Chapter 99
"The issue with the well, you can wait for the new priest, but don't directly... Hmm? Geling, you haven't left?"
Macal had gathered the villagers and was warning them about the water source issue when he noticed Ogre riding in on a drake-blooded horse.
"Your sword."
Ogre tossed Macal's sword over to him.
While picking up the sword, Ogre noticed that the snake-man's head wasn't completely dead; it could still use its tongue to move its head around.
If its body hadn't been destroyed, it might even have been reattached.
Seeing such a tenacious life form, Ogre couldn't help but feel a bit of pity, so he helped it along to its end.
"Thank you." Macal took his sword and sheathed it at his waist.
‘Should have brought out a warhammer instead.’
Macal felt the sword's inadequacy—even with the Battle Qi, it wasn't effective against armored enemies.
"Honorable Paladin, thank you..."
None of the villagers complained about the damage Macal caused; they were only grateful.
It wasn't just because Macal saved them.
There was also respect for the strong.
"You still have to protect me, so of course, I came to see you. After all, where could I go alone?" Ogre dismounted with a smile.
Originally, he intended to help Macal, but he didn't expect Macal to handle the situation so well on his own.
"Actually... you could have left me." Macal hesitated but eventually didn't say more, instead turning to the villagers: "Did you see any other Professional-level marauders?"
Macal hadn't forgotten there was supposedly a 'big sister' among those two.
He needed to protect Miss Geling.
"The bandits... weren't they all killed by you?" an older villager stepped forward.
"Impossible..." Macal frowned.
It's not the number of enemies that worries him, but not being able to find them. If this 'big sister' isn't here, it could spell trouble... the village would surely face more issues.
He wasn't afraid of retaliation, but what about everyone else?
"Let it be, Carl." Ogre led his horse over: "Let the horse rest first, and we'll think about other things later—the real aid from the Church of Dawn should arrive soon."
"I'm just worried... sigh, never mind."
Macal took a deep breath, adjusting his state of mind; he understood that Ogre was right, some things can't be rushed.
"Do you have anything to eat here?"
Macal asked, turning his head.
Since the problem couldn't be solved immediately, he might as well adjust his own state.
"Yes, yes, please follow me, both of you." The leading villager hurriedly invited them.
"Carl, I'm not very hungry." Ogre hinted.
It's wise to be cautious, not that Ogre didn't trust these villagers, but the crisis wasn't over, and who knows what the hidden bandits might do.
Anyway, they'll head to the town later, so it's enough to let the drake-blooded horse rest and replenish.
Just feed it the centaur's fodder.
Even the most insane bandits probably wouldn't tamper with the centaur's feed.
As for Ogre himself—he wasn't worried about any issues with food or drink, thanks to his Ogre Physique.
Most animal poisons wouldn't affect Ogre much if ingested.
But Macal was different; he was purely human—even with the knight's physique, he was still vulnerable.
So, he had to endure a bit.
"Uh... then let's let the horse rest, just leave us a room."
Macal understood Ogre's implication and agreed there was no need to linger here.
"Just give me some books to read." Ogre said.
"No problem."
Thanks to their previous achievements, their requests were quickly met.
...
"Geling..." Macal looked at the handsome Ogre before him, feeling an indescribable strangeness.
"You left, so why did you come back?" Macal asked, puzzled.
"I thought you could win." Ogre picked up the "Comprehensive Guide to Postpartum Care for Economic Demon Beasts" sent by the village and started reading.
"But it was dangerous."
Macal turned his head to look out the window—outside, the drake-blooded horse was eating.
"But your sword fell." Ogre lowered the book slightly: "Without a sword, you might lose."
"But the battle of Professionals..." Macal was moved and turned back, wanting to express the danger to Ogre.
A Professional-level battle was almost untouchable for non-Professionals—it's the gap between the ordinary and the Transcendent.
Almost all cases of apprentices defeating Professionals involved coincidences and were one in a million.
"I have no family left, but you still do." Ogre interrupted Macal's lecture, responding seriously: "Aunt Mima would worry too."
In Ogre's view, saving others was right—but ensuring one's own safety first was paramount.
If Macal had been crippled from the start.
Ogre thought he would have left directly—this didn't conflict with helping when capable.
"I won't lose." Macal stood up, gripping his sword: "I am... a Paladin, after all."
"Maybe." Ogre smiled, not arguing further.
Perhaps this is why the Church of Dawn has so many seasoned Professionals.
Compared to those noble knights.
The knights of the Church of Dawn seemed like true knights.
...
"I really don't know how to thank you." As they were about to leave, the villagers expressed their gratitude to Macal.
"Settling the followers of Dawn is the best gift for me." Macal looked at the newly erected graves.
Buried there were the guards of the Church of Dawn who died defending the village, and the apprentice priests...
The knights and priests of the Church of Dawn in the borderlands rarely died of old age.
‘It's a pity, not dying at the hands of demon beasts or mutants, but at the hands of humans themselves...’ Ogre prayed in the direction of the graves.
He wasn't a follower of Dawn, but it didn't stop him from respecting these people—those born from villagers and orphans were the true guardians of the Empire.
"Let's go, Geling, don't think too much—they've just gone to meet the gods." Macal extended his hand to Ogre.
‘Hopefully, there really are gods.’ Ogre thought.
Then he took Macal's outstretched hand and nodded.
"Mm..."
...
‘The god commands Dusk to take away the souls of all the deceased followers, and at the arrival of Dawn, grant them new life—we are all children of Dawn.’
—"Words of the Dawn God" / Chapter on God and Followers.