The Battle of the Fortress (2)
The Battle of the Fortress (2)
The person I'd expected to start a rebellion was the Viscount's son.
He wasn't an illegitimate son like me, but the Viscount's official successor.
I wondered what kind of crazy soap opera this was—it wasn't as if he were saying, "Succeeding you, Father"—but once I heard the details, it actually made a lot of sense.
The one trying to flee to the capital right now was the old Viscount, the Lord of this domain.
They said he'd been a decent Lord in his youth, but now he'd apparently become an old man concerned only with saving his own skin.
Fortunately, the Viscount's son was a pretty decent noble, and the domain's officials and knights seemed to like him.
The problem was that his father, the Lord, simply wouldn't die of old age.
True to his reputation for having a good personality, the son seemed to have treated his old father well, like a dutiful son. But this incident had apparently driven a wedge between them.
The successor had been pleading with the Lord every day to defend the domain, and the Lord had even drawn a sword on his own successor.
It didn't seem strange at all that the soldiers were whispering about rebellion.
'If so...'
It seemed I had one more reason to stay behind.
After hearing the story, the knights and soldiers quickly withdrew from the fortress under my orders.
They followed my commands to the very end, and now no living person remained in the fortress except for me.
A fortress filled with corpses.
Since it had all been done under my orders, I felt a little gloomy, but I was able to shake off the feeling immediately.
Though I was young in body, if I counted the time since I'd returned from death, I'd already spent more of my life in this world than not.
I couldn't stay depressed forever, bound by the values and memories of my past life.
I headed for the warehouse.
A large padlock hung on the door of the massive warehouse, which had been built long ago.
I pulled out my dagger, set its edge against the lock, and slashed downward.
Slash.
The Invisible Sword Aura sliced through the padlock.
The lock fell away. I put my shoulder into the firmly shut log doors and pushed with all my strength, revealing the inside of the warehouse.
The warehouse was packed with all sorts of goods.
There were no ordinary items like food or farming tools.
I'd heard that when they plundered the domain's residents, they took food and farming tools as well, but those seemed to have been divided among the soldiers and knights.
What remained here were things that could actually fetch a decent price.
There were high-quality fabrics and silver tableware, seemingly plundered from merchants.
Paintings, sculptures, worn-looking accessories, and even weapons and armor were all in plain sight.
A whole carriage load of this stuff would make a fortune, but none of it seemed worth the effort of packing.
It seemed my standards had grown too high in the meantime.
Even though I'd spent more than half my funds, I still had plenty of money left.
To be honest, more importantly, I had no way to carry all these things.
Unfortunately, my artifact pouch wasn't that large.
"There might be an artifact or two lying around in here, but I don't think I have time to search through everything and pick them out. It's probably best to burn it all down before the Viscount arrives, right?"
Although I planned to wait until the Viscount arrived, it seemed wise to take care of my chores in advance.
After checking for places where I could start a fire and tossing wooden objects here and there, I began channeling mutated mana into my dagger.
The dagger began to heat up.
To be honest, the mana transformation I was using now was a failure.
I'd tried to replicate it after seeing an imperial knight named Vid spew flames from his sword, but the effect was weaker than I'd expected.
I channeled mana into it for quite a while, but in the end, it only produced enough heat to ignite dry twigs.
It was nothing compared to Vid, who spewed flames from his sword, and it was less efficient than using an ordinary ignition stone instead of an artifact.
Still, I comforted myself with a mental victory, thinking that at least I didn't have to carry ignition stones around anymore.
"Since it comes in handy at times like this."
Feeling pleased with myself as I channeled mana into the blade, I watched the dagger glow red-hot.
Now it was time to set fire to the great pile of fabrics.
The moment I brought the blade close to the fabric—
I heard an unexpected sound.
Bang! Thud!
Awooooo!
A sound like a dog barking rang out, followed by something resembling a wolf's howl.
But that wasn't the cry of a beast.
I could tell the instant I heard it.
It was a sound infused with mana—a monster.
I threw myself outside.
I was worried about the knights and soldiers who had left first.
Monsters, all of a sudden? This was supposed to be a forest where monsters had disappeared.
Fortunately, the monsters' cries came from a different direction than the one the group had taken.
They were coming from the only path through the forest, the road leading to the capital.
As I listened closely, another sound drifted between the monsters' cries.
Splash!
"Faster! Just hold out until we reach the fortress! Run!"
Neigh!
I heard the crack of a whip, shouts, and a carriage racing along.
I circulated my mana to lighten my body and dashed toward the source of the sound.
I slipped out of the fortress, crossed a short clearing, and leaped onto a tree by the roadside.
