This is going to be a long one, so it’s in two parts.
Prince Amor’s rampage, taking the Saint’s intentions to heart… All I could gather from what the dead Temple Knight had said was that, and I had no idea what he was planning to do with the Undead.
…This is more troublesome than I thought. That fake “Saint.”
Just like I felt when I met her, maybe I should kill her before she does anything else. But that would suppress the confusion and discord among the Holy Church and the people who believe in the Saint, and it would interfere with Elena’s attempt to suppress the confusion and discord among the Holy Church and the people who believe in the Saint, and it would interfere with Elena’s attempt to secure evidence and condemn her.
Similarly, it’s difficult to hold Prince Amor accountable for his crimes easily, but this time, he’s crossed an unforgivable line called rebellion, so we can create evidence later.
For better or worse, that Prince doesn’t have as much influence as the Saint. Still, to entrust the Knight Order with his subjugation, we need to gather that evidence. If we take too much time for that, there’s a chance Amor will achieve his goal. …But.
“That’s why I’m here.”
I’ll kill Prince Amor.
I can’t leave it to the Shadow Unit or the Knight Order. It seems reckless to challenge hundreds of Undead enemies alone, but if I assassinate Prince Amor, at least the Knight Order’s rampage should be minimized.
“Gaa…”
“Sorry, Nero. I wasn’t alone, were I?”
I lightly stroked Nero’s nose, which was rubbing against me in dissatisfaction, climbed onto his back, and headed for the Second Knight Order’s training grounds, which were said to be near the Royal Capital.
“Let’s go.”
–Affirmative–
If I’m going to face Undead, I could ask for help from the Rainbow Sword’s comrades.
There are always Shadow Unit members lurking in big cities. If I leave a message at the Adventurer’s Guild in that city, they should be able to contact the Rainbow Sword.
Still, it’s doubtful whether I can make it in time for Amor’s actions. Unless Prince Amor’s target is clear, I think it’s better for the Rainbow Sword to protect Elena’s surroundings. I left a message for the Shadow Unit in a town along the way just in case, but as it stands, Nero and I have no choice but to act.
…But, what is that Saint thinking? Normally, if Prince Amor, who is in the same faction as her, causes trouble, it would hurt her too.
But… maybe, even if it becomes a “wound” in the future, if her only goal is to “achieve her purpose” like Amor…
“We’re making a big mistake…”
A few days later, as I approached the Second Knight Order’s training grounds, I felt a strange sense of unease.
“There’s no presence…?”
Among the several training grounds, I heard that this was the place where Amor’s sympathizers had applied to use it. But if there were as many as two hundred people, their presence would spread like heat, and traces of their presence would remain around the area.
Monsters and animals, who are sensitive to that presence, would no longer approach the area. But from around here, I couldn’t feel much of a human presence, and I couldn’t even feel the presence of large animals, which should be sensitive to human presence.
“Guo…”
“…This is.”
When I turned my attention to where Nero was calling, there were traces of a large number of people passing by a little while ago. Leaving aside the ground of the highway, which is trampled and even difficult to leave ruts, if many people pass by, the people who couldn’t fit on the highway would break branches and leave traces of stepping on the grass.
Weeds recover naturally even when trampled, but judging from the condition of these broken twigs, people passed through here… a few days ago.
Prince and the Second Knight Order had already started moving.
“Nero, is there anyone around?”
At my voice, Nero stretched out the whip-like tentacles extending from his ears, causing the electric light to bounce off them.
I don’t understand it well, but according to that woman’s “knowledge,” it seems that she’s sending out waves of electricity over a wide area to detect weak biological reactions. It’s just detecting living things, so it can’t even tell if they’re human or not, but if there are creatures moving in a group in this forest, it’s either wolves or humans.
If Nero can’t detect them, then there’s no one around here. All that’s left is to diligently search for traces of the highway and follow them…
“Gaa!!”
“Roger.”
In response to Nero’s voice, I ran off in the direction his eyes were pointing.
