“Then tell me, why did the gods bless you with protection? To give you special treatment? I hardly think so, do you?”
I was silent.
“It is because through you—do you understand this? Through you, the god has something they want accomplished. And we must constantly think of how to use our blessings in a way that is consistent with the desires of the gods who gave us our protection. Those who treat them like a tool to be used whenever convenient merely take away from the majesty of the gods; they do not add to it. The protection such fools receive only declines over time. Many of those nitwits fail to understand that. Because they do not understand, they remain forever novices, and eventually lose their protection.”
The bishop was really sounding off about this.
“I am the head of this temple. It is in a rough area that has only just started to be developed. To secure money and rights, we must shout and intimidate; to build consensus, we must do favors and use bribes. Imagine what it would do for me to parade around high-level blessings under those circumstances. The populace would think, ‘What are the gods thinking, giving protection to a man like that?’”
He glared at me. “Let me ask you, boy, do you think that is consistent with what my guardian deity desires? Do you think that would be useful in raising the prestige of Volt, god of lightning and judgment?”
“No.”
“Precisely. No. In which case, the correct conduct for both blessings and prayer is to keep them stored away inside. I have left the spectacle of blessings and the promotion of the gods’ prestige in the very talented hands of the vice-bishop. He is also good at winning over the hearts and minds of the people. I can leave the bothersome and stressful task of being the pretty face of the temple to him.”
Then, Bishop Bagley turned the conversation on me. “And what about you, greenhorn? Do you think yourself a ‘hero’ just because you killed a wyvern?”
I couldn’t come up with a response.
“A paladin,” he said, snorting derisively. “A paladin?! Here we have a stripling who still does not even understand what it means to be blessed, and he is to be called a paladin?! His Excellency does enjoy his jokes!”
The bishop displayed his astonishment through exaggerated gestures, and because I honestly didn’t know how to respond, I just listened.
“Boy. I can even tell him for you, if you like. If I refuse firmly, even His Excellency will surely let this go. Well...?” he asked, his tone overbearing.
His stare and his large body worked together to give an intimidating impression that was no less than what I’d felt from the Duke of Southmark.
“Put the idea to rest, greenhorn,” he said. “Nothing good will come of it.”
“Even so...” I didn’t look away. I looked right back into the bishop’s eyes. “Even so, through me, my god is trying to accomplish something.”
The bishop frowned and looked at me, his expression stern.
“You will not budge?”
“I will not.”
“Fool.”
“Probably.”
“What did you swear to the god of flux?”
“To dedicate my life to her, to drive away evil, and to bring salvation to those in sorrow.”
“Rejoice. I have met many nitwits over the years, and you have exceeded them all.” He gave a massive sigh. “I will find a few people for you. You do the rest yourself.”
I bowed my head very deeply and thanked him. No matter what anyone else said about this man, I decided that he had won my respect.
After that, the brakes seemed to come off, and everything became frenetic.
Out of the corner of my eye, I could see the bishop contacting the duke to inform him of our intention to accept his offer, while the solemn-looking priest that Anna had found lectured me on matters of etiquette and current ceremonial procedure for priests.
The wheels had already been set in motion for me to receive my decoration. It was all happening terrifyingly fast. Was it really supposed to be this easy to receive a knighthood? I wondered what on earth had driven them to act with such unprecedented speed.
That said, the damage the wyvern had done was not to be taken lightly; there were people who had lost their homes and jobs, and I’d heard whispers that they wanted a celebration that might create some temporary work. Ah, come to think of it, even in the ancient and medieval histories of my former world, new temples and shrines were erected whenever disasters occurred. There must have been aspects of wealth redistribution to that, too.
In any case, if I was knighted, things would move a lot more quickly. People, money, and things—all would be easier to manage with authority and the power underlying it. When I thought about it that way, it didn’t feel terribly important that I’d be collared by the duke and the bishop. I didn’t think that those two would treat me too badly, anyway... probably.
“Whence came he? And where trained, and where studied? Of him we know little, but that he is the disciple of the lost god of flux, and carrieth within him the divine torch.”
This was probably a necessary step.
“The depth of his faith equal to that of a bishop, the depth of his study to that of a sage. And dwelling in his arms, a strength without peer that crushed a wyvern. Through this man’s body, Souls of the three Heroes, do you intend your names of great renown to boom forth once more?!”
Th-This was... necessary.
“The Disciple of the Torch, the Wyvern Killer, the Peerless Powerhouse—the Faraway Paladin, William G. Maryblood. One and all, learn the names of the new Hero who appeared in the city of white sails! Hmm, that feels about right!”
Okay, even if it was necessary, c’mon!
“Bee, would you mind not practicing your story right in front of me?!”
“Come onnnn. Don’t be such a sourpuss.”
“It’s ridiculously embarrassing!”
“That’s the level of what you did, so it’s your own fig fault! What’s she supposed to say?”
“That doesn’t make it not embarrassing!”
We were in our room at the temple. As the three of us talked and argued, Tonio quietly fiddled with an abacus. “Hmm.”
“What’s wrong, Tonio?”
“I am unfortunately coming to the conclusion that a large number of draft animals will be quite pricey, no matter what I do.”
“Ah, about that...”
Things had gotten really messy with all this knight business that came from me killing the wyvern, but I hadn’t forgotten my main objective. My goal was the same as ever: to hunt the demons of Beast Woods, and at the same time, do something about the economic issues of that area and promote the good name of the god of the flame.
And to that end, I had a plan.
“Oh? And what might that be?”
“Could you look around for any animals that are sick or hurt, and do a bit of negotiating to buy them at a low price?”
“Huh?”
“Then I’ll heal them all.”
“Oh...!” Tonio’s eyes opened wide.
Yeah, I have been thinking about this, Tonio. This and all kinds of other things.
The livestock merchant would be happy for the chance to sell off their sick and injured animals, and we would be happy because we’d get the animals we needed. As for the potential impact on the merchant’s future sales, the villages of Beast Woods were very cold and had extremely low purchasing power, so they wouldn’t have been big customers for the merchant in the first place.
I’d also get to save the animals that were suffering. They would continue to be draft animals and be put to hard work, so I couldn’t say if that was something to be happy about—but at least in theory, everyone would end up satisfied.