268. The Strong
“hehehe.”
The sight of a person eating meat covered in blood was reminiscent of a hunter who had just finished hunting and was taking the spoils.
However, because the blood on the floor is that of a human being, if we had to be honest, it would be more appropriate to call him a vampire rather than a hunter.
The good news is that we are not eating human flesh.
The Blue Shield mercenaries made a surprise attack, but Lanhardt and the hunters countered them so cleanly that they annihilated the enemies.
In particular, the sight of Lanhardt running on a rampage, saying he would not miss the fleeing enemy, was truly impressive.
The sight of people running faster than horses is a rare scene that is difficult to see anywhere else.
“Hey, warlock.”
Lanhardt, who was eating meat from the corpse of a horse pierced by a spear, calls me.
I, who was taking care of Soho, just turned my head and looked at him.
When I asked him to speak with his eyes, he waved the meat in his hand and asked,
“How was it just now? “Am I still a man who can’t handle the power of an ancient dragon?”
“If you want to be acknowledged for something, it’s better to give up.”
I had no intention of acknowledging him. I heard that pride is the most important thing for mercenaries, but I wondered if this was a shallow attempt to satisfy their scratched pride.
A seriousness appears in Lanhardt’s eyes, and he throws an objective question at me again.
“No, it’s not like I want to be recognized. “You seem a little different from the wizards I’ve met so far.”
“… ….”
“I see that you know a lot about guardian spirits, so I’d like to hear your opinion.”
“You?”
I didn’t mean to kill the nobleness I showed earlier and lower my head. He was even using me as a tool for his own strength.
‘It’s like giving advice to a man who is trying to kill me.’
It was quite funny, but he didn’t bother to say anything. First of all, we have to go to North Sweden together.
“It is unreasonable to try to use the power of the ancient dragon in the first place. “Right now, the power is so small that you won’t even know it exists.”
“Hmm.”
“But as time passes, the power of the ancient dragon will eat away at you. “I don’t know the details of what side effects there will be.”
“I heard that in the case of a guardian spirit, the moment he loses the place he is protecting, his power weakens.”
“You can’t unconditionally specify a location.”
“Oh, that’s another interesting story.”
He touches his chin and hints that he wants me to tell him more. Even that contained heaviness.
“I’m sorry, but I don’t think there’s any reason to say anything more.”
I didn’t want to tell him because I wanted to move on to a story related to the residents of Setima and their angels.
I did not want to let Lanhardt satisfy his greed with their stories.
“Really?”
Lanhart snorts and stuffs meat into his mouth again. He was chewing meat with excitement and didn’t ask me any more questions.
From that look, I unexpectedly got the feeling that he was acknowledging me.
The way he resisted me without backing down made me feel like he was on the same level as me rather than a subordinate.
So this time I asked him.
“You didn’t eat it to use the power of the ancient dragon, did you?”
“… ….”
Slowly. Very slowly his eyes focus on me. He didn’t even have a lame excuse for what he was talking about.
He glares at me intently and the corner of his mouth twitches.
“Are you using magic to read minds?”
“It doesn’t seem like the reason for eating the ancient dragon was to become stronger.”
“Huh, that’s strange.”
He strokes his chin again. He thought it was a habit he had when he was worried.
“This is my first time seeing a man who shows off his presence so much with just a few words of conversation.”
“I didn’t mean to do that.”
A moment of silence.
Lanhardt still ponders with a smile on his face, and then confesses honestly.
“Yes, the reason I ate the ancient dragon was not just to gain the power of an ancient dragon or something like that.”
Just an ancient dragon.
How many people on this continent can call their guardian deity like that?
“The reason I ate the guardian spirit was so that I could create a huge vessel inside myself like those guys and eat their souls.”
“… ….”
“You already know what you’re aiming for, right?”
He mutters in ecstasy, as if he can already see hundreds of millions of souls before his eyes.
“A truly gigantic power that has never been seen anywhere else on the continent. “I don’t know how Deius Verdi will use it, but I will eat it.”
Like the tree of knowledge of good and evil placed in front of Adam and Eve. Even though he knows he shouldn’t eat it, Lanhardt flicks his tongue, imagining the sweetness it will give.
“Deius said he would save the continent by putting them to sleep.”
I spoke as if to remind him, but instead Lanhardt snorted in response.
“How can you believe that? Who knew that he would use the vast amount of souls and the mana contained within them to do other things.”
“… ….”