If it’s a long distance, it’s faster to ride on Nero’s back, but for about an hour, my running ability had improved to the point where I could run alongside Nero without me on his back.
Instead of taking the highway, Nero and I ran through the forest, leaping from tree to tree and rock to rock. After running through the forest for about half an hour–
“Gaa!”
“I see them!”
I could see a dozen or so people and wagons traveling along a narrow highway. It’s the Second Knight Order, but not the main force. Probably baggage soldiers carrying spare equipment and food.
I don’t know if they’re Undead who support Amor, or soldiers who haven’t been told anything. I don’t have any grudges against ordinary soldiers, but I’ll still have to resort to rough tactics.
Whoosh!
“Halt! Who goes there!?”
Leaving Nero in the forest, I appeared from the forest next to the highway to block the road, and the baggage soldiers immediately took up arms in a moment of surprise.
“I’m a Shadow Knight. I received a report that Undead creatures have infiltrated the Second Knight Order, and I’m investigating. Even if you don’t remember anything, cooperate for the sake of national security.”
“–!?”
At my straightforward question, without any bargaining, several knights trembled with tension.
…Amor’s followers, huh? Not only that, but behind the five soldiers who showed tension, there were those who seemed to be “Undead” who showed no reaction to this situation.
Conversely, if they obediently accept the investigation at the words of an unknown girl like me, or if they retort with a just argument like proper soldiers, then they are probably truly ignorant, and I would have wasted my time…
“…Do it!”
At the same time as the soldier who seemed to be the captain muttered with a determined face, the soldiers behind him, who showed no reaction, drew their weapons and jumped out.
“So they are Undead after all.”
I slashed the neck of the soldier who jumped out first with my Knife to confirm that he was Undead.
I could sense Nero moving in the forest, but I gave him a light look to tell him “Don’t move.”
“So, the Second Knight Order was plotting a rebellion after all.”
When I called them “traitors” with a look of contempt, without breaking my expression, those who still had reason and intelligence, including the captain, changed their expressions.
“How dare a Shadow Knight mock our ambition!”
A young soldier who shouted that thrust out his Spear, and while dodging the Spear and the Undead’s attacks, I slashed the soldier’s arm with my Knife. He dropped his Spear and retreated, but grinned as if showing off his healing arm, and drew the sword from his waist.
“You greedy border count’s dogs! We who have been given power by Prince Amor are justice–”
“Don’t take unnecessary attacks!”
“C-Captain, I’m sorry.”
The captain rebuked the young soldier who was saying something, and the soldier turned pale as if he had remembered something.
“…………”
Border count…? Why is that name coming up here? Is it because I pretended to be a Shadow Unit member?
That’s also a concern, but why do the Undead care about injuries? That may be related to whether the Undead have reason or not.
Even during that time, I narrowly avoided the attacks of the mindless Undead and slashed at them with my Knife, but the doll-like soldiers didn’t flinch and crossed the line of death, and I was cornered against a large tree trunk by attacks that exceeded the limits of my strength.
These Undead haven’t yet become “beasts” like those Temple Knights.
Those who still have reason and intelligence. Those who only listen to orders like dolls. And those who attack like beasts… If the reason for stopping them earlier is the reason for the difference between the three, then I can vaguely see what it means.
“Wait! Surround her so she doesn’t escape!”
At the captain’s words, the Undead stopped moving and scattered to surround me.
Certainly, that’s the surest way to fight while reducing damage. But in this state, it should be possible to quickly neutralize me by having the immortal Undead attack me as is.
But, what is the reason for stopping them even to “reduce damage”–
“If they die too much, they can’t be controlled?”
“…You!”
It’s a guess that I didn’t want to be right, but it seems I was correct.
Probably, they themselves haven’t been told, but the Undead who are parasitized by insects “die” from the injured areas….
The parasitic insects repair or regenerate when the host’s body is injured. But there’s no such thing as getting an immortal body without any compensation.
