Chapter 106
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Translator: Prime Works
Chapter: 106
Chapter Title: Captain Frontera (2)
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Deeeeng-!
A low, clear resonant tone rang out.
It sent regular vibrations through the air.
The transmitted waves reached the locust's body.
They stimulated the auditory organs beneath the connection between its chest and hind legs.
Through those auditory organs, they tapped the central nervous system.
The nervous center responded to the stimulation.
Follow this resonance, it urged.
Pzzzt!
The 132,645th locust, poised to leap at Baron Frontera, froze.
It released the power in its hind legs.
It abandoned the predatory stance it had assumed.
Then, it swiftly twisted its body in the opposite direction.
Toward the source of that low, clear resonant tone.
Out the window.
Ta-at!
The 132,645th locust leaped.
It flew out of the mansion through the broken window.
The other locusts did the same.
As if an invisible, massive collective unconsciousness was controlling the swarm.
No sooner had the first locust exited the window than the rest spun around.
They surged forward in a chaotic rush to escape all at once.
The remaining windows shattered completely.
The frames crumpled.
They trampled each other.
In that frenzy among themselves, they ebbed out of the mansion like a receding tide.
The resonance tone stimulated their auditory organs once more.
Deeeeng-!
“What in the world…….”
Baron Frontera's eyes widened.
The locust swarm had vanished from the mansion in an instant.
It was an unbelievable sight.
“Did you hear that just now?”
His wife's voice asked.
The baron turned to her.
“I did. That voice that came with the sound of a large bell tolling…….”
“It was Lloyd.”
The baron and his wife exchanged glances and nodded.
No doubt about it.
Even at the ends of the earth, even in the depths of hell, they would recognize their son's voice.
The next moment, the baron couple moved as one without a word.
They dashed down the stairs.
They passed the wrecked entrance hall.
They crossed the now-empty inner courtyard in a flash.
They arrived at the front gate, where visibility was relatively clear.
And there they saw it.
The sight of thousands, tens of thousands of locusts swarming in one direction.
The two warhorses charging at the forefront.
The two figures riding those warhorses.
“……Lloyd? Sir Asrahan?”
The couple's stunned mutterings.
Another locust flew past their mutterings, belatedly hurrying through the air.
It passed the entrance road to the baron's mansion.
It landed on the roof of the village's only tavern.
Ignoring the tavern owner who screamed in fright, it leaped again.
It joined the ranks of its tens of thousands of kin.
Such scenes unfolded across the Frontera Territory.
Deeeeng-!
The resonance rang out.
A locust devouring a haystack in a barn twitched.
It spat out the haystack it had been munching and bolted toward the sound.
Deeeeng-!
The low, clear tone resounded again.
A locust about to pounce on a calf in a stable hesitated.
It gave up the plump prey and flew out of the stable.
Deeeeng-!
The majestic vibration echoed once more.
The shepherd boy crying out in terror.
The hunter girl resisting at his side.
The engineering corps member clutching his family's hands in prayer.
The young wife shouting to protect her nursing infant.
All of them witnessed the locusts that had been about to devour them freeze.
They saw the locusts abandon their prey and spread their wings toward the resonance.
And finally, they all beheld it.
The unimaginable spectacle unfolding across the territory.
Deeeeeeng-!
Haviel's sword, still in its scabbard, swung.
It struck the metal mass with force.
Deeeeng-!
The pitch-black pot lid, 1.2 meters in diameter, emitted a heavy resonance.
Lloyd's shout erupted from behind the pot lid.
“Good! Once more!”
Lloyd charged on his warhorse, holding the pot lid like a shield.
Haviel, riding alongside, responded to the shout with a full swing of his sheathed sword.
Whiiish, deeeeng-!
Haviel struck, Lloyd blocked.
The swung scabbard met the solidly struck pot lid.
Each time Haviel hit the pot lid Lloyd held aloft, a low, clear resonance boomed powerfully.
With every boom, more locusts gathered.
Of course, that didn't mean the two were surrounded by the swarm.
It was thanks to the warhorses enhanced with galloping magic.
