It had been a while since he had a dream.
-Child.
It was a very faint dream.
In a misty place, it felt like he was lying down without a thread of clothing.
-Come into my arms.
A voice that sounded like moonlight echoed through.
It was neither distinctly male nor female.
The strange thing was that as soon as he heard the voice, he forgot what it had said.
-I will be waiting.
It was truly like a dream.
**
[25]
“They say we’ll be arriving at the town soon.”
When I opened my eyes, I was still inside the carriage. Empress Astria’s indifferent face came into view.
“Get up, it’s about time.”
‘What kind of dream did I have?’
Sena blinked. Strangely, he couldn’t remember. It felt like he had an important dream.
‘I can’t recall.’
Sena awkwardly raised his body. But it felt like the world was spinning. He instinctively touched his forehead and felt a fever.
‘A cold? If not…’
“Senior, are you feeling unwell?”
“Huh?”
“You’ve been sleeping for a long time.”
“How long did I sleep?”
“You slept for at least 8 hours.”
Sylvia said worriedly. Sena was surprised that he had slept for 8 hours but decided not to mention his illness.
This time was precious to Sena. He didn’t want this joyful time to turn sad because of an illness.
Stretching, he spoke with a bright face.
“I feel refreshed after sleeping so much. Are we almost at the town?”
Sena leaned out the window of the carriage, smiling brightly like a puppy wagging its tail.
“It’s true, I can see the town!”
“Senior, your hair is a mess.”
Sylvia sighed and untangled Sena’s hair. It flowed smoothly over his shoulders, likely due to its fine texture.
“This is my first time going there!”
“You’re that excited?”
Sena nodded with a bright face.
“Of course! Aren’t you excited to see what awaits us?”
“Do whatever you want, Senior.”
Astria chuckled, and Sylvia patted his head with a satisfied look.
Just as Sena was feeling treated like a child, the carriage came to a stop. Sena was the first to get off.
The coachman held the reins and bowed.
“This is where I must part ways.”
“Why is that?”
“Ha ha, it’s only natural. I am from the Village of Heroes, and this is now Baron Lihaton’s territory.”
Movement between territories was restricted. Astria, recalling the law she had established, walked away with a disinterested expression.
“Thank you for your service, Sena, give him a suitable reward.”
‘She does think of these things, doesn’t she?’
Imagining that perhaps she had changed a bit, Sena gave the coachman a bonus.
“Present your identification and state your purpose for coming to Lihaton’s territory.”
Sylvia and Sena looked at each other simultaneously.
Huh?
Did they usually check identification to enter a regular city?
‘I do have one.’
Being the Archbishop’s son, albeit a fake one, he carried an apprentice priest’s identification badge.
But in Sylvia’s case, she only had the insignia of the Teutonic Knights.
‘With Duke Granz possibly chasing us, we can’t reveal our identities.’
Not to mention Astria. It was strange to even ask for identification in the first place. Medieval people typically didn’t carry such things.
“Is it normal for Lihaton to check identification…?”
Sena asked awkwardly, and the helmeted guard sighed lightly.
“So you’re outsiders. Haven’t you heard? The Earls of Seton and Queensbury are currently at war. Lihaton is right in the middle of it.”
“Oh.”
To put it simply, they didn’t want to get caught in the crossfire.
Lihaton was being extra cautious to prevent the sparks of war from spreading to them.
The problem was that they couldn’t send people into an area currently at war. The northern gates were likely tightly sealed.
“This is bad. We can’t proceed like this. Actually, the issue is whether we can even enter this territory.”
“Do you happen to have identification?”
“Oh, yes, I do.”
Sena nervously pulled out his identification from his pocket.
The guard, after a quick glance, widened his eyes slightly and bowed respectfully to Sena.
“You’re a priest. Please forgive my rudeness.”
“Heh, just an apprentice, though.”
“Among those saved by the Church of Justitia, apprentices are the most plentiful.”
It was a famous joke. In order to hide their status, high-ranking individuals in the church often disguised themselves as apprentices.
Therefore, among those with apprentice priest identification, there were few actual apprentices. Of course, Sena wasn’t a priest at all.
‘If I use this well, will they just let us through?’
He was thinking along those lines.
“I’ll verify the next person’s identification.”
Sena’s hopes were dashed with the guard’s words.
There’s no way!
“Um, can’t you just let us pass?”
Sena awkwardly smiled and tilted his head. It was a move that sometimes worked.
However, the guard’s helmet was quite thick. Sena’s charm bounced off.
“I’m sorry, but no.”
“Just this once?”
“No.”
“This is troublesome…”
“I’m sorry too.”
The guard sighed.
“If you keep insisting, I’ll have to detain you.”
Scary!
Sena looked at Sylvia with pleading eyes. What should we do?
With a puzzled expression, Sylvia was holding something between her fingers.
It was the most famous insignia in the Empire, the emblem of the Teutonic Knights, called the dream of every knight.
