“What do I do, what do I do… Dad… Dad…”
Hilda’s voice echoes inside the wagon.
She’s clinging to her father, who is still lying face down on the floor, and keeps muttering.
“Hipota, guard the wagon!”
I tell Hipota, and quickly get inside the wagon. It’s not very wide, so it’s pretty cramped in here.
“Hilda! Get a hold of yourself.”
“Dad, dad…”
“Hilda! I’m sorry.”
Slap.
I grab her by the shoulders to make her face me, and give her a light slap on the cheek.
“Ah… Reny?”
Hilda finally focuses her eyes on me. I look directly into her eyes, and talk slowly.
“Let’s turn him up first. Help me. Take that side.”
“…Yes. Sorry.”
Hilda breaks out of her stupor and follows my directions. I nod in return to the apology she whispered.
He’s breathing, but this…
“Hilda, we can’t treat this with potions that are harmful if a person takes too many of them.”
“W-what do we do, Reny?”
“The church of Rose… They should have an actor with healing divine protection. Maybe they… What do you think?”
“Yes. Yes!”
Hilda looks at me and nods like she’s hanging on to my words. She then yells outside the window.
“Pentacles, take us to the church in the capital!”
“Very well, lady! Hang on to something!”
Hilda’s attendant, who was watching over our surroundings along with Hipota, returns to the driver’s seat and grabs the reins.
The wagon takes off quickly, with Hipota calmly running next to it.
I grit my teeth so I don’t bite my tongue, and help Hilda hold her dad to the ground so he doesn’t jump around the wagon.
◇◆
“We have arrived!”
Miraculously, we make it to the church of Rose without running over anyone.
I see Hilda shake as I pass by her to jump out of the wagon, and head to the church.
I run to the oratory, and it’s like a field hospital in here.
There are people on the floor all over the place. Looking at their wounds leads me to believe those monkey-lions appeared in other parts of the capital too.
Right in front of me, is a young woman holding a blood stained bandage. I stop quickly, and look up at her.
I can tell right away she’s an actor of pretty high standing. I feel like this is pretty lucky, and talk to her.
Actually, I yell.
“We have a wounded person! He has a wound on his right arm from a combination of curses and divine protection!”
I picked my words carefully, and the actor reacts exactly as I was hoping.
She has a kind looking face, but her eyes instantly turn sharp when she hears about curses and divine protection.
I approach her, while bracing myself so as not to get intimidated by her eyes.
“In the wagon outside!”
“Very well. I will take a look. My name is Taula. What is yours, young lady?”
“Renystar Struna Hartnicks.”
“Lady Renystar.”
“Yes.”
Taula stares at me, and I make a conscious effort not to look away.
I don’t know what she sees in me, but she lightly nods.
“Very well. Chita!”
“Yes, your eminence.”
There’s a lady standing behind Taula wearing shrine knight equipment. I notice that she refers to Taula with a title.
Eminence? So she’s a cardinal? I see. So she’s that youngest cardinal in history, the one called 『Sword of God』 and 『Gifted With the Word of God』. Her eminence Taula…
She’s a very famous person even here in the capital. I can’t help but get nervous.
“Bring actor Thousand here.”
“Yes, right away.”
Chita responds as Taula walks outside with broad steps.
She’s fast. And that’s clearly the movement of an experienced soldier.
I hurry to go after her.
She stops in front of the wagon.
I see her saying something to Hilda, and everyone present except Taula holds their heads for some reason.
Taula puts her hand on the sword on her waist, and says two words.
“Excuse me!”
It’s a technique that’s almost impossible to see, even with my eyes.
In the blink of an eye, Taula unsheathes her sword and swings it all over, cleanly taking apart the walls and ceiling of the wagon.
It’s almost like she calculated everything. Not a single piece of either the walls or the ceiling fall on the inside of the wagon. It all slides outside.
That completely exposes Hilda’s father on the floor.
“Rihalzam Stonehell!”
She calls out the name of Hilda’s father, and looks surprised for a second. But she quickly crouches near him and starts carefully examining the affected part of his arm.
And then she takes something out.
“Scripture…?”
Mumbles Hilda. I can’t see it very well from here, but it looks like scripture of the church of Rose.
Taula closes her eyes, holds the scripture with one hand, and holds her other hand above it.
The next moment, I see divine protection that feels very powerful running around her like it’s swirling.
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