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The Sister hung the shield she had been carrying on the wall, tidied herself lightly, sat down, and began speaking.

“To correct something—even if I was called the strongest, I was only a fringe member… the weakest among those called the strongest. I was simply chosen by this shield; I’m nothing remarkable.”
“She belonged to the order of knights under the Luminism Church… the unit considered the strongest among the templar knights.”

The young knight, Langbert, added to her clarification.

The Sister had once belonged to the templar knight unit known as the Sword of the Light God.

She was originally just an ordinary nun until one day she was chosen by one of the church’s stored artifacts, the Shield of Devotion. After which, she was knighted and integrated into the Sword of the Light God.

I had felt something strange about that shield the first time I saw it; apparently that shield really was an artifact. The cross on its surface was probably made of the mythical metal orichalcum.

“Let’s return to the topic; the reason the four of you were targeted.”
“Right, nya. What would we get targeted, nya?”
“They said terrible things! We were only helping with work!”

Prompted by the Sister, Noche and Sufi vented their anger.

…I see. So I was the only one who had noticed.

“That was deliberate manipulation.”
“What do you mean, nya?”
“You see, there were several people steering the conversation to make us the culprits.”
“So that’s what it was…”

Not only Noche and Sufi looked surprised, Langbert widened his eyes too.

“…You noticed?”
“I even knew who, but there was nothing I could do.”

If I pointed them out and they feigned ignorance, that would be the end. That only works when both sides are calm and equal.

“Damn. If that’s true, I should’ve had you identify them.”
“…You seemed to notice too.”
“I only noticed that there were outsiders mixed in. There’s no way to distinguish accurately who the instigators were in that situation. Speaking of which, how did you know?”

He directed his gaze at me, and I hesitated whether to answer honestly.

“Just intuition.”
“That can’t be treated as testimony.”

I decided not to tell the truth and evaded the question, and Langbert shrugged his shoulders.

“So why were we targeted?”

I forced the conversation back. The Sister straightened her posture.

“A few years ago, a Cardinal faction within the Luminism Church began actively hunting down beastfolk. The King of the Bayer Kingdom himself a devout believer, and the church’s influence is powerful in their kingdom. The kingdom panders to the church…that is to say, the Bayer Kingdom is collecting beastfolk to get to the church’s good side.”

She simplified parts of it so children like us could understand as she explained.

“Why gather them? Did they do bad things?”

Sufi asked innocently, and the Sister’s face twisted sadly.

“No… at least in recent decades there have been no conflicts between beastfolk and humans.”
“Besides, here on the western continent, especially near Vatical, hardly any races other than human make a living.”

Khaleed added.

“Vatical?”
“The Vatical Theocracy, a city-state housing the headquarters of the Luminism Church. It was also the former capital of the Zergia Empire.”

Vatical… a cross… the combination stirred faint memories from my previous life. Feeling an indescribable unease, I kept listening.

Simply put: A few years ago the church headquarters began promoting beastfolk hunting and collecting them as slaves. Taking advantage of the attack they unleashed on this city, Bayer’s agents tried to capture us, beastfolk children, they happened to see.

That was all, but…

“…Aren’t you a follower of the Luminism faith too, Sister?”

That’s what I found strange. I haven’t had much interaction with the Sister, but being a former templar knight, she must be a disciple of the Luminism faith as well. If so, why would she oppose the church?

She also taught Nick and others to avoid discriminating against beastfolk. Her teachings are clearly against church policy.

“I belong to the Papal faction who follows the original scripture… in other words, a different faction from those promoting the hunts.”
“S-scri…faction…nya?”
“Huh?
“Ooh……”

The difficult terms confused Sufi and Noche; only Filia barely seemed to follow.

“The Sister is friends with the church’s top boss; the hunters belong to the group under the guy who wants to be the boss.”
“Ah.”
“I see, nya”

I tried to clarify things for them and asked the Sister to continue. The Sister looked a little bit surprised, but continued with her story.

