Raising Paladins

Episode 88. Sewer Raid Team (3)

“Did you see those reckless people… … ?!”

Krenna’s mouth fell open.

Less than ten people!

It was while watching Carl and his party infiltrate the middle of enemy lines with it.

How brave were the priests of Mayrium to do such a thing?

Why is there a gray-haired cardinal in it?

Krenna’s eyelids fluttered in confusion.

Meanwhile.

Carl held his sword against the talking lizard’s throat.

chuck!

“Stop the attack.”

“… … If you kill me, you won’t be able to return alive.”

“I didn’t come here to live. I came here to save you.”

“what do you mean?”

The lizard was calm.

Even with a sharp blade stuck in his throat.

“It means that I came to save the citizens of Derdrang, as well as the lives of your clan and slave soldiers. Also, this situation was all brought on by you.”

“Why?”

“I promised that I would definitely set up a negotiating position.”

Carl pointed with his chin to the flag of the Dawning Church near the lizard.

It was the flag Carl had handed over as a token of their promise the last time they met.

“But you could not stand it for a day and attacked the castle. That means they have no will to negotiate. Also, far more Derdrang soldiers died in the siege today than your clan, whom you claimed to have been sacrificed as messengers before. The cause is in Derdrang.”

“… … This is a battlefield. Do you think something like a cause will work? The one who kills more wins the fight.”

“Then everything you claimed would be useless. Didn’t he say that he attacked because the family had no place to live because of the filth that Derdrang threw away? Isn’t that a cause?”

“… … !”

“Stop attacking and bite the soldiers at least 100 paces from the wall.”

“… … .”

The lizard glared at the knife and gave instructions in sign language.

Then the trebuchets stopped, and the corps of thugs and slave soldiers moved away from the wall.

“Good idea. If you hadn’t stopped attacking, you would have refuted the claim of your clan leader, so you’re a traitor, and if other tribes attacked you after taking the castle, you wouldn’t have any grounds to respond to them.”

“… … Praise from the enemy is not very pleasant.”

“It’s better than having your throat cut. From now on, I will set up the negotiating position I promised.”

“Didn’t you just say I didn’t deserve it?”

“So, aren’t you setting up a place to look for that qualification again? I’m just setting up a place where you can talk with Derdrang’s godmother, Crenna, just the two of you, and I don’t intend to interfere any further. Will you agree?”

“Looks like you have no other options.”

Shuk.

Carl retrieved the sword and soldered it.

Then, the people who surrounded them and guarded them also grabbed their weapons.

Soon after, a few slave soldiers who listened to the lizard’s instructions headed toward the center of the battlefield with white flags and large tents.

Crenna was watching while supporting Bailey on top of the castle wall.

Bailey said to him.

“It’s a white flag and a tent. It looks like we want to talk.”

“Looks like it. Open the gates! I will go myself!”

Crenna jumped off the castle wall with expressive movements that are difficult to see even for a seventy-year-old.

She rode on a white horse pulled by a soldier.

Soon after, the huge gates opened, and Krenna’s horse rode out.

On the other side came a horse riding a talking lizard.

The two stopped at an appropriate distance, then dismounted from their respective horses and stepped under the tent.

“It’s the first time I’ve seen you up close. Do the people of Derdrang call you Godmother?”

“Yes. What can I call you?”

“My name is Tri-Garta, which in human language means pointed canine.”

“Okay. Fangs, then.”

“Tell me.”

“Why did you suddenly propose a conversation? Is it because of them too?”

Krenna’s gaze turned to Carl’s group, who were far away.

They were slowly moving away from the enemy camp towards the walls.

With a tiara in the middle and surrounding it in a circle.

“Are you a mercenary hired by Godmother?”

“no. They were guests, but I kicked them out.”

“You kicked them out? But why do they… … ?”

“I don’t know either. What did you not say?”

“They said they came to save me. The citizens of Derdrang and all of our people.”

“… … !”

For a moment, Krenna’s eyes sparked.

“It is foolish to try to save others without knowing how precious your own life is… … .”

“But isn’t that something only priests who serve God can do? I am also a priest of our clan.”

“canine.”

“Godmother.”

“What you and your clan really want is Derdrang Fortress? If you ask for that, I have no choice but to leave this place. I cannot send my citizens out of the citadel into a dangerous place.”

“Are you saying there is no room for negotiation in the first place?”

“I said this on the premise that you demanded the citadel. Is that really the purpose?”

Tri-Garta stared at the eastern cliff for a moment.

The chirping of seagulls.

I could hear the sound of the big waves crashing against the cliffs and crashing.

Then, as if Tri-Garta had made up her mind, she said something.

“Now that this has happened, let me be honest. We have nowhere to go.”

“What do you mean?”

“There are many large and deep caves under the high cliffs near Derdrang. Originally, our clan and the seal clan, slave soldiers, lived in caves along the coast.”

“But they said they couldn’t live because of the filth we threw away.”

