Chapter 78
Chapter 78
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 78
Chapter Title: Chapter 6 In the Name of Glory (14)
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***
Clack, clack.
Rumble. Rumble.
“Things are a real mess out there.”
“Ugh... As far as I knew, Seongha Village wasn’t this big...”
“Grrr. Lots of dead humans. Lots of humans about to die too.”
“Yeah, that figures. What we just passed wasn’t so much Seongha Village as a shantytown thrown together by refugees.”
After dealing with the guards at Tobrun’s gates—who were freaking out and calling him an escaped convict—Professor flashed the holy relic and requisitioned their horses and carriage instead. He left the stunned guards behind and rolled out through the gates.
The atmosphere changed completely the moment they were outside the city.
Inside the gates, things were a bit chaotic from the flooding but otherwise felt normal. Outside? Total chaos.
‘Rich city like this, they’ve got plenty of guards—good quality ones too. They’ve straight-up banned refugees from entering.’
Professor could guess why. A mutant that talks and thinks like a human had blown up the entire mage tower. No wonder they were terrified of more talking mutants sneaking in anywhere, anytime.
Quick, precise measures. Sound military decision.
It kept the external chaos from spilling into Tobrun, but the problem was all the people trying to pass through to the capital got stuck here.
And so, shantytowns like the one they were seeing sprang up densely around Tobrun.
“All these people gathered in such a short time?”
“Almost everyone who survived from three cities and the surrounding villages. And this is what’s left—hardly believable how few made it.”
The war with the mutants wasn’t like any normal war people had seen.
Their goal wasn’t conquest. Their military objectives included slaughtering and harvesting civilians. They needed raw materials for more troops.
So the mutants didn’t occupy cities—they wiped them out, then hunted the refugees fleeing from them. The result? Refugees pouring out of 10% of Lordric’s territory barely filled the shanties around one city.
“Brutal...”
“It’s war. No need to talk like it’s someone else’s problem. We’ll be facing the bastards who herded people like that soon enough.”
After leaving Tobrun’s territory, Professor sat on the driver’s seat with Borca, scanning ahead. There were plenty of fresh horse tracks nearby, so they were still in Tobrun’s patrol zone. But soon they’d cross into enemy-held territory.
“By the way, Professor, was it? I heard our goal is to assassinate the mutant queen. You sure it’s okay riding down the main road in a horse-drawn carriage like this?”
“It’s fine for now. Ottoman’s right that going on foot off-road would be better, but the mages would all collapse before a day’s out.”
Who’d choose this if they had a choice? If they all rode like you, Ottoman.
Everyone except Ottoman couldn’t ride, so he took a few hits from the guards on purpose, name-dropped the church, and snagged the horses and carriage.
No way he could drag all of them to the queen’s eternal tundra. They lacked the stamina for the harsh environment, and 2nd or 3rd-circle mages wouldn’t help much once they got there.
Professor was skeptical about even making it that far.
‘The church handed us this ‘mission,’ but we don’t have to complete it. All we and the expedition need is their recognition.’
If they brought back results the church couldn’t ignore, mission accomplished. Killing the queen would be great, but unrealistic.
‘Got the hero class now too. Rack up a feat worth chanting my name for, and the church won’t dare mess with me. Can’t scout enemy lines yet—let’s check on the way and plan.’
So, in a way that didn’t suit an ‘expedition,’ they leisurely rode the carriage for half a day. As Professor chewed jerky to fight off sleep, Borca sidled up silently and whispered in his ear.
“Boss, we should stop.”
“Hm? Find something?”
“Blood smell. Fresh mixed with old. Something’s up.”
Professor’s mind snapped awake like he’d been doused in cold water.
Whoosh!
Shaking off drowsiness brought info from [Overcome Mental Fragility]. No pain was nice, but it felt like a drawback sometimes. Like the ear-splitting alarm turned into silent vibrations.
‘Deeper hoofprints, scattered randomly—no direction. Cavalry battle. Tobrun scouts ran into hostiles nearby. Come to think of it, birdsong and insects went quiet a while back. And blood...’
As Professor turned to warn the others, the air suddenly felt dry. Glancing inside the carriage, Ottoman was quietly gathering water in his hand while waking his apprentices.
“Stagnant water nearby. Not bragging, but I’ve lived long and seen plenty. No aquifer means it’s not rotting pond water—must be from beast or human corpses. Better prepare.”
“...Reliable as ever, Ottoman.”
Guess 5th-circle could do that. Notum snorted, sensing something without a word. The black mage...
“...”
“Not giving it.”
“I didn’t say it, but I’m plenty strong too. Gotta have enough power to protect myself, right? If you just give that...”
“You’d run.”
“Ugh...”
