Chapter 67
Chapter 67
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 67
Chapter Title: Chapter 22: Infection Lord
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In the parlor of the Lunenbreath mansion, three knights, four priests, and one mage had gathered.
“Ugh…… Save me…….”
Among them, Tolari, who had just woken up, buried his face in his hands and muttered in a voice that sounded half-dead.
“Please let me sleep more…… I’m weak in the morning…… I haven’t even fully woken up yet……. But what did you say?”
“The enemies are approaching. From three directions, excluding the northern exit of the forest.”
Didi, who had sprinted there with sweat drenching his entire body, repeated the report once more.
“From the eastern exit of the forest, 200 mercenary knights. To the south, 17 knight experts and 3 knight commanders. And to the west, Talisman Count is personally leading over 100 soldiers.”
“The count himself?”
Tolari blinked with a dazed expression, still not fully awake.
“Is that guy insane? He’s neither a knight nor a mage—why go personally?”
“The count has turned into a monster.”
“Huh?”
“I don’t know the details. Regall and I spotted him during a night scout, and suddenly his whole body swelled up, growing at least ten times bigger.”
“A person growing ten times? How is that even possible…….”
In that instant, Tolari’s eyes widened as he bit his lip. Didi wiped the sweat from his face and asked.
“Do you know something?”
“It’s probably because of the sponsor. Most likely.”
“Sponsor? What’s that?”
“There’s this thing. Ah, fu. Was that guy human who made a wish too? He definitely got injected. Not the first one, but the second or third. I almost got in big trouble myself.”
“……Pardon?”
“So, what it is…….”
“We should save the details for later.”
Kyle, now clad in his armor, stepped forward and cut off the conversation.
“The important thing is we can’t let the enemies reach the mansion. We have to intercept them in the forest first.”
“Why?”
“There are a lot of non-combatants in the mansion. Didi? You said there are no mages in the enemy composition, right?”
“Yes. Tolari was supposed to be with them originally, but since they couldn’t recruit him, this assassination squad has no mages.”
“You heard all that? How close did you get?”
Tolari clicked his tongue. Didi explained casually, as if it were nothing.
“After Regall saved me, my senses have sharpened.”
“Regall? That huge wolf?”
“Yes. And the enemies are equipping knights of expert level and above with magic-specific armor. I heard it’s similar in performance to the armor given to the Anti-Magic Knights.”
“Anti-Magic Knights, huh. That’ll be a bit tricky.”
“Tolari, please wait a moment. First, we should hide the mansion’s maids in the basement.”
At Kyle’s words, Tolari blinked and asked back.
“Why?”
“There are no mages among the enemies, so the risk of them setting the mansion on fire is low. It’s best if they stay hidden in a safe place until this is over. And Didi? You said 200 knights to the east, right? Just regular knights?”
“Yes, that’s what I heard.”
“Then we should send Linens to the east.”
“Me? I’ll?”
The boy with a beard covering his face suddenly pointed at himself in surprise.
“I-I’ll fight anywhere if ordered, but against 200 knights…….”
“You’ve been training with the priests lately, right? Let’s try that. Amplifying Holy Lance and scattering it. What do you think, Baris?”
At Kyle’s question, Baris, the youngest among the escort priests, nodded calmly.
“If the enemies are clustered, it’ll have a powerful effect. But Holy Lance isn’t a lethal technique against enemies. It only paralyzes the body.”
“Then we need someone who can quickly finish off the paralyzed enemies. Ideally someone nimble……. Didi?”
“Yes, Kyle.”
“Can you fight right now? You look completely exhausted from running here.”
“My stamina will recover quickly. I’ve already regained a lot.”
“Good. But can you do it? You’ll have to kill people……. And ones who can’t move, as quickly and as many as possible?”
Unlike Kyle’s anxious expression, Didi replied calmly with a blank face.
“I’ve never killed a person before, but I’ve seen plenty of dead bodies.”
“Hm?”
“It was like that in the slums, and when living in the sewers, I often saw corpses floating by. So I can do it.”
“……Really?”
In Kyle’s mental world, he couldn’t grasp the connection between seeing many corpses and killing people. But if the boy said so, he had no choice but to trust him.
“Alright. I’ll leave it to you. And I…… Whew.”
“Kyle?”
“I’ll go with you. One person isn’t enough to kill as many as possible before the paralysis wears off.”
He couldn’t back out himself when ordering such a thing to a child like this. Kyle took a deep breath and turned his gaze to Tolari.
“You’ll have to hold the south alone, Tolari. Twenty Anti-Magic Knight-level knights—can you handle it?”
“Yawn…….”
Tolari rubbed his eyes while yawning.
“Should be possible. A bit tricky, but since the prince gave me separate orders, I’ll do my best. Still, it’ll take some time?”
“I’m sorry, but time is tight.”
“Yeah?”
“You need to neutralize the southern enemies as quickly as possible, return to the mansion, join everyone, and then block the western enemies.”
“Sounds tight. But can we handle the west last? It’s some monster, right?”
“Against unknown enemies, we must go all out. Of course, compared to you, Tolari, a regular knight like me is useless, but the priests here and Linens are different. And Didi?”
“Yes, Kyle.”
“You said earlier the monster-turned Talisman Count moves slowly?”
