The Fate of Rude Holy Knights

IT TOOK SOME WORK, but in the end, I managed to wash away most of

what Myne scrawled across my face. Unfortunately, when I looked closely

in the mirror, I still made out the faded letters of "GLUTTON." Luckily, I

could hide the word with my bangs. If that wasn't enough, I had my skull

mask. I'd scrub the word away over the next few days. Now, I could focus

on showering off the sand from yesterday's battle.

"Wow…"

The word escaped my lips with my surprise. There was liquid soap in

the shower specifically for washing your hair! I'd been so focused on

cleaning the ink off my face that I'd assumed all the inn had was traditional

bar soap. When I was a servant of the Hart family, the servants' bathing

quarters had only stocked bar soap, too. Liquid soap made with aromatic

flower extract was a high-quality product. You couldn't buy this stuff just

anywhere. Yet it was a standard feature of the rooms here?

I thought back to the subtle fragrance I'd noticed on Myne earlier.

She must have washed her hair with this very liquid soap. I lifted the bottle

and noticed a sticker on the side.

This soap will be considered purchased upon use. One gold coin will

be charged to your bill.

So, it wasn't free after all. I should've expected a secret expense from

fancy soap like this.

Then I realized. "Damn it…"

Myne had already used the soap. The moment she had, I'd bought it

for her. If I pressed her about the expense, she'd likely say she needed it to

wash away the whiskers I'd drawn on her face. If I could go back in time, I

would have leapt back and snatched that pen out of my own hand. Alas. It

was my fault, and Myne had taken her revenge on both my face and my

wallet.

All the same, I intended to pay for the soap with my earnings from

slaying the sand golem. I was expecting big money—the kind of reward

that'd cover a bottle of high-quality liquid soap without issue.

I was really looking forward to that payday. I imagined all the things

I could do with it. First, I'd buy a loaf of freshly baked bread. Then a bowl

of stew, thick with meat. Just thinking about sitting in front of a steaming

serving of stewed beef made me drool.

I put a little of the liquid soap in my hand, which made me wonder

how many silver coins this dollop was worth. When I had been a lowly

gatekeeper, it had taken me several years to earn two measly silver coins.

For people who didn't come from money, like me, this soap was an

incredible extravagance. But I could imagine Greed's voice if he were here:

Quit whining and wash your damn hair already.

"Are you still in there? Hurry up. I want to go out."

It was the voice of Little Miss Wrathful, and she was getting

impatient. I had no idea what punishment she might dish out if I took too

long in the shower, so I had to hurry. I put the soap in my hair, and…it was

amazing. This soap was otherworldly.

Definitely worth a few silver coins, I decided.

***

I left the shower feeling refreshed and found Myne splayed on her

bed, dressed and ready to head out.

"What took you so long?" she muttered. "I'm tired of waiting."

She didn't do anything other than glare at me, but her crimson gaze

was overwhelmingly intimidating.

"Hey now," I said, "cheer up. I'll give you this." I plopped the bottle

of liquid soap onto Myne's belly.

"A fine gift from a clever young man," she said. "Consider yourself

forgiven."

"Glad to have pleased you," I said. "Okay, let's get going."

I strapped Greed to my side, took my bag in hand, and headed to the

door, Myne close behind me.

"Oh, I almost forgot," I said, taking the skull mask from my bag and

setting it on my face. "In these parts I'm known as Corpse, the adventurer."

Myne looked me over with my mask equipped and grinned. "Gosh!

How manly."

"Huh? What do you mean, 'manly'?! I'm only wearing the mask to

hide my identity…"

"Uh huh. Okay, let's keep moving, Fate."

"Wait! Explain yourself! And make sure to call me Corpse when I've

got my mask on, okay?!"

Myne ignored my protests and walked on down the hall. Greed burst

into laughter. I still wanted to know what she meant, calling me manly with

my mask on!

"Aren't you lucky?" Greed asked, still chuckling. "Someone likes

your outfit."

"Shut up, you."

