I thought that our caravan’s large size might catch some attention, but thankfully, that did not happen. They used to have over 10,000 camels before the Warring Era but that fell to thousands after the war. It became even smaller to only around 500 after the ‘Duke Simon de Sarnez incident.’ The Rambouillet caravan was only considered mid-sized compared to the caravans coming from the Holy Kingdom.

This was the reason that the guests of the Moreno caravanserai did not pay us much attention. Even the people who had been peeking toward us quickly lost interest.

‘Well, that’s good.’

“Please come this way.”

“Thank you.”

The manager, Gonzalo, who had come out to the door to greet us, escorted us inside. We asked him to take care of the guest log inside the room. The caravan staff unloaded the goods in orderly fashion before leaving the camels and carriages to the lodging staff.

We looked around as we walked. Joanne, Sand, and I were especially mesmerized. The inside was similar to the Zaum caravanserai while much different at the same time.

“Please look over there, Sand. The ceiling is in the shape of a dome.”

“Yes. But there is a skylight window at the top!”

“That is so pretty, and something that you don’t see very often. I’ve never seen this shape in the Empire.”

“Right, Baroness? The colors are beautiful as well.”

“Yeah. It’s been a while since I’ve wanted to use my watercolors. Do you want to do some natural tye-dye later?”

“That sounds great! But what is natural tye-dye?”

We were each carrying a divine beast basket (Demy, Rhea, Perry, and Tithé were randomly inside them) as we looked around.

There were even more guests once we entered. A lot of Holy Knights must really stay here as there was a smithy and a weapon exchange that we had not seen in Zaum. ‘Clang! Clang!’ ‘Craaaackle!’ We could hear the pounding of metal and the crackling of the furnace.

“Hey, this is your sword! Ours got swapped!”

“Ahhahahahahahaha! Sorry, I mwessed up becwause I’m drunk!” A loud voice echoed. There were many old capes fluttering around us and the scent of alcohol filled the area.

Over there was a restaurant and this area was a pub, but the two did not seem very different. There were some people hugging it out in the lobby as well, probably because they had not met in a while. Unlike our last lodging which mainly had regular people, the majority of the guests here had outfits ready for battle.

The only Holy Knights I had met until now had been the main characters, Sir Johann, crown princess Elise, and Hanan. It was interesting seeing so many of them at once like this. I could hear faint cheering from the distance.

– Waaaaaaaaaaaaaah……!

– Win! Win! Win! Win!

– Earth! Earth! Earth!

– Air! Air! Air!

‘What is going on……?’ I blinked in confusion. Christelle and the Imperial Crown Prince exchanged uncomfortable glances.

Sir Johann, as usual, gave an answer for our confusion. “As this is a place where warriors gather, fights can’t help but break out.”

“Is it okay to fight in the lodging?”

“Oh. It is better to create an exclusive area for it. Before the ‘arena’ was developed in the past, there were times where guestrooms were destroyed or uninvolved people ended up dead. That is the reason we developed an arena in addition to the training ground.”

I asked with a baffled look on my face and Gonzalo kindly explained. There were even two healing priests here, which was rare to find in other lodgings.

“I see.” We curled up our shoulders and answered. ‘Everybody seems to be overflowing with stamina.’

“Hey! A water and fire traveling together? Hahahaha.”

“Let’s see. Three Holy Knights but only two priests?”

“You must fight all the time, wahahahaha!”

Three or four rowdy Holy Knights looked at us and shouted. “Then do you take turns with the priest? Who is better?’ They even asked extremely disrespectful questions.

The Viscount’s family just ignored them and continued to walk. I did my best to look forward and walk as well. The main character couple had been extremely quiet since earlier, almost as if they were sick, but I could finally tell what was going on. One wrong move and the two of them might make others hurt.

“Sand, there’s no way they are associated with the Vatican, right?” I quietly whispered.

The priest’s face lit up, potentially because something he knew came up for the first time in a long while. The young boy groaned as he pulled up the divine beast basket. ‘Rhea must be in that one.’

“None of them should be associated with the Vatican, your highness. Most of them stay at the Temple of Boundaries. Most of the Holy Knights roaming the desert come from the Holy Kingdom. I heard that most of them are children of noble families who were kicked out of their homes. They are not even mercenaries, they just roam around calling themselves adventurers or explorers. I’m sure some of them chose to leave their families on their own accord. Because of their backgrounds, even the Vatican cannot restrict them too much.”

“Kicked out? Why? Ah, I can tell based on how they are.” Joanne clicked her tongue toward the problematic Holy Knights. Based on her brash personality, she didn’t even say that quietly.

It made one of the knights jump up from his seat!

– Slam!

“Hey! What did you just say? You clearly look like a poor commoner bitch!”

“You didn’t hear what I said? Ah, maybe you are stupider than I am? I said I could understand why you were kicked out of your home.”

