Monster Herding (1)
Monster Herding (1)
The corpses disappeared into the backpack one after another.
Dozens of corpses had already gone inside, yet there was still plenty of room.
The campsite was cleared in an instant.
A few horses still wandered nearby, but once even the broken tents had been cleared away, it was hard to tell that any knights had ever been here.
As the backpack filled, Glan hoisted it onto his back.
He had become a junior who did his job well without my even having to say a word.
It was about time to set some boundaries for this junior, too.
The sun was slowly beginning to shine into this canyon as well.
According to what I'd heard from the rangers last night, the monsters were supposed to arrive here this afternoon.
Those rangers, of course, were currently inside that very backpack.
We had to hurry if we wanted to finish preparing before the monsters arrived.
I called out to Glan.
"Yes?"
Glan approached hesitantly.
My junior seemed to fear me even more than he had last night.
I took the backpack and slung it over my back.
Then I spoke to my junior.
"Junior, you've seen what I've done so far. And just as you asked a while ago, you can probably guess what would happen if other people found out about it."
Crack.
At my words, Glan gulped without realizing it.
"Since everyone else is dead, the only ones who know what I've done are you and me."
"...By any chance, are you going to kill me too?"
My junior's face turned from pale to completely white.
Even if I didn't kill him, he looked like he might die of fright anyway.
I felt I needed to clear up the misunderstanding quickly.
"No, I won't kill you. Instead, I need you to swear an oath to keep this secret."
"Ah, then as soon as we return, I'll make a contract at the temple to keep the secret."
"There's no need to go that far."
The temple wasn't very trustworthy now anyway, and my junior might spread rumors before we even reached a temple to make a contract.
Judging by his face, it didn't seem like he'd utter a single word for a while, but it was always better to be thorough when it came to security.
I drew the sword from my waist and planted it upside down in the ground with a firm push.
Resting my hand on the pommel, I said to Glan,
"Place your hand here and swear. Swear that you won't tell anyone what you saw here, except where I permit."
Glan gripped the sword's hilt with a bewildered expression.
It was understandable that being told to simply place his hand on a sword and swear, rather than make an official contract, seemed strange to him.
Even so, perhaps because he thought he might die otherwise, he quickly swore as I'd instructed.
"I swear to keep everything I saw here a secret, except in places permitted by Senior Alex."
A clean oath.
And a clean contract.
Mana flowed from the hand resting on the pommel into the sword.
Hum.
The Divine Sword vibrated slightly, and my junior's eyes widened.
"No way... A contract?"
It seemed Glan felt it too.
The vibration stopped. I pulled the Divine Sword out and sheathed it at my waist again.
The Holy Knight's Divine Sword had done its part beautifully.
Glan's expression changed.
Instead of looking terrified, he now stared at me with a face full of awe.
"Whatever you're imagining, you're probably wrong, so just keep the secret well."
"Y-Yes, sir!"
As expected, he had indeed been about to let his imagination run wild.
In any case, now that the contract was made, I felt I could put him to work without worrying.
After confirming that Glan had followed my instructions, concealed himself, and run south, I slung the backpack over my shoulder and headed north.
Since I'd completely erased the knights who had ventured into the canyon, it was time to take a look at the Empire Fortress.
Whoosh.
I dashed through the desolate canyon, with towering rocky cliffs rising high on both sides.
The northern wall of Soroka Fortress.
A boy appeared in front of the wall built to block off the canyon.
Although the boy had materialized out of thin air, the soldiers guarding the wall weren't surprised.
"It's Young Lord Glan! Open the gate!"
They immediately began raising the fortress gate.
Rumble.
The heavy iron gate began to rise.
"Hyah!"
Before it could fully open, a girl on horseback dashed out from inside.
Though she was small beside the massive horse, her gear and momentum were on par with those of an ordinary knight.
It was Princess Aisha.
She had been waiting at the foot of the wall, worried about Alex, who had headed into the canyon the previous day.
"How did it go?"
"Gasp, gasp. Ah. Ah. It's fine."
Glan caught his breath and checked whether he was allowed to speak to the Princess.
As expected, he could speak to her.
The Princess was someone Senior Alex had said he could inform. There was no issue with the contract.
"The canyon is clear. Senior Alex swept it completely clean."
At Glan's words, the Princess's expression brightened.
She drew the sword Alex had given her and raised it high. Then she shouted toward the top of the wall,
"We've confirmed that the canyon is clear! We must go and take up our positions before the monsters arrive!"
Count Bador was standing atop the wall.
Hearing the Princess's words, he looked down at his son.
As he stared, his son flinched slightly. The boy looked as though things weren't quite going his way.
It was strange behavior, but his son quickly recovered his composure and nodded toward the Princess.
It was a sign that the Princess's words were indeed true.
Though he was a rebellious son, he wasn't a child who would lie.
Still, it was hard to believe. The canyon was clear? Could there have been a civil war in the Empire?
Yesterday, before the illegitimate son of the Duke of Gracia—no, his son, Knight Alex—set out, he had made a proposal.
His suggestion was that if, by some chance, the canyon was empty, they should send the forces stationed at the fortress to drive the monsters north, toward the Empire.
It was likely, of course, that the Empire controlled the canyon, but he had argued that the possibility wasn't entirely zero.
It was an absurd suggestion, but the Princess had agreed with Alex, and since Count Bador had also heard rumors, he had consented to the plan.
And now, a miracle-like event had occurred.
Whatever the reason, he couldn't afford to miss such an opportunity now that it had presented itself.
