Translator: AkazaTL
Pr/Ed: Sol IX
***
Chapter 129 : Confusion
“S-Save—!”
The head that was cut off before finishing the words was the 27th.
In the hand movents of I, Hein Reichart, who harvested the heads of slave traders with a movent that could not be more certain, not a shred of guilt could be found.
“If you just save , I will tell you everything! Please, just my life…….”
Just what was he planning to say.
In the first place, all I wanted from them was fresh heads to use as bait.
Other things were not even needed to begin with.
Squelch!
Once again, another head was cut off.
The heads rolling on the floor were now 28.
“He-he-heek!”
The last remaining man with slit eyes, who was babbling about whether or not a ‘turn’ would co around a mont ago, stared at the signaling explosive firecracker in his hand with a hurried expression.
Was it because his heart was in a hurry?
This damn explosive firecracker simply would not work.
“……!”
In the end, the explosive firecracker failed to perform its function and rolled on the ground along with the hand that was still clutching it.
The tip of the sword touched exactly on the man’s Adam’s apple.
“You don't know that, do you?”
I opened my mouth unlike myself.
Because there was sothing I wanted to let him know as a price for wagging his vulgar mouth a mont ago.
“That I don't dislike seeing the blood of a fellow like you.”
***
“You can co out.”
I, having finished all the cleanup, gave the signal.
Sherazade ca out hesitantly while holding the girl in her arms.
The attire of Hein Reichart leaning against the tent, was clean this ti as well.
However, even with just the thick scent of blood wafting in, it was not difficult to guess what had happened in this place.
“T-Thank you.”
The legs of the girl of another race who t eyes with trembled, but she did not forget to offer her gratitude nonetheless.
“Can you eat?”
“……Yes? Yes.”
Only after hearing my words did the girl of another race rember that she had been starving for a full day since yesterday.
Seeing the girl nod, I began to rummage through my bag to take out ingredients.
A mont later, a savory scent wafted out to drive away the sll of blood.
***
“Do you want to try so of this? Shall I give you that too?”
“Thank you, unnie.”
Watching the girl eat while receiving help from Sherazade, I nodded my head.
She seed sowhat shocked, but seeing her answer and eat without much trouble, it seed the degree of shock was not very severe.
“There are a few things I want to ask, but it’s okay if you don’t answer if it’s difficult.”
Even while talking, my gaze touched the two horns extending side by side above the girl's forehead.
The lustrous red surface and the faint star pattern engraved on it.
“No. No. I can do it.”
Even though her appearance was shabby, she had a calm attitude that was hard to believe for a child who had escaped after being captured by slave traders.
“How were those guys able to co all the way here just now? What are the guards of Veradora doing?”
“The guards…… are not here. Because the World Tree has fallen ill.”
Most of the explanation provided by the gloomy girl was what I had guessed, but the facts learned through the mouth of a person of Veradora were even more shocking.
‘As the illness of the World Tree deepened, the magi of monsters swirled, and did the Veradora regular army judge that they could not block all the monsters rising in various parts of the territory? So the King made the decision as a desperate asure to gather the people in the capital and defend that place intensively.’
Veradora was a blessed land with fertile soil and abundant products, while at the sa ti, it was a dangerous land where many ferocious monsters resided.
Even so, the reason Veradora had maintained stability until now was thanks to the World Tree located in the center of the capital, ‘Thebaia’.
The aura of blessing emitted by the World Tree suppressed the magi of the monsters inhabiting the entire region of Veradora.
‘If these words are true, it explains why the border villages are so empty and why slave trader bastards show themselves in Veradora without fear.’
If Veradora had been like any other country, their situation would have quickly spread across the entire continent.
However, because this country originally had rare contact with other nations and the fact that the World Tree was ill was a great wound to their pride, the information did not spread.
‘The Esper Kingdom must have taken asures to prevent this fact from spreading as well. Only then would they be able to suck Veradora dry to their heart’s content.’
I spoke after confirming the pattern engraved on the girl's horns once more.
“What is your na?”
“I am called ‘Para’.”
“I am Hein Reichart, and the lady here is Sherazade. Para, you have to go to the capital now, right? Since we will take you safely to that place, can you do one favor?”
