Chapter 164
Chapter 164
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 163
Chapter Title: The Reason It Was Good
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“Did you eat a lemon?”
“No time for chit-chat.”
As I twisted away and left Pindenai behind, a subtle voice drifted from my back.
“Why does it feel like you’re avoiding me?”
[You got caught red-handed.]
The Black Necromancer, who had revealed herself again, grumbled at my side, but I pretended not to hear and ignored her as I approached the Salvation Corps members and the old man who looked like a black mage.
Before I could, Aria and Elenoa came scampering naturally toward me.
“P-Professor. What a coincidence running into you here! I’m just here on vacation!”
“...To a camp? Do you think Deus will buy that?”
Aria, anxious because she’d ignored my advice to just enjoy winter break.
Elenoa chided her from the side, and the two immediately started bickering.
As I watched them silently, they naturally turned toward my gaze. Looking in opposite directions somehow made them seem closer than ever.
Tap.
Maybe that’s why.
I carefully placed my hand on the heads of these anxious little girls.
“Ah.”
“Uh.”
They let out gasps of admiration and stared at me blankly. For some reason, smiles that usually didn’t come easily formed as naturally as if oiled today.
Surely, change had come to me as well.
And these two had contributed to that change.
“Thank you.”
“P-Professor...”
“Deus...”
I couldn’t stroke their heads for long. The enemies waiting behind me seemed to have reached the limit of their patience.
“From now on, trust me and watch.”
At my words, the two girls nodded immediately, trying to hide their flushed cheeks.
As I slowly withdrew my hand, the buzzing of insects near my ear annoyed me, and I turned to the culprit.
A hunched old man gripped his staff, smiling like a snake as he looked this way.
“Heh heh, the Necromancer has arrived. You belong in a graveyard more than a place like this...”
“Shut your mouth.”
Boom!
I summoned mana to materialize the soul clinging to his back and convert it into magic, and the soul lunged straight at the old man.
But the old man had already turned into an insect and reappeared naturally elsewhere.
“Huh.”
The old man stuck out his tongue in genuine surprise. Aria, behind me, whispered a hint.
“He introduced himself as Bactrus Nicola, a black mage from Dante. Seems like he handles insects.”
“...Dante?”
An existence I’d never seen or heard of. Aria nodded in agreement.
“I’ve never seen that man while攻略 Dante either. He said it’s a side gig, so... in my past life, he probably didn’t intervene when Dante fell.”
A Dante black mage I didn’t know.
On top of that, he wielded a very rare magic handling insects and even had the Clock Republic’s support.
And that wasn’t all.
‘He’s the same type as the Corpse Sorcerer.’
Like how Corpse Sorcerers hide their real bodies while manipulating corpses, he was pretending to be himself using insects, but he wasn’t.
Even if I killed him over and over, that old man would stand here forever.
To be precise, I’d have to kill all the insects flying around nearby.
Bactrus twitched the hand gripping his staff and chuckled.
“The miracle you showed in the Marias Great Forest was impressive. Care to show that explosive killing intent again?”
“...”
“You must have the souls of Dante’s black mages too, right? Marias Tribe shaman, Monster Shaman Dina. What else?”
“...”
“Hahaha! Want to take this old man’s soul too? It’s worth something! A necromancer handling both Monster Shaman and Insect Shaman souls at once! You’d surpass even Dante’s leader!”
I sighed wearily at Bactrus, who cackled, and scolded him.
“Don’t be so scared.”
“...!”
“Provocation won’t make me let you go.”
“Heh, heh heh.”
Bactrus tapped the ground irritably in disbelief. Sweat beaded on his forehead.
He seemed to be trying to buy time, thinking he had some other trick.
[Aaah! Aaah! Aaaah!]
[Is this the chance? The chance to get revenge on this land!]
[Daddy!]
[Camp! You cursed building that became my tombstone!]
The souls’ screams now audible even to ordinary people. As always, I didn’t control them.
If they expected a battle where I abandoned my convictions like in the Marias Great Forest, sorry.
The grudge of the dead was so deep and strong toward this land and the republic that I didn’t even need to lift a finger.
Gulp.
I could hear Bactrus swallowing hard from here, showing how tense he was.
As if predicting the approaching disaster through super senses, the insects began moving in perfect unison.
“Heh heh, b-black, Black Necromancer.”
That’s why the name Bactrus uttered was a bit unexpected. Dante already knew about the Black Necromancer.
I’d shown it all when facing Monster Shaman Dina.
“Do you know what kind of woman the Black Necromancer is and still keep her around?”
[....]
At those words, I glanced at the Black Necromancer beside me. She clamped her mouth shut, glaring at Bactrus with murderous intent.
“A necromancer as steeped in madness as that woman won’t exist.”
“...”
“You learned necromancy from a woman completely opposite your beliefs. Dante? Our endgame is saving the continent, at least. Well, personally, I joined for the thrill.”
The serpent’s smile reformed.
Bactrus judged he’d regained control of the conversation.
“You’ll judge us? Don’t you hear the blood caked on the robe of the woman you call your master, and the souls’ screams?”
I slowly looked at the Black Necromancer. She said nothing, clenching her fists and trembling.
Her neck stiffened as she deliberately avoided looking my way.
“Yeah.”
I nodded calmly and extended my hand toward Bactrus.
“I heard you loud and clear.”
Souls appeared from all directions, turning into blue-flamed jackals that began tearing into him.
“But it’s not as convincing as her silence.”
[....]
