Chapter 19 – 19. Covenant

Alice woke up on the bed. Even when she opened her eyes in a place she had never seen before, she kicked off the bed and couldn’t get up. The bed she lay on wouldn’t let her go.

‘What is this….’

A mattress that hugs the whole body warmly, a blanket that keeps the body temperature warm, and a pillow that holds the head softly and firmly fixes it.

It was a bed that was incomparably more comfortable than the lodgings in the church where she lived. As if I had fallen in love with my bed, I couldn’t get up easily.

‘Oh God.’

After a lot of thought and faith in God combined, Elesis got up from the bed. I even looked around.

All there is is a bed and a desk. There was not even a window, but with special training, Elesis could tell how many hours had passed since she passed out.

It wasn’t long after he fell. The time when the sun had not yet set, even considering that it was in the mountains where the sun sets earlier.

‘What happened to my subordinates?’

However, I did not know such information. All she knew was that she had passed out in a fight with a wolf the size of a house, and that she had woken up in this cabin.

Elesis, thinking that she would not know anything even if she stayed in the room, opened the door.

“…… Uh?”

When I opened the door and went outside, a room that looked just like the one she had been in appeared. Startled, she turned around and looked back and forth between the room behind the door and the room on this side.

Undoubtedly. It was the exact same room, not a speck of dust.

“What is this…….”

Feeling perplexed, she crossed the room and searched every nook and cranny of the room, but still could not find anything else.

Returning to the original room without any results, she let out a quiet voice and figured out what the situation was like now.

‘…… Magic.’

Only witches could do this.
Once you’re so sure, your thoughts begin to organize one by one.
He was following a man named John. John was going to a cabin in the woods.

After fainting in the woods, he woke up in the witch’s hut. Evidence appeared that forced her to doubt the relationship between the man named John and the witch.

‘However, there is no reaction from the divine power…….’

As she pondered, the door opened and someone came inside. Standing in a daze because she couldn’t react was crazy for a while- Elesis moved as she had been trained.

It seizes the person who entered the room as it is, breaks its joints, kicks it, and subdues it. This series of processes was carried out as naturally as flowing water.

“100 million!?”

John, who was subdued in an instant, shouted at Elesis, who was on his back with his head on the ground.

“What, what! Come on!?”
“…… You are accused of being a witch follower. How to get out of this place after surrendering calmly—”

Tell me how to escape- Elesis, who was about to say that, was kicked by something and flung into the corner of the room. Obviously no one was there, so what? When I turned my head to check, I didn’t see anything.

In the meantime, Yohan kneaded his bent arm and shoulder and raised himself up.

“No, do paladins repay favor with enemies?”
“…… Grace?”
“You, don’t you remember? You were attacked by a giant wolf and almost died?”

It was a lie, of course. Fenrir did not try to kill Elesis. Rather, he kindly took me to John.

However, Elesis did not know that fact. After getting hit, I passed out right away…… She had no way of telling whether John’s words were true or false.

“…… I’m sorry.”
“Sorry? A witch follower or something, trying to kill people?”
“Killing, I just said there was a suspicion—”
“Those who randomly kill citizens just because there is a suspicion.”

Johann still remembers the scene of massacre of innocent citizens in the square, a scene so shocking that even now he often dreams of it.

And— Elesis knew very well that other paladins act recklessly when it comes to witches.

“I-I said that in that sense…….”
“Even if it’s not you, doesn’t that mean the paladins do that after all?”
“…… Yes, but.”
“If you take me to church, can you keep me from start to finish? Can you protect me so that a proper investigation can take place?”

It can’t be. Alice shut her mouth and bowed her head. If the other side only brought up the theory, there was nothing to do but silence.

Other paladins would have brought out all sorts of sophistry, such as saying that they could do anything for God…… Alice couldn’t.

“…… It cannot be.”
“Then you tried to kill me?”
“…… Okay.”
“Did you try to repay the favor with an enemy?”

Nodding – Elesis nodded. And- ungrateful beasts do not reap. John smiled lightly and spoke.

“Until I come back in, sit on your knees.”
“If you are satisfied with that…….”

He left the room after seeing her kneeling on the floor. Even after he disappeared, Elesis did not straighten her knees. Just waited As promised, just ignorant—until he returns.

* * *

‘Crazy, it hurts so much…….’

Coming out of the room, I massaged my shoulders and recalled what had just happened. The moment I opened the door and entered, Elesis overpowered me with a move that would appear in an action movie.

It was a skillful movement that made one wonder if his arm would have been dislocated and broken in one place if he hadn’t immediately strengthened his body with magical power.

