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HELHEIM SCANS
[Translator - Night]
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Chapter 65: The Archbishop's Blessing
Just before receiving the report of a barbarian raid, Aikob was listening to a knight named Boti asking for a blessing.
"Archbishop, may I request a prayer of blessing?"
Until they arrived here, Aikob had no idea of the man’s name, affiliation, or place of origin.
He neither knew nor cared which lord’s vassal he was or which church he belonged to.
Aikob had wanted to select royal knights for the task of demolishing heretical temples.
They were the easiest to manage.
However, getting knights to break and haul stones was a challenge.
These were men who, upon returning to their estates, would command dozens of servants with a mere gesture.
Some were even nobles owning vast lands.
He couldn't use the knights from Born, whom he had chosen to persuade Rusef.
Thus, he had no choice but to recruit workers from among the soldiers of Terdin.
And to do that, he needed a knight from Terdin’s side to supervise them.
That knight was Boti.
Aikob wanted to deal with this temple as quickly as possible and return to camp to rest.
He had been full of resolve before arriving but grew weary at the sight of the heretical temple.
How was he going to destroy all these statues?
"Just a few words will do. Or, if you're too busy, even a single drop of holy water would suffice,"
Boti said, trailing behind Aikob as he pondered how to dispose of the heretical statues.
‘What an insolent fool. Though he's not the first like this I've encountered here.’
Instead of confronting him directly, Aikob sidestepped the matter, subtly redirecting the conversation.
"It seems this is indeed the true temple. That 'barbarian chieftain' must have misled us, don’t you think?"
The grotesque stone statues of the heretical god were much more elaborate and larger than the crude reliefs at the previous temple.
Four of them stood on either side, with a stone altar carved from rock that was twice the size of the one before.
"Yes. According to that man, this should be a goddess, but I’d say this is clearly a male deity,"
Boti said, pounding his fist against the temple wall as if to demonstrate his faith.
He even kicked it for good measure before pointing to the stone altar in front of the wall.
"Who else could this enormous altar be for? It must be for their greatest deity. The altar in the temple where the prince was earlier couldn’t even fit two people sharing a loaf of bread. Here, ten people could feast together!"
While Boti was likely fawning over Aikob by agreeing with him at every turn, he wasn’t wrong.
The altar in the newly built cathedral in Tamperton was smaller than this one.
And here, in the middle of nowhere, such a grand altar?
If they managed to occupy this place and the Gerons, eventually influenced by Triton’s civilization—and they will be influenced—visited Aikob's cathedral and remarked, “Your altar is smaller than ours,” it would be intolerable.
"Is this where the prince plans to perform that... witchcraft ritual?"
"That’s right. Then we’ll smash the altar with hammers and destroy the statues."
The statues weren’t freestanding works of art but carvings directly into the rocky walls.
Aikob had thought they could simply be toppled but now realized it would be more tedious.
"…starting with the faces."
"Shouldn't we be cutting the heads off heretical statues?"
"Unfortunately, we don’t have the time or the tools. But we can’t just leave them as they are."
"Ah, so you'll just smash the faces. Very wise. By the way, how can I receive the Archbishop's blessing?"
Realizing this fool wouldn’t take a hint, Aikob decided on a more definitive refusal.
"I cannot offer blessings lightly. Doesn’t your parish priest provide them?"
"My village is in the countryside, and the priests there are unreliable. I need the Archbishop’s blessing to hold my head high when I return home."
Boti laughed heartily.
‘So, he’s not just insolent but also stupid.’
"Blessings from the divine are not given to preserve your pride."
"Of course, I understand. Actually, when the barbarians requested a duel with the king this morning, I intended to step forward. Those savages wouldn’t stand a chance against me, even barehanded. But the prince declined. If I’d fought, I wouldn’t have to beg for a blessing now. Couldn’t you at least say a simple prayer?"
Just as Aikob was about to firmly refuse, a knight rushed into the temple, shouting.
