Novel Bin Chapter 041: Church Knights’ joint exercise
Currently, there are 8 Knight Corps that exist in the Saint Schull Church. There are 2 Knight Corps captains, one each for the Priest Knight Corps and the Paladin Corps. And ranked above them is the combined Knight Corps captain, which is Catherine Freya-san.
Priest Knight Corps mainly hold the responsibility of guarding the interior of the church. They are knights that act as bodyguards and are said to have sworn loyalty to the church for the sake of worshiping the gods.
For that reason, apart from those who hold the occupation of Knight during their coming of age ceremony, it is said that in rare cases those with absolute loyalty towards the gods have the chance to promote to a Priest Knight.
The Priest Knight Corps is said to be mainly made up of individuals who were naturally bestowed the occupation during their coming of age ceremony by the Chief God Kuraiya. Individuals holding either Light or Holy attribute can promote into Priest Knight but it is said that the selection by the Chief God is very strict.
Now, why did this piece of information float across my head? Because the members from all the Knight Corps were lined up in front of my eyes.
The place Maruruka-san brought me to was not the Valkyrie Paladin Corps training ground. (TL: The ‘not’ is not in the original text but I think that it should be there. You’ll understand when you read further but Luciel’s reaction doesn’t match considering he had been to the Valkyrie Paladin Corps training ground before.)
Furthermore, even Catherine-san came.
“Luciel-kun, if possible don’t choose from the Valkyrie Paladin Corps … you understand right?”
“Yes. It is already low on members so I will not pull any of them out from the squad.”
“Fufufu. It helps that you understand quick. Then let’s go. Lumina and girls come along too.”
『Yes!』
The reason why they chose this location was because apparently this training field was used for joint exercises up until a few years back. But I felt that it was somewhat shocking to see so many people assembled.
While I had that in mind, Catherine-san calmly spoke in front of the large group of people.
“Everyone, apart from the minimum number of personnel tasked with security, I thank you all for answering to the emergency summons. The reason why I gathered you all here today is regarding the S-rank healer Luciel-kun here who may set off on a journey from the church a year and a half in the future. For that reason, we plan to establish a Knight squad to escort him but, you all don’t know anything about him and neither does he know about you all. Because of that, we will now conduct a joint training. I will say it beforehand, this is not a game. This time we will have the two Knight Corps battle each other. As long as you do not kill each other, Luciel-kun here will treat you. I will prepare a bonus for the Knight Corps that wins. There are 94 members in the Priest Knight Corps and 68 members in the Paladin Corps. Victory will be determined when the small flag placed on the helmet of the respective Knight Corps captain is taken down. Please compete using your respective strengths or with numbers. This exercise also doubles as the selection for Luciel’s Knight squad but I hope that you all bear in mind that this is the first joint training with all the Knight Corps participating and compete earnestly. Understood?”
『Yeah!!』
At that instant I felt that the air was vibrating like it was shaken, an earthquake? No that not the reason. Truth was that the cries were that amazingly loud.
Catherine-san and I overlooked the training ground from above reminiscent of the VIP seats in a certain place.
“I had no idea that the church had such a large facility.”
I was surprised because I estimated that the facility was wide enough to house close to 8 lanes of athletic stadium 400 meter track.
“This training ground is used jointly by the Knight Corps so normally one would not be able to enter. To use this area, you would need to get authorization from somebody above the rank of Knight Corp captain.”
“Ah, so that’s why the Valkyrie Paladin Corps couldn’t use this place as well.”
“Yeah. Either way this place is too big for their number of members.”
“This time horses were not brought along so does the Priest Knights have the advantage?”
“Fufufu. Enjoy and see the battle for yourself.”
After saying that, Catherine-san raised her hand before waving it downward.
At that instant, the atmosphere changed and roars broke out.
Of course, this was the first time I witnessed group combat. The training ground was dominated by tremendous fighting spirit and enthusiasm.
“The Knight Corps other than the Valkyrie Paladin Corps are acting a bit cowardly?”
“I emulated your Shisho and handled them just a bit. Only until a few of them aren’t able to fight anymore.”
I remembered feeling a slight chill from Catherine-san when she said that, but I devoted myself to the group combat and observed carefully.
I was in a position slightly distanced from the battle but I still felt that if I was in one of the Knight’s position, I would not be able to fight properly. As there would be a high chance that I would not be able to move, with my knees shaking from the fear.
The battle developed into the Paladins attacking and the Priest Knights defending.
“The Valkyrie Paladin Corps are projecting outwards from the formation, is it a strategy?”
“No, it’s because of a different reason. That squad is strong. Because the length of time they continued putting effort into training is slightly different from the others.”
“If that’s the case, then as long as the Valkyrie Paladin Corps fail to break through then it’s the Priest Knight’s victory?”
“Yup.”
Following that, the Priest Knights that have been devoting their efforts into defending the Knight captain from the beginning, swallowed up the Paladin captain with sheer numbers.
“The Valkyries each took out 3 opponents huh?”
“Yeah. They defended the captain well. Some day Luciel-kun would be standing there too.”
” … Hahaha. I will reject that with all my heart.”
Just like that the combat ended and Catherine-san said words of appreciation to the Knights while I applied healing magic.
All the Knights were shocked by the effects of my healing magic but even I was also surprised by the effects. I found out that the ‘Blessing of the God of Healing’ was not a common title.
“This battle was fierce. I felt everyone’s greatness. But the truth is I had not heard that there would be a new squad made from the Knights so I guess I was used to call for a joint exercise?” (Luciel)
“Yeah. You are right.” (Catherine)
“If that’s the case then it’s nice that I won’t have that to worry about for the remaining time of over a year. But I have realised the greatness of all of you Knights so there is a chance that I would come bother you all during training so I hope everyone will be kind to me.”
“It looks like that will be the case so we will have a joint exercise once a month. Everyone put your hearts into it and fulfil your duties. Understood?”
『Yeah!!』
Thus my meeting with the Knights ended but then somebody posted a question to me.
“Luciel-dono, may I?”
“Eh? Me? Yes, go ahead.”
I was puzzled as I looked at the Priest Knight with his hand held up.
“I am Paralgis from the Shield Priest Knights. What are Luciel-dono’s thoughts on the field of pharmacy.
Pharmacy. In this world, apart from magic there are also potions made from healing medicine and antidotes. I heard that there are a lot of conflicts between the two.
“I think that it is a great field of study. We can use magic to heal and cure but it is not possible to use magic without limit. The abnormal state of magic seal and traps are both realities in this world as well. That is why I think that pharmacy is great.”
“Is Luciel-dono well versed in it?”
“No. I have only learned up to the extent of beginner and intermediate pharmaceutical knowledge in the Adventurer’s Guild. I desperately tried to learn new arts to survive and the people around me couldn’t watch me without doing anything so pharmacy was one of the common sense knowledge taught to me. I have never mixed a potion before.”
“I see. I understand. Thank you.”
“You’re welcome.”
“Luciel-kun I will contact you prior to the next training. All squads brace yourselves for the trainings and look forward to them. With this I end this round of joint exercise. Disperse.” (Catherine)
The training had ended, but I realised that it was bad that I had not thought about ways to heal injuries or illness without using magic. I decided to research on pharmacy and hence my to-do list had further increased.
First things first, tomorrow I will enter the labyrinth to confirm that my level can now rise. I left the training grounds with that in mind.