Depart

The trading city of Seton, although a vassal state of the Telvis Empire, is not located within the empire's borders. Instead, it is situated in a region just barely within the protection of the Holy Stele. Unlike typical vassal states, Seton is an autonomous zone with its own laws and social classes, and even the personnel of the church cannot exercise their power there without permission. Seton is located in the northern part of the Telvis Empire and can be reached by horse carriage in about a day's journey.

Although Seton is not far from the protection of the Holy Stele and the time spent outside the city is not long, there is still considerable danger once one ventures beyond its gates. Unlike the city, the outskirts do not have the same kind of protective barrier and cannot fully rely on the power of the Holy Stele. Even within the safety zone, one can still encounter "disaster beasts," and many have died outside the city because of this.

Cross and Eve quickly arrived at the designated meeting point, the northern gate—Hiltria Fortress. Telvis Empire's four city gates are all fortresses, not only to defend against external enemies but also to protect against "disaster beasts." Cross picked up the petite Eve and got off the carriage. Looking up, he saw his "companion" for this mission, Harlan's subordinates, including some familiar faces.

Twenty-six knights dressed in silver armor lined up in two rows, their right hand placed over their heart and their other hand holding their sword at their waist. They knelt on one knee to welcome the arrival of the "Second Chief Justice." In front of the knights stood ten priests with deep red cloaks on their right shoulders, a symbol of their high-ranking status.

To the left and right of the formation were two individuals, on the left was the "stiff" knight Melanie Hayes whom Cross had seen near the Holy Water Pool before. He wore a silver half-mask covering his right face and stood there with a serious expression, the captain of these knights for this mission. On the right was a slightly unique girl compared to the others.

She wore a nun's dress with an extremely short skirt that barely covered her private parts, with two long strips of holy shroud trailing down on both sides of the skirt. Her slender legs were bare, not even wearing shoes, but there was no dirt or dust on her feet even though she was standing on the ground.

"Her hair color is also very unique, like faded golden hair, showing a dark golden color, and her eyes have a unique emerald color.

Although she maintains a very casual standing posture at the moment, as a 'warrior', Cross can see that there is no flaw in her whole body. Plus, the strong aura he felt from her, if provoked casually, it could result in serious injury.

As Cross approached the group of people leaving the carriage, they all bowed and said, 'Welcome "Black Sword King" and Judge Asteros, my lord.' 'No need for formalities,' Cross returned with a priestly gesture, and Eve beside him imitated Cross's gesture without knowing what it meant. 'I don't like beating around the bush.

We will be companions who live and die together from now on. There may be intervention from the society and encounters with disaster beasts during this mission, so we need to know each other well.' Cross, as one of the seven surviving heroes from the biggest battle of this era, knew very well what a team needs the most - to ensure the integrity of the team, not only for their own sake, but also for Cross himself. 'I'm only good at direct combat and I have no knowledge of holy magic,' said the black-haired judge, introducing himself first, and also mentioning that the petite girl, Eve, had no combat ability. 'Melanie Hayes, my subordinates and I are good at all kinds of battles. Lord Asteros can assign any task to us.

We will bet on the honor of the knights and complete it.' Melanie at this time was different from when Cross met her before, appearing respectful. It may be because the last time they had a brief clash, which made him impressed by Cross's martial arts, or simply because he was a man who strictly followed the chivalry code and last time they were in a "hostile" state. 'Tabitha, my rank is a fighting nun. I am here under the command of the "Saint" as Judge Asteros's bodyguard.

Compared to Judge Asteros, who has both authority and martial arts skills, I am only a simple bodyguard and weapon, so please do not hesitate to ask if there is any need for me in combat.' The barefoot nun spoke with words that could easily be misunderstood, giving people the feeling of an iceberg beauty who rarely expresses her own emotions, but she would do anything for her "master" more than anyone present.

However, when Cross heard her rank, he instantly understood why she had such a strange personality and aura. Among the clergy, the most common profession is the nun. They are responsible for all the miscellaneous matters and daily auxiliary sacrifices within the clergy.

Therefore, voluntarily donating their bodies or being forced to donate their bodies for the "Stigmata Implantation" with a death rate of up to 90% for the development of the clergy is also done by them."

"The Saint Mark is a product refined from the fragments of the Holy Stone Monument. The power it contains is enough to elevate a human to the realm of 'monsters,' but as a result, most humans who implant the Saint Mark will collapse because their bodies cannot handle such immense power. Success is an extremely rare phenomenon, even in this era of mature technology, there are no more than six successful individuals in the entire church, and they are all called 'Battle Nuns.'

Harlan seems to value Cross very much by assigning such a rare 'Battle Nun' as his protector. It's possible that he also has the idea of 'monitoring' Cross in mind.

"Oh? Just as a bodyguard and weapon...? That's really reliable, but having just physical strength is not considered true strength," Cross expressed his opinion, reminiscing about an old acquaintance. However, the barefooted girl seems to have a different understanding of this.

"Even if you 'challenge' me like this, I won't fight you to prove my strength. I am your protector, my power exists only to annihilate your enemies," Tabitha said.

"You seem to have misunderstood my meaning. I don't care about these things. It's a good thing that my power is above yours. This will improve the safety of the entire team. I don't have any useless pride," Cross shook his head, having long abandoned his dignity, along with his name and past experiences.

"Sorry about that," the girl apologized without hesitation. Cross's words surprised her. The upper echelon of the church is full of inflated egos. Even if they speak the truth, they will be denied and then throw a tantrum. Compared to that group of people, the "master" she will serve in the future seems much better.

However, the knight captain Melanie's expression was a bit awkward at Cross's words. After all, honor is the most important thing.

Everyone present is not a newcomer to the church. Even though most people have not encountered the "Catastrophe Beasts," they have executed numerous tasks, and each person quickly found their position in the conversation.

After a quick introduction, the group boarded the church's specially equipped carriage and headed towards the trading city of Seton.