After Moppo left the room, the bishop's smiling face donned a serious expression.
"I heard it from the Saintess. So it really was a curse from the Demon Lord?"
The ones who knew about his origin of his curse were a select handful of people, and the Siantess was one of them.
As someone who had reached the pinnacle in healing and holy arts, she can perform what could be seen as miracles by others. If there was anyone in the entire kingdom who could purge curses especially the truly heinous and powerful ones, it was the Saintess.
Naturally, after he was afflicted with it, she came to his aid in hopes of releasing his ailment. However, the curse turned out to be far stronger than what she had ever seen. It was so powerful that even the Saintess herself was at risk of getting inflicted by it if she handled it carelessly.
Naturally, as someone who served the Saintess, the Bishop also heard about his ailment.
"How did you break it? I thought you were unable to purge the curse yourself?" the latter questioned.
Reinhardt quickly came up with an excuse, hiding his Divine Traits.
"I thought so too but it appears that I could break it once I felt the curse becoming weaker". Of course, it was all bullshit. However, the Bishop thought it was possible and accepted his answer.
"In that case, it is great news for this kingdom and this entire world, one of its heroes is back. I bet the demon lord's forces are panicking right about now"…
"Haha, I don't know about that. By the way, I don't see the Saintess? Is she not here?" Usually, she would be here, taking care of the work in the Cathedral, but it seemed like she was not here today.
"Lord Reinhardt is here for the Knight Entrance Ceremony right?"
The latter nodded.
"In that case, you will find her in the colosseum on the day of the exam. Right now, she is out of the city on a task from the royal family" The bishop explained.
"By the way, about that kid earlier, if you can, try to rope him into your order. Although I must not reveal it to anyone but the kid's origin is not ordinary. However, recruiting that kid won't be easy, not only is he talented, but he is also level 4 at his young age, making him a must recruit target from all the other six commanders"…
"I'll try my best" Reinhardt gave his reply.
After finishing their work in the Cathedral, the group headed for the Arcknight's estate in the capital.
Since everyone was tired from the journey, they all retired to their beds early.
In the middle of the night, a figure appeared in front of Reinhardt's room. Standing by the door, they stood there for a long time as if contemplating something. In the end though, they shook their head and decided to return.
Inside his room, Reinhardt slowly opened his eyes and looked at the door, his eyes a complicated mix of emotions.
The next day, the group did a little sightseeing of the capital and made various preparations for the Knight Entrance Ceremony that was going to be held tomorrow.
As it was a huge event in the kingdom, every street and blacksmith shop of the capital was crowded by young people who gathered here in hopes of passing the exam and becoming a knight.
Of course, Reinhardt's Temple of Light order wasn't the only knight order that arrived here, there were other knights and squires carrying the insignia of other orders.
All the knights and squires of the order were showered with praises and venerated gazes by the ordinary masses wherever they walked by.
Reinhardt didn't go with them and stayed in his room, mostly because of his fame, but partly also due to the fact that if he went out there, he might bump into some annoying fellows that he wanted to avoid.
Of course, his stay didn't affect the order from going out. They took Arthur with them who wanted to see the many aspiring young knights who are going to participate in the exam tomorrow.
This left only a few servants and Verdia in the huge estate. It was around the time of afternoon, Reinhardt, who was marvelling at the armor that was given by the god, suddenly heard a knock on his door.
"My lord, I apologize for disturbing your peace, but this is urgent. Please come to Lady Verdia's room".
Opening the door, he saw a maid bowing her head towards him. Her face looked panicked, anxious even as if she didn't know what to do.
"What's going on?" Reinhardt questioned.
"It's her grace, she has suddenly fallen ill and is refusing to take any elixir. Her body is burning from the fever and it looks very bad. If nothing is done… I didn't know what else to do and came here to let you know" the maid explained in panic and fear.
Hearing the seriousness of the situation, he asked her to lead the way. Coming in front of Verdia's room, he opened the door and entered.
She was alone, lying on her bed while breathing labouredly. Her expression was contorted from pain, her face flushed red, and she was tightly clutching her chest.
Just like the servants told him, she was indeed suffering from a fever.
"Y-You… why did you enter my room?" Noticing him, Verdia suddenly sat upright and pointed at the door with a shaky hand.
She had always avoided conversing with him, but today Reinhardt didn't give her a chance to run away. He arrived by her side and put his hands on her forehead, which was burning up.
"Your fever is serious, you should take some elixirs"…
Verdia swatted his hands away, her body instinctively backing away from him.
"Mind your own business. My fever has nothing to do with you".
Reinhardt didn't back down easily this time. He grabbed her hand and insisted that she take the elixir.
"Ahnn~" His fierce and strong touch made Verdia instinctively moan and cover her lower abdomen as if not wanting him to see something.