Chapter 23
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 23
Chapter Title: Torturing the Traitor's Soul
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"Figure it out yourself."
I'd never thought of something like Void Gluttony as a normal living creature to begin with.
However, starting from the next erosion, it won't stop unless you destroy the source of the erosion.
In other words, unless I distinguished it and eliminated the source drawing in these hostile entities, monsters would keep pouring out.
After I took down Void Gluttony, another one like that shows up?
What would be the difference from fighting an endless army?
"Do I really have to deal with this?"
The choice is yours, but the Red Moon is fatal to the habitats of living beings.
Yeah. If I just left it alone, everything except where I am would eventually vanish.
A sigh escaped me, but at least it was fortunate that the Red Moon couldn't erode indiscriminately.
"Estimated time?"
Unable to confirm, but without intervention, it shouldn't appear for the time being.
So even that Red Moon couldn't do whatever it wanted.
"Well, that's a relief, at least."
I brushed off everything related to the Red Moon.
But as serious as the Red Moon was, it wasn't the only pressing issue right now.
There were the injured knights and Melissa, who still hadn't regained consciousness.
With even the Count Regent in this state, I was the only one left who could manage things.
After getting minor reports from the old butler who usually assisted Melissa, it became clear she hadn't been slacking off all this time.
She'd been incredibly busy, without a moment's rest.
If this were a normal noble house, it wouldn't have been this tough.
Rebuilding the destroyed county seat, checking on casualties, treating the wounded quickly.
On top of that, dissolving the slave contracts for the non-human slaves rescued from Tibel Cascadia's mansion—and the items taken from there.
Delaying this could spark future conflicts.
And that box presumed to contain a living creature needed investigation, but it wasn't urgent, so I just left it in my room.
Putting out these immediate fires took up a considerable amount of time.
After dealing with paperwork that made my eyes ache, I approached Melissa's bedside, where she lay unmoving.
My appointment with Sword Saint Osberg was postponed by a few days anyway, so no one would disturb me now.
"Kuh... Kuhuhu."
I drew whiskers and a mustache on her sleeping cheek with ink from a quill pen.
Then I cackled like a madman before letting out a short sigh.
The doctor said there wasn't a single bone in her body that was intact.
Plus, her aura was severely depleted, so it would take significant time for her to regain consciousness.
The problem was that, for some reason, her recovery was slower than expected.
At the very least, Void Gluttony hadn't possessed any curse-like powers.
It would have been great if one of the halls I remembered handled holy magic.
Preparation to receive the third memory is complete. Shall I bestow it?
"Can't I pick which one?"
The answer is already set. You just need to respond.
"......"
Just a bit of humor.
"Don't go spouting nonsense anywhere else."
No one else could read its text except me anyway.
"It's predetermined?"
Yes. Even in a space where time doesn't flow, there are rules and an order.
"It returns them in the order they were completed first?"
Correct.
"So complex stuff like magic gets pushed back."
Swordsmanship was already complicated enough—magic on top of that?
The difficulty would be on a whole different level.
Magic-related memories would definitely come later.
I'd never actually used magic before, so I had some expectations, but they deflated quickly.
Bestowing the memory. Brace for severe motion sickness.
"Urp!!"
A warning like that after the motion sickness hit?
"Hoo... Eugh......"
The memory of the Third Hall, the Hall of Necromancy, is fully transferred. The necromantic mana of the King of the Dead settles within your body.
Pardon?
Black mana instantly spread throughout my body, and at the same time...
Necromantic spells and every element related to living beings flooded into my mind.
The volume of information was far greater than when I learned swordsmanship.
As I reeled from the horrific nausea...
I spotted something wriggling over Melissa's body.
What the hell is that?
Even in the pitch-black night, the brightly lit surroundings clearly revealed it.
It was the shape of a person.
But not a living being—no way.
The moment the humanoid figure reached for Melissa's throat, I shot out my hand and seized it.
This is it. This thing's been blocking Melissa's recovery.
-Gahk?!
A wail like the lament of the dead echoed out.
I knew exactly what this was.
A vengeful spirit born of intense grudge.
A human who had become a wraith at low odds.
And I could sense the identity of this soul.
"Ha......"
I immediately circulated the necromantic mana within me.
The first thing a necromancer learns is to commune with souls and dominate them.
"Tibel Cascadia, smash your head in."
Boom!!!
The soul was forcibly controlled and slammed into the floor.
In necromancy, even if your realm regresses, your soul domination remains intact.
"I know."
That's why I could control a soul that had reached mid-tier Sword Expert.
I didn't like Tibel, but a wraith who had been a mid-tier Expert in life could make for a decent undead.
-Leon!!
Tibel Cascadia's soul wailed at me.
The newly implanted memory from the Hall of Necromancy vastly expanded what I could do.
"The original owner must've been decent—plenty of vitality left."
The wraith had more life force than expected.
