Stray Ch280

Author: 年终 / Nian Zhong

Translator: Kinky || https://kinkytranslations.com/

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Chapter 280: Beast Knight

If it hadn’t snowed so much, Wyatt Roderick would be in a better mood.

As the Chief Justice of the Knights of Judgement of the Laddism Church, Roderick had to spend more than half of the year on missions outside. The Laddism Church bore all the expenses, but unfortunately, the mission date wouldn’t change due to the weather.

This team of Knights of Judgement could naturally use magic to drive away the wind and snow. One after another, they activated the thermal insulation array solidified on their armor, and in the knife-like chill, they surrounded themselves with a small, warm, windless space. However, the Knights of Judgment couldn’t be extravagant enough to continue to use magic to remove the snow that had not passed the horse’s legs.

Coupled with the complex terrain in the Deadwood Forest, the team’s travel speed had slowed down substantially.

Roderick clicked his tongue twice, clutched the letter box in his hand, and considered resigning for the 5,000^th time.

Balthazar Medes ran away again.

As the only remaining member of the Tin Soldier Mercenary Group, Medes’ ability didn’t discredit the legendary mercenary group—he wasn’t good at hiding his tracks, but he was very good at escaping. Not to mention the guest room in the Heretical Judgement Hall, even in the most tightly guarded dungeon on the surface, his teacher may be able to pat himself on the back and just leave.

Roderick tugged at the corner of his mouth, indicating that he would be given the guaranteed certificate later.

Considering that the name of “The Last Tin Soldier” was too big and the face of Medes, who had recovered his flesh, was young and inconsistent with his age, Roderick could only get an ordinary fake identity for his teacher.

With the guarantee of the current Knight Commander, a certain rumored necromancer could obtain permission to move freely. However, since Medes recovered his flesh and left his tomb, he seemed to have developed a disease that would make him uncomfortable if he stayed in the same place for more than a few days.

“If I return to this appearance, I will continue to age like a normal human,” Medes once said solemnly. “I don’t have much time for research and atonement, god damn it.”

“If it weren’t for you, I would have wiped out that village a long time ago. How about using this as part of the atonement?”

“Let’s not talk about whether you’re crazy to that point. I can’t put a face on something that hasn’t happened yet.”

“Then wait for me for three months, no, six months, maybe ten… Whatever, anyway, I will have a little vacation then, and we will go together.”

“Oh.” The necromancer coughed dryly and tried to retreat but was hugged tighter. “Your armor is going to squeeze me to death… Take your hands away, little bastard! Where are you touching?!”

Then, as soon as he went out for a week, Medes easily broke through the restrictions of the Heretical Judgement Hall and disappeared without a trace.

Roderick didn’t feel the slightest anger; he even felt a little inexplicably happy.

He knew Balthazar Medes better than anyone else, and he knew that his teacher would never wait honestly. When this mission was over, he could start the “hunt” that made his blood boil. If it weren’t for the countless conveniences of being a Chief Justice, and at the same time making the game a lot more interesting, he would’ve quit his mission right now and started the hunt.

“Normal humans don’t live here, do they?” His deputy sneezed and twitched the tip of his red nose. “Could it be, um… the bishop here is wrong?”

“That’s what you said last time when we were over at the glaciers,” Roderick responded carelessly. “Let’s see… After half an hour at most, we ran straight into a superior demon.”

“My lord, you decided to ignore them! It was a Nightmare Leopard and a demon warlock. To be honest—”

“They are living a nice little life. What am I going to do? Get itchy and pick a fight?”

Roderick sneered.

“It’s fish hanging outside their house, not human organs. There weren’t many people in that shithole in the first place, and I didn’t smell anything resembling corpses. I am the Knight Commander of humans, not a Knight Commander of fish. It’s none of my business if those little lovers are drying fish.”

The deputy rolled his eyes and chose to swallow his anger and continued on his way.

It was simply unreasonable for such a bastard to sit in the position of Chief Justice of the Knights of Judgement, yet Zenni hadn’t sent down divine punishment yet.

Mr. Deputy groaned angrily.

Either this guy was destined to do something earth-shattering, making god willing to ignore these details, or Zenni was accumulating anger and intended to settle accounts all at once.

Maybe it was this time.

Recently, a member of the clergy reported a vision, saying that in this barren, cold land, a monk of the Laddism Church rode out on a foreign beast and easily expelled a demon warlock who had fallen into madness in front of them. It just so happened that the last mission site wasn’t far from here, so Roderick didn’t return and instead divided a small group of people to come and investigate.

However, the deputy was quite sure that his boss was quasi-intending to take advantage of this opportunity to get a few more days of mission leave so as to return with better rest. 