“Did you just say Hein Reichart?”
“Yes. You know where I ca from and what kind of person I am, don’t you?”
I was certain that Para knew my rank and that she wanted to go to the capital.
“When we arrive at the capital, can you arrange for to have an audience with ‘Her Majesty Sion’?”
Sion was the na of the Queen currently ruling Veradora.
I believed that a girl who was only 10 years old had the power to arrange an audience with the Queen.
“……How did you know?”
“The horns.”
The interesting point was that Para did not deny having the power to grant my request.
“Master, what are you talking about right now?”
And Sherazade, who could not understand the current conversation alone at all, eventually kept poking my side.
“What do you an? This young lady right in front of our eyes is one of the direct lineage mbers of the highest-ranking race that constitutes the ‘Veradora Roundtable’.”
“What is the Roundtable?”
“The highest decision-making body of Veradora that helps the Queen and deliberates on state affairs.”
Though I did not explain it, the decisions of the Roundtable held power comparable to the Queen’s will.
Even if it were the Queen of Veradora, she could not arbitrarily overturn a conclusion reached by the Roundtable.
The reason Para could recognize the identity as soon as she heard the na Hein Reichart was also because of that lineage.
“So you an Para is sothing like a princess?”
“One could see it that way.”
“I am not sothing like a princess!”
Different answers burst out from the mouths of I and Para.
“My grandfather just participates in the eting; I am not sothing like a princess. I’m just-just an ordinary kid.”
Whether it was embarrassing to be treated as a princess by the two who were the saviors of her life, Para denied my words while shaking her head.
“But how did Master know that?”
“The pattern on the horns. The Watub engrave different patterns on their horns depending on the tribe.”
This was the reason why I had closely examined Para’s horns.
“Yes. I see. Para is quite amazing.”
Whether she completely forgot that she herself was of royal descent, Sherazade stroked Para’s hair with a proud expression.
The proportion the Watub occupied in the total population of Veradora was quite high.
If so, if I borrowed the power of Para’s grandfather who participated in the Roundtable as the representative of the Watub, the matter of having an audience with the Queen could beco easier.
‘If it were another country, revealing my rank and requesting an audience would have been the fastest thod, but this is Veradora.’
Because of its unique closed nature, Veradora was famous for not welcoming visits from uncoordinated foreign envoys, especially high-ranking nobles, from a long ti ago.
Considering the current chaotic situation, requesting a royal audience using the rank of Grand Duke of Zodiac was not a wise thod.
‘If I suddenly visit alone and say I want to et the Queen, it will only buy suspicion.’
But since I t Para here at just the right ti, it could be said to be a fortunate thing for .
“……I will try to tell my grandfather. But whether he will listen to ……”
“That is enough.”
I, after hearing Para’s answer, nodded my head and stood up from the spot.
Crack!
And I began to make sothing by breaking nearby wood.
Before long, several pieces of square timber having the form of a cross with only one direction being long were made.
“Are you perhaps planning to even make graves for those bad guys earlier?”
“…….”
“Sorry, Master is not that kind of person.”
“If you are curious about the use, there is nothing I cannot tell you, but if you lose sleep after hearing it, I don’t know.”
“…….”
“Shall I tell you?”
“No. It’s okay.”
Unlike Sherazade who had shaken her head, Para knew what the use of that timber was.
‘Warrior’s Wrath’,
A small tool the Watub used when provoking an enemy.
By setting that stick vertically and hanging the head of a decapitated corpse on the short end, it expressed mockery and contempt for the enemy.
“Wait here.”
I walked to the place where I had set aside the heads of the corpses with the timber tucked under my arm.
Soon, the sticks with the severed heads of the slave traders tied to them were driven into the ground in a row.
‘The regular army of the Esper Kingdom will be behind these fellows. They will have to think this was done by the Watub after seeing this. Only then will they chase with fire in their eyes.’
The reason I decapitated the slave traders without lingering regret was also here.
These fellows were the lowest-grade pawns anyway.
They wouldn't know anything about in what context the work was proceeding.
