Chapter 60
Chapter 60
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 60
Chapter Title: The Twenty-Fourth Fragment, Carpediem
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Judah pulled out the glaive that Ea, the puppet, had used, in place of his broken bastard sword.
"Hmm."
He had felt it before when retrieving the glaive, but the grip and balance were superior to the sword given by the lord. It felt unsettling to use a weapon from the dead—and one that had killed him once—but it would be a shame to discard it for that reason.
There were no goblins standing guard outside, so Judah and Jeanne approached the entrance with cautious steps. Surprisingly, the walls surrounding the mansion were intact. Some decorations on the top had crumbled, but they still served their purpose as a barrier.
As they reached the entrance, Judah activated Shadow Heresy Arts: Shadow Deployment. His shadow, cast by the fading sunlight, spread across the area. Perhaps due to the growing dusk, the goblins didn't notice even as the shadow blanketed the ground—no commotion arose. The number and positions of the goblins beyond the wall appeared marked on the .
'Quite a few, huh?'
He wasn't sure about those inside the building, but there were at least twenty in the courtyard. He figured he could take out five to seven in an instant. The rest... he'd have to handle with brute force, but with Jeanne in her plate armor, there wasn't much to worry about.
"I'll go in first."
Judah nodded. Jeanne, who had been behind him, strode forward with a resolute posture. Following her, he checked goblin positions on the and activated a skill in his left hand. A shadow rose from his palm, forming a dagger that carried a substantial weight.
Clang, clang. The moment Jeanne revealed herself at the entrance without hiding the sound of her plate armor, all eyes turned to her. The goblins, who had been roasting their kin's corpses over a fire in the garden, cried out in surprise. As they scrambled for their weapons on the ground, Judah hurled the dagger from his left hand with all his might.
Kieek!
The flying dagger embedded into the head of a rising goblin. The creature staggered with the blade in its skull and collapsed. Judah created and threw more daggers, expending mana each time. He could distinctly feel a portion of his total mana vanish with every dagger formed. But each throw benefited from the corrections of [Mercenary-Style Left-Hand Dagger Technique], striking vital points. Goblins rushed forward amid the falling bodies, but to reach Judah, they had to get past Jeanne.
One goblin gripped a crudely made spear and leaped into the air before Jeanne. Smirking at the creature trying to stab over her shield, she extended her left foot forward and pulled the shield to her chest.
"I never permitted your approach."
Boom!
The shield in her left hand smashed the airborne goblin. The impact produced a thunderous sound disproportionate to a mere shield bash, sending it tumbling across the ground. The charging goblins flinched. But they had no choice. Standing still would make them targets for Judah's thrown daggers from behind. Believing they had to fell the knight to survive, the goblins howled and rushed forward.
Having felled seven goblins with daggers conjured from Shadow Heresy Arts, Judah drew a dagger from his belt and gripped it in his left hand before darting to the side. Up front, Jeanne led with her shield, wielding her shabby lance like a club to dispatch the goblins.
Kieee!
The goblins, who had spent another peaceful, ordinary day as always, gazed at the intruders with eyes full of terror. Every flash of a hand meant a dagger piercing the head or heart of a nearby kin. Charging with their pathetic blades seemed daunting against the iron-clad monster standing firm like a rock ahead.
Yet their goblin tenacity drove them onward, only to meet a gruesome end. The human throwing daggers from behind was untouchable up close. Goblins could only scream and fall under his swinging blade, while those who reached the knight were pulped and sprawled across the ground, moaning.
Jeanne approached the twitching fallen goblins and shattered their heads with her lance tip, granting them certain death.
"Judah! I don't see the puppet's body, so it must be inside."
Jeanne called out to Judah as she scanned the bonfire area. Ea's corpse, presumed taken by the goblins, was nowhere in the garden. That meant it was inside the mansion. Yet with all this commotion outside, none had emerged—something was amiss. Goblins were cunning; they'd surely use the terrain against them. Jeanne would take point again. She walked to the firmly shut mansion front door and bashed it with her shield.
Crack!
