In the end, it ended up like this. Sometimes in the world, some unbelievable things happen. And those things may involve you at times.

“My goodness! What is going on?”

“Seriously. That handsome young man over there did it to protect his priest……”

“Why did he bring his priest here if he can’t even watch him chat with someone else?”

“Shh! Lower your voice. He’s going to hear you!”

“Apparently there was an attempted abduction? But I don’t know if that is true.”

Hundreds of Holy Knights gathered around our room like clouds. Even the few regular guests and blacksmith staff, as well as the busily working chefs came out to watch the commotion. I saw some of the Rambouillet caravan staff as well.

First, I sent Sand to the exchange where the Viscount couple should be. I felt like someone should tell them about the situation in advance. I then just repeatedly apologized. While I did that, the Imperial Crown Prince looked as if he was disgruntled at the fact that I was apologizing.

“Please accept my apologies for the trouble.”

“Yes sir. However, due to receiving three warnings…… You will have to leave the caravanserai immediately.”

“Ohhhhhhhh!”

Manager Gonzalo proclaimed. The crowd gasped at a phenomenal speed. The middle-aged man looked ten years older than earlier, looking almost eighty now. However, his voice did not carry any emotions like disappointment or anger. The man just looked extremely tired. Half the staff looked ready to cry.

It was because the commotion did not stop at the terribly destroyed second floor of the lodging area. The lobby had turned into a sea and the arena, a place I had not even gotten to see, was half destroyed as well. It was to be expected since the fight had started there.

‘I guess I should be relieved that nobody died……’

“Oh come on! They kept attacking a sixteen year old kid saying he was an adult! The kid was crying! Look at all the bruises on the kid!”

Our main character managed to make that happen. Well, I guess it would have been weird if someone else had done it.

“Christelle. Please calm down.”

“Should I not have done that, your highness?” Christelle’s water-colored eyes were distinctly sparkling as she whispered to me. She must have been extremely angry down there as she was completely drenched as well. This meant that she was unable to control her strength.

I put a towel on the MC’s head as well and answered. “No. Even I……”

I didn’t finish the sentence. I would not have done the same, but I would have at least been angry. That was why I chose to understand why she did what she did. But what else could I really do if I didn’t do that?

“I was watching the whole thing, and pink princess did what everybody wished we could do. You see that red-faced boy over there? Apparently it was his first time in the arena today. He came for the first time with his elderly father, and the kid looked pretty talented. That bastard over there charged at him like a madman after seeing that the kid fought better than he expected. It was like he was trying to cut a growing sprout before he could mature! He would have won even if he went easy, but it looked like he wanted to completely suppress the kid. His age must just be for decorations or something. So the princess couldn’t stand watching anymore and got involved. She jumped into the arena, knocked that shit half unconscious and rescued the child. Then some other punks who were supposedly the bastard’s friends started to attack her, which led to this mess.” Joanne scowled as she explained.

I handed the drenched painter a towel as well. I then glanced at the Holy Knights being carried away and then at Isabelle and Sir Johann.

Christelle’s mother, who had been apologizing to Gonzalo, smiled bitterly. Thankfully, she did not look to be hurt. “I apologize for causing you such worries, your highness. My daughter was unable to hold in her anger……”

– I couldn’t tell who had the fire attribute. It was a good show.

Hanan added on from inside Isabelle’s pocket. She looked quite relaxed, supporting her chin with her short arms.

I barely managed to hold back from sighing. I understood this ancient adult choosing not to stop her because she was enjoying life outside the tomb after 1,000 years, but……

“Sir Johann.”

“I’m sorry, your highness. His Royal Highness and Dame Christelle have been quite interested in stigmata research lately. It was difficult for me to draw the appropriate line as their teacher.” His drooping eyes curled up.

‘Apparently stigmata research is done against living opponents now?’

“……Please stop them next time. Although it would be best if there is no next time.”

“I will do my best, your highness,” he Cardinal answered happily.

Maybe I was mistaken, but Sir Johann seemed to be getting more shameless by the day. I apologized to Gonzalo and the staff one more time before promising to pay for the repairs as well as paying significant compensation. The manager finally smiled a bit.

“Oh my goodness! What happened here?!” I heard Lady Marise’s shout at that moment. The two who had returned seemed to have finally figured out what happened.

