"Anyway, now that the holy child is safe, you should go back quickly."
Shirou tried to say goodbye. He didn't plan to take credit for this. He only wanted to go back to the adventurer's guild to post a request to find a healing magician after the holy child issue was resolved.
But Therese clearly didn't want to let him go so easily.
For Therese, Shirou was not only her savior, but also a strong person worth being friends with.
Such a young Sword Saint, not to mention in the Miris Holy Kingdom, is hard to find in the entire world. If she could win him over, it would greatly improve her political power.
Most importantly, this attack event resulted in the almost complete destruction of her original subordinates. She had just taken on the role of the holy child's guard and encountered such a tragedy. If she couldn't achieve corresponding results, she might be punished when she went back.
With this in mind, Therese tried to keep Shirou, at least not let him leave so easily.
"Um, if you have time, could you escort me and the holy child back to the church? It's still a bit far from Milishion. With my own ability, I might not be able to protect the holy child."
Therese spoke up, "If you can complete this request, the Holy Knights will definitely give you a reward."
"This…"
Shirou hesitated at Therese's request.
He finally said quietly, "Okay, but I don't want any reward. I just need you to find a way to detoxify me."
"Detoxify…?"
Therese looked at Shirou and couldn't see any signs of poisoning.
Shirou then showed her the part of his body that Giles had hit.
Therese was shocked and said with an almost stunned tone, "Poison from a swamp frog? You were poisoned by such a monster's venom and can still move normally? You're simply…"
Therese didn't finish her sentence, but her attitude could be guessed.
In her opinion, being poisoned so badly and not being bedridden, but instead running around and even instantly killing the assassins sent by the church.
Shirou simply didn't seem like a human.
"Swamp frog venom? Is this poison serious?"
Shirou didn't know much about monsters, especially since the Great Forest of the Miris continent was so huge, it was normal for there to be monsters he didn't recognize.
Therese then quietly explained.
Swamp frogs are a common type of monster in the rainforests of the Miris continent, mostly found during the rainy season. Although common, it is often difficult for adventurers to deal with swamp frogs because they carry deadly poison all over their bodies. If the venom gets on a human, it will make them lose their strength, or even become unconscious.
Giles's dagger was coated with swamp frog venom. Although the dose was small, it was enough to make an adult male instantly lose their ability to fight. Over time, the poison would even make the poisoned person's limbs weak and cause hallucinations.
In short, in the Miris continent, if an ordinary person is poisoned by a swamp frog, they will definitely lose their strength and can only lie in bed waiting for treatment. It is impossible to be like Shirou, who is clearly poisoned, but acts like nothing happened, running around and even instantly defeating so many assassins.
Therese couldn't imagine that Shirou was a human, and even suspected that he might be a demon covered in human skin.
Of course, this was just her suspicion.
"Has my body unknowingly become so resistant to poison?"
Shirou said with surprise. He remembered that he only had a clear feeling about being poisoned in the first few days. After nearly two months, his body had completely adapted to the poisoned state, and sometimes he even forgot that he was poisoned.
Shirou didn't remember when he developed a resistance to poison, and didn't know if it was a good thing or a bad thing, so he could only ignore it for the time being.
On the other hand, after learning that Shirou was poisoned, Therese would not let him leave even more.
"Our church has many excellent priests who can help you detoxify. In fact, if I had studied magic like my sister instead of swordsmanship, I could help you detoxify now."
Therese said with regret on her face.
She also mentioned a sister who could use healing magic.
Shirou didn't pay attention to Therese's words. He was just quietly considering the possibility of going to the church with Therese, and then felt that he had nothing to worry about, so he nodded in agreement.
Shirou then traveled with Therese and the holy child.
Therese was a typical church knight, meticulous in her actions. Even though her subordinates had been wiped out, she still didn't show a flustered attitude.
The holy child followed next to Therese, her eyes occasionally looking at Shirou, clearly curious about the young man who saved her.
Shirou didn't have any attitude towards the holy child. He just responded to the young girl in front of him with a normal, gentle expression.
"The country of Miris has been troubled recently, and the infighting between the various factions is very serious. I see that you are not a local. If you have the chance, it would be safer to leave here as soon as possible."