‘They say that non-witch people can’t use magic…… How can a person who can’t even use magic be so strong?’

It wasn’t for nothing that medieval knights were called human weapons. I realized that for myself.

After patting my shoulder for a while, Margaret, who followed me, asked in a worried voice.

“It’s okay?”
“Ah- yes. It’s okay. Thank you for saving me.”
“Not a big deal. If I hadn’t saved you from there, Evangeline would have killed you?”

Just the other day, when I was suppressed in the room- Margaret had followed me. Unseen by others, she sent her magic unhindered at Elesis.

Thanks to her magic deflecting Elesis, he was able to subdue Elesis with his own words.

“By the way, when are you planning to go back in?”
“I do not know. I’ll think about it later.”
“Okay. For now, it must be urgent to appease your teacher.”

At Margaret’s words, I thought of Master locked in the room.

It seems that she didn’t like the fact that I came into her house with a woman in my arms. I went into my room and locked the door.

By now he should be slightly offended, unlock the latch on the door, and wait for me to comfort him.

So, it will be a very long time before we see Elesis again. Let Master feel better, have dinner, wash your body—it should be late at night.

‘If I’m on my knees until then, I’ll have to accept the apology.’

Thinking so, I took fruits and flowers and headed to Master’s room. There, I comforted Master, ate dinner, washed up, and immediately lay down on the bed, exhausted.

A day passes.
The day was bright.

“Ah.”

Only then did I realize that I had forgotten Elesis.

* * *

Knock, the door opens. This happened in about 16 hours.

John, who appeared through the door, confirmed the location of Elesis with his head sticking out unlike before. It was to prevent being attacked like before.

John poked his head out to look around the room and let out a sigh when he realized that Elesis was still on her knees. From the looks of it, he didn’t even seem to have noticed his coming and poised.

Seeing the overly naive paladin, John sighed.

“…… You can stand up now.”
“Thank you… Ugh-!”

Elesis, who was trying to get up, fell forward as it was. Her thighs trained like a paladin allowed her to kneel for fifteen hours, but she couldn’t overcome her physical limits.

Because I had been sitting with pressure on my knees and thighs for a long time, not only my thighs were swollen, but my blood didn’t work, so I didn’t have any strength.

Fortunately, John, right in front of Elesis, was able to catch her before she fell.

“Are you okay?”
“…… It’s okay. Thank you.”
“No way, have you been like this ever since?”
“Didn’t you say so?”

Hearing her words, John stuck out his tongue. As befits a priest who believes in God, they were inflexible madmen.

No way, I never thought I’d been on my knees ever since—I thought I’d have been on my knees for a few minutes, then let go of the kneeling position and lay down on the bed…….

“It did. Therefore… Have you changed your mind now?”

“…… You are still a witch follower. That doesn’t change.”

“Oh, then you wouldn’t be able to get out of here.”

“But—apart from that, he is also the benefactor who saved my life. According to the doctrine, repaying favor is as important as not sinning.”

Saying that, Elesis looked up at John. Suspicion that this man was a witch follower was still unresolved. If she informs the church about this, the church will send witch hunters.

They will burn this cabin, and the whole forest. And that was ungrateful. It was not right to think only of one’s own merits and forsake grace.

“If that’s the right thing to do, close your eyes even in front of sin—”
“…… What are you going to do?”
“It means I will silence everything I have seen and heard here.”

It was a risk for her too. If the church, disbelieving her report, sent someone to investigate the cabin, and thus find out that John was related to witches—she could also be accused of witch-followers.

However, the grace that saved his life had to be repaid at the risk of his life. All she could do was this.

Hearing her words her, John nodded at her and looked at her. It wasn’t perfect, but it wasn’t a bad ending.

“Come out. Let me eat.”
“I appreciate your words, but I can’t eat the food that witches eat…….”

* * *

“…… One more bowl.”
“Didn’t you say you couldn’t eat it earlier?”
“No, never!”

John smiled and poured fresh food onto Elesis’s plate. She was the one who resisted because she couldn’t eat the food that the witches ate, but she couldn’t resist the power of the witch’s table seasoning.

Saksak-.
The sound of a metal spoon scraping a plate echoes.
Elesis looked at the bottom of her plate and held out her plate, blushing.

“…… Ha, just one bowl—give me a little!”
“…… Aren’t you a paladin and not a pig?”
“Muh, what! It’s an insult!”

John took the plate and served it with new food. That day, the pot he was going to eat until dinner was empty.