Chapter 19 – 7. Bishop Barkius (1)

7. Bishop Barkius (1)

Mountains are dangerous for children.
They are oblivious to the lurking dangers.

Even adults, who are aware of the dangers, find mountains perilous. How much more so for a child. And the mountains at this time are particularly dangerous.

It’s the time when predators, awakened from their long winter sleep, roam the mountains with bloodshot eyes, seeking to fill their famished bellies. Starving beasts are a nuisance even to well-trained knights, so unless absolutely necessary, one does not venture into the mountains during this period.

Yet, children have entered this dangerous mountain, and at the most perilous time.

‘These troublesome kids…!’

Romeo, his mind reeling from the shock, clenched his teeth and headed to the general classroom where the bishop was conducting an inspection. It was an urgent matter, so Romeo, who had enhanced his body with mana and ran, quickly arrived at the classroom and approached Bishop Barkius, who was observing the class from outside the room.

The fact that Romeo didn’t call out to the bishop loudly was due to his superhuman patience. Of course, he managed not to shout, but he couldn’t control his hurried footsteps, and Bishop Barkius turned his head at the sound of the heavy footsteps approaching.

“Knight Romeo? What are you doing here during class time?”

“It’s reported that Kaul and the children have entered the mountain.”

“…Elaborate.”

Romeo explained the situation as calmly as possible, and the bishop, after hearing the entire story, rubbed his throbbing forehead. If this matter was true, it was no ordinary issue.

“They’ve caused trouble before, but I didn’t expect them to do something this reckless…! Knight Romeo, go to the guard post with this information immediately and head to the mountain with the guards.”

The bishop said this and handed over the rosary hanging around his neck. It was a symbol of the bishop’s authority that could mobilize the soldiers of the count protecting Barkius.

“What will you do, Bishop….”

“I will go into the mountain first.”

Romeo was shocked at the bishop’s serious words. The bishop was once a grand knight commander, but now he was an old man who had retired over 10 years ago.

Although his skills hadn’t faded, it was unthinkable for an old man, whose body was not in the best condition, to climb the mountain alone. Especially when he was the spiritual pillar of Barkius and the bishop of the cathedral.

“It’s dangerous…! If anything happens to you, Barkius will…!”

“The lives of the children who will shape the future are more important than mine, who is only waiting for God’s call. And do you think I can’t protect this old body? You, who still can’t beat me at arm wrestling?”

“That was…! That was over 20 years ago!”

After winning once, he had been dodging the challenge ever since…!

“Shh. Class is in session.”

Romeo, who had raised his voice in frustration, closed his mouth at those words. Fortunately, the children, who were passionately participating in the class, seemed not to have heard Romeo’s shout.

A child near the door briefly glanced in their direction, but soon lost interest and focused on the class. Seeing this, Romeo heaved a sigh of relief, and the bishop patted his shoulder.

“And wouldn’t it be more appropriate for you, who is still young, to run rather than me, who walks slowly?”

“…Understood.”

The bishop nodded at Romeo, who reluctantly agreed, and gave a faint smile. Seeing the bishop’s reaction, Romeo felt a boiling sensation inside him and let out a deep sigh.

“Please, stay safe.”

“You should be more worried about the animals in the mountain than myself.”

The bishop, trying to ease Romeo’s tension, chuckled and made a joke before turning his back. Romeo, who had been watching his back for a moment, gritted his teeth and ran full force towards the guards.

Meanwhile, the bishop, who had returned to his office, sighed heavily as he looked at the mace hanging on the wall. The mace, which had shattered thousands of skulls under the name of the Holy War, was hanging right next to Bishop Barkius’s chair.

If the weapon rack holding the mace were to become loose and the mace were to fall, it would be in a position to strike Barkius’s head. He had hung it there thinking that if he were to fall into corruption, that mace would shatter his skull.

“I never thought the day would come when I would have to use this again…”

He had vowed never to hold a weapon again after witnessing the bloodshed of that time. But… this time, he was holding that mace not to kill someone, but to protect them.

He picked up the weapon he had hung to repent for past mistakes and to chastise his future self. It was still heavy, but it felt infinitely lighter than when he had gone into battle.

“Lord, please protect the children so they can return home safely…”

With a light prayer and a sign of the cross, the bishop blessed himself and turned towards the mountain. His usually aching knees, waist, and shoulders felt strangely refreshed.

‘It must be a blessing from God.’

Thanks to that, the bishop, who was moving faster than usual, began to climb the mountain he had arrived at before he knew it. The trail, which had not been used by people for a while, had clear signs of the children’s movements.

Being Barkius, who was skilled in pursuit and annihilation, he was able to accurately trace those signs.

“They turned right here… Are they going into the wilderness to avoid the animal trail…?”

Barkius, who had pressed the remaining footprints with his fingertips, frowned.

“It’s dry…”

While the other footprints still had moisture and were deeply embedded from standing in one place for a while, this footprint was dry unlike the others.

