Chapter 44: The Mystery of Sister Maria

In both the kingdom and the empire, October meant harvest time for the grain fields. In the villages they held festivals, slaughtered livestock, and made salted meat and sausages. It was the same every year.

The Royal Knight Academy had its own annual event. The “march training” held every year from November to December. Second-year hero candidates and Saint Knight candidates were paired up to cross the vast Alsace Great Forest in the kingdom’s southwest, then finish at the southernmost city of Ryune. Many couples formed during this training, making it an important event for both the students and the academy.

But last year a tragic accident happened during the march training. A ferocious beast from the deep forest—one that should never have appeared—attacked, and one student lost their life. The previous headmistress took responsibility and resigned. The faculty’s opinion was that this year’s march training should be canceled.

“Headmistress Shurisupu, are you serious?”

“Of course I’m serious. We should carry out the march training this year too. On a larger scale and at higher difficulty.”

“But last year we had that kind of accident. Shouldn’t we cancel it?”

The professors voiced their objections one after another. After listening to them all, Headmistress Lilia Shurisupu placed a bundle of papers on the desk. Her normally gentle eyes sharpened.

“The previous headmistress took the matter very seriously and conducted a thorough investigation. I’ve gone through all the documents. To put it plainly, that accident was artificially caused by someone. It was an attack on this academy.”

“We understand that. That’s exactly why we should avoid the danger, isn’t it?”

“No. If we change the event because of such a cowardly attack, the academy will be seen as bowing to threats. We will implement thorough safety measures. Of course we’ll have the Hunter Guild in Ryune, but we’ll also get cooperation from several Saint Knights including Lord Wackenheim. On top of that, we’ll mobilize part of the military.”

It was preparation on the level of war. Naturally the cost would be huge. When that concern was raised, Lilia smiled with perfect confidence.

“It’s fine. Fairchild Ducal House and Rogueia Marquis House have already donated. For the military mobilization we’ll use the officer candidates. It will be excellent experience for commanding troops.”

The decision to hold the march training was quickly announced to the second-years. The classroom buzzed at Lilia’s explanation. Even after last year’s accident, they were still going through with it. Sofia raised her hand.

“Headmistress. Why are we doing the march training again this year? Last year I was at the scene of the accident. Everyone in this year knows what happened. Besides, the deep-forest beasts are extremely powerful and vicious. What kind of countermeasures are you planning?”

Sofia’s question was exactly what everyone was thinking. But Lilia answered without changing expression.

“Last year you were only first-years, yet the academy still held the march training. And that accident occurred. Some of you probably still feel terror toward the Alsace Great Forest and those vicious beasts. That is exactly why we are holding the march training. If you freeze up because you’re afraid, you won’t be able to fight on the battlefield.”

At those words anger flashed in Sofia’s eyes. A smile rose to her lips.

“…You’re saying we’re scared?”

“Who knows? But that training was canceled midway. In other words, you haven’t finished it yet. Is it really okay to graduate with it half-done?”

Sofia started to speak, but before she could Kaito raised his hand. Lilia called on him and he stood.

“I’m all for the march training. But if it’s the same content as last year it’ll just be a picnic. The same tricks won’t work on us anymore. If we’re doing it, I want the content to be different from last year.”

Lilia smiled brightly, exactly as she had hoped. She had known that provoking him like this would make him bite.

“Specifically, what kind of content does our top student hope for?”

“Change the conditions. Pressed-flower making is enough already. Five hero candidates and fifteen Saint Knight candidates form one team—two hundred people total, ten teams. What we bring back won’t be pressed flowers but the necks of vicious beasts.”

“So you mean a literal complete traversal of the Alsace Great Forest?”

Even Lilia looked troubled; she hadn’t expected it to go that far. The depths of the great forest were a danger zone that even veteran hunters avoided. “Are you trying to get more people killed?” came a flood of objections from the classroom.

“If twenty trained fighters can’t take down a single bear, what kind of heroes are you? What kind of Saint Knights? Ten teams won’t be competing—they’ll be cooperating. It would be weirder if you couldn’t do it.”

He clearly intended to kill the beasts with his own hands. Kaito’s eyes blazed with hatred and killing intent. But Stefan Landsberg spoke up in opposition. Calming and adjusting his friend’s intense side was Stefan’s usual role.

“Kaito. I get that you want revenge. You’re not the only one—everyone here mourns what happened. But we’re still only candidates. Complete traversal can wait until after our Saint Knights manifest their power, don’t you think?”

“Are you saying we should wait until third year, Stefan?”

“It’s too dangerous right now. We could easily have a second or third victim. But once the Saint Knights manifest their power it will be different. I understand you’re eager, but shouldn’t we wait one more year?”

