74
My Villains Chapter 74
20. City of Chaos (3)
After leaving the prince's tent, Ellen and I sat on a box filled with arrows. We were waiting for the elderly knight Ariad.
"In the end, I just talked about myself. Didn't even get to hear how the situation ended up like this."
Ellen responded to my mumbling.
"Why didn't you just ask?"
"Yeah, that's true. I thought the prince would explain it himself, but he only asked about what he was curious about until the end."
Because of his title as prince and the fact that he commands an army, I must have been a bit intimidated. It was kind of difficult to ask 'Why is the prince's army here?'
"But you spoke so well in front of the prince without trembling? And even threw some heavy sarcasm. I thought I was gonna die from anxiety, man."
"What's there to be anxious about?"
"Aren't you scared? What if the prince gets angry and cuts off your head?"
When I whispered while looking around, Ellen snickered.
"Cut off a magician's head just for speaking a bit rudely? In his position where he's barely hanging on by reputation alone, would he do something like that?"
"What do you mean? Hanging on by reputation alone? Who? The prince?"
"Prince Ulkar is only alive until now thanks to his popularity among the lower nobility and common people. Without that, his head would have flown off to the king long ago."
"...The king would kill his own son? Why?"
"Because he doesn't think of him as his son. You're asking because you don't know?"
This is another headache-inducing story. My head is already complicated enough as it is.
"Hey, enough. Let's talk about that later. What's Guard il Weir and what's the obligation?"
"...You should have read some history books instead of learning foreign languages. Don't you know about the 'Guard il Weir Massacre'?"
"I don't know, man. Can't you just explain without nagging every time?"
Ellen slightly furrowed her brow but soon gave a straightforward answer.
"About 80 years ago, the king killed about 300 magicians at Guard il Weir. The king took out his anger claiming his mother was killed by an unknown magician... Well, it was just typical behavior of the Jeore royal family."
"What about all that talk of obligation?"
"The prince was testing me. He was checking if I belonged to the 'Dawn Council'."
"Dawn Council?"
"There are some crazy guys who've been serving as the king's servants for generations. No need to know about them."
Earlier, didn't the magician mister refer to the 'Dawn Council', 'Palace', and 'House Rao' together as the great houses of magic?
Among them, 'Palace' probably refers to 'La-Palais Palace' where Ellen is from... The 'Dawn Council' and 'House Rao' seem to be groups that are also involved with magic.
Well, if that's the case, they probably have some kind of competitive relationship among themselves.
Wait. Dawn Council?
The full name of 'Twelve', the notorious named group that appears in Chapter 7, was... 'The Twelve Mages of Dawn', I think.
Hmm, is it too much of a stretch to make a connection just based on the word 'dawn'? No, they also overlap in being crazy bastards who use magic.
For now, I should just remember the name. What's urgent right now is....
At that moment, I spotted a familiar face among a group of soldiers passing by carrying sacks of supplies.
"Oh, that? Hey, Ivo!"
"...Mr. Phoenix?"
Ivo showed a stupid expression on his acne-covered face. Thinking this was perfect timing, I quickly grabbed him.
Ivo is a young scout belonging to the army led by Prince Ulkar. We had built something resembling a bond of comradeship during our brief time returning to South Harbor through the secret passage.
Ivo, who was dragged over with me holding his nape, made a dumb sound ‘Uh, uh-’. Then upon discovering Ellen, his eyes grew round.
"Oh, Lady Ellen? You're, you're safe?"
When Ellen chewed on her words as usual, Ivo approached her with a delighted expression.
"I heard you went down to the sewers. I was worried-"
"Stop. You can talk from there."
When I blocked his path saying that, Ivo's face turned pale for some reason and he nodded.
"Y-yes. Right. Sorry-"
"No need to be sorry."
I turned him to face the opposite direction and continued speaking.
"That's enough greetings, let me ask you something."
"Eh, yes? What is it?"
"We just came up to the surface not long ago, so we have no idea what's going on with the situation."
