## Chapter 834 – Winter in the Capital

“Anyway, Katt. If you get the chance, try to make that Saintess yours. Wouldn’t that be nice? To have a Saintess from a major order in your hands. I’m sure you can do it, Katt.”
“Hehehe, our Claudie has such big dreams. I’ll say it again, that’s just not gonna happen.”
“It’s all because you’re worthy of it, Katt… Mama believes in you. You can do anything.”

Claudie said that, fiddling with my scalp and whispering in my ear. She really loves me collecting wives. Seeing Claudie say things like that makes me want to do as she wishes, but that Saintess Cadia?

It’s unimaginable.

Even though that older sister is a bit playful, she’s still a Saintess who feels the power of God. Well, I’m a playboy with seven wives, so I’m not one to talk, but having revealed that I’m a harem protagonist, I can safely say there’s no chance of that happening.

Logically, no woman would be attracted to a married man.

No matter how Claudie affirms everything about me with her loving tone, some things just aren’t possible.

“Yeah, I can do anything. But the Saintess is out of the question. The difference in status is too great.”

It’s not like I’m planning to increase my number of wives anyway. Basically, women other than my wives are just biologically the opposite sex, not women I’m attracted to.

“Hehehe, I don’t think you know yourself very well, Katt. You’re the most wonderful man in the world.”
“Hehehe, Mama knows me better than I know myself.”

Love is blinding…!

“And you are the most wonderful in the world!!!!!!”

There’s no man more wonderful than me in this world!!!!! Who else! Would win a martial arts tournament at such a young age!!!! And live as a Paladin of the Order, fighting off demons!!!! Only I am doing it!!!!!

“DEJAAAAAAAT!!!”
“Kyaa!”

Excited, I let out a shout…!
This boiling heart!

—Swoosh!

I immediately straightened my upper body.

“Ugh, time to work now.”

Anyway, it’s time to work.

Even though I’m home, I can’t just relax and play around. I immediately grabbed the stack of documents I had placed on the table. I was told to look at them at home, so I need to review them and let her know the day after tomorrow.

“As always, Katt is full of energy.”
“Hehehe, right?”
“Yeah. Always.”

I smiled and opened the document I had grabbed.

“What kind of document is it?”

Then Claudie leaned her head on my shoulder and said.

“The Saintess told you to review it at home. I think it’s a work document.”
“Work document?”

It was a document with various things written on it.

I picked one and read it, and it had a very well-organized report on the destruction and capture of spirits. Apparently, records of engagements with spirits are being sent in from all over the country.

“So, they’re fighting spirits hard. Looks like the number of them has increased lately. Since the gate opened… it’s only natural.”
“Heeh… is that so?”

They are literally fighting spirits hard.

They’ve subjugated a large number of lower and intermediate spirits, and they’ve also arrested a spirit master in that region. In addition, all the churches and lords in each region are on alert for the appearance of high-level spirits, which is reassuring.

This was just a summary of the progress report.

The things I reported are working out very well.

“What else?”
“Let’s see… Eek! Claudie, that tickles…!”

Claudie must have been bored, because she hugged me from behind as I sat on the sofa and started nibbling on my ear. The insane ticklishness made my back straighten up. What kind of inhuman spinal fairy is this?

“Hehehe, stay still.”

It’s like a cat asking to play. In that state, I read through the documents one by one.

「Status of Arrests of Suspected Heretics」

What’s this now?

「A group spreading rumors that the appearance of spirits and demons is a sign of the end times has been captured and arrested. Details will need to be obtained through interrogation, but they mentioned a way to get to heaven, so it is highly likely that they are not simply self-destructive pessimists but individuals with heretical ideas…」

This was just a report about arresting these weirdos. End times, end times… the `boundary` has indeed weakened. That means that invaders from other worlds could potentially invade in large numbers, and if that happens, the end times would probably be the end times.

Maybe.
This could definitely be a sign of that.

The Idol War, which once screwed up the world, also involved invaders from other worlds.

This isn’t just a far-fetched story, but anyway, while talking about the end times, they preached about a way to get to heaven? It’s very likely that they belong to a heretical religion.

