437 Part 2

The thing I was struggling the most with was the fact that Erio wasn’t just an ordinary kid.

To tell the truth, this kid was the same as me… no, more than that, he was gifted by God. His ability, to put it simply, was “power”.

Although he looks like a delicate child, he has a superhuman strength, enough to fling away ten grown men in one go. It was as if he had been born with a “Force Boost”. Though, considering the rate of increase in power produced by Erio, his strength didn’t reach the advanced “Force Elboost”.

That’s why Erio hadn’t properly mastered any martial arts or magic skills, but whenever he swung that hammer with his superstrength, he would become a warrior that could match a thousand. No, this child’s simple-mindedness and cruelty that could make him send both foe and friend alike flying would make the term “Berserker” more appropriate to describe him.

I couldn’t leave such a child back in Helvetia. Only I, who he had lived with in a church that no longer exists, could hold Erio’s reins back. Erio would protect me and I would take care of Erio. Though he was a piece of work, he really was like a younger brother to me.

“Don’t worry, Rin. If it comes to that, I will patch you up.”

That gentle voice belonged to the equally gentle-looking priest that was standing behind Erio.

His blue hair shone under the blue sky like the ocean, and the glasses that covered his soft eyes harbored intellectual light. Dressed in white Cross Church vestments like me, he was an elite priest who was entrusted with the Central Church of Helvetia at his young age.

“Aw, you spoil me too much, Conrad.”

But the way I expressed myself was as unrefined as the other guys.

Speaking of the Cross Church, Conrad, who officially held the position of Chief Priest, was not only overwhelmingly superior to a mere Sister like me , but he was also simply older than me… And here I was, wondering how I was speaking to him so casually.

It was weird. Back when I was baptized to receive the holy name of Aria, I would use the proper honorifics and etiquette when talking to him. I might have been spoiled by his kindness somehow.

Thus, when he asked me to join him on the Crusaders’ expedition, I quickly said, “Thank you!” Because this person had great healing magic, and in addition, he was very proficient in the use of Origin Magic of the Water attribute.

“I’m just following him so that he won’t be a nuisance to you, Rin. I’ll give Erio a proper sermon about his mischief as well.”

“Help me, sis! This four-eyes is bothering me!”

“P-Please, stop. Or I’ll be forced to have you skip your next meal.”

“Sis Riiiinn!!”

“Anyway…”

I chose to ignore Erio, who was begging for help with that cute crying face of his, and turned my attention to Conrad, who had a tight expression on his face.

“What’s wrong?”

“That black swordsman… He’s probably a vampire.”

“A vampire, you say?”

However, if that was the true identity of that man, then it made sense that he had the power to slash his way through so many of our heavy knights. I hadn’t seen him use the dark magic that vampires were so famous for, but that only meant that he could be saving it for later.

“If there’s a vampire among them, then things are going to get a little dangerous.”

There seemed to be a much sharper air about Sebas.

“There’s nothing to worry about. It’s my duty as clergyman to dispose of the filthy undead.”

“Don’t tell me… Are you heading out yourself, Conrad?”

He responded to my question with a powerful nod. I knew that Conrad hadn’t just ascended to the top of the church as Chief Priest.

In Helvetia, he and I have been very active in defeating monsters, bandits, and especially heathens. He was a real priest who not only prayed to God for safety, but also carried out God’s will by defeating the demons with his own hands.

“Rin, I think this would be best left to Priest Conrad.”

“He will go anyway, even if we try to stop him.”

Conrad had the same look on his face as when he was in front of the heathen hideout. He was serious about this.

“Thank you, Rin. Please stand and watch as I purify that filthy undead with my own two hands.”

In response to his determination, I couldn’t do anything other than bowing down reverently and nervously uttering “O-Of course, please be careful!”.

But well, if Conrad could take care of that dangerous vampire swordsman, nothing would be more reassuring.

“Hey, hey! His Eminence here isn’t the only one around, you know? Let me fight too!”

“That’s right, I want someone to play with as well!”

The bloodthirsty Jack and the selfish Erio seemed dissatisfied. Ah, they’re sure to be a handful sometimes, these two…

“Yes, yes, got it. Very well then, Jack, you take care of that bloodstained, rugged large elf over there. And Erio can go play with that gigantic golem.”

They should be good enough opponents to keep these two busy for a while.

“Hehe… That’s good, that guy looks like their leader! I’ll take him on!”

“Thanks, sis Rin! That huge golem looks like it won’t break that easily even if I go all out!!”

Jack readied his spear, and Erio rested his hammer over his shoulder. I felt a little bit of pity for that big elf and the golem for being forced to deal with these two.

“Are you sure about this, Rin? If you reduce your guard like this, though still unlikely, you’re increasing the chances that something happens to you. You’ll only have one guard to protect you.”

“I’ll be fine with only one guard. Besides, it would be better to defeat those three sooner than later. At this rate, we’ll suffer even greater losses. We can’t keep throwing heavy knights away like this.”

Sebas had a point, but my words had solid grounds as well.

As expected, Sebas didn’t just disregard my words as usual, but seemed to be seriously thinking about them.

“Certainly, those three do seem to be reaching their limits, so it would be wise to attack them now.”

He then added that the attack on the castle walls had been delayed for long enough.

“That one’s that Demon of Alsace, isn’t he?”

I couldn’t tell that much from a distance, but I could see that black figure stopping our infantry’s charge all by himself. He cleverly used the barriers I had made as footholds and killed the soldiers that were climbing the walls with some unknown magic.

“It was fortunate to have that guy come to this side of the barrier.”

“What do you mean? To have such a dangerous fiend on this side of the barrier is the absolute worst!”

“We can attack that one demon with our entire army. I don’t think there is a more reliable way to take care of him.”

I knew what Sebas was trying to say. Perhaps in anticipation of this, Count Bergund thrusted me into this place.

The Demon of Alsace not only interfered with the occupation of Daedalus by the Second Army of the Crusaders with his small group of no more than a 100 people, but also caused great troubles to two apostles. Defeating that man would be good propaganda for the Third Army. And most of all, it would be a huge morale boost.

“Well, that’s right, but…”

I knew that this was the best course of action, in theory. There would be some sacrifices, but other than that, we had nothing to lose. He certainly seemed to be a strong enemy, but now that he was on this side of the barrier and fighting by himself, it could be said that he was more of a trapped mouse than an unleashed lion.

But why?

Every time I saw that man, I couldn’t help… to have this a bad feeling…

“Ahh… I wonder if this war will end soon…”