ALL NOVEL Chapter 37
Chapter 37: Is He in Love?
In front of the Knights’ Order barracks.
Saturn was participating in joint training, running laps.
Usually, as a guard, he wouldn’t have the time for this, but this time he had more freedom because Rubena was attending a Tea Party.
If there were any other motives…
“Sir Trebion, are you alright?”
“Yes, Sir Heisenberg. I’m fine now.”
Saturn’s gaze turned to Asher.
Considering he had been in a coma for half a month, he looked remarkably healthy.
No, in some ways, he even seemed more cheerful than usual.
Should he be relieved?
Though guards couldn’t interact closely, Asher was a treasured junior.
Saturn had his own worries buried within.
However, what concerned him was Asher’s change in personality.
Since when had Asher, who once appeared as the embodiment of passion and goodwill, started to bear such a sly smile?
If he had to pinpoint the timing, it would have been after starting the guard duty.
The cognitive dissonance was immense, but well, it was the kind of duty that could turn even a healthy knight into a paranoid wreck, so he decided to let it slide.
Hadn’t he himself gone through a major transformation, ending up bald after his guard duty?
Saturn casually spoke.
“It’s good to see you healthy. The Saintess was quite worried about you.”
“Yes, I’m sorry for causing concern.”
“For someone who’s apologizing, you sure are wearing a big smile.”
“Haha, I just remembered the scolding I received.”
Is it really just a scolding?
Saturn unintentionally recalled the time in Pured.
Bershia, who had descended into madness and brought about doom, was a terrifying sight.
Afterward, when taking care of Asher, he’d felt an almost maniacal obsession emanating from her.
It was oddly strange to think that she had moved on from that event as if it was just a mere ‘scolding.’
Saturn glanced at Asher.
No additional words were added.
It wasn’t something he needed to delve into deeply.
“…Is that so.”
Thus, silence fell.
The two matched their pace, running side by side.
The sound of their feet hitting the ground and their breaths filled the air, with the gaps filled by the knights’ chants.
It was then that one of them spoke up.
“I wonder how the Tea Party is going?”
“Hmm.”
“It shouldn’t turn into a fight.”
Saturn completely agreed with that.
In fact, on days with Tea Parties, Rubena often returned in a fit of rage after being totally dismissed.
It had become a sort of annual tradition.
With the workload ramping up, Saturn would rather avoid such occasions.
However, this time, he didn’t feel as worried.
“I believe Saintess Bershia will manage things. Their bond seems to have strengthened.”
“Hmm, if it’s our Saintess, that’s definitely true.”
“Besides, this time, the agenda is serious, so there shouldn’t be any silly arguments.”
“Ah…”
Asher nodded in agreement.
“Sir Raman faced trouble, didn’t he?”
“I visited him during recovery. He was my predecessor.”
The person who had served Rubena just before Saturn took charge was Raman, who had gotten hurt by an Artificial Witch during the recent investigation.
Fortunately, he was not in danger of death but was in critical condition and unable to rise from bed for a while.
“The Artificial Witches must be quite strong. Embarrassingly, I collapsed before the real battle, so I lack information.”
Asher smiled awkwardly, as if admitting to being at a loss.
Saturn took a moment to recall that day.
Since then, he had sometimes considered a troubling thought.
If Bershia hadn’t gone berserk that day, could he have defeated the Artificial Witch?
“……”
He couldn’t give a definitive answer.
In their first encounter, he had gone all out with a strike intending to finish it, but it seemed that the Artificial Witch sustained no damage at all.
More accurately, it seemed she didn’t care about wounds inflicted at all.
Bershia’s power was so far beyond normalcy that people like Rubena and other missing persons might not have sensed it, but Saturn, who had experienced landing a blow firsthand, understood.
“She’s powerful. Definitely.”
It was true, the Artificial Witches were terrifyingly strong.
Despite being one of the top-ranked knights known for his defenses, even he acknowledged that the Artificial Witches were abnormally powerful.
It was a serious matter to overlook.
After all, wasn’t it true that the Heretics would continue producing such Artificial Witches to threaten the continent?
“We need to be careful.”
Asher muttered those words and then fell silent.
A small worry crept into Saturn’s mind.
What if Asher fell victim to the next Artificial Witch they encountered?
Could Bershia react with the same fury as before, or even stronger, losing her reason and obliterating everything around?
Bershia was a walking disaster and an unpredictable ticking time bomb.
His apprehension soon took on a verbal form.
“…Don’t get hurt. There are many people who care about you.”
Asher replied with a teasing smile.
“Yes, I’ll make sure not to get hurt anymore. I’m tired of feeling powerless.”
“Good.”
He seemed to exude confidence.
Saturn couldn’t help but chuckle internally.
Who really was worrying about whom here?
In terms of talent, brute force, and piety.
Though he wouldn’t admit it, Asher stood out distinctly among the top-ranked knights.
Had that incident that day not happened while he was throwing himself to protect Bershia, the outcome might have been different.
Saturn pushed those absurd thoughts aside.
And so, he said.
“Let’s finish up the training.”
“Yes.”
Asher’s response was again causing a sense of dissonance.
He was curious about what was going on in that head of his, but unfortunately, Saturn had no way to know.
Unlike in the past, he had become too cryptic a person now.
* * *
The atmosphere of the Tea Party turned serious in an instant.
The implications of a top-ranked knight’s defeat were far too grave.
