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Volume 6 Chapter 163

Holy Maiden Captured

[Previously]

– Seira heads to a holy place for the baptism of the Holy Maiden Candidate.
– However, her escort is only the female knight Elmia.
– Shin, suspicious of the situation, requests Haruto’s help with the escort.

「 —-Ah」
Intense headache, fatigue, and pain in both shoulders woke the female knight Elmia up.
「W-What is this!?」
Elmia was standing—or rather, being held up.
Chains hung from the ceiling, and her hands were secured with restraints attached to them.
Her legs were also tied to the floor with chains and restraints, leaving her with minimal mobility.
The chains from the ceiling that bound her hands were just long enough for Elmia to barely reach them by stretching, and she had to stand on tiptoe to avoid putting her entire weight on her shoulders.
「Ugh」
She didn’t know how much time had passed, but while unconscious, she had supported her body weight only with her shoulders, causing them to dislocate.
Intense pain engulfed her. She distributed some of the weight to her shoulders by tensing her toe muscles, alleviating the burden.
She tried to use healing magic on herself, but it seemed that the restraints had some sort of magic sealing effect that prevented her from casting magic or even releasing magical energy.
「What……. where am I?」
Even as a woman, Elmia was a seasoned Holy Knight who had endured rigorous training. Furthermore, she had risen to the position of commander in the Holy Knight Order, indicating her exceptional skill.
She demonstrated perfect control over her body, even in an inherently unstable position like standing on tiptoe. This considerably eased the pain in her shoulders.
Though her shoulders weren’t completely pain-free due to the dislocation, she had experienced shoulder dislocations multiple times during combat training.
It hurt, but she managed to endure.
「Se-Seira-sama?」
Despite the pain, her attention was more focused on the person she should protect than on her own predicament.
A Holy Knight’s duty is to protect the Holy Maiden at any cost. Safeguarding the Holy Maiden takes precedence above all else.
Elmia was in a dim place where she could barely make out her own hands and feet. She looked around, but for some reason she could not focus on the distance. She was awake and conscious, but her senses of sight and hearing were not working as they should.
Was I poisoned?
If so, when and how?
Elmia tried to recall the last thing she remembered before she woke up.
「I remember……. Seira-sama and I, along with Isha, went to greet the priest—-」
Elmia, along with Seira and Isha, a girl who was a candidate for the next Holy Maiden, was scheduled to visit a holy place not far from the Holy City of Sanctum.
In order for Isha, a highly talented candidate, to become a Holy Maiden, Seira, the current Holy Maiden, needed to baptize her at the spring within the holy place.
After the baptism and if the God of Creation allowed the succession of the Holy Maiden on Isha’s sixteenth birthday, a new Holy Maiden would be born.
The last memory she could recall was going to report their visit to the priests.
At that time, as the priest blessed them as they headed to the holy place, they were offered ceremonial wine. Following the priests’ lead, all three drank it simultaneously, but Elmia had no recollection of what happened afterward.
Could it be that the priests have kidnapped us?
Such a thought crossed her mind.
However, the priest they had gone to report to had served the Holy City and Seira for fifty years. Elmia couldn’t fathom the idea of him betraying them.
So, why……
While trying to piece together the situation, her vision was gradually returning to normal.
It was dark, but she could somehow make out her surroundings. What she saw was—
「Seira-sama!」
Lying on a stone platform about waist-high was the figure of the Holy Maiden. There were no noticeable external injuries.
Wooden restraints were attached to both of Seira’s hands and feet.
「Seira-sama! Are you alright? Please wake up, Seira-sama!」
She called out repeatedly, but Seira didn’t wake up at all. Beside the platform where Seira lay, there was another stone platform, and on it was the Holy Maiden Candidate, Isha.
Isha, just like Seira, had her hands and feet restrained.
「Are you okay, Isha? Wake up, please!」
No matter how much she called out, neither of them opened their eyes. However, their chests were moving up and down, indicating that they were breathing. Both of them were alive.
First and foremost, Elmia was relieved that Seira was unharmed.
In order to understand the situation, Elmia looked around. She was in a dark room, about five meters square, without any windows.
At the edge of the room, her holy armor had been carelessly thrown aside.
There was a door in front of Elmia, and the faint light that seeped through its gap allowed her to barely make out the interior of the room.
—-Suddenly, the door opened.
「Shut up! Finally awake, huh…….」
The light from the torch carried by the man who entered blinded her eyes as she had been straining to see in the darkness.
Even so, from his voice, Elmia could gather some information about him.
「Is that you, Duke Ifer…… do you understand what you’re doing here!?」
The figure that appeared before Elmia was none other than Duke Ifer, the ruler of the Holy City.
「What am I doing? Of course, I understand. I’m imprisoning the Holy Maiden」
He said so and reached for Seira’s body.
「Stop!」
Duke Ifer withdrew his hand.
Elmia’s words weren’t what caused his retreat. The moment his hand reached for Seira, it was repelled by something.
「Tch, a detestable barrier」
The Holy Maiden is always protected by the Holy Barrier.
Duke Ifer’s hand had been repelled by it.
However, something was odd.
Normally, the Holy Barrier shouldn’t react・to・humans・beings.
Even if that being was a villain.
「Duke, you couldn’t possibly be—」
When Duke Ifer’s hand was repelled by the Holy Barrier surrounding Seira, a part of his body changed.
The humanoid form on his right side, which had been repelled by the Holy Barrier, dissolved. A horn sprouted from the right side of his forehead, and his right eye turned pitch black.
He wasn’t human.
「Ah, my human guise has come off……. Well, while I’m at it, let me introduce myself. My name is Gusion. I’m a demon who serves the Evil God」