The door, which had endured ages unscathed, splintered as if cleaved by an axe and tumbled inward.
"It's dark in there."
Hiding behind her shield, she stepped into the shadow-cloaked mansion. That's when something flew toward her.
"Back!"
Jeanne shifted to a position shielding Judah securely and raised her shield to deflect the incoming object. Seeing it roll on the floor, she realized the things battering her shield were stones. Judah opened his <Bag> and tossed a glass vial containing the fluorescent liquid he had given her as well. The fragile vials flew to his desired spots, shattered one by one, and emitted light, illuminating the surroundings.
The goblins inside panicked at the sudden burst of light, creating chaos. In the meantime, Judah slipped past Jeanne from behind and checked their positions.
'Four on the first floor, three on the second.'
Judah headed upstairs. A goblin stacking stones nearby hurled them desperately as he approached, but missed every one. Closing in, Judah swung his glaive. No need for Shadow Sword Arts or Heresy Arts. Their presence in the dark was merely annoying; they were no stronger than the ones outside.
The goblins on the first floor had already been bludgeoned by Jeanne's approach. Just as he thought that was all, a subtle creak of a door opening sounded behind him. As he turned to swing his glaive, Jeanne on the first floor reacted first.
Unsure how she spotted it, the moment she turned, a lance erupted from the floor, impaling the goblin emerging from the door. It felt like a baseball whizzing past one's nose. A thud suggested the lance had pierced the goblin and embedded in the wall.
"......"
Looking down slowly, he saw her covered in green fluids, giving a thumbs-up.
"Don't worry, Judah. Protecting you is my role."
No, you don't have to go this far. Judah bowed his head slightly in lieu of a reply. Thanking Jeanne for her efforts, he searched the mansion interior for Ea's body. No message appeared, so no treasure chest, he thought, until he found a wooden chest covered with a fairly clean cloth. Inside were two gold coins and a gem presumed to be a sapphire.
'I remember putting accessories in there too..., well. It's not a game, so maybe not.'
Brushing it off, Judah took the gold coins, giving the sapphire to Jeanne. They recovered Ea's body too. There were signs of attempted undressing, but nothing else amiss.
Pondering how to dispose of Ea's body, he decided to burn it with the mansion. The building was spaced far from others, so no risk of the fire spreading. With nothing else to gather, he used the goblins' bonfire in the garden to set it ablaze.
Whoosh. Watching the mansion blaze fiercely, Jeanne and Judah soon departed.
The mansion burned through the night, dying down by morning when there was nothing left to fuel it. Emerging from their overnight lodging, Jeanne and Judah stretched their bodies.
"Well, shall we head back to the castle now?"
"...Yeah. Let's do that."
Jeanne still seemed attached to the fragment but, assuming it had no connection to her, nodded heavily and walked with Judah.
"What are your plans after this?"
Bored during the walk, she struck up a conversation. Judah rolled his eyes at her question.
"Well, first I plan to register as an adventurer."
"Oh, you haven't yet?"
Judah chuckled and nodded.
"Didn't have the time."
After her coming-of-age ritual to find Jeanne, he had left the castle the very next day. No time for registration.
"But I'm a bit torn. Whether to register as a mercenary or an adventurer."
Little difference between adventurer or mercenary registration. Both took guild quests. The main distinctions were team size and tendency to stay in one area. Rank systems based on skill were identical.
"I think adventurer suits you better than mercenary."
"Hmm—yeah, you're right. Since I'll be traveling around a lot. Anyway, after registering, I'll leave Serenia Castle within three days. Do you need time to wrap things up?"
"No, three days is plenty."
"Good. Then rest freely at the castle upon arrival, and come to my place after three days. I'll be ready to leave by then."
Jeanne nodded. Two days after leaving the ruins and checking the map toward Serenia Castle, they finally returned. After reconfirming their verbal agreement, Judah headed home. Standing before the door, he took a deep breath and knocked. Rustling chaos sounded inside, then the door flew open roughly.
"Judah!"
There she stood, face full of surprise. Judah smiled brightly at her.
"I'm back. Tia."