Chapter 98
Chapter 98
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 98
Chapter Title: Escort Knight Order (3)
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In a secluded spot beyond the reach of prying eyes.
There, the Southern Branch Chief of the Holy Knight Order, Grethus Aleyas, was holding a clandestine meeting.
“It seems we’ve failed.”
“What the hell happened?”
“The enemies were stronger than we anticipated.”
Grethus scowled at the man’s response.
“Didn’t you guarantee you could take them out for sure?”
“I never said it was a hundred percent certain.”
“You’re playing word games. Do you have any idea how much I paid you? And this is the best you can do?”
“The opponents were an 8-star knight. There was even a 6-star. It was no easy task.”
He knew it wouldn’t be easy.
That was precisely why he had entrusted the job to this man.
“Branch Chief, don’t worry too much.”
“How can I not?”
“Trust me. We’re in this together now. I’ve abandoned my mission as an infiltrator bishop for the Dialogue Church to make money on the side like this, and you’re a Holy Knight Order member plotting conspiracies by hiring scum like me. We can’t get anything done without trusting each other.”
Grethus scowled.
It had been nearly half a year since he began dealing with this man named Collas, a former Dialogue Church infiltrator bishop.
Collas had originally come south on orders to assassinate key figures in the Sacred Empire, but he cut ties with the Dialogue Church and built his own force in the underworld.
During a public security operation, Grethus made contact with Collas and pulled him to his side, seeing his potential usefulness.
“This time, I’ll send more elite troops. I’ll put more effort into the plan too, so trust me.”
“…….”
“Just give me a bit more funding, and I’ll make sure to deliver results that exceed your expectations.”
Collas bowed his head, but Grethus remained skeptical.
Deep down, he wanted to handle Sion himself without relying on trash like this.
‘But… I can’t step in directly.’
The Edel Felt family had tried to eliminate Sion and ended up exposed, leading to their subjugation.
Grethus had no desire to meet the same fate.
“Collas.”
“Yes?”
“There won’t be any traces leading back to me, right?”
“Of course not.”
Collas grinned as he spoke.
“The drug soldiers I command fight to the death without even knowing why. They don’t know my name—how could they know about you?”
“Good.”
Grethus steeled himself.
“I’ll pay more than last time. Make sure you finish off Sion Aleyas and his cousins for good this time.”
“Just trust me, Branch Chief.”
For Grethus to become the next Knight Order Leader, he needed to weaken Ianus’s power as much as possible.
With Ianus’s grandchildren crossing into the south alone, he couldn’t let this opportunity slip away.
“By the way.”
“What?”
“One of the Holy Knights from the Southern Branch seems to be traveling with them. Is that okay?”
“What’s the problem?”
“Well, we might end up killing him in the crossfire. He’s from the Aleyas family too, and it looks like he’s loyal to you.”
“You worry about the strangest things.”
Grethus snorted.
“He’s not one of my direct subordinates. No need to care. Just take them all out at once so there’s no loose ends later.”
* * *
There was no time to investigate while staying in Ruschia.
If someone was targeting us, they’d show up again anyway.
We left the cleanup to the local knight order and departed Ruschia with Erwin Aleyas.
The next region we visited was the territory of an Imperial Marquis appointed by the Emperor, so we needed a travel permit, but Erwin stepped in and we passed through quickly.
‘Fortunately, they’re not being uncooperative.’
Maybe because I subtly suppressed their auras.
Erwin was performing well as our guide.
“So, Brother Erwin, you’re not one of Branch Chief Grethus’s direct subordinates, then.”
“That’s right. My rank isn’t that high because of it.”
“But you’re commanding the knight order in a major city like Ruschia, so you must be pretty trusted, right?”
“I’m an elite knight myself. I get the recognition I deserve for my skills.”
On top of that, he’d gotten somewhat friendly with Kain and Robel.
Probably because they were younger and had fewer circles than him, making it easy to treat them like little brothers.
He was still keeping his distance from me since our first impression wasn’t great.
“We should reach Romancia soon.”
“Sister Sena, have you ever been to Romancia before?”
“First time for me. What about you, Liz?”
“I’ve passed nearby but never been inside, Sis.”
Excluding Erwin, none of us had visited Romancia before.
[You never went there even during your time as Archbishop Hausel?]
‘Romancia is the capital of the Sacred Empire. If I’d gone there, it would’ve caused an uproar.’
Fortunately, there were no attacks for several days.
But as we entered a forested mountain path, a warning voice rang out.
“My lord, there are suspicious figures in the woods.”
It was Dietrich, scouting ahead while concealed.
Since Igzard had trouble detecting mana, Dietrich was using his 9-star mage abilities to scout in advance.
‘Igzard, still no mana signatures?’
[Yeah, just normal creature-level mana. Nothing above 1-star.]
‘Then it’s definitely them.’
The thugs who attacked us in Ruschia.
They had to be with those guys.
‘Last time, we didn’t get any information out of them.’
This time, I intended to get solid intel.
