The Demon Saint is Missing, so I Ran to Another World

A Bitter Pill to Swallow (Part 1)

**Kuro**

"Ahem. And so, with that, our lesson concludes for today. Do you have questions, or anything you did not understand?"

A student near the back of the room raised his hand.

"Yes, Mister Phillips, what is it?"

"Uhm, Sir Kuro, it's not actually about the lesson," he admitted. "We're just concerned about those paladins guards standing at the door. Did anything happen, sir?"

"Oh, that's your question?"

"Yes, sir..."

My eyes immediately fell on the pair of paladins posted at the classroom door. Actually, they were the only ones who were visible to my students. As far as I knew, there were six more paladins outside, standing guard at the hallway. Four were assigned to monitor me from the rooftops of the school buildings in front of the classroom windows, and a full squad surrounded the campus perimeter.

Those are just the 'ground' forces. I did not include the 'cavalry', stationed in a room near the faculty, as reinforcements.

"Lord Phillips, I believe it is not the duty of a student to ask about a paladin's responsibility," one of the pair guarding the door, Lady Hawthorne, told him. "We are only answerable to Her Holiness herself, thus we would only answer questions from her."

Seeing that he was rebuffed, the student retreated to his seat, his face red in embarrassment and visibly dejected.

"..." I could only shake my head in exasperation. While the Human Saint's paladins were a well-known and trusted 'force of good', their flamboyant armors and ornate weapons were enough to cause intimidation to our students, who were just coming to school expecting a 'safe' and 'open' environment and not a scene resembling an army camp. Not to mention, as they were disciplined and professional soldiers, their serious and grim faces especially while on guard duty wasn't really something that could be used for a normal school setting.

"Haa..."

"Are you alright, milord?" Lady Hawthorne asked me while we were on our way to my next class.

"Yes, yes...I'm fine, Lady Hawthorne, thank you," I tried to smile back at her. "It's just that, it feels so restricting..."

The paladin stared at me, a bit bewildered by my admission.

"No! Don't take it the wrong way, milady!" I quickly told her. "I do appreciate your presence, but well...how do I say this? Uh, do you really have to follow my every footstep?"

"I offer my apologies, milord," the paladin leader bowed. "However, it's Her Holiness' orders."

"Even in the classroom?"

"Lady Henristone's orders."

"And inside the male lavatory?"

"You know our sentiments, sire," the paladin explained. "All of us at the Corps share the desire to protect our former captain, who led us to many glorious victories before. We will be your shield everywhere, even at the darkest corners of your bed."

"Ah, yes, haha! Thank you for that..." Seriously though, do all the maidservants and guards of the Holy Palatial Gardens tend to overdo everything?

Man, whatever did I say to Maddie to make her act this way? Ever since our talk the morning of Sunday, I never saw her again until this morning, when she came with the other teachers to the faculty room. She even exchanged pleasantries with everyone, including me, leading me to conclude that she's fine, and that episode in my room last 'Sunday' didn't happen.