always heretics and demons.

The division of roles must be clear.

First, I grabbed the documents.

Personally, I’m also interested in Greater Spirits. If there are no quests during the winter, it would be good to go check it out once.