Ch#131
The next day.
"Wow! Slept well!"
Basto flinched open his eyes at the cheerful voice ringing in his ears.
Then, beyond the bright morning sunlight streaming through the window cracks, he spotted her.
"Raoul bro, Enzo bro. Why'd you sleep here?"
Tie, with a bright face, was shaking Raoul and Enzo awake.
Basto clutched his throbbing head and stared to the side.
Next to him, Veil wore a similar expression, rubbing his forehead.
'Feels like I slept kinda weird......'
"Uncle Basto!"
At that moment, Tie hopped down from the bed and scampered over.
The child hugged Basto tight and rubbed his cheek against his hand.
"Uncle, now we'll say bye to Clan Leader and go home."
"Home......?"
"Yeah! Aunt Marshal's waiting. Tie wants to go home now too......"
At her appearance as if nothing had happened, Basto and Nordics exchanged glances.
"Veil bro, right? Let's go home, okay?"
Meanwhile, Tie had started shaking Veil's knee.
Veil hesitated before scooping Tie up and asked.
"......Kid. You okay?"
Tie widened her eyes round.
Then, with a slightly downcast expression, she gave a pitiful smile.
"I'm fine. Now I know Dad's not a Holy Knight......"
Veil flapped his lips in shock before hurriedly chiming in.
"Yeah, kid! That's the way to think. Now it's certain your dad's not a Holy Knight, so we'll look elsewhere slowly. I'll help you."
"Yeah! Thank youu!"
The child giggled and hugged Veil's neck.
Feeling his nose tingle, Veil patted Tie's back.
"First, Tie'll go grab the bag from the conference hall!"
Tie leaped down from Veil's arms and scampered out of the room.
As the squad members stared blankly at the open door.
"Astie says she wants to advance into the Northern Continent too."
A voice they rarely heard came from the left side of the bed, where there had been no presence until now.
Turning their heads, Lucarion stood there with a serious face, Ppuppue perched on his head.
"Seeing the number one ranked mercenary group sparked her ambition for power. She wants to raise Agavert as a rival to match it."
Veil furrowed his brow.
"What?"
But Lucarion continued calmly.
"On top of that, searching for her dad has been a huge mental burden. She wants to take a break from looking for him for a while."
Now even Basto looked shocked.
However, Lucarion's words didn't end there.
"I think Astie has finally realized the essence of humanity. It's natural for any mercenary to chase their own power. Humans are inherently deficient beings who crave self-fulfillment."
"What, what're you saying? The kid said all that deep stuff?"
"Yeah. She said expanding one's potential and leaving a mark on the world is the manifestation of noble will."
Silence fell over the room.
As Veil opened his mouth with a furrowed brow, Tie returned with her kindergarten bag.
"Tie's back!"
"Kid. You really said all that to Kkamangi?"
Tie, who had frozen in place, blinked for a few seconds before answering.
"Yeah, I did!"
"About advancing to the Northern Continent and becoming a power player or whatever?"
"Yeeah, 'cause Tie's the Necromancer King!"
Veil shut his mouth in disbelief.
Basto stepped forward with a suspicious look.
"Tie, you really okay? Even so, the Northern Continent......"
"Tie doesn't wanna be sad every day just 'cause there's no Dad."
At that moment, Tie finished Basto's sentence with a downcast look.
Then, with a deflated face, she looked around at the squad members.
"If Tie does mercenary work bravely and well, maybe I'll meet Dad naturally later......"
"I think the Captain has a point."
Enzo, who had been listening, chimed in.
He approached Basto and whispered quietly so Tie couldn't hear.
"It's good to have something to cling to, especially in hard times. Helps forget reality for a bit......"
Staying still in despair only brings greater despair.
Even so, Basto couldn't easily shake his worry.
"I know. But for the kid to have thoughts like that......"
At that instant, last night's image of Tie flashed before Basto's eyes.
The sight of Tie standing with tears hanging from her eyes, sobbing pitifully.
"I......"
Basto trailed off and finally sighed.
As if conceding, he approached Tie.
"......Yeah, let's do that. Tie."
Tie stared at Basto.
"Really?"
"Really. But don't stop looking for your dad completely. We'll do it gradually from now on......"
"The Northern Continent is off-limits, Astie."
But then a stiff voice came from the corner of the room.
Turning their gazes, Nordics stood there with a rare rigid expression.
Tie's eyes went wide.
Nordics strode over and knelt on one knee before Astie.
"You must never go to the Northern Continent."
It was Nordics's scary voice, one Tie had never heard before.
Tie, frozen stiff, would soon learn.
The reason Nordics said such words.
* * *
"Indeed. But how did you know?"
In the conference hall with everyone gathered, Valentis acknowledged it.
The squad members looked at Nordics with their own shocked expressions.
Nordics answered.
"......Less 'knew' and more 'suspected,' really."
The squad members and Luminen family had gathered in the conference hall five minutes prior.
As soon as the door closed, Nordics had posed a polite yet bold question to Valentis.
'If I may be so rude, Clan Leader, one question. Were there no orders from the Central Continent to monitor Astie?'
Central Continent.
The Holy Kingdom, the Pope, and the place of the Cardinals serving him.
For such a place to issue orders to monitor Tie.
All the squad members, including Veil, thought it absurd.
But Valentis answered.
'Yes'.
"What? It was really true?"
Veil unnecessarily hugged Tie tighter on his lap.
Then he looked at Nordics with a serious face.
"The Cardinals or whoever really ordered surveillance on the kid?"
Nordics nodded.
"Yes. Surprisingly, the Church has immense interest in mages."
Leonardo agreed as well.
"That's right. Especially more so for mages who manifest unprecedented power."
Veil swallowed hard.
Everyone in Agavert already knew Astie's power was unusual.
That's why they had hidden her real age from the world so far.
But even so.
How long had it been since she became a mercenary? For the Church to already step in and take interest in Tie.
And that too, sneakily, even making the Clan Leader investigate behind the scenes.
"The Northern Continent Tie wants to go to is a place priests visit several times a year for training. It's swarming with priests all year round. But if she goes there and gets tangled with them by any chance."
"......"
"They might demand verification of her personal power or whatever and summon Tie to the Central Continent."
"No."
Basto answered immediately.
"Tie's identity will be exposed. And the Church......"
Basto reflexively glanced at the Luminen family seated before him.
He hesitated, not wanting to badmouth the Church in front of the core of the Holy Knights.
But,
"You may continue. As I said, from the moment I handed over the full organization chart, Luminen is in the same boat as you all."
As Edmund said, Luminen's intentions were already somewhat gauged.
Basto continued hesitantly.
"From what I know, the Church does anything in the name of receiving God's will."
"......"
"Literally, anything."
