06 — Illumasia, Demons, and Humanity

06 — Illumasia, Demons, and Humanity

We were just getting ready to warm up at the Valkyries’ training grounds, when Catherine stopped me.

“We’re holding today’s battle on the joint field,” she said with a smile, pointing towards the field in question.

My bad-feeling-senses immediately tingled.

“That’s a little big for how many people we have, don’t you think?” I replied. “Is this not enough room?”

“It’s great for individual or group sparring, but you know,” Catherine said, “it might do you good to get some experience with leading troops on a larger scale.”

“I am literally never going to do that in my life.”

Not if I could help it, anyway. Leading an army against an enemy force was logistically no different from bringing a sword down on a man’s neck. I had already let people die in Yenice and the Kingdom of Dwarves. Never again. And I was at my limit commanding such a small group as it was. Even assuming Lionel took the lead instead of me, I didn’t see the point in this sort of exercise. My bad feeling had hit the mark.

“I knew you wouldn’t like it,” Catherine sighed. “Still, the paladins and templars are itching to get some practice under a former general. It seems word about Lionel has started to spread.”

“Okay, but that doesn’t mean we have to indulge them,” I argued. “Training in small groups so I can be ready against bandits is one thing, but when am I ever going to be fighting against legions of knights? I guess I’ll give them credit for being motivated, at least.”

I hadn’t expected Catherine to come clean about her motives so easily. Still, I couldn’t see the point of me doing something on such a huge scale.

“There’s nothing I can do to convince you?”

“I’m sorry but I’m not budging. I told you, Lionel works for me. You could have come to me directly instead of tiptoeing around asking the unreasonable.”

I was sure Lionel would have done it without complaint. Always the warrior before the commander. But regardless of what the knights wanted, what could the weak gain by being tossed around by the strong? Er, well, unless the weak was an apprentice or something. That was different.

Catherine and the Valkyries looked at me in shock. Truth be told, I wouldn’t have expected me to decline either, but I couldn’t be pushed around when it involved my team.

“I’m sorry,” Catherine said.

Her dejected, downcast expression hit me in the heart a little. She had been nothing but good to me since I’d first come to Church HQ, and I felt myself wavering. I remembered Catherine carrying herself with much more confidence and power when she had first been reinstated as captain of the guard. Back then, she wouldn’t have made cheap promises of a match with a general to her knights. Had something happened?

“I want to take your position into consideration,” I said after some thought. “So I’ll settle for a duel round-robin.”

“You will?” she said, surprised.

“I’m sure Lionel matches your skills as a leader and as a combatant, maybe even surpasses them, so it might be good for your knights to see him in action. That said, we’re a little outnumbered here, so for the sake of getting something out of this ourselves, the matches need to be one-on-one. If you all can agree to that, we can go to the joint field.”

“Thank you,” she responded. “Lionel, I hope to learn a lot from you.”

“I do as my master wishes,” Lionel answered simply. His stoic mask never wavered, but Ketty looked a little sulky. Was the whole force of the knights really out on the larger field? They must have been doing a lot of those joint drills.

“I have one question, though,” I said. “Why were you trying to get me to lead a legion of knights?”

I might have understood her insistence if we were at war or about to be. Catherine had been away from the battlefield for a long time, especially after her hiatus as captain, so in that case it would have made sense for her to want to study Lionel’s techniques.

“Illumasia worries me, but then again, when doesn’t it?” she replied. “What’s really scaring us are the demons. It would be for your own good.”

I didn’t need to meet one of these so-called demons to know that they were a larger threat than the empire. But their lord wouldn’t be born for another forty years or so. Didn’t that mean the demons themselves would stay dormant until then? What did she know that I didn’t? Still, I just couldn’t see myself leading a force. Not in a million years.

“So you wanted to prepare me in case it comes to a fight with the demons,” I surmised. “I understand that. But does a figurehead really need to study battle strategies?”

“I know I’m not making much sense,” Catherine admitted. “But the fact of the matter is, you give people hope.”

“Hope?”

Since when? What altruistic deeds had I done to cause that? None came to mind. Maybe it was my conquering of the labyrinths? Building a school? Being so skilled in holy magic that I couldn’t shake that accursed Saint Weirdo name even after becoming an S-rank? I just didn’t know, so I waited for Catherine to speak.

“Luciel, your healing and barrier magic make the people fighting with you feel safe. I don’t mean to exaggerate, but those two things alone can make the soldiers’ morale soar. And all that combined makes an army invincible.”

“And that’s why you want me as a symbol for the knights,” I said. “All the same, why does that mean I have to lead?”

Invincible or not, healers didn’t belong in the military, and when faced with an enemy, running away was the natural course of action. But when you had legions of people at your back, you couldn’t make that decision lightly.

“The weak are drawn to people with charisma,” Catherine said. “Every Demon Lord has its mortal enemy, its hero. A champion. And whether you like it or not, you are a type of champion now.”

“Because I’m an S-rank.”

“Not just that. You became an ally of the people when you revolutionized the pricing of healing, when you became the first human on Yenice’s council, and when you slew a dragon.”

When she put it that way, it made me wonder if being an S-rank had ever done anything good for me...a thought I kept to myself. It wasn’t entirely true, and it was an immature sentiment, although I had a sneaking suspicion Her Holiness had something to do with my popularity.

Still, how did Catherine know enough about me to speak so decisively?

“Where did you hear all that?” I asked.

“Her Holiness hasn’t hidden what you’ve done. You’re famous even in the Healer’s Guild for that dragon business. Even if the pope had hid it, it wouldn’t have stayed under wraps for long once it started going around the Adventurer’s Guild.”

Question: was there anywhere in this world I could find peace? Please answer, universe.

“I’m seriously about to retire from life.”

Catherine giggled. “That’s funny,” she said, her voice bright yet sharp like a knife.

“I’ll take that as a ‘not happening,’” I groaned.

“Not while the Demon Lord is still a threat. And you couldn’t hide from the Church for long anyway. You’d be dragged back quick enough.”

But the stinking Demon Lord wasn’t going anywhere until the next hero was born. That was decades away.

“What about human rights? Don’t I get those?”

“Of course,” she said. “You know, you have released the Flame and Earth Dragons. It’s been a long time since Her Holiness has been in such a good mood, and it’s thanks to you.”

“First of all, I got lucky. Secondly, you’re dodging my question.”

“As long as you continue to face your destiny with dignity, you’ll get to keep your humanity, although your journey will never end. But hey, it beats doing paperwork, doesn’t it? It’s not like you’re having to deal with nobles and their invitations.”

She had a point, but I couldn’t help feeling like she was cheating by bringing that up.

“So I have rights as far as the chain around my neck allows, huh?” I said. “Is that it?”

“That’s about right. True freedom is the privilege of very few.” Catherine cast her eyes down. “That even goes for me.” She looked back up. “No one will fault you if you ever decide the chains chafe more than they protect, if you decide you’d rather take them off. Just know that a lot of people have high expectations for you. You overcome the impossible everywhere you go. It reminds them of Lord Reinstar.”

I sighed. “All right, yeah, I get it.”

“Then let’s get going.” She smiled again and locked her arm with mine. “Shall we?”

On the vast field, the Knights of Shurule were in formation and waiting. We began to train.