Chapter II: A Dragon I Picked up Got Overly Attached to Me, so I Made Her My Daughter

[AI CENSORSHIP BLOCKED THIS CHUNK - RAW ENGLISH RETAINED]

“Chastille Lillqvist — thine authority as an Archangel is hereby indefinitely suspended.”

Upon hearing that from her direct superior, Cardinal Clavwell, Chastille hung her head down in silence. And her Sacred Sword was nowhere to be found. As it was an all important symbol of the church, it was now enshrined within the church’s treasury.

The origin of this matter was what happened half a month ago. The seat of the thirteenth Archdemon that had opened up was given to a young sorcerer named Zagan. And naturally, the church wanted to strike down said Zagan while he was still inexperienced, and began gathering their forces.

However, the one who opposed the idea was Chastille.

“I’ve had my life saved by him twice. I cannot turn my back on him now.”

Surely, there was a more clever way for her to prove her point. However, even with the enormous power of a demon right before his eyes, Zagan didn’t falter. Seeing him like that, Chastille felt ashamed of herself.

That’s why I don’t want to fight against him, even if that means betraying my oaths.

As a wielder of a Sacred Sword who served as the church’s greatest weapon, and not only that, as the only woman in the group, Chastille had heavy support from the populace, and yet she chose to do something that could’ve easily been considered heresy.

They no longer had the time to worry about Zagan’s subjugation, as Cardinal Clavwell had to pass down her sentence instead. This was, in other words, proof that there was no point to their actions beyond ostentatiously displaying the authority of the church.

By merely making sorcerers out as evil, they were able to justify themselves. That was why any old turncoat was viewed as a bigger problem than a mighty sorcerer.

The corruption of the church... may just have gone as far as it can.As Chastille stifled a sigh, the Angelic Knights behind her raised their voices.

“Please wait, Your Eminence Clavwell! That decision is far too excessive.”

“I am in agreement! If you take Lady Chastille’s achievements into consideration, there should be some manner of leniency.”

“Moreover, now that a new Archdemon has appeared, decreasing the number of Sacred Swords out on the field will only invite chaos!”

“Cease that, all of you!” Chastille roughened her voice in response to the Angelic Knights’ backlash.

Gazing at the ones who quieted down without hesitation, the old cardinal let out a grave sigh.

“Does it appear to all of you that I feel no remorse?” Cardinal Clavwell, who seemed to have aged even more, muttered as if lamenting.

“That’s...” Thus, the Angelic Knights had no choice but to keep quiet in response.

All I wanted... was to protect the people who were crying out for help... That was why I became an Angelic Knight...After she was granted a Sacred Sword, she held pride in her work as she protected the innocent masses from the unreasonable oppression of sorcerers. And before she knew it, she got nothing but orders titled ‘must be eliminated’ from the church, and she was no longer even able to swing her sword by her own will.

A single phrase from her, that a sorcerer wasn’t evil, had caused this massive uproar precisely because of how loyal she’d been so far.

But, with this, I guess I at least managed to pay back my debt to Zagan.At the very least, the formation of the subjugation squad would be greatly delayed. There was no way that shrewd sorcerer wouldn’t take countermeasures against the church, and she should have at least been able to help them by buying some time.

Suddenly, Chastille recalled the elven girl that was by Zagan’s side. Even though she was a sorcerer’s maid, she acted as if Chastille was a friend. And Chastille felt that they truly could have been friends, if only she wasn’t an Angelic Knight.

Though it was far too late, such fanciful thought ran through her mind.

Eventually, Cardinal Clavwell placed his hand upon Chastille’s shoulder.

“Chastille, please do not make such a resigned face. With the passage of time, I believe I will be able to have thine punishment retracted.”

Chastille suddenly stared at him in wonder as she heard those hope-filled words.

“What... do you...?”

Cardinal Clavwell was gazing at Chastille as if he was watching over a beloved daughter.

