Chapter 37 : Could It Be Love?

In front of the barracks of the Order of Holy Knights.

Saturn was participating in joint training and running laps.

Normally, he wouldn’t have time for such things due to his escort duties, but this time, because Rubena had taken part in a tea party, he had some free time and came to stretch his muscles.

If there was another reason…

“Sir Therbion, are you alright?”

“Yes, Sir Heisenberg. I’m fine now.”

Saturn’s gaze shifted toward Usher.

For someone who had been in a coma for half a month, he looked quite healthy. In fact, in some ways, he appeared more lively than usual.

Should he consider it fortunate?

He couldn’t get too close to him during the escort mission, but still, Usher was a junior he cared about.

There had been some concern in Saturn’s heart.

What bothered him, though, was the change in Usher’s personality.

When had it started? The Usher who once seemed like the embodiment of passion and good intentions now wore such a sly smile.

If he had to pinpoint the time, it had likely started after he began the escort duties.

The disconnect was rising, but… well, it was the nature of an escort mission to turn even a perfectly fine knight into a paranoid wreck, so he accepted it.

Even Saturn himself had undergone drastic changes after the escort missions, such as losing all his hair.

Saturn casually spoke.

“I’m glad to see you’re healthy. The Saintess was quite worried.”

“Yes, I’m truly sorry for causing concern.”

“You don’t seem all that apologetic for someone who’s sorry.”

“Haha, I was just reminded of some nagging I had to listen to.”

Was it really just ‘nagging’?

Saturn unintentionally recalled his time in Puread.

Bersia, who had lost control and caused an apocalypse, was pure terror itself.

Afterward, when he had cared for Usher, there was a near-manic obsession from her. To think that such a person would just brush it off as ‘nagging’—wasn’t that strangely odd?

Saturn shot a brief glance at Usher.

But no words were added.

It wasn’t something he needed to get deeply involved in.

“…I see.”

And so, silence fell.

The two of them matched their pace and ran side by side.

Only the sound of their feet hitting the ground and their breathing filled the air, while the gaps in between were filled with the shouts of the knights.

It was during one of these moments.

“I wonder if the tea party is going well.”

“Hmm.”

“It shouldn’t end in a fight.”

Saturn agreed on that point.

On tea party days, Rubena would often return furious after being snubbed, causing her to go on a rampage.

It had become somewhat of an annual occurrence.

Since the work usually became more tiring than usual, Saturn, too, wanted to avoid it.

However, this time, he didn’t worry too much.

“I believe Saint Bersia will take care of it. It seems they’ve grown closer.”

“Hm, if it’s our Saintess, that’s certainly true.”

“More importantly, with this particular agenda, there won’t be any unnecessary arguments.”

“Ah…”

Usher nodded his head.

“Sir Raman was the one who took the hit, didn’t he?”

“I visited him. He was my predecessor.”

The person who had served Rubena right up until Saturn took over was none other than Sir Raman, who had been injured by the artificial witch during the current investigation.

Fortunately, it wasn’t life-threatening, but he was in critical condition and unable to get out of bed for a while.

“The artificial witches must be quite strong. Embarrassingly, I collapsed before the real battle started, so I don’t have much information.”

Usher smiled awkwardly, as if feeling embarrassed.

Saturn briefly recalled that day.

Since then, he sometimes wondered.

If, that day, Bersia hadn’t lost control and caused chaos, could he have defeated the artificial witch?

He couldn’t give a definite answer.

In their first encounter, with the intention of ending it in one blow, Saturn had used all his strength to strike the witch’s face, but it seemed as though the artificial witch had been completely unaffected.

More accurately, it looked as though she didn’t care about the injuries from the strike.

Bersia’s strength was so far outside the norm that Rubena and the others didn’t feel it, but Saturn, having personally struck her, knew.

“She’s strong. Definitely.”

The artificial witch was indeed terrifyingly strong.

Although Saturn was one of the highest-ranked knights, known for his focus on defense, even he couldn’t deny that the artificial witch was abnormally powerful.

It was something that couldn’t be overlooked.

After all, hadn’t the heathens been continuously creating such artificial witches to threaten the continent?

“We need to be careful.”

Usher murmured this and fell silent.

A small worry stirred in Saturn’s mind.

What if, next time they encounter the artificial witch, Usher is the one to fall?

What if Bersia, enraged once more—perhaps even more than before—loses her composure and devastates the area?

Bersia was a walking disaster, a ticking time bomb whose explosion could come at any moment.

His concerns, eventually, were expressed in words.

“…Don’t get hurt. There are many people who would worry.”

Usher responded with a sly smile.

“Yes, I’ll make sure not to get hurt again. I’m tired of feeling powerless.”

“Right.”

He seemed full of confidence.

Saturn let out a dry laugh inside.

But who was worrying about whom?

In terms of talent, strength, and even devotion.

Though Usher never admitted it, he was a man who stood at the very pinnacle among the top knights.

If not for the fact that he had thrown himself to protect Bersia, the outcome of that day might have been quite different.

Saturn pushed the thought aside.

He then spoke.

“Let’s finish the training.”

“Yes.”

Usher’s smile, once again, struck Saturn as strange.

He was curious about what was going on in Usher’s mind, but unfortunately, Saturn had no way of knowing.