Kaito closed his eyes and let out a long breath. His desire to cut that bear down with his own hands hadn’t changed. But Stefan’s point was reasonable. Everyone except him was still just a “candidate.”

“Yeah… you’re right, Stefan. I let personal feelings speak for me. Sorry.”

“Kaito’s right—same content as last year would be boring. But I’m sure the headmistress will make it… wicked… I mean, high-difficulty, right?”

“Stefan, what exactly do you mean by ‘wicked’? And Kaito. If you can’t control your emotions you’ll never become a proper hero.”

Both of them bowed to Lilia and sat down. Lilia cleared her throat and continued.

“As the top and second-place candidates said, exactly the same content as last year would be meaningless. So we’ll make several changes. First, the starting point will be this academy. We will give each of you five gold coins. Use them however you like and reach the Luca settlement by any means. The deadline is ten days later at dusk. Any team that hasn’t arrived by then is disqualified. From Luca settlement to the city of Ryune we will keep the same three checkpoints as last year. The dream-flower collection stays the same too. We will station troops along the rivers in the great forest, and Saint Knights including Lord Wackenheim will patrol. An accident like last year is impossible. Points will be decided by arrival order in Ryune, remaining money, and the team members’ fatigue level. The winning team will each receive one week of vacation and three gold coins as a reward.”

“Headmistress, isn’t that basically the same as last year?”

Sofia’s objection was answered not by Lilia but by Kaito.

“It’s different. Starting from the academy means you have to cover travel costs yourself. And arriving in ten days means you basically have to use carriages or horses. But if you honestly rent a carriage the money will run out instantly. You’ll have to get creative. Yeah. If it were me…”

Lilia raised her right hand and cut Kaito off.

“One more thing. Kaito, Elfina Rogueia, Sofia Volfort, Elsa Phalanx, and Sasha Grupp—the five of you are not allowed to participate. You will patrol the great forest instead. Especially you, Kaito. I will not permit you to give any more advice to the others.”

She had decided the five who had already become heroes and Saint Knights did not need this training. More than anything, if she gave Kaito free rein he would probably unite all two hundred people and march straight into the depths. Keeping him under her direct supervision was safest.

The other candidates exchanged glances, but everyone seemed to accept it. The second-place Stefan was still human like them, but the top student was a monster. Being on the same level as him would only cause trouble.

“Patrol duty is usually the first real mission for heroes and Saint Knights. Your seniors will drill it into you properly.”

At Lilia’s words Kaito nodded silently, face expressionless.

“You look unhappy. If you have something to say, say it.”

After the explanation to the second-years ended, Kaito and his four Saint Knights were summoned to the headmistress’s office. When Kaito’s face went blank it usually meant he had something on his mind.

“Miss Lilia. What’s the Velos Great Theocracy’s movement like?”

“………”

Lilia stayed silent. The incident had been artificially caused. The most likely mastermind was the Velos Great Theocracy—that was what Kaito believed. Lilia had no evidence to deny that suspicion. But the Velos Great Theocracy was an allied nation of the kingdom; they could not act without clear proof. Still, they were continuing the investigation as far as they could.

“Kaito. I hear you’ve been avoiding Sister Maria?”

“She’s from the theocracy. I don’t know how far I can trust her.”

Lilia pulled a single document from her desk drawer.

“This summer Sister Maria returned to the Velos Great Theocracy and investigated the incident on her own. Here’s her report. Read it.”

Kaito scanned the pages she handed him. The deeper he read, the deeper the frown between his brows grew.

“A meeting of the cardinals… they know my name? What is this?”

“Sisters are dispatched from the Velos Great Theocracy to churches inside the kingdom, including this academy. Their role is to spread the Velos Faith and report on the movements and conditions of heroes and Saint Knights. That would be fine by itself, but the appearance of a hero with unprecedented power is something the theocracy cannot ignore. Your power overturns the very foundation of the Velos Faith—the eternal pairing. What exactly is the goddess’s blessing? Isn’t male rut frequency simply a medical issue rather than divine will? Questions like that are bound to arise.”

“So Sister Maria was protecting me…”

“She’s in a difficult position too. Caught between the mission given by the theocracy and her affection for the students, she found a balance. Your existence does not obstruct faith in Goddess Velos. On the contrary, it proves the greatness of Velos and the potential of humanity… that’s how she convinced herself.”

“…I’ll apologize to Sister later. But this still isn’t evidence.”

“She has her own position. There are probably things she couldn’t write in this report. But we can guess. If the cardinals are moving, the pope is likely involved too. This is far more complicated and larger than we imagined. Even if we accused them now, it would just be crushed and buried.”

“So the only option is for me to become too big to ignore. Is that it?”

