"Damn it."
Many emotions swirled within that short sigh. Orishin, whose allegiance remained unclear, snickered.
[Speaking of which, didn't you ramble on about various Abyss trivia when you were trying to kill me? You were quite the Abyss expert. Enough to teach even a saint a thing or two?]
"Keep your mouth shut."
Morgina removed her glove and threw it at Orishin. With an "Ouch!" Orishin hid behind Criel's back again.
"If they've summoned even a modest-sized church like Yv Caha, they must have gathered every available saint. Is there a reason to call so many people?"
"That's because so many Abyss relics have appeared. If only one or two had shown up, that little Priest King wouldn't have collapsed holding the back of his head."
Morgina referred to the Priest King with such casual disrespect. Criel was reminded once again that this violent person held the authority of a saint.
"Still, he's the king you all elected. You could at least show some verbal respect."
"Well, he is just a socially underdeveloped kid. The position of Priest King, which the older priests from other churches don't even glance at, was taken by him simply because he's young. It's rather pitiful that he became king at that age."
The Holy Kingdom had always been at the forefront of confronting the Abyss. The Priest King was the highest commander of war chosen by the church. As the title "King" suggested, he rarely had to cross swords with the Abyss directly.
"Because he's trapped on the throne at such a young age."
It was essentially a position where one died buried in paperwork. Receiving reports on the Abyss front from every corner of the world, and when wandering holy knights tracked the movements of demons, issuing appropriate countermeasures as the final authority.
The position of Priest King was certainly glorious, but the seasoned priests preferred that glory to fall on someone other than themselves.
Criel sighed. This witch had a rough idea of his identity. During several missions with the Western Army, she had witnessed him using Bloodlust.
For an ordinary cleric, this would be cause to immediately draw out the mace of repentance. But Morgina, who had always been quite flexible—perhaps cunning—for a cleric, had simply turned a blind eye, saying what was good was good.
Under Morgina's gaze, Criel could easily read her desire for companionship. He could refuse if he wanted to, but then everything from Orishin's purification would become considerably troublesome.
*Since things have come to this, it would be better to grant Morgina's request and in return have her handle Orishin's purification.*
At first glance, it seemed that once Orishin's purification was complete, Criel's excuse for desertion would disappear. But Criel had his own calculations.
To completely resolve the incident at Loran village, Orishin needed to be returned to his original place—the mountain behind Loran village—to restore the spirit as well.
Just as a soldier's leave procedure includes reporting back to the unit, returning Orishin to Loran was included in the order.
At least according to Criel's flexible interpretation.
His conclusion was to finish all his tasks in advance, then travel the world to his heart's content until his commander had almost forgotten about him, and only then return to his unit and file for discharge.
Orishin's return to Loran would be delayed, but the unicorn itself had begged, "I'll give you leather, jewels, anything, just purify me!" So it was fair to assume consent had been given.
"I've told my story, now it's time to hear yours..."
Morgina's gaze turned to the unicorn head ghost swaying behind Criel. A "tsk" sound escaped her lips.
"I told you to take better care of yourself. I don't know what happened, but you played the sucker again and said 'Alright, I'll solve it,' didn't you?"
[Sucker? My goodness. What kind of sucker threatens people with a sword?]
"Look at you talking back. How many days have you traveled with him? At first, I thought he was someone who jumped out of a chivalric romance novel."
In a way, that was somewhat accurate, given that he came from another world. Not that he had jumped out from beyond a novel, but rather entered into a game world. Lost in thought momentarily, Criel belatedly responded.
"I was simply fulfilling my duty as a knight."
"Exactly. How many knights these days uphold such principles? They're all barbarians in plate armor. Except for that old man from the Western Army. He's not from this era anyway."
Morgina, who had naturally lumped knights and old men together in her criticism, wiggled her index finger at Orishin. It was a gesture telling him to come over quickly. Though grumbling, Orishin slowly moved toward Morgina.
"Where is this one residing now?"
The broken horn of the bicon was placed on the table.
"A goat's horn? No. It's too big for just a goat. Is it a goat that became a monster?"
[Oh. The thing that used to be my horn? The horn that got promoted then demoted?]
Criel prevented Orishin from spouting nonsense and summarized the incident concisely. Someone's curse had corrupted him into a bicon, and Criel had defeated that physical form. Now they had come to the Holy Kingdom to purify his soul.