He bellowed toward the rear,
"The canyon is clear! Fortress Knights Order, deploy!"
Waaah!
A roar of cheers erupted from behind the wall, and a moment later, knights poured out through the gate.
These were the knights who had gathered to defend the fortress.
As if venting all the sorrow of having done nothing but defend for so long, the knights galloped forward with fierce energy.
"Anyone slower than Her Highness gets an extra ten hours of sparring!"
The senior knights roared, and the knights charged through the canyon, following close behind the Princess at the front.
Around the time Glan arrived at Soroka Fortress, I was busy observing the Empire Fortress.
Looking down from halfway up a cliff, I saw that the Empire Fortress, unlike the fortress city to the south, was a classic walled stronghold.
It was a double-walled fortress, with an outer wall and an inner wall. The southern wall of the outer fortress blocked off the canyon.
The soldiers atop the walls scanned their surroundings with sharp eyes.
Perhaps because they'd heard the monsters were coming, the soldiers were highly disciplined.
Although I'd dealt with all the knights, it was certain that officers with inherited abilities remained.
It seemed unlikely that I could pull off something like opening the gates without being detected.
Regrettably, it looked like I'd have to withdraw for now.
Just as I was about to back away from the crevice in the cliff where I was hiding, a man stepped onto the wall.
Judging by his uniform, he was definitely an officer.
He gave instructions to the soldiers and muttered something while looking out over the canyon.
Even with my hearing enhanced by mana, the distance was too great for me to hear him, but I could read his lips.
'Commander...'
'No... contact...'
'Scouts...'
I could make out only a few words, but those few words made me hesitate.
That officer seemed to be of a higher rank than I'd initially thought.
Though I couldn't know for sure, he was someone with decision-making authority in a fortress without any knights.
And if I left him alone, he might soon realize that the knights had vanished.
But the distance was too great for the sword aura I'd recently acquired to reach him.
There was no time to hesitate.
I pulled a crossbow—no, a heavy crossbow—out of the relic pouch on my chest.
A black-painted bolt and the heavy crossbow.
They were a relic bolt and heavy crossbow.
My secret weapon that never missed its target.
Since they were single-use, I had to ask the Grand Archduchess to repair them after every use, but nothing was better for killing someone from a distance.
I raised the heavy crossbow and aimed at the officer atop the wall.
The moment the officer's chest lined up perfectly in the sights, I pulled the trigger.
Pfft.
A sound so faint that even the shooter could barely hear it.
Yet the black bolt flew toward the wall like a flash of lightning.
Thud.
As always, the heavy crossbow broke once again.
Judging by the damage, it seemed there were only a few repairs left before it became completely useless.
I put the broken weapon out of my mind and stared intently at the top of the wall.
Thud!
No sound reached me, but it felt as if I could hear it.
The officer, who had been leaning over the parapet, flinched violently, then fell over the edge.
Thud.
The officer struck the ground more than ten meters below.
Since the officer was also an inherited ability User, he might have survived a fall from this height, but he was already dead before he even hit the ground.
A commotion broke out atop the wall, and I saw the fortress gate begin to open.
Looking at the fallen officer, I muttered internally,
'Summon.'
The moment I spoke, the bolt that had pierced the officer's body and protruded from his back vanished.
Pat!
At the same time, the black bolt appeared in my hand.
Perhaps because I'd used them so many times, the heavy crossbow and bolt had been recognized as my property for some time now.
That meant I could summon them, too, allowing me to erase evidence like this.
The area in front of the wall was far more chaotic than I'd expected.
Soldiers rushed out to check on the officer, while troops ran in all directions atop the wall.
He was definitely a high-ranking officer, as expected.
And with the soldiers rushing out, the gate stood wide open.
If I acted now, I might be able to destroy the mechanism that opened and closed the gate, but the problem was that there were too many soldiers and officers.
I'd likely get caught.
Regrettably, now was the time to retreat.
I packed the bolt and the broken heavy crossbow into my relic pouch, checked the backpack on my back, and carefully slipped away.
Time passed, and the sun was now shining directly down between the cliffs on either side.
It was noon.
I had returned to the center of the canyon, where the last campsite I'd cleared was located.
"The Knights Order has arrived at the southern containment zone. Her Highness has arrived as well."
Glan reported to me, sweating profusely.
Having traveled to Soroka Fortress and back in just half a day, it was only natural that he was exhausted.
Yet Glan didn't rest or slack off. He followed my orders to the letter.
From what I'd observed so far, he was a junior who would make an excellent subordinate.
I couldn't understand why such a good, diligent student had fought with his father.
The Knights Order was in the south, and I stood in the center. Of the three areas where the monsters would swarm, we had blocked off two.
We couldn't block the remaining one, but that direction led toward the northern branch of the Northern Mountain Range, which headed toward the Empire anyway.
We couldn't block it, nor did we intend to.
As I inspected my weapons while looking toward the cliff, Glan asked,
"Are we the only two here?"
"Why, are you scared?"
"No. Why would I be scared when you're here, Senior? If a dragon were by your side, would you be afraid of a lizard? I went through everything truly terrifying last night."
Even when I told him that only the two of us would have to hold off the monsters, Glan wasn't surprised.
I chuckled at how much Glan had changed since last night, as I felt mana surging in the distance.
Hum.
Though not strong individually, a massive amount of mutated mana was approaching.
Soon after, a beacon fire flared atop the rocky mountain.
"They're here!"
The monsters had arrived.