“Grandma!”

“My goodness, who messed with our pink wild horse?!” Viscount Clément took a look at his granddaughter and became angry. I just quietly closed my eyes.

*

The next day… We were back out on the desert with the Rambouillet caravan.

– Clack, clack……

Ah, how did it instantly become the next day? Simple. We ended up like this after getting kicked out of our lodging less than half a day after checking in. We made a record of getting three warnings in the shortest period of time and being asked to leave the Moreno caravanserai.

The only saving grace was that Gonzalo was kind enough to not ban us forever. The Viscount paid for all of the damages in cash. He said he wanted to personally take responsibility for Christelle’s negligence, so I promised to send him the crown prince’s share later.

The two of them did not scold us at all until everything was over. In fact, they were saying that the person who tried to abduct me was the worst, and that the biggest criminal was that damn old moldy piece of bread that harassed a child and made Christelle angry. They seemed to be just letting us do whatever, but…

‘The two of us are not Holy Knights. How could we understand his Royal Highness’s feelings of almost losing his partner in broad daylight?’

‘We would have picked up weapons as well if we thought something was going to happen to you, your highness. It must have been very shocking for noble individuals as yourselves.’

I could not say anything after hearing that. I had gasped as well, because I did not expect a priest abduction to have almost happened. That person was really bad for luring people in like that. I didn’t even know her name, but I’d make sure to punish her if I saw her again in the future.

– Clack, clack……

That was how all of the deals that the Rambouillet caravan had been making in Moreno were paused. Thankfully, at least half of the deals were entrusted to other merchants they trusted. But now, the next lodging was the only answer. The horses, camels, and staff did not get much rest. There were also things that a merchant guild could not leave to outsiders.

Plop, plop! I opened up a map as the carriage floor shook rhythmically. My friends all gathered around it.

– Hut!

– Kiiiiiii!

Perry, who was carrying Hanan on his back, got close to the map. She looked so cute that I almost patted someone significantly my senior on the head.

Christelle pointed to somewhere on the map as I quickly withdrew my hand.

“The Giegold caravanserai. That is where we will reach soon. According to my grandparents, that is the closest lodging to the Temple of Boundaries. The size and population is the largest in the neutral region. It has two wide oases and the village is so large that it is divided into three regions. That might be why the Vatican’s troops actually work very hard here.”

“That should mean that the Vicarius Generalis has some control here,” I shared my honest thoughts.

Sir Johann nodded his head. “The other lodgings in the desert all started as settlements of ethnic minorities, but Giegold is different. A noble named Ralph Giegold planned everything down to the details.”

“You are talking about the person who received the curse of the paten,” Crown prince Cédric, who was seated alone, commented.

I tilted my head and turned toward him. The punk gently scowled. He seemed to be asking how I didn’t know that despite being a prince.

‘Sorry, big bro used to live in another world. Foreigners seem to know a lot of things but they ironically don’t know some famous things. No matter how hard you study, things like that tend to happen.’

“Dame Christelle and the Baroness probably don’t know either. It is not a story that is publicized to the masses.”

“Yes sir.”

“It’s not like it’s something I need for my life?” Joanne grumbled.

Sir Johann quietly chuckled and continued. “That is true. Count Giegold created this place around 600 years ago. It was about 400 years after the fall of Únĭo. He was a noble of the Holy Kingdom who was originally an ethnic minority. He was said to always long for the desert. There are legends that his ancestors all longed for Únĭo as well.”

– To long for a land they had never experienced… How laughable yet sad.

Hanan looked at a spot on the map before quietly commenting.

Gerrit’s daddy added on, “That is why he received permission from the ruler and the Pope at the time to create a city in the desert.”

“……Is that the end?”

“No, your highness. He was not satisfied with that.”

His white hair flowed down. The sun was already setting outside the window. ‘Roooooooooooar.’ We heard a camel roar in the distance. Demy pushed on Sir Johann’s leg to urge him. It meant that he wanted to quickly hear the rest of the story. He warmly petted the red panda.

“Giegold ended up wanting the Pope’s power.”

“Excuse me……?”

“He believed that he could restore the glory of the ancient desert if he had the most pure and sacred ether on the continent.”

‘That, what……’ We blankly blinked.

