As dawn approached, the knight woke her.
"Wake up. I'm leaving, so you should support him again. But…"
The knight looked up at the fiancé hanging from the rope.
"There's no need to support him anymore."
The fiancé was already dead.
But the girl, with her body still too broken to recover, stubbornly wedged herself beneath him once again.
"Haah."
The knight shook his head and turned away.
"And you are?"
"I'm someone too ashamed to offer a name."
"Still, I need to know your name. The Divine King Slayers will come soon, and I'll beg them to spare your life."
"Hm. The Divine King Slayers?"
The knight clicked his tongue at the mention of the name.
"The Divine King Slayers, those soulless heretics? You petitioned them? I don't even know if they still exist, but even if they do make it here, there are twenty well-armed soldiers under Young Master Kozel's command, and I am here too. Besides, the young master… possesses blue blood."
Blue blood—it was neither a mockery nor a metaphor.
Among nobles and royals who used magic, divine blood, the blood of the Yaegas clan, truly coursed through their veins. Common humans could never hope to challenge someone capable of wielding such magic prowess.
Yet the girl simply laughed weakly.
"Even if he is a mage, the Divine King Slayers can kill him. Because they're mages too."
She had seen gold coins vanish and birds speak human language. If that didn't prove the Divine King Slayers were mages, then what would?
After all, they had earned the name Divine King Slayers because they had killed kings with the blood of the gods in their veins.
When the Divine King Slayers arrived, they would avenge her. Until then, she just had to endure.
"Hmm. You're not in your right mind. Well, you've been through a lot. More than any one person should bear."
The knight could see she wasn't mentally stable and felt pity.
"I'll come again tonight. My name is Zebeck. I'm a holy knight of the king's church. I'm not telling you my name to beg the Divine King Slayers for my life. If they come, I'll fight them with everything I have."
"…"
Having revealed his name, the knight lowered himself cautiously and concealed himself in the dawn's shadows as he left.
***
It was an unusually scorching day.
Knight Zebeck worried whether the girl could survive another day… but standing next to Young Master Kozel, the margrave's son, he couldn't let that worry show on his face.
"Hey, teach, smile. Isn't this fun?"
Kozel scooped water from the drying well and splashed it over himself.
"If you kill the people, you won't be able to collect taxes."
"If you let dissatisfied vagrants roam freely, bandits will multiply."
"The margrave has other fertile lands. If we evacuate the people to those areas, we can weather the drought."
"And why should the children born in those fertile lands suffer for these worthless ones? Wouldn't it be better to give this land to those born in productive areas? They've earned it, and these people have failed."
"Farming isn't determined by individual ability. It's dictated by the soil, the climate, and the heavens."
"And by the light of the Great Royal Mandate. Isn't that what the king's church teaches?"
"…"
"These people suffer from the drought because they've been disloyal to the king's church. Isn't that what the doctrine says?"
"That's a misinterpretation."
Zebeck declared it firmly, but as someone of low rank within the king's church, he couldn't oppose Kozel, who carried divine blood.
The margrave's territory had more people than its farmland could support.
Rather than let them become vagrants who would disrupt the region's security, it was more profitable to kill the residents, confiscate their property, and later repopulate the land with new settlers.
Kozel had come here to carry out the margrave's will.
The villagers had no idea of the real reason. They believed that as long as they didn't resist and stayed obedient, they'd be spared. Those who had already died had, they assumed, paid the price for daring to oppose the great nobility.
"I'm doing this to save the people, teach. If you want to save them by disobeying my orders, then go ahead and try."
"Wahahahaha!"
The soldiers burst into laughter.
They were enjoying their loot, feasting on meat and wine. Kozel was a good employer in their eyes. He led the looting himself and made sure they received a generous share of the spoils, which naturally earned their loyalty.
But for Zebeck, the holy knight, the whole situation was unbearable. Yet his duty as a holy knight kept him bound.
***
That night, Zebeck returned to the village outskirts to help the girl again.
But he frowned as soon as he arrived. Despite the treatment and help he'd given her the previous night, she hadn't made it through the day.
The girl lay collapsed and dead on the ground, while her fiancé dangled in the wind, swaying and creaking like a ghostly specter.
"So, she couldn't hold on after all. Even if the Divine King Slayers had been summoned, it wouldn't matter now."
Zebeck muttered to himself, realizing with a start that he felt disappointed.
Disappointed? In what?
Was he, a holy knight of the king's church, actually hoping that the Divine King Slayers—those blasphemous beings—would show up and deal with Kozel?
"How foolish."
He sighed and approached the fallen girl. But just then—
Sring!
A blade as cold as ice pressed against his throat.
"Don't move. If you do, I'll cut you down. Don't even turn around."