It seemed that the bishop in this area had eaten some hallucinogenic mushrooms to think they could do something about it. Even “Eclipse” Roderick wouldn’t easily solve a demon warlock who fell into madness.

If the previous Chief Justice was still alive, it could be possible…

Roderick suddenly stopped the horse and raised his hand.

“…The smell of superior demons,” he said with interest.

Facing the excited knight commander, the deputy wiped his face helplessly. “Alert!”

A huge black shadow appeared in the blizzard, and a faint demon aura came from not far away. The Knights of Judgement spread out in their well-trained formation and ignited a snow-melting spell, directly dispersing the snow and storm in place.

This time they saw the dark shadow clearly.

It was a man riding a white behemoth and wearing the uniform of a free monk of the Laddism Church. This weird knight looked to be in his thirties, with dark brown hair and eyes, healthy wheat-colored skin, and sharp and calm eyes.

But they didn’t recognize the behemoth he was riding.

Its four claws stepped on the top of the soft snow layer, as if it didn’t have any weight. It didn’t seem like it was a variant of a wolf-type beast—at least they didn’t know any kind of wolf-type beast would have a pair of golden horns.

A small girl dressed as a pauper was sitting behind that knight, poking her head out slightly. Timidly, she looked over at the Knights of Judgement.

“Name?” Roderick didn’t talk nonsense. The tip of his sword pointed directly at the strange knight.

The knight shook his head and made no sound.

“Forget it, you don’t look like an incompetent idiot. Let me just say it—put down the girl behind you. It’s a superior demon.”

“She’s not.” The man riding the white behemoth finally spoke; his voice was low and pleasant.

“…That’s at least a demon warlock, although I don’t see any signs of deformation. This is too close to a human village, so you’ve crossed the line,” Roderick said lazily. The tip of his sword didn’t waver at all. “Speaking of which, have I seen you somewhere? Hmm, you do look familiar.”

“I have heard of you, but I have never met you.” The mysterious knight on the opposite side lowered his eyes as the snowflakes fell on his hair and uniform.

Before the knight could finish his sentence, a spell shot out from the tip of Roderick’s sword. This was such a “dastardly deed” from the supposedly righteous knight that the deputy had to turn his head and sigh.

But neither the behemoth nor the knight moved. The white beam of light suddenly disappeared without a trace halfway through.

Roderick put his sword away neatly. “The strength difference is too big. It’s no fun… To the opposite side, sorry. It was just a test from us little people. Don’t take it personally.”

“Lord Roderick?!”

“Do I look stupid?” Roderick raised his eyebrows high. “Since I’m not a fool, why should I rush into a confusing and inevitable losing fight? I told you before, that—what’s your name again—if you want to commit suicide gracefully with this approach, I won’t stop you, but don’t drag me into it.”

“But you are—”

“I’m a normal human, and no matter what’s on the opposite side, it’s obviously not in the same category. Mr. Deputy, first count how many people are here. Do you see the beast on the opposite side? Chopping us all up and feeding it to it would probably not be enough for a meal.”

“…No, you guys aren’t delicious enough to eat.”

The white behemoth spoke suddenly, in a very serious tone. Then it twisted its furry head and looked at the person riding on the back. “Baby, still not ready? Just let them take her back. Anyway, Nemo has already greeted Old Quinn so they wouldn’t do anything to her.”

The mystery knight pinched his brow and pulled out a small badge from his pocket, pinning it to the little girl’s shirt. The little girl sniffled; her eyes full of confusion and panic.

“Don’t be afraid. Your chest doesn’t hurt anymore, right?” When facing the little girl, the knight’s tone softened a lot. “They will take you to the city and Grandpa Pope will take you in.”

“But, but, Pandy…”

“Pandorater? She will be fine, I promise. Even if it’s for observation purposes, they will not do anything to you. Compared to this, tell Pandy that Nemo has been looking after her—you can always ask him for help, but if you’re too naughty, he will also come to you.”

“…Okay.”

As soon as the voice fell, the little girl’s expression changed. The confusion and panic suddenly disappeared, and she looked calm and curious. However, when her gaze hit the team of Knights of Judgement not far away, the little girl suddenly looked gloomy.

“I know,” she whispered in a tone that didn’t sound like a child. “I’m just a little interested in the other side of the world and I won’t go against His Majesty’s wishes.”

The tall knight jumped off the back of the behemoth, stretched out his arms, and carried the little girl to the ground.

“It’s not a superior demon, nor a demon warlock. She made a wish to get rid of her illness so she could live and spontaneously entered into a symbiotic pact with a demon. I think the Pope will be happy to observe this special case and give her a title.”