“A Sacred Sword chooses its wielder by its own will. Someone chosen by a Sacred Sword shall not languish in squalor forever. Please endure it for now. These old bones shall definitely rectify the situation.”

“...Your words are far more than I deserve,” Chastille quietly replied.

The church is twisted, but there may still be hope of salvation.

At the very least, wasn’t there one person who acknowledged her?

The corners of her eyes turned hot, but Cardinal Clavwell’s expression remained stern.

“However, do keep in mind, Chastille. I can only protect thee... atop the political stage.”

“...Th-That is to say?”

Cardinal Clavwell released a grave sigh, then told her what he meant in an almost fearful tone.

“The most dreadful member of the Archangels, Raphael Hyurandell, is headed this way.”

The mere mention of that name made Chastille gulp and shudder.

He was a great man who continued to develop his legend well into his fifties. Even more than his skills with a sword, his cruel nature led to the two words ‘most dreadful’ being attached to him.

Cardinal Clavwell quietly informed her of his imminent arrival.

“Most criticism of Archangels never becomes a matter of public knowledge. However, I have heard many bad rumors about him.”

The man who was feared to the point of being called ‘most dreadful’ was traveling toward the apostate Chastille.

Purge...A single blood soaked word came to mind, but what Cardinal Clavwell had to say differed from that.

“It is said that he is trying to create a new force within the church by gathering like-minded individuals.”

Hearing those words made Chastille open her eyes wide. She didn’t know how many had joined him so far, but it was the church which declared sorcerers as evil. Among the Angelic Knights and priests, there were likely many who sympathized with his ideas.

The most dreadful Archangel would take hold of even more authority... And considering the timing of everything...

It may become a beacon.The betrayal of the Maiden of the Sacred Sword could not got public. After all, if another Archangel cut her down, those rumors would become a severe earthquake and shake the world. The church would sway greatly.

Still, I followed my heart for once.Her future may have darkened and closed off, but she felt no sense of regret.

“Where... Am I...?”

The young girl, Valefor, muttered those words as she opened her eyes in a daze.

This was a room in Zagan’s castle. Up until just recently, it had things like specimens of strange creatures and test tubes that were used in experiments to create them scattered about everywhere, but right now it contained only simple furniture and a bed. It seemed to function as a guest room.

Zagan’s visitors were mostly assassins aiming for his knowledge and status or other such lowlifes, so he thought there was no purpose in preparing a guest room, but Nephy said ‘Does Lord Barbatos not come over?’ as she cleanly put it all in order.

Zagan intended to never let that villain use the room that Nephy had prettied up, but even so, there was always the chance that others would drop by.

I mean, Nephy’s friends could always show up.There was the clerk from the clothing shop in Kianoides whose name had just come up during lunch, as well as the Angelic Knight Chastille, for example. There was no way Zagan would just flatly turn them away if they showed up on his doorstep.

Inside that guest room, Zagan and Nephy were lined up next to each other watching over Valefor’s condition.

The little girl’s gaze wandered about the tidy room. She was clearly confused.

And looking at that, Zagan felt relieved.Ah, thank goodness. She’s alive.

Sure, Nephy had confirmed that she was alive, and Valefor was also breathing while she was asleep, but he was worried whether she would wake up.

Zagan had tried to not rob his opponent of life. It was for Nephy’s sake, but there was also the problem of cleaning up any corpses that were in his domain. That was why he had mostly just lightly poked them before throwing them out, but having said that, he never really confirmed whether they survived.

It wasn’t like he had lacked confidence in his control or anything!

This young girl named Valefor was lying down in bed without her armor or robe. All she was wearing underneath the papier mache armor was an old shirt. She didn’t even have any trousers on.

Since she was a child, she was likely just wearing the bear minimum she needed to inside the armor.

Her green hair was tied up in thick braids, and two horns were sticking out to the rear from the openings in her hair. Her eyes, which were finally exposed, were golden, and her height was only around the level of Zagan’s waist at most.

Judging from her appearance, other than the horns on her head, she was a human child.