The stack of documents the Saintess gave me contained information like this that would be good for me to know. As I continued to scan through them, I was able to find something worth noting for work.

“Serial killer?”

It was about a serial killer who appears day after day.

“Huh? Serial killer?”

At those words, Claudie stopped nibbling on my ear and rested her chin on my shoulder. As expected, it’s a keyword that would attract Claudie’s interest. A simple killer is one thing, but the word “serial” in front of it makes it extremely interesting.

“So, they appeared somewhere. Let’s read it for a moment.”

I immediately read it properly.

「Serial murders and disappearances have been occurring in succession, and this happened while our Holy Knights were helping with the investigation.」

“It’s getting serious.”
“A serial killer… If they had been caught here, Katt wouldn’t be looking at this in a document.”
“That’s right. It’s obvious that they haven’t been caught.”

It’s said to have happened in an area a little far from the capital. So, roughly speaking, it happened near a city closer to the outskirts than to the capital.

Attached to the document was a handwritten note from the Holy Knight at the scene.

「While investigating the scene.」
「A knight clad in jet-black armor appeared.」
「It was an unusual form of armor, with horns rising from the head, and above all, the knight exuded an extremely ominous aura.」

Meeting a strange knight while investigating the scene… This is a bit strange. A knight so different that even a Holy Knight would think he’s strange? Knights are high-level personnel, so you can’t see them everywhere.

If it was a knight under a lord, the Holy Knight would have recognized him.

「There was no one in the vicinity who would wear such professional armor.」

「We instinctively realized that an emergency had occurred, and immediately invoked the name of the god Verde and drew our swords. The knight’s eyes were glowing red, and the surface of the armor seemed to be burning with a black haze.」

They fought a suspicious knight at first glance.

「The engagement was short.」

「Even though five Holy Knights gathered and formed a battle formation, they were almost subdued in an instant. It is presumed that if it had not been for Lord Dowellson’s quick retreat order, they would have died rather than been injured.」

「He was an extremely powerful knight, to the point that he was thought to be not human. Why was such a person here, and why did he appear at the scene of the incident?」

「There were soldiers nearby, so we were able to retreat successfully, but if he had chased us, there would have been great damage.」

The attached Holy Knight’s note ended here.

They are tentatively assuming that the black knight is the perpetrator of this incident and are investigating very carefully… and it’s said that this hasn’t been going on for very long.

“What on earth is going on?”
“I don’t know… a black knight. What kind of crazy bastard is that?”
“If five Holy Knights in a battle formation had to decide to retreat instantly against one person, is he quite strong?”
“It can’t be helped.”

Holy Knights are human weapons.

Moreover, they specialize in combat maintenance using defense and healing. And they are warriors of faith with very professional skills in cooperation.

For those five to fight a single knight, not a group, and then retreat? Even I can’t do that. Fighting professional, top-class warriors who have been trained in cooperation alone is very difficult.

“I want to fight him one-on-one.”
“No, Claudie. We should gang up on things like this.”
“That’s good too, but Mama specializes in killing enemies who are alone.”
“How about ambushing the gap of a guy being ganged up on?”
“Yeah. That’s also a specialty.”

As Claudie has a small amount of mana, she has no choice but to fight while being conscious of her own body, so her fighting style is completely different from Nana and Karin.

Anyway, the fact that the Saintess gave me this document means that I should keep it in mind. There are so many ominous things happening these days. A black knight, he looks suspicious at first glance, doesn’t he? We have to be careful at times like this. Maybe this was caused by a demon possessor like the last Vygalle incident, or a bastard who received their power, or something like that. Or maybe it’s a real demon that came out of the gate.

I immediately looked at the other things as well.

It was just full of completely unusual things. This one that I’m looking at now is also a bit far away, but it seems that undead are appearing.

“Undead, huh.”

When it comes to undead, I can’t help but think of when I was in Isbante.

The ossuary occupied by skeletons and the undead hunting festival. Those were all related to heretics and evil necromancers.

