Chapter 83
Chapter 83
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 83
Chapter Title: Ormu's Fawning Welcome
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It didn't take long for the group to escape to the western side of the forest.
Thanks to Irenne shortening their path with her illusions, they were out of the woods after just a few dozen minutes.
With the sun rising behind them, they finally emerged from the forest.
As if on cue, everyone let out sighs of relief and exhaustion.
"Ooh..."
"Hard to tell when you're inside, but it feels like we've been locked up and just got released."
Indeed, simply having no walls of trees surrounding them made it feel like freedom from prison.
Even Arsen, who had stepped out yesterday for the smoke signal, felt the same.
However, the price for this newfound freedom of sight was a assault on their sense of smell.
The western metallic tang once again filled their nostrils.
"Lord of All... the stench of iron is enough from the battlefield. Please, take this smell away."
As Anon grumbled, Arsen took in the wide-open horizon and slowly drew a breath.
Filling his lungs with the repulsive poison gas anew, he confirmed they were outside and steeled his mind once more.
"Hoo..."
Suddenly, Arsen's thoughts turned to Gisharan. Wasn't this her first time ever outside the forest?
But unexpectedly, she didn't look particularly impressed by the outside world.
"Not all that surprised?"
"Yeah. I've come right up to the forest edge pretty often. I've seen this side a few times too."
That explained it. Arsen nodded and turned his gaze, only to find Eloise staring at the forest with a somewhat gloomy expression.
At the sight, Arsen quietly spoke to her through the earring.
[What's wrong?]
[It's Irenne. She can't come out anymore. Even if she can contact Luden...]
It would be hard for Luden, now one of only two mages left in the territory, to leave the estate and visit Irenne in the forest. Departing the territory would never be allowed.
If Luden could visit Irenne, it would mean...
[Once we reclaim the territory, let's stop by the forest again with Luden. So the two of them can meet.]
[Yeah!]
Eloise nodded and gripped the staff Irenne had given her tightly.
Watching her, Arsen let out a soft sigh.
* * *
Crossing the border between Manar and the Darkwood Forest, they pressed westward.
After traveling a distance spanning two territories, they arrived at a place called Ormu.
According to the intel from Starry-Eyes, this was a territory where both the estate and castles had been utterly destroyed decades ago.
By a powerful magic beast that even the estate lord's miracles couldn't drive away.
A tiny handful of survivors and immigrants from neighboring territories were barely rebuilding it.
Naturally, the castles lay abandoned, with people living only in the central estate.
The information was over ten years old, but it seemed things hadn't changed much since then.
"Huh!"
Something suddenly dropped from a tree and lunged at a soldier, who yelped in panic and swung his sword.
Fortunately, the sharp relic blade cleanly bisected the magic beast.
"What the hell?"
"Magic beast! Everyone, watch above!"
One soldier shouted urgently in warning.
What then began assaulting them from overhead were monkeys with wolf-like heads.
If a human with a wolf head was a werewolf, then this magic beast ought to be called a wolf monkey.
Thankfully, the wolf monkey ambush ended in futility.
Aside from their tactic of dropping from trees, they weren't particularly strong or fast.
Even the mages dodged their dives with agile movements, let alone the soldiers.
Having endured such perilous adventures lately, attacks from low-tier magic beasts like these felt trivial in normal times.
The reason they panicked was that this was inside the territory.
With so few people that controlling and purifying the entire zone was impossible, even the heart of the territory wasn't safe.
"What kind of place has magic beasts this deep in... It's not even Narvik."
Bazkal muttered incredulously, kicking a dead wolf monkey.
As Eloise watched it roll away, she messaged Arsen.
[With things like this, is the center really a safe place to rest?]
[Probably? Even without people, the estate manor should still be intact.]
Sure, the environment was so poor that camping outside the purified zone felt no different, but at least sleeping without inhaling poison gas made recovery efficiency worlds apart.
Ordinary soldiers who weren't knights or mages could develop health issues from prolonged exposure over months or years.
Thus, whenever possible, stopping in a purified area to purge the poison from their bodies was best for maintaining condition.
And if resting anyway, doing so inside a building—or better yet, somewhere people lived—was ideal.
Staying vigilant for anything bursting from the surrounding trees and brush, the group pressed on.
After quite some time heading into the territory's interior, a small wooden palisade finally came into view.
Rino stepped forward and called out.
"Is anyone there!"
A soldier atop the palisade poked his head out, looked down, let out a whimper of fright, and vanished.
And for several minutes, no one else appeared.
Even though they kept shouting for someone to come out.
Rino shook his head in disbelief.
"Looks like they're scared stiff."
Arsen sighed quietly.
He glanced back, taking in the neatly arrayed knights, mages, and soldiers.
In a situation where they could barely manage their own territory, a force this large showing up would naturally terrify them.
But failing to even check their intentions?
It was laughably negligent.
"No helping it. Spread out a bit and prepare camp. Can't exactly smash the gate just because they're acting like that."
Camping outside a perfectly sound palisade was foolish, but they couldn't storm in, slaughter everyone, and burn it down just because the door stayed shut.
It was their right not to open up to suspicious, threatening strangers.