Indeed, I'd heard just a moment ago that the Viscount would be arriving by carriage today.
It could be a carriage carrying plundered goods, of course, but either way, there was no need to reveal myself first.
I stepped on a branch and launched myself toward another tree.
It reminded me of climbing trees in the sealed grounds not long ago. Back then, I'd poured mana into myself to force my way up the trees.
At the time, I'd been amazed by the power of mana, but looking back now, I'd climbed those trees in a very crude manner.
Using a mana cultivation technique that let me run fast made leaping between trees incredibly easy and comfortable.
As my body grew lighter, the branches I stepped on didn't even sway. And since they didn't move, they made absolutely no sound.
Flying between the trees, I looked like a flying squirrel riding the wind.
As I leaped across the treetops, I spotted the carriage racing toward the fortress.
It was an incredibly luxurious carriage. No matter how I looked at it, it wasn't carrying plundered goods.
Two knights rode alongside the carriage on horseback. It didn't seem as if there had originally been only two escorts.
Blood was splattered all over the carriage's exterior, and both knights were covered in wounds. It looked as if several other knights had already fallen along the way.
The remaining two knights didn't look as if they could hold out much longer, either.
Their horses were already covered in blood, and the wounded knights were gasping for breath.
Fortunately, the carriage was intact. It seemed to have been built exceptionally sturdy.
Or perhaps the knights had defended it with their lives.
Red-furred, four-legged beasts ran alongside the carriage and the knights.
They shared many similarities with wolves, but their massive size and horns made it impossible to mistake them for ordinary wolves.
No matter how much I searched my memory, I couldn't recall any such beast.
Those monsters weren't beasts mutated by mana, but monsters that had come from the sealed grounds.
'Are they the scout monsters?'
Their expressions alone suggested they were quite intelligent.
Even their attack on the carriage was a form of pack hunting.
The monsters were herding the carriage in a specific direction, while their leader commanded them with howls from behind.
'If they were truly smart, they wouldn't attack a carriage escorted by knights like these.'
These were monsters capable of distinguishing between different domains. There was no way they wouldn't recognize knights.
'Could they actually know that a high-ranking person is riding in a heavily escorted carriage?'
It seemed like overthinking, but I couldn't think of any other explanation right now.
Standing atop the tree, I watched the racing carriage.
It looked as if it might break apart at any second, but I had no intention of stepping in.
Until just a moment ago, I'd been agonizing over a dilemma.
Whether I should be the one to kill the Viscount coming here.
Killing a noble wasn't the issue.
I'd already killed another viscount and a baron, so there was no reason to hesitate over killing one.
According to the dead soldiers, if the Viscount died, his successor would surely do his best to defend the domain.
In that case, killing the Viscount here without anyone finding out was the best course of action.
The Duke would benefit by stopping the monsters without lifting a finger, the successor would benefit by defending the domain, and the domain's residents would benefit as their wicked Lord died and a proper Lord took his place.
But it wouldn't be entirely to my benefit.
If I killed him myself, there was no guarantee I wouldn't arouse suspicion.
Even if no one saw me commit the deed, there were still people who knew we'd come and gone from this place.
Namely, the knights and soldiers who had accompanied me.
If the Duke or the family elders questioned them, they'd have no choice but to tell the truth.
That was why I'd been agonizing over it—but who would've thought the monsters would attack him like this?
This was a heaven-sent opportunity.
"Just a little farther! Protect the carriage, even if you have to put your bodies in its way!"
The Viscount screamed, his body trembling violently.
Only by doing so did his fear seem to recede, if only a little.
Inside the swaying carriage, the Viscount bit his nails.
He'd been so careful, yet now he was facing a crisis like this.
Everything would be fine once they reached the fortress, of course, but all this excitement was terrible for his heart.
The Viscount tried to calm himself by thinking about the goods piled up in the fortress and looking at the backpack resting in a corner of the carriage.
As his thoughts drifted, the Viscount eventually remembered his son back at the Lord's castle.
"You'll understand once you grow old too, you brat."
His son had come and pleaded with him yesterday, even as he was leaving the Lord's castle.
Seeing how his son had kept pleading even after a sword was drawn on him, the Viscount thought he must have raised his child well.
But that very child had made things difficult for the Viscount lately.
The Viscount knew full well that the people were cursing him.
But it couldn't be helped.
He didn't want to die.
In his youth, he too had been a very generous noble and Lord.
But as his health failed and he grew older, his mindset gradually shifted.
From generous to gloomy.
From considerate to sharp.
From a life spent thinking of others and the domain to one spent thinking only of himself.