Unlike before, he had become a much more enigmatic person now.

The atmosphere of the tea party became tense in an instant.

The defeat of a top-ranked knight carried significant weight.

The title of the Church’s ultimate weapon wasn’t just a symbolic title within the Church—it was much more than that.

The Church stood above the laws of the world.

Two factors made this possible.

The first was the existence of the Saintess, who conveyed the voice of God, and the second was the coercive power, the imposing force of the highest-ranked knights—the top-ranked knights, who were a significant asymmetrical force.

Hadn’t they always said that might made right?

While the Saintess gave the Church a moral foundation, the rank of the top knight provided it with the coercive power to enforce that foundation in the world.

There were only a handful of them, but because of their existence, the Church could impose God’s will upon the world.

Because of this symbolic importance, the top knights could never be defeated.

But now, it had been defeated by heathens.

This was a serious issue that even the Saintesses could not ignore, and in the midst of this, Halia spoke.

“It wasn’t a grave injury, but its implications are enormous. Meanwhile, artificial witches have been appearing in various places, causing disturbances.”

Judith asked.

“Did you inform the outside world?”

“We couldn’t. Raman’s injury is being kept strictly secret. The Cardinals are having a tough time.”

“What about the other knights?”

“From now on, the top-ranked knights will be paired up. Just as Judith and I were, and as Rubena and Bersia were. The conclusion from the Church is that we need to create safety measures to respond to any potential emergencies.”

That wasn’t the only reason, of course.

Just like Bersia’s use of divine power, a single slip-up could be managed, but two failures would be a dagger threatening the entire Church.

It was a resolute stance that no further defeat would be tolerated, and it was also a warning to Usher, who was being placed in a more perilous position.

‘The situation is getting serious.’

It was not something he could ignore.

The next mission could very well be even more difficult than this one.

“…The heathens will no longer remain in the shadows, I suppose.”

The tides of war always change, shifting with every passing moment.

The appearance of the blood-red sky, and the defeat of the top-ranked knight.

From the perspective of the heathens, these events, one after another, might seem like good fortune. If this continues, they might not just hide in the shadows like before, but instead appear in full force and try to stir up chaos in these troubled times.

Halia nodded.

“Because of that, we’ll have to move differently than before. From now on, it won’t be covert missions. We’ll be traveling as official envoys, visiting various nations frequently.”

Usher nodded.

Judith and Rubena also didn’t seem entirely pleased, but they accepted the task.

After a few more minor discussions, the tea party came to an end.

Usher left the meeting room, his mind heavy with thoughts.

He needed to consult on matters related to Bersia as soon as possible.

Today was the day for joint training, and since they needed to show their strength, he heard that Bersia would attend the training until the very end.

He made his way to the training grounds, promising to pick her up.

Usher traversed through the church grounds and arrived at his destination.

Upon arriving, his expression shifted to something more serious.

“Ha…”

Usher’s expression darkened.

One of his eyebrows twitched, and his gaze fixed sharply on something behind a pillar on the training field.

‘…Not again.’

The nuns were spying on the knights in training.

To be precise, they were spying on Bersia, who was somewhere in the vicinity.

“Back again, huh…”

“I’ve been bored without you around… it’s really a relief…”

“Sir, isn’t he really impressive? Especially that cold gaze…”

“That gaze may be cold, but he can’t be harsh on those who’ve opened their hearts to him! Surely Sir Therbion…”

“No, no.”

Bersia was someone who became even more cruel the closer one got to her.

As Usher thought of her, he found himself muttering inwardly.

‘…They don’t know anything.’

The fantasies they had about him being more manly now, Usher couldn’t bring himself to like those nuns.

It was human nature to become defensive and exclusive when faced with negative feedback.

And so it was.

“Once again, he threw himself to protect the Saintess and ended up in a coma…”

“Such a romantic, right?”

“Ah, would he…?”

Usher’s shoulders twitched.

“Ah! You can’t just say things like that!”

“Isn’t it possible?”

“Well, that’s…!”

The nuns’ chatter caused his cheeks to flush slightly.

The situation itself wasn’t something to joke about, but it wasn’t entirely unexpected, given everything.

A flood of memories came rushing back—whispering in a teasing manner, trapping him in her embrace, the pressure that intensified the more he tried to escape.

It was troublesome, yet why did it come to mind now?

‘Romantic…’

He clenched his lips tightly.

Hearing those words made things seem more complicated.

No, it was just unnecessary thinking.

Usher shook his head, trying to clear his mind.

For him, love between men and women was an emotion filled with shyness and embarrassment, where they couldn’t bring themselves to approach each other. Something like holding hands was sacred, making the heart race.

But Bersia’s expression was too vulgar.

It wasn’t that she wanted to fall in love, she just enjoyed teasing him because it was fun.

After all, wasn’t it always because it was “fun” that she made his life difficult?

The nuns’ words were nothing to be concerned about.

‘No need to listen to this nonsense.’

He calmed himself down.

Then, out of nowhere, he found himself annoyed by Bersia, the source of all these rumors. He glanced at her.

Their eyes met.

Usher stiffened.

Bersia was smiling.

A languid, mischievous smile.

It seemed to speak volumes.

• So lewd…

Usher felt strangely guilty, even though there was no reason for it.

His ears burned.