My vision, which had been dyed pure white, gradually returns.
　In front of me is the pure white world of God, and the seven gods are sitting around the table.

'Cain, it's always a pleasure to see you,'

　Xenom sits in the center of the room, stroking his beard and smiling at me.
　He sighed at being amused by the action on the screen he saw one day.

'It's been a while. I had something I wanted to ask you: .......
Hmm, the girl who is called the saint, isn't it? Rime has ordained an oracle for her. Well, you'll have to sit down.

　Cain took his usual seat at Zenom's urging.
　Then Rime, who was right beside him, opened his mouth.

'In a few days, I think I'm going to meet the saint I'm putting the oracle down. I need you to protect her.

You want me to protect you?

　Cain tilts his head at what was said abruptly.

'We gods look after all people equally. That's life, no matter what happens. Cain is a little funny, though, so I see a lot of it.

It's funny. ......

　Cain's face pulls up at Lime's words. Rime's face tightens as Zenom coughs lightly with a gurgle, and he continues to speak.

'So, you see, within the Church of God's Praise, there are two groups of saints who are our voices and the papists, who are the leaders of the Church State, and this time the papists are planning to make the saint a deceased person for the good reason of heading to your country. That girl has my blessing, and she's an honest, pious, good girl, and I want you to help her.

　If the saint was attacked within the Esfort Kingdom, it was easy to imagine that it would be a huge riot involving the nation. Moreover, if she was even assassinated, there would be no way to get it back. Even the families of Cain and Silk who are traveling with him will be in trouble.

'I think I can manage it as far as I'm concerned. I can't be with them at all hours of the day and night, but .......

　Cain nodded, knowing that he was getting into trouble again.

'I'm sure you can handle it. I'll leave it to you, Cain. It's about time.

　That one word from Xenom made my vision go blank again.


　I found myself back in the altar room.
　Silk is sitting next to me, still praying, not noticing anything. As I looked at Silk's profile, he opened his eyes and turned to Cain, as if his prayer was over.
　When their gazes meet, Silk's cheeks are slightly stained.

'Cain-kun, it's embarrassing to be seen so much, isn't it?'

I'm sorry, I was praying so hard.

　He smiled at Silk and left the church with his prayers done.
　Afterwards, we spent a leisurely day walking together around the city. Needless to say, at dinner, Ragnaf gave us a lecture on Marinefordism.


　Then a few days passed and it was the day to go up to pick up the saint.

　There are ten members of the Kingsguard, including Cain and Silk, and ten knights accompanied by the lord, Ragnaf, to the border area to pick her up.
　A few other squires and maidservants were also accompanying them.
　They preceded Ragnaf's carriage as an escort, and the carriage carrying Cain and the others followed.

''I wonder what kind of person is Saintess-sama?''

I hear you're not much older than we are, but you don't know anything about the details: ......

　I remember what Lime told me as I responded to Silk's words.

(He said he was being targeted, but I hope it's okay: ....... (I hope it's nothing.)

　It was half a day's journey from the town to the border, and when we arrived at the rendezvous point, we began to prepare our lunch.
　A creek flowed across the border, and when we crossed the bridge, we were in Marineford church country.

We are supposed to receive the saint here. We have set up a tent and you will be able to wait there.

　The tent they were led to was carpeted and furnished with tables and chairs. Cain and Silk drink a cup of tea prepared by the maid of honor.
　The tea of this estate is made from dried local fruit and has a sweet aroma.

''This fruity tea is delicious too.

　While talking about such topics, they picked the sweets prepared together and proceeded to chat.
　While chatting, Cain was using his search tool to investigate the situation on the Marineford Church side. By concentrating on one direction, it was until he was able to sense up to ten kilometers away.
　They had already supplemented the carriage that was heading towards the Esfort Kingdom side. However, he also grasped that there was a group of people chasing after it at a certain distance.
　Since I hadn't seen them visually, I wondered if they were a merchant unit or an escort, but I was able to continue chatting with Silk.
　It was about five kilometers away, and if nothing else, he thought he would reach the border in another hour, when he could feel the group following behind him approaching the carriage.
　Then the carriage stopped moving and the battle began.
　Cain impatiently put down his cup of tea and stood up.

'Not good. The saintly lady might be attacked.'

'What?　What!　What's wrong with you, Cain?

　Silk was surprised by the words Cain spoke as he stood up abruptly.

'Silk needs you to tell Lord Ragnaf at once. That the carriage is being attacked a few miles away. I'll go ahead.'

　As if rushing out of the tent, Cain jumped out of the tent and passed by the Kingsguard and crossed the bridge to enter the Marineford Faith.
　The knights who were waiting were stunned by Cain's sudden action.

''What in the world is Master Cain ......?''

