The Main Heroine Likes the Extra

93 – Rebellion of the 1st Order of the Holy Knights.

Winter in the Earldom of Wentos is colder than winter in other regions.

To the extent that summer is very cool and you can spend comfortably, in winter it is literally hellishly cold.

“Oops…”

“Okay, come here.”

Cyr, who slowly and clumsily approached Riel on his own, landed in Riel’s arms.

It’s only been a few months since I stood up on my own, but I succeeded in taking my first steps.

Maybe he liked the warmth of the living room, where the fireplace crackled, and Shir smiled wide in Riel’s arms.

“Hee hee”

“So good?”

“Oh my God! Joa!!”

And then, there are two women looking at it.

No, is it okay to say I’m looking at that?

They put their hands together and prayed.

“Surely, World Tree-nim, you are very quick to start walking.”

“……”

One is uttering a voice of admiration, and the other is silently praying quietly.

How to say, two adults praying to a baby.

It is quite a strange sight.

“They…What are you two doing early in the morning?”

“Ah, Lord Soga.”

Two people looking back at my voice.

A paladin belonging to the church and the leader of the Holy Knights, a person named Alma.

And the vice-captain and Alicia-san’s classmate, Priest Remia.

The two of them, together with their subordinates, took refuge here in the Earldom of Wentos some time ago.

No, it’s not just the subordinates.

I brought the Pope, who could be said to be the head of the Church of the World Tree.

“Once again, thank you for hiding us.”

“No…No, I’m also targeted by the cardinals rather than the church. It’s possible to help each other in the same situation.”

Yes.

The two had just run away.

Church…Exactly in the hands of the cardinal who controls the current church.

Before I graduated from the academy, the two learned the truth.

The two went to meet Alicia based on Riel’s information, and heard the truth from Alicia.

The death of the World Tree, the rampage of Saint Velia.

And even the atrocities of the cardinal who took control of the current church.

Of course, neither of them wanted to believe the shocking fact of the death of the World Tree.

It is an unbelievable and horrific story for two people who have faith in the church, more precisely in the world tree that the church serves.

However, it is true that the cardinal’s atrocities a year ago and the situation in the kingdom were at stake, so the two put the situation on hold.

Then the two of them believed Alicia-san’s words when we came to the Duchy of Ignis after graduation.

After her graduation, Riel was not going to live in her own house, but in our house in the Earldom of Wentoth.

She decided to live in the county and be educated by her mother as her countess.

She didn’t know what education as a countess meant, but her mother said it was very important to her, so she agreed.

Therefore, before she left for the county, she decided to stop by the duchy first.

Of course, not only Nana Sir, but also Phyllis and Leelu arrived at the Duchy of Ignis.

For me, it’s almost the first time since fighting the elven assassins in the dukedom at the time.

The Duchy of Ignis has changed dramatically.

Looking around the Duchy of Ignis, which has changed so much that you can guess how hard Prince Andrew worked, Riel and I headed to the duke’s mansion.

On the way to the duke’s mansion, I saw a woman running in front of me with a pale face.

An anxious and urgent expression, but an expression as if he found an oasis in the desert.

“Oh, that person must be…”

As Riel muttered, she looked closely at the woman running in front of her.

She may have been in her mid-twenties, she had a very beautiful face and a dignified figure.

But it must have been something she suffered, and her beautiful face was very emaciated.

She seemed to have seen him somewhere, but she couldn’t quite remember.

“Ah…Ahhh…”

The woman ran eagerly, then stood in front of us and looked around as if looking for something.

“Uh…What the heck…It must be here…”

The woman was looking around as if she didn’t care about us.

At that time, another woman ran from behind as if chasing a woman.

“Remia!! Stand there!!”

The woman’s appearance was familiar to us.

However, she is currently wearing plain clothes, not priestly clothes.

Alicia Merlot, soon to be Alicia Ignis.

“Sister Alicia?”

“Riel? Come to think of it, she said she was graduating soon…”

Alicia recognized Riel and stood there.

A woman named Remia approached Alicia, grabbed her by the shoulder, and complained.

“Ah…Alicia, I’m sure…I can definitely feel the presence of the World Tree here… It’s true that the World Tree is alive…”

Remia, the woman, complained to Mr. Alicia almost in tears.

Mr. Alicia gave us a sidelong glance with a slightly perplexed expression on her face.

No, it seemed like it was sent not to us, but to Sir, who is in Riel’s arms.

“Ooh?”

Did you feel Cirdo Alicia’s gaze?

I tilted my head and looked at Alicia and the woman named Remia.

After a while, Alicia sighed and removed the woman’s hand that was holding her, then covered it with her two hands.

“Calm down, Remia.”

“I…I felt… I must have felt the World Tree at this point while praying in the morning.”

“Yes, that’s right. What you feel is right. So calm down.”

Miss Alicia’s gaze turned to Riel.

Riel nodded as if she had noticed the meaning of her gaze and approached her while holding Shir.

I also moved with Riel.

“Remia, pray one more time.”

“What?”

“In this place, pray once more. Then you will understand naturally.”

The woman, Mr. Remia, made eye contact with Mr. Alicia, then carefully knelt on her floor and prayed.

A few minutes after raising her prayers like that, suddenly she opened her eyes wide and lifted her head.

“Uh…Uh uh…”

The place where she fixed her gaze was none other than the side of Shire where Riel was holding.