The wounded flesh dies in that area, and the insects manipulate the flesh and blood like necromancy, forcibly connecting them. I suppose there’s a limit to their Mana, just like vampires, but they’re gaining a regenerative ability close to that of a vampire in a pseudo manner.
That’s why, if they’re wounded too much, they cease to be living beings, and their reason is lost in stages.
That Temple Knight managed to control it well, but these soldiers can’t control the Undead who have turned into beasts.
“…What are you going to do with that body? Is that what His Royal Highness did? At least Melrose-sama and Dandole-sama wouldn’t do something like that, would they?”
“Shut up, you dog of the Prime Minister!”
As if to provoke the question that had been bothering me, the soldier, who must have been anxious about his own body, raised his voice as expected.
“Your filthy Shadow Unit’s master is finished too. No matter how powerful the Dandole Family, the General Commander of the Knight Order, is, they won’t be able to defend against two hundred Undead soldiers without knights to protect!”
“…………”
An attack on the Dandole Family? If that’s what those words mean, it’s a simultaneous attack on the Melrose House and the Dandole Family.
Two hundred Undead are quite formidable, but not enough to attack two high-ranking noble families at the same time. So, instead of directly attacking the castle where the Knight Order is, they plan to attack them when they return to their residences?
Even though the two families’ residences are in the Royal Capital, they aren’t exactly inside it. Some high-ranking nobles build their residences outside the walls of the Royal Capital, which also functions as a defense for the Royal Capital.
The problem is that Dandole’s residence is in the north of the Royal Capital, and the Melrose House is in the south.
“Nero!”
“Gaaaaaaaah!!”
Responding to my voice, Nero jumped out of the forest, crushed the neck of one who had stopped moving, and neutralized him by stomping on his heart.
In that instant, I also activated Body Enhancement to the fullest, and slashed the heads and hearts of the Undead with my Knife and Dagger.
“I don’t need to hear anything else.”
There’s no time. The attack has probably already begun.
“What!?”
“A Monster!”
“Damn it! Everyone, ‘attack’!”
The soldiers with reason hastily ordered the Undead to attack. But their judgment is slow. If they had zombified to the point of being beasts, they would have attacked on their own, but the soldiers who prioritized the command form and feared losing their reason and consciousness even more, were afraid to die even though they were Undead.
“Haaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!”
“Gaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!”
By increasing the purity of my Mana and wielding my Blade while spinning, and with Nero’s claws spinning back-to-back with me, we tore apart the Undead who had been ordered to jump in, like a small-scale Hurricane.
No matter how Undead they are, their movements can be sealed if their bodies are dismembered. Even if they don’t die from that, I can finish them off later.
“Impossible…”
The captain muttered in astonishment at the sight of the soldiers who were supposed to be Undead being “destroyed,” and in the next moment, he raised his voice as if glaring at us.
“Someone, anyone! Tell His Highness about this!”
Perhaps having steeled himself now that true “death” was imminent, the captain tried to buy time by sacrificing himself to inform the main force of the threat that “we” posed.
Sensing his resolve, the soldiers who were still conscious attacked Nero, clinging to him like death soldiers.
Seeing their comrades’ figures, the young soldier who had been enraged at first made a look of anguish, but without hesitation, he tried to escape from the battlefield.
But, I can’t let you guys escape. I threw a throwing Knife at his back, but—
“You think I’ll let you…”
There, the captain jumped into the line of fire and caught the Knife with his forehead.
At this rate, they’ll escape. Just as I thought that—
“Out of my way!!”
Perhaps having heard the sound of the battle, someone who seemed to be an Adventurer appeared from the other side of the street, and the young soldier tried to cut him down with his sword.
Clang!!
“Gah!?”
However, the young soldier was cut in half along with his steel sword by the Greatsword that the Adventurer unleashed, and was blown away scattering blood.
A jet-black Greatsword that was taller than me… The man who wielded that Greatsword with ease, the man who was bigger than the Greatsword, found me and made a faint smile.
“Was my help unnecessary? Aria.”
“Feld!”
Why is Feld here?
Next time, a conversation between the two and another reinforcement appears…
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