“That is not wrong either. It’s true that humans make far more garbage than they’re big, right?”

“… … I will not deny it.”

“But there is one more problem.”

“… … ?”

“It is a monstrous species. Humans called it a monster. Of course, if you are a person who discriminates against other races, our clan will look like monsters too. The monsters I’m talking about have no intelligence at all, so they only know about killing and starving.”

“You mean those things are harming your clan?”

“That’s right. Monster species that lived in the depths of the sea are increasingly coming to land. 200 years ago, to keep the pact between the Paladins of the Dawn and our clan’s great leader, we refrained from trespassing on the human realm, but now things are completely different. Caught between the human realm and the monsters of the deep, the damage is growing. Especially recently… … .”

Grief filled Tri-Garta’s eyes.

“A terrifying deep-sea monstrous species has appeared and captured thousands of members of the clan. Maybe by now… … All must have been eaten.”

“No way! You have an army organized enough to lay a siege. There’s no way thousands of people could be defeated by one monster.”

“That’s probably what the Lord of Derdrang said because he couldn’t see the monster. No weapon works on him. If you run into him… … You will change your mind.”

A story hard to believe.

But Krenna looked Tri-garta in the eyes and sensed that he was telling the truth.

Crena, who has lived for over seventy years and has met all kinds of people.

I could feel it because it was her.

“So you want a place for your clan to live? But I cannot give you the citadel.”

“Would it be difficult even for a part inside the castle? As far as I know, the interior of Derdrang is very spacious. How about giving one of them to our clan as an autonomous district?”

“We’ll have to discuss that with the elders of Derdrang. But I can’t promise to give you a positive answer. Wouldn’t it be easy for two tribes that have lived without knowing each other’s existence for 200 years to become neighbors overnight?”

“… … That statement is hard for me to deny. It will be difficult for humans and for our sea lizards. Because everything has to change.”

“Then, in the end, it will only be a battle to win. We cannot give up, and you cannot back down.”

“I thought so too. But a little while ago I changed my mind.”

“You mean there is another way?”

“If it is possible, it seems to exist.”

Tri-Garta saw Carl’s party approaching the tent.

I looked especially closely at the knife.

“If it’s that brave man and his comrades… … Perhaps together with our people we can defeat the monsters of the deep. lend them to us. Then I will defeat the army.”

“As I said earlier, I am the one who kicked them out. I don’t have that right.”

“Can’t you do me a favor?”

“that… … .”

Krenna bit her lip.

I kicked out Carl’s group, but I got help from them again, and I’m in a situation where I have to ask them for help again.

It was unlikely that they would have good feelings for Krenna and Derdrang.

But I have no choice but to do it.

If Tri-Garta’s demands are not met, the siege will begin again.

Then countless soldiers will die again.

Krenna made up her mind.

“I apologize for killing your clan’s messenger before.”

“I apologize for attacking the citadel in a hurry and killing and injuring the soldiers of Derdrang.”

“Then we don’t owe each other anymore.”

“That’s right. We only ask that you help our clan in good faith. Then I will defeat the slave army.”

“Okay.”

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Just then, the knife came near the tent.

It was a confident gait, as if he knew exactly that now was the right time for him to appear.

“Look, Carlos.”

“yes.”

“The canine here just said… … .”

“I accidentally overheard the conversation. My ears are rather bright.”

“… … is it.”

“Me and the priests of the Merium Shrine decided to help the sea lizard clan. I want to take a look at that monster that climbed up from the deep sea.”

“I heard that no weapon will work, is that okay?”

“There is no enemy that cannot be slashed with the blade of faith.”

“… … Great. If so, what should I give you? You and the others have already helped Derdrang twice, and even though I treated you harshly, you are accepting a new request like this. Would you be satisfied with what I put on the scale? If you ask me to apologize for the past, I will do it, and if you ask me to kneel down and beg, I will. Please don’t let the soldiers and citizens of Derdrang suffer any more.”

“Please give us a warm welcome when we return. Please give me soup heated on the stove, rye bread, and wine.”

“… … Do you want a warm welcome when you come back? Is that all you do while risking your life to fight for Derdrang?”

“yes. Please forget everything that happened between Dawn Bridge and Derdrang and welcome them as friends. That is enough.”

Krenna’s eyes deepened.

Indescribable emotions swirled inside him.

“You… … You are such a great priest… … . The old man is too ashamed to lift his head.”

“It was nothing. Then let’s go.”

Carl lightly greeted Krenna.

As he blew the whistle, the party that had been far away came rushing in.

Then, with the sea lizard, it moved away toward the shore.

The back view of the knife receding in the pouring sunlight.

Krenna saw in Carl the great paladin of the stories she read as a child.

The hero who settled the conflict between the humans and the sea lizard clan and established each other’s territory.

Coincidentally, the main character in the story and that priest had the same name.

“It must be just a coincidence… … .”

Crena climbed the white horse again.

She rode her horse and headed into the Derdrang Fortress.