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Volume 7 Chapter 162

Escorting the Holy Maiden

「Haruto-dono!」
As I was walking on the main street of the Holy City, I was called out to.
「Hello. Um, Shin-san?」
「Yes, that’s right. I’m glad you remembered me」
The one who approached me was Shin, a Holy Knight who was with Seira yesterday. It seemed he had been looking for me.
Since there were many people on the main street, I thought it was quite impressive that he managed to spot me. I became a little curious, so I used my magic sight to examine Shin, and I noticed a concentration of magic power around his eyes.
Most likely, he also had magic sight or a similar ability, and he used it to locate me.
「Do you have a moment now?」
「Yes, it’s fine」
After leaving the Temple, I separated from Tina and the others. The purpose of coming to the holy city of Sanctum, which was related to dungeon management negotiations, had been successfully concluded. So, everyone else went sightseeing in the holy city.
I had initially planned to join them for sightseeing once the negotiations with the Creator God were over. However, since arriving in this holy city, there were a few things that caught my attention, and I had other things to do. Therefore, I decided to go solo today and tomorrow.
I felt sorry for deviating from the trip I had invited everyone on…….
But I will make it up to them later!
Guided by Shin, we arrived at the top of the holy city’s wall. This place was inaccessible to ordinary people, and the distance from the road where people walked ensured that our conversation wouldn’t be overheard.
To be brought to this kind of place.
It must be something related to a secret case.
「What’s this all about?」
「Well, you see, the Holy Maiden is going to leave the holy city this evening, and it seems a bit suspicious」
「…… You guys just returned yesterday, right? Is it normal for her to go out so frequently?」
「The outing was scheduled in advance, so that itself isn’t strange, but—-」
What Shin found concerning was that Seira, the most important figure in the holy city, would be going out, and she would have only one escort.
Of course, that guard was the Commander of the Holy Knights, Elmia, so there was no lack of combat power.
However, typically, when Seira went out, there would be a minimum of five Holy Knights accompanying her. Despite that, this time, the priests did not permit any other Holy Knights to accompany her.
The ones who issued orders to the Holy Knights were not Seira but the priests. Although the city was ruled by Duke Ifer, when it came to the management of the Great Temple and matters related to religious ceremonies, five priests were in charge of everything.
The Holy Knights served as protectors of the Maidens who served the gods, and they were under the authority of the priests. It was these priests who did not allow any other Holy Knights to accompany Seira besides Elmia.
「This time, Holy Maiden is going outside for the baptism of the Holy Maiden candidate」
There was a spring in the mountains not far from the holy city, where it was said that the Maiden candidates of the past had purified themselves before becoming Maidens.
Seira, Elmia, and the next Maiden candidate were headed to that spring.
「The priests say it’s customary for only female Holy Knights to accompany during the initiation. However, the last initiation took place two hundred years ago, so we can’t be sure if that’s true. Also, now we can’t even confirm because we can’t meet Holy Maiden」
Currently, Elmia was the only female Holy Knight. While there were some female Holy Knight apprentices, they were not allowed to accompany Seira.
「The mountain where the initiation spring is located is considered a holy place, so it’s understandable that we can’t enter it. However, I think there should be escorts along the way. After all, we were attacked by demons yesterday, right?」
I agreed with Shin’s assessment. Two demons had appeared, specifically targeting Seira. Even if we couldn’t enter the mountain, there should be Holy Knights as escorts at least along the way.
If the priests were serious about this, it meant they either had a low sense of crisis regarding the appearance of demons, had great faith in Elmia’s abilities, or—-
「Indeed…… By the way, did you see anything unusual with your magic sight when you looked at the priests?」
「Yes, from what I saw, there didn’t seem to be anything unusual with the flow of magical power— Wait, huh!? You know? That I have the ability of a Magic Eye」
Shin seemed to have a Magic Eye. I had read about Magic Eyes in ancient texts and knew a little about them. It was a rather rare skill.
「I didn’t know you had a Magic Eye, but I thought you had some kind of eye-related ability. Did you use that power to locate me?」
「Oh, as expected! I knew I could count on Haruto-dono. I have a favour to ask」
「Escort for Holy Maiden, right?」
「Most astute. If possible, I’d like you to be her escort without Holy Maiden and the others noticing. It’s just a hunch of mine…… but Lord Haruto, you can do it, right?」
To secretly serve as the escort for Seira, who was both a Maiden and skilled in magic, or for Elmia, who seemed to possess a strong sense of combat—-
It was possible.
In fact, as a precautionary measure, I had secretly attached a teleportation magic circle to Seira’s body.
Under normal circumstances, it suppressed magical energy consumption to the extreme and blended into Seira’s magical energy, making it impossible for the person affected to notice the magic circle.
When Seira called for help, the magic circle would automatically・activate・and・summon・me.
In other words, it was as if I were right by Seira’s side as her escort.
By the way, I had set it up so that when I was in the restroom or taking a bath, it wouldn’t summon me, but rather a Flame Knight, to avoid any embarrassing situations in front of Seira.
I had thought of these details carefully.
So, there was no issue with regards to the escort.
「Understood. I’ll take on the role of Holy Maiden’s escort. And as for not getting caught… I think I can manage that as well」
I wouldn’t be following Seira and the others, so there was no way I could get caught.
……. Wait?
Come to think of it, they’re going to baptise the Maiden candidate, right?
—-In that case, if the baptism goes smoothly, and if the Creator God grants a divine message at the right moment, Seira would be released from her role as a Maiden without any problems!
There was a clear path to fulfilling the conditions set by the Creator God.
I didn’t need to persuade Seira. I just had to fulfil my role as their escort until they safely returned from the baptism spring.
I suddenly became quite motivated to protect Seira and her group.
Once the conditions were met safely, I could focus on dungeon management starting next week.
「By the way, why did you decide to ask me for help with the escort, even though we only met yesterday?」
「If Lord Haruto, who easily defeated the demons, is the one protecting Lady Seira, I believe she will be safe no matter what happens. And as the husband of the Hero Tina-sama, I thought Lord Haruto would be trustworthy」
Oh, Lady・Se・i・ra ・—- Huh.
I wonder if Mr. Shin has feelings for Seira?
Does he trust me because he knows I have a wife, thinking I won’t make any advances on Seira?
I have plenty of wives, you know?
If you truly love someone, you should protect them yourself. Don’t rely on others just because your boss told you to.
If you keep doing things like this, you might lose her, you know?
Tina is my number one, so I won’t actively approach other girls.
But I won’t turn them away if they come to me.
Especially if it’s a beauty like Seira.