Sir was also staring at Mr. Remia with his own red eyes.

“You didn’t tell me about Sir?”

Miss Alicia quietly answered my question quietly.

“I wasn’t sure if he was an ally yet, so I thought it was too early to tell him about Sir.”

“…It seems like he suffered a lot because of that.”

Miss Remia was now offering her prayers with her head bowed, with her tears streaming down her face.

However, even though he had the same gaunt face as before, a relieved smile appeared on his face.

Anyway, after going through a similar process, the knight commander named Alma, who was on standby at the duke’s mansion, also confirmed Syrr’s identity.

The old world tree, Yggdrasil, died and was born again, Sir.

As soon as they confirmed its existence, the two of them acted quickly to admit that Yggdrasil, the world tree, was indeed dead.

If the World Tree is already dead, then it would be Saint Velia who is instructing the cardinal to act atrociously, pretending to be the World Tree.

I had to return the church to its original state immediately.

However, a problem remained.

Sir’s power is not enough to let people know that Sir is truly a new world tree.

In order to feel the power of the World Tree flowing from Sir, he had to be close to Sir, but he cannot take him to church.

You never know where Saint Velia’s influence might be in the church.

I couldn’t do that even for Sir’s safety.

Then, what if, as renowned paladins and combat priests, they directly persuaded the people of the church?

Even so, it’s probably impossible.

Even if Commander Alma, the leader of the Holy Knights, persuaded them, only the same Paladins would be able to follow him.

The same goes for the vice-captain, Priest Remia.

Even more than them, Cardinal Gerald’s influence is stronger.

First of all, even if Sir was revealed to be the new World Tree, there was no guarantee that things would go well.

It is because not all members of the Central Church belonged to the church only with deep religious beliefs like the two of them.

Because of wealth, because of power, etc., The church is also a place where all kinds of human groups are located.

Even if Sir claims to be the new world tree and proves it, will they give up their current privileges and challenge the cardinals?

It will probably be difficult.

What they can do is those who are not under the influence of the Cardinal.

And above all else, it is to attract those with strong faith to our side.

And he had a figure at the center of it, none other than the Pope.

The head of the faction that opposes the cardinals, and a person who can be said to be the top of the church.

It was clear to anyone that securing and protecting him would be of great help.

So, the girls quietly returned to the church first.

To build their own power, to rescue the pope.

After sending them off, Riel and I headed to the Earl of Wentos.

If they successfully complete the plot in the Central Church, I will arrange for them to come to the Earldom of Wentos.

It is said that the power of the church has greatly reduced in the kingdom, but the church, its followers, and priests are scattered everywhere in the kingdom.

And they serve as the cardinal’s eyes.

Then, even in the kingdom, especially where the power of the church does not exist at all.

That was the Earldom of Wentos.

Leaving the Duchy of Ignis behind, the two women, Alma and Remia, headed to the capital first.

It was to join the men I had left behind in the capital.

After sending the telegram first, when we arrived at the capital, the men were already ready and waiting for us.

The men who were quickly prepared to depart at any time were lined up.

“We are going back to the church from now on.”

The subordinates respond energetically to Captain Alma’s words.

Leaving the capital with those subordinates at the forefront, they traveled a fairly long distance and returned to the central church where they were stationed.

How many days did you move like that?

Captain Alma, who was leading the way on horseback, ordered everyone to stop when he saw a church in the distance.

The return point was right in front of them, but at the sudden instruction to stop, the paladins looked at Alma, the leader, with puzzled faces.

Captain Alma, mounted on a horse, steps out in front of her men.

She cried out.

“Everyone, I hope you will listen carefully.”

It was very rare for Captain Alma to give a speech with everyone standing.

So, the subordinates looked at Captain Alma with curious eyes.

“From now on, we will celebrate the rescue of His Holiness the Pope.”

At Captain Alma’s words, all of his subordinates gaped open.

Until now, it was Alma who was uncomfortable with the Pope, who was virtually imprisoned, but had endured for fear that his men would be harmed in the power struggle.

The leader of Alma, prepared to fight against the cardinal, said he would rescue the pope.

“…As you all know, this means antagonizing Cardinal Gerald. I probably won’t be back in the church for a while.”

At that, his men put on complex faces.

Captaining the faces of his subordinates, Captain Alma quietly opened his mouth.

“If you can’t join me, raise your hand. I’ll get you out of here.”

At that, several people raised their hands.

Most of them were descendants of famous priest families and paladin families who could not leave the church.

Alma called them out, begged for their forgiveness, and gave them a leave of absence close to detention.

When they leave this place, they promise to release them.

They couldn’t be with Captain Alma due to circumstances, but they accepted the promise because they respected and respected the leader.

“It’s like taking a few days off.”

Saying that, they headed for the inn in a nearby village that Captain Alma had saved.

Of course, they weren’t the only ones.

“Captain, are you crazy?!”

The paladins who are already in contact with the cardinal.

I had already identified those people, so I immediately ordered them to arrest them.

And they, too, were detained, saying they would release them later when they left.

They had to be kept quiet until the death, under supervision.

“…For the rest, it must have been a tough decision, but thank you very much.”

Captain Alma bowed his head and thanked his men.

“Then, I want everyone to move according to my plan.”

Like that, the 1st Order of Holy Knights began to move behind the scenes of the Central Church.

It took about a month for them to rescue the pope and safely arrive in the Earldom of Wentos.