At first, I thought he would just find any decent place to chat, but it turns out he brought me to a horse-carriage that had been waiting for us. I was curious about where he would bring us, but I didn't think there would be many places he would just visit.
On second thought, this was the first time I had stayed this close to him.
In comparison to the Imperial Knights Squad, I rarely met any knights from the Special Task Squad. That's probably because only a few members of the Special Task Squad were nobles. The nobles in the Special Task Squad did not even make up to half of the entire squad, so they were rarely seen at any Imperial's private events. I had gone on several errands to deliver things to the Special Task Squad in my early days as a knight, but at the time, Captain Jullius had not yet joined. I secretly observed the man in front of me who might be my rival.
Jet-black hair, pale grey eyes, age estimated to be under 30, and as someone who was taken in by the Emperor himself from who knows where, his origin is mystery. However, his ability is no doubt the best of the best among the Imperial Knights. He has never even once lost in the ranking match between Imperial Knights that is held every 3 years. There were some rumors about him such as being an illegitimate son of the Emperor who was kept a secret, or being a descendant of another race from a different continent, or the most ridiculous one, that he's not actually an ordinary human. Besides he didn't even look similar to the Emperor.
"Are we heading to the palace?"
"That's right."
Hmm… seems like we were heading to the Special Task Squad's headquarters inside the palace. I might not know the reason, but it doesn't mean I couldn't guess. The palace, huh? Hmm… I paid a brief visit there before going off to exterminate the Demon King.
"Is the Crown Prince doing well?"
I'm sure the curse had been completely dispelled, but it's not impossible there wouldn't be any side effects left behind. Captain Jullius stayed silent for a while before answering, "Physically he's well."
"That means psychologically, there's a problem?"
"Seems like His Highness is blaming himself."
Blaming himself? Ah, perhaps…
"Because of what had happened to Sir Roel?"
Because I died to save him?
Captain Jullius nodded his head in affirmation.
Uhh…
"I think His Highness shouldn't blame himself. I'm sure Sir Roel would never wish His Highness to feel that way. After all, when a person becomes a knight, they must be ready to face any inevitable dangers anywhere and anyti–"
"Miss! Don't speak nonsense!"
He coldly cut me off with a harsh tone.
I shut my mouth and stared at him. When I saw how he tried to conceal the anger that could be seen on his face, an irritated feeling emerged from inside my heart. The person who died is me and I myself have already said it's not a problem at all! So what?! Not just those brats, but also this brat, why were they all fussing over someone who's already dead?! Don't grieve too much and let the dead leave for the afterlife peacefully, alright?!
As we were engulfed in silence, the horse-carriage passed by the palace's main gate and shortly thereafter came to a stop. I lifted my dress a bit and went down from the carriage. The headquarters of Special Task Squad came into my sight. It was a three-story building that was built with sturdy grey stones.
"This way."
Captain Jullius kept his words short and continued leading the way. It had been a long time since I last visited this place. I followed him climbing up the stairs, and as I lifted my foot to pass through the main entrance…
What…?!
I felt an immense killing intent aimed towards me. And in the next moment, a sword flew directly towards my nape. It was already too late for me to avoid it by going forward or sidestepping, so all I could do was immediately lower my body on my knees. In the next second, the sword blade had passed by above my head. F*ck! I quickly scanned the surrounding area to locate the attacker rather than cursing inside my heart.
As soon as I noticed a thinly-built man hiding behind the entrance door, I quickly stood up and dashed to where the man was hiding. I used one of my hands as a support against the floor and stretched out one of my legs, then I swiftly levelled a kick at the hiding man.
Bugh!
Damn! I hit him, but it wasn't nearly strong enough! I managed to kick his shank bone, but it only startled him, it wasn't strong enough to make him fall. If only I had my original body, at least his bones would have been broken. F*ck it! I quickly turned my body around and gathered my holy power to increase my strength before throwing a punch at him. Unfortunately, this time that damn brat successfully dodged my fist and he quickly jumped backwards in retreat.
"Captain!"
The familiar call made my moves come to a halt. Captain? Certainly he wasn't calling for me… does that mean he was calling for Captain Jullius? That damn brat is a member of the Special Task Squad?
"Seems like she's not the one. She uses holy power. But–"
The brat continued talking in a cheeky manner.
"Her ability is extraordinary."
Immediately, I straightened my body and tidied up some wrinkles on my dress, then I glared at that brat. Only a very few high-leveled priests could detect if someone possessed holy power. Not that there weren't exceptions, but… could this brat be considered a rare exception? Or…an expert tracker? It's not difficult to guess that someone has holy power, when a weak girl suddenly releases an unsually enormous amount of strength. Well, I'm more inclined to believe the latter though.
"She used holy power."
Captain Jullius murmured softly while sizing me up.
