“Whoa, stop. Whoa!”
After driving for half a day, we arrived at ＜Landkief＞ located at Imperial Crossroads 4-3.
It is a castle five days away from the southern border ＜Hallard Gate＞, and there are many merchants who pass through it day and night, so although the scale is small, it is quite affluent.
From noble mtl dot com
When I handed over my adventurer identification tag instead of a pass and identification card, the gatekeeper looked me up and down and raised his eyebrows.
“It’s nice that it’s brass grade, but it has such an ominous name.”
The name engraved on the adventurer’s dog tag is Lane.
However, the Lane the world remembers, namely the next divinity of the Ludwig family and who died in the sunspot incident, is a boy with black hair and red eyes.
“Why?”
“What are you asking? Most adventurers with this name are dead.”
“I was lucky enough to survive.”
“hmm.”
On the other hand, I dyed my hair red to prove Aki’s identity, at least externally.
In addition, the rain-soaked clothes were like moths and rags, and the unwashed body gave off a stench.
Although Ceressia’s appearance is mysteriously beautiful, it would be difficult to see her as a noble without that.
“What is that baby?”
“He’s a late brother.”
“Ah-Baat!”
“You look completely alike. What is your purpose for coming here?”
“I’m going to sleep overnight, buy clothes, and, above all, take a shower.”
The gatekeeper checked the authenticity by scratching the dog tag with his fingernail.
Soon, a group of lights stood up, proving that this was a genuine magic tool issued by the Alliance.
This is the primary inspection process, and it is possible to manipulate it with a fake product, but it is annoying most of the time unless it is a strategic area or a confidential district, so I will stop here.
“hmm.”
While his heart beat slowly three times, the gatekeeper stared at the boy sharply.
It was only at the moment when I thought something was wrong, that the gatekeeper said “pass” and waved his hand once.
Soon, the guards were able to enter the castle as they took the spears that were crossing in front of the gate.
‘It must be harder to write this much than I thought… … I need to register as an adventurer someday and get another dog tag.’
Of course, I can’t use the status of a noble now, so I’ll talk about when I have friends who can vouch for my identity… … .
“Listen, Aki. I’m going to the Alliance branch from now on, right? don’t ever talk You can’t use it if you do something that stands out.”
“out!”
“Don’t worry? Even if you want to, you don’t believe it. Fifi is just inside Ceresia.”
“Pippi, Pippi, Pippi.”
In the shadow of the castle tower, a three-eyed crow secretly looked down at the boy, then took off into the rain, barking ominously.
It was half an hour after entering the castle that the boy found the adventurer’s branch of ＜Landkief＞.
It was located in the center of the castle, but it was extremely rare to see people as the streets became muddy in the rain that even drooped the Alliance flag.
There were quite a lot of people inside the guild. Dozens of tables were full, probably adventurers escorting the top. As the times became more hectic, the demand for adventurers and mercenaries increased exponentially.
“hmm?”
As the door opened and a cold wind blew in, the adventurers who had been drinking riotously turned around the door.
The red-haired boy… … It was the first face I saw in this area.
He was a little above average height and had a delicate face, which made him look like a kid.
“This is no place to bring my daughter.”
“Yes, there are a lot of bad guys.”
“Ha ha ha ha ha! Did your wife run away?”
All the brass-grade kids flirted as the boy with the baby made his way between the tables to the counter.
“… … .”
There were also those who wore hoods and glanced at the boy with strangely ominous glares, but strangely, there was no expression on their faces. Did I see it wrong?
‘Because I’m being chased, everything is scary.’
The boy deliberately ignored those gazes and faced the branch clerk at the counter.
His eyes were tired, but he stopped yawning and reached out his hand.
He stared at the palm for a while, wondering what the hell, and then handed over the identification tag. The young man checked it out and quickly returned it.
“What can I get you? alcohol? I’m sorry, but I don’t have a babysitting job.”
“A meal and a bath, a pair of casual clothes for me and this child. And a room with an iron door.”
This was the reason why he chose the Alliance branch instead of the ordinary inn.
During the journey, you came across valuable gold and silver treasures, or you got a grudge against someone, and you don’t trust anyone… … .