"Ah, I see."
"So give me a rough explanation. How did the prince's army get in here?"
"Well..."
Ivo glanced back briefly to check the other soldiers' reactions before beginning his explanation.
South Harbor, which had been surrounded by land and sea, faced a major crisis due to the earthquake. Parts of the castle walls and several towers collapsed, creating large holes in the defensive line.
Though the earthquake was intense, it didn't last long, and as the tremors subsided, the bandits immediately began their attack, targeting the gaps.
And in that urgent situation, the Count of Seiben region and lord of South Harbor and Salt Castle, 'Osred Kuldson of Eafried', chose to flee.
He headed to the dock with only his wife, young son, relatives, and a few royal guards.
Of course, due to the earthquake, most ships had sunk so they ultimately couldn't set sail.
Anyway, it was Prince Ulkar who stepped up in that crisis. After gathering the scattered defenders, the prince climbed the castle wall and shouted.
-Hold your positions! This is the prince's order!
The shout became a rallying cry that spread through the city.
The soldiers who had been throwing down their weapons and fleeing began gathering at the walls one by one, whether drawn by the prince's authority or realizing they had nowhere to run.
There, the soldiers saw the prince drawing his bow with his silver hair flowing. They saw a giant knight standing alone below the collapsed wall. They saw reinforcements ambushing the bandit group while cutting through the reed fields.
At that sight, the soldiers regained their morale and succeeded in driving out the enemies under the prince's command.
When the army entered South Harbor on top of that, Prince Ulkar began taking control of South Harbor.
In the process, the prince imprisoned the lord and his family, who had been pacing at the dock, in the half-collapsed Salt Castle.
Though it was under the pretense of protecting the lord in case of emergency, not many believed those words. After all, it was essentially a guest imprisoning the host.
The lord's vassals, like the captain of the royal guard and captain of the garrison, immediately came forward in opposition.
Internal strife nearly broke out due to the opposition of the military officers who held direct command, but thanks to the mediation of the military commander, the most senior of the officers, direct armed conflict was avoided.
While the military commander's personal reputation played a part, the fact that the prince's knights stood behind him likely had a major influence as well.
After all, it was quite an intimidating sight to see the kingdom's renowned knights standing there with blood soaked all over them, their eyes gleaming white.
After that, there were several waves of attacks from bandits and pirates, but they were somehow repelled under the prince's command.
And just as the supplies brought by reinforcements were starting to run low, Ellen and I dropped out of the sky.
"...Haha, what a mess."
"Well, yeah."
At this point, it's not just that the scenario is slightly off - it's been completely shattered and reassembled, hasn't it?
I sighed deeply and took out a silver coin from my pocket to give to Ivo.
"Thanks for the information. Seems like I took up your time, so get going."
"Oh. Why give me silver for just this?"
"Think of it as payment for the arrows you used when we worked together."
"Hehe, it's really fine..."
Even while saying that, he was already stuffing the silver coin somewhere in his pants. Just then, the soldiers who had come with Ivo shouted.
"Ivo! How long are you going to stand around chatting!"
"Ugh, coming now! Good to see you again, Mr. Phoenix. You too, Lady Ellen."
"Yeah, hurry up and go."
Ivo started running toward the soldiers but suddenly turned back and said,
"Ah, that barbarian who came with you!"
"...Barbarian?"
"Yes, the one with tattoos! He's in the gallows! I heard they're executing him tomorrow at noon?"
"What?"
A tattooed barbarian?
...Could it be Utequais? He's being executed? Why?
"Ivo, you little brat!"
"C-coming!"
With a veteran soldier's irritated shout, Ivo disappeared between the tents.
"Hey! Ivo!"
"Sorry!"
Damn it- you should at least finish explaining before running off, you idiot!
Ugh, what the hell did Utequais do in just a few days?
"Ellen, let's go to the gallows."
"What?"
Ellen, who had been fiddling with her gray wand, furrowed her brow and questioned.