However I tried to look at it, Myne's comment didn't seem like a

compliment. I was starting to doubt that we'd be good traveling partners

after all. As I stood there worrying about our shared near future, however,

Myne called out from the first floor.

"Hey, Corks! Hurry up!"

"It's not Corks!" I cried. "It's Corpse!"

She was teasing me! On top of that, she tried to leave the inn while I

settled the bill, so I had to run and stop her. I told her we still had business

to settle before leaving.

"What business?"

"Last night, I went to the desert east of here and defeated the sand

golem. Do you mind waiting while I pick up the reward money?"

"The sand golem?! You mean that crowned beast grinding this place

into a desert, don't you?" Myne sighed. "I was planning to kill it myself on

the way to our next destination, and now you say you beat me to it."

So, that's where she was trying so hard to run off to. Still, the sand

golem was nocturnal. I wondered how she intended to find it during the day.

I tried asking, but Myne was so mired in disappointment that she didn't

want to answer.

I sighed. "I'm going to head to the trading post, okay?"

"Fine… I'll go too," Myne said.

Her black axe resting across her shoulders, Myne followed slowly

behind me, her whole body slouched with depression. She really was

heartbroken that I'd gotten to the sand golem before her. Perhaps her Wrath

was like my Gluttony, and she grew stronger by slaying monsters. If that

was how Skills of Mortal Sin all worked, then losing a crowned beast had to

be a real shock.

I hoped Myne would understand that I'd had to defeat the sand golem

to get stronger myself. At some point down the line, she and I would have

to fight together, and I'd need more power to prepare for that day. As it was,

she outclassed me by leagues.

When we arrived at the trading post, it looked as if everyone had

been anticipating our arrival.

"We've been waiting for you, Mr. Corpse! We prepared your reward

money for defeating the sand golem."

The gold coins on the counter took my breath away. Really? Is it

really okay for me to take this much money?!

I was suddenly glad to be wearing my skull mask. I didn't want

anybody to see my stupefied expression as I took in the hundred gold coins

placed before me. It was so much money that I wasn't even sure what it

could be spent on. Well, until I did know, I'd just have to keep it safe. I

swept the coins into the very bottom of my bag, glancing around nervously

as I did so. Myne watched greedily—suspiciously greedily, in fact.

"Myne," I said, "was this what you were really after? The reward

money for the crowned beast?"

"Yes. One of my goals on this journey is to make money. My village

is poor. I use the rewards I get from killing crowned beasts to support it."

"Ah, I see… Well, do you want half?"

Myne's reply was loud, forceful, and assertive: "Yes!"

She didn't need to be so loud about it. Fifty gold was more than

enough for me! Myne took her share of the gold and placed it into her own

bag, taking great care with each coin. As she did, her expression softened

when she glanced over at me.

Hm. So, Myne becomes gentler when you give her money, I thought. I

filed the information away in my mind as a new page in the How to Handle

Wrath: An Explanatory Guide to Myne instruction manual.

"Well," I said. "We've got our money, shall we depart?"

"Yes."

We beamed the confident smiles of those blessed with fat wallets and

made our way toward the exit.

At the front door, we found our path blocked by a well-armed group

of warriors. In the center of the bristling group was a man fully decked out

in heavy, golden armor, punctuated by a bright-red cape. To be honest, his

outfit struck me as gaudy and tasteless. Behind him stood something like

fifty battle-hardened adventurers. With such garish golden garb, I had a

pretty good idea of who and what this overconfident guy was.

I used Identify to be sure.

Rudolph Lanchester, Lv 120

Vitality: 1,454,000

Strength: 1,698,000

Magic: 1,576,000

Spirit: 1,327,000

Agility: 1,495,000

Skills: Holy Sword Technique, Strength Boost (High), Magic Boost

(High), Identify

The guy was seriously impressive. All his stats surpassed one

million. His appearance had fooled me, but Rudolph was the real deal—a

genuine holy knight.

However, Rudolph had the Identify skill, like I did, which was bad

news. I could use Conceal to hide my skills, but I saw trouble ahead if he

used Identify on me. Namely, he'd see that my stats surpassed his own.

