A Powerful Martial Artist Reincarnates as a Nun Knight

“So you just sneaked in and swiftly took care of it, just like that?”

One of Conra’s eyebrows twisted in a peculiar way. That furrowed brow contorted the boy’s features into an expression that was neither a smile, a frown, nor one of anger – as if directly reflecting the indescribable, profound feeling he was experiencing at that moment.

When morning came, the regent’s estate was shrouded in directionless chaos and commotion. Overnight, the regent’s concubine had vanished without a trace, leaving behind only ominous signs of destruction in her wake. Such an uproar was inevitable under those circumstances.

The fact that she was merely a concubine rather than the official queen, and that her background prior to becoming the regent’s concubine remained unclear…these factors prevented the situation from escalating excessively. Nevertheless, people could be heard whispering about the incident at the regent’s estate when Conra stepped outside.

Abruptly recalling Sophia’s nighttime activities from the previous evening, Conra hurried back to question her about what had transpired. Upon directly hearing the aftermath she described…he found himself in his current perplexed state.

“Uh, Master…didn’t you say the power dynamics between secular rulers are too complex to meddle with?”
“Hmm, indeed I did say that.”
“But then how could you just barge in and attack like that?”
“No issue whatsoever. It was a demon, after all.”

Sophia’s nonchalant attitude prompted Conra to briefly reflect on whether he was the one being unreasonable. But after serious contemplation, he concluded that he was perfectly normal – it was Sophia who was the abnormal one. Conra posed another question:

“Is it really okay to openly cause such an incident amidst the turbulent succession conflict?”
“Why not? I preemptively took some holy oil to handle the cleanup afterward.”

Sophia’s casual response made Conra’s mouth fall open again after hearing her use a certain unexpected term. The boy cautiously asked his revered master and teacher:

“Wait a minute, by ‘cleanup with holy oil,’ do you mean you cremated a body inside the estate?”
“That’s exactly what I did.”

And then, forcefully:

“You almost burned down the entire estate!”
“Tsk, did you really think I’d be so careless? You worry about unnecessary things.”

In reality, the room where Sophia incinerated the demon’s remains bore scorch marks on the floor and soot stains on the ceiling. However, she didn’t bother mentioning those details. No big fire occured, so it was fine. Rather, one could argue that she had performed a good deed by secretly disposing of the demon infiltrator lurking within the estate.

As she playfully bantered with her student and vessel, Sophia revisited the information extracted from the demonic soul during the previous night’s interrogation.

The demons meddling in the Iron Throne’s succession conflict numbered more than she expected. Aside from the demon that was the regent’s concubine, various vassals and associates surrounding the princes harbored infiltrators – either genuine demons or at least human traitors devoted to demonic forces.

Moreover, they disguised themselves indiscriminately across different races and ethnicities, including not just the common human type but also Albs, Dvergar, Hobgoblins and diverse other species.

Sophia felt an impending headache wondering how she could completely eliminate them all.

‘It would be inefficient for me to personally hunt them down one by one. Inevitably, they’ll catch on at some point and either go into hiding or hastily act preemptively.’

Even demons weren’t that foolish. If any of their own started dying off one after another in quick succession, they would undoubtedly devise countermeasures of their own.

‘The ideal scenario would be to catch them all together at once and wipe them out.’

But they had no reason to gratuitously gather together like that on their own. Ultimately, the most opportune timing would likely arise when the competing royal factions – the regent, Crown Prince and Seventh Prince – convened alongside their respective supporters.

‘But on what pretext could I gather them all in one place?’

Amidst the divided loyalties from this succession conflict, members of opposing factions would be highly reluctant to show their faces at rival gatherings out of solidarity. They feared being branded as traitors by recklessly mingling with rivals.

The higher-ranking nobles relatively immune to such suspicions did regularly attend rival soirees to gather intelligence and sow discord. But that alone wouldn’t suffice.