"The barbarians are attacking!"
The knights who had been inspecting the temple immediately bolted outside.
Even Boti, who had been glued to Aikob's side, moved the moment he sensed a fight.
‘These brutes only care about fighting!’
Knights were creatures who acted purely on impulse, driven by the lust for battle.
Aikob, on the other hand, prided himself on maintaining rationality, even when hearing urgent words like "raid."
Though he flinched instinctively, it wasn’t to charge into battle like the knights but to retreat.
His usually composed mind began spinning rapidly.
Something felt off.
Following the knights blindly didn’t seem wise.
Aikob paused, taking a moment to assess the situation.
He closed his eyes, breathed deeply, listened to his surroundings, offered a prayer, and drank water.
Only then did he open his eyes and carefully examine his surroundings.
But this time, he had no opportunity to reflect as the knights’ frantic movements swept him up.
By the time Aikob exited the cave, the knights were already mounted.
Those who had emerged late like him leaped onto their horses with remarkable agility, despite wearing chainmail and heavy pauldrons.
However, Aikob found even boarding the carriage difficult.
It wasn’t just his weight that held him back—it felt as though something was pulling at his collar.
‘Something’s not right. A barbarian attack? Barbarians? Which tribe?’
Aikob felt an inexplicable unease.
He wanted to stop the knights immediately, but they were already turning their horses to head back to the first temple.
‘Think, for heaven’s sake! Shouldn’t you proceed cautiously? Didn’t anyone ask how many enemies there are or what this 'raid' entails? Who even reported it? How do they know? That’s the first thing to question!’
Aikob wanted to shout at the knight driving the carriage to stop, but the noise from the horses and rattling wheels drowned out his voice.
The swaying carriage blurred his vision, making it hard to concentrate.
He forced himself to focus.
A barbarian raid?
Hadn’t they surrendered?
A betrayal?
It was possible.
Barbarians were always prone to betrayal.
‘A different tribe?’
Aikob belatedly recalled what Terdin had told him about the northern tribes.
Of the ten main tribes, only three had actually surrendered, while the other seven had not.
Those seven still had the capacity to unite and wage war again.
But that was supposedly a distant possibility, not something that would happen within a year or two.
That’s what Terdin had said.
And now, they were attacking?
‘If they were to retaliate, it would have to be after Terdin’s forces withdrew from Elum—not now!’
Terdin’s main forces had yet to retreat, and Aikob knew this because he had personally quelled the complaints of soldiers and knights demanding payment and discharge.
Terdin’s army, which had defeated the ten-tribe alliance at Adian Mantum, remained intact.
It was reinforced by the royal guard and Born’s auxiliary forces.
No sane barbarians would attack such a force.
‘Are they here just to target the prince? It would certainly be troublesome if the prince were taken hostage. But then, how did they know the prince was here?’
The carriage carrying Aikob quickly arrived at the vicinity of the false temple Jedrick had indicated.
The area was full of rocky mountains, making it difficult to distinguish one place from another, but the lead knight guiding the carriage and companions pressed forward without hesitation.
Faint red smoke rose from the mountain slope, confirming that it was indeed the rocky mountain they had first seen.
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It seemed the prince hadn’t heeded Aikob’s warnings and had used the magical powder after all.
‘As expected, he doesn’t listen. Just like his father… Whether or not he’s pious, following orders has never been his strong suit—unlike Lamuel.’
King Fried Gallant no longer held any value. Even before taking on the role of chancellor, Aikob had wanted to replace the king.
Fried was calculating, disobedient, and now openly revealing his schemes.
His eldest son would be far easier to control.
‘What on earth did that wizard from Elder Tower say to him to change him so?’
Fried was calculating, so Aikob had to be as well.
First, he needed to uncover the plan to eliminate General Terdin.
Without identifying Fried’s closely guarded core strategy, the process of replacing the king couldn’t proceed.