“You bitch!” Joanne shrugged her shoulders and said that, making the angry opponent almost fly toward us.

Gonzalo calmly stopped him. I rushed to stand in front of our artist.

‘We’re going to end up in a fight as soon as we got here. Let’s talk it out!’

“Sir, please calm down. You are immediately banned from the premises if you fight in here with another guest.”

“Who said I was going to fight? Let me go, I said let me go! That woman doesn’t seem to know how scary Holy Knights can be. How dare she act like that to a Bishop level, ugh!”

The man, who was as large as a boulder, suddenly grabbed his neck and staggered. His face, that had instantly turned red, became filled with shock.

“Ugh! Ugh!” Veins were clearly visible on his thick neck.

I flinched and moved back with Joanne and Sand. On the other hand, people started to gather in the lobby. The guests had noticed the commotion.

– Slam!

“Baaaaarf!”

The heavy body let out some dry heaves as he went flying. He was shaking without even being able to raise his head. “Fuck!” His friends finally realized the serious nature and ran over.

The Viscount couple and Isabelle were quite shocked. I rapidly looked toward Sir Johann.

“That’s enough. Please.”

“……I feel a bit wronged today.” His eyebrows curled down as he withdrew his power.

Well, I thought he did, but the situation did not get better. The troublesome Holy Knight was now dripping with sweat as well. I became flustered and my eyes quickly moved. Taking another look, I could see that his issue wasn’t that he was having trouble breathing because of the air attribute. Nausea, dizziness, cold……

“Ah.”

This was ‘Ether overpowering.’

“Christelle, your Royal Highness.” I looked for the pair.

The two of them usually shared no commonality, but today, their expressions were so completely the same that I got chills. I may be exaggerating a bit, but they looked ready to kill somebody. ‘Hey guys!’

“Please hold back this one time.”

“I held back once earlier, but this motherfucker is spewing some more bullshit,” Christelle viciously mumbled. Crown prince Cédric seemed to feel the same way. The two of them were two peas in a pod in situations like this.

While Isabelle consoled her daughter, I went to try and take down the child. I lowered my voice as well.

“Your Royal Highness. No good would come from causing a commotion in a place like this. Her Majesty and her Eminence would not want something like this either. Let’s rest peacefully before heading toward the temple, your Royal Highness.”

“……”

“Take some ether once we are in the room as well. We will all enjoy some delicious food as well. Please?” I even promised him some VIP treatment. He glared down at me and then…

“Huff! Cough cough! Haaaaa, haaaaa! Cough!”

‘……I saved a life today! What a good boy.’ I smiled brightly and looked at the two of them.

“Hey! Are you okay? Are you good now?”

“Move! Get lost!”

“Man, you’re such a mess even when we are worrying about you.”

– Crash!

The man staggered up by using the table to hold himself up before he ended up breaking a kettle and a plate. He must have been embarrassed as he quickly left the area. He made sure not to look our way even as an accident.

Gonzalo, who had been watching the situation, let out a deep sigh. “Charge his room for the damage. Also record one warning to his name.”

“Yes sir.” An employee answered immediately and made a note in his notebook. The manager bowed toward us. “I truly apologize for making you see such a terrible sight before you’ve even entered your room.”

“Not at all. Moreno always has such energetic young men…… A caravan needs to know how to deal with it.”

“Thank you for your understanding, Viscount Rambouillet. However…… Your guards did use violence to respond so they will also receive a warning. The rules are applied equally despite identity or position, so I ask for your understanding.”

“Yes, go ahead. I apologize for our actions as well,” Lady Marise warmly answered. We received a warning even before we checked in.

I pushed up the glasses on my face and asked the manager, “Excuse me, what happens if you get multiple warnings?”

“You will be kicked out immediately upon the third warning. If you receive another warning on your next visit, you will receive a permanent ban. Thankfully, most of them are good at following the rules……” Gonzalo looked tired as he said that. His curly beard seemed to slump over. It was a dangerous job for a regular person to run a place like this.

We followed him and cut through the wide lobby again. Dozens, no, hundreds of gazes were focused on us, but I did my best to ignore them.

– Sweep, sweep……

Behind us, the staff were cleaning up the broken glass and flipped over furniture. I had a concern after taking a look at them.

‘Will we be able to rest here without being kicked out……’

– Screeeech!

‘Ah whatever, it should be fine.’ Anyway, Perry was in my basket!

*

“……You plan on confining me inside the room?”

‘It’s not fine, you dumb Jung Yeseo from thirty minutes ago!’

I looked at the Holy Knight trio in disbelief. The crown prince sat down at the head of the table as if it was too annoying to explain. He seemed to just be fighting this battle with his face.

I looked at Christelle in disbelief, but she just blinked her big eyes and tilted her head. It looked like she was trying to get past it with her cuteness as well. ‘Gerrit’s dad!’

“I’m sorry, your highness. Priest Sand will be with you so please don’t be too disappointed.”

