Chapter 25: A Grateful Lord

Crazy humans. I don’t want to get involved with them for long.
That was Lema’s brief impression after spending the night with them.

In fact, he had approached them lightly to extort some travel expenses for his master’s sake and to commit some evil deeds, but the people he actually encountered were not of common sense.
Especially the woman named Beata Mirgas seemed to be truly out of her mind.

—Ahahaha! Ahaha!
Not only did she dance and jump and laugh all night.
—Sir Kibyr, please dance with me too. Together. I beg you.
She asked the people around her to dance with her, and the woman who was the knight commander even helped her.

—U-uwek…
As if her stamina couldn’t keep up, she would get out of breath and vomit.
But even so, she didn’t stop and rested a little before running again.

—Heuk, uhheuk… Aah…
Then she would suddenly sob as if she had let go of something.

Even though she behaved like that all night, the knights were not flustered, and even responded to her.
Perhaps it was because of Bel’s appearance.
It seemed they were all trying to escape reality together.

Instead, they spent the time quietly.
Since Beata Mirgas had not seen Bel slaughter the bandits with her own eyes, they did not bother to explain it.
Even if they did, she wouldn’t understand, and there was no reason to instill fear in someone who was not mentally sound.
Since there were no corpses or traces now, it was an unbelievable story anyway.

But on second thought, they were not people who had shown such a hostile attitude from the beginning.
Even if the person being escorted is a woman, it’s strange that all the knights are women.
It seemed that there was indeed a big problem in the territory.
More and more questions piled up, but it was difficult to guess what the problem was.
However, surprisingly, that question was resolved the very next day.

***

The next day, the knight who had been sent alone on a horse returned.
Lema Valkite saw a high possibility that they would ask for more help, and he was even thinking of fighting them if necessary.
Because they had already concluded that this side was a heretic.

But the knight had brought only one person with him.
“Beata, Beata…! Are you safe!”
It was a simple procession, as if he had rushed here on a single horse.
But the family crest on his cloak was noteworthy.
It was the lord of Mirgas.

“Brother…!”
The moment Beata stood up to greet him, Lema stepped in front of them.
The lord of Mirgas immediately dismounted from his horse and made a disbelieving expression.
He seemed surprised to see his sister, who he had thought was seriously injured, looking fine.

“I heard the carriage overturned…”
“We treated her.”
Lema said briefly.

He had treated her because it would be troublesome if an innocent person died, but it seemed her mind had become a little strange after Bel’s treatment.
That was not his business, though.
At least, there were no external problems, so it would be good to receive some treatment fees.

“Th-thank you.”
“…Hmm?”
I haven’t even asked for anything yet, so there’s no reason to be thanked so abruptly?

“I’ve never seen my sister like that… before.”
“What?”
The lord of Mirgas seemed to be quite out of his mind.

“Originally, she couldn’t even stand up straight on her own because of her illness…”
“…”
What?

As soon as he heard that, Lema turned around sharply.
She had been running and dancing like a madwoman all night, but she couldn’t even stand up originally?
What’s more, that woman, for some reason, was now clinging to Bel’s side.

“What’s more, her body should have been emaciated because of that illness… How can she be so full of life and healthy? Ah, Luxlon… This is a miracle.”
“…”

Lema was at a loss for words.
He now understood why that woman had immediately believed Bel to be an apostle as soon as she woke up.
And why she had danced all night, and why the knights had all responded to her.

Lema also remembered the despair he had felt when his arms and legs were restrained and his fingers were damaged to the point where he couldn’t hold a sword.
He also knew the sense of liberation he had felt after meeting Bel.
So it was not incomprehensible.

The lord of Mirgas wiped his tears and then prostrated himself on the ground.
“I heard there were bandits here who were after a ransom, but did the apostle also chase them away? How could there be such a grateful thing…”
“No…”

He seemed to be having a huge misunderstanding, but he couldn’t answer.
“…Yes, that’s right.”

