Chapter 22: Misunderstandings and Mayhem

“Master, wait, mmph…!”

Without even waiting for an answer, Bel grabbed Lema by the collar, pulled him in, and kissed him fiercely, mingling their tongues.

She could feel Lema swallow in surprise deep in his throat, but he quickly followed her lead and intertwined his tongue with hers, giving Bel a satisfying kiss.

At first, he had been dragged by the collar by Bel, but Lema quickly wrapped his arms around Bel’s waist and tucked her hair behind her ear, kissing her gently.

Bel had been the one to pounce first, and yet Lema’s breathing grew rougher and rougher, even though he was only responding.

For now, he only knew how to give a gentle kiss, but if she taught him a few more things, it seemed that a breathtakingly intense kiss would also suit his aptitude well.

His thick tongue, when it roamed inside Bel’s mouth, was surprisingly skilled at tickling the places she wanted.

Of course, he had used it well elsewhere too.

It was just when Bel’s breathing was getting rougher.

That time did not last long.

Because the sound of several people’s footsteps rushing towards them was heard.

“My lady, are you alrigh—!”
“Wh-what?”
“What in the world is that…?”

Over Lema’s shoulder, the voices of the other knights who had come late in bewilderment were heard.

They had just separated and were about to come together again, but Lema turned his head.

“Why?”

“Th-that’s… there are many eyes watching now, Master.”

“Tsk.”

Bel clicked her tongue.

Every time she used her power, she felt the urge to receive a sacrifice.

So she had intended to take the nearest sacrifice.

Lema Valkite, who had said he would prove his usefulness, made an excuse and backed away when Bel really tried to use him for that purpose.

“So it’s fine if there are no eyes watching?”

“Ahem, that’s not what I meant in such a simple sense…”

Bel didn’t even listen to Lema’s words and turned her body sharply.

Everyone except Lema flinched.

Her black eyes and an expression so emotionless that it seemed her facial muscles were frozen made the onlookers shudder for a moment.

“You all.”

Bel had to kiss Lema right now, and if possible, she was thinking of going further than that.

She had only spoken a word to make the knights back off.

Clang. Clang.

Without even exchanging a glance, they all dropped their swords to the ground.

Logically, it was a situation where they didn’t even know what to be afraid of.

However, an instinctive fear, like that of a wild animal in front of a predator, washed over them, and they trembled.

“Wh-what do you want!”

But even while frightened, they shouted bravely.

Of course, it was also partly out of frustration.

“You overturned the carriage on purpose and did this? What a piece of trash you are!”
“Aren’t you ashamed to be a bandit in a place like this, in the eyes of the Supreme God!”

Lema whispered from behind Bel.

“…It seems they’ve mistaken us for those bandits from before.”

“Really?”

“To be honest, we did follow the carriage as if we were waiting for it to overturn. Faster than the bandits.”

“What should we do?”

“I don’t think we can clear up the misunderstanding easily… First, we need to let them know that we are not the enemy.”

He couldn’t let Bel, who made people shudder with just her presence, take the lead.

Lema stepped forward with the intention of talking.

“Calm down! The lady you’re looking for is safe.”

“Yet! She’s still safe, is that it!”
“You bastard! What did you do to the carriage!”

…He didn’t even use the word ‘yet’?

“No, that’s—”

“You bandit scum! How much do you want?”
“The lord of Mirgas will pay any amount! Let the lady go instead!”

Every time Lema tried to say a word, those damn knights would shout two more words, misunderstanding him further.

It seemed impossible to have a conversation.

But before the misunderstanding grew any bigger, Lema tried to resolve the situation again.

“First, your lady is healthy.”

“Healthy?”
“What kind of nonsense are you talking about!”
“Are you saying we should quietly follow if we want to get the lady back in a healthy state!”

Now he heard three sentences.

Lema pressed his temples, his head aching.

Are we civilized people, really?

Lema had also been told he was single-minded, but…

These knights seemed to be worse.

“The carriage is in pieces, how could the lady have survived inside?”

Lema lifted his chin.

“You’ll know if she’s safe or not when you check.”

The knights, all tense, exchanged glances.

“L-let me at least check the lady’s condition first!”

“Alright.”

Lema even gestured with his chin for them to come and check.