He was staring holes into the small socket necklace hanging next to the holy relic on Professor’s neck. A gift from Senadis before leaving the church—the black mage’s soul jar.
-----
“Here, this’ll make controlling him easy.”
“Why give me this...? Safer in church hands, no?”
“Dunno details, but seems black mages can’t use mana without their soul jar nearby. Want to use him at full power? Keep this safe.”
-----
That’s how he got the black mage’s soul jar.
The socket was magically sealed, but ‘Nell’ was crudely engraved on the outside.
“Ugh... Mr. Black Mage?”
“...”
“Old timer?”
“...”
Jingle-jangle—
“Nell—”
Fwoosh!
The black mage, pretending not to care with his back turned, whipped around and lunged when Professor pulled out the soul jar. Of course, the old mage was no match for Professor’s reflexes.
“Don’t... touch other people’s things!”
“Could’ve just told me your name sooner. Nell?”
“That’s not my name! I’m Aldrich! Nell was the original owner!”
“Oh. Backstory, huh.”
What black mage doesn’t have one? Not his problem.
Professor hung the soul jar back around his neck and tapped it demonstratively for Aldrich.
“I know the deal. Not as good as having it yourself, but close enough if it’s nearby. For casting.”
“...”
“Help till the mission’s done. Even if the church reneges, I’ll return it.”
“...Damn church bastards.”
With that, shadows settled around Aldrich. His way of gearing up for battle.
Confirming the whole expedition ready, Professor slowly urged the carriage forward.
Clack. Clack. Clack. Clack.
The forest thickened along the road, blood scent now thick enough for Professor to smell. It enveloped the surroundings.
[Welcome to Danglter!]
The bloodstained sign dangled precariously from a branch, creaking in the wind.
“Tree Nest. Up ahead.”
“Yeah, I see it. Log palisade means a village ahead. Looks like a guide too.”
Stagger, stagger—
A man in guard uniform lurched toward them from the distant palisade.
“...Boss, that your idea of a guide?”
“Village guides just tell you what’s worth seeing and where to crash.”
“Uhhh, grrrhhh...”
The staggering man looked seriously off. No weapons for a guard, unfocused eyes, and worst—empty gut, no entrails.
“Obvious, right? Black mage takeover. You’ll see corpses like him or his creations ahead. No safe spots. Zombie’s a fine guide.”
Crunch!
“Hydro Bolt.”
A head-sized water orb shot from behind with a chant, snapping the zombie’s head back. Momentum slammed it into a tree trunk.
Looking back, Ottoman had his hand out, his water mages retching.
“Ugh. Sorry if we needed it alive. My apprentices are leaving Tobrun—the mage tower—for the first time. Weak stomachs...”
“No, good call. Zombies have poor eyesight—might not have spotted us from here. Vomiting wastes stamina.”
‘Clean hit, though.’ Ottoman had insights into flow, change, repulsion, purification, fluidity. Usually boosted hydro bolt with ‘pressure’ to crush on impact, but this...
“Repulsion? Pushed it away?”
“Hm? Oh, right—you’re a water mage too! Yeah. When the target enters the hydro bolt, sudden repulsion blasts the contacted part with force.”
“Oh ho. Can arrange it like that.”
“Wouldn’t need complex chants with pressure... but no matter how long I live, I can’t feel pressure in water.”
Ottoman brightened at the sudden mage talk. Borca approached with a ‘are they sane?’ look.
“Uh... Boss? Time to chat? If that’s an enemy minion, they might’ve spotted us.”
“Yeah, yeah. Killed it out of sight, but they’ll sense the zombie died. They’ll send more to check. Good for us. Most dangerous mage holes up in his lab. This one burns a whole village for power. If he comes out, we thank him.”
“Grrraaah—”
“Uuuuaaaah—”
As if on cue, dozens of zombies from the palisade, tougher ghouls charging down the road, a few banshee-like ghosts in the sky.
Boom, boom—
Ground-shaking steps meant giant monster corpse undead too.
“...How many you count, Boss?”
“Hm. Cautious bastard. Or strong enough it costs him nothing.”
Professor hopped down, stretching vigorously.
“Hey, Borca.”
“Yeah? What?”
“No transforming. Just handle ‘em moderately.”
“What the...”
“Perfect numbers to test. You’re checked out. Need to see what the rest can do.”
Ottoman at 5th-circle was proven. The rest—black mage and water mages—in question.
“Let’s test their worth.”
Knowing ally strength is as key as enemy intel. Grinning at the approaching undead horde, Professor said,
“So, pretend to fight, then shove ‘em back to us.”
“Ugh, thought you were just a monster in actions... lost your humanity too?”
“What? Who’s kinder and more humanistic than me?”
Borca groaned deeply as the undead lunged without warning.
***
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