"At the beginning, being a soldier was just a job for me."

"I don't care who my employer is, nor who the opponent is. Anyway, I will listen to whoever gives the money. If I can't beat it, I will run away. I have a lot of war experience and are very confident in running away."

"When I know that our opponent is a Paladin who is not sheltered by the Holy Spirit... Well, is there any difference? If he is a Paladin who is sheltered by the Holy Spirit, I may have to feel guilty, after all, I have never encountered it. If he is not sheltered, what is the difference with the lord?"

"The first time I met Lord Grey in Paladin, please allow me to call him that. The first time I met him was outside Pierce Church. I was arranged not far from King Benedict II to hear their conversation clearly."

"It seems that the king wants to kill his younger brother, and Lord Gray wants to protect his younger brother. This is the cause of the incident. The boy stood on the steps less than two hundred meters away from me. He was very thin and hid behind the other two children. He looked like he could poke him down with a finger."

"They are talking about justice or not. Actually, I don't care, because justice can't fill me up. For that boy... well, I still have some sympathy, but only a little bit. I even gloat when I think of him as a prince who once enjoyed a life that was countless times better than me. After all, the nobles are always hypocritical, who knows if what they said is true?"

"Overall, I felt like this at that time, and there was no more. You have to understand that I was just a poor soldier, and the disputes between the nobles had nothing to do with me. I was only responsible for taking money, then killing people, or running away, and nothing else was under my control."

"To be honest, that night, Lord Grey scared me. It was really terrible. He alone had no fear of ten thousand troops for the justice he claimed. It was like... just like the characters in the novel. I never thought that such a person could exist in reality. The key is that he was still strong enough. He really stood up to the entire army, one person, one person, and the whole army... It was terrible. It was very terrible. They said that Lord Grey had lost the protection of the Holy Spirit, but what other explanation could such power besides the protection of the Holy Spirit?"

"Later it was dawn and the Silver Moon Knights arrived. We retreated with the king, then camped and waited for a new war."

"I heard that Lord Gray was unconscious, and I was a little lucky at that time. After all, a powerful enemy fell down, right? The king actually considered taking the opportunity to seize the Lion King Capital, but later he gave up this idea. After all, it might be a trap. I think he was also scared by Lord Gray."

"After that, it was the classic raid battle. It was really sleepless and charged. We never thought that he would cross such a long distance and attack us. We never thought that they could actually implement such a tactic. At the beginning, we suspected that they were actually many people, taking turns to attack us, creating illusions to make us afraid. So we sent people to follow them. It was bad, we found that it was true, without any false elements, it was true. The Silver Moon Knights could really sleeplessly, fight 24 hours a day, and fight tirelessly."

"That feeling is very despair. A day ago, we were told that the Kingdom of Allen would participate in the war and would stand on our side... Of course, I am not a traitor, the king is the one who sells the country, and it has nothing to do with me. But I am still glad that it means we have a sure win. But just one day later, we even doubt whether we can live until the army of Allen arrived."

"To be honest, I never looked forward to seeing the army of the Kingdom of Allen. If they could be in front of me at that time, I would pounce on them and kiss them, no joke."

"It's so scary. Not only the Paladins are scary, but his Silver Moon Knights are even more scary than him. It was an invincible army. I can't think of any tactics to fight them. At that time, I actually wanted to escape, but I was worried that I could not run away from them, so that would be awful. So I could only continue to follow the king."

"And then, the old guy from Duke Fernandez had a stroke, yes, a stroke. I heard the first time that the army commander had a stroke during the battle. But anyway, he did have a stroke. Then they left, and we had to face the Knights of the Silver Moon alone."

"At that time, I... was very hungry, sleepy, tired, afraid, panic, and nervous. In short, I was in a very bad state. I had never been that bad. The king took us to fight and entered Absburg. A small castle."

"Everyone was crowded with sweat and smell everywhere. There was not enough toilets, and even some people were urinating and defecating everywhere. That was the worst place I've ever lived, worse than sleeping in the wild. But fortunately, we finally had a good sleep."