I was at a loss. But before I had a chance to form a strategy, Rudolph

stepped forward and stared down at me.

"You're the adventurer who defeated the sand golem, then?" he

sneered.

"Yes, sir."

Rudolph looked me up and down and licked his lips. It was revolting,

like his eyes were licking me. "I see. So, you must be quite powerful, then.

Mr.…Dorks, was it?"

"Corpse, sir."

"Ah, Corpse. Yes. Well, congratulations, Corpse. Starting today, you

have the honor of joining the ranks of my servants. I suppose I'll mention

now that you've no right to refuse."

Rudolph explained that he was bestowing this honor upon me due to

my unprecedented defeat of the sand golem, something generations of holy

knights had failed to accomplish. As a reward for my valor, he would

forcefully induct me into the ranks of his servants.

From the smug flow of the conversation, I gathered that Rudolph had

already judged me without using the Identify skill. He'd immediately

assumed that, because I wasn't a holy knight, I couldn't possibly be his

equal. For once, I was glad for his kind's legendary arrogance.

Despite Rudolph's rude assumption, part of me was relieved. If he'd

spent even a moment looking at my stats, he'd have taken an entirely

different attitude. The problem, however, was how I should respond.

"My humble apologies, sir," I said. "But I have business in another

location."

"Absolute nonsense. If I, a holy knight, make a decision, your job is

to obey it. Enough chitchat. Expose your neck so we can give you your

citizen's tattoo."

Holy knights had significant power in Seifort, but clearly, their status

was even more wildly disproportionate here in Lanchester. The whole

territory belonged to them, and it was their little playground. This placed

me in a predicament. I didn't like pulling weapons on people, but my best

bet might well be to respond to Rudolph's demands with Greed. The holy

knight didn't have the bearing of a man who'd listen to reason, and I could

see in his eyes that I'd been appraised as little more than a new toy to play

with. If I became his servant, I'd be just another of his pets, like the

adventurers who stood behind him.

Rudolph approached me, getting closer and closer.

"Come now, join me." If he hadn't been so smug, he might even have

sounded convincing. "You'll live the easy life, so long as you do as you're

told."

As much as I didn't want to draw my sword in a city, it seemed I had

no choice but to unleash Greed.

Or so I thought. In the next instant, Myne stepped between me and

Rudolph.

"Corpse already has business with me," she said. "Step off."

As the command left her mouth, the atmosphere electrified. My gut

told me that we were moments from chaos—if Rudolph didn't step aside,

earthshattering violence would break out.

However, he didn't seem to have the same instinct I did. He was an

arrogant man, used to having it done his way, all the time, every time.

Rudolph sneered at Myne as he looked down at her. "Snot-nosed little

girls like you should know better. Run home to play nice with your

mommy. If you ever—"

It was over in a flash. Whatever Rudolph had planned to say turned to

a yelp when Myne struck. She hefted her black axe, and with a single stroke

of the flat of the blade, she launched Rudolph up and away. He barely had a

chance to cry out before he flew into the air.

This was a holy knight whose stats stood in the millions, but Myne

sent him sailing through the roof of the inn, out over the giant walls of the

very city he governed. He disappeared somewhere into the far distance.

Could he even survive such a fall? Well, with impressive stats like his, he

wouldn't die so easily…probably.

Myne looked back at me, her face the very picture of impish

relaxation. "I guess that holy knight flew home. Let's head off, shall we?"

"Uh, yeah! Let's do that."

There was nothing I could do but chuckle, really. Rudolph's men ran

after him, crying and screaming as they fled. Nearby onlookers could not

believe their eyes, and multiple witnesses had collapsed in shock. Looking

at the panicked crowd, you'd think a circle of hell had erupted into the

courtyard.

As for me, I wrote a new section in the instruction manual How to

Handle Wrath: An Explanatory Guide to Myne. The chapter was titled

"Why You Should Never Call Myne a Child," and the lesson inside was a

matter of life and death.