109. Subjugation of the New Species Magical Beast (2)
With Cecilia's issue resolved, the expedition proceeded smoothly.
Due to various circumstances, Eunhyeon, who had been assigned to escort her, was chatting with Cecilia inside a carriage loaded with many passengers.
"Erin's been so much brighter lately."
"I see."
"She used to be so downcast and timid all the time... Now her grades are in the top ranks, and she doesn't seem to care about what the other students think anymore."
"Grades, huh... Does she do well in her studies?"
"Oh, no... Her high scores are only in practical exams for swordsmanship and magic. In written subjects like history or liberal arts, she's a bit..."
"A bit?"
"I'm sorry. Honestly, she's really bad at them."
When Eunhyeon gave her a pointed look, Cecilia tried to defend Erin but ended up spilling the truth. Calling it "a bit" bad was practically a defense in itself.
In history and noble etiquette, her scores were disastrously low, scraping the bottom.
For Erin, a commoner who hadn't been born with noble refinement, those subjects were utterly inaccessible from the start. Even from Cecilia's position, there was nothing she could do about her grades.
Suddenly thrust into what felt like a parent-teacher conference, Cecilia was breaking into a cold sweat while talking to this much younger man.
"Hmm, I see."
"Is that... all?"
"Is there something else I should say?"
"No, not really... I just thought you'd say something like, 'How can we improve her grades? Why can't my girl do better than this? She can't possibly be this bad.'"
Cecilia's attitude made it seem like she was truly gauging a parent's mood, and Eunhyeon couldn't help but chuckle.
"I'm nothing to that child. I have no reason to tell her what to do."
Eunhyeon was Erin's guardian, but not her parent. There was no blood tie between them, and he had no intention of burdening her with any obligation or duty to repay the favor of raising her over time.
"But aren't you the one teaching her swordsmanship and magic?"
"That's because she wanted it. She chose this path to do what she could for herself and her brother."
"......"
Cecilia stared at Eunhyeon with a face that said she couldn't comprehend.
To her, Eunhyeon was an enigmatic figure—saving a girl without expecting anything in return, feeding her, housing her, and endlessly supporting her growth.
Considering the school principal's orders to report immediately if anything happened to Erin's condition, it was clear this man had pulled some strings.
He had some connection with the principal of Aiter where she taught, and now she saw he was on friendly terms with Riod Olivion, captain of Artia.
Recalling how he'd shown an extraordinary sharpness in his eyes when they first met over Elvin's incident, she stared at Eunhyeon.
What kind of person is he, exactly?
As she gazed at him, the carriage jolting along the road came to a halt.
"We'll take a short break here."
Since the road ahead was long, the horses pulling the large convoy of carriages loaded with personnel and supplies needed regular rests.
As the lead carriage stopped, the ones behind followed suit one by one.
Hearing the driver's shout, Eunhyeon, Cecilia, and a few adventurers in the same carriage stepped out to breathe the fresh air.
"You're participating in this expedition too, as expected."
Eunhyeon turned at the familiar voice to identify the speaker.
"We meet again, Lady Elenoa."
Eunhyeon greeted her with a nonchalant expression, and her brows furrowed at his half-hearted response.
"What's with that lukewarm reaction?"
"Ah, you bastard!"
One of the two armored knights behind her pointed at Eunhyeon and started grinding his teeth.
"Uh... Knight, weren't you the one from back then...?"
"I've never forgotten the humiliation you dealt me! Accept my duel right—"
"Reno, stop."
"L-Lady! But this guy—"
"I know all the circumstances. The misunderstanding's cleared up, and we're not enemies anymore. Sheathe your sword."
After the Hersha baronet incident was resolved, the misunderstanding about Eunhyeon had been cleared through talks with the duke's household, leading to a cooperative relationship. But that didn't erase the bitter emotions from the humiliating experience for Reno.
"Guh... Understood..."
For Reno, who had clashed with Eunhyeon in the abandoned warehouse during the Hersha baronet case, it was a stinging memory of defeat and an indelible shame.
Despite drawing his sword and picking a fight unbecoming of a knight in anger, he'd been subdued barehanded by Eunhyeon—a disgrace to his knighthood.
"Ah, um... Sorry about that time."
"Don't apologize!"
Reno, who had been thoroughly crushed by Eunhyeon from their first meeting, couldn't hide his resentment even under his lady's orders.
Eunhyeon understood his feelings but could only stand there awkwardly, saying nothing.
"Someday, someday I'll definitely repay the humiliation you gave me."
"Haha, got it."
Reno glared at Eunhyeon, teeth gnashing, his face twisted like a feral beast, making no effort to hide his fury.
Eunhyeon just gave a wry smile, nodded without much reaction.
If this weren't Artia's expedition and a private setting instead of official, he might have lunged at Eunhyeon like in the warehouse.
"Sigh, sorry. One of my escorts was rude."
"No, it's fine. Considering what happened back then... it's understandable."
"Tch."
Even with his lady beside him, Reno clicked his tongue openly, avoiding eye contact.
"Reno."
"...My apologies. I was rude."
As Elenoa frowned and scolded her guard, Reno bowed to Eunhyeon with a deeply displeased expression.
"Yes. It's okay."
Eunhyeon accepted the apology with a wry smile and turned his gaze back to Elenoa.
"I didn't expect the duke's house to send you as support, Lady. Even as a priestess, this expedition is quite dangerous."