"Until this time, if I have any emotions for Lord Gray, I probably have only fear. Can an enemy that is so powerful that you are afraid of, besides fear, have a second emotion?"

"I thought the war should have ended like that. We can't wait for the army of the Kingdom of Allen. In fact, it's useless even if they appear immediately. I have participated in many wars and do not think that any army in this world can defeat an army like the Silver Moon Knights. We will stay in Absburg until the food is finished, then open the city gates, either flee in all directions or surrender. Can there be a third result?"

"Later, Lord Gray let us understand that there is. There is really a third result."

"This is what amazes me the most."

"He came to the gate with the Bible alone. He said he would preach to us."

"At least, in my opinion, it was a ridiculous joke. He actually chose to preach to us at that time? Does he think we will surrender? If we will surrender, then even if he does not preach, we will surrender. If we are unwilling to surrender, no matter how much he says it is useless."

"He comes every day, no matter whether it is wind or snow, he comes. The voice is particularly loud. No matter where we hide in the castle, everyone can hear his voice clearly. He insists on preaching to us every day and telling us the correctness of the divine faith. He says repeatedly. Although what he said is not very good, he says repeatedly. He says he is willing to pray for us and asks the forgiveness of the Holy Spirit for us..."

"Can you imagine? Pray for the enemy, not even to surrender. But that's what He did. He cares more about whether we listened to His preaching carefully, whether we believed in the Holy Spirit, and whether we were willing to uphold justice than whether we surrendered."

"After eating the food, we have all started to consider surrendering from the city. Then..."

"You absolutely could not have imagined that He brought us food. He said, "We are His enemies," but we are also people who believe in the Holy Spirit. People who believe in the Holy Spirit should not be hungry. He did not take the opportunity to ask us to surrender."

"You can't imagine how I was."

"If a person is just strong, it's nothing great. He can only destroy your body. But if he is a man who is so majestic... so majestic that you can't look directly at him... I think it's not a war at all. It's not at all. He holds our power of life and death and can force us to open the city gate. But he doesn't do that, he doesn't bother to do that."

"We are like a group of naughty children, we make noises, we make trouble, and then he comes out, He is our Father, and as He says, He loves us like the Holy Spirit. He comes out and says kindly to us, 'If you are willing to repent, then I will forgive you for your mistakes.'"

"In front of him, we are just a group of naughty kids..."

"Our pride, our dignity, and the law of survival believed by our group of veterans were all broken by him at that moment. But we are actually happy, and we have never been happy before. We are happy to meet such an upright, kind and powerful knight. We are honored to be his opponent, really."

"He firmly fulfilled the Knight's oath, and adhered to the divine faith, kindness, and mercy. I remember every word he said, because every word he said was serious and fulfilled."

"He said his war was for justice, not to kill anyone."

"We began to accept his sermon seriously, even though he still said it was not good. Everyone said they were for food, but who knows? At least I am not, and many of the people I know are not."

"I have never read the Bible so seriously, and have never explored the true meaning of faith so persistently. That war made me find the meaning of living."

"He is the incarnation of the Holy Spirit in this world, the true guardian of justice. I firmly believe that otherwise, how could he not be stained with a trace of stain?"

"He conquered us, conquered us all."

"Later, the king disappeared, and we don't know where he went. But it doesn't matter, no one cares about him anyway."

"We opened the city gates, and crawled before him sincerely, and swore in the name of the Holy Spirit to fight for him. Even as the rumors say, it doesn't matter that he has lost the protection of the Holy Spirit, and it doesn't matter that he will take us to hell. We just want to fight for him, just like him, for justice, and be a man like him, who is upright and kind."

On February 10754, on the 20th day of the siege of Absburg, Benedict II disappeared. The troops under Benedict II were inspired by Paladin Grey to open the city gate and unconditionally pledged allegiance to Paladin Grey without experiencing any battle and negotiation.
Chapter completed!