Genius Corpse-Collecting Warrior - Chapter 55

Rumor (2)

“You said the dead would rise?”

Dallen asked, roughly wiping the seasoning off his hands.

“That’s right. “They say a skeletal corpse rises from the grave, and an old man who had died in his bed the day before walks out of the house in the middle of the night.”

“hmm.”

Knock knock.

Dallen thought as he lightly tapped the table with his fingertips.

‘The undead appeared.’

The appearance of the undead was a very important omen in this game.

After the large-scale subjugation of the Holy Knights seventy years ago, necromancers became a rare entity on the continent.

The few surviving necromancers hid in remote areas where the Holy Knights could not reach them.

Representative places include the Frost Plateau in the north, the Vampire Counties in the western part of the empire, or the Scorching Desert in the western part of the continent.

Unless it was in such a remote area, it was difficult to even find the shadow of a necromancer.

Therefore, the discovery of the undead was a clear sign that something unusual would occur.

‘The worst of those events was the vampire count’s invasion of the empire.’

A vampire count takes advantage of the weakened power of the empire to invade human lands for the first time in four hundred years.

The Second Blood Demon War that broke out as a result was also the signal that opened the finale of the latter half of the game.

‘But it is still too early for vampires to be active. The power of the empire has not been sufficiently weakened.’

Unlike the Apostles of Retrograde or the Ash Witch, the Blood Demon War is not fought by the will of any individual or group.

The middle of the game, where the empire’s unreasonable expansion policy and the resulting conflicts between countries become complicated.

The aftermath of this was the Blood Demon War, which erupted in an unexpected place.

No matter how much the evil spirit intervened, it would have been difficult to move the complex situation of the continent so urgently.

Dallen took a moment to gather his thoughts and opened his mouth.

“Are there any stories of the dead occurring in other areas as well?”

“I’m not sure about that, but since there are no rumors that the military has moved, I think it’s just a rumor from a village on the border.”

“Right. “Thank you.”

Dallen put his hand back to his food. Volkmar asked as he watched him tearing open a large loaf of bread.

“Is there anything you can guess? “I thought it was just a rumor.”

“no. “It’s probably just a rumor.”

With Volkmar tilting his head in front of him, Daelon tapped the table while chewing a piece of bread.

If the rumor was limited to the northern part of the empire, there seemed to be no need to be nervous.

Before the invasion of the Vampire Count, there were dead people wandering around all the lands of the empire, the surrounding small kingdoms, and even the city union.

‘So it’s one of the small events where undead appear. Boatman from Hell? Or the legend of the ghost horse? ‘There was something else.’

Dallen quietly rummaged through his memories while wiping off the remaining stew with a piece of bread.

And soon after, Volkmar started chatting again about the situation in the empire and the resulting prices.

***

That day, the boy regained consciousness once again. It had only been a few hours since Volkmar left.

“…….”

The boy did not scream this time.

He absentmindedly turned his gaze from the ceiling to look at Dallen, and a few tears flowed from his small eyes.

“Aren’t you hungry?”

Dallen handed out bread and stew with an indifferent expression. The boy ate it up and then went back to sleep.

A few days passed like that.

The boy, who spent most of his time sleeping, started waking up and moving around on the fourth day.

One day, led by Lucia’s hand, we visited the temple’s priest one more time.

The next day, I went to the blacksmith shop with Dallen, who ordered new armor and a sword.

One day, when the boy saw two people buying dry goods at the market, he realized that they were preparing to leave the city.

The boy said at dinner that night.

“Can I go with you too?”

Lucia stopped scooping up the stew.

This was the first time the boy Irero rescued from the witch spoke up.

“Uh…Honey, first of all, the place we’re going isn’t just the next city.”

“Where is it?”

“That’s it…”

Lucia hesitated, stretching the corners of her mouth into a straight line.

It was impossible to say that a traitor was aiming for the Holy Sword and that he was on his way to the headquarters of the Holy Knights through that threat.

However, I completely understood the boy’s unwillingness to be separated from the two people.

It is difficult to imagine the shock he suffered from being tortured by a witch at a young age.

Just being able to overcome that terrible memory by relying on the two people in front of me was something to be proud of.

Naturally, from the boy’s perspective, it would be unimaginable to be separated from the two people who were the source of his stability.

However, when we actually took him there, it was literally a journey where we had no idea what dangers might exist.

“Um…”

“…Of course that won’t work, right?”

A restrained but hidden disappointment bloomed on the boy’s face.

At that time, Dallon, who was chewing sausages, opened his mouth.

“Do you know how to pack your own backpack?”