"You want to risk being misunderstood by moving around as we please?"
"The gallows are right in front of us. We can quickly check and come back."
"Let's go later. Don't try to complicate things unnecessarily."
"Hey, is making things a bit complicated really the issue here? Someone might die?"
At my urging, Ellen sighed as if frustrated, then spoke in a low voice.
"You and I are still under suspicion, remember? If things get complicated while we're wandering around carelessly, it won't just be about losing some money - our lives could be in danger. Don't you know the royals are all butchers?"
"That's different from what you said earlier. Didn't you say the prince wasn't the type to kill people recklessly?"
"That's when there's no excuse, you idiot. What if they demand our heads saying we deserted after we disappeared? I might be fine since I pretended to be a magician with connections, but you're just some mercenary nobody."
...I see.
"And besides, what's that barbarian to us? What does it matter to us if he's captured or dead?"
"What do you mean what does it matter..."
Well, Ellen has no motivation to save Utequais. What connection could there be between a mage from across the sea and a barbarian from beyond the highlands?
I scratched my head for a moment before speaking.
"Didn't you see him fight? He can deflect arrows and he's incredibly strong."
"So?"
"Well, he's someone we could get various kinds of help from. Even in our current situation..."
Ellen, who had crossed her arms by now, narrowed her eyes and made a sour expression.
"Don't tell me you're thinking of making that barbarian our companion?"
"It's not that I'm definitely going to... No, wouldn't it work out fine?"
"You crazy bastard, it was just yesterday we got screwed over bringing along that old man who stinks of rotting corpses. And now what? You want to bring in a barbarian who doesn't even wear clothes? Are you insane?"
I've got nothing to say to that.
I can't approach this with a 'Hehe, don't worry, he's my sub-character~' since I got hit too hard in the back of the head by Luke... Blindly trusting Utequais just because he's a sub-character would be crazy.
But thinking about how the difficulty will increase from now on, we could use a meat shield like Utequais.
Just then, the old knight emerged from the prince's tent.
"Sorry to keep you waiting."
"Oh, no, not at all."
The in-game appearance of the old knight 'Ariad Barin' wasn't particularly impressive. He was just an NPC who acted as a guide in the Slaughter King Ulkar's residence.
While being a guide is quite an important role, compared to the prince who appears as a chapter boss or other knights who appear as pick names... Well, he's just like a radio that recites background explanations, that's all.
However, Lord Ariad was the only knight under Ulkar who was not contaminated by the two-dimensional magical power.
Not only did he not fall into corruption, but he even helped the heroes, so you could say he was quite an extraordinary person. Although it's about future events that haven't happened yet... Wouldn't he be someone we can trust?
I waited for the old knight's words with somewhat anticipatory feelings, but,
"I've made a rough plan. For now, we need to gather information, so you all should wait for a while. Do you have a place to stay?"
"Oh, we can stay at the Ship's Horn Inn. If it's still intact."
"Ship's Horn Inn? Ah, you mean the guard station?"
Guard station? Not an outpost?
The old knight nodded and continued speaking.
"That works out well. I'll send someone by nightfall. Wait there."
After saying that, Ariad disappeared swiftly with a young man who appeared to be his attendant and three or four soldiers.
"Huh...?"
...What, that's it? Why did he tell us to wait if this was all?
No, this isn't the time for that. I picked up Ellen in my arms and asked her.
"Are we good now?"
"For what?"
"Before we go to the church, let's quickly stop by the gallows. We can at least find out what's going on."
Ellen wrapped her arms around my neck and looked up at me with suspicious eyes.
"I'll say it again, I hate barbarians."
"Don't tell me you're a freaking racist?"
"Wh-what did you say?"
"Never mind. You don't have a choice anyway, so keep quiet."
"You crazy bastard, ugh!"
As I slung the squirming kid over my shoulder, Ellen let out a loud scream.
"H-hey, let go! Hey! Put me down!"
I continued walking, ignoring the tiny hands pounding around my waist.