Sand, who was cradling Tithé in his arms, cautiously added on. “According to the texts, Giegold slowly lost his mind once he came out to the desert and started to build the caravanserai. He would sing ancient worship songs day and night without sleeping and started doing dances that nobody understood. The astrologists believed that a ghost of the perished kingdom had possessed him.

“……”

The chilling story felt familiar. We all looked toward Hanan. The rag doll who felt out gazes immediately shouted in anger.

– This Queen knows nothing about it! You dare to put the blame for a madman’s actions on this Queen?

“No, absolutely not, your Majesty,” I quickly consoled her. I thought that a different ghost might have done something while Hanan was asleep, but I didn’t say that out loud.

The priest continued with the story. “Then one day, Giegold headed out to the Temple of Boundaries. He got past the World Tree and the Guardian of the maze to reach the location of the Paten of Wishes. Nobody knows how that was possible. It was a time when there were lots of guards and the Pope was still around.”

“So what happened?”

“There are records of him drinking the Holy Water.” Sir Johann calmly addressed the group. My eyes opened wide.

‘He consumed the god’s liquid that had been there since the beginning?’

‘Yves, you can’t drink that. This is not water.’

‘Then?’

‘It is the cleanest form of ether. It is a noble and pure form of the Authority of the Almighty God.’

What I read in < Kaboom! Yves’ Great Adventure > quickly flashed through my mind. Based on what I had heard until now, Giegold was an ordinary person without the power to control ether. There was no way that his body would be able to accept such divine essence. It was a power that only the Pope could control. Why would he do something like that-

“According to the records in the Vatican, the Count’s body immediately burned and he died. Not even ashes were left where he had been standing.”

“……”

“That is the last record of a human approaching the paten.”

“Wow……”

We all gulped.

“Kiiiiii, kiiiiii.” The cowardly Rhea dangled on Joanne, who clicked her tongue and consoled him. Perry quickly curled up on the crown prince’s knees. I looked over at Percy, who was curled up on the bed.

My throat felt dry from anxiety despite not even arriving at the temple yet. I suddenly recalled the story of how Prince Consort Alexandre could not handle the gaze of the Almighty God. The story of the Count’s end after being greedy for Holy Water echoed in my ears as well.

Honestly speaking, I was a bit scared. Would I be okay? No, not just me, I wanted Prince Jesse’s body to be fine as well. Could both survive? ‘Just looking at it shouldn’t cause any issues, right?’

– Neeeeeeigh!

“My lord! We’ve arrived!”

Flinch. I snapped out of my thoughts after hearing some noises outside. The carriage was slowing down. We all quickly pushed our bodies against the windows. Everybody’s jaws dropped. Well, everybody except the crown prince and Sir Johann.

“Wow!”

*

I had never been to a market like this before.

“Balls! Look over there! It’s a teddy bear that looks just like you!”

“Oh come on, Baroness!”

“Ahahahaha!”

This was incomparable to the night market we once saw in Lucas Village or the old merchants lining up the streets during the Riester Harvest Festival. White tents circled around the large village like a hula hoop. There were magic lights and torches to light up the desert now that the sun had set.

We left our belongings at the caravanserai, ate a simple dinner, and headed out to the market to take a look and find a present for Vice Captain Élisabeth’s birthday. I felt all of my fatigue go away looking at the faces of thousands of people full of excitement and joy. I was so excited I couldn’t help but take my coin pouch out over and over. I bought some souvenirs for Ganael and Benjamin just now as well.

“Cheap, so cheap! Three comfortable and cool linen shirts for one copper coin!”

“How much are these oranges? They smell so good!”

“What would you like to pay for it?”

“Spices! We have all sorts of spices here!”

“The boss has gone crazy!”

Looking at the wooden boards with red writing on them made me laugh. I wasn’t the type to enjoy being outside, but everything felt wonderful, probably since it was my first experience here. I put the concerns I felt on the carriage to a corner of my mind.

‘I won’t forget about it so just let me enjoy this peace for a bit……’

“Huh?”

I suddenly stopped walking. I was certain that I saw someone in the crowd. It had happened in an instant so that I had no idea who it was.

However……

“‘……What was that just now?’”

I felt sad for some reason. I quickly looked around but I could not find the person.

—
Translator’s Comments

I want to go to a night market too! And finally Liz is mentioned again! I miss our Vice Captain!