“…yes.”

“Do you know how to set up camp?”

“I’m a little slower than other Dongpae mercenaries, but I know how to do it.”

“Have you ever ridden a horse?”

The boy hesitated for a moment.

“I have a few experiences with ponies. “If you teach me, I will learn quickly.”

“Then that’s it. I will hire you as a porter and mercenary. “Let’s formally submit a nomination request to the mercenary guild.”

Dallen said and cut the sausage into large pieces and put it in his mouth. The boy also became absorbed in eating again.

Lucia added belatedly, looking a little embarrassed by the conversation that ended so quickly.

“Uh…I’ll teach you swordsmanship! “Dalen may be a good teacher, but the swordsmanship he uses won’t suit you well.”

“thank you.”

The boy bowed his head.

It was decided that Dongpae mercenary Parn would accompany them, and the party left the city a few days later.

It had been exactly ten days since we arrived at Lvivbach along the upper reaches of Galios.

***

Clap. Crack.

The bonfire was sparkling. Dallen picked up a thick branch and poked the fire a few times.

He then placed additional firewood on top of the growing flames and recited a spell in a low voice.

“Ignel Lot.”

The flame created by magic caught the firewood. The flame, which had been gnawing away at the firewood, soon became one with the bonfire and burned fiercely.

Dallen returned to his seat with the bowl he had been warming by the fire.

Lucia and Farn were sleeping under a blanket. He was on alert.

“hmm. “It’s delicious.”

I reheated the leftovers from dinner and it was good to have as a late-night snack.

Dinner, as always, was Lucia’s work.

Vegetables and eggs bought in the city were roasted with meat, and ingredients that looked a little mushy or not in good condition were mixed together with roasted grains and simmered in a stew.

Dallen chewed the slightly tough meat and looked up at the sky.

A moon slightly smaller than the Earth. The night sky is full of stars.

Although the positions of the stars were very different from the night sky of my hometown, the shapes and shapes of the constellations that people named were quite similar.

A different yet similar world.

The world people live in was like that.

“Ugh.”

At that time, Farn, who had been sleeping soundly, groaned and turned over.

Dallen carefully placed the back of his hand on the boy’s head. It was a little hot. It wasn’t serious.

“You are doing well, Dongpae Mercenary Farn.”

Dallen said softly as he pulled up the blanket of the boy who had fallen asleep.

Today was the fourth day since the group left Lvivbach.

It was a journey south on horseback towards the border of the empire along the road used by merchants.

Unlike when guarding the top, there was more work to do as only the three of them were left to move.

In addition to always being alert to our surroundings, we had to find a good place and set up camp around sunset.

Of course, I had to keep watch at night.

And between the paladin and the veteran mercenary, this young boy steadfastly fulfilled his role.

While Dallen hunted animals and Lucia prepared camp, Farn went into the forest to make firewood.

Despite Lucia’s dissuasion, he stayed alert and did not show any signs of distress during the day.

Thanks to this, the party’s speed was not far behind Dallen’s expectations.

‘Three days to cross the border between the Cities Federation and the Empire. It took two days to cross the Estra River again and leave the territory of the Empire. Then, we will arrive at the Holy Knights in about ten days.’

Of course, this is only when traveling normally on horseback, and if an unexpected accident occurs, the time could be longer.

Dallen, who was murmuring meat while thinking about various things, put down his spoon in the half-empty bowl.

He looked at the blanket some distance away.

“Can’t you sleep?”

In a blanket. Lucia opened her eyes. She slowly got up and muttered.

“…It depends on today.”

As she sat up, her long blonde hair fell and covered her thin shoulders. It looked like a small golden waterfall.

Lucia stared blankly at the bonfire and then turned her head to Farn, who was still moaning occasionally.

“How long will this be difficult?”

Since leaving the city, the boy has been sick like this every night.

The wounds inflicted by the witch were completely healed, but the wounds inflicted on her mind were not completely washed away.

“It’s a problem that requires time. “Our role is just to wait.”

“…Yes. “It takes time.”

Lucia lowered her head with slightly wet eyes for some reason.

The red flames of the bonfire flickered above the moist blue eyes.

Dallen said, scratching his chin.

“Did you kill them?”

“yes?”

“The labyrinth thief’s companions. Suspects who are believed to have participated in killing Barrett.”

“……ah.”

The paladin raised his head for a moment and then lowered his gaze again.

She chewed her lip for a moment, staring at the crackling fire.

How much time has passed?

My lips, slightly pale from biting too hard, opened.

“…I didn’t kill him.”

