A Saint Who Was Adopted by the Grand Duke
chapter-153

“Is that so?”

“Yes. If you don’t even feel that, can you fight?”

“I felt it, Albert.”

“Me too.”

“It’s fortunate.”

Guild members quietly cursed at each other, claiming that they were better.

“Anyway, seven in total.”

Inside the central temple, no more than a certain number of escorts could be brought in.

There are far more escorts in Tersia, but Esther only brought seven to match the number.

Albert intended to take advantage of this gap, where the escorts were reduced to a minimum.

“It’s not something to belittle. Especially the three guys behind that tree. If you picked one of those guys who were already strong and brought them in, they would be just as strong.”

“But is it really okay to work inside the temple?”

“Of course it’s not okay.”

“Yes?”

“Still, this is the only way. We only need to secure the target, then run away. The duke will take care of everything afterwards.”

Even if things got a little cumbersome, it was a big difference between getting the target and not being able to.

Albert, who instinctively felt how strong the shadow knights were, judged that he had no chance of winning outside.

“Okay, everyone get ready. We will start soon.”

In particular, the situation inside the temple was favorable to Albert and his men.

Perhaps thanks to the qualification test, few people were near this road. Even the paladins guarding the temple.

“Focus. You just have to be careful with those three.”

Compared to Esther’s escorts, which was only seven, the scattered guild members numbered close to twenty, so if they all rushed quickly, they had a chance of winning.

Albert assigned each of his men an escort to attack.

“I will signal with my fingers.”

Albert, who had been waiting for the right moment without blinking, slowly raised his right hand.

Then, at the opportune time, he signaled all of his men to charge.

‘Now!’

Of course, Albert was at the forefront, and he ran towards the shadow knight hiding behind the tree.

As the head of the guild, his movements were the quickest. His skills were why Duke Brions entrusted him with this job.

Even as he ran, he completely hid his presence, so the shadow knight barely realized he would soon be attacked.

In an instant, Albert closed the distance from the escort hiding behind a tree, swinging his sword without hesitation.

Then, the sensitive Victor noticed a strange feeling and turned around.

At the same time, the escorts took out their swords, changing their stance to protect Esther.

However, the guild members were already charging towards Esther’s group.

Everywhere, the sound of a sword being pulled out of the sabbath and metal clashing against metal exploded.

★★★

Before the guild members’ attack…

“Esther? Are you crying?”

“No, euk, I don’t cry.”

Tears welled up in Esther’s eyes as she spoke with Noah.

It wasn’t because she was sad, but because she was happy.

Esther quickly wiped her tears off with the back of her hand and vigorously rubbed her hand against her dress.

However, one of the escorts following behind suddenly interrupted the conversation.

“I’m sorry Lady Esther, but I feel something strange.”

“What is it?”

Esther didn’t know what was going on, but she also lowered her voice.

“My back has been tingling since earlier.”

“I felt it too.”

Victor agreed.

“It looks like someone is waiting to attack us.”

One escort knight said that he had just received a signal to be careful from the hiding shadow knight.

“But this isn’t inside the temple?”

“Still, we better be careful just in case.”

“Okay.”

Albert completely hid his presence, but his men didn’t have such fine control.

Esther’s escorts were also very skilled, so they detected the hostility they unknowingly spilled.

“I hope nothing bad happens.”

Tensing up, Esther grabbed the hem of her skirt.

She also increased her pace to get out of the temple as fast as possible.

The escorts also had their hands on the scabbard so that they could pull out their sword at any time in case of an unexpected situation.

And at that moment, Victor looked back with some awkwardness and screamed in surprise.

“Lady Esther! Go back!”

The men who hid their presence as much as possible were charging forth.

Although there was still distance, the escorts changed their formation to surround Esther, blaming themselves for not noticing sooner.

The shadow knights hiding behind the trees were aiming their swords at the guild members who ambushed them.

“Why are the priests…?”

Esther’s eyes widened in shock when she looked back.

It was because men in priestly clothes were coming to attack her.

But she soon recognized it was camouflage when she saw them throw off the cumbersome priestly robes.

Clang!

The shadow knight who was dealing with Albert felt that the situation was more dangerous than he thought and his face hardened.

Thinking that Esther might be in danger, he somehow made a gap and blew the whistle that was hanging around his neck.

Very quickly, a blue bird appeared above his head and then disappeared somewhere.

“Esther, go behind me.”

Like the escorts, Noah drew his sword and covered Esther.

Esther was anxious to see the blades of the guild members attacking from all sides and grabbed Noah’s arm.

“Will everyone be okay?”

“Sure. These are the people the grand duke trusted and entrusted you to.”

But even as he said that, Noah was also worried inside.