“Having someone else with me doesn’t turn a confinement into something else.”

“Hahaha.” He laughed loudly as if he heard something very funny. ‘The person affected does not find this to be fun at all!’

“It is common with Holy Knights in the desert. Remember how you didn’t see any priests in the lobby?”

……That was true. It wasn’t easy to tell Holy Knights and priests apart, but the fact that they all looked like they could fight made it hard to think of them as priests.

‘This is a stereotype too though.’

“There haven’t been Holy Knights in the Empire for a long time, so there isn’t a common relationship between Holy Knights and priests. No matter what you do, the three of you are the first to do it. But it is different in the Venetiaan Holy Kingdom. The wandering knights from there are even more extreme.”

“Mm.”

Holy Knights and priests maintained an odd balance. Priests provided pure ether to the Holy Knights while the Holy Knights used this to use their special ether. Holy Knights needed ether replenishment, so they naturally obsessed over their priests and sometimes showed coercive attitudes. In rare cases, they become completely obsessed or go crazy. This was something everybody knew.

But another factor was involved as well.

“It is the difference in numbers. Priests can be seen anywhere on the continent, but Holy Knights are only born in the Holy Kingdom and there are much fewer Holy Knights in number. Because of that, some of the Holy Knights started to share an odd thought. ‘I am a special existence, so I need to have an even more talented priest.’ There is also, ‘I can’t accept a Holy Knight weaker than me having a better priest than mine.’”

“That…… Is a bit weird. It doesn’t seem like they treat priests as people.” I scowled. Priests were not trophies for the Holy Knights. They were just as precious children of other families who had the right to choose their own partners.

Sir Johann’s eyes gently curled up. “I knew you would say that, your highness. The people I am talking about are the minority, even in the Holy Kingdom. But the desert is a master-less land, so they can come do whatever they want.”

“Then―”

“There are fights every so often with their priests as wager. I recall that abductions and late night escapes have happened before as well.”

“Excuse me……?” My jaw dropped. Sand, who had been nodding his head in agreement with Sir Johann, suddenly gasped at that final bomb of a statement.

‘So they really do treat priests like items. Is that possible? Do they cover their mouths so that they can’t use their Divine Oracle?’ Just thinking about it gave me the chills.

– What a mess. How can they do that to such precious existences!

Hanan (rag doll), who had been riding Demy like a horse, clicked her tongue.

The crown prince looked right at me. “Do you need any more explanation?”

“I don’t, but……”

“Then the decision is settled.” The punk who had not said a thing until now shamelessly commented. He then threw the Sword of Wisdom from the Flaming Star at me and demanded that I take good care of it. I guess he planned on changing and going out to work out. He was in the lead while Christelle and her mother, as well as Joanne, started plotting for the outing. They said that they would buy us some souvenirs.

“……”

Sand and I just blankly stared at each other.

*

I don’t usually say things like this, but… My brother, the King of homebodies, officially named me a homebody as well, but…

“I want to go out too……”

A sigh-like comment flowed out of my mouth. Demy and I were both looking out the living room window.

I was fully confident about playing inside, but the situation today was very different. This was like going on an overseas trip and having to stay in the room because I hurt my leg. My body felt a bit squirmy as I had to keep my ether tightly sealed as well.

Christelle and her mom went with Joanne to check out the arena with Sir Johann going as their protector. The crown prince was washing off after training for two hours. Just hearing the sound of water for a while made it hard to hold back the thoughts popping into my mind.

‘I want to eat the food I saw earlier when it’s hot. I want to look out from the top floor too. I-’

“Snore!”

Flinch! I was shocked at Sand’s snoring before I chuckled. Our Mr. Balls and the divine beasts were enjoying a great nap. Rhea, who was lying on the priest’s stomach, was moving up and down. ‘He’s sleeping so well despite Rhea being heavy.’

“They are planning on doing business here for about four days before heading to the Temple of Boundaries. I think they cut out a lot of time because of us.”

– Whimper

“I know, right? How are we going to survive four days……” I couldn’t help but sigh. I put a piece of ice in Demy’s mouth and blankly stared. Seeing the desert landscape for a long time was so boring that I had been seated at a window facing the lobby since about thirty minutes ago.

‘Might as well enjoy the foreigners.’

“……ney! Honey!”

‘Hmm?’

“Yes, you cutie with the glasses!”

‘Huh?’ I tilted my head and placed my head against the window. Someone was waving both arms from the other side of the circular lobby. She was not in the hallway but in a guestroom window as well. Her outfit underneath her curly hair was extremely shocking.

I became flustered, not knowing where to look. ‘What the? Is she talking to me?’

“Yes, I was calling out to you, honey! Are you a priest too? Are you confined like me?”

‘……She’s also a priest?’

—
Translator’s Comments

Ah our cutie with glasses is catching more attention. Glasses babes are the best.