Sunrise (1)
In the lord's castle, chaos erupted. The mages of the Abyss Prevention Society, who had been standing guard around the perimeter, caught sight of a shadowy trail streaking out from the tower where the lord's bedchamber was located—a headless horse slicing through the air.
"We missed the sounds of battle amid the storm's roar…!"
They berated themselves and sprang into action. They couldn't pursue the horse that had already vanished into the distant sky, but they could at least gather the people and head toward the lord's bedchamber.
The scene in the bedroom was bizarre. Lady Helbrinke Ket lay collapsed on the floor. Dein and Nayd lay shattered into pieces. The head of the society clutched his father's hand, gasping for breath.
Just as Countess Esarg Ket and her children—Armed's half-siblings—rushed in, horrified by the news of the surprise attack on the bedchamber and opened their mouths to speak…
"Ugh…"
A low groan echoed through the room. The Abyss Prevention Society mages whirled around in confusion. No one else was there?
The mages had never once heard the count's voice in person since arriving in Ket County; in their memories, he was simply a man sleeping silently. It was a simple mistake.
On the contrary, Countess Esarg and the Ket family felt joy before surprise. It was a voice all too familiar, yet one they hadn't heard in far too long.
"It's c-cold… Is a door open somewhere?"
Miakh Ket, the Count of Ket, spoke haltingly, his eyes not yet fully open.
Armed glanced around the room. Kriel had smashed through one wall in his haste to arrive, wielding Tuon, and the invading chill hadn't fully dissipated—frost clung to every corner. Above all, the weather outside. Raindrops pelted in alongside a wind laced with screams, cold enough to extinguish the hearth in the count's chamber.
"Th-the window's broken! Must be the wind blowing too hard."
Armed gestured to Countess Esarg and the gathering crowd, signaling them to move the count quickly. She herself approached Lady Helbrinke Ket.
That bastard Arunback must have cast some kind of mental suppression on her. It needed to be undone.
"Hey."
"Y-yes, ma'am—Head of the Society!"
How the society head had ended up here following Kriel, or how he'd awakened the count—it didn't matter. What mattered was that intruders had breached the lord's bedchamber right under their noses, the ones tasked with guarding the castle perimeter. They knew all too well how terrifying Armed could be when her eyes rolled back like that.
"Raise your hand if you can use mental magic here."
Unexpectedly, Armed's first words weren't a reprimand for their negligence. A few mages cautiously raised their hands.
"Head?"
"What."
"The mental magic I use just diverts people's attention briefly, making them a bit lax with their pockets…"
"…Just follow me for now."
The magic of connecting the Automaton Totality to a human body was unprecedented. In any case, consulting a variety of mages would help analyze the principles.
Armed glanced briefly beyond the crumbled wall. The stormy night was pitch black. She worried for her fiancé.
***
'Ah, shit. What do I do now?'
Kriel led the procession of wraiths marching with the engagement gifts. It wasn't a comfortable position.
Not fighting the Wraith King? He'd welcome that with open arms. Gifts? Who'd turn down money?
Kriel rated himself a knight who liked money. He liked the Honor stat—even if he couldn't confirm its existence outright—even more, so when playing the knight, he stuck to the concept of taking just a single coin.
The problem was.
'Of all things, a fake engagement…'
The engagement the Wraith King was congratulating was a sham, premised on being dissolved someday. A shield of sorts, so Armed wouldn't face more plots disguised as marriage proposals.
Once the Wraith King sent the gift box, all eyes would be on them proportionally. The backlash when they called it off would be that much greater.
Kriel pondered what to tell Armed as he headed for Ket Castle. Then another minor issue arose.
The Wraith King had demanded from the start: "Come in armor." So Kriel had donned his full Eve Kaha black plate and entered the king's presence.
But when returning to the castle…
Deep in thought about the engagement, Kriel had forgotten to remove his armor. The palanquin bearing the Wraith King's gifts was surrounded by his ghostly knights, including the dullahan, and at the forefront of that procession rode Kriel.
On his customary headless shadow horse, no less.
For Kriel, it had been thoughtless—he'd just accepted the shadow horse's reins from the dullahan and mounted up. The dullahan had figured it absurd for the procession's guards to ride while the ceremony's protagonist went without a steed. A bit against etiquette, but he'd offered an early test ride of the "gift."
Unfortunately, neither had a moment to consider mortal sensibilities.
***
The clever folk hiding in buildings heard the wraith horde marching past their windows. Even through the storm, the sounds of the dead were distinct, so the rare sort where curiosity overcame fear peeked out to glimpse the wraiths.
Nothing blocked the wraith procession. For two main reasons.
First, the Wild Hunt that had smashed Arunback's automatons hadn't harmed a single Ket civilian before withdrawing. Sure, there'd been some commotion, but no lives lost. That proved Kriel was still fighting.
The people of the county trusted the knight who'd saved their land once before.
Second, they were just plain scared.
The soldiers and mages had rushed to the collapsing lord's tower, so most watching the Wild Hunt now were ordinary folk. They had no power to oppose such supernatural beings.
But commoners have their own brand of courage. Some stepped out to relay news of this intimidating march to the soldiers at the lord's castle.
Thus, a final defensive line formed before the castle.
Despite the arrow-like patter of rain, the wraiths' hoofbeats rang clear. The spectral procession approached Ket Castle's main gate.
Few in number, but the mounted knights exuded an elite menace far beyond ordinary wraiths, scattering pale terror.
And foremost among them—the most terrifying figure of all.
A headless knight astride a headless steed. Both knight and horse were cloaked in deep darkness.
The shadow-like horse stepped through the blood dripping from its own severed neck, sinking into a blood-shadow as it walked. Atop it rode a knight with fierce red-glowing eyes, a massive greatsword slung over his shoulder.
All who beheld the sight nodded.
'Truly, he looks like he crawled from the abyss of the underworld. That must be the Wraith King.'
If Kriel heard, he'd collapse from the sheer injustice.
***
The Wild Hunt halted before the castle's defensive line. Mages and soldiers formed ranks, ready for a last stand if the castle was breached.
Kriel wanted none of that, of course. No need to drive off gift-bearers with force.
So he asked, "Could you fetch Armed for me?"
"…Wraith! What business do you have with the rightful heir of House Ket?!"
Kriel froze in confusion. He wanted to ask Orishin, 'Hey, did I hear that right?' but Orishin was already lost in thoughts of comparative advantage between legless and headless horses.
The magic sword whispered telepathically to the Dark Knight.
"Master. Since it has come to this, why not claim their forces as additional gifts and form a Wraith Knight Order?"
"Tuon. That won't help clear up the misunderstanding…"
He couldn't deny a momentary temptation, but these were knights sworn to the Wraith King. Unlikely to switch loyalties easily.
Those few minutes of Kriel bantering nonsense with Tuon were enough time for Armed—having heard the commotion outside—to rush down in a panic.
The Wraith King leading his knights to the castle? Then where was Kriel?
Armed steadied her breath at the inner gate and headed out, staff and stones at the ready if needed.
There, awkwardly waving from the Wild Hunt's vanguard, was Kriel.
"…What the hell are you doing?"
Hearing Armed's deflated sigh, Kriel dismounted the shadow horse and casually shed his armor. From the unmistakably horrific plate emerged a—comparatively—familiar face.
The clever folk gasped.
Kriel spoke in his usual casual tone. "The Wraith King sent engagement gifts to congratulate us."
The soldiers exchanged glances. Ah, that explains the menacing armor. A gift from the Wraith King, huh!