Then, among the knights who had hesitated for a moment, one stepped forward as a representative.

“I’ll go. The rest of you… for now, get on the ground. We don’t know what kind of whim those bastards might have.”

“Khk…”

One of the knights approached the carriage, wary.

The other knights, except for one, turned beet red with frustrated expressions and got on the ground.

Now they were even getting on the ground with their hands on the ground without being told to.

Bel, who was staring blankly at it, spoke.

Even if it wasn’t as much as Lema, Bel also seemed quite flabbergasted by this situation.

“…Lema, I haven’t done anything, but I feel like I’m committing an evil act.”

“That’s what I’m saying.”

The knight who had approached and checked the lady’s condition at first tilted her head, then her face turned even paler when she confirmed that the lady was really fine.

Well.

The carriage was all broken, but the person who had been riding in it was fine and just unconscious, so it was unrealistic.

“My name is Kibyr. I’m the knight commander in Mirgas.”

Having calmed down a bit, Kibyr didn’t shout like before.

“Money… I can pay as much as you want. I would appreciate it if you would let me inform the lord about this.”

His emotions seemed to have calmed down a bit after confirming that the lady was safe.

It’s somewhat tempting.

Lema, the holy knight who had lived his whole life virtuously, was captivated by the sweet temptation.

He had gotten some money from the slaver’s den, but it had run out quickly.

It was also ambiguous for Bel or Lema to get a job somewhere.

They were also in a situation where they had to hide their identities.

Lema asked once as if to confirm.

“…Did you say the Mirgas family?”

“That’s right. The name alone should be enough of a guarantee.”

Mirgas was a family Lema had heard of even during his holy knight days.

They didn’t produce holy knights or priests, and they didn’t particularly believe in Luxlon.

However, he had heard that they had a lot of wealth accumulated because the territory itself was prosperous.

And he also knew the useless information that they were a family of scholars who studied ancient civilizations.

Since they couldn’t receive the protection of Lucilonia outside the order, they had to have some kind of power of their own to maintain this level of strength without being attacked by monsters.

For Mirgas, that method was the money that came from the prosperous territory.

He knew they had several knights under them, but he didn’t know they were all female knights.

Was it because of the person called my lady who was unconscious now?

Seeing this much loyalty, perhaps they had a certain amount of popularity as well as money.

There was no reason to be on bad terms with these people.

As Lema didn’t show any negative signs, Kibyr seemed somewhat relieved.

“However, I would appreciate it if you would not spread rumors about the territory’s affairs any further.”

“Rumors? What do you mean by that?”

“You don’t know? Didn’t you come here knowing?”

“Explain.”

Just as Kibyr was about to open her mouth, a loud noise was heard from outside the forest.

“Hey! Over here!”
“Found them!”

A group of several people was flocking around this area.

A siege formation that seemed to be cornering a wild animal isolated here.

They were the bandits who had been chasing the carriage from before.

“You bastard! Did you trick me!”

As if all the knights of Mirgas were hot-tempered, Kibyr immediately drew her sword and pointed it at them.

Clang!

But Lema was not one to just take it.

Lema, who had reacted reflexively, immediately parried it.

“Khk…!”

Kibyr, whose wrist was instantly broken by the heavy sword, dropped her weapon and glared at Lema.

Lema quickly shouted before the misunderstanding deepened.

“Those guys are not with us!”

“What did you say?”

“We are people who were just passing by.”

“…!”

Kibyr cursed with her eyes.

“Y-you should have said so sooner!”

Good grief. Even when I tried to have a conversation, you didn’t listen.

It was absurd.

Even in the midst of that, the bandits were closing in on the siege and shouting at them.

“As I heard, it seems you’re heading for Lucilonia!”
“Don’t worry too much. We’ll let you go where you want to go peacefully.”
“But, only if you hand that over to us.”
“Since there aren’t enough men there anyway, let’s have some fun with each other, shall we?”

The sound of those who were confident that they had the upper hand giggling vulgarly was heard.

Lema Valkite was particularly incensed by the last words.

“Those vulgar things…!”

“Lema.”

Bel stopped Lema, who was about to rush at them, his eyes blazing as he readjusted his grip on his greatsword.

She was in need of a sacrifice anyway, and now a group of men had appeared.

Bel moved her steps slowly, like a beast.