　Silk also hurried to Ragnaf's tent and explained what Cain had told him.

'What!　The saint may have been attacked!　I can't stay here. We must come to the rescue at once!

　Ragnaf also gave the order to the knights of the escort. The knights of the escort immediately formed a squad at the lord's words and rode their horses across the bridge.
　The Kingsguard Knights also had to escort Silk, and the six remaining four rode their horses after the Knights and followed them.
　While the knights were moving in a hurry, Cain was already clad in wind magic and at a speed of over a hundred kilometers, heading towards the carriage that the saint was riding in.
　There were less than ten people guarding the carriage. There are probably thirty of them attacking her. Impatience made the speed even faster.
　After a few minutes of running, a battle was taking place between the knights standing at the front line to protect the carriage and the bandits, who were dressed in shabby clothes, but had new weapons.
Several knights have already fallen.
In the midst of all this, Cain unleashes his magic on the bandits.

『Water Bullet』.

　At the same time, ten water bullets appeared and took down the bandits one after another.
　The power was adjusted and the killing power was suppressed to release magic, but that was not the case for those who were unlucky enough to be hit in the face and other areas.
　They were surprised by a child in nobleman's clothes that suddenly appeared, but they pushed back the bandits, believing the child to be their friend, who defeated them one by one.
　With Cain's backup, after a few minutes, there wasn't a single bandit standing.
　More than half of the bandits were already corpses, but about ten or so were still breathing and roaring in pain from the attacks they had received from magic or from being slashed.
　Cain straightened his posture and produced a nobleman's certificate from his pocket and held it up.

'Are you sure it's the saint's carriage?　I am Viscount Cain von Silford Drintle of the Kingdom of Esfort. I went up to receive you by order of the king, but I felt that we were being attacked and I was allowed to join you. Where is the captain of the guard?

　The child who produced the nobleman's badge surprised the knight who was guarding him, as expected. This is because producing a nobleman's badge is proof of one's mastership.
　At Cain's words, a guard came forward. He wears matching armor, but he is in his forties and unlike the other knights, he wears a red scarf on his left arm.

'This is the Holy Knight Mastina who is the captain of the saintly lady's guards. Thanks for the addition. --Bolt...... do it.

　When Mastina calls out to the knight called Bolt behind her, she takes the surviving knight and goes towards the fallen bandits.
　And then - she suddenly stabs the bandits in the neck with her sword and puts a stop to them.

''What, what!?''

　Cain was surprised by the knight's sudden action. The bandits had matching new weapons. It tells us that they are not just bandits. It's not just a matter of time before you can get some information, but suddenly the knight is putting a stop to it.

You can't go to the kingdom with these bandits. I can't go back to my home town with these thieves. That's why we're here to dispose of them.

Could you at least give me some information about the bandits?

No need.

　Mastina covers the words to stop Cain's words.
　As they do so, the knights put a stop to all the living bandits and return to the captain.

'Captain, it's over.'

Mm. Thank you for your help. You can treat yourself.

　The knight called Bolt nodded to the captain's instructions and returned to the surviving knights.

''--Why do you need to kill them all......''

　Cain distrusts the captain of this guard. If he were alive, he would have no small amount of information. His brow wrinkles as he goes out of his way to destroy the evidence.

'I appreciate the addition, but this is the grounds of the Marineford Faithful. Lord Silford is a nobleman of the Kingdom of Esfort. We have no say in what happens in this country.

...... Right.

　Mastina's words are a good argument. Even if it feels like an outrage, this place is a Marineford church country and it needs to follow the laws of that country.
　Cain could only nod reluctantly.
　After all was said and done, the sound of several horseshoes could be heard from the Esfort side.
　Led by Ragnaf, about ten escort and kinsmen knights rode up on their horses.

''Sir Cain!　Here you go: ...... is what this is all about ......

　The bandits who were nearly thirty are all stopped and have died out.
　Seeing the hellish state of the pile of corpses and the sea of blood, the knights who arrived are also in a state of dismay.
　As expected, in this state, it would attract demons and could become a nursery for pathogens, so it was decided to get Mastina's permission to bury it.
　Cain created a hole in the ground with his magic and the knights threw the bandits in one by one. When they had all been thrown in, Cain used his magic to cover them with dirt.
　The corpses of the three knights were to be placed in the magic bag (magig bag) that Mastina had with her.

Sir Silford, thank you for your help. I'm not going to ask the saint to get out of the carriage here. Would you be so kind as to take me to the city?

I understand.

　The ranks were reassembled, led by Ragnaf and preceded by Sylvester's knights. In the center were the carriage and its escort, with the saint's ride in the center, and Cain and the knights of the Kingsguard taking the farthest back.

　Then they began to proceed to the waiting area where Silk was waiting.