For such people, most branches provided adventurers with an iron room, a so-called iron door room. It had an oak door with iron frames, and it was like an extreme refuge with guild staff taking care of watch guards.
“22 silver coins of Hyeonmu.”
The employee said so without any change in expression. A silver coin is a day’s wages for an ordinary laborer.
I took a money bag out of my pocket and poured the silver coins onto the counter. Instead of counting them clearly, I swept them roughly and held out a heavy key.
An iron key about the size of a span… … After accepting it carefully, the clerk pointed his thumb upstairs.
“The third floor. Unpack your luggage and come down to the first floor. I’ll heat up the bath water.”
The room was locked with three layers of padlocks, but the ceiling was low and the width was narrow, perhaps because safety was more important than convenience.
The feather bed smelled faintly, and I sighed softly and opened the window slightly.
‘This is 22 coins, such a sharp thief… … .’
After unpacking, I was about to go down to the first floor with Aki in my arms, but stopped.
‘Ceresia… … .’
Cersia, who was hanging on a hanger, was bothered by it. To be precise, it was the dragon egg of Mirngardia that was in that subspace.
Is it okay if I leave it here?
Well, it will be much safer than putting it in a closet in the bath… … Actually, I chose the room with the iron door for this purpose.
Should I be careful though?
I’m going to get wet, but I’ll just have to go down to the bathtub. On top of that, I need to install an alarm magic that gives a signal when someone breaks into the room.
As soon as they rolled up Ceresia and went down to the bathroom, both of them went into a frenzy.
“Aww!”
“Aww, aww.”
Aki, like sun parrots, has a higher body temperature than humans, so at first I wanted to be wary of hot water, even raising my fangs, but I quickly came to like it.
Before going into the bathtub, I poured hot water with a gourd to wash off the soup.
“Come on! No, don’t eat soap! Don’t shake the water, oh really! are you a jerk be still, stay still please.”
“Be still, be still, be still.”
“Sit down, sit down! Sit down, please.”
“Ah, don’t sleep.”
“Yes, yes, nice Aki. isn’t it warm? Do you feel good when you’re warm? Be quiet.”
“Ah, at all, aww!”
“It is surprising that there are no insects like this. Are they all going to die from being hot?”
The battle, which was fiercer than the battle with the Sorceress Sagan, only calmed down after putting Aki into the bathtub.
“Raising a child is harder than saving the world, is this right… … ?”
Will this increase one day someday? What the hell does Karenden want from me… … .
Deeply soaking in the hot water of the bathtub, I thought for a moment about the journey ahead. We must quickly cross the border and head to Republic territory… … .
I thought I was going to relax in the warm steam, but it seemed that I had fallen asleep. When I opened my eyes, Pippi and Aki were also soundly asleep.
“… … ?”
The servant put on a cheap tunic prepared outside the door, and carefully dressed the sleeping Aki in a coarse cloth. And as I stepped out of the bathroom, my back felt cold.
quiet.
too quiet
No matter how late it was at night, it was strange that no one was in the hall… … Most of all, my dry saliva went over to me in the faint smell of blood.
“… … .”
I raised my concentration to read the presence, but there was no presence to detect… … Instead, at some point it had risen, a dark blue mist was creeping up beneath our feet.
A pure white flower bloomed from her eyes, and she peered into the structure of the mist that wrapped around her feet.
01010101001… … Combination formula of chanting type Altigma and taboo type Orbios… … .
‘A taboo type of Orbios, black magic?’
When I hurriedly ran out into the lobby, what I saw was an unbelievable sight that made my hair stand on end.
All adventurers… … No, not only the adventurers but also the branch staff are down.
Someone had his nose stuck in a plate of soup, and a servant who was carrying a tray of food between the tables collapsed on spilled food and broken dishes.
sting.
And the feeling of something sharp passing through my brain… … The barrier sent an alert.
‘I thought it was ominous before I came to the city, but it’s like there’s nothing comfortable about it… … .’
Aki and Pippi hurriedly called out the scepter of flame while being held by their sides, and immediately jumped up to the third floor.