Lucia was silent for a moment. It was a blank space, as if asking why he did that.

Dallen didn’t bother to ask. However, he did not turn his attention away from the paladin.

A question-free answer came back across the short space.

“I felt betrayed.”

Lucia told the story briefly.

How did they track down the members of the labyrinth thief ‘Skinhead’ with the information obtained from Sienna?

And what the colleague of the guy she first caught said to her.

‘What do you Holy Knights know? You’re so full that you talk nonsense about being the shield of humanity and the guardian of the cracks! We’re not like you hungry bitches. They risk their lives and fight against monsters just to earn a living. Subjugating demons for humanity? under! To me, it only looks like a young boy drunk with faith has come to steal a rice bowl worth hundreds of florins.’

He is said to have shouted and confidently admitted it.

That he stabbed Paladin Barrett in the back.

He was trying to collect both the bounty and the holy sword from the devil.

“After hearing it, I was shocked. We are the Holy Knights who protect the cracks in the continent. Protecting the Rift is the same as protecting the inhabitants of this continent. “Without any compensation or demands.”

Lucia pursed her lips again.

“After talking with that guy, I realized that the only reward for our dedication might be a knife in the back. I felt disillusioned with the very existence of human beings. Among my seniors, I have finally come to understand those who abandon their duties and stay in the mountains.”

The wind blew. The bonfire shook.

The red shimmer reflected in the paladin’s blue eyes also swayed back and forth along with it.

Dallen watched it silently. For a while, the only sounds were the wind and the boy’s groans.

“But as I was about to kill him, Barrett’s words rang in my ears.”

“What did you mean?”

“…Don’t feel betrayed by people. “People are not trustworthy in the first place.”

She paused for a moment. And with a light sigh, he spat out the next sentence.

“…people are simply beings who need to be loved.”

“hmm.”

Dallen neither confirmed nor denied. He picked up his spoon and munched on the meat and stew again.

“I still don’t know if that’s right. However, I agree that it is not something to be trusted. And the Holy Knights were created to protect such people.”

Lucia smiled slightly. It was a difficult laugh.

“Then I simply do my duty.”

Before I knew it, the wind had died down. The bonfire burned brightly again.

The flame that had been wavering in the paladin’s eyes had suddenly regained its balance and was fluttering straight.

It was as if the spark of faith that had been dampened by a draft became stronger for some reason.

“I see.”

Dallen nodded. It wasn’t because I agreed with what she said.

The rebuttal was rolling through his head right now.

Even the one Lucia had sent alive right now would have stabbed more people in the back and made victims.

If it were me, I would have cut him down with a single knife. Even to prevent further damage.

But at the same time, Dallon knew.

There is no guarantee that someone who was killed so easily will not become a good person in the distant future.

The number of people who have died by his hands so far is in the triple digits.

Among them would have been the head of a certain family.

And maybe that child was destined to become a little hero in a world that was heading toward destruction.

Even if you know the big picture of the future, it is natural that what you don’t know is much more than what you know.

This world is no longer a game that operates with 0 and 1.

Because it was a literally real world where people were alive, breathing, and intertwined with each other.

“The world is complicated.”

Dallen put down his empty bowl and said.

“However, despite such complexity, justice may sometimes be simple. Of course, it could be the other way around.”

Each person has their own definition.

A definition that is simple for some and complicated for others.

And Lucia’s justice was being completed, albeit in a precarious way.

Through her temperament and religious experience.

Perhaps this was the process by which a demon slayer was created. And Dallen had no intention of tearing it down.

Knowing the future, it would be no wonder that our attitude towards future heroes becomes more cautious.

All he could say was brief words of encouragement.

“In any case, there is no perfect justice for man. “If there is, it must be God’s domain and authority.”

I hope that the justice they establish is truly God’s will. He added quietly.

Lucia smiled softly and nodded. Dallen roughly wiped the plate he had finished eating and took it away. Then he changed the subject.

“When I looked at the map, there was an inn on the uphill road. I think it will arrive tomorrow. “Let’s replenish some supplies there, rest for a day, and then set off again.”

“We are out of fresh vegetables. If the inn is in good condition, it would be okay to buy some. “It may be expensive, though.”

“More than half of my luggage is gold coins.”

Lucia burst out laughing at the words while smiling. Dallen also smiled lowly.

Then, at some point, he suddenly raised his head.

“A guest is coming.”

He said. Lucia also turned her head in surprise.

After boosting her eyesight with the sacred tattoo, she naturally reached for the sword.

A little farther than the arrow can reach.

Two shadows were slowly approaching this way.