Chapter 200
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 200
Chapter Title: The Horn Flute's Secret
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To my question, Luna glanced at the horn flute before giving a firm reply.
"I don't know."
"Why not?"
"There are tons of things that look just like it on the surface. How am I supposed to know which one it is?"
"Come on, how do you not know? Your eye for detail is slipping."
At my teasing, she puffed out her cheeks a little.
"Leon, then guess what's different about me from yesterday."
"Huh?"
I was done for.
Luna was my lover.
Which meant her getting upset was a pretty serious issue for me.
"Go on, tell me."
"Uh... um, well."
I mobilized every ounce of observation I had, desperately trying to spot what had changed from yesterday.
But nothing stood out. Almost no difference from the day before.
"Anyway, good work, everyone. How about we pull back and rest?"
As I tried to change the subject, Luna grabbed my arm tight.
"Freeze. Pulling a switcheroo?"
I had to choose my words carefully. One wrong guess, and it'd be like a tactical nuke going off.
No, but really, nothing had changed. Hairstyle, clothes, shoes—nothing anywhere.
Cold sweat dripped down as I averted my eyes, and Luna tilted her head with a blank expression, staring up at me. Her gaze was as calm and focused as a cat eyeing prey right in front of it.
Looking into those shadowed eyes made me feel like I needed to apologize for something I hadn't even done.
Even as I shifted my gaze, she followed slowly. Parel nearby must have sensed the danger, because he cleared his throat awkwardly and backed away.
After staring like that for a while, I racked my brain desperately.
Then I pooled every memory in my head and zeroed in on the most likely spot.
"B-breast touch?"
"Wrong."
As her face drew even closer, cold sweat poured off me like rain.
The tense standoff, breath catching in my throat, lasted a moment before Luna pulled back.
"No idea?"
"Uh... yeah, no clue."
"No wonder. Nothing changed from yesterday."
What? Unbelievable.
Regardless of my current mood, she giggled, clearly delighted her prank had worked, and took a couple steps back.
Then she turned with hands behind her back and skipped off lightly.
"That's how it is. Nothing stands out in particular, and there are way more than one or two of those things. No way I'd know."
"Fair enough."
I handed the horn flute back to Melissa.
"Anyone hurt?"
"No, ma'am. Thanks to Lady Robel, all the minor injuries are healed."
Seeing the orbs of light floating around Linne Robel, it looked about right.
Spirit healing had its wondrous side.
"Good work, everyone. Take it easy and head back."
"Understood."
As I watched them go, I reached out toward Melissa's shadow.
"Come forth."
From the shadow emerged a Death Knight clad in full plate armor.
It was the undead I'd taken from the lich in the capital dungeon long ago, now serving as Melissa's final guardian.
"What're you planning with that now?"
"Reinforcement."
Next, I reached toward my own shadow.
The wraith knight of Sword Master Basen, freshly acquired, rose silently.
Using necromantic mana, I broke down the wraith knight's soul and infused its power into the Death Knight.
I could clearly feel the Death Knight's strength surging stronger than ever.
Until now, I'd been feeding undead evenly to both the Death Knight and Muyoung.
And thanks to that...
Woooong...
Changes began rippling through the Death Knight's form.
"Wh-what the?!"
"Oh. Jackpot on the reinforcement."
The sheer power radiating from the Death Knight was incomparable to before.
It wasn't just from devouring a Sword Master wraith.
Eating a Sword Master's wraith granted massive experience, but effectively, this was the Death Knight leveling up.
"Alright, did it get a unique ability?"
At my command, the Death Knight gestured into the air, and black banshees materialized behind it.
They weren't overwhelmingly strong individually, but at least Aura User level banshees.
Banshees' advantage was high resistance to physical attacks.
Unlike the wraith-type undead I handled, these proper banshees had even stronger resistance.
Which meant their direct attacks would be weaker, of course.
"What... An undead summoning more undead?"
"We already have a lich. Twenty or so... not bad."
The stronger the Death Knight got, the stronger those would become too.
As I shoved the waiting Death Knight back into my shadow, Muyoung let out a low, dissatisfied growl from within.
"You'll get the Sacheon elder's wraith, so hang in there."
Only then did it seem satisfied, slipping back into the shadow.
The moment we entered Bata's capital, knights escorted us to an audience with the princess.
Melissa had come along for the report, along with the two Sacheon Clan siblings who'd requested asylum.
