The highest power in Lescatie was in the hands of the "Senate," a closed body composed of high-ranking priests and aristocrats, each of whom had their own "band of knights" to demonstrate their own power and might. The Lescatie Order of the "Knights of the Holy Ice Flower" was created by "Priest Noscrim," who was said to have the greatest power among the members of the "Senate." "Holy Ice Flower" was the name of House Noscrim, which originated from an icy country, and this title was also obtained by Wilmarina for her ability to manipulate ice magic. At this time, Lescatie was home to many heroes, a blessing from God, who were a military force in their own right. This became a symbol of the greatness of the state. A girl from House Noscrim, who bore the name of Wilmarina and was raised in a special way by Priest Noscrim, was declared the strongest hero of Lescatie, an outstanding "hero" and "knight". In addition, the Order of the Ice Flower became a power struggle for many people trying to get close to Priest Noscrim, and aristocrats who wanted to join the Order along with all their sons and daughters.
Along with the country's army, the Order of the Ice Flower nominally swore allegiance to Lescatie and did everything for its well-being, but in fact the main troops for the most part carried out missions for the Church of the Chief God and the anti-monster nations associated with it. Of course the assignments were mostly punitive and deterrent against the monsters, but also a lot of resources were thrown into wars between human nations, more than into conquering a few monster farms. There was also the Heroine Wilmarina, who was the enemy of the monsters. Only upon learning of her approach would the monsters disappear before they needed to be subdued, and enemies of the state who wished to start a war would raise the white flag without a fight. No matter how much anyone tried to pay, the greatness and prestige of Wilmarina, who led the Order of the Ice Flower and drew people to it, could not be denigrated. In turn, that prestige belonged entirely to the Church of the Chief God, and it was a tremendous resource, surpassing even the forces of the country of Lescatie. Despite the nominal affiliation of this military force with the Kingdom of Lescatie, all the wealth obtained by the Order of the Ice Flower went to those associated with the Noscrim family rather than to the people of Lescatie, which helped them extend their power beyond the country as well. It could be said that it was not the entire country of Lescatie that prospered, but its individual inhabitants.
Eventually Lescatie fell into the hands of the monsters, thanks to Druella. As Priest Noscrim disappeared, the Order of the Knights of the Holy Ice Flower became owned by Wilmarina and became the Order of the "Knights of the Dark Ice Flower." With the exclusion of powerful people who used this Order as a place for power struggles, connections with the Church and other countries that created reasons to fight, the need to be tough on their surroundings and their choice of chosen ones ended as well. The knights could stop fighting altogether, even the strict discipline seems to have all but disappeared. Mistress Wilmarina, having become a mamono, showed little interest in her Order; heroes and knights were free to spend their time finding their mate and spending time with her. They were also free to use the facilities and living quarters of the Order as they pleased. Although I wrote all this myself, nevertheless, because of the morality and virtue of Wilmarina, left over from the days when she was a hero of men, the heroes and knights who swear allegiance to her are firmly in control of the land and she seems to continue to put her neck under the rope as the Commander of the Order of Dark Knights.
Now the Knights of the Ice Flower make expeditions out of the country only in response to Druella's occasional requests. This military organization has become part of the Mamono Lord's Army and can boast a power it has never possessed before. With no mercy for the forces of their enemies, with a smile that sparkles like ice, they will turn them into a mamono realm. At the same time, however, I noticed that the look with which the Knights of the Dark Flowers of Ice go into battle is quite different from the one they display to their husband in bed. While in front of their husband, they redden their cheeks, which makes their face look very pretty, and those who notice this change jokingly call it the "Thaw of the Ice Knights."
Lescatie Chivalric Order of the Holy Ice Flower
Lescatie's Knights of the Holy Ice Flower (retranslation)
Sorry about the wait, fellas, personal + mental health stuff sometimes stops you from writing words!
I just wanna say as a note that while I know "order" is the technical term for a group of knights and the most serviceable raw translation for 騎士団, I have avoided using it as much as I can in any context (hence "Dragoon Corps" from SGI) to avoid confusion with the Order, the de facto antagonist of the setting. Even putting stuff in front of it or after it makes you go "what, huh?" when in the same sentence you're talking about how big of sunsabitches "Order" priests are. Consequences of a generic name, I guess. Anyway, rock on!
