"It's already the third day in the north and only now can we start tracking our prey, Knight, I hope you now understand that our job is quite complicated. We must always keep our guard up and assume that we are in a bad situation, this kind of preparation is fundamental for the years to come."
"It only takes one of you not to take all the rules and people to be safe so that we all die or even worse be captured by our enemies. Do not think that because you are noble you will have some degree of protection or the possibility of becoming hostages of the enemy realm, you will be tortured for information until your minds are broken."
I think I'd rather die than be captured, even if I have hope to escape still alive, I don't want to end up in a dungeon suffering until my last day of life.
"Don't raise your hand to ask a question or a statement, Light, you are no longer students and you are not reporting to a high-ranking official. I am your team leader and we are in the field, wasting time on formalities is stupid if you want to talk but don't do it at a bad time."
"Okay, leader. Are there no rules imposed by the temples to ensure that war does not turn into too much bloodshed?"
"Serious? Now I'm really disappointed in you. Remember that no matter what rumors, rules or laws you know will protect your life now, the temples are only interested in killing the faithful's who worship the evil gods and killing anyone who violates taboos decreed by the gods."
"They won't save you from being tortured even if a priest or paladin is witnessing your arrest, they will pretend they didn't see you and if you prove that you are really a worshiper of the same god as him, you will still die but not be tortured so I must correct myself."
"Your faith can save you from being tortured, but it cannot save your lives because you are not acting in the name of the god and technically, we are not at war yet, so the authorities do not have to follow the rules imposed by the temples for wars. The rules that would protect you are not valid now, you are enemy spies in a peacetime and enemy kingdom can do what they want with you, but honestly don't think that after the war officially starts you will have some kind of protection made by a rule that kingdoms must go on in war."
"As long as the realms do not cross the royal boundary, such as violating a taboo or collaborating with the followers of the evil gods, the temples will not interfere. The bloodbath produced by the war has to be really abnormal for the temples to interfere."
Suddenly, Tania or Burst, only manifested violently, this is the first time anyone has raised their voice since the group was formed.
"That can't be true the paladins of the temples cannot violate the rules of their churches in any case, the divine power in their bodies will rebel if they do that. They cannot pretend not to see an act like this without interfering!"
It looks like we have someone very religious here and adding to the fact that she actually has the characteristics of her codename, I think we might have problems in the future because of her. I wonder which god she puts her faith in.
"Control, Burst, your codename was chosen for what you should do to your enemies and not your allies, even if you only find yourself in a dire situation you should stay calm and not let your emotions explode out of control like you just did. "
"It may be difficult for you to accept this, but in life there is no perfect living being there are several priests, priests, bishops, paladins and believers in general of the good gods who can take 'negative' attitudes without suffering many consequences. As you said before a paladin who accepted that his core was marked by the divine power of a god and obliged to follow the doctrines of that deity, but that does not mean he cannot disobey or bend those teachings."
"Obviously the greater the faith and commitment a paladin has to the doctrine he follows the more power he will gain, but if he makes a mistake, he will not lose all his power. He will be penalized, but as long as he doesn't do it too often and avoids serious violations, the divine power he has won't be affected by a negative miner, otherwise I think eighty percent of paladins would disappear is very difficult not to. violate what are considered minor sins of religious doctrines."
"But it shouldn't be that way."
As far as I was concerned about the drama of a religious girl facing a little bit of the truth of the world, which by the way I don't know much and very interesting.
But to my surprise, it was Nolan or Spear who interfered in this climactic moment with an even more bombastic and shocking revelation.
"She's not wrong, Burst, I believe in the goddess Helena of the church of the twin goddesses and I've seen with my own eyes a paladin sin through inaction. He watched a group of outlaws attacking a child and did not interfere, after the child was saved by my father, I asked him why the paladin did not save that child."
"The only answer I got was from the paladin himself, he simply said that 'Not everything that grew in the soil must flourish, sometimes the soil must be cleansed of weak and toxic seedlings for the world to become a better place.'"
"It wasn't until I grew up that I realized what the paladin meant by those words, but that doesn't change the fact that I think he was a bastard who should have lost his paladin status, but I'm also not sure if he was penalized. or not by the goddess Helen for her cruel words."
Tania's face went very pale and her anger subsided after Nolan's words that he had shown her the red-gold metal locket in the shape of a flame. He was truly a faithful believer carrying the symbol of the goddess Helen with him at all times.
"To many who believe that the poor and weak do not deserve to live, the paladin that Spear met as a child must be a nobleman who advocates this kind of policy. Not all those who pray to a good god are our ally, I would not be surprised that in the whole group of thieves there are not some who believe in good gods like the goddess Helen or even her sister Melice who are goddesses associated with good and selfless deeds. "
"Not all criminals pray to the patron goddess of thieves Laverna who is a neutral goddess. I hope you don't exist in blowing up some thieves who pray to the same goddess as you, hesitation could be the reason for your death and the death of the rest of your companions, Blast."
"I understand your words leader, but I would not spare criminals even if they were carrying a holy symbol of the goddess Helen even before this conversation."
It seems that she is quite right about not sparing a criminal's life and I don't doubt that resolution either, but what will happen when she is faced with a scenario that her opponent is not a criminal but a soldier of the enemy kingdom who shares his faith in the goddess Helen. Tania will be able to kill him or she will hesitate.
"Today we are tracking thieves and after that we can go after even worse targets, but nothing prevents our next target from not being a good person who can also be a devotee of a good god. Remember that the war may not have officially started, but the conflict between our two sides has already started, I don't want either of you to make the mistake of sparing an enemy soldier in my fight."
"I and the kingdom will not demand that you be cruel and excessively violent against the soldiers of the neighboring kingdom, but remember that you are soldiers and your job is to kill and defeat the enemies of the kingdom. Anyone who retreats on the battlefield will be a traitor to the realm and I will kill him or her with my bare hands, do you understand?"
Silence and submission are the best answers to this kind of question, anyone who answers a question like yes is trying too hard to be correct and to answer it doesn't need a lot of mental problems.
"Now it's your turn to shine, Ulric, in front of us is the spot where the bandit band was spotted traveling. We have received the information that this group of bandits has already been creating a safe passage through the north for their contraband for a while, it is very likely that their operation is completely structured or very close to it, your task and locating them is the first location of ours. search is a few dozen meters away; the group of bandits was spotted heading east by witnesses."
"Ready to start tracking our targets?"
"Yes, but how long has it been since they passed through here?"
"Nine days, Ulric, and his party consisted of about nine people and a big wagon."
"Any more information?"
"No, now the quest is up to you, Ulric, I have great faith that you will be able to track them down."