5. Bread and Dagger (75)
A man stood over the boiling flesh.
It was a middle-aged man with a burnt appearance. The tattered priest’s uniform testified to the fact that he was once a member of the Celestial Church.
not now though
In Crow’s memory, he seemed calm. Although sometimes maddened, he was essentially a religious man with a deep gaze.
But what about the eyes of that man looking down at me right now?
A burning desire was boiling over. Even he couldn’t understand the name of the feeling.
The gaze was so intense that I couldn’t even tell what it was aiming at.
It won’t be my heart for only me.
My lips whispered the enemy’s name softly.
“… … Leoric.”
“You already know my name.”
The words were thrown as if unexpected, but there was no admiration or agitation in the tone.
It was a very calm tone.
At first glance, it seemed as if he was saying hello to his neighbor.
The elves seemed frightened by the sudden confrontation.
As Leoric and I stood facing each other, whispers tickled my ears. Some elves were hesitantly encircling me with their weapons in hand.
It was embarrassing.
Avian was now in my arms.
If I was defeated, there was a high probability that it would be her next turn. That fact weighed heavily on my heart.
Isn’t it just after the sister reunion was made?
Even so, Avian couldn’t even have a proper conversation with his sister. In addition, the sister lost her mind and was in the arms of the enemy.
It was a tragedy.
It wasn’t my favorite genre.
I lowered my stance and scratched my vocal chords roughly.
“What did you do with Betty? And what is it like?”
“Immanuel… Isn’t this also the grace of the Lord? I didn’t know either, but it seems that a special ‘blessing’ is staying in my body.”
It was a ‘blessing’ again.
I was getting sick of it now. Maybe even after leaving the North, I would get sick of it every time I heard that word for a while.
Of course, in order to do that, you have to survive first.
I quietly rearranged my armament. Avian’s body gently landed on the snowfield.
The opponent was Leoric. It was unreasonable to fight while protecting someone.
So, first of all, it was necessary to ensure the safety of Avian. It was the reason I kept trying to talk to Leoric.
“And Sister Betty, you don’t have to worry too much. He just fell asleep for a while… The body is ‘still’ healthy.”
“yet?”
“Because if the state of absence of the mind is prolonged, there is no choice but to have an adverse effect on the body. So for me, I want to hurry up and try to convince you.”
More novels at noblemtl.com
Just like I did, Leoric carefully put Betty’s body down.
Then, the bubbling flesh buried Betty in an instant. It happened in the blink of an eye, before I could say anything.
I furrowed my brow, and Leoric burst out laughing.
“You seem surprisingly worried, brother… Again, it’s not dangerous. How could it not be? That all elves are my brothers and sisters.”
“It didn’t look very friendly.”
“Don’t look at it too narrowly. And didn’t you feel it too?”
I responded to Leoric’s words with blatant sarcasm.
Even so, Leoric’s expression was still calm. He just smiled calmly and drew the sign of the cross on his chest.
He looked like a model of a great religious person.
Except for the fact that his lower body was devoured by a flesh monster.
He continued persuasion.
“The species is not very important. What matters is the will to solidarity with the weak… Haven’t you seen clearly the atrocities that mankind has done to the elves?”
“… … It’s what you did, you son of a bitch.”
At that point, I finally couldn’t stand it and growled.
It was hard to bear the sight of them making noise as if they were pursuing justice and peace after alienating humans and elves. It was to the point of nausea.
“The village elves did nothing wrong! Humanity had no reason to touch the elves who had fled to the coniferous forest… But everything has changed since you led the raids and raids!”
“Is it different? What do you mean?”
“You ruined the peace.”
At my insistence, Leoric smiled bitterly.
His gaze fell to the ground.
It didn’t look convincing. Even so, I couldn’t overcome my anger and continued talking.
“Even if you didn’t provoke humanity, the village elves could live in peace! There must have been no punitive forces formed… But you ruined everything… … !”
“Do you call that ‘peace’?”
I was speechless at the question out of the blue.
I stared at Leoric as if he meant something. He smiled bitterly and raised his head again.
There is a subtle heat in those eyes.
“Is it peace to drive the elves who lived in the Great Grove to this cold, dry north, and make them worry about their daily meals? It is peace to lock you in this coniferous forest forever and to separate you from civilization!”
I wanted to make a refutation.
My lips didn’t come off at all. Numerous flashbacks passed before my eyes.
The elves who saw bread and loved it like children.
Uncle Dolph and Ruggett boiled and ate a pregnant mouse.
And even the ‘tree porridge’ that Avian brought every morning as a meal.
It was a miserable life.
Can this really be called ‘life’? Isn’t it just to endure the harsh day by day because you can’t let go of your tough life?
It was difficult for me to say anything.
Because I was a noble of the empire.
At least I never went hungry because I had nothing to eat. I’ve never been driven to a situation where I couldn’t maintain the minimum dignity.
Leoric’s voice grew even more agitated as I kept silent.
“Brothers and sisters, how are you? Look at this arrogant man! Has life ever been a blessing to you? Has there ever been a time when this world was heaven!”