“I don’t believe it. Deius Verdi, that guy is definitely blinded by his power and will cause an accident someday. “I just have to do it before then.”
He did not define Deius as evil. In the first place, the concept of good and evil did not seem very important to him.
Is there power or not?
Just about that much.
Anyway, if someone is sure to use the power, he will take it.
Feeling a burning obsession for strength, I asked him.
“Why on earth are you so obsessed with power?”
Is there a separate goal?
Simply becoming stronger was, in fact, a goal so vain that it would be okay to say it was vain.
Because it is difficult to measure what the standard for strength is.
Landhardt thinks my words are funny and slams his words down with the palm of his hand.
“hehehehe, why are you so obsessed with strength? “Look at the powerful people in the world.”
Suddenly, Lanhardt raises the bone of the meat he had just eaten and points to a high star.
“Like those stars, countless strong people light up this continent! Ah! Among them, there will be a place for this Lanhardt, and there will also be a place for you!”
For the first time, there was excitement in Lanhardt’s voice, and he continued speaking with a somewhat excited expression.
“They truly became powerful with many reasons on their shoulders. Martial God Hanso to protect the land of the empire!”
“… ….”
“Guardian gods protect something they protect from the world!”
Lanhardt’s loud shouting voice spreads everywhere, and other hunters’ eyes turn to him.
“Someone lost their loved one! Some people admire the strong man who protected them! Someone else to avenge their family! Money! Or fame! hahahahaha!”
After speaking, Lanhard bursts into laughter, saying he can’t stand it anymore.
His loud laughter is contagious to other hunters.
“Keuuu! Okay! Good! There’s a reason! “To be called strong requires perseverance, and you need a reason to endure that effort!”
“… ….”
Lanhardt nodded his head vigorously and stamped his words with the bone he was holding in his hand.
“You’re being damned.”
His voice, which used to be a mix of excitement and madness, becomes cold and calm, then subsides and becomes mixed with disgust.
“It’s all just a means to an end. “You only pursue power for what you want to do or what you need to do, but power itself is not the goal.”
It wasn’t wrong.
I can see the same thing right now.
He saved the continent and provided a place for souls to sleep.
Actually, there was no greater reason for me to learn necromancy beyond this.
But Lanhardt didn’t seem to like that.
“How can you call yourself a strong person with such a mindset! “Isn’t it truly shameless for those who only saw it as a means to an end to pointlessly criticize those who solely pursue power?”
There is no reason to pursue strength.
If we are to be honest, becoming stronger is the reason, purpose, and result.
“This body, Lanhardt. Nothing else is needed. Plural? Honor? Riches? hehehe! I’ll give you everything! Oh, no need!”
Lanhardt throws away the bone he was holding and looks at me. From his body language, tone of voice, and facial expression, I felt that he regarded me as a kind of rival.
Then he raises his index finger and declares.
“Unfortunately, the name of being the strongest on this continent is reserved for only one person.”
“… ….”
“This Lanhardt will take it.”
The lion who loves struggle turns his gaze and looks beyond the horizon.
A land hit by a cold spell.
We were ready to head to North Sweden.
* * *
“Ah, it’s cold.”
From Noble mtl dot com
The top of the North Swedish Mountains.
Inside the guard post built by the Verdi family, Finden Ai trembles.
Even though she had her own tolerance for the cold, the chill of the North Whedon Mountains peak was something she could not get used to.
When Finden Ai puts a piece of tobacco in her mouth, the leader of the hunters next to her, Whale Belter, is in a hurry, so he takes a lighter from her arms and lights it.
She was accustomed to smoking cigarettes, but she suddenly wondered if she had been smoking too often lately.
‘I won’t like it very much.’
If the smell of the beginning of the year is too strong, you won’t like it.
“Mr.”
When she thinks about this, the taste of the tobacco she was holding in her mouth suddenly disappears.
She was completely at a loss to quit smoking while waiting for a man she didn’t know when he would return, or even if he could return.
Finden Eye throws the beginning of the year straight at Whale Belter. He looked angry for a moment when he saw the tobacco that was thrown to him.
“What are you picking?”
In the end, he was unable to say anything to the proud Finden Eye and shriveled up.
Findeneye asked Whalebelter in annoyance.
“Hey, when are those bastards coming?”
“Oh, it will probably come soon. “There is a horse called a blood horse that has incredible speed.”
“Ha… ….”
I don’t know how many people will come or how long.
“Please come quickly. Boring.”
Findeneye sighed, determined to kill everyone who set foot in North Sweden.