The Black Necromancer’s eyes widened as she looked at me. But I was already walking forward.
And in response, Tairn All Bellocus charged out as if to protect me.
“Tairn, I’m entrusting the princess, my students, and escorting the prisoners to you.”
He refused, saying it was reckless, but wore a worried expression.
“Even for you, it’s dangerous. We don’t know what forces they have.”
“The one you should worry about now isn’t me.”
“...”
“Go, before you get caught up.”
Tairn pondered briefly at my words, then nodded and turned.
He paused mid-step and turned only his face to say,
“The Northsweden raid was unfortunate. Fortunately, there were almost no casualties, and though the Border Count Darius is seriously injured, his life isn’t in danger.”
“...Northsweden raid?”
I halted my advancing step at the unknown information. I’d come here just to rescue Pindenai, but thinking about it, mobilizing the kingdom’s princess and Magic Inquisitors for just her was excessive.
“You didn’t know?”
Tairn briefly explained what happened in Northsweden.
After hearing it all, I nodded that I understood and gestured for him to go.
“As long as the Border Count doesn’t die.”
I’d heard something happened in Northsweden but hadn’t imagined it was connected.
Erika and Deia, who sent me here, probably didn’t know the details either.
“Yeah, as long as he doesn’t die.”
I chewed it over again, trying to hold back.
“Fuu.”
Most think of anger as a raging flame, but for me, it was different.
Even trying not to let it affect the fight, the slow, cold anger froze my heart and chilled my breath.
“Why the hell is that idiot firstborn getting beaten somewhere.”
Bactrus reappeared in a new body from afar.
The synchronized footsteps of the republic’s elite soldiers flooding toward Camp 1’s main gate rang out, but they were already beneath my notice.
A black gem formed in my right hand.
Remegaton emitted a soft light, infusing power into the souls.
Souls touched by Remegaton’s light were no longer mere grudge-bearers; they became magic traversing the sky.
But this alone wouldn’t burn all the insects.
Fwoosh!
In my opposite, left hand, a sphere of flame. The deathly remnant left by a spiritual being that had blazed for near-eternal time.
“...Horua?”
Insect Shaman Bactrus recognized his natural predator and trembled.
“You even enslaved a spirit beast’s soul?”
I thrust out my left hand toward Bactrus, who scoffed in disbelief, and flames poured forth, burning him and rapidly spreading around.
Souls spread their screams everywhere as hellfire flooded the land.
I walked into the scene evoking biblical hell.
“Where I come from, there’s a saying: ‘Burn down the thatched house to kill the bedbugs.’”
It fit the situation perfectly.
“To turn your real body to ash, how far do I need to burn the republic?”
“Are you really declaring war?”
“Not sure about war.”
Bactrus reemerged amid the inferno. His body already flickered as if burning, so I passed through, burning even that.
“But I’ll have to see your esteemed President at least.”
Wanting to see that smug face, I began walking alone to conquer republic soil.
* * *
“Wow, what the hell is this.”
Pindenai stared incredulously at the blazing Camp 1 of the republic.
The prisoners inside had already fled thanks to the vanished republic soldiers and crumbling walls.
Only the Scrap Merchants and the kids remained under the Magic Inquisitors’ protection with Pindenai.
Realistically, they couldn’t save everyone.
“Did the second young master get this strong?”
“Is he conquering the republic alone?”
Even the Scrap Merchants’ members, who’d just reunited emotionally with Pindenai, stuck out their tongues.
“No matter how great the professor is, is that possible? There are many souls in the republic, but going too deep is dangerous.”
“Yeah, we need to keep our distance too.”
Aria and Elenoa had squeezed in among the Scrap Merchants. They said that, but like everyone else, they gaped in awe at Deus leading hundreds of souls and an inferno no ally could approach.
Separately from the two,
Pindenai, gazing at Deus’s distant back, naturally looked up at the sky.
“Pfft.”
Realizing something, she let out a disbelieving chuckle, and Aria and Elenoa blinked before rushing over.
“Hey!”
“You!”
Both wanted to say something but had nothing specific, so they just stared at Pindenai grumpily.
“...How was it?”
“W-Was it good?”
Inexperienced in such matters, they were curious for details.
Pindenai shrugged, answering pleasantly.
“Tasted like lemon? Did the master eat a lemon?”
“L-Lemon? Ah, I can’t eat sour things...”
“If food changes the taste, I’ll feed him strawberries.”
“You two are ridiculous.”
She jabbed at the two girls lost in delusions, but the smile didn’t leave Pindenai’s lips.
One Scrap Merchant member, seeing it positively, asked slyly.
“Are you in a good mood?”
“Huh? Ah, well. Feels like I said the wrong thing.”
“Yes?”
“To Muse.”
Her friend, the orphanage director Muse.
Now resting in peace, but Pindenai recalled having said the wrong thing.
“I told her everything about Griffin was good. The sun, wind, clouds, grass.”
“Hmm, it really was good, wasn’t it?”
Pindenai ruffled the confused member’s head and grinned broadly.
“No, I thought it was good because it was Griffin.”
But no.
The republic’s sun was great.
The harsh cold wind blowing now was good, the clouds drifting with souls pleased her, and the grass like barely visible weeds was good too.
“I was mistaken.”
Pindenai still gazed at Deus Verdi’s back facing forward.
‘It was because of you.’
That’s why everything was good.
You damn lovable master.
“Haha! I’m going crazy!”
She couldn’t hold back the laughter bubbling up.