We began with Colonel Hart, a fierce but kind man in his fifties and covered in scars. He had been stationed here for decades, steadily rising through the ranks until he was at the top.
"Good to have you here, Your Holiness. It's high time we dealt with these monsters!"
"I look forward to working with you, Colonel."
Next, I was led to the group representing the temple, in the warehouses they were currently working at. It was composed of about fifty priests of normal rank and a few dozen apprentices, led by a few senior priests, one of whom was Priest Fernandez. They would be responsible for treating the wounded and blessing additional weaponry as needed.
"Nice to see you again, Your Holiness."
"Your Holiness! Do you remember me? I waited upon you when I was an apprentice! I'm a full priest now!"
"With you here, Your Holiness, we will surely carry out God's mission successfully."
Most of them I was acquainted with, for all the time I'd spent in the temple with my years as the saint, while some others had always been stationed here. They welcomed me warmly and I greeted them with a smile.
"Thank you for welcoming me. Together, let us fulfill our sacred duties!"
Priest Fernandez gestured for the priests to resume their work and pointed out to me bullets and weapons lying on a table nearby.
"These have all been blessed by our priests, and they're still working on more. Tests show they're capable of hurting and killing demons, and while they're not as effective as your holy dagger, they work."
They looked ordinary, but I'd spent enough time near divinity to feel the hum of energy. He pointed to another stack of boxes and a pile of bullets on the table.
"These are the ones your brother and his mages brought. Magic isn't as effective against demons as divinity, but they have special effects that could help the soldiers a lot. You'll probably see them in action tomorrow."
With that done, he showed me around the rest of the grounds, from the medical offices to the barracks, ending by dropping me off at a private training area, where the squadrons of knights House Avington was supplying were training. Dame Kennedy, my tutor, trained with me again as we had done for the past decade. It was exhausting, but I was certain that I would bring death to many demons tomorrow.
"After all these years, this is what you were preparing for. Make House Avington proud, my lady."
"I will, ma'am."
At dinner, Colonel Hart brought me in front of the dining soldiers. They consisted of the usual forces stationed here, made up of mostly soldiers and some squadrons of knights, and the knight temporarily supplied by noble families for this subjugation. The assembly was an impressive sight, almost as much as the Avington knights, because it represented union within our kingdom. Union I had brought.
"Everyone, this is Saint Valentina, whom you've no doubt heard of. She'll help us bring God's will upon those monsters!"
Colonel Hart briefly listed some of my achievements as the saint while I looked modest but capable. When he finished, there was a polite round of applause.
"Now, Her Holiness will lead us to pray for the meal."
I thanked the colonel. Meal prayer here was usually led by a priest and simple for the sake of efficiency. I didn't want to keep anyone from eating after a long day of training, so I added only a small touch. The show could come later, when they were well fed and ready to be awed.
"God, we thank you for the gifts you've provided us and for your goodness in satisfying our earthly desires. We thank you for the nourishment to prepare in the fight against those defying you, and we will surely display the full might of your blessings."
I thought they looked a bit inspired, even as they dug in far too quickly for any thought of God. Still, the meal was no match in the slightest for what I was used to. I noticed that my fiance, my brother and his friends, and the princess weren't present, along with the priests. They were probably eating better in private, while I had to maintain my down-to-earth appearance. Pure injustice!
After dinner, I headed to the chapel. Many of the priests were already there, standing in position imposingly. I went up to the altar and recited a few lines for practice. Soon enough, soldiers began to stream in, and I started for real.
"God, it is in your name that we gather here today. There is evil in this world, and we, your loyal followers, seek to vanquish it. These soldiers, the bravest of your children, have trained ceaselessly to serve you and your holy purpose. They have given up years of their lives among the pleasures of society, all for you. See and acknowledge them, God. May these valiant soldiers have your blessings, and may we triumph against all that disobey your natural order!"
As promised, I delivered a splendid speech. With full stomachs, the soldiers were able to appreciate one of my best performances yet, and a few even shed tears. The small chapel was filled and overflowed with people as the evening went on, summoning all the soldiers not on guard duty. More than ever, I relished in the true power of the saint, to wield people's devotion to God, to bring hope, joy, and comfort in thinking there was a benevolent, higher being, and to have them believe I was the embodiment of that being, to be worshipped and revered.
It was a wonderful feeling.
The soldiers kept to a tight schedule and slept at ten, and I stayed until the very last one of them left to prepare for bed. I was exhausted from an afternoon of training and a few hours of nonstop praying, and headed back to my tent leaning on Mikhail. I'd left Zoe back home to manage my businesses while I was gone, but Tia was ready to wait on me.
"Did you deliver the rings?"
"Yes, my lady! His Highness thanks you and His Lordship is very touched by your consideration. He showed it off to all his friends!"
"Good, good."
"Also, Priest Fernandez sent over some food!"
"Ha. He knows me too well."
I ate happily, feeling almost at home, and fell asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow. The next morning, I woke up at six, dressed quickly, and ate the remaining food my tutor had sent over. An apprentice priest came and led me to where the forces were gathered. The colonel made a brief speech and read out the assignments. As we organized ourselves, I caught glances of Damian and Oscar, but we didn't have time to talk. Unfortunately, I was in the same group as a certain worthless princess.
"Oh, great. I guess we can all just wait to die."
