Chapter 117 – Arrival of the Holy Knights

“This is where we are right now. That’s the royal castle of the neighboring kingdom, and here’s the local church.”

Got it.

Even in the neighboring kingdom, the church and the royal castle aren’t all that far apart.

Heart and the captain started talking to the guard while poring over the map.

“How long does it take to get from here to the neighboring kingdom’s royal castle?”

“Yes, sir. On horseback, pushing straight through the mountains without rest, it’d take about a day. If we force the pace, maybe half a day and a bit.”

Half a day plus change for this distance is impressive, alright.

But it’d be brutal on the horses. Better to build in a little more leeway…

“Get fatigue recovery potions for all the horses. We’ll depart with a bit more time to spare.”

“Yes, sir!”

Heh, looks like Heart was thinking the same thing. Couldn’t help but chuckle.

A few of the Holy Knights on hand snapped to attention and left the room.

That said, I never imagined Grandfather would redirect every bit of our forces—minus the First Holy Knights—over here, and even issue a “Divine Oracle” on top of it.

“Ted, hold onto these.”

He handed me several fluffy magical tools designed to deliver letters to churches.

After that meeting, the bishop had given them to Gain and Heart with instructions to “keep them on hand in case of emergencies.”

Right. We’re officially with the church now.

“Heart, if Marie’s in the royal castle, that could get tricky.”

“Yeah. Worst case, we’ll need enough firepower to take the whole castle.”

Heart had been worried about that too, huh.

If it turns into a full-on conflict, Marie could be in real danger.

Even a night raid would need insiders in the castle to pull off.

“It’d be great if the Divine Oracle made them surrender outright…”

Not that wishful thinking’s gonna help.

“The enemy has nowhere to go now that they’ve kidnapped Marie.”

“Who knows what they’ll do… Only God knows, right?”

Heart nodded with a wry smile.

“Lord Heart, if the Saintess is in the royal castle, would the realistic play be a midnight assault, or have the church’s infiltration team extract her and link up?”

The captain said it while glaring at the map.

“Yeah. If it blows up into all-out war, we’d have no choice but to charge the castle with every Holy Knight, using the Divine Oracle as our shield to bring it down. Either way, we can’t do a damn thing until the Fifth Covert Unit sneaks in and secures Marie first.”

Heart and the captain exchanged glances and nodded.

The key’s that Fifth Covert Unit, then…

If we can reach Marie, maybe have her cause a ruckus herself?

Nah, casualties would hurt her reputation as Saintess. What a pain.

“Here’s hoping she’s not in the royal castle.”

They both laughed and nodded at my words.

Yeah, no kidding.

“Guard, once the other Holy Knights arrive, is there a place for them to stand by?”

“There’s an open area just ahead where they can set up camp.”

“Good! Guide them there when they arrive.”

“Yes, sir.”

As the guard moved with crisp efficiency at Heart’s command, I scanned the map and started placing stones on other spots where Marie might be holed up.

“What’s up?”

“Just thinking—if she’s not at the castle, where’d be the best place to lock her away…”

“Someone who can mobilize the border guards? Local lord or royalty nearby. A big-shot merchant with deep pockets isn’t out of the question either.”

Heart started plopping down stones left and right.

“Merchants or lords would be easy. The Fifth Covert Unit could handle it solo. Royalty’s the real headache.”

I glared at the map, grunting under my breath, when Heart came over and clapped my shoulder. “Ease up a bit.”

Was I that tense?

“Lord Heart, a letter from the neighboring kingdom’s church.”

Heart took the letter, read it in silence, and frowned.

Something happen to Marie?

I shot him a death glare that screamed “Spit it out already”, and he just laughed.

“Heh. Sorry about that. Captain! Come here a sec.”

Heart called over the captain, who was talking with some Holy Knights.

“What is it?”

“Letter from the neighboring church. Marie’s safe.”

“She’s safe!””Thank goodness!”

The captain and I both blurted it out.

“But get this—she’s apparently in the neighboring kingdom’s royal castle.”

The royal castle?

“No way royalty snatched her up?”

“That’s what it looks like. The first prince is the ringleader.”

The first prince…

Is the Kingdom of Henzetta seriously picking a fight with the church?

“Sounds like full-on war.”

The captain said it, but Heart shook his head.

“Nah, it’s the first prince going rogue. And we’ve got full cooperation from the second prince. Talk about a golden opportunity—he’s our inside man.”

First prince as the mastermind, second prince fully on board…

“So we stick to the plan we discussed?”

“Heh. They came up with the exact same one. We head to the castle at midnight. To avoid a fight, the second prince will hand Marie over outside.”

“That’s a relief. Never thought the second prince would step up personally.”

“Yeah, who’d defy their own prince inside the castle walls?”

Makes sense. Gotta hand it to the neighboring church’s spin—making the second prince the hero of the rescue turns it into the first prince’s solo screw-up, not a national betrayal.

“Ted, write up a reply right away and send our plan.”

“On it.”

Great to hear Marie’s okay.

Just that much wipes away all the fatigue!

“Lord Heart, the Third, Fourth, and Fifth Holy Knight Orders have arrived one after another and are setting up camp.”

“Got it. Tell each captain to prepare to surround the neighboring kingdom’s royal castle at midnight. Start getting ready to move out after noon.”

Alright then, time to write that letter to the neighboring church.

Something like this should do—maybe punch it up a little.

—

We’ll come retrieve Marie at midnight as planned.

For safety, have all your Holy Knights surround the castle.

If it turns into all-out war, we’ll use the Divine Oracle as cover to storm the castle with every Holy Knight and take it down.

—

That should cover it. We’re all set.