‘Well, the regular army fellows are pawns as well. But still, those fellows would know sothing.’
Boom!
As soon as the signaling explosive firecracker that did not listen to the slit-eyed man’s words was held in my hand, it went off all too easily.
Now in a little while, the regular army of Esper who confird the signal will co here.
‘Try and chase well. Because I also have many things I want to ask you.’
***
“Eat up. After casting the concealnt barrier.”
On the night of the second day since the journey toward Thebaia began.
I, who was eating, stood up and moved away from the two.
With this, it was the seventh departure.
Sherazade, who had beco accustod to this situation, resud her al after deploying the barrier.
“Well, can I ask you one thing?”
“Yes. Please ask.”
“So Para is like a princess, right?”
Even though she had a quite high status at least within Veradora, Para did not seem to mind that Sherazade used informal speech with her.
“But why were you alone in such a place? Were there no people who stayed with you?”
“There were. The people who were guarding ……”
“Sorry! I asked sothing stupid!”
Sherazade waved her hand upon seeing Para’s expression turn gloomy.
However, Para shook her head while showing a smile.
“No. Actually, you must have wanted to ask at first, so thank you for holding back until now. Actually, I was originally going to the capital with my dad. But……”
Soon Para’s eyes turned red, perhaps rembering the guards who died at the hands of slave traders while trying to protect her.
If Para had moved with her dad as originally scheduled, there would have been no way for her to be kidnapped by slave traders.
But while moving to the capital, news of a large-scale outbreak of Giant Worms nearby was heard.
Para’s dad, who was among the top warriors in the tribe, had to rush there imdiately leading his elite soldiers.
Leaving behind his young daughter weighed on his mind, but if he and the soldiers did not go, thousands of people were in a situation where they would be massacred.
So in the end, Para’s dad left behind new soldiers whose training was not complete as his daughter’s guards and dashed toward the Giant Worms.
And quite coincidentally, they encountered slave traders who were lying in wait to find targets to sell off.
The soldiers, who still lacked training, were annihilated by the slave traders’ ambush, and she ended up being captured.
“Because of …… the ahjussis……”
In the end, Para showed tears due to guilt.
“It’s okay. The bad ones are those fellows. So Para shouldn't have such thoughts.”
Sherazade hugged Para tightly.
“Waaaaah!”
“It’s okay, it’s not that Para is bad.”
Sherazade continued to soothe Para until she stopped crying.
“Hiccup……”
And around the ti Para’s crying finally subsided, Sherazade spoke while putting strength into the hands holding the girl.
“There’s no need to worry now. Because I will take you safely to the capital no matter what happens. If you find a little unreliable, yes, that’s it! You can just believe in Master! Our Master is like a skinflint usually, but he is a person who definitely keeps promises, and he is very good at fighting.”
“A skinflint? Pfft!”
Perhaps Sherazade’s words were funny, for Para showed a smile.
“Yes. Para doesn’t know, does she? I’ll tell you secretly, so you shouldn’t tell anyone else. Our Master, you see, he looks handso, but sotis he acts really stingy. Just like a miser……”
When Sherazade was continuing her words with deliberately exaggerated expressions to make Para laugh.
“Who is a miser?”
I, having left my spot, revealed myself inside the concealnt barrier.
“Ugh, Master is here? Did the work you went for go well?”
“No. I just ca back after wasting effort. Because they were small fry who didn't know anything this ti either.”
I shook my head with an expression that it was no big deal.
Of course, to the slave trader pursuit team who encountered , a very ‘big deal’ result had occurred.
“Sleep early. Because we have to go a long way tomorrow as well.”
I, while sitting leaning against a tree stump, took away the brushwood that was lighting the campfire.
“Shall we sleep together with unnie today?”
Perhaps she felt sorry for Para, for Sherazade pulled a blanket over themselves while holding her in her arms.
Soft breathing.
Pour.
Soon after confirming the sound of even breathing heard side by side, I poured the ward liquor into a cup.
I told the two of them to sleep early, but I could not easily fall asleep and continued to tilt my liquor cup alone until late.
Crackle!
Between the remaining embers that were gradually subsiding, the night of Veradora was deepening.
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