After brooding over various countermeasures, Sophia eventually reached an inevitable decision:

“I should meet the king himself.”
“Pardon? Who?”
“The king who has supposedly lost consciousness and lies bedridden. The current sovereign of Rotaringhia’s Iron Throne.”

Conra’s mouth fell open again at Sophia’s sudden, unexpected declaration punctuating her train of thought.

+++++

Conra wasn’t the only one startled by Sophia’s bombshell proposal. Even Cardinal Andrea staggered momentarily, pressing his palms against his eyes as if warding off dizziness from her abrupt request. Only after the vertigo passed did he sigh and resume moving.

“How can you suddenly declare needing to see the king? On what grounds do you intend to visit?”
“What need for pretexts? I’ll simply sneak across the walls and see him directly.”

Andrea pinched the back of his neck at Sophia’s brazenly nonchalant response.

“Stop this lunacy. If that matched your personality, you wouldn’t have proposed this to me first. You’d have likely visited already long ago.”

Clicking her tongue in displeasure at the cardinal’s accurate assessment, Sophia sneered.

“Tsk, you know me too well.”
“Enough. Very well, since the king has remained bedridden for too long, I’ll simply notify them that our Church wishes to assess his condition. While there, I can perform last rites too.”
“Precisely what I hoped for.”

As Sophia exclaimed in delight, Andrea gulped audibly before posing another question:

“But why do you want to see the king?”
“It’s simple. If the comatose king regains consciousness and rises from his sickbed, wouldn’t all factions lose justification for their divided loyalties? They’d inevitably gather together whether they liked it or not. I intended to seize that moment for an all-out strike against the demons. The comrades educated here could gain valuable실 combat experience too.”

Momentarily stunned by her outrageous suggestion, Cardinal Andrea could only stare blankly with a dumbfounded smile before repeating his query:

“But why do you want to see the king?”
“Have you developed dementia already? You’re still younger than this old minister yet showing signs of senility?”

The ensuing barrage of insults and derision finally provoked him to angrily lash out.

The opportunity to audience with the king arrived sooner than expected.

Although continually flustered by Sophia’s brazen audacity, Cardinal Andrea undoubtedly trusted her abilities and skills. When he suggested she might be able to rouse the bedridden king to recovery, he promptly negotiated with the royal palace to grant her an audience – grinning happily throughout.

The terms were simple: in exchange for permitting the Church’s nun-knight Sophia to see the ailing king, Cardinal Andrea himself would meet and support the Crown Prince’s faction.

As he put it, once the monarch awakened, the entire succession conflict would become irrelevant anyway, so he could freely make such overtures.

In any case, Sophia welcomed this development. The crucial point was securing an opportunity to examine Rotaringhia’s Iron Throne’s sovereign firsthand.

The summons arrived five days after Sophia’s request to Cardinal Andrea.

“Tsk, their response is excruciatingly slow.”

Then again, they likely considered their lord essentially deceased already, giving them no urgency to act swiftly.

Sophia reviewed her plans once more. If this scheme failed, subsequent steps would become tremendously troublesome, demanding utmost prudence. Ultimately, everything hinged on the bedridden king’s actual condition – the paramount concern.

Donning her formal nun-knight attire instead of battle armor for a rare occasion, she boarded the carriage sent from the royal palace. Conra, her vessel, also followed behind in the crisp ceremonial robes provided by the Church. The reverent boy, granted an opportunity to tour a royal palace thanks to his esteemed master, clenched his fists tightly with shoulders rigidly tensed.

“Don’t be so tense. Kings and palaces aren’t that extraordinary, honestly.”
“Ugh…it’s just hard not to be…”
“Where’s that boldness from when you first demanded I ‘prove myself’ to you?”
“Ack! We agreed never to bring that up again!”

Although flustered by Sophia’s teasing reminder, Conra soon realized his tension had already dissipated, regarding her with grateful yet puzzled eyes as he calmed down again. An expression suggesting he had learned something new.

Eventually, the clip-clop of horses signaled their carriage’s departure.