Dark eyes are aimed at me.
It was a gaze where light and shadow disappeared. It seemed that the will to live and hope had long since been shattered. Rather, the pupils were closer to those of dried fish.
Meanwhile, Leoric’s voice was getting hotter.
Before I knew it, pure white mana rushed in, and I could feel the blazing heat with every word I vomited out.
“The logic of vested interests! The standard of vested interest! Brother Ian, neither did you! You are also part of the world we must destroy!”
and the next moment.
The bodies of Avian and I overlapped. It was as if I was embracing Avian.
Even I couldn’t figure out why.
I just instinctively thought I had to throw myself.
The fact that the choice was right was soon proved.
Kung, and the ground shakes.
The world turned white and his vision was white.
Even when I closed my eyes, a reddish afterimage remained. I could feel the intense heat burning down my spine.
it is a ray
I managed to catch it. Light emanated from Leoric’s eyes and mouth, and at the same time Leoric let out a scream, a beam of light shot out.
I checked the breath on my chest and raised my head.
In the place where the ray passed, nothing remained.
The forest was penetrated in a row, providing a cool view.
It was truly a spectacle.
The fact that I had to deal with the man who staged the scene was not pleasant at all.
I raised myself up and cried out.
“Strictly do not touch non-combatants!”
“I won’t aim for it on purpose, but I can’t help myself getting caught up in it!”
Leoric was moving with a sigh. It wasn’t slow, but it wasn’t fast either.
I gritted my teeth and drew the knife.
I couldn’t allow access like this. The farther away the point of impact, the safer Avian will be.
That was the reason why my body hit the ground straight away and was shot.
right after that.
Bang, bang, bang!
The ground shook three more times, and I collapsed vomiting blood.
**
The saintess suffered from headaches every day.
It was the price of overworking the brain. After the man she loved left, the saintess was inadvertently planning to rescue him every night.
The reality wasn’t particularly high.
It was after Delphine, Elsie, and Emma had already left, but there was no news yet. In fact, it was a question whether Ian, who lost his memory and was hostile to mankind, could be saved.
What if you meet him with the intent to kill in the coniferous forest?
It was a defeat. If he came to win the fight with questions and answers, it would be impossible to subdue him with his current power. Even with Delphine, it was the same.
And the headache accompanies the pain in the heart.
Whenever she thought of Ian, the saintess’ heart ached unbearably. I kept repeating that I had to keep my reason, but my heart wasn’t that simple.
I want to see.
Only that simple desire filled the saintess’ mind. It has been several days since I prayed while shedding tears.
The saintess let out a laugh.
It was a laugh of deep fatigue.
“therefore… Marquis Yurdina is a traitor?”
It was an omission of honorifics and honorifics.
It was unimaginable if it was her usual. However, the extremely impoverished saintess did not even have time to correct her mistake.
It was a contrasting sight.
Standing in front of the saintess was a girl blazing with determination. The girl with dark blue hair clenched her fists and nodded.
“Yeah!”
“Let’s see… … .”
The saintess rose to her feet at the answer without hesitation. Then, he placed his hand on the princess’s forehead and opened her eyelids with her fingers to examine them.
how much for that
The saintess narrowed her brows as if it were strange.
“Hmm, I don’t have any symptoms yet… Shall we begin our consultation?”
“Gee, it’s real!”
The princess, who felt unjust about being treated as an invalid, raised her voice.
The expression of her feelings was evident from her tear-stained face. In response, the saintess touched her forehead as if her head hurt even more.
“Even if it’s real, what should I do? The owner of Yurdina Castle is the Marquis… There is nothing we can do unless the Emperor of the Empire steps in. I don’t know if Sister Delphine was there, but Sister Seria said she couldn’t do anything about it right now?”
Each one was a theory.
The princess bit her lip as she had no words to refute. In fact, that was the reason the princess came to visit the saint after Seria.
Seria had a hard time accepting the princess’ words.
Even if she accepted it, there was nothing she could do. At most, a young daughter did not have the strength to endure her father.
If anyone could do that, it was only Delphine.
Or an existence that is free from the power of the empire.
The saintess supported by the Catholic Church was the only hope.
When that hope was betrayed, the princess had no choice but to droop her shoulders. The saintess also talked about the ‘imperial family’ in words, but she must have known that the work of receiving the evidence was too much.
It will take some time before Ian’s frame is cleared.
Until then, how much blood will be on Ian’s knife.
In the end, the saintess had to let out a long sigh.
“For now, I have no choice but to trust Ian. There is no one around us to scout around Marquis Yurdina… … .”
“there is.”
It was an answer that came from somewhere.
The saintess was about to shake her head as if it was nonsense, but she stopped because she suddenly realized something.
The princess didn’t answer?
The woman’s body was lifted up. Vigilant pale pink pupils scanned the surroundings. Then there was a shadow that slowly descended.
Brown hair, dark green eyes suggestive of poison.
The spy in a maid’s uniform was smiling brightly.
“Can I hear more details? Especially that… Regarding Marquis Yurdina.”
It was the return of Neris.