My Little Sister Turned Out To Be A Goddess of Another World

Ch. 6: Meeting You Again

Damn it! Damn it! DAMN IT! I couldn't tell at all! They were all mana users! They're all Paladins! I was surrounded by them but I didn't sense any mana until it was too late. Shit! Why was I never informed about Phillippe and this religion's existence?! And the princess too! I should've been informed about them as per the Paladin Organizations' agreement with my family, so why didn't I know about them?!

The upper echelon of the Paladin Organization is filled with the heads or representatives of their most influential families, but I've never met old man Phillippe in any of the Paladins' meetings. With how opulent the Velisaria estate was, he surely should've been a candidate for a seat, so why wasn't he?! And the princess too! While the ability to emit and handle mana can be passed off to an offspring with a human, the offspring would need to inherit the necessary genes from both parents. For the princess to be able to use mana, it means she either has one Paladin parent and a human parent with Paladin genes, or two Paladin parents! Both cases are bad!

How could I have never heard of a country reigned by a family with Paladins?! I should've known about them from the organization's intel! My family has been given full clearance with every intel the Paladin Organization collects, but I've never read about this country at all! Shit-- Vauquelia, was it? I was distracted and didn't think too much about it, but I don't recognize this country's name! Has this country been hiding themselves this whole time? Is it because they're assumably filled with paladins? Did the organization not know about this country at all? Is that why this country was never in their intel?

I momentarily stopped in my tracks to catch my breath. Damn, I'm working my body overtime today. My hands have been shaking so badly, and my legs feel like they're about to give out from running. Even worse, I think I got myself lost. Mindlessly counting the turns, hallways, rooms, and stairs we took earlier really saved my ass, and I managed to find my way back to the first floor entrance while avoiding any clergy members in the building. I was so relieved to see escape right before my eyes, when I remembered the guards that we left at the temple's door. No doubt, they would've questioned why I was back alone and panting my ass off, and held me while waiting for the others to return-- or worse, escorted me back. Not to mention, some of them could've been Paladins too. While I don't know what's going on, I need to stay clear from any one of them for now. So I ran the other direction, hoping to find a different exit, but all that ended me up with is getting lost. Damn it. I'm so tired. I'm so thirsty! I want my normal body back!

As much as I wanted to take a longer rest though, I heard footsteps coming near my location from two different directions, so I immediately resumed running again. When will this end?!

Right now, I have two theories as to why this country might've been kept secret from my family. The first theory is the easy one-- the organization had been lying to me and my family for generations, hiding the fact about this country and its Paladin population. Why? Well, to undermine my family and the agreement they made with us! It was a non-aggression pact, promising that as long as our family cooperates with their organization, they would never bring harm nor allow a faction of theirs to revolt against the human populace. If it turned out that the upper echelon haven't been so happy with the pact at all, then it wouldn't be surprising that they've been hiding the existence of their country this whole time. If this is the case, I just hope William wasn't in on it, because I really will break that four-eyes' nose and bash in his skull for betraying me like that.

Or it's my second theory-- honestly, the worst case scenario.

There's a war brewing, or a war has already been waged. A war between two factions, the Paladin Organization, who my family made the non-aggression agreement with-- and this country's royalty who has kept their existence secret from the world. The reason I may not have known about this country's existence is that even the organization didn't know either, and all the while, this country had been slowly growing, strengthening its military might, and preparing Paladins like Julius' grandfather. I was able to tell that old man Phillippe was especially strong and would've given me a tough time in a battle, with the only other person who can do so being William, but what if this country had ten more like him in their military? I can't even imagine a scenario where William and I would win if we were to face ten of them at the same time. If we teamed up, we'd likely win by a small margin, but who's to say they wouldn't attack when the two of us were separated?