* * *
‘Damn it… why do I have to be so cautious around them?’
Riding at the front, Erwin grumbled to himself.
Erwin was originally quite the elite.
Though not one of Grethus’s direct lines and thus not high in the hierarchy, he’d become an elite knight wielding sword aura in his twenties, earning recognition for his abilities.
He’d been stably commanding a local knight order in a fairly large city… until Sion’s group suddenly showed up one day, dragging him into trouble.
‘I hope Branch Chief Grethus doesn’t chew me out for this.’
Grethus’s orders to Erwin had been vague.
No need to actively sabotage Sion’s group, but no need to cooperate fully either.
Erwin had planned to handle them accordingly, but they’d steamrolled him from day one, complicating everything.
‘I don’t even know who those attackers in Ruschia were… Hope it’s fine.’
As he thought that, Erwin glanced back.
Sion was an 8-star, and the rest of the group was no slouch either.
‘Sena Aleyas at 6-star, Kain Aleyas and Robel Aleyas at 5-star, Liz Aleyas at 6-star… and Sion Aleyas with 8-star mana.’
This lineup could handle anything.
Still, if they were attacked again, Erwin planned to hang back as much as possible.
‘No need for me to risk my life for these guys.’
Grethus didn’t seem to like them much either, so he probably wouldn’t get scolded later.
With that in mind, Erwin spurred his horse onward.
“Huh…?”
Right then.
Erwin caught a strange smell.
It was a forest, but there was an oil-like odor coming from somewhere.
“This is…!”
Immediately after.
Enormous flames erupted on both sides of the forest path.
“Fire!”
Erwin shouted urgently.
“S-Sion! Fire! It’s fire!”
“I know.”
But Sion remained calm.
As if he’d anticipated this exact scenario.
“Sister Sena, Kain, Robel—maintain a triangular formation and advance. Getting out of the forest comes first.”
“Got it!”
“Yeah, let’s do that!”
“Whatever you say!”
Even though no enemies had appeared yet, Sion issued orders crisply.
Sena, Kain, and Robel followed without question.
“Liz, stick with me.”
“Got it.”
Sion began moving with Liz, who gave a curt reply.
Seeing that, Erwin hurriedly called out.
“W-What about me?”
“Handle yourself.”
“W-What?”
“You were going to do whatever you wanted anyway, right?”
“……!”
It was as if he’d read Erwin’s exact thoughts from moments ago.
“If you want to live, follow us.”
“Urk…….”
“I won’t say it twice.”
Sion leaped away with Liz.
In the moment Erwin hesitated, objects came flying toward his position.
“Fire arrows…!”
A normal fire arrow could be blocked by a 6-star’s mana armor.
But was that all?
“Damn it…!”
Cursing, Erwin hurriedly chased after Sion and Liz.
* * *
The forest was completely ablaze.
[You can tank this much with mana armor, right? It’ll be hot, but still.]
‘Not necessarily.’
[What?]
‘Mana armor can block burns, but breathing is the issue.’
Breathing felt a bit labored.
Did they use some special oil when setting the fire?
The smoke was so irritating it threatened to make me cough, forcing me to use the breathing technique I’d learned from the Dialogue Church long ago.
[I didn’t think of that. Toxic smoke could be a problem, so if it gets bad, I’ll purify it.]
‘Thanks, I’ll count on you.’
I could use the Dialogue Church breathing method and had Igzard’s help, so I was fine, but the others were another story.
I needed to end this quickly.
“Sis, take out any I miss.”
“Got it.”
By now, thugs were pouring out from the burning woods.
They didn’t seem fazed by the scorching flames or acrid smoke.
I drew on the 8-star mana stored in my two circles.
I fired mana-infused strikes with Xantia while unleashing sword ki with Ashurai, slashing wildly in all directions.
[They keep coming endlessly!]
Even as their comrades fell, the enemies pressed on relentlessly.
Were they well-trained? They showed no fear.
‘No, this is….’
I kept cutting them down.
I sliced through foes who charged heedless of their burning bodies.
“Urk!”
One dropping from a burning tree aimed for my nape, but Xantia pierced its throat.
“H-Hey!”
Then I heard Erwin panting.
“How can someone not even twenty use telekinetic sword like that? Who’s your master… Aagh!”
“Shut up and fight.”
“Urgh……!”
Erwin bisected an enemy bursting from the underbrush with sword aura.
He was an elite knight too. His combat power was sufficient.
‘Still, Liz is better.’
Liz calmly felled enemies even in this hellish inferno.
She was regulating her breathing like me to fight.
‘Est must’ve trained her well.’
Liz, Erwin, and I rampaged through, cutting down foes.
‘I’m getting a sense of it now.’
[What do you mean?]
‘Why these mana-less guys are charging so fearlessly.’
I smashed a nearby enemy’s jaw to knock him out, then grabbed his collar.
Up close, I caught a smell different from body odor.
‘Drugs.’
[I see…!]
These were drugged assassins.
And as far as I knew, there was only one place in the world that produced assassins like these.