And the answer to that came from someone other than Lema.
“These people saved us from the bandits. They also treated the lady.”

It was the knight commander, Kibyr.
For someone who had suspected them of being heretics, she was a person who still kept her word.

***

I didn’t expect to be invited.
Even though they had started off that way, Bel and Lema were invited to the territory of Mirgas.

The pretext was a place of gratitude for the benefactor who had not only subjugated the bandits that had been swarming around the territory when it was dangerous, but had also saved his sister and even cured her of an incurable disease.

“It was an incurable disease.”
The conversation started abruptly at the dining table.
It was a quiet meal with only Axel Mirgas, the lord of Mirgas, his sister Beata Mirgas, and Bel and Lema.
It was natural, since a sensitive topic was being discussed.

“It was a disease where the whole body stiffened and became immobile. To be honest, we… thought it wouldn’t matter what god it was, as long as Beata’s illness was cured. Even if it was an unknown foreign god…”

And it was also the reason why Mirgas did not react hypersensitively to the word ‘heretic’.
What’s more, the two Mirgas siblings seemed to have considerable favor towards that ‘heretic’.
No, it was more than that.

Even though they were the lord of a family, they had seated the invited Bel at the head of the table and treated her with respect.
What’s more, the position of the head of the table was slightly higher than the other places.
As a result, everyone was looking up at Bel.

“Mirgas is not a family that has ever been very close to religion. From our perspective, the Supreme God Luxlon, and the gods that his apostles define as heretics, were ultimately just religions. Nevertheless, this time we had no choice but to rely on a god. And in the end, the one who looked back on us was not Luxlon…”

Saying so, Axel Mirgas looked at Bel with heated eyes.
It meant he would serve Bel.
However, not as another name for the Supreme God Luxlon, but as some foreign god.
Even after judging that Belmias, who had slaughtered all the bandits, was definitely not another name for Luxlon.

Bel, who didn’t care what name she was called, answered indifferently.
“Do as you please.”
“Then may I dare to ask for your esteemed name?”
“Belmias.”
“Aah… Lady Belmias.”

Unlike other humans, those present here, including Lema, did not think of Bel as another name for Luxlon, but tried to think of her as a being at the opposite pole.
This would be a real heretical act.
Their complicated circumstances seemed to have made them choose Belmias over Luxlon.

However, Axel Mirgas said something different from what was expected.
“It is a name that those who study ancient history have heard at least once. The disaster that led the most brilliant civilization in history, Pranazenis, to the path of decline… was also said to have the name Belmias.”

Saying so, Axel Mirgas spoke lightly, as if joking.
“Surely you are not the same person, are you? Hahaha…”
“…”

No one laughed with him.
“Hahaha…”
“…”
“…”

In the end, no one responded until Axel Mirgas’s laughter died down.
At first, it was clearly a joke, but Bel’s silence that followed was not ordinary.

“I think that’s cool too, Lady Belmias…”
Beata’s eyes even flashed and her cheeks flushed.

Bel let out a shallow sigh.
Can they not have any lukewarm feelings other than fanaticism?
The humans of this era seemed to be very extreme.

“Ahem, ahem…”
Axel Mirgas cleared his throat several times and took a sip of wine to relax.
The hand holding the wine glass was trembling violently.

“It may feel lacking, but Mirgas is a place where more of the legacy of ancient Pranazenis remains than other places. Thanks to that, in some ways, it can be said to be more prosperous than Lucilonia. If there is a tribute you desire, please tell us.”

That was at least a welcome thing to say.
And hearing Axel Mirgas’s words, she could be more certain.
There was a high possibility that the weapon Bel was looking for was in this territory.

But it would still be good to receive a sacrifice before that.
Since her power was running a little low anyway.

“For a sacrifice, I like a man who is worth eating.”
“Pfft!”
Axel Mirgas spat out the wine he was drinking.