"My, Your Highness, you hurt my feelings, and God's feelings too. Do you have so little faith in him?"
"That's right. What're you gonna do, go cry to your teacher again?"
"Sure, if it means he writes you a horrible report and you finally get disowned from the royal family."
"Go ahead. I'd prefer it over having you as a sister in law."
Our bickering came to a pause as the leader of the troops assigned to us approached.
"Good morning, Your Holiness, Your Highness."
"Good morning, sir. May God bless us."
"Hello. The troops look excellent. How do you plan to proceed?"
To my surprise, Princess Elizabeth was tolerable and seemed almost competent when discussing military affairs. The captain explained that he was commanding a hundred elite soldiers that had been stationed here for years, together with the knight squadrons supplied by House Avington and the royal family, which amounted to about fifty knights each. The knights of our respective families had their own leaders, and the three of them would be working together.
"Your Highness, you will command your usual squadron, and so will Your Holiness. Your courage will inspire our soldiers, but please beware of your own safety."
"Will we all be together?" I asked.
"Not necessarily," he hesitated. "You may charge ahead as you please, as long as you remain alert. We already have plans."
In a polite way, he meant that we were only figureheads. While I had the holy dagger, it would be unrealistic for me to go up against the entirety of the demon king's army alone. That required organization and systemic attacks, which they were providing. My duty would be merely to deal as much damage as possible and to help with the coordinated assaults where needed until we get to the demon king.
I smiled and thanked him, shooting a challenging glance at the princess. She understood my meaning. As the captain led us into the forest, we went ahead with our squadrons. We and our knights all rode horses, and so did the leaders of the troops, but normal soldiers didn't. We pulled ahead easily, and when we were out of earshot, she started again.
"I don't know how it's physically possible for you to have even less dignity than I thought, snitching like that to that priest of yours."
"You shouldn't have called my mother a bitch, bitch. By the way, it's a convenient place you've led us. No one would see if a particularly irritating princess and her knights died accidentally."
"Exactly, except the same applies for the corrupt saint. That is, if you don't get killed by demons first."
I faintly heard racing steps and swirled around just in time to cut down a demon leaping at me. It was followed by a large group of beasts, several times bigger than the handful that had been at the hunting competition.
"Charge!" Princess Elizabeth yelled.
Her knights swarmed, and I called to mine too. It was rather chaotic at first, with our knights and the royal knights in different positions, but eventually things fell into place. The princess and I led the offensive, hunting fiercely. It startled me to realize that perhaps underneath, we shared a similar violent nature, only that she hadn't learned to refine it in front of others, and that she used it in pursuit of charitable purposes, while I aimed for my own power.
"Worried that you'll get your outfit dirty?"
"No, even bloody, I'd look better than you."
"I don't want to look like a slut anyways."
"Misogynistic as ever, I see. How many have you killed?"
"Lost count. Besides, I didn't think you could count, though I'm not surprised you'd want to have a petty competition. See how they're coming from that direction? The den's over there."
"Duh. It's not my first time hunting. You want to go?"
"I'm worried you might faint, but then again, that would better society, so let's go."
We charged through the mass of demons, unaware that our knights did follow, and found ourselves practically surrounded. I slashed and hacked ceaselessly with my dagger, while Princess Elizabeth used a crossbow with blessed arrows. Though I enjoyed the brief thrill of cutting them down, it was overwhelming when it went on for too long and became not wholly pleasant.
Neither of us would admit this was a bad idea, so we kept going. Her bolts seemed to deal damage in an area, and the divinity of my dagger slowed beasts that came too close, so we managed to keep them at a somewhat safe distance. Nevertheless, they kept pressing.
"My lady!"
Thankfully, our knights arrived. Mine first, with Mikhail at the front, and followed by the princess's knights. With their help, a full offensive line was constructed, and we drove back the demons. At last, we slaughtered every last of them in the area, though a few had fled, and cleared the den.
We'd set off at dawn and now the noon sun shone with full force, so we took a break in the forest to bandage minor wounds and to eat lunch. For some reason, the princess sat next to me on my log.
"That was too close," she snapped.
"Aww, did you get scared?"
"No, but it's true we could've died. Look, Valentina, you're not too bad at fighting, and neither am I. Unlike you, however, I actually care about what happens to the people, and those beasts can't be allowed to threaten them. You distracted us both with the strife between us, so it'd be better for us to work separately. I'll tell the colonel when we get back."
"My, did a demon hit you on the head, or are you being mature for once? Does this mean you've come to your senses and are willing to support me as the future crown princess?"
"No, I'm not insane, I'm just mature enough to suggest that we stay out of each other's way. Once we're even, that is. You should see your brother soon. Consider it payback for your stunt with the priest. For someone who's inflicted as much suffering onto the people as you have, much worse will come eventually."
With that, Princess Elizabeth went to sit on another log with her knights. I wasn't dissatisfied with this outcome, as her influence in society was so little that I probably didn't need it anyways. After lunch, we went our separate ways. My squadron and I carried on with demon hunting, pushing deeper into the forest. Before sunset, at the pre-arranged time, we headed back.
Every muscle in my body ached. I had a few cuts and bruises, but nothing serious, though I stank. It was a productive day, but I couldn't help wondering what the hell she'd meant about Damian. I had an ominous feeling that I'd find out soon.