The Viscount wanted to live. The more his body ached and the older he grew, the more desperately he wanted to live.
By now, he felt no guilt whatsoever about plundering his own domain to flee to the capital.
His health had failed because of the hardships he'd endured developing the domain in his youth, so what was wrong with using the domain for his own sake now?
Worrying about the people's opinions and his child's reaction had made things complicated, but he'd still managed to pull it off.
"Once you get to the capital, you'll realize I did the right thing, you brat."
In any case, once the civil war broke out, the domains would be redistributed according to the victor's standards.
Since he'd aligned himself with the Second Prince, who had the highest chance of victory, all he had to do was stay close to the Second Prince in the capital.
He could return to this domain later, or, if he was lucky, he might even acquire that Gracia Dukedom territory.
"Is that too wild of a dream?"
Grinning at the thought, he realized the carriage had come to a halt.
It seemed they'd finally arrived at the fortress.
But he couldn't hear the voices of the knights guarding the fortress or the shouts of the soldiers.
The coachman who'd stopped the carriage made no sound, and the escort knights who'd ridden alongside didn't open the door for him.
Grrrr.
Instead, all he could hear outside the carriage door was the low growling of monsters.
The Viscount's expression froze.
It seemed the carriage had stopped before even fully reaching the fortress.
He wanted to wait for people from the fortress to arrive, but the monsters' growling outside was too grating to bear.
He summoned his courage.
He'd held out this far; he couldn't just die inside the carriage.
He grabbed the sword resting beside his seat. Then he checked the artifacts adorning his body.
He was no knight and possessed no combat-oriented abilities, but he was certain he could make it to the fortress if he used his artifacts.
'One, two, three.'
Counting in his head, he kicked the carriage door open with all his might and burst outside.
Fortunately, his old body still moved properly.
He extended his hand, the artifacts on it ready to activate, and looked around.
"This is impossible. Are we inside the fortress?"
The carriage was wedged between broken wooden fences.
The horses were dead, and the escort knights were nowhere to be seen.
The coachman was being devoured by monsters up ahead, and the remaining monsters were surrounding him.
The fortress had been reduced to ruins.
It wasn't just the wooden fence where the carriage was stuck that was broken.
Corpses were scattered everywhere. Not a single living soul was in sight.
The Viscount looked around blankly, but at some point, his eyes began to sparkle.
Inside the wide-open warehouse, goods were still piled high.
Though the fortress was in ruins, his treasures remained.
"Good. As long as my goods are safe, there's still a way..."
The moment the Viscount muttered those words, the monsters lunged at him.
"No!"
With a scream, the artifacts began to glow.
A translucent barrier unfolded, flames spewed forth, and electricity even coursed through the ground.
Multiple artifacts and abilities had activated at the same time.
The monsters shrieked, and a few were even set ablaze.
But in that brief moment, the mana barrier shattered, and with his mana completely depleted, he was pinned beneath the monsters.
"Ugh."
Pinned beneath the monsters, his stomach was already half torn open, exposing his entrails, and one of his arms was missing entirely.
Given his old body, it looked as if he wouldn't be able to hold out much longer.
As the Viscount lay dying, the leader monster, which had been watching from a distance, approached.
The monster seemed to have remained cautious until the very end. It was truly an intelligent creature.
But someone was watching that monster.
Slash!
The leader monster's head was severed, and immediately after, a dagger flew through the air and embedded itself in the head of the monster pinning down the Viscount.
In the Viscount's fading vision, he saw someone moving like a tempest, cutting down the monsters.
Though his savior still looked young, to the dying Viscount it was as if a Hero had been reincarnated.
Once all the monsters were slain, the man holding the greatsword approached.
The Viscount squeezed out the last of his strength.
Though he'd resigned himself to death just moments ago, he realized he wasn't ready to die just yet.
He forced his mouth open.
"The, the potion... in the bag inside the carriage..."
But the young—no, youthful-looking—man merely stared down at the Viscount blankly.
"Please save me... If only I have the potion..."
From my perspective, it seemed unlikely that even a potion could save him.
Besides, I had no intention of saving him.
I'd stepped in at the end to leave evidence that the monsters had attacked.
They were highly intelligent monsters.
If I left them alive, they might devour the Viscount entirely and drag away the corpses of their fallen packmates.
"Why... would a Hero..."
The Viscount breathed his last, leaving behind those cryptic final words.
I stared at the dead Viscount for a moment before walking over to the carriage.
A backpack containing potions.
There might be items inside that were far more useful to me than anything in that warehouse.
I moved quickly.
If I wanted to make it to the wedding on time, I had to hurry.