I also resolutely returned his gaze. So what if I used holy power? What are you going to do? There are many people who possess holy power who don't become a clergy. Moreover, the clergy can't marry. That's why there are many cases of nobles that have to carry on the bloodline, who continue to live as normal citizens even though they have holy power. However, they couldn't use their holy power properly because they didn't get any training from the Church. The only benefit they ever got from having holy power was that they had a healthier body compared to a normal person.
Arghh! Anyway that's not important right now! With hasty steps, I walked up to Captain Jullius who was still pondering over it.
"Please lend me your sword!"
"… what?"
"Seems like there's been a misunderstanding on your side. Now that the misunderstanding has been settled, someone needs to repay his debt."
I extended my demanding hand to Captain Jullius while glaring at the yellow-haired brat who was standing quite far from us. He had aimed at my neck before, so now let me use his neck as my target. Someone said if you get slapped, you need to return it with a punch. But I'm fine with 'giving as good as you get'.
"I don't have any weapon and it's impossible to beat that bastard with my bare hands, so lend me your sword. Isn't he your subordinate?"
My request was within reason, as the leader is bound to take responsibility for his subordinate's mistakes. That's why, so quickly hand it over! Give me your sword! I wiggled my extended hand, demanding his sword while looking up at his face. Captain Jullius hesitated for a moment before reaching out his hands to his waist.
Seeing what Captain Jullius' was about to do made the yellow-haired brat freak out and exclaim, "C-Captain! That's Calitus! Captain have no intention to lend Calitus to that woman, right?!"
Ah…I just realized. I looked down and saw the sword in Captain's hand. Even though the sword's scabbard looked ordinary, the sword is Calitus, one of the Imperial's treasured swords, same goes with the holy sword, Altaire. I had heard before that the leader of the Special Task Squad, Captain Jullius, owned it. That's great! Now I'm sure I can beat that damn yellow-haired brat.
"You're right. He has indeed done something impudent to Miss."
"Captain!"
No matter how that brat pleaded with the Captain, it all remained in vain. Captain Jullius handed over his sword to me. Yeah!
"Damned brat! Prepare to die!"
I swiftly turned my body around and unsheathed the sword. Clang! The sounds of the unsheathed sword could be heard clearly and made anyone who heard it get goosebumps. This sword is neither too heavy nor too light. It felt just right when I held it as if I had been using it my whole life, even though this was my first time holding this sword. Previously, I never understood why people always made a fuss over a good weapon, but now that my body had become so weak, I understood the reason. By using this sword, forget a normal knight, I could even defeat a high-tier knight easily.
"Captain! You're too much! My sword can't withstand your sword!"
That yellow-haired brat started to run away with a dejected face when he saw me holding the sword. Damn brat!
"Hey, you! Stop right there!"
How could a grown-up man like him run away without trying to resist even for a little bit? After I threw the scabbard to Captain Jullius, I took the sword in my right hand, while using the other hand to lift the hem of my dress, then I started chasing that damn brat. But he was really agile. Moreover, he quickly disappeared while I was still finding my way because this was his territory. Damn it!
"… He's really fast."
Without me realizing, I had reached the other side of the building while I was chasing the yellow-haired guy. As I looked around, this place seemed to be a training ground. I was thinking of returning empty-handed to Captain Jullius. But…when I saw the sword in my hand, my mind seemed to sprout some weird ideas.
Should I take it away and run?
I stared at the sword's dazzling thin blade and without realizing it, my mouth began to water. In the past, I might have been disinterested in weapons, but now I really wanted this sword! Calitus is a treasured sword that was famous for its extraordinary ability to cut anything and it could even cut an enemy's sword. What I really need right now is the strength to face enemies. There are also other things that I'm lacking compared to my old self, but physical strength is my main concern right now. If I'm not strong enough, I'll definitely be cornered as soon as my weapon clashes with the enemy's weapon. Eventually, I would have to avoid or block the enemy's weapon, but I wouldn't need to worry about my physical strength and I could directly slice the enemy's weapon with Calitus.
The more I considered it, the better this sword looked.
Actually, the holy sword Altaire was the most powerful sword against demons, but it's different matter when used against normal humans. The holy sword has a drawback compared to the other three treasured swords. For us Holy Knights, the holy sword is the most suitable because most of the time we deal with demons or monsters.
They must have brought Altaire back safely, right?
As a matter of fact, I did destroy the holy sword, but it could be restored to its original form. They just have to collect all the fragments and place them on the altars. Then in a few days, it would be perfectly restored. Now that the funeral is done, the Church must be busy preparing for the inauguration of the new leader of the Holy Knight Squad, once the holy sword has been restored. Based on my prediction, the top three strongest candidates are…
"Huh?"
Right then, I heard someone exclaimed in surprised. When I lifted my head, I saw a young man in his teens staring at me, or to be precise, he was staring intently at the sword in my hands.