Lescatie’s Knights of the Holy Ice Flower
Lemme know if you have any questions as usual.
I just wanna say as a note that while I know "order" is the technical term for a group of knights and the most serviceable raw translation for 騎士団, I have avoided using it as much as I can in any context (hence "Dragoon Corps" from SGI) to avoid confusion with the Order, the de facto antagonist of the setting. Even putting stuff in front of it or after it makes you go "what, huh?" when in the same sentence you're talking about how big of sunsabitches "Order" priests are. Consequences of a generic name, I guess. Anyway, rock on!
Lescatie’s Knights of the Holy Ice Flower
Spoiler
Each member of the senate, composed entirely of high-ranking priests and aristocrats said to hold the most sway in Lescatie, had its own order of knights to their name in order to flaunt their own authority and power. The one formed by Father Noscrim, considered to be the most powerful man among them, was Lescatie’s Knights of the Holy Ice Flower. The name “Ice Flower” derives from both the origins of the Noscrim family as a clan from the frozen north, and Lady Wilmarina’s command of ice magic.
Back then, being so full of heroes, beings who were the very essence of godly favor and military force, the Holy Ice Flower was practically shorthand for tremendous political power. The order, gathering under the banner of Lady Wilmarina Noscrim, the young mistress of House Noscrim renowned as Lescatie’s mightiest hero, was made up of talented heroes and knights that Father Noscrim had discovered through his own unique and furtive means. Moreover, there were many who were eager to get closer to the powerful Father Noscrim— aristocrats and other ambitious families rushed to enlist their gifted sons and daughters into the Knights of the Holy Ice Flower, and the order gradually became another setting for the nation’s political warfare.
Nominally, they pledged their allegiance to Lescatie and worked alongside the nation’s army to protect and serve it, but in actuality, they were almost entirely at the beck and call of the Order of the Chief God, as well as the anti-monster states affiliated with it. While obviously they were coveted for the purpose of either suppressing or deterring the presence of monsters, it wasn’t uncommon, outside of these mostly unsuccessful campaigns against monsters, for them to be pressed into service for wars between human nations as well.
The hero Wilmarina stands with the enemy. With just those words, monsters would flee before there could be any conflict whatsoever; the opposition in a war would raise the white flag without a single battle. It didn’t matter what price was to be paid— the voices that called out in need of Lady Wilmarina’s power and the order that she commanded never ceased. Naturally, that high price led to great power consolidating within the Order of the Chief God, and riches beyond even that of the nation of Lescatie itself.
Regardless of their stated pretense, that they were simply yet another arm of Lescatie’s military forces, the bounties that they reaped lined the pocketbooks of those who allied themselves with House Noscrim rather than the country’s people; they even extended their reach beyond Lescatie’s borders into other countries. Perhaps it can be said that the prosperity of the Lescatie of the past was not the nation’s, but rather, those connected to the Holy Ice Flower.
Before long, Lescatie would fall to the monsters led by Lady Druella, and with the disappearance of Father Noscrim, the former Knights of the Holy Ice Flower, now commanded by Lady Wilmarina, became the Knights of the Dark Ice Flower. By rooting out the powerful individuals who turned the knight’s order into a battlefield in and of itself, the Dark Ice Flower cut their connections with the Order and the nations that forced them into battles. With Wilmarina’s declaration that her and her husband had no need for stuffy formalities, the group seems to have done away with not just their warring ways, but any sense of discipline at all.
Lady Wilmarina, now a monster, takes little interest in the affairs of her own order— the heroes and knights affiliated with the Dark Ice Flower were to focus on finding a spouse and living whichever way they please, and it doesn’t really matter to their leader whether or not they continue to use their facilities and lodging as they had been. This is, of course, what Lady Wilmarina has said, but perhaps because of her virtues from when she was a human hero, the knights of Lescatie continue to run fairly smoothly by the efforts of those who have sworn her their fealty. It seems that she continues to be held as the commander of the Knights of the Dark Ice Flower despite it all.