[Nice summary. You could have been a scholar instead of a knight.]
"What the hell."
Morgina laughed in disbelief.
"So in the end, you caught something strange again and got a wandering spirit attached to you?"
[I'm not a wandering spirit! Your goddess taught your elder to do this!]
"A proper elder wouldn't have fallen to corruption. Actually, aren't you younger than me?"
[As if! I've lived longer than this kingdom!]
Though Orishin was raging, he couldn't help but be crushed by the verbal assault based on the fact that "you fell to corruption despite being so old."
Morgina flashed a victorious smile at Orishin, who was sniffling in the corner saying, "At my age, I fell victim to an Abyss beam..." The horse head rubbing its horn against the wall didn't have time to see her smile.
"So I just need to purify that thing?"
"Yes."
Criel answered with slight reluctance. He wasn't sure if he should entrust Orishin to this person. But she was certainly the most skilled priest available at the moment.
"Your request is to escort me while I search for the Abyss relics?"
"I'd prefer if you called it a joint exploration. If you explicitly say 'escort,' you won't lift a finger for anything that's not escorting, right? So lazy."
"I'm not naturally that diligent, you know."
"You'll rush in with a sword for complete strangers, but you have no kindness to spare for your lady?"
Criel laughed in disbelief.
"If you're a lady, then I must be a paladin blessed by the gods. What an absurd joke."
"Oh. So you'll treat me like a lady while you're a paladin?"
Morgina threw something. Criel reflexively caught it.
A raven pendant. It looked similar to the one Morgina herself wore. The difference was that while Morgina's pendant was black, Criel's had a reddish tint.
"That's the emblem of our church's Champion. Sort of like a paladin position."
Champion. A warrior who fights on behalf of others. It was a position that symbolized the honor and military might of the church.
Usually, this position was held concurrently by the head of the holy knights, so it was extremely rare for an outsider to be appointed. It was only considered when a renowned knight was both a devout believer of a particular god and there was no suitable talent in that god's holy knight order.
Moreover, Criel didn't even believe in Yv Caha.
"Is it okay to just throw something like this to me?"
"Who's going to judge me? I'm the saint! The will of the god is with me. Even the old church matriarch told me to do as I please."
[Wow. With that temperament, she still shows respect by calling her 'church matriarch'?]
Morgina snapped her fingers. Holy power ravens surrounded Orishin and pecked at him from all directions. The cawing sounds and shrieking sounds combined to fill Morgina's room with untimely dissonance.
Criel ignored the noise and examined the pendant. He felt a pressure at his fingertips, as if something was gripping them tightly. It must be the holy power repelling the Dark Knight. He wondered if wearing it around his neck would feel like an excessively tight necktie.
But it didn't seem like just wearing it would drain his life force. As Criel continued to stare at the pendant, Morgina quickly added, perhaps interpreting his gaze in some way.
"It's something you have to return when this is over. ...Or you could just join the church if you don't want to give it back."
"Do I really have to wear this?"
Morgina pouted, looking disgruntled.
"Hey. I prepared this for you, you know? How do you think other church priests will see you without something like this? I and our church are vouching for your identity, that's what I'm saying."
"Well, I suppose that makes sense. I accept the request."
"Good. I'll give you a room, so clean yourself up. We need to go meet the Priest King together in a few days."
"What about purifying the spirit?"
"Ha. I'll finish that before dinner."
***
[Pathetic! Pathetic! How dare you wear the armband of a saint when you can't even purify properly! You should be impeached!]
"You horse-headed thing!"
Whether he had become accustomed to the movements of the ravens Morgina commanded, or to his ghostly state, Orishin freely glided through the air, avoiding the ravens by a paper-thin margin.
As a result, the common dining hall of the Yv Caha Grand Temple became the epicenter of noise, but the priests in charge of serving food continued calmly, perhaps accustomed to the sound of ravens.
"...I apologize. That spirit doesn't usually have such a personality."
Unable to bear the embarrassment any longer, Criel apologized first, but the priests waved it off. An elderly priest with a serene smile whispered kindly to Criel.
"We know the spirit wouldn't normally have such a personality. But we're well aware that our saint does have that personality, so there's no need to feel sorry."
[Hahaha! Are you frustrated? Too bad! You can't purify me with your skills! This is the limit of your holy power!]
"I'll cut you into pieces!"
Criel wished he could get rid of both of them and eat his meal alone.