“Yes. He rolls his body slowly to move, at the level of a normal walking pace.”
“Ah, so that’s why you planned the time difference like this.”
Tolari nodded as if understanding late. Then he slightly bowed his head toward Kyle.
“You’ve got general material in you. Quick judgment—nice. I’ll do as you say.”
“Thank you. And the remaining three priests, please guard the mansion for now. Some enemies might slip through and head here.”
“Leave it to us. We won’t let a single finger of the enemy touch the mansion.”
Trimum, the leader of the escort priests, bowed at the waist in response. Having finished issuing orders, Kyle suddenly realized one person was missing from the group and looked around.
“But where’s Meredes?”
“Come to think of it, I don’t see Meredes either.”
Linens also scanned the surroundings with surprised eyes. At that moment, Rania, the head maid, came running quickly from the passage connected to the basement.
“Head maid! Perfect timing. Enemies are approaching from all sides, so hurry and evacuate the other maids to the basement…….”
“Meredes went into the forest to gather elixir ingredients.”
“Pardon?”
Kyle flinched and immediately asked back.
“Gather ingredients? At this hour of the night?”
“There are elixirs whose potency improves if harvested at dawn. This time, she went quite far. The location is to the south of the mansion.”
“Of all places, the south…….”
Elite knights from the enemy were approaching the south of the forest. Then Tolari raised his hand brightly and offered support.
“Meredes is that tall girl, right? Since I’m heading that way anyway, want me to fly over and help right now?”
“No need for that.”
The head maid interjected and declared firmly.
“Our maids have a code of conduct for what to do if we spot enemies in the forest. So that girl won’t fight recklessly either. We’ll head straight to where Meredes is and support her.”
At that moment, ten maids came rushing out from the passage, each carrying a large wooden barrel. Kyle looked at the maids with a flustered face.
“The maids yourselves? But a single knight could…….”
“Of course we won’t fight directly. The Lunenbreath family has defensive methods passed down for such cases. Blocking enemies from all directions is hard, but if they’re coming from one direction, we can definitely hold them off.”
“That’s…….”
She spoke with such confidence that he was at a loss for words. Kyle focused on the head maid’s last statement and asked.
“Really? But why only one direction?”
“Because the wind blows in only one direction.”
Rania spoke meaningfully and turned her gaze to the maids behind her. The maids all hugged their wooden barrels tightly with resolute faces.
“It’s perfect that Meredes, one of our own maids, is in that direction. Now, everyone?”
“Yes! Head maid.”
“We’re starting the operation now. Head to the southern forest immediately.”
“Yes, head maid.”
The maids exited the mansion in perfect order, as if they had trained for this beforehand. Rania made one final plea to everyone in the parlor from the doorway.
“After this, do not send anyone else to the southern forest. Keep that in mind. We don’t need reinforcements, so absolutely no one come.”
“Wait, why exactly…….”
Rania left the mansion without answering. Kyle watched her retreating figure with a troubled expression, then turned back to Tolari and said.
“Looks like there’s something I don’t know about. Then, Tolari, please head to the western forest instead and deal with Talisman Count’s army. If it seems dangerous, just buy time instead of a head-on fight.”
“Got it. Monster or whatever, without Anti-Magic armor, it might end even faster?”
Tolari began strolling leisurely out of the parlor. Then Didi quickly grabbed the departing Tolari and pleaded.
“Tolari. To repeat, the western enemies are no joke.”
“Hm?”
“It’s the first time I’ve seen Regall so wary of an enemy. The count’s subordinates were normal at first, but after being pierced by something extending from the count’s body later, they changed grotesquely. Of course, you’re an Arch Wizard, and I don’t know much about you yet, but still, be cautious of these enemies.”
“……Cute kid.”
Tolari suddenly smiled with his eyes and patted Didi’s head.
“You’ve got a different style from the prince, but anyway, you’re cute too—I like you.”
“……Pardon?”
“There are a lot of likable people here, so I’m in a good mood. Back at the Magic Guild, it was all so gloomy. Anyway, got it. Thanks for worrying.”
“Be careful. With the prince, the knight captain, and Regall gone, you’re all we can rely on.”
“So I’m below that wolf?”
“No, that’s not what I meant…….”
“Joking. You’re so young, but acting all serious.”
Tolari smiled and floated into the air, then shot toward the still-open mansion door.
“Then I’ll finish quick and come help! Don’t die till then! I don’t wanna get scolded by the prince later!”
* * *
Meredes was carefully parting the dark dawn grass.
Thanks to the night vision elixir, she could distinguish objects even in the dead of night without a lantern. Spotting a cluster of young sprouts, she smiled faintly.
The sprouts of the grass called autumn cold.
One of the ingredients for the growth elixir made for Prince Claude.
‘There’s a lot.’
The head maid’s instruction to sow plenty of seeds near the southern forest had paid off. As Meredes plucked the sprouts one by one into her basket, she suddenly set it down and lowered her body into the darkness.
“…….”
And after some time had passed.
“……The path is narrow and treacherous. Is this really the right way?”
Voices of people began to be heard from a forest path a short distance away.
‘Who at this hour?’
Hiding behind a tree, Meredes peeked with one eye and watched the approaching people.
Knights.
About twenty fully armed knights were moving along the forest path.