They are all characters I control.

After the comments disappeared for a while, Eleanor fell into deep thought.

Yes, just as Claire said.

Enforcing justice is not an easy task, and making such choices is perfectly normal.

Before this, Eleanor only had one enemy: defeating the heretics would save everyone.

As a young woman who became vice-captain by virtue of her light elemental magic, she had not yet experienced an event like the attack on Knight Commander Will that took place in the town.

At that time, most of the church knights were in a state of confusion. No one wanted to harm the heretics who were threatened by the heretics. They were all like Eleanor.

If Claire hadn't been in control of her body, what choices would she have made at that time?

Or, if he hadn't done what Claire did back then, hadn't directly confronted those church knights who were being threatened by the heretics, his fate might not have been so good.

At least, the residents threatened by the heretics would actually hold back the church knights for the sake of their families and themselves.

The church knights will face attacks from the heretics.

If, as Claire said, killing those threatened by the heretics could save the other righteous and kind people, Eleanor felt that she might actually do it.

But as soon as the thought crossed her mind, Eleanor immediately realized what was happening.

Unbeknownst to her, she had actually made the same choice as Claire, the evil god emperor.

[Eleanor: You really are an evil god.]

It seems this guy has grown a bit, Claire didn't refute.

He leaned against the carriage, watching the town draw closer and closer.

It was a small town, surrounded by gray-white stone walls, with several spires peeking out from behind them.

At the entrance to the town stood a tall wooden stake, from which hung several charred corpses.

There were not just one, but seven or eight dried and burned corpses, hanging crookedly on the wooden stakes, swaying gently in the wind like a string of forgotten wind chimes.

Dorothy woke up too, followed Claire's gaze, and whistled. "Wow, this town is quite lively."

Megan also raised her head, her gray eyes fixed on the corpses, expressionless.

Eleanor's comments reappeared.

[Eleanor: Who... are those people?]

Claire: Judging from their attire, they look like heretics. Or perhaps they're being mistaken for heretics.

[Eleanor: ...Who did this?]

Claire: The lord of this town. Or the knight commander. Whoever is in charge here, is responsible.

[Eleanor: But how could this be...]

[Claire: So what? You know, there are many apostates in the Holy Lance Knights right now. With the 'Church of Life' rampant in this Northern Kingdom, everyone is trying to protect themselves.]

Eleanor: ...

Eleanor understood, and she said no more.

This is indeed true, as the heretics of the 'Church of Life' would attack the northern kingdom of the Church Knights.

All order originates from the Church Knights and Knight Commander Will.

The Order of the Church has now been infiltrated by heretics, and Knight Commander Will has fallen into a coma.

Now the Church Knights in the Northern Kingdom will be greatly restricted, and they will not be able to purge the heretics as they did when Knight Commander Will was in charge.

However, the heretics of the 'Church of Life' would not stop, which meant that the nobles and church knights in each region had to manage their own territories themselves.

Previously, permission from the Church Knights headquarters was required for everything, but now that step is skipped, since the heretics have become very active without the suppression of Knight Commander Will.

Without any checks and balances, it's unrealistic to expect each member to report to the Knights and receive a reward.

This is how this small town looks, isn't it?

The town's knights dealt with these heretics themselves, and to deter them, they placed the corpses of these people at the town's entrance.

Eleanor fell silent upon witnessing this, while Claire remained unconcerned.

Megan was used to it, while Dorothy was in high spirits.

At this moment, the church knights also stopped at the town gate, pulling prison carts.

Chapter 124 Knight Commander Fernando

The apostate knight Karl and the church knights did not come to capture Eleanor and her companions.

If I had to say, it was just on the way or I took a slightly longer route.

Sister Martha had made preparations in advance to ambush Eleanor, and after learning that the traitorous knight Karl was also heading in this direction, she gave him a brief instruction.

To Sister Martha's surprise, her idea of ​​just being prepared would actually come in handy.

The addition of a few captured prisoners to the group did not affect the mission plans of the apostate knight Karl and the church knights, who had already arrived at their destination town.

Although the guards at the town entrance had already noticed their church knight attire, they still needed to be checked.

The guard checked the documents, glanced at Eleanor and the others in the prison cart, asked no further questions, and waved them through.

The prison van made way through the narrow streets, with pedestrians on both sides giving way. Some walked quickly with their heads down, while others stood still, looking at the prison van with a mixture of curiosity and fear.

Eleanor was clearly somewhat relieved that she wasn't in control of this body.

If she were in control of her body, she would be mortified by now. But Claire, in control of her body, felt no discomfort whatsoever.

Of course, Eleanor knew that she was the one who was ultimately embarrassed.

Although Claire had no psychological burden, it was still her who was seen by everyone being locked in the prison van.

The church knights' procession quickly crossed the streets and arrived at the town square in the center.

In the center of the square stood a wooden platform with several pillars on it, bearing traces of charring and dark red stains.

It looked like it had been set up specifically for a trial, because an iron fence surrounded the platform, and dozens of townspeople stood outside the fence, some crying, some cursing, and some just staring blankly.

Karl rode his horse in front of the prison wagon and stopped beside the square.

He dismounted and walked toward a tall figure standing beside the platform. It was a man in his forties, wearing dark red armor, with a cold and hard face and an old scar running across half of his face on his chin.