"I don't pick expeditions based on danger. Besides, this request came directly from the Vesta Temple to me."
Eunhyeon knew Riod had requested priests from the Vesta Temple in the capital Fernin beforehand, supplementing the expedition's forces accordingly.
But he hadn't heard Elenoa was among them.
"...Was the temple that short on priests? Enough to request you personally?"
"...Probably the same thing you said to me earlier applies to them."
Eunhyeon nodded in understanding as Elenoa muttered with a displeased look.
This expedition would be quite dangerous.
And the comment about picking safe expeditions over risky ones fit the temple priests perfectly.
"What's the level of the priests dispatched from the temple?"
"One fresh apprentice who just shed their title this year, two low-rank priests, and one mid-rank like me."
Excluding Elenoa, that made four priests total.
"The temple heard the rumors and backed out."
The current expedition numbered about 150, including knights, soldiers, and adventurers.
They should have aimed for at least 10-12 priests as a minimum, but sending only four—and low-level ones at that—was telling.
The two adventurer priests not affiliated with the temple could only use basic healing magic; their skills weren't exceptional.
Priests were rare, so Riod had no choice but to accept even inexperienced ones—a dilemma he faced.
Eunhyeon realized mid- and high-rank priests from renowned temples had gotten wind of the severity via prior info and bailed en masse.
They'd thrown in these inexperienced nobodies just to fill the quota for Riod's request.
Even Elenoa, daughter of a noble house and a famed priestess, had been half-forced via official letter: "It's your kingdom's affair, so participate."
It ground her teeth too.
Doesn't Anies know about this?
Like Riod, she was one of the great heroes who ended the Great War, now recognized as archbishop of Vesta Temple for her merits. She wouldn't slight Riod's request like this.
"It's infuriating."
"Pardon?"
"Infuriating. After this half-assed response, once the expedition succeeds, the temple will demand hefty compensation for 'supporting' with their priests."
"Y-Yeah..."
Given the gravity, Riod had no choice but to proceed despite his frustration.
Trash who prioritize self-preservation and grab profits even in situations like this exist everywhere.
Riod had no choice, but Eunhyeon didn't want to let it slide.
Goddess. You reading my thoughts?
Of course. Do as you wish, child.
With Verdandi's permission granted, Eunhyeon nodded slightly and looked at Elenoa.
Feeling his gaze, she met his eyes and frowned.
From countless experiences, she knew he was plotting something no good again.
"Lady, doesn't it piss you off just taking this lying down? How about we give the temple that screwed us over a taste of their own medicine together?"
"...?"
His crude wording was utterly lowbrow, but she couldn't deny her interest in the proposal.
Wearing a highly suspicious expression, Elenoa still listened closely.
While traveling by carriage, the signal for battle erupted far too suddenly.
"M-Magical beasts! Magical beasts have appeared!"
The moment the driver's shout rang out, Riod's roar echoed across the entire area from the central carriage.
"Everyone! Battle stations!"
The expedition members reacted swiftly to Riod's lion-like bellow.
They grabbed their weapons and leaped from the carriages with gusto, but upon spotting the enemies emerging from the forest, their faces went blank.
"Wh-What the hell is that?!"
The legs and face were clearly human flesh, but the arms attached to them were not.
Green-skinned, muscular orc arms—huge ones—were grotesquely grafted onto the human body in clusters. It was a "deformed" creature unlike any they'd seen before.
Not just one pair per side, but three pairs—six massive orc arms total.
How it supported that insane weight was incomprehensible, with its freakish physique.
Its lower body was a giant spider's with five pairs of legs crammed together, while the upper was a woman's bare torso with exposed breasts. Wild mane-like hair whipped in the wind, and both eyes on its face were gouged out.
Chimera-like composite magical beasts, fusing beasts and humans in various grotesque forms, began appearing one by one.
"U-Ugh...!"
Cecilia clamped her hand over her mouth at the horrific sight.
"Urk—blegh!"
But she ultimately vomited up the bile rising in her throat onto the ground.
She wasn't alone; others grimaced and averted their eyes, suppressed nausea, or felt their morale plummet from disgust and fear of these unprecedented "unknown" entities.
To rally them in this crisis, the kingdom's greatest knight channeled mana into his legs and stomped the earth with all his might.
BOOM!
The ground quaked from Riod's tremendous leg power and mana, shaking the forest trees and showering leaves everywhere.
"Fear not the unknown!"
His massive voice sent shivers through the expedition members, stirring their blood.
"I am Pernias's greatest knight! Captain of Artia, Riod Olivion!"
Drawing his sword and pointing it at the beasts, he continued.
"I swear on my name to bring every one of you back without a single death!"
The chimeras, standing still without attacking, seemed oddly affected—overwhelmed by Riod's presence, frozen in place.
"So fight! Fear not! Never die! I'll lead the charge!"
As if responding to his roar, immense mana gathered on Riod's sword, beginning to glow.
Gripping it with both hands, he raised it high.
A mana storm swirled around him, absorbed into the blade. As time passed, the accumulated power crackled the air.
No one—beast or expedition member—could move in the oppressive atmosphere, all staring dazedly at Riod.
Finally, Riod swung down, unleashing the sword aura within.
Olivion Swordsmanship
⟨ Mount Severing ⟩
A colossal light erupted from Riod, engulfing the beasts ahead.