The people were silent and just stared at Sylvester. For a few seconds, there was no movement, and the skirmish with the Inquisitors also stopped.
Bam!
But then, one man picked up a stone and threw it at Sylvester. It hit him on his forehead and left a small red mark. It didn’t really hurt, but Sylvester still creased one eye more than the other. “If this will calm your hearts and bring you back to the arms of the lord, so be it.”
Pa!
“How dare you hit the holy lord?” A woman shouted at the man who threw the stone. She then proceeded to pull the man’s ear. “No food for you for three days. Let’s go back now. You need to go and find a job again tomorrow.”
“M-M-Maaa… but he asked to be it!”
Pa!
The man got another slap planted on his face. This time, it was hard enough to leave a mark and resound hard. But that made the people chuckle and look around. Then in no time, as a few people started to move to return to their homes, others also followed and in a chain reaction, everyone returned.
Most would first silently pray to Sylvester once and then head back. Others would come closer and kiss the little stage he stood on before returning. Sylvester wondered how many of these were really religious and how many became this religious because of his little show.
In no time, the crowd that was violently raging returned to normal. And soon, the gate where the Inquisitors were fighting for their life was now desolate silence.
“It worked! Good job, Max.” Gabriel patted Sylvester’s back. “Your hymns are great.”
Sylvester shook his head, however. “The work of hymns was just fifty per cent. The rest was the work of that woman and her son we paid to act, and those other few people we paid to start moving back to start a chain reaction.”
“Ah! So that’s what you did before starting?” Lady Aurora just realised.
Sylvester nodded and started to remove the short stage he had created. “If you’re careful enough, you’ll realise slowly that people are just sheep. Most lack a will of their own, and they’d rather follow than lead.”
Gabriel was especially happy because he was scared that the crowd would riot at any moment. “Good lord, I’ll pray extra at least once to thank the lord for giving you a big brain. Now, should we head out to the Bamboo Forest in the south?”
“Head out?” Sylvester chuckled. “We’re just starting, buddy. We have two more gates to handle. Then we will walk around the most dangerous streets of the town. We will meet a few community leaders and convince them. At the same time, if we find any crooks—kill.”
“I volunteer for the killing part.” Lady Aurora raised her hand. But her being in the Bright Mother’s robes made it appear all the more maniacal.
Sylvester just sighed and moved on. “It’s going to be a long night, I’m afraid.”
…
It took them eight hours to finally quench the riots and the rumours. Sylvester had to sing his hymns so many times that he just started to repeat his previous hymns from the past. He was too tired to keep the brain running for so long.
By the morning, they had also killed at least a dozen crime groups in the city and had made the streets safer. By the time morning came, the city guards and inquisitors were heavily deployed to roam the streets and maintain order.
But eventually, they were planning on opening the lockdown a few hours later anyway so the trade could happen. Their goal was not to hurt the region, after all.
In the morning, he returned to the royal palace and spoke with the Inquisitor High Lord. “I ask permission to leave with my crusaders, Lord Inquisitor.”
“Take this.” The big man sitting on an equally big chair extended him a piece of parchment. “It is a declaration with my stamp. You can show this if any noble, from the lowest to highest, or any clergy, be it a priest or Cardinal, dares hinder your investigation. According to this, you are working on my behalf—meaning your word is my word.”
‘Good lord, isn’t this too much freedom? I can do so much with this piece of paper.’
“Use it wisely, young bard.”
“I will, Lord Inquisitor. Thank you for the help. I will update you if I find anything.” He swiftly bid his farewell and left the palace.
Thankfully, Lady Aurora’s big luxury carriage was back, and he was not complaining. Since his thousand crusader army was going to ride with him, he didn’t have to sit at the reinsmen’s seat and steer the horses.
At the same time, he took hundred more men from Inquisitors and joined them with his Crusaders, effectively completing his requirement of a thousand soldiers for his Crusader Army.
But as he entered the carriage, he saw Isabella was there too. “You’re coming along?” ．
“I have been assigned as a private healer by Lady Aurora.” Isabella instantly took a defensive tone. “I will not listen to you anymore.”
“I wasn’t going to stop you anyway.”
“Yes, you heard it right, I will no… Wait, you’re okay with me coming?” She appeared surprised.
Felix was the most excited to hear that. “Finally, you accept her, Max. Just let her become a part of our group already. She’s an amazing healer.”
‘This boy.’