Sena fidgeted and snatched the emblem, hiding it in his pocket. He whispered to Sylvia.
“What if they find out?!”
“…Why won’t it work?”
Sylvia said with a troubled expression.
Sena looked at Sylvia, who seemed completely unaware of her own status, and his expression turned desperate. The prestige of the Teutonic Knights was beyond imagination. It was almost like a nuclear bomb.
It wouldn’t be good to cause such a commotion. Now was the time to calmly negotiate and resolve this…
“There! Where do you think you’re going?”
Startled by the loud voice, Sena turned his head. Astria was walking away.
“Darn it, when did she slip away?”
The guard slowly walked towards Astria. It was the moment he put his hand on her shoulder.
“Sir.”
Astria turned her head slightly. Sena wrapped his arms around himself, feeling a chill down his spine.
The air around them froze.
With an expression colder than anything imaginable, Astria said.
“Leave.”
**
“This is outrageous.”
Sena muttered blankly. Astria was examining the city with a dignified expression.
‘I knew she was different from ordinary people, but does it make sense for the guards to just accept her command and step back like that?’
After hearing one word from Astria, the guard said, ‘Excuse me!’ and did not even make eye contact with her. Astria walked calmly like that. As if it was so natural.
“Well, Ast, no, Ria’s spirit itself is different from ordinary people.”
In short, the spirit radiating from the person itself was different. Sometimes, a person’s presence itself becomes a status.
Of course, he had never heard or seen anything like that until it just happened.
“This city has a lot of windows.”
“Y-yes.”
“From now on, we’ll impose taxes based on the number of windows.”
“…?”
Did Her Majesty really create the infamous window tax…?
Sena awkwardly chuckled upon learning this new fact.
While the Lihaton territory couldn’t be called a metropolis, it was still a fairly developed region.
They quickly found a suitable inn. Sena’s hands were trembling slightly as he set down his suitcase.
‘My body really isn’t feeling too good.’
He noticed his trembling hands and suppressed a bitter smile.
He hoped it was just a temporary cold. If it’s permanent… How will he hide it for long?
The worst-case scenario is Astria seeing this and deciding to turn back. How does a patient care for another patient?
He definitely wanted to avoid that.
‘…Anyway.’
“What should we do now, Senior?”
Unlike Astria, Sylvia was aware of the seriousness of the situation.
“We’re in the midst of a war, so it won’t be easy to move to the next territory through normal means.”
“Wow.”
This fact was quite unexpected for Sena.
“You knew?”
“…Were you treating me like an idiot?”
“Oh, ahaha, surely not.”
Sylvia’s shoulders slumped as she saw Sena’s hair stand up. Astria lightly poked fun at Sena for being clueless.
“Y-you’re sensitive about that.”
Sena gently touched his forehead.
“Why worry about such things, Sir?”
Astria laughed cruelly.
“If anyone dares to block our path, they’ll all be killed.”
“…”
“I agree-”
Sylvia grabbed Sena’s shoulder like she was wielding a weapon, pointing at Sena whose mouth was slightly agape.
“Isn’t Senior Sena different?”
“Prick.”
Astria turned her head sharply and sat on the bed with her legs crossed.
Sena put his hand on his hip and boldly spoke.
“Leave it to me.”
“You’re the last person in the world I’d trust with that.”
Sena’s cheeks puffed out. Astria sighed faintly and waved her hand.
“Alright, tell me.”
“Ahem. I have a good idea.”
Sena spun around, leaving the burden behind, and just looked cheerful.
“I’ll go visit the church for a moment.”
**
Sena’s plan was simple.
‘Because there is no such thing as a face on a medieval identity card.’
He could go to the cathedral, reveal his own status as Sena, and confidently obtain something to prove his status.
A badge would be fine, or even robes that only priests can wear. It didn’t matter. In medieval times, no one would dare question the status of a priest.
He would share this with Astria and Sylvia, confidently step outside the cathedral gate, and that would be that. It wasn’t unheard of for clergy to be seen on the battlefield.
“Excuse me.”
Opening the large cathedral door, Sena glanced around nervously. No one was inside.
“Huh.”
Where did everyone go? Sena chuckled and stepped inside.
Creak-
“Huh?”
Suddenly, the previously closed door opened.
“That’s the prayer room, right?”
There was nobody there.
Did it open automatically?
Awkwardly smiling, Sena twirled his hair.
Something feels uneasy?
“L-Let’s go back.”
Sena felt a sense of foreboding and quickly turned around.
At that moment.
Thud!
The wide-open cathedral door slammed shut.
Sweating profusely, Sena turned around.
Clang-
Golden light poured out from the prayer room.
Ordinary priests would probably shed tears and kneel down to pray upon seeing this sacred light, but…
To Sena, it was more terrifying than any horror movie.
“Please save me.”
Frantically, Sena pounded on the cathedral door.
