kscans

Chapter 57 - The Vortex of Confusion

The riot in the Saint’s Church raged on.

The group known as "The Man Beloved by God" continued their relentless assault on the populace.

The city guards tried to hold the rioters back, but they were being overwhelmed by the sheer number of attackers. The adventurers were too busy protecting themselves to help the guards, let alone the helpless citizens.

Amidst the chaos, the sound of multiple sets of armored footsteps approached from deeper within the city.

It was the Holy Knights.

They were in full armor, their very presence radiating a powerful fighting spirit.

At their head was a single princess knight: Altorine.

"We will now begin the capture of the group known as ‘The Man Beloved by God’!" she declared. "All units, advance!"

At her command, the knights let out a war cry and charged forward.

One of the hooded group members shouted back, "Fools who defy God! We will crush you!"

He led his fellow believers in a suicidal charge against the Holy Knights.

War. Civil unrest. Call it what you will. Such a battle was now unfolding in the middle of the city.

Meanwhile, the princess’s party had taken refuge in a house in the backstreets.

There were no residents, and the accumulated dust suggested it was likely abandoned.

Honestly, it was not a fitting place for royalty to enter, but Olivia had chosen it, thinking it better than intruding on someone else’s home, even in an emergency.

After securing their safety, Olivia said, "Now, Glad, go and investigate at once. As soon as you have information, return here. Do not take any unnecessary risks. Complete your mission and return alive."

At this command, Glad knelt and declared, "Understood. I, Glad, will surely fulfill the princess’s orders."

After he left the abandoned house, Olivia turned to Sakura.

"Speaking of which, isn’t your hometown around here, Sakura?"

"That is correct," Sakura replied, "but I would rather not be reminded of it. Do you not know what I went through in that village, Princess?"

"You’re right," Olivia said. "It was because you were exiled from your village that we were able to meet. I’m sorry for bringing it up."

As she was about to bow her head, Sakura cried out.

"Princess! You need not go that far! It is because I met you that I was able to live!"

"Thank you, Sakura. I feel a little better now," Olivia said. "Also, your voice is a little loud."

Sakura hurriedly covered her mouth. Olivia smiled at the gesture.

As for Shinsuke and Tina,

After the riot broke out, we headed for the gate, intending to leave the city.

We had no intention of getting involved in another country’s troubles. But we were unable to leave.

Twenty hooded figures stood before the gate. Around them, city guards and knights lay on the ground. Judging by their stillness, they were likely dead.

"It would take too long to break through," I observed. "And if they call for reinforcements in the meantime, it’ll never end. Escape is impossible."

Tina agreed.

We were confident we could win a short battle, but if they called for reinforcements and came at us in numbers, we wouldn’t stand a chance. On top of that, they showed no signs of fear even as their comrades fell one after another.

They were troublesome. Fighting a group whose morale never drops would only wear us down.

That left us with two options: either we defeat the boss ourselves, or we wait for someone else to do it. That was it. I mentioned this choice to Tina.

"Indeed, those are the only two options," she said. "However, there is one problem. The boss is the owner of incredible good fortune. No matter how many times he was attacked, he was saved by coincidence, and eventually no one would challenge him. In fact, we witnessed the extent of that luck for ourselves yesterday. In that case, let’s wait and see a little longer. With a riot of this scale, the Holy Knights will surely move to capture the group’s leader. Let’s observe the battle and see if we can find any elements that would allow for a victory."

Her suggestion sent a slight shiver down my spine.

The old Tina would have rushed in to prevent any more casualties. Yet here she was, suggesting we watch others fight to devise a countermeasure. It was a terrifyingly cold thing to say.

"I agree with that," I said, "but what’s gotten into you? The Tina I knew before would have moved to resolve the situation as quickly as possible."

"You’re right," she admitted. "I do want to end this commotion as soon as possible. But in the battle with the Orc King, I fought with that feeling and was defeated. If you hadn’t been there, I would have died. I can’t expect such miracles to happen every time. I realized that sometimes, one must adopt a ruthless way of thinking. Also, in an otherworldly picture book I read before, it was written that to end a situation, one must sometimes discard one’s emotions. It’s frustrating, but as I am now, I cannot win."

Tina’s face was twisted as if she’d bitten into a bitter bug.

I felt a pang of guilt for making her say something so difficult, but at the same time, I maintained a sense of calm to consider our next move. Tina was right; if we fought the leader now, we wouldn’t stand a chance.

In that case, we had to deal with the followers in the city while trying to figure out a plan to defeat the leader.

Amidst the rioting city, the Holy Knights were arresting the group members while searching for their leader.

As for the leader himself, he stood in the plaza, showing no signs of leaving.

God had said that if he was found, he would be given power. In other words, no matter who did the capturing, he would be the only one to receive God’s power. He had lied to his followers to motivate them. Even if they served him, no one would act without some kind of reward. Understanding human greed, the leader had spoken in a way that was convenient for him and guided them. This man had not built his group on good fortune alone. He was a skilled manipulator of words, using his good fortune to gather people and establish his group.

