Chapter 122
Chapter 122
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 122
Chapter Title: Entering Rantaric 1
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“The Wendigo’s gone.”
Guillambalt, who had been keeping watch by the fire above, lit up with joy as he spotted Azadin’s group climbing up. Brand shouted excitedly at him.
“A miracle! A miracle has occurred!”
“Ah, yes. The Wendigo has vanished.”
“No, that’s not it—a real miracle happened! The angels answered the call and saved the soul of the one offered as a sacrifice to the Nether’s reaper!”
“Yes?”
“What are you talking about?”
Midiam asked Ismail.
“Hmm. It’s hard to believe, but that madman’s telling the truth. Azadin... tried to purify the corpse using the Salvation Knights’ funeral rites, but the body already seized by the Nether’s reaper had turned into a Wendigo and resisted. Even after pouring every copy of the New King Codex we had into it, it wouldn’t purify. But when Azadin made a vow to the angels, it suddenly purified.”
“......”
Everyone listening clicked their tongues.
“A miracle? The angels are all dead already.”
Shati grumbled. Though she was a prisoner, she had fought the approaching Wendigos with sword and axe in hand, standing atop their corpses.
“Midiam. You and Shati got along alright?”
“Yes. The Wendigos got a bit close, but Shati and I managed to hold them off. But... is it true a miracle happened?”
“What do you think?”
“Hmm. If it’s true, shouldn’t you receive the sacrament from the Salvation Knights?”
“You think that’d work?”
“True. They’re dead, and it’s not like the people of Whubris would accept our Aragasa as a saint. Besides, you’re the Emperor’s Herald. No point becoming a Hospitaller now. And you, who were thrilled over the Salvation Knights’ scraps, don’t look all that happy.”
“Indeed.”
Azadin gave a bitter smile and gestured. Midiam spotted his hand signal and subtly fell back.
“So, Lady Liz. Recognize this man?”
Azadin set down the offering and unwrapped the cloak shrouding him, revealing his face.
“I get it, so cut the theatrics. I figured you’d pull something once the Wendigo fell asleep.”
Lady Liz said that and gripped her staff. At the same moment, Midiam readied her bow.
“...Hah.”
Lady Liz let out a sigh.
“I’m not that stupid. A miracle’s bullshit, but whatever you did, you purified that offering in the end. Impressive. Truly impressive. Resisting you here would just get me killed.”
“L-Liz!”
Sir Brock stepped forward in panic.
“W-Wait a moment. What are you saying my wife did?”
“Sir Brock. Who’s this?”
“My brother!”
“......”
Azadin looked at Lady Liz, who clicked her tongue.
“That bastard knew my marriage to my husband wasn’t great and approached me! He sweet-talked me, saying Bthumaine was a lewd slut and he’d satisfy my carnal desires!”
“So you killed and ate him? And the naga and Mezzeri’s wererats just happened to be passing friends? You think we’re idiots?”
As subtle anger crept into Azadin’s voice, the flustered Sir Brock stepped up to defend her.
“It’s my fault. I was the one stepping out...”
“No, hold on.”
“But can’t you spare Liz somehow? R-Right. What if we pay you?”
“Enough, you fool.”
Azadin finally lost his temper.
“What the hell are you trying to do, you idiot? You badmouthed your wife to seduce Fran with sweet lies, and now when she’s killed your brother and unleashed the reaper, you want to protect her?”
“I meant every word! I truly loved Fran, and I truly love my wife!”
“Then your ‘truth’ isn’t worth a single coin! Marriage’s sanctity, your brother’s wrongful death, love’s tenderness—your sincerity repays none of it! Who cares about your truth that sacrifices nothing while doing whatever you please? Fran and your brother were actual sacrifices, and I can’t tolerate such nonsense!”
Azadin’s hand went to his sword hilt. Just then, Guillambalt stepped between Azadin and Sir Brock.
“As acting Count of Rantaric, leave this matter to me. Emperor’s Herald, Azadin.”
“...Understood.”
Azadin bowed to Guillambalt.
“Sir Guillambalt.”
“Sir Brock. Surrender the Eyrie Fortress and its vassal manors to me, then enter the King’s Church as a monk. Lady Liz will have her magic sealed and confined to a King’s Church convent.”
“You want me locked in a convent as a sinner for life?”
Lady Liz bristled with hostility, but...
-Thwack!
An arrow slammed into the ground beside her face, gouging out her eyeball. Midiam had fired it.
“Kyaaaah!”
“Before the Emperor’s Herald, sinner! Worried you can’t keep those eyes wide open?!”
“Gah! You little bitch!”
“What? Wanna test the Herald? Come at me with that petty black magic!”