“Good! As expected, herding trash mobs is no fun without the pull!”
“What's a trash mob?!”
“They exist! Once more!”
“Yes!”
Thududududu, deeeeng-!
At the head of the charge, they unleashed the resonance.
Each time, the scale of the pursuing locust swarm grew.
A faint smile played on Lloyd's lips.
‘Good. It's going according to plan.’
The locusts were gathering successfully.
The mob herding strategy was working perfectly.
For a moment, Lloyd recalled the novel Iron-Blooded Knight.
‘It was the description of the orc tribes in the eastern wastelands.’
In the novel, orcs survived by hunting monsters for food.
But hunts weren't always successful.
Starvation was commonplace.
And when even their stockpiled food ran out?
The orcs had a method to ensure survival.
They would strike a large gong at the heart of the wasteland, producing a low, clear resonance.
‘This kind of resonance draws in the locusts inhabiting the wastelands, or something like that. It was explained that the wavelength matches the sound they make to call mates during breeding season.’
He had decided to trust that memory.
It was the only way to gather the locusts in one place.
‘Gather them first. Gather and wipe them out in one go. Otherwise? Chasing down and smashing every last one of those numbers. Before I could, there wouldn't be a blade of grass left in the barony.’
Without this method, the territory's grass, houses, and people would all be devoured.
And him?
Total ruin.
He absolutely refused such a bad end.
Before that disaster struck, he had to exterminate the locust swarm as efficiently as possible.
To do that, he first had to herd them into one spot for easy smashing.
‘That's the basics of mob herding. Like this!’
Whiiish!
Haviel's descending scabbard.
Lloyd blocked it forcefully with the pot lid.
Deeeeeeng-!
‘……Urk.’
The blow was so powerful that his hand gripping the pot lid and his entire arm went numb.
An immense vibration and wave swept through his whole body.
It felt like being inside the Boseongak bell tolling grandly on New Year's Day. Or like hugging a massive concert subwoofer pounding furiously.
His stomach churned slightly.
“Hey?”
He peeked over the edge of the pot lid with a flounder eye.
He glared seriously at Haviel across from him.
“I've been feeling it for a bit now, but it seems like there's some emotion in that scabbard swing hitting the pot lid?”
“Pardon? What do you mean?”
Haviel, riding parallel, glanced over.
He tilted his head as if puzzled.
“I'm simply faithfully executing the strategy you proposed, Lord Lloyd.”
“Oh, really?”
“Yes, like this.”
Whiiish, deeeeng-!
‘……Urp!’
His stomach flipped again.
Lloyd's flounder eyes narrowed.
“For some reason, that scabbard swing feels stronger than before.”
“I have to hit harder to make a bigger resonance, so the locusts gather better.”
“Is that so? Want to switch? You hold the pot lid?”
“Why?”
“I think I can hit harder. With triple blasting.”
“I refuse.”
“Why?”
“Because this is fine.”
Whiiish, deeeeng-!
An even more powerful swing slammed into the pot lid.
Lloyd's face crumpled proportionally to the force.
But the effect was just as great.
The locust swarm pursued them even more relentlessly.
‘Fortunately, the strategy is working.’
Honestly, he had been doubtful if it would work.
But in practice, it was exceeding expectations.
He felt like the Pied Piper, no, the Young Master Pot Lid Banger.
“So, come on! Once more!”
He willingly raised the pot lid.
He blocked Haviel's descending scabbard.
Now, it didn't matter who hit and who took it.
He could take a hundred, a thousand such blows.
‘As long as the territory is safe, this is nothing!’
If it guaranteed a happy life in retirement, this much!
He could endure it all.
With that resolve, Lloyd quickly surveyed the surroundings.
‘Good. The herding is going well. Now it's time to minimize damage.’
The basic premise of successful herding was met.
Now, expand the herding range.
Gather as many locusts as possible.
That way, wiping them out in one shot would be easier.
“Alright! Let's circle the territory outskirts like this!”
“Understood.”
They turned their horses toward the territory outskirts.