‘Or perhaps Gallant already suspects my intentions and is acting preemptively. What exactly did that wretch Zea tell him?’
Aikob’s complicated thoughts were suddenly interrupted by an image of Charlon’s face.
‘Lamuel’s wife should be the eldest daughter of the Vormont family. She’s too exceptional to leave in the north…’
The lead knight halted his horse.
The other knights slowed down, and the carriage came to a stop as well.
A faint murmur of discussion reached them from the lead knight and his companions.
“How many of them are there?”
“Thirty? But that’s just outside; there are probably more inside. I’d estimate around fifty in total.”
“What about our soldiers?”
“They’re all dead.”
“Damn it. We have to go in now. The prince is in danger.”
A knight who had been scouting the other side of the rocky ridge rushed back urgently.
“Wait. There are more on that side.”
“How many?”
“A hundred… No, more.”
“How far?”
“About a mile. They’re on horseback. They’ll be here soon.”
“Then we must rescue the prince before they arrive!”
“Do you see the prince?”
“He’s likely inside the cave!”
“Dear God, the princess must be in there too!”
“Of course! That’s why we need to hurry. Prepare to attack!”
As the lead knight drew his sword, the other knights followed suit.
At that moment, Aikob shouted.
“Wait!”
His hoarse voice didn’t carry far, but the nearby Boti quickly raised his voice in his stead.
“Everyone, halt! The Archbishop wishes to speak!”
The knights, who had been about to charge, froze in hesitation.
Boti turned to Aikob and asked urgently,
“Do you have something to say?”
Aikob quickly calculated—or rather, there wasn’t much to calculate.
The spot where the carriage stood was, thankfully, surrounded by rocky mountains and boulders, shielding them from the barbarians’ view.
However, this also meant Aikob couldn’t clearly see the surrounding situation.
All he had was the information just relayed to him.
But that was enough.
“We retreat.”
“What?”
Every knight expressed their confusion simultaneously.
Even the devout Boti looked at him with a face that asked if he was in his right mind.
“Do you mean to abandon the prince and leave?”
“Yes, we leave him.”
The knights showed no intention of following Aikob’s orders.
He had hoped they would understand immediately, but these battle-obsessed fools lacked that level of intelligence.
Even in such an urgent moment, he had no choice but to explain in detail.
“There are only eight of us here. Correct?”
Of course, Aikob didn’t count himself in the tally.
Boti responded promptly, the only one who seemed willing to cooperate.
“Yes, that’s correct. With the soldiers guarding the cave seemingly all dead, it’s just us remaining.”
“And over there, there are fifty, you said? And another hundred on top of that… Isn’t that right?”
The unnamed knight who had briefly scouted beyond the rocks nodded.
“Yes, bishop.”
Aikob wanted to correct him to "Archbishop" properly, but there was no time for that now.
“The barbarians have already entered the cave, haven’t they? Then the situation over there is over.”
“Over? We can’t be sure of that! They may still be alive!”
Shouted one of the knights from Born.
Aikob raised his hand in a calming gesture to quiet him.
“Of course, they’re alive. And that’s exactly the problem.”
“What do you mean?”
“The prince and princess must have been taken hostage. If those barbarians hold a blade to their necks, could you fight properly?”
“Well, I…”
The knights exchanged uneasy glances.
“If they threaten to kill the prince unless you drop your swords, could you refuse? Would you stand there, unable to wield your swords, and accept death? Is that a death you could accept?”
Aikob pressed his point further.
“So, you’re saying we should leave them behind even if they’re alive?”
One knight protested, but his tone already betrayed that he was wavering.
“If they’ve been captured alive, we can negotiate their release later.”
Given the crude monetary sense of those barbarians, a few pieces of gold would suffice.
And if it took more gold, so be it.
Nothing was more important than ensuring the safety of the Archbishop of the Triton Kingdom!
“…So we must retreat.”
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HELHEIM SCANS
[Translator - Night]
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