“It’s a long story… The Luminism faith was born alongside the Zergia Empire. The first emperor rose during the dark age when people were ruled by the Demon King, leading the Warriors of the Flame. Their motto, ‘We shall burn our souls and become the light illuminating all life’s future,’ became the basis of the doctrine.”

She summarized religious history my alchemist grandfather had only briefly touched on.

“The preserved scripture states the emperor’s allies included humans, wolfen, lionell, elfynn, dvergr, and even some races of demonia who rebelled against the Demon King. The faith was once called the Faith of the Flame and worshipped by all races across the continent.”
“…Hard to believe, nya.”
“Yeah…”
“Indeed, but now no traces of it remain… After the Demon King’s threat vanished and the empire unified the land, the teaching was: ‘The strong protect the weak, the wise guide the weak, and the weak be sincere to those who protect and guide.’ There were no racial barriers in the doctrine, everyone helped everyone equally…. The original-scripture faction tries to restore that doctrine… though sadly very few agree.”
“Sufi also thinks that’s the better option, so why don’t more people follow it?”
“…You’re right, I wonder that myself.”

Sufi’s words seemed to stab the Sister right where it hurt, as she kept making such a sorrowful face.

No matter how noble its origins, it’s only natural that it will be conveniently rewritten, calling it New Testament or pandering for the new ages. It’s hardly surprising that the greedy would exploit it.

It would be fine to reinterpret outdated beliefs for a positive change, but to twist their meanings in order to control others would be the worst thing one could do. Even a religious worker at my old facility said so.

“Currently the cardinal faction dominates the church. I relinquished my knight rank, but the Pope entrusted me with the Shield of Devotion, so they cannot easily act against me. As one with power, I wish to protect the children I must protect—not only those in my orphanage, but you as well.”

She looked worriedly at us.

“The Sister has always been concerned about your safety, but you were under the alchemists’ guild protection.”
“Our orphanage isn’t wealthy. That’s why I thought it would be better for you to live with the alchemists… But then, this incident happened.”

Indeed. The alchemist guild is vulnerable to such political tactics. If other medical facilities refuse patients, being rooted to this city, the guild must accept emergencies beyond its capacity.

“For the record, the Bayer Kingdom’s primary target was the alchemist guild. Their preparations for this attack began long before you arrived. …Capturing you was incidental, so don’t blame yourselves.”
“…okay, nya.”

Khaleed interrupted my thoughts with a follow-up comment, and that made me notice just how depressed Noche and Sufi had been. …Ah, I see, I guess they thought we were the cause.

This uproar was too large in scale if all they wanted was to capture a handful of children, and besides it would be impossible to prepare it in mere months. If we were their true objective, they wouldn’t have withdrawn so cleanly.

More likely, they infiltrated the guild to plant suspicion against us, and if they succeeded in driving us out of the guild’s protection, they’d abduct us along the way.

“It may be uncomfortable, but would you stay at my orphanage for a while?”
“My unit will guard the orphanage. Your safety is guaranteed.”
“…Guess we have no choice, nya. Alice, you okay with it, nya?”
“What about Chytis Philip and the others?”

Noche was probably worried about my job in the guild. I asked Khaleed, who knew the situation best.

“They’ve already been informed. We predicted the movement and asked them not to interfere. Chytis Philip wanted you not to worry about the guild. Though the female staff may scold me later…”
“I’ll back you up.”
“Please do.”

I don’t know how, but it seemed Khaleed had made contact with Philip. Judging from the sound he made, he didn’t seem to be lying.

Apparently, the female staff member didn’t want Langbert to join the fray and wanted to protect us themselves. Seeing that wry smile, I promised I’d help convince them.

“If everything goes as planned, we’ll stay here.”
“Got that, nya. Sufi and Filia are fine too, right, nya?”
“Yeah, Sufi’s fine here.”
“Me too.”
“Our rooms aren’t as nice as the alchemist guild’s, but please think of it as your own home.”

If being in the orphanage guarded by knights was safer than being in the staff dormitory, then we should stay here. Besides, it would be pretty bad if we were seen wandering near the alchemist guild now.

So, we temporarily took refuge in the orphanage.