They galloped along the main roads.
They left the central village.
They passed several hamlets.
They crossed fields, paddies, and orchards.
Each time, they struck and blocked the pot lid.
They unleashed resonances at full power whenever possible.
Wherever their charge took them, new locust swarms joined the pursuit. Fifty thousand, a hundred thousand, a hundred fifty thousand, finally surpassing two hundred thousand. And still, they swelled endlessly.
Lloyd wasn't satisfied yet.
“South!”
After completing a full lap around the Frontera Territory outskirts herding mobs, Lloyd pointed south.
Toward the Marez Reclaimed Land.
No, his finger pointed beyond the reclaimed land.
“To the viscounty. Follow close!”
“Understood.”
A flicker of light appeared in Haviel's eyes.
Rionero Racona Viscounty.
It was a bit unexpected.
‘He plans to help there too?’
Relations between this barony and the viscounty weren't amicable.
In fact, they were close to enmity.
But on second thought, the viscounty's residents had done nothing wrong.
‘He's setting aside personal grudges with Viscount Rionero Racona to prioritize the residents' safety.’
Haviel nodded.
If the barony was attacked by locusts, the adjacent southern viscounty couldn't possibly be unscathed. Its people must be caught in the same disaster.
It was a point he hadn't considered.
With a touch of admiration, he looked at Lloyd.
At that moment, a message appeared before Lloyd's eyes.
Ding-dong.
[Haviel Asrahan admires your righteous actions and feels affinity toward you.]
[Haviel Asrahan's affinity toward you has increased by +3.]
[Current relationship with Haviel Asrahan: +8]
[54 RP acquired due to slight relationship improvement with a key figure.]
[Current RP: 4083]
‘Heh, righteous actions, huh.’
Lloyd unwittingly let out a wry smile.
He seemed to have been slightly misunderstood.
‘Not righteous intentions at all.’
He was helping, yes.
But it wasn't out of pity for the viscounty or surging chivalry.
There was only one reason he was heading to the viscounty now.
To protect the straw he had firmly inserted.
‘The viscounty has to survive so I can keep collecting water taxes forever!’
If it collapsed?
All the effort of installing the aqueduct would be wasted.
The straw that would provide bountiful retirement through water taxes for decades would be yanked out.
He had to prevent that tragedy.
Moreover, in terms of extermination, this choice was obvious.
‘Leaving the viscounty's locusts would cause secondary damage here.’
After ravaging the viscounty, they might hit the barony next.
So, if exterminating them anyway?
Bundle the viscounty's attackers into the set menu and wipe them out together.
“So, let's go! Faster! Hya!”
He spurred the warhorse.
He gripped the pot lid tightly.
The galloping magic shone even brighter.
Thududududu-!
They entered the viscounty outskirts.
As expected, the viscounty was a hellscape.
The entire territory was blanketed by a massive locust swarm.
Screams, shouts from people, and the whir of locust wings mingled in chaotic harmony everywhere.
“Let's go! Hya!”
He kicked the warhorse's flanks.
They charged unhindered.
They leaped over main roads, passed through villages, traversed the entire viscounty.
Together with Haviel, they unleashed booming resonances.
Guards bleeding as they fought.
Farmers and housewives fleeing.
Boys and girls wailing.
Even infants gurgling at locusts trying to devour them.
All heard the resonance in their moment of desperation.
They were saved by the vibrations Lloyd and Haviel created.
Bzzzzt!
Hundreds of thousands of locusts blanketing the viscounty took to the air.
They abandoned their prey and pursued Lloyd and Haviel.
Successful mob herding.
“Good, now back to the barony!”
They galloped.
Leading a combined swarm of five hundred thousand locusts, they advanced.
It was a march toward planned extermination.
‘Marez Reclaimed Land. Riverbank. Just get there.’
Lloyd recalled the point where he had stationed Podong, Bangul, and Hamang.
The so-called extermination zone prepared for this operation.
There, he would annihilate the locust swarm.
He would book them group tickets to King Enma's Career Counseling Classroom.
That was Lloyd's vow.