“Power that exceeds the frame of Hero Chevalier. Exactly. Unless you possess enough strength to destroy the theocracy if you wanted to, getting the Church to acknowledge it and receive a formal apology will be difficult.”

“Then that’s what I’ll aim for. I will make them pay for killing my wife.”

Sparks of rage flashed in Kaito’s eyes. Nearly a year had passed since the incident and the initial fury had cooled. But inside him sat a dark, cold lump of anger and determination that only grew heavier with time. No matter how long it took, he had decided the enemy would be slain.

“I apologize. I suspected you.”

Sister Maria was in the academy’s chapel. Kaito bowed his head politely. Maria smiled brightly and placed a hand on his still-lowered shoulder.

“You are beloved by Goddess Velos. It’s fine to doubt me. It’s fine to doubt the theocracy. You may even come to dislike the goddess. But please never doubt this one thing. You are without question a Hero Chevalier blessed by the goddess. You will surely become a great hero.”

(You can do it. The greatest Hero Chevalier of all…)

The words she had left at the moment of her death floated up. Kaito’s eyes grew hot. Being slapped would have been easier. He somehow held it in and raised his face. The nun with round glasses somehow reminded him of her. His chest ached sharply. To hide it, Kaito changed the subject.

“There’s something I want to ask you. Why did you protect me? My existence is dangerous to the teachings of Goddess Velos, isn’t it?”

“It may be dangerous to the Velos Great Theocracy and the Church. But if you think about Goddess Velos and her teachings, Kaito, you are not dangerous at all. On the contrary, you are the very symbol of fertility and life force—the proof of human possibility. I am a nun who believes in Goddess Velos and her teachings. I do not believe in the Velos Great Theocracy. I believe doctrine and the concrete actions of the organization should be separated.”

Kaito’s opinion of Sister Maria shot upward. She had put into words the vague doubt he had always held—“Why does a religion need a country and territory?” The devout nun before him had clearly stated that she believed in the Velos Faith, not the theocracy. In other words, if necessary she would not hesitate to turn against the theocracy.

“What does the theocracy plan to do with me?”

“For now it should be fine. But eventually voices inside the Church may start seeing you as a threat. My power cannot stop that. You will have to protect yourself.”

Even as he revised his view of Sister Maria, a certain confusion arose. Until now he had thought of her as a slightly airheaded, cute woman. But the nun before him now felt like an administrator dispatched from the theocracy.

“…One year ago, when I was lost in front of the main gate, you helped me. Was that really a coincidence?”

“Who knows? I just meddled because a cute boy looked troubled. Please think of it that way.”

“You really are a mysterious woman, Sister Maria…”

Maria removed her glasses and slowly approached Kaito. Without the round lenses her impression changed completely. There stood a dignified, beautiful nun. She placed both hands on his shoulders, pulled him close, and brought her plump red lips to his ear.

“If you want to know about me, become a magnificent hero, stand against the theocracy, and win. Then you can have all of me.”

She kissed his cheek. Her right hand gripped his crotch tightly, then stroked once. That alone made Kaito’s lower body throb harder than ever before. She stopped right before he released. The technique was terrifyingly perfect.

“Just who are you…”

By the time he muttered it she had already turned her back. Without looking back she left the chapel.

“Ah… ahh…”

A woman’s moans filled the dark room. On the bed a beautiful mature blonde was pleasuring herself. Ever since losing her husband such urges had come rarely, but these past few months the frequency had skyrocketed. Probably because the man who had carved the pleasure of a female into her body was so close.

“Harder… thrust deeper…!”

She kneaded her breast with her right hand while her left worked between her legs. She slid fingers into her soaking flower and sought her own stimulation. Two fingers weren’t enough; she used her ring finger on the other hole too.

“Forgive me, darling… I can’t stop thinking about another man…”

The face Headmistress Lilia Shurisupu pictured now was not her late husband’s. It was her disciple—the young man overflowing with talent and vitality. He had once been dangerously childish, but after taking his friends’ advice he had grown enough to admit his faults in front of everyone. As a man he was becoming truly splendid.

“I shouldn’t… this is wrong… but I want it so bad…”

Lilia imagined it. Locking the door to the headmistress’s office, bending over the desk, being taken from behind. The wet slapping of flesh, that powerful cock devouring her. Wave after wave of ecstasy, then burning molten seed poured straight into her womb. She would sob in female bliss and beg for more.

“Ah… aahh! I’m cumming!!”

Her body convulsed and Lilia reached climax. But emptiness hit her instantly. Pleasuring herself could never give her that deep pleasure. What on earth was she doing? She let out a long sigh.

“The city of Ryune… I wonder if that bathhouse is still there? If it is, maybe I could invite Kaito…”

She murmured it, then shook her head.