“It’s the Pope’s personal seal…”

“But that’s…”

“Oh, just escort her back to the Central Church, right?” The current knight commander accepted the reality very happily.

“That’s it.” The knight nodded.

“Okay, come here, little one. You can ride on my horse.”

“Lord Roderick—!” The deputy looked like he was going to have a heart attack.

“…Or ride on his neck,” Roderick glanced at the deputy and added.

“Besides, you guys—”

Unfortunately, unbeknownst to him, the behemoth and the knight disappeared into the air. There wasn’t even a footprint left on the snow, as if what had happened was just an illusion.

“Let’s go.” Roderick asked the little girl to sit in front of him. He held the reins with both arms so that she could sit more firmly. “Let’s go back.”

“But the investigation…”

“You really don’t understand, do you?” Roderick shook his head bitterly.

“I can’t see through them and our spells are completely ineffective. We’re not at the same strength level at all. If they don’t want us to find them, we could turn this whole area upside down and we won’t find a clue. If I’m not mistaken, they deliberately showed up in front of the bishop. I’m afraid that they calculated that I was nearby and set this up just so I can bring her back to Hatfield in name.”

“After all, Lord Quinn still has to consider some face. If they were to send her directly to him, his lordship wouldn’t be able to explain it. I’m different—those fanatics who want to make trouble must first have to weigh themselves.”

The deputy had a headache as he understood the reasoning. If this Chief Justice had shown some shame, he wouldn’t be so stifled, but this bastard…

“Oh, there’s one more thing.”

As if hearing the swearing in his subordinate’s hearts, Roderick added another sentence.

“I’m different from your group of idiots. I won’t act rashly when I hear the word demon. It’s more reassuring to leave it in my hands. Sit still, little one. See that uncle? Don’t pay any attention to him. He just has cramps on his face.”

The deputy shook his whole body with anger.

He could only continue to pray to Zenni that he would take care of this scourge as soon as possible, he thought silently in despair.

However, Lord Zenni didn’t have the mind to listen to anyone’s prayers.

It got dark very quickly in winter.

Standing by a tree, Adrian straightened his sword, waiting for his God to change into a human form. Just like every day recently, when Jesse regained his human appearance, the two of them would go back to the warm inn in the nearby town together.

But this time, the behemoth sat in place without the slightest sign of movement.

“Five weeks,” Jesse said.

“Hmm?”

“Take care of that one—those two—forget it, taking care of that little girl, you know what I mean. It’s been five weeks, darling Adri. You haven’t had time to kiss me.”

“After all, the child has just recovered from a serious illness and was close to death. Her spirit wasn’t stable, and she needed to be watched,” Adrian explained patiently.

“But this does not change the fact that ‘you haven’t kissed me for five weeks’,” Jesse announced, his voice becoming as sticky as honey. “Well, this may be a good thing. Prolonged abstinence can make people sensitive, right? Maybe this time, I can get you to waver.”

“…I thought you had given up on this idea.”

“I won’t give up until I see through your thoughts.”

Jesse leaned closer, turned into a human face, and stepped barefoot on the snow.

“You say that faith is blind, yet I haven’t seen you be obedient to me all the time. To be honest, sometimes I can’t figure out whether you believe in me or are playing games with me. But then again, you’ve always been willing to tolerate me in such matters—”

Jesse Dylan lowered his voice ambiguously.

A cold touch wrapped around his body causing Adrian to frown slightly. His body that was transformed by the flesh of the gods wasn’t afraid of the cold, but this made the gap between his body temperature and this coldness even greater.

Focusing his magic on his eyes, he could see that the thin limbs of the gods that could not be seen were entangled in his body, twisting the buttons of his clothes one by one, and slowly but firmly removed his monk uniform.

What a pity, he had just smoothed out the wrinkles in his clothing.

The snow under his body was melting, and the weird and cold touch of his thin limbs meandered through every inch of his skin, making him shudder. Those beautiful blue eyes got very close, followed by a scorching breath and a slightly rough and eager kiss.

The fiery fingertips matched the wet and cold thin limbs, dancing on the skin together. Adrian tried desperately to restrain himself so that he didn’t breathe too fast.

“Why?” In a drifting consciousness from pleasure, he heard the god whisper in his ears.

“Because from the beginning, my faith was just my personal desire.”

Adrian gasped softly, hugging the warm body in front of him.

“…Me too.”

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The author has something to say:

Leaving a little exhaust*!

*Reference to exhaust from a car, which is slang referring to sex. Basically, she left in the PG-13 foreplay.

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Kinky Thoughts:

Can’t get me enough of Adrian and Jesse. Need some fanfics of this… Anyway, the next chapter is the last of the extras.

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