He had talent. But no matter how skilled one is, if that talent is used for the wrong purpose, it produces nothing but trouble. The old saying from history that there is a fine line between a genius and a fool was a perfect fit.

As he was basking in his sense of superiority, a group of knights approached him. There were ten of them.

"Stop this riot at once!" one of the knights demanded. "Or we will arrest you by force!"

"Do it if you can," the leader declared. "I am a man beloved by God!"

The knights acted as one. Ten against one. And a single amateur against ten burly knights.

It shouldn’t have been a contest. But Lady Luck did not smile upon the knights.

From a nearby staircase, a group of horses suddenly came galloping down.

The horses charged towards the knights. The knights scrambled to get out of the way, and the horses continued to chase them relentlessly.

"Fuhahahaha!" the leader roared. "No one can defeat me!"

His smile was that of a crazed believer.

Three people witnessed this scene.

One was Glad. He knew the group’s leader had been giving speeches in the plaza, so he had come to see what was happening.

"So that’s the man beloved by God," Glad muttered. "His luck is certainly abnormally high. A direct confrontation is hopeless. I must report back to the princess."

With that thought, he turned to leave and head back to the princess. But just then, he saw two people watching the plaza from a different spot.

It was Shinsuke and Tina.

He considered joining them, but it would be difficult to explain why he was in this country without mentioning the princess. He decided it was best to return and await her instructions for now.

Meanwhile, with the Holy Knights,

Altorine was commanding from the rear, giving precise instructions and positioning her troops to bring a swift end to the situation. But she herself wore a look of frustration.

She believed it would be faster to take the lead herself and take down the group’s leader.

However, there was no one more capable of command than her. The other knights would only order a charge at best. It was to be expected; they had always won through brute force. They were equivalent to B-rank in skill, and their equipment was made of superior materials. They took pride in this and had only ever fought in fair, head-on battles. Therefore, they had no experience with a riot involving civilians like this and were unable to make split-second decisions on how to act. For that reason, Altorine had to remain in the rear as a commander to give instructions to the other knights.

Just then, a knight came to report. "Reporting! We have found the group’s leader. We moved to capture him, but were prevented by a stampede of horses."

Altorine’s face grew grim at the report.

The strength of his luck, which she had heard about before.

As long as he had that, they couldn’t even touch the man. At this rate, the riot would not be suppressed, and the damage would only increase.

"Relay this to the knights," Altorine ordered. "Do not try to break the current situation. Prioritize only the safety of the citizens. I am going out."

She gave the order and placed her hand on the hilt of her sword. The knight who saw this exclaimed, "You’re going yourself, Captain? It’s too dangerous! The enemy is protected by an unknown power! Even for you, Captain, the odds are too great!"

"I know," Altorine replied. "But if this riot continues any longer, there will be not only injured, but dead. There is no other choice."

With a determined look on her face, Altorine set out. A female subordinate who saw this said, "In that case, please take five knights with you as an escort. There is a high chance you will be attacked before you reach your destination. It would be best not to waste unnecessary energy, wouldn’t it?"

"You have a point," Altorine said. "Then, you there. Come with me. We are going to take down the group’s leader."

Altorine walked ahead.

One of the five knights who saw this muttered with tears in his eyes, "Altorine-sama is fighting on the front lines… We’ll get to see the brilliance of the holy sword, Claíomh Solais."

The other four felt the same.

Glad returned to the princess and explained what had happened: the riot started by the group’s leader, the knights who tried to capture him being thwarted by coincidence, and the two people he had seen watching.

After listening, Olivia said, "I understand the situation. The only way to quell this commotion is to neutralize that leader. Glad, Sakura, we are leaving this place and heading near that plaza."

"Wait, Princess!" Glad exclaimed. "The plaza is dangerous right now. It would be best to hide in this abandoned house."

Sakura agreed with him.

The princess’s safety was the top priority. She knew that herself. But Olivia said, "Your opinions are correct. But you know why I went to the trouble of leaving the Kingdom, don’t you?"

At her words, the two of them were speechless.

The princess’s objective.

To observe the journey of the two from the shadows and compose a poem.

To do that, she needed to see their exploits up close. No matter how dangerous the place.

"Then let’s go," Olivia said. "It’s fine. I’ll be careful not to get hurt. I’m asking a difficult thing of you two, but please, protect me."

The princess gave her command with a radiant smile.

The two of them did their best to hide the pain on their faces and nodded with expressionless faces.

And as for Shinsuke and Tina,

They were discussing their course of action while hidden in the shadows, trying to come up with a way to break through the leader’s luck. After going back and forth with their opinions, they had formed a hypothesis. If it was correct, they believed they had a chance of winning. The two of them steeled their resolve and headed for the plaza.

To put an end to the riot.