"Welcome. You've had a hard journey, Count. And Young Master Leon."
The woman awaiting us in the audience chamber greeted us despite her weary appearance, fatigue still etched on her face.
"And you two must be from the Sacheon Clan..."
"Cheonryeong."
"I am Hwaryeong."
"Nice to meet you both. It must have been tough getting here. A difficult decision, I'm sure."
"Not at all. We're grateful you've taken us in when we had nowhere else to go."
The princess gave a faint smile at Cheonryeong's polite response.
"We'll make sure you can rest comfortably. Anything you need?"
At the question, Cheonryeong closed his eyes briefly before opening them.
"Nothing. You're already doing more than enough by accepting us."
The parasites binding the siblings were gone, and the Macheon chains on Cheonryeong had vanished too.
In truth, the two were now free, having effectively left their clan behind.
"But we wish to assist our benefactor, so please let us stay with her."
At Cheonryeong's request, the princess looked surprised, glancing at Melissa.
"Count, is that possible?"
"No issue."
"Then I'll leave them in your care."
"As you command."
Their decision to come to House Cascadia had already been settled.
It was what they'd told us on the way to the capital after regaining their senses.
"Now, onto the important matter."
The princess spread out a map of Bata with a stern expression.
"Koral has assembled at least 20,000 troops along the border near Koral. They're not fully armed yet, but they could cross any moment once ready."
Weapons, rations, horse feed, and other supplies.
Koral was dead set on crushing Bata.
20,000.
Not a huge number for a full-scale war.
But this was just the vanguard, and even that wasn't small.
In my past life, the East mobilized millions casually, but the West didn't operate that way.
"So they could march at any time?"
"No. Latest reports say the advancing forces have halted for now. The reason..."
The death of Sword Master Basen from the relic rift.
And failure to secure what they wanted.
In my view, the latter was the direct cause.
"Probably because they couldn't secure the horn flute to control the dragon soldiers."
"Dragon soldiers... I've seen the reports, but is that flute really the key?"
"Not entirely sure on the details. But I hear Koral secured relics from certain ruins that summon dragon soldiers. Problem was, no way to control them."
Then they got info on an artifact in the dragonkin relic rift that could.
"How did they learn about it in the first place?"
That was the biggest mystery. But somehow, I had a hunch who.
"There's one group that somehow gets their hands on that kind of info."
"You know them...? Ha... Don't tell me, them?"
"Yes, the heretics. Those guys. Same with the kraken incident—they hoard obscure knowledge."
The Moon's Watchers too, but heretics held vast unknown intel.
They could pull it off.
"Not right now, but they might try crossing Bata's border soon."
At the princess's words, Melissa pointed to two spots on the map.
"Considering their advance routes, supply lines, and rapid troop movement... this spot would be most effective."
Melissa indicated the path through Cascadia—including the border—to the capital.
And the route via the magic city of Baidel nearby.
"But Cascadia borders the Demon Realm with rough terrain, so they're more likely to target Baidel."
"The count is right. That's the higher probability. But war has no absolutes, so prepare for contingencies in Cascadia too."
"Troop dispatch..."
"Cascadia's role is holding the Demon Realm. The rest falls to the royals and other nobles."
"What about a preemptive strike?"
"Our kingdom isn't ready for war yet. We need more time."
"Like assassinating their commander?"
The princess nodded at Melissa's question.
Sniping one commander to save countless lives was ideal.
Of course, a replacement would fill the spot, but buying time was huge.
Me storming in and decapitating their head would work fine.
But there was an even better way.
"Best is to make them tear into each other."
The princess looked puzzled at my suggestion.
"What do you mean?"
"Might as well use what we got. As long as they don't trace it back to us."
I held up the horn flute Melissa had brought.
The border between Koral and Bata.
The 20,000 troops were impressive, but Koral planned to finish Bata before other nations interfered.
To minimize their losses and crush the foe utterly, they'd prepared ancient weapons.
The dragon soldiers.
Currently inert dolls awaiting orders, but with the dragon soldiers' horn flute, they'd become swift, lethal undead warriors.
Not many—around 200—but they boasted near-immortal regeneration, bodies impervious to blades and arrows, and immense strength.
In other words, 200 could substitute for a massive army.
Right now, the dragon soldiers were packed tightly into wagon beds, ready at the border camp.