“We will indeed need a good healer along the way. Who knows what we might witness on our way? It could be a demon, bloodling or something else. But you must also ensure you don’t put yourself at needless risk.”
Sylvester had other reasons for keeping her as well. ‘I have not forgotten the deal. I will get you the eyes; you must test them to treat them. I will not have Sir Dolorem waste his life being blind.’
Pa!
Soon, the horns blew. Five hundred crusaders on the horse at the front and five hundred at the back. With a few more support carriages and a great many flags of the church, they all started moving.
The destination was Duchy of Ironstone, the keep of Baron Redman, whose daughter had been murdered and her chest cut off.
Inside the carriage, Sylvester was briefing them all. “Remember, under no circumstances should anyone know that Isabella is travelling with us. She’s of noble birth, and who knows, that killer may come after her. Let’s just call her Bright Mother Emma for now.”
Everyone nodded their heads at his plan.
“At the same time, Isabella must wear light leather armour under her robes. Meanwhile, Lady Aurora, you were originally assigned to train me, so let’s begin my training again. As for this mission, we have no idea where the clues will lead us to. We’re merely shooting an arrow in the dark with this. But whoever the culprit is, they must be a higher born, as that’s the only way they can have access to all the noble castles.”
Bishop Lazark gave his input as he caressed his skeleton cat. “Our best hope is that another case occurs so we can have fresh clues—but that would mean a noble lady would have to fall victim.”
Indeed, that was the ideal thing, but at the same time, it’d lead to more mess.
Felix suggested something then. “Why not hire mercenaries to search for this Sir Kenworth?”
“It will take too long.” Sylvester refused the suggestion. “First, we’d have to request funds from Saint Wazir, then wait, and hope we get them. That’ll be too expensive.”
“Achoo!” Princess Isabella sneezed all of a sudden. “S-Sorry, I have allergies from too much dust.”
Sylvester grunted and took out a little bottle of potion from his bag. “Drink this. We don’t want our healer to be bedridden now, do we?”
“Oh, thank you!” She gulped it down in one go.
“…”
“You have the survival instincts of a deer, Isabella. I’m genuinely worried for you.” Sylvester muttered. “You’re too old, but let me remind you. Do not take anything edible from a stranger, okay?”
“But you’re no stranger, Sylvester.” She blurted. “You showed me the Holy Land, and Mother Xavia was so nice to me. You’re my friend now.”
“What about me?” Felix jumped.
“You’re a friend too.” She added.
Sylvester shook his head and moved to a corner to put his foldable mattress and sleep by the already asleep chonky boy in his arms. “Great, have fun with your new friendships then. I’m going to sleep. My throat feels sore after singing all night. Wake me up when we reach the first stop for the night.”
Isabella glanced at Felix and asked in a low voice. “Why is he so grumpy most of the time?”
Felix snarkily replied. “Ignore his pretty looks. He’s an oldie from the inside. How about we both play this card game he made?”
“He’s tired.” Bishop Lazark suddenly spoke. “Look at him. He’s already asleep. If you were him, you’d be broken even more. Sir Dolorem’s condition must have affected him—the man is like a father to him, I’d guess.”
Gabriel agreed. “Sylvester did say that Sir Dolorem took care of him since he was a month old.”
“That’s so… sad. Felix, please don’t make fun of him.” Isabella requested all of a sudden, embarrassing the strong boy.
Felix laughingly dismissed her worries. “Ahaha… It’s okay, Isabella. We’re like brothers. It’s okay if we joke… if it were someone else, I’d have cut their tongue myself.”
“And I’d have set the pyre.” Gabriel, the usually religious but occasionally mad Priest, added.
Isabella was amazed instead of scared. “That’s so nice of you two. I wish I had such friends.”
Bam!
Lady Aurora knocked on her head. “Don’t take inspiration from these fools. Or you’ll be corrupted. Now move, we should also take a small nap. Felix and Bishop Lazark, since you slept last night, please stand guard.”
With that, Isabella, Gabriel and Lady Aurora also unrolled their blankets and slept. This was the luxury of having such a carriage.
Though, what none knew was that Sylvester was not asleep. Living under the constant threat of the Shadow Knight, his nights are never peaceful. Instead, his sleep is usually light enough that even the touch of a feather would wake him up.
‘Felix and Gab are understandable. But I never knew that Bishop Lazark understood me so well. Can’t believe he lived so long, ostracised by everyone. What a prime example to ‘never judge a book by its cover’. So what if a necromancer—he’s a good man indeed.’
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APE TOGETHER STRONG!