Seeker 233

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Chapter 233. The Tainted Holy Knight

Until King Eldrick finished his business, we waited inside the castle. 

During the wait, the holy knight girl we had encountered in the reception room (apparently named Myarla) served as our guide, showing us around the castle.

"This is where the holy knights sleep-nya. The Holy Knights on night duty take a nap here, meow."

"This is the minister's office, meow. The Holy Knights support the country with strength, while the ministers support it with wisdom and knowledge, meow."

Myarla explained various places in the castle with a kind attitude. 

Despite being a Holy Knight, she didn't act condescending towards us adventurers.

While walking behind Myarla in the castle corridor,3 young men who seemed like holy knights approached from the front. 

Though they were young, they appeared to be slightly older than us.

They're all in their early to mid-twenties.

One of them was a familiar face, someone we had seen at the castle gate, a friend of Rebecca-san.

If I remember correctly, named Gerald.

It was already evening, and their gatekeeping duties for the day might be over.

When the 3 men saw us, they visibly frowned. 

Well, it might not have been about us.

But rather Myarla. 

Even Myarla's back, leading us, showed a tension not present before.

As we walked the corridor towards each other, just before passing by, Myarla spoke up.

"Oh, welcome back-nya. Gerald, weren't you on gate duty today-nya?"

Myarla's voice trembled, and her tail swayed with unease.

In contrast, especially Gerald, who was addressed by Myarla, looked at the beast girl with disdain as if she were something filthy.

"Hey, beast girl. Didn't I tell you not to talk to me so casually?"

Gerald's voice was extremely cold, filled with hostility. 

It was a completely different atmosphere from when we talked to Rebecca.

"Ah... I'm sorry-nya. But since we're in the same class, I thought we could get along..."

"Shut up, beast. I don't acknowledge you as a holy knight. I won't allow a creature like you to tarnish the honor of a holy knight. Absolutely not."

Myarla remained silent, bowing her head. 

Gerald wore an unpleasant expression, and the other 2 laughed as they passed by us.

After they passed, we still heard words from behind us.

"Seriously, appointing such a tainted beast as a Holy Knight to uphold the honor of the esteemed holy knights. What is His Majesty thinking?"

"That dirty cat must have seduced His Majesty with her looks."

"Wait, that's disrespectful to His Majesty."

"No, even if it's His Majesty, injustice is still injustice. I won't bow to unjust authority."

"Indeed. To achieve justice, criticism of His Majesty is sometimes necessary."

The three men continued their conversation as they turned the corridor's corner.

Myarla, who had been bowing her head, eventually shook her head vigorously and took a deep breath. 

Then, with a forced smile, she spoke to us.

"Nyahaha. I, I'm sorry for telling you such weird things. I'll continue guiding you through the castle-nya—whap!?"

The beast girl, Myarla, was tightly embraced by Kazane-san. 

Myarla's shorter stature meant her face was buried into Kazane-san's chest. Then, Kazane-san looked at me with a dissatisfied expression.

"Daichi-kun, that was terrible! What's wrong with those guys?"

"That's right, Senpai! I was expecting Senpai to grab them by the collar since Senpai is so quick to start a fight, but why didn't you do anything?"

Yuzuki chimed in. 

Is that the image of me inside your head, some Berserker?

Well, it's not too far off, I suppose.

To be honest, my anger gauge was close to reaching its limit, almost to the point of grabbing them by the collar. 

What's wrong with Myarla? She seems like a perfectly nice girl. 

What's this talk about impurity? 

Are you guys distant relatives of unicorns or something?

But, this is another culture, and I don't know the details. 

Starting a brawl with Holy Knight inside the castle would be a bad idea. Besides, there might be something on Myarla's part that I'm not aware of. From what I've seen so far, she doesn't seem to be a problematic individual.

From Kazane-san's chest, Myarla emerged with a "pfft,".

And I addressed her.

"Myarla, if you want, can you share your story with us? We might not be able to help, but we'd like to hear. Don't force yourself if you don't want to."

"Eh...? B-but, I'm here to guide you all-nya..."

"It's fine. Consider it our request. If you don't want to, you don't have to."

Upon my words, Myarla showed a surprised expression with moist, round eyes. The beast girl then nodded vigorously and looked at me.

"U-understood-nya. Honestly, I wanted someone to hear my story, meow. I appreciate your words-nya."

After that, while continuing to guide us through the castle.

Myarla began to talk about her situation. 

It was mostly what we had expected.

"We, the beast people, especially cat-eared girls, are disliked in this country-nya. We're considered a tainted race, dirty she-cats who seduce and steal men from their homes, known as 'thief cats'-nya."

"Indeed, some cat-ear girls lose control during their mating season. But not all of us. However, many people don't understand that. To them, all cat-ear girls are impure 'thief cat reserves'."

"But I thought maybe things would change a bit if I became a Holy Knight. So, I took the holy knight exam. No rule says beast people, especially cat-ear adventurers, can't take the exam."

"But rumors said that all beast people fail the interview-nya. Despite that, I thought I'd try and... I passed-nya. Apparently, King Eldrick recommended me-nya."

"But because of that, rumors spread even about His Majesty-nya. However, when I met him, he laughed and said, 'Don't underestimate me. Being concerned about the king is disrespectful.'-nya. I was confused at first, not realizing it was a joke-nya."

Saying this, Myarla chuckled, perhaps recalling that moment.

"So, I decided to do my best-nya. I wanted to get along with Gerald, who also passed the exam in the same year-nya. But Gerald has always been like that-nya. He sees me as impurity tarnishing the honorable Holy Knights-nya. I hope he'll understand someday, but it seems difficult-nya."

With that, Myarla smiled faintly.

After a while, it was time for King Eldrick's business to conclude. 

Myarla guided us to the front of the king's private room, bowed, and left.

We knocked on the door leading to the room where the king waited, received permission, and entered.