They'd gotten lucky at the western Narvik castle when the defenders cowered and let them in, but with these folks refusing talk and hiding, there was no sweet-talking their way inside.
As he slowly turned to retreat from the palisade, Arsen spotted a distant light approaching through his magic helm.
Moments later, he saw over a dozen soldiers approaching from afar, led by a single knight.
"Where do you hail from, guests?"
The lead knight asked in a deliberately stern tone.
* * *
"Good heavens, to think you'd come all this way from the eastern mountains beyond and receive such poor treatment. My deepest apologies. I'll reprimand them severely!"
"No need. In these rough times, weren't they just doing their duty?"
"What magnanimity! Please, come in! Ormu welcomes you all."
"My thanks for your hospitality. Acting Lord."
The man, who introduced himself as Ormu's acting lord and knight Bardan, let Arsen's group inside the palisade after a simple explanation: they came from beyond the mountains in the east, heading to the western ruins city.
The blatant flattery was enough to make one's brow furrow.
He made such a fuss that even exchanging polite honorifics made Arsen feel like the superior.
"Open the gates!"
At the acting lord's command, the palisade gate swung open immediately.
Rino, who had shouted himself hoarse just for a word, wore a dazed expression.
In any case, the group entered smoothly.
Amid the acting lord's nonstop chatter and sycophancy at his side, Eloise sent a message.
[Honestly... it's kinda pathetic how much he's sucking up.]
Arsen replied with a chuckle.
[You think so? Maybe my tolerance is too narrow to appreciate it.]
[That's not what I meant. Don't tease.]
As Eloise grumbled, Arsen laughed lightly and responded.
[It's because we look like we could smash this territory if we wanted. This force rivals several castles combined. If he's swallowing his pride for his people's sake, that's actually respectable character.]
Compared to well-maintained territories like Beluan, Exekia, or Manar, it fell short, but Arsen's army was formidable.
At least for a territory that couldn't even clear its own interior magic beasts.
The acting lord surely couldn't ignore that.
[But with a knight here, why's it in such a state?]
[Clear one direction, and they pour in from another. He's probably just back from culling some inside the territory.]
But with one or two knights and that many soldiers, reclaiming the territory would take lifetimes.
Fundamentally, the only solution was growing the population, which would increase soldiers and knights accordingly.
A problem spanning generations, or even dozens.
Arsen asked the acting lord, who stuck close by his side.
"So, as acting lord, does that mean the lord himself is...?"
"He's not here."
"Absent?"
"Well..."
The acting lord explained the incident decades ago that led to the territory's fall. Arsen listened calmly without saying he already knew.
"Since the entire lordly bloodline perished, no one left in the territory dares claim the title. As the only knight, I appoint myself acting lord."
He said a descendant of the lordly bloodline who lived in the castles back then might return someday to inherit the seat. Until then, he'd hold it in trust.
"A arduous path. My respect."
"...Thank you."
This time, it was a plain, sincere thanks without the earlier flattery.
Arsen walked on, slowly surveying the surroundings.
Worn thatched huts and stone buildings clumsily patched from ruins—this evoked Narvik's outskirts.
The difference? While Narvik's interior remained intact, this entire territory lay in decay.
Not just the buildings; the people milling about looked weary and starved.
The manor standing beautifully amid shabby hovels was almost comical.
A territory confined within a palisade smaller than most castles.
It was impossible to imagine this as once a thriving place like Beluan or Exekia in distant antiquity.
It drove the point home anew.
This world held no guarantees of safety. A single unpredictable disaster from a rampaging magic beast could erase centuries of history and culture.
Had the beast that struck here hit Exekia or Beluan, they'd likely be the same.
"I'd love to house all our guests in the manor..."
"No need. That would be imposing. A few empty houses will suffice."
"How long do you plan to stay, by chance?"
"Just the night. We leave at first light tomorrow."
A faint look of relief crossed the acting lord's face at Arsen's words.
Naturally—an unsettling presence vanishing quickly.
"Understood. You there, hurry and prepare."
At his order, soldiers scurried off.
They'd soon ready lodgings for Arsen's army.
Probably by evicting a few residents.
"Oh, and a caravan from the ruins city passed through recently. Headed to Manar, they said. You didn't run into them... their folk can be harsh on mages."
Before Arsen could reply, the acting lord answered his own question. Arsen nodded in agreement at the servile tone, then asked back.
"What business in Manar?"
"Selling ancient relics, apparently. Manar folk hate mages but love using relics. Their creed's so baffling—worship ancient mages as gods but call modern ones evil. Go figure."
Certain Arsen wasn't from Manar, given the mages in tow, the acting lord badmouthed the territory freely. Arsen read his intent: signaling he wasn't anti-mage.
Arsen decided to ease the poor man's nerves a bit.
"Some folks cling to beliefs that defy understanding."
The acting lord's face brightened at Arsen's agreement.
He thought he'd succeeded in currying favor.
"Could you introduce me to those merchants? I'd like to hear about the road ahead or recent happenings."
"Of course. I'll even assign a guide. Hey, Meck! Escort these folks."
"Got it!"
A soldier bowed his head smartly.