These days, the Knights of the Dark Ice Flower only mobilize extremely rarely, and only upon orders from Lady Druella herself, but in becoming a monster army1, they now boast more military might than ever before. They are known and feared for showing no mercy whatsoever to Order nations, transforming them into mamono realms with smiles as cold and brilliant as ice. However, the faces that the men who are taken away by the Dark Ice Flower’s knights as their husbands during these conflicts see as they lay in bed are quite different from what they remember from the battlefront. Because all of them flush and struggle to keep a dignified face around their spouses and lovers, those who are aware of the stark difference between the two states will make fun of these feared fighters as “the Knights of the Thawing Flower”.
Translation Notes:
1: To be 100% clear, in text, this is just a monster army, not the Mamono Lord's Army, like it was in the original translation. They are not affiliated as far as I can tell.
Back then, being so full of heroes, beings who were the very essence of godly favor and military force, the Holy Ice Flower was practically shorthand for tremendous political power. The order, gathering under the banner of Lady Wilmarina Noscrim, the young mistress of House Noscrim renowned as Lescatie’s mightiest hero, was made up of talented heroes and knights that Father Noscrim had discovered through his own unique and furtive means. Moreover, there were many who were eager to get closer to the powerful Father Noscrim— aristocrats and other ambitious families rushed to enlist their gifted sons and daughters into the Knights of the Holy Ice Flower, and the order gradually became another setting for the nation’s political warfare.
Nominally, they pledged their allegiance to Lescatie and worked alongside the nation’s army to protect and serve it, but in actuality, they were almost entirely at the beck and call of the Order of the Chief God, as well as the anti-monster states affiliated with it. While obviously they were coveted for the purpose of either suppressing or deterring the presence of monsters, it wasn’t uncommon, outside of these mostly unsuccessful campaigns against monsters, for them to be pressed into service for wars between human nations as well.
The hero Wilmarina stands with the enemy. With just those words, monsters would flee before there could be any conflict whatsoever; the opposition in a war would raise the white flag without a single battle. It didn’t matter what price was to be paid— the voices that called out in need of Lady Wilmarina’s power and the order that she commanded never ceased. Naturally, that high price led to great power consolidating within the Order of the Chief God, and riches beyond even that of the nation of Lescatie itself.
Regardless of their stated pretense, that they were simply yet another arm of Lescatie’s military forces, the bounties that they reaped lined the pocketbooks of those who allied themselves with House Noscrim rather than the country’s people; they even extended their reach beyond Lescatie’s borders into other countries. Perhaps it can be said that the prosperity of the Lescatie of the past was not the nation’s, but rather, those connected to the Holy Ice Flower.
Before long, Lescatie would fall to the monsters led by Lady Druella, and with the disappearance of Father Noscrim, the former Knights of the Holy Ice Flower, now commanded by Lady Wilmarina, became the Knights of the Dark Ice Flower. By rooting out the powerful individuals who turned the knight’s order into a battlefield in and of itself, the Dark Ice Flower cut their connections with the Order and the nations that forced them into battles. With Wilmarina’s declaration that her and her husband had no need for stuffy formalities, the group seems to have done away with not just their warring ways, but any sense of discipline at all.
Lady Wilmarina, now a monster, takes little interest in the affairs of her own order— the heroes and knights affiliated with the Dark Ice Flower were to focus on finding a spouse and living whichever way they please, and it doesn’t really matter to their leader whether or not they continue to use their facilities and lodging as they had been. This is, of course, what Lady Wilmarina has said, but perhaps because of her virtues from when she was a human hero, the knights of Lescatie continue to run fairly smoothly by the efforts of those who have sworn her their fealty. It seems that she continues to be held as the commander of the Knights of the Dark Ice Flower despite it all.
These days, the Knights of the Dark Ice Flower only mobilize extremely rarely, and only upon orders from Lady Druella herself, but in becoming a monster army1, they now boast more military might than ever before. They are known and feared for showing no mercy whatsoever to Order nations, transforming them into mamono realms with smiles as cold and brilliant as ice. However, the faces that the men who are taken away by the Dark Ice Flower’s knights as their husbands during these conflicts see as they lay in bed are quite different from what they remember from the battlefront. Because all of them flush and struggle to keep a dignified face around their spouses and lovers, those who are aware of the stark difference between the two states will make fun of these feared fighters as “the Knights of the Thawing Flower”.
Translation Notes:
1: To be 100% clear, in text, this is just a monster army, not the Mamono Lord's Army, like it was in the original translation. They are not affiliated as far as I can tell.
