"My name is Jaden. A Holy Knight appointed by the Goddess herself," the old knight says.
A Holy Knight? Appointed by Goddess? I think I know about him.
"You're from the Holy Empire?" I ask.
"No. And they're not really holy. They're just people who exploited religion that worship the Goddess. Even the Goddess herself says so. But she can't do anything about it because doing something to them is beyond the boundary of what she can do," Jaden says.
"So that's a fake religion? I don't really follow them anyway," I say.
The Holy Empire is said to be the house of the Goddess. The house of the main faith in this continent. But to think that they're fake and just exploiting their status? Those priests, pope, and saintess?
"Wait. So, the Goddess truly exists. And the Goddess herself appointed you as her knight?" I ask.
"Yes. And I'm sure the one you talked to before, the one stopping you from leaving before I came here, was the Goddess herself. I don't know why especially since there's a certain condition where she can only talk to someone. The condition hasn't been fulfilled so the Goddess must have used a lot of divine power to communicate with you twice. I need to make some preparation first," Jaden says.
"There's a condition? And you're talking about the Goddess as if she's an old acquaintance or something. Is that okay?" I ask.
"I don't believe in the religion the Holy Empire spreads. But the Goddess is real. And yes, I feel like she's more of a friend than an object of worship. But she's someone I respect the most. I need to go out for a while so meet me here again in a month. Then you can talk to the Goddess," Jaden says.
So the preparation is something that needs time or maybe he doesn't have everything yet and need to gather them.
And this Goddess is not someone to worship. I hear enough from Jaden that the Goddess is someone to respect. The Goddess of this world. Most likely the one responsible in reincarnating me into this world.
I need to know why me. Probably because I spent a lot of my time playing that game and know almost everything in the content of the game. But I still need to know the answer. Like whether she's the one who created the game "Kill All Demons" or not.
Still, a real Holy Knight and not one related to the Holy Empire, huh? They were mentioned a bit in the game but I think it's the fake one related to the Holy Empire and not the Goddess herself.
And he's so strong. If he plays an active role during the demons' invasion, the chance of my survival increases. Why wasn't he in the game? Can I convince him to be active now?
Well, we'll see once I meet the Goddess.
"So, what's the condition?" I ask.
"Usually, she can come right away if I call. But since she used her divine power to communicate with you, I think we need at least two other Holy Knights to summon her. Our mana and connection to her will be a substitute for her divine power. I wonder if the other Holy Knights are available currently," Jaden says.
There are more Holy Knights! Not just Jaden alone!
Maybe they're all old. But since Jaden is so strong, I hope the others are about as strong as he is. Even if they're just half as strong as Jaden in the game, I would be happy.
And calling just two more Holy Knights? Why don't we call them all?
"How many Holy Knights are there?" I ask.
"I don't know the exact number. I only know six other Holy Knights than me. The Goddess herself picked us and sometimes it's totally random so we don't know how many of us are there. And I don't know if we can even get two of the six I to come or not either but since the Goddess herself told you to stay, I'm sure at least two will come," he says.
There are at least seven Holy Knights. I hope they will join the battle in the future.
"No. Let's get all of them. Do you know where they are?" I ask.
"All of them? I don't know what they're doing but they should be busy. It's not like they have the time to gather," he says.
"Depend on my conversation with the Goddess in the future, I'm sure you all will need to listen. I know a bit of what we're going to talk about but I want to hear the confirmation with the Goddess herself. Who knows? Maybe I will even be another Holy Knight," I say.
"…Is it serious?"
"I don't know if it will happen or not and that's why I need confirmation," I say.
"Will happen? You can see the future?" he asks.
"It's not like that but yes, you can say that it's the future. And I hope this future won't happen. Anyway, do we need to return here or it can be done anywhere?" I ask.
"The Goddess Summoning can be done anywhere but this is the only real temple built for the Goddess herself. The others are fake. And in this place, divine power is boosted so the Goddess can appear for a longer time. But with the seven of us, I don't think we will need to do it here," Jaden says.
"No, we'll do it here. The conversation might take a while so we'll do it here. You know where the other six are?" I ask.
"I don't know if they're still there but those places are where we will likely to meet them. Are you sure you need all of us and we have to return here? Just what is the future you see?" Jaden asks curiously.
"We'll learn soon enough. Tell me where they are."
Sighing, Jaden then tells me where we need to go. Even the closest place from here will take three days and that's if we go non-stop riding horses.
"My horse is the best but even he won't be able to run three days non-stop carrying the two of us. It will take a while to get all of them."
"Leave the horse here. We don't need to go with it. We will leave and return as fast as possible," I say.
With my slip magic, we can go faster than a horse. At least I still don't know any creature or vehicle faster than me. Maybe there's someone out there with talent related to speed. Then they could be faster than me.
"Oh, you know that one of us can use teleportation magic?" Jaden asks.
That's so convenience! Teleportation magic? I want it!
"I don't know that. But if we go to the one with teleportation magic first, we can get the other faster, right?" I ask.
"Not really. She said that it takes a lot of mana to transfer multiple people at once. Maybe it's better if she's the last one instead. She has marked this place so she can come back here as long as she has enough mana," Jaden says.
Then that's it. I planned the route first with a map. The teleporter is actually close so I will get her and bring her with us first and then get everyone before she will teleport us all here.
I hope I can get all of them to move against the demons.
"Alright, let's go. How good are you with your balance?" I ask.
"Why that question? Also, I'm a swordsman. I'm good with my balance. I even fought someone on an unsteady bridge in the past and won," he says confidently.
"Good. Then do you prefer to be carried on my back or will you stand while I transport us to the next city?" I ask.
"You're going to transport us? You have another magic for transportation, huh? Then let me stand. I'm too old to be carried by someone many times younger than meEEEEEE!!!"
Before he finishes speaking I use slip magic for the two of us to get out of the temple and go directly to our first destination. To get the second Holy Knight.
"Stay in the stance you're confident with your balance in the most. I'll handle everything else," I say.
He's about to fall already so I hold his back and told him that. Now we're moving faster than anything he has ridden in his life.
Though it's not my fastest speed. I don't want to scare him so much.
"Stop! Stop!"
And so we stop because of his shouting. He vomits and looks at me as if I killed his family.
"What was that!?" he asks.
"Slip magic. The only magic I'm talented at. Once you're done vomiting let's go again," I say.
"I can't do that! Are you going to kill this old man!?"
I guess that is not a proper way to travel with an old man. That's entirely my fault.
"Alright, I'm sorry. If you want to feel better, you can just close your eyes and lie on your back or your stomach. You won't notice when we arrive. Pretend it's a teleportation with extra steps so it took a bit longer than real teleportation. You won't feel sick doing that," I say.
I have tested it obviously. It was on an empty plain so I won't hit anything while closing my eyes. I didn't feel that I was moved at all but I can feel the wind. That's all.
Though maybe I need some kind of vehicle to bring other people with me. Can I carry a carriage? Maybe just a carpet. But I want it to be something comfortable if I'm going to ride it as well.
Well, I can get it someday in the future. I don't really need it because I move alone most of the time anyway. But if I have someone else with me, having a vehicle will be good.
And soon enough we arrived at our first destination. Let's get all the Holy Knights one by one.