(22) The saint candidate

Mesrath fell into a state of dizziness. He was aware that he wouldn't be able to escape from the priest again, like last night. 

The deal offered by Nicokel was too conspicuous. Mesrath looked at Nicokel with his mouth tightly closed.

'....He has no reason to save me, so why? Didn't I almost kill him? I can only ask him the reason later on...I...we don't have time now.' 

Mesrath spoke resolutely: "I will become your knight...So please help me. I-I will repay this kindness in the future for sure." 

"Ah, sure. First, shave off your hair with this." Nicokel nonchalantly passed his sword to Mesrath and turned to the two knights who seemed to have a lot to say. 

"What?" 

"Young master Nicokel, I implore you to change your decision. Handing him over to the church would be the best option. They can find out if he is a demonic summoner or not..."

Nicokel cut off the scout, who tried his best to change his mind. 

"I will take responsibility if he were to really be a demonic summoner." Nicokel was firmer than ever. 

'I can tell that he used his talent, but the others can't after all. The changes in their eyes pass by in an instant, so others can't see it unless they focus.' 

Hence, Nicokel never doubted Mesrath's words. Though it was questionable whether he was trustworthy. 

'I will just extract all the knowledge I can from him, first. I can just let him go after that, forcing loyalty to others will only come to bite me back later on.' 

"Why?" 

Hearing Mesrath's voice from behind him, Nicokel tilted his head, looking back.

Mesrath had heard Nicokel speak to the knight and felt even more confused. He couldn't understand why Nicokel was going so far. 

Looking at Mesrath's confused face, Nicokel could somewhat understand his current state of mind. 

Contemplating for a second, Nicokel responded: "If the church captures you, they will kill you whether the talent you spoke of is real or not. I can tell that you are not lying to me and I kind of wanted to learn about summoning." 

Nicokel didn't hide his intentions. 

"I see..." 

While speaking, Nicokel's eyes moved to a part of the hair cut off by the sword on Mesrath's head, it was bleeding.  

"You have no experience in using a sword?" 

"...I am sorry." 

Nicokel turned towards the younger knight, "Go help him." 

"....Understood." 

At that moment, the salamander began hissing flame, feeling that people were headed towards them. Such a reaction alerted all of them.

Borrowing the scout's sword, Nicokel coldly looked into Mesrath's eyes. His hair was already shaved off and blown away by the knight, not leaving any proof behind. 

"This might hurt a little, but bear with it." Taking precise aim, Nicokel swung his sword vertically at Mesrath's face, causing a normal cut to appear on his cheek and forehead. 

'Ah, he has good reaction speed, I was going to cut one of his eyes too. Well, whatever...' 

"Aagh!!" Mesrath grunted loudly and writhed on the ground. 

"Knock him unconscious," Nicokel ordered the knight dismissively. 

"...." The younger knight hit Mesrath's neck with the guard of his sword. He was internally amused seeing Nicokel's resolute and decisive action. 

Putting his sword back into the sheath, Nicokel undid the bandage on his hand and began wrapping it on Mesrath's face calmly. In the end, he had to use the bandage on both his hands to cover Mesrath's whole face. 

Taking off the jacket damaged in multiple places, Nicokel made Mesrath wear it. 

"Carry him." Nicokel indifferently walked up to the salamander and looked at the end of the street, where a group of priests could be seen dashing towards them. 

Having a better sight, Nicokel could see that the priests were actually leading women nearing 16 and an old man. 

"Who are they?" Nicokel lightly asked the scout beside him. 

"If I am not wrong, she is one of the saint candidates. They are next in line to become the holy emperor...." The scout glanced at Mesrath on the knight's shoulder with worry. 

Such a reaction was not missed by Nicokel.

"What are you worried about?" 

"Saint candidates can look through demonic summoners with just a glance. I'm worried that she..." 

Nicokel cut him off as if he had wasted his time: "You just stand beside me, I will do all the talking." 

"....Understood, young master Nicokel." 

Following the smoke rising to the sky, the group of holy practitioners arrived before Nicokel. 

"....The demon has been slayed already, it seems." The old man beside the Saint candidate smiled towards Nicokel who walked forward. 

"May I request you fine gentleman to purify the remnant of the demonic energy?" Nicokel spoke with a straight posture, showing his intent to speak on the same level. 

"May I ask who you might be and was it you who purged the demon?" The priest in foremost question respectfully. 

"I am Nicokel Verskein, And Yes, we were the ones to kill the demon, or more specifically my salamander did." Nicokel pointed at the salamander, who still guarded him quietly. 

"We thank thee for your wonderful deed. The church will send a reward for hunting this demon and hold thee in good regard from the bottom of our hearts." The priest, who appeared to be the head of the church, bowed his head with sincerity. 

"I shall accept it with honor." 

The head priest nodded his head with satisfaction. 

"What about the demonic summoner?" 

"He was burnt to ashes too." 

"I see." 

The head priest didn't doubt anything, believing in Nicokel because of his background.

The knights beside Nicokel glanced at the saint. It was not because of her beautiful appearance, with golden hair shining in sun rays and emerald eyes. But because they were worried about her finding out Mesrath's true identity. 

However, their worries turned out to be groundless. The saint candidate just took a glance at them and turned back to Nicokel.

The priest began working to purify the remnants of the demonic energy, on the ground. 

The saint candidate looked at Nicokel with interest, she had never seen a kid like him. He carried himself with such confidence and grace, that it left her speechless. 

'Is this how the noble are?' The saintess thought with interest. 

However, at that instant, the air around them changed drastically. 

Feeling goosebumps in her hand, The saintess looked at Nicokel who stared at the old man, who was her guard. 

"Hahaha! Brat, just what kind of hell did you crawl out of, hmm?" The old man laughed carefreely, however, his eyes flickered with contempt. 

"Tch! What kind of kid has such eyes..." Annoyance appeared in the old man's eyes. 

"Nice to meet you, Miss Saintess." Nicokel retracted his gaze from the old man and greeted the saintess.

Just looking into each other's eyes, they knew the kind of person they were. 

Murderers, who killed not just one or two, but thousands or even millions.