They were too few in number compared to the opponent. Besides, the opponents didn’t look weak.

“Lady Esther, there are more knights waiting for you outside the temple. It would be safer to leave as soon as possible than to stay here.”

Clang, chiiiik!

Exchanging blows with great speed, Victor dealt with two assailants and returned to Esther’s side.

“But I can’t see the way out.”

“I’ll try to pierce through and make a path. When that happens, never look back, run toward the door.”

“You want me to leave you behind?”

“First of all, the lady must be safe. We will follow soon.”

Esther nodded, knowing full well what kind of heart Victor had as he said that.

It was indeed true that going out of the temple and joining other knights was the best for now.

With bated breath, Esther hid behind the escorts, waiting for an opportunity to escape.

But no matter how many times she tried, she failed. It was because the moment she moved, the guild members dashed towards her.

They refused to let their target, Esther, get away easily.

Before Esther could take more than a few steps, everyone ran over and surrounded her. So she shrank back. This repeated a few times.

After repeating this a few times, Esther asked, narrowing her eyes.

“Noah, isn’t it strange?”

“What?”

“I only brought seven escorts with me because there’s limitations. But even if I count roughly, they are around twenty. How did that many people get in?”

Noah sighed and nodded.

He didn’t even have time to think about that because he was focused on protecting Esther.

“That’s right. Everyone was wearing priestly garments, so there must be a collaborator inside.”

“Mhm. Probably Rabienne.”

Deheen would not be able to stay still if such a thing were to happen inside the temple.

Rabienne was the only one who had a reason to attack her even at such a huge risk.

‘Blood.’

It was obvious that she was trying to kidnap her, she would do anything to get her blood.

Esther was fed up with Rabienne’s obsession with her blood. She was very glad to have finished it well.

At first, the escorts seemed to block well, but as they were outnumbered, their formation gradually became disorganized.

“Lady Esther! Watch out! Avoid it!!”

One of the escorts shouted at Esther.

For Albert, after having killed one of the shadow knights, was running towards Esther with a mean smirk.

“What can you do when all the escorts are scattered? You’re a princess with no one to protect you.”

Noah jumped before Esther to block, but another guild member rushed over and he had to stop him.

“Esther, don’t stay still, avoid anywhere!”

But Esther stood still and looked Albert in the eyes.

‘He is not trying to kill me.’

If he was going to kill her, of course she should avoid him, but if he was trying to kidnap her, there was a better way.

“Shur.”

Esther murmured quietly so that Albert would not hear.

When his name was called, Shur crept out of the dress.

Albert never imagined that there would be snakes or vipers in this place.

Having come right before Esther without any interference, he laughed quietly.

“If you don’t want to get hurt, stay still. I have to bring you alive. I don’t want to hurt you for nothing.”

“…….”

Instead of replying, Esther nodded nonchalantly.

“Hah? What a peculiar child.”

‘It’s unexpected the lady is calm even in such a situation.’ One corner of Albert’s lips curled.

Then he pulled a cloth from his pocket. A strong sleeping agent had been applied, and if she inhaled it, she would pass out.

“Lady Esther, please avoid him!!”

“Esther, no!”

The escort knights who managed to defeat the guild members panicked, and even the shadow knights and Noah abandoned their current fight and turned, but everyone was a step behind.

Albert quickly brought the cloth smeared with a sleeping agent to Esther’s mouth.

It was easier than he thought, thanks to Esther’s lack of resistance.

“Yes, this is good for the both of us.”

With satisfaction tinting his face, Albert thought she must have fainted by now and prepared to pick her up.

However, no matter how long he waited, she did not fall to the side where he extended his arm.

“…What? Come on?”

Esther had inhaled the sleeping agent through both her mouth and nostrils, but still remained alert.

Rather, she innocently blinked at Albert, her expression asking what he was doing.

“It isn’t working? I’ve never had anything like this, why? Could it be that I brought the wrong one?”

A flustered Albert removed the cloth from Esther’s face and was bewildered.

“That doesn’t work on me. Would it be the same with a much stronger sleeping agent?”

Esther kindly informed him and called Shur.

“Right, Shur?”

At that moment, Shur leaped forward with great speed.

Then, with a widened mouth, he slammed into Albert’s ankle… bam!

Shur’s sharp fangs were deeply embedded in Albert’s ankles.

“Ah, ah!”

As the unbearable pain spread from his ankles through his whole body, Albert screamed so hard that his vocal cords could burst.

Ame: I love how everyone (especially Esther and Shur ^^) gets a moment to shine in this ‘guild members’ attack’ part, but 4k words is a little too much… Or maybe it’s my hunger talking. Can someone send me snacks? TT_TT