I was excommunicated from the Holy Knights

21 – Go to Hell 1

Shylock returned to the mansion immediately after being acquitted.

As a middle-aged man, his face was much thinner than usual as he had gone through hardships in prison, but nonetheless, his expression contained deep feelings of gratitude and joy.

“Really, thank you very much. I don’t know how to repay this favor of mine.”

“hahahaha, no. I just did what I had to do, having received a lot of help from Shylock.”

“No, I also know very well what it means for you, who are Paladins, to help me. Also, how much will the cost be..”

As befits a merchant who occupies a large portion of Bennett’s commercial district, he was naturally bright in this kind of information.

It was also the fact that the price of helping a pagan himself as a paladin was absolutely formidable.

Seeing Shylock feeling more and more grateful to us as he is in a position to know the inside story, I began to feel a deeper joy in my heart.

‘It’s great, it’s not bad for me to have such a good feeling for someone who needs help.’

Just as I was thinking about that, Shylock’s gaze then turned to Cazeros, who was standing next to me.

“I would like to thank you once again, did I say Cazeros? What he showed in court was truly remarkable. As a paladin, I will make sure to repay this favor for you to speak so passionately for me, a pagan.”

“no. I learned that it is the doctrine of the Lord to always reach out a helping hand to those who are suffering unjustly, even if they are of different religions. More than anything, all the stories I told came through Santana. It is Santana, not me, who should be thanked.”

Cazeros speaks in a humble manner.

Even in such a situation, I was a little bit amazed by seeing her unchanging.

‘I knew he was this kind of person from the beginning… but he’s still amazing.’

Usually in this situation, a person can try to praise his or her achievements or use them to gain something.

Even if you are not usually greedy, if your opponent is not an ordinary person but a rich man with enormous wealth, you will be able to think that way.

But.. Looking at Cazeros, who maintains aloofness even in this situation, I once again began to feel that he is not an ordinary person either.

So, after giving thanks for the trial, Shylock carefully asked us while drinking warm herbal tea.

“then. I’ll continue to thank you for this later… I’d like to hear the reason you came to see me.”

Like a merchant, Shylock goes straight to the point.

At the same time, in his words, there was a feeling that he wanted to meet our requirements as much as possible in relation to this work.

Recognizing that fact, I carefully began to tell him what I had been through.

Me, who was unfairly excommunicated and disqualified from being a paladin, and Cazeros, who followed me all the way here.

And… to our goal of going to the pagan country of the East.

While listening to these series of stories, Shylock, who had to go through this ordeal for religious reasons in fact, looked at us and looked at us with a sad expression.

“I always felt this, but it seems like there are a lot of problems with the guys at the church. To kick out someone like you and not anyone else.”

“It’s all because of my lack. If I had been more careful, it would not have gone this far.”

“Even so, your excommunication case is definitely problematic. Recently, I heard that corruption in the church has become more prevalent.

A situation where even Jews, not other people, are swearing.

Regarding that, I carefully asked Shylock, feeling once again that this bastard church had no answers.

“If not… Shylock, could you help us? Of course, considering my excommunicated status, Cazeros and I are not in a position to stay here for long, even here at Benessa. Please tell me how to get out of the realm of the church as soon as possible.”

“I would also like to ask. Please help, Mr. Shylock.”

“Um… ”

The two of us asked with a voice filled with such earnestness.

And about this… Shylock said with a slight frown.

“In my heart, I want to help right away… but it won’t be easy.”

“yes?”

“That…that… why?”

Shylock gave an unexpected answer, and the two of us showed embarrassment on our faces.

“Ah, don’t get me wrong, if it was possible, I would have sent you on a boat right now. But I am telling you this because the situation here is not so safe.”

“What does that mean?”

Shylock speaks with sincere regret.

Cazeros and I asked cautiously, recognizing that there was something we didn’t know about, and Shylock spoke about this in a serious voice.

“I know you live inland and haven’t heard much about it, but taking a boat from here in Benessa to pagan realm right now is literally suicidal. It’s because a while ago, that pagan country, the Turk Empire, set up a naval blockade against Benessa.”

“That… it can’t be…”

Shylock brings out an unexpected story.

As a result, Cazeros and I instantly felt as if we had been hit in the head with a hammer.

“Currently, the exit of the Adriatic Sea is completely blocked by warships sent from the Turkic Empire. Regarding this, Benessa is trying to break through by forming a battle fleet, but… to do so, it will take at least a few more weeks. It will take a few more months at least for normal trade to resume.”

“Kuh… ”

If you leave here by boat from Benessa, it’s only a week in terms of distance.

It was a distance of less than five days if the wind was good, and that is why I came here to Benessa, ignoring other places.

Of course, at that time, he knew that the relationship between the pagan nation of the Turkic Empire and Benessa was not very good, but he could not have imagined that he would face a trade blockade because of that.

“In this situation, no matter how much I do, there is no way to use my hands now. If there was no maritime blockade, I could borrow a smuggling ship and send you guys away. Now even that is impossible.”

Shylock speaks with such sincere feelings of sorry. As a result, I came to the conclusion that Hae-ro had no choice but to give up, and at the same time, I realized that the path to hardships was open to me in the future.

“Then… it must mean that the only way left is by land.”

“Yes, but it is a situation that must be turned around quite a bit. The neighboring Kingdom of Hungary is also blocked as local warfare continues. In the end, if you really want to find your way, you have no choice but to take a big turn north from here and go via another place.”

What Shylock says is North.

I couldn’t help but automatically recognize what it meant and automatically frowned.

“If you are in the north… are you talking about… the Holy Empire?”

“Yes. Right now, there really is no other way.”

“… ha..”

Shylock tells the story of harsh realities such as the military power of the clear sky.

At this, I couldn’t help but let out a deep sigh.

‘The Holy Empire.

It is the background place where the road to hell of the original novel opens,

It is clear that the gates of hell will open in earnest soon.

As a bonus, a country that is likely to be grinding its teeth at us in connection with this incident.

However, we had no choice any more as we couldn’t stay here for several months in a situation where we turned off aggro like now.

‘what. Still, if it’s simply passing by, there won’t be a big problem.. right? I have to..’

Fortunately, in order to pass through the Holy Empire in the existing Milan area, they had to cross the rugged Schwyz Mountain Range, but there was no such mountain range in the Benessa area.

While forcing myself to think positively, Cazeros and I began to hear more detailed explanations about moving overland from Shylock.

I earnestly hope that the uneasy premonition in the corner of my heart will not come true.