An unknown rotten smell that was more repulsive than the smell of blood became thicker… … From somewhere came the men’s muffled moaning.
Two branch staff are lying asleep, and through a crack in the door with all three folds of locks neatly cut out.
As I hurriedly opened the door and stepped inside, a tense breath burst out.
“… … .”
“… … .”
Seven giants were wriggling on the floor. All of them had knife scars where they avoided vital points, but strangely, black condensed blood flowed… … .
‘They’re the ones without that expression.’
Taking Ceresia to the bath was the correct answer. Forebodings have never been wrong. like right now
“It’s easier than I thought.”
At that moment, the blades that flew back and approached without any sign of popularity collided with the sword that had been raised and turned back, and vomited a horrifying metal sound.
“No, are you pretending to be complacent? want to catch it like this? If so, that’s fine.”
could be recognized at once. That it’s a skill of great skill. And that there was no murderous intent in that surprise attack. Was it to show off my skills?
“Who are you?”
Instead of answering, the prosecutor retrieved the knife he was aiming at my neck and threw something at me.
It was the adventurer’s dog tag, something I had left on the nightstand.
“Rain Ludwig… … Right? I have been asked to bring you.”
In an instant, he wiped away the cold sweat that formed on his forehead and turned his head away.
Partially wearing iron gaiters, the inspection of light armor made of chains and leather was visible.
A short sword that could be freely wielded in a confined space was hung from the waist, and the shield hanging from the left hand was also small. Not only that, but every corner of his body carried daggers, daggers, and shortbows.
I could tell that it was a woman only by the vaguely exposed curves on the armor, but the face was not recognizable because the helmet was covered with a face armor.
If there is one more peculiarity, it must be that he is wearing a single-edged sword on his back with an old bandage wrapped around the sword body. The length of the blade seemed to be somewhere between a shortsword and a longsword.
“I’ve been looking for you for ten days. I don’t have time to explain who I am, so you know. Now, the real ones will come, not those bastards.”
“Who is coming?”
“Look closely at their hearts.”
The moment I glanced at the giants the swordsman pointed out with his chin, cold sweat dripped down my face.
It was a crow, a crow.
Crows poked their heads out of their hearts and barked ominously as they chewed up rotten flesh. It was a heteromorphic crow made of dark blue miasma rather than black feathers.
“Is it a black church… … ?”
“Follow me. I will help you get out of this castle.”
“No, wait.”
I had some confidence in that I didn’t put an end to it when I caught the back, but I still couldn’t be relieved.
“How can I trust you? Aren’t you one?”
The prosecutor who was walking down the aisle first replied in an emotionless voice, as if the question was not even funny.
“Don’t worry, I’m not helping you out of benevolence.”
“Then what?”
“It’s for the money. The Witches’ Association hired me. Bring you to safety.”
The witch association… … .
It was the unity body of the Republic. It can be seen as playing a role similar to that of the Empire’s Magic League.
So, the vigilance soared. The Witches’ Association and I are nothing but strangers, so why are they me?
“If you don’t believe me, watch this. But if it were me, I’d choose to chase right now. Can’t you guess who’s after you right now?”
What the prosecutor took out of his pocket was a small scroll that looked like a contract.
There was a seal on it. A seal of magic that only the Witch Association can use and no one can manipulate.
At that moment, the crows barked loudly with a tearing murmur, and it felt like the shamanic fog was getting thicker.
‘I have no choice… … .’
After inserting my arm into Ceressia’s sleeve, I carried Aki on my back with the swaddling that Ceressia had automatically formed, and I followed her down the stairs.
“Okay, I’ll follow you for now. Even if it’s a light voice? I am Lane.”
“Goblin Slayer.”
Goblin? Goblin Slayer?
It looked like a ridiculous prank, closer to a nickname than a false name, but I couldn’t laugh at all at the time.
It was because the advice of the water dragon Jeriselica was fluttering in my mind.
– Returner, go south and find the little ghost.
Goblins are also called small ghosts. A stunned breath stopped in his throat, and he stopped for a moment on the landing.
‘Could this be the little ghost Yeriselica talked about… … ?’