Therese seemed to be the kind of person who quickly became familiar with others. After gradually communicating with Shirou, her attitude immediately became close.
Even her address changed from Shirou to Shirou.
It is worth mentioning that, whether it was a professional habit or simply being vigilant, Therese never took off her helmet and always talked to Shirou in full armor.
"Factional infighting? The assassins who attacked you were sent by other factions?"
"Almost, I guess they were sent by the Pope's faction."
Therese nodded and used short words to tell Shirou about the current political situation of the Miris Holy Kingdom.
In short, there are currently two major factions within the Miris Holy Kingdom: the Pope's faction and the Cardinal's faction. Under the excellent leadership of the current Pope, the Pope's faction has recently become increasingly strong. Not only has the Pope successfully resolved the conflicts between Miris and its various races, leading the church to thrive, but he also brought back a Sun Holy Sword from the Asura Kingdom some time ago.
The brightness of that Holy Sword is enough to split mountains, and is very similar to the Holy Sword that Saint Miris used to kill the demon king and split the Holy Sword Road in the legend.
With these achievements, the Pope's faction can be said to be rising in status and has now become the largest faction in the Miris Holy Kingdom.
In contrast, although the overall strength of the Cardinal's faction is not as good as the Pope's faction, and it is supported by some feudal aristocrats internally, it has barely maintained its balance with the Pope's faction with the support of the Holy Knights and the recent discovery of the holy child, a descendant who is like a god descending into the world.
Of course, this balance is undoubtedly fragile and relies entirely on the holy child, their only trump card.
This gave the people of the Pope's faction thoughts.
As long as the holy child is eliminated, the Cardinal's faction will definitely not be able to threaten the Pope's faction.
This led to the attack that occurred.
"In short, the Pope's faction is currently the largest force in the Miris Holy Kingdom. You killed their people, so it will be easy to get into trouble in the future."
Therese said with a complicated expression.
"Is that so? That is to say, the Pope's faction is a group of evil people?"
Shirou made a judgment based on Therese's words.
But Therese shook her head, "The Pope's faction is not bad people. At least the current Pope cannot be considered an evil person. He is a very upright leader, but the greatness of the leader does not mean that everyone under him is as wise as him. There will always be some people who do things impulsively that even the Pope is not aware of."
Therese then added a lot of information about the current Pope.
For example, the current Pope came from a humble background and worked his way up from being a mere priest to an important person. He then relied on his skill and prestige to become the Pope.
The Pope is also the first person in the Miris Holy Kingdom to propose the concept of equality for all.
He declared that even demons should not be discriminated against, and if they are willing to be good, they should also be given respect and friendly conversation.
But it is precisely this attitude that has led to the dissatisfaction of conservative forces such as the Cardinal's faction and the Holy Knights, and the two sides have completely opposed each other.
In short, even Therese, a member of the Holy Knights' opposing faction, recognized the current Pope, which is enough to prove the Pope's prestige and ability, and also means that the assassination event was most likely not planned by the Pope himself, but simply the exclusive actions of his subordinates.
Of course, whether the Pope knew about it, or even condoned it, is something no one knows.
"Ah, we're almost there."
Seeing the town of Milishion and the huge White Palace, Therese was completely relieved.
Without hesitation, she led Shirou towards the church headquarters.
The two quickly arrived at the familiar cathedral entrance.
This building with the onion-shaped dome was still so eye-catching.
Therese wanted to take Shirou inside, but she didn't expect that as soon as they arrived, a large group of Holy Knights came out to greet them.
"Therese, why are you only coming back now!"
"Luckily, the holy child seems to be safe!"
"The entire team is left with only you, right? Can you take responsibility for this!"
"Holy child, come over quickly, you must not be in danger again!"
The Holy Knights surrounded the scene.
They not only didn't reward Therese for protecting the holy child, but instead criticized her and tried to forcibly take the holy child away with unimaginable concern.
The young holy child undoubtedly felt panic at the behavior of the Holy Knights. She instinctively leaned towards Shirou and Therese. After realizing that Therese, who was being reprimanded, had no intention of protecting her, she hid as much as possible next to Shirou.
Shirou calmly protected the holy child behind him, not letting the Holy Knights approach at will.
His actions undoubtedly angered the Holy Knights.
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