He had a two-handed greatsword hanging at his waist, the hilt wrapped in worn leather, and the blade stained with dried blood.

It's clear that this church knight is no ordinary person.

Judging from his appearance, it was clear that he exuded a similar aura to Knight Commander Will. However, in terms of strength, Knight Commander Will was still stronger.

Even so, the man in the dark red armor before them was even more terrifying.

The coldness on his face and the icy gaze were something that was never seen on the usually gentle Knight Commander Will.

“Knight Commander Fernando.” Karl’s voice came from afar, just loud enough for Claire to hear. “Knight Commander, it’s been a long time.”

The man called Fernando turned around, glanced at Karl, and then at the prison van behind him.

"Karl? Or rather, the future Knight Commander? You seem to have been quite active lately?"

"No, I was just doing what a church knight should do."

"Hmph, you just got lucky. That good-for-nothing Will was ambushed and hasn't woken up yet."

"There's nothing we can do about it. Knight Commander Will was betrayed by a heretic and was ambushed and poisoned by the 'Church of Life,' which is why he's in his current situation."

“You don’t need to explain any of this to me. I’m not interested in the process or anything like that. All I know is that Will is the loser now.”

"..."

That was the end of the topic; the fierce-looking knight commander wasn't one to gossip about others behind their backs. He quickly shifted his attention to the platform beside him.

"You've come at the right time, come here."

Whether Karl wanted it or not, Knight Commander Fernando dragged him along.

Although Karl was quite strong and younger, he was perfectly qualified to be a church knight.

Even so, they were powerless to struggle against the large hand of Knight Commander Fernando.

"What's wrong, Commander Fernando?"

“We’ve arrested a few heretics.” Fernando gestured with his chin to a row of people kneeling beside the platform.

There were about seven or eight people here, men, women, and children, all dressed in rags and with marks on their faces from being beaten.

It's clear that the team led by Knight Commander Fernando isn't very friendly, at least not as kind as Knight Commander Will.

"The execution is scheduled for today. Your presence here is a good opportunity to bear witness."

Carl paused for a few seconds, but showed no surprise.

Keep in mind that he was originally a heretical knight. If it were Eleanor, she would definitely have tried to stop or persuade the rude Knight Commander Fernando.

But he wouldn't; the lives and deaths of these people had nothing to do with him, a heretical knight.

"It would be my honor, and I will witness it."

Without the witness of the Knights of Favonius, execution by limbs was not permissible.

Although Knight Commander Fernando had done this many times before, now that he had been caught red-handed, he still had to go through the proper procedures.

Seeing this, the other church knights exchanged glances and did not argue with Knight Commander Fernando at this moment.

The knights' procession gradually moved to one side of the square, and Karl and several church knights leading the procession sat down next to Knight Commander Fernando.

Dorothy leaned against the carriage, watching the scene unfold, and clicked her tongue twice. "Wow, that's what you call efficiency. While our Church of Life is still recruiting everywhere, they've already started killing people in public."

"Your church's knight commander is efficient in his work."

"However, I also have some impression of this guy. Fernando seems to have always been a hapless guy who was always suppressed by Knight Commander Will."

"I heard he's quite capable, but he has a volatile temper and often resorts to vigilante justice. I'm telling you, Eleanor, there are some traitors in your church too, not our people, but they're just like us."

Claire didn't say anything, since it wasn't about him anyway.

However, he also harbored some doubts about these so-called heretics, his gaze sweeping over the people kneeling on the platform.

Among the infidels was a young woman holding a child, who was about three or four years old and unaware of what was happening; an old man with completely white hair, his head bowed and his shoulders trembling; and several men, all in their twenties or thirties, with fear in their eyes and a numbness born of resignation.

Eleanor's comments reappeared.

[Eleanor: Are they really heretics?]

[Claire: Does it matter?]

[Eleanor: ...Important.]

Claire: Well, see for yourself. What you believe them to be, that's what they are.

Eleanor remained silent.

She looked at the woman holding the child, at the old man with his head bowed and trembling, at the numb men.

No matter how you look at it, these people don't seem like heretics.

Chapter 125 Eleanor also has people she dislikes.

Eleanor disliked this Knight Commander Fernando, and it was rumored that he was always overshadowed by Knight Commander Will because of his personality.

Although Knight Commander Fernando is still in charge of the town and the Knights Order, he is only responsible for a small area.

The reason he wasn't given a larger territory was simply because Knight Commander Fernando was too strict.

But now, after Knight Commander Will fell into a coma.

There were no outstanding candidates in the 'Holy Lance Knights', and the Knights, having lost their leaders, fell into chaos in various places, especially with news of traitors appearing within the Knights.

Therefore, even the church knights who had been together day and night could not help but doubt each other at this moment.

This is certainly not something a traditional church knight like Eleanor would want to see, as it would cause everyone to doubt their teammates.

What may have been minor conflicts in the past could suddenly erupt and even lead to internal strife.

However, Knight Commander Fernando didn't care about any of that.

Judging from the state of the town, it was clear that the knight commander did not care about Knight Commander Will's coma, nor did he care about the issue of apostates within the church's knightly order.

Without Knight Commander Will, Knight Commander Fernando is more free to do what he wants.