The title of the Church’s ultimate weapon wasn’t just a matter within the Church, it spanned much further.
The Church exists above the laws of the world.
Two elements enabled this to happen.
The first was the existence of the Saintess, who conveys the voice of the divine, and the second was the coercive power of the top-ranked knights who compel the world to heed that voice.
Wasn’t it said that the fist was closer to law?
If the position of the Saintess gave the Church a moral justification, then the position of the top-ranked knight endowed the Church with coercive power.
Though only a handful of them existed, their presence allowed the Church to enforce the divine will upon the world.
Due to its symbolic significance, a top-ranked knight must not be broken.
Yet, they had been defeated by Heretics.
This issue was serious enough that even the Saintesses couldn’t stay indifferent, and in the midst of it all, Halia spoke up.
“While it’s not a major injury, the implications are immense. Moreover, Artificial Witches have already been spotted causing anomalies everywhere.”
Judith asked.
“Have you informed the outside?”
“We cannot. Raman’s injury is being kept strictly confidential. The Cardinals are having a hard time with this.”
“What about other knights…?”
“From now on, top-ranked knights will team up. Just as I and Judith did, or how Rubena and Bershia did. The conclusion of the Church is that we must create safeguards to respond in case of emergencies.”
It surely wasn’t just that reason.
Just as Bershia’s powers indicated, a single misstep could be managed, but two failures posed a knife that threatened the entire Church.
It was a resolute determination to no longer permit defeat, and it also brought great concern to Asher.
‘Things are getting serious.’
It was a matter they couldn’t afford to overlook.
The next deployment might become even tougher than now.
“…The Heretics likely won’t remain dormant any longer.”
The tides of war tend to change in the blink of an eye.
The appearance of a crimson sky and the defeat of a top-ranked knight.
From the Heretics’ perspective, these developments might seem fortuitous, and if it continued like this, they might not hide but instead go rampant in full view, stirring up chaos.
Halia nodded.
“Consequently, we must act differently from before. Moving forward, it won’t be undercover operations. Official embassies will be more frequent as we traverse each nation.”
Asher nodded in agreement.
Judith and Rubena didn’t particularly like the idea either, but they accepted it.
Following that, they received more trivial information until the Tea Party concluded.
Asher left the meeting room, feeling quite contemplative.
He needed to consult about matters related to Bershia soon.
Today was also the day of joint training, and he’d heard that after showing her well-being, Bershia would attend the training till the end.
Thus, he was heading toward the barracks to escort her.
Asher crossed through the Church to reach the venue.
Upon arriving, his expression turned serious.
“Haah…”
“Phew…”
Asher’s expression clouded over.
One eyebrow raised.
His gaze was clearly fixated beyond the training ground’s pillars.
‘…Not again.’
The Sisters were peeking at the knights training.
To be precise, they were peeking at Bershia, who was somewhere among them.
“Ah, you’re back again…”
“I hadn’t seen you in a while, and life was dull… I’m so glad to see you again.”
“Sir Trebion is so cool, don’t you think? Especially with those cold eyes…”
“His gaze may be like that, but he can’t be harsh toward someone who has opened their heart! Sir Trebion must be…!”
No, that won’t do.
Bershia was someone who became more torturous the more she opened her heart.
At the very thought of him, Asher found himself muttering inwardly.
‘…You know nothing.’
Amidst the fantasies swirling inside, the whispers of those Sisters became a bothersome nuisance.
It was an inevitable human tendency to turn defensive against opposing feedback aimed at oneself.
In that moment…
“Aren’t you a romantic? You threw yourself to save the Saintess again and ended up in a coma….”
“Ah, to have such a person….”
“Is he perhaps in love with the Saintess?”
At that, Asher jolted, his shoulders twitching.
“Yikes! Hey, you shouldn’t say such things so casually!”
“But it’s not impossible, right?”
“That’s one thing, but…!”
The Sisters erupted in a flurry of excitement, causing his cheeks to flush a bit.
It was too urgent of a situation to even be thinking about romance, but due to the ongoing struggles he had faced, it still lingered in his mind.
“—There he is. Stay close to me so I don’t feel anxious.”
Teasing whispers and the images of being enveloped in warmth swirled in his thoughts.
The more he tried to escape that grip, the tighter it clutched.
Why the heck was that memory surfacing right now, of all times?
‘Romantic…’
His lips pressed tightly together.
Hearing that word invited a myriad of interpretations.
No, that’s a baseless thought.
Asher shook his head vigorously.
What he envisioned as feelings between men and women were emotions filled with shyness and embarrassment, causing them to hesitate in approaching each other.
Just holding hands felt sacred, making his heart flutter.
In contrast, Bershia’s way of expressing herself was so crude.
Simply put, she had a guard who was easy to tease, and she was just having fun at his expense.
After all, she always made things difficult for him, claiming it was “fun.”
The words of the Sisters didn’t need to weigh on his mind.
‘What a frivolous thing to hear.’
He calmed his nerves.
Immediately after, he glared at Bershia, the source of these rumors, feeling a sudden annoyance toward her, just to find their eyes met.
Startled—
Asher jolted.
Bershia was smiling.
Slow and sly.
It felt as if her smile was mocking him.
“—Such lewdness. Really.”
A strange feeling of guilt washed over him.
There was no reason for him to feel that way—
“……”
His ears burned.