While the other traces showed hesitation before the animal trail, there was no hesitation in the steps of one child in particular. Barkius, who had dusted off the dirt left on his hand, frowned at the strange feeling.

Even the bravest child would know that the mountain is dangerous. But the steps of ‘one child’ going into the wilderness seemed strangely devoid of hesitation.

“…There shouldn’t be a child that reckless in that group.”

The worry was fleeting. After all, what needed to be prioritized now was rescuing the children.

Barkius, who had dusted off his spot and stood up, strode forward following the traces. The children’s traces were avoiding the mountain paths used by herb gatherers and the animal trails, going deeper into the wilderness.

‘Are they bewitched?’

He briefly suspected the demon’s trickery, but shook his head. If a demon really had tricked them, he would have known.

Pushing back the rising suspicion and following the traces, that’s when…

“…Ugh, ugh…”

“…Hold on!”

At the faint sound of the children’s voices, he widened his eyes and looked in the direction of the sound.
That way!

Barkius hurried his steps and ran towards the sound. He was able to find three children, confused before a cliff.

“Hmm!”

When he coughed to make his presence known, the children were startled and looked at Barkius. Fear flashed in their eyes for a moment, but they quickly filled with hope and ran towards Barkius.

“Hu, huk…! Bi, Bishop…!”

The children, who must have been quite scared, burst into tears as soon as they embraced him. Barkius, who had thought to scold them sternly, softened at the sight of the children and let out a deep sigh as he hugged them.

“It’s okay now.”

While he was comforting the child, one of them pointed towards the cliff with a trembling hand.

“Th, there. On, on the cliff…. Huk….”

“What’s on the cliff?”

“Kaul…. Kaul is, down the cliff….”

“…!!”

He felt his blood run cold. But he couldn’t show a flustered face in front of the children, so he stroked the child’s head calmly.

“It’s okay. I’ll save him. Now, step aside for a moment.”

“Yes….”

Leaving the retreating children behind, Barkius approached the cliff and looked down. Thankfully, the cliff wasn’t very high, and there were dense trees below.

‘Even if his arms and legs are broken, he should be alive from this height.’

He moved a little further forward and looked straight down. As expected, he saw two children groaning below the cliff.

‘I’m glad they’re alive….’

Just as he was letting out a sigh of relief, he saw a dark shadow approaching the two children.

“That’s…!”

The identity of the shadow was none other than a bear. It seemed to have come to check on its territory because of the disturbance, and its momentum was not good.

‘If I turn around and go down, it’ll be too late.’

After a brief moment of consideration, Barkius straightened his bent waist and looked back. He looked at the three children who were still trembling and called out to them with a smile.

“Romeo is on his way with the guards right now. So, don’t worry and just follow the path down.”

“But we don’t know the way…!”

“I been marking the ground with my mace on my way here. Don’t worry, even if you try not to see it, you can’t help but notice it.”

The children looked at each other, nodded, and then carefully turned their backs and started down the mountain.
Once they were gone, Barkius turned back to look down the cliff.

The bear was sniffing around the two children, perhaps checking if they were edible. Barkius took a deep breath, let out a sigh, and gripped his mace tightly.

ppadeudeudeuk…. the sound of leather creaking.

‘I’m going to have a hard time in the morning for a while.’

Without hesitation, Barkius jumped off the cliff.
A moment of weightlessness, then the feeling of his insides being pulled upwards as he plummeted down.

―Roar!?

Perhaps startled by the sudden shadow, the bear raised its head.
Barkius, raising his mace high in the sky, struck down on the bear’s head.

<b>――!!</b>

The bear’s head, struck by the mace, retracted into its body like a turtle.
With trembling hands, Barkius readjusted his grip on the mace, using it like a walking stick and rubbing his waist.

“Ugh… I wouldn’t do this again, even if it kills me… But… I’m still not dead.”

Laughing weakly while rubbing his waist, Barkius, although his whole body was shaking, gritted his teeth and approached the children who had fallen from the cliff.
Fortunately, despite falling from the cliff, the children were unharmed except for minor injuries, without a single broken bone.

Of course, a detailed examination would be needed to be sure, but at least there were no visible wounds.
He let out a sigh of relief and knelt down next to the lying child.

“Uh… Bishop…?”

“…Yes.”

Kaul, staring blankly at Barkius, burst into tears and tightly gripped his sleeve.

“Thanks to… Bishop, thanks to you…! Sob…! Thanks to you, I survived…!! I thought I was going to die…!!”

Barkius, who had intended to scold Kaul for his reckless actions, seeing him repeatedly thanking him for saving his life, and crying so pitifully, softened and held his tongue.

“If it weren’t for you, Bishop… I… uh… would’ve been… by the bear…!”

“Yes, yes. It’s okay now. I’m here.”

Was it to comfort Kaul, who was trembling with fear and babbling, or was it an unconscious expression?
Barkius found himself saying, “It’s okay, I’m here,” as he comforted the child.