The guards of the Pontifatrix of the Empire of Illegon, the Pontifatrix Guard are a military unit drawn from faithful Genosians across the continent. The current Pontifatrix, Lea II, recruits most of hers from her homeland of Lendia, and keeps them well supplied with enormous quantities of Vodka which the faithful send her as tithe.
The Pontifatrix Guard are said to be excellent warriors who fight with weapons of their choosing. One of them, Date Hikiji, is a foreigner from a distant land who fights with a spear and some sort of short messer (probably a wakizashi) and he is not the only oddity among the ranks of the Guard. Non-Illegosi are always chosen for the Guard because of their neutrality in Illegosi politics, with the only requirement being that they are of the Genosian religion, or something that could be mistaken for it.