Undead don’t just appear out of nowhere.

Zombies are just old corpses walking around, but they are so weak that it is difficult to create new zombies… I’m not an expert, so I don’t know well, but anyway.

The appearance of undead means that there is a very high probability that filthy, necrophiliac bastards like necromancers are involved.

Those bastards intentionally create undead with some kind of purpose.

It was clear that the heretics who were manipulating the kobolds and occupying the underground waterways and slums of Isbante were maintaining a very close relationship with necromancers. Of course, it has to be heretical.

Come to think of it, Eliza sent a letter last time saying that she hunted undead near Krasheim?

She said she had also exterminated a large number of heretics and demons… Come to think of it, it was last winter. Killing Sasquatch and destroying the research facility of the heretics. This was also suspicious in many ways.

The Saintess knows that, so she gave this to me.

“Did the heretics do this?”
“I think so.”

What the hell are these bastards trying to do again?

If I get the chance, I have to smash them as much as possible. I caught the Spirit King and rested well, so it might be okay to go on a rampage soon. I should go meet the Saintess the day after tomorrow and hear what she has to say.

* * *

“Paladin. Judging from the information coming in these days, it seems that incidents related to the undead are occurring quite a bit in the outlying areas.”
“Yes. It seems so.”
“Moreover, the incidents that were only occurring in those outlying areas are gradually moving inward. You have read the document that this Saintess gave you well, haven’t you? What is worrying is precisely those things.”

I came to the Great Temple as usual and talked to the Saintess.

“Are you talking about the strange black knight and the undead occurrences?”
“That’s right. This Saintess only selected and showed the Paladin what she thought was unusual. Doesn’t it feel suspicious at first glance?”
“While reading the document, the smell was different from the start. It was definitely the smell of suspicion.”
“Well, you could say that.”

The Saintess said while smoking a cigarette.

“We are currently reviewing that matter. Although they are suspicious incidents, the churches in the field are cooperating with the lords to resolve them well. So, there is not much to worry about… but still, seeing such blatantly suspicious incidents occurring.”

I looked into the Saintess’s eyes.

“It means that the heretics are active. If we investigate this, we might catch the mastermind.”
“Yes. It would be very good if we could catch them… but it won’t be easy.”
“For now, I have sent all of this as an official document, but as the Paladin said, it is not easy. There has been no news of witnessing a necromancer, let alone a heretic.”

That’s too bad.
Anyway, should I just go there?

“Then, should I just go to the area where the black knight or the undead are said to have appeared?”

When I asked that, the Saintess shook her head.

“No, there is no need to move immediately. We plan to deploy the Paladin when more accurate information comes in. There is still time. Wouldn’t it be easier for the Paladin to solve the problem if they go after receiving information rather than just dropping into the field?”
“Hehehe, that’s true. Thank you for your consideration.”
“I was thinking about efficiency.”

I like that too.

“By the way… did you ask your first wife about the religion of Shurdic?”
“Ah, yes. Of course, I asked.”
“Good. Then, let’s sit down for a moment.”

While speaking, the Saintess took out two cups, grabbed the teapot herself, and began to pour tea.

I’m getting treated a lot these days.

“Let’s hear the story. Ah, even if you don’t like the tea, please just drink it. Because it’s this Saintess’s favorite tea.”
“Hehehe, if it’s the Saintess’s favorite tea, I think I can like it too.”
“Hmph, you speak so well. Our playboy Paladin.”
“Am I still a playboy?”

I sat right across from the Saintess.

“…Think of it as half a nickname.”
“No, what kind of nickname is that?”
“It’s a nickname that I call you privately when we’re alone. Can’t this Saintess and the Paladin do that much?”
“Such an inhuman nickname…!”
“I’m forcing you to bear with it even if you don’t like it, so don’t worry about it.”
“I can’t believe it.”

The Saintess was smiling as she said that.

Looking at the Saintess’s face like this, what Claudie said the day before yesterday comes to mind for no reason, but isn’t this too irreverent of a thought?

How could I make this Saintess my woman?

That doesn’t make sense.