To a necromancer, life force was essentially a form of necromantic mana.
Death energy and life force.
It was a minor technique akin to plucking, and it would consume this Sword Expert soul heavily, but I didn't care.
I grabbed the wraith by the hair.
-Wh-what are you doing!!
"Died and still hoarding all this."
Rip!!
I tore out its hair in handfuls.
-Gaaaaah!!
"Ew. Being a wraith makes it come out so clean."
I grinned wickedly at the gleaming, bald soul.
"Honestly, I regretted one-shotting you so quickly. After all the crap you've pulled, right?"
-Ex... Grgh?!
"A mere wraith like you, cursing Melissa?"
I reshaped the soul fragment I'd ripped from it.
Then I converted it into massive life force and infused it into Melissa's body.
-Kaaaaagh!! Stop!! Stooop!!!
Horrific screams filled the air, but only I—with my spirit sight awakened by necromancy—could hear them.
"What're you gonna do if you scream like that?"
-Kraaagh!!
"What can you even do?"
By shredding Tibel Cascadia's wraith into powerless bits, I extracted an appropriate amount of life force, converted it to energy, and activated Melissa's body. Her natural recovery began to pick up.
Of course, with the curse from Tibel's wraith lifted, her body would return to its normal healing pace.
Indeed, by morning, the doctor examining her sighed in relief, saying she'd entered a stable phase.
The third memory, necromancy, had started slow but seemed to grow rapidly.
Necromancy opened up a vast array of possibilities, but there was something more urgent.
"You've arrived."
The meeting with Sword Saint Osberg Mielephon—right after slaying Void Gluttony—couldn't be delayed long.
"Sorry to impose during such a busy time."
"No, sir. I actually have something I want to confirm myself."
It was just suspicion for now. And if things went wrong, the question could put me—and the entire house—in danger.
"Whatever it is you want to ask, I suspect it falls within what I'm thinking."
"I wrestled with it a bit. Messing this up could endanger not just me, but the whole family. Still, it's something I need to confirm, so I'll ask first."
"Hmm... Go ahead."
"Elder. It seemed like you already knew about that monster, Void Gluttony."
If he was involved in Void Gluttony's appearance...
I closed my eyes, deep in thought.
If his intentions were mixed into this raid? If exposing it made him decide to wipe us out?
I envisioned a fight against one Sword Master—and something beyond.
At minimum, I'd lose an arm and suffer severe soul damage.
"Hoho. So you suspect me."
"......"
"Worry not. Releasing that monster wasn't my intent. In fact, to be precise, I came here to prevent its emergence."
He pulled a small letter from his bosom and showed it to me.
"What's this?"
"A letter from the Saintess of the Holy Kingdom. We have a personal connection."
The contents were straightforward.
She'd received a revelation that an evil seed was awakening in the Cascadia County from the Demon Realm.
It requested that the Sword Saint investigate and deal with it.
"Are the Empire and Holy Kingdom on such good terms?"
"To be exact, it has nothing to do with Empire or Holy Kingdom. It's just that the Saintess and I share a personal bond."
A revelation, huh...
Does that mean a revelation alone could handle the Red Moon?
Impossible. Revelations can't fully counter it. Only you and I can detect the precursors of the Red Moon.
The librarian's tone carried a subtle pride.
'Then this revelation?'
Merely coincidence.
Oddly firm.
No emotion in those strings, yet they oddly seethed with anger.
'Don't get worked up. Why so heated?'
Remember this: You're the only one who can see the Red Moon right now. This raid only produced one Void Gluttony, but future Red Moons will come with cores.
If I—who can see the core—don't destroy it, enemies will keep spawning, and the Red Moon won't vanish.
'When's the next Red Moon?'
It will take considerable time. The Red Moon can't be summoned at a mere human's whim.
As I conversed mentally with the librarian, Osberg called to me.
"You seem lost in thought. On my name, I promise: the one behind this raid was..."
"I trust you, Elder. I understand now why you came to this county."
Fighting him would cost more than it gained, so no need to stir things up.
"Then, may I ask one question?"
I nodded at his words.
"You've crossed the wall of Expert."
"Indeed."
"But the divine feat you showed slaying that thing..."
"Sword ray? That wasn't a sword ray."
I shrugged casually.
"Just an imitation."
"Hoho... As if sword rays are something you can imitate. Astonishing, truly astonishing. How could one not yet a Sword Master manifest a sword ray..."
Sword ray was the hallmark of Sword Masters, the most visually striking change, which was why he said that.
In other words, a non-Sword Master wielding a sword ray was like a car racing furiously without an engine.
I had indeed drawn it out using Blossom, but my body couldn't yet handle breaking the Sword Master wall.
It was ultimately just the effect of immense aura and profound insight.
"Can you tell me? How did you gain such insight? How do you wield something akin to pure sword ray without shattering the Sword Master barrier?"