A young man's voice warned him. Startled, Zebeck realized how close he'd come to death.
There had been no one there just moments ago. In this desolate place, with only a few trees nearby, how had someone managed to sneak up on him like this?
Was it truly a ghost's work?
"The Herald Clan? Are they really here?"
"Yeah. But you don't seem like a petitioner. You're a knight? Perhaps from the knights of salvation?"
"I'm Zebeck of the king's church."
"…Ah."
The young man's voice carried a tone of disappointment.
"Just to be sure—you're not a petitioner, right? Although, it would be amusing if a holy knight of the king's church came seeking a petition."
"Are you trying to insult me?" Sir Zebeck growled in anger.
"The petitioner's already dead, huh. Well, I did get the gold coin for free… Anyway, mind telling me what happened here?"
"If you withdraw your sword from my neck and maintain a proper distance, I swear on my honor to tell you everything that happened."
"Hmph. You sound confident. What, you think you wouldn't have been caught so easily if you weren't ambushed? Fine. A holy knight of the king's church should at least have that kind of nerve."
In an instant, the young man's figure blurred, and before Zebeck knew it, he had retreated approximately 100 meters away.
"Incredible."
Zebeck was astonished by the speed and precision of the movement.
Was it a ghost? Magic?
"A mage, then?"
"All the Divine King Slayers are mages—except me."
"Not magic?"
"Superhuman physical abilities can be hard to distinguish from magic."
"I don't understand what you're saying. What is your name and rank as a herald?"
"…"
"I've already given you my name. I am Zebeck of the king's church."
"Ah, my apologies. I am Azadin, the 108th herald of the Emperor. In the eastern tongue, they call me Asahdin."
The young man spoke elegantly, bowing gracefully. He was tall, wearing a hat adorned with pheasant feathers, its corners folded neatly. His face was partially concealed by a bird-shaped mask covering his eyes and nose.
"The 108th…?"
The Emperor's heralds were limited to 108 in number, meaning the man before him was at the bottom of their hierarchy. However, judging by his movements, he was no ordinary figure.
"So, as promised, tell me what happened here."
"Very well."
Zebeck recounted everything he knew about the tragic events that had befallen the girl's family.
***
"I see… how unfortunate."
Azadin clicked his tongue after hearing the full story. Just then, an owl swooped down and landed in front of him.
[The contract has already been fulfilled. The gold coin is yours, 108th herald Azadin. Proceed to your next mission.]
Hearing the bird speak, Zebeck was taken aback. The fact that the bird could talk was surprising enough, but the message it conveyed left him even more unsettled.
"So the petitioner dies, and you take the reward and leave?"
"Oh? So it seems the holy knight of the king's church was hoping the petition would be granted. But if it were, it wouldn't end well for your young master."
"Ugh."
Realizing he had spoken carelessly, Zebeck drew his sword.
"That won't happen. I'll defeat you here, soulless heretic."
"Don't."
Azadin smirked as he watched the knight point his blade at him.
"Isn't it sad to draw your sword against me when you remained silent in the face of true injustice?"
"…"
"Are you angry? At whom? At me? Or at yourself, for staying silent?"
"What do you know?"
"I may be ignorant, but I know more than you think."
Azadin pointed to the sky.
"Do you know the constellations in the night sky? Their names and the myths tied to them?"
"What nonsense are you spouting? What are you trying to say?"
Zebeck was bewildered by the sudden shift in conversation. What was this blasphemous man talking about?
"Perception changes based on whether someone has a sense of beauty or not. To one person, the stars are mythic heroes, while to another, they're just faint, flickering lights in the darkness—insignificant and meaningless."
Azadin gestured toward the corpses.
"Just like how the soldiers see the violated victims differently from you."
"There's no difference. I couldn't do anything."
"That's not true. You treated the petitioner and waited for me."
"But I am a holy knight of the king's church. I must revere those who carry the blood of the divine king!"
"I have no desire to fight you, holy knight. If you pitied the girl, then your sword is not my enemy."
"…"
When Zebeck said nothing, Azadin turned his back on him. Though it was the perfect opportunity to strike, Zebeck couldn't bring himself to attack the herald.
Just then, Azadin moved. His sword flashed, slicing through the ropes tied to the poplar tree, and the corpses fell to the ground.
Azadin caught the body of the man midair with one hand and extended his leg to cushion the fall of the other body, gently lowering it to the ground.
"…"
His mastery of martial arts and swordsmanship was extraordinary.
Even Zebeck, confident in his own skills, could see that this man was a monster—someone on a completely different level.
So, this was the power of the Divine King Slayers.
If he wanted to kill Zebeck, it wouldn't be difficult.