“You...!”
Lady Liz gripped her staff and glared at Midiam, but... she soon released it. She saw the cold rationality in Midiam’s eyes.
She realized this girl wasn’t provoking her out of fleeting emotion—she was coldly baiting her to kill.
“Damn it! Fine! I’ve killed plenty; an eyeball’s a fair trade!”
Lady Liz figured it was better to cling to life in a convent than die in a hopeless fight.
“As expected of a mage—you’re not completely brainless.”
Midiam released her draw once Lady Liz showed no more fight. She had hoped the woman would lunge, and seemed a bit disappointed she hadn’t.
“Then, Sir Brock. Do you accept?”
Guillambalt checked his resolve.
“Yes. No objections. Acting Count of Rantaric, Sir Guillambalt. I thank you for your mercy.”
Sir Brock agreed to dissolve the vassalage contract and return the lands to their original lord, Count Rantaric.
*********
The fog lifted, revealing the Eyrie Fortress once more.
Without anyone saying a word, as soon as it cleared, people streamed back into the village, cleaning streets, restocking warehouses with goods they hadn’t managed to take, and locking them up.
They had likely waited anxiously outside the fog, fretting over lost property, and rushed in the moment it weakened.
They chanted Guillambalt’s name in unison.
“Sir Guillambalt, the new Count of Rantaric, has vanquished the fog monster!”
“A great feat! Let us sing of it for generations!”
Guillambalt’s fame for defeating the fog monster, winter’s chill, and the Wendigo was already spreading.
“You ended up doing Sir Guillambalt a huge favor.”
Midiam remarked while feeding hay and water to the goats and horses that had fled from the Wendigos. Azadin had punished her for ambushing Lady Liz without permission by making her tend them, but...
They ran into the animals right after exiting the underground passage, so it hardly counted as punishment. For shooting out a noblewoman’s eye, it was far too lenient, yet Midiam still grumbled.
“Wasn’t it your fame to claim, Azadin?”
“Do we even deserve fame?”
“But you worked a miracle... And aren’t you giving Sir Guillambalt too much? Not even a single imperial gold coin.”
“He’s not the type to be shameless. If he becomes Count Rantaric, it’ll help us.”
“Sure now, but who knows later? At least it’ll be easy to assassinate him then.”
Midiam giggled, recalling how poorly Guillambalt fought.
“I meant this as reflection for shooting her eye out, but it doesn’t seem like much punishment.”
“If I hadn’t attacked then, wouldn’t she have gotten off too lightly? You knew that, so you gave me this fake punishment, right?”
“You were provoking her to kill.”
“If it was provocation. But she caught on. She knew I was baiting her on purpose—got furious to her core, then snapped out of it?”
“You were reckless, Midiam. She was a dangerous mage, and though her husband’s no big threat, killing them ourselves would cause political issues.”
If Sir Brock voluntarily took monastic vows, people would believe his sincerity. But if Azadin’s group killed him, the Wendigo incident and his brother’s sacrificial murder would face suspicion. They’d think Guillambalt murdered his vassal to swallow the fief.
“I get you were angry, but as a member of the Etar Bloodline, don’t let personal feelings lead. Lucky that Lady Liz had a brain and gave up resistance.”
“Yes. Well, the political mess is neatly wrapped up. But that ugly young lord’s got some political talent, huh?”
“Hey, he’s right here.”
Guillambalt, who had approached unnoticed, was flustered by Midiam boldly critiquing him to his face, after shooting a noblewoman’s eye.
This brazen girl shoots noble ladies’ eyes and appraises a count’s son openly... She must be high-status among the Heralds.
“We didn’t get imperial gold from you or anything, so why butter you up?”
Midiam was unapologetic even caught badmouthing.
‘Brazen, or shameless?’
Guillambalt figured she wouldn’t flatter even with imperial gold on the line.
“You lot took all the New King Codex copies, didn’t you? Can’t say you gained nothing.”
“Tsk.”
Azadin clicked his tongue at Guillambalt.
“They say birds hear daytime talk and rats hear nighttime talk—don’t blab where it is. Not a joke.”
“...Yes.”
Despite his shrewd politics deciding Brock and Liz’s fates and claiming sole credit for resolving the Wendigo crisis, Guillambalt had to stay meek before Azadin.
“I’ll yield the fame of defeating the Wendigo. Use it to build political ground. Then even Young Adler won’t mess with you. Spread the rumors to Rantaric first, then enter triumphantly.”
Azadin proposed.
The feat of Guillambalt vanquishing the fog and frost monster, the Wendigo, would soon be known far and wide. With that merit, Rantaric’s retainers would look on him anew.