Chapter 119:
The mont I arrived in Sar, I imdiately felt that sothing was wrong.
There were no people in the village market, which had been bustling with rchants even after the warehouse fire.
While many rchants were trying to pack up their goods and leave, the majority had their base of operations around here, so they couldn't leave so easily.
I had even inford them of what was happening with Stetten, so not many would leave their hos and workplaces right away.
'It would have been better if they had all run away.'
As I entered the eerily empty street, it sank in even more that this was not a normal situation.
It wasn't just that there were no people.
How should I put it, a sense of death lingered.
A chilling feeling ran down my spine.
“Ugh… ugh.”
A groan ca from inside a building that looked like a rchant company.
Relieved that at least not everyone was dead, I went inside the building.
“…Damn it.”
I was at a loss for words upon seeing the inside of the building.
Countless people were collapsed on the floor.
A person clutching a box, a person slumped over a table with bread in their mouth, a person with a hamr gripped tightly in their hand, their eyes rolled back.
It was clear they had collapsed in the middle of their daily routines just monts ago.
What roused from my brief speechlessness at the horrific scene was the sound I had heard a mont ago.
“He… help ….”
“Take a deep breath. What happened here?”
“I don’t know, I don’t know….”
The worker, who had been struggling to speak, collapsed to the ground before I could ask more questions.
He was still breathing, but it was obvious he would die soon.
“A grueso sight.”
With a creaking voice, a bizarre shadow entered the building.
“Kaseph.”
“It couldn’t be helped. It was either here or Ruhindorf. One of the two had to take the curse.”
Kaseph shrugged.
The letter had clearly stated that due to the unfavorable situation, they had to push all of the curse onto Sar.
It probably wasn't sothing Kaseph did on purpose, but the thought that I also bore so responsibility weighed heavily on my mind.
“The curse was activated before we could properly prepare, so it was impossible to completely block its effects.”
“Didn’t you say the curse they prepared was quite weak? Judging by its power, it doesn't feel that way at all.”
“It would have been, had the experint proceeded as planned. Of course, that so-called experint was such a ss that even if things had gone their way, they would have failed to control its power.”
“…What’s past is past. What should we do now?”
“If you’re asking for a thod, there are two.”
As Kaseph raised his hand, flas pattered to the floor.
Having already seen his abilities in Kranacht, I imdiately understood what he ant.
“Are you thinking of burning it all down?”
“It’s the fastest and easiest way. If you don’t like it, the only other option is to do it by the book: find the place where the curse was cast, analyze the contract they used, and reverse it one by one.”
“How long will that take?”
“At a rough estimate, it would take two days. In the anti, the curse, not yet fully settled, will spread to the surrounding areas.”
Neither option was a good ending. I had thought it might co to this, but facing it head-on, a sigh escaped first.
“Your choice is… well, it’s already been decided, I suppose.”
Kaseph said confidently, as if he had read my mind.
Crimson flas were still flowing from his hand.
We didn’t know when Stetten’s knights would arrive.
Once the curse spread, it would take even more than the aforentioned two days to lift it.
In the end, there was only one answer I could give.
“Let’s burn it. It’s better than leaving a trail that could be followed….”
“There’s no need for that.”
At the firm female voice, I turned my head, and orange hair that seed to burn in the sunlight ca into view.
“Anat.”
“Watch your mouth, Count. She is not soone you can address so casually.”
Kaseph, not surprised at all, chided instead.
The letter did ntion that he should co alone if he intended to receive the Commander’s help, so it wasn't exactly a surprise….
“That aside, since when did you know?”
“After we took over the relay station. She contacted first.”
“Can’t you stop calling ‘she’ when I’m right in front of you?”
“…How dare I.”
Kaseph bowed his head respectfully.
Though it felt more eerie than respectful.
“I was quite surprised to see the letter. Are you thinking of returning soon?”
“No. But it’s obvious that if I leave it to you all, you’ll turn this whole area into a sea of fire.”
Anat’s joking voice was light, but her face as she looked at the fallen was not.
“What do you an there’s no need for that? This blockhead said there was no other way.”
“I certainly said there were two ways I could do it.”
“……”
“The more serious it is, the more you should find sothing to laugh about and laugh heartily. Weren’t those your own words from ti to ti?”
What a roundabout way of saying he was ssing with .
However, I still had no idea what other thod the Commander was talking about.
Wasn't curse-breaking Kaseph's area of expertise?
I thought Anat was here to help with the cleanup.
“Do you rember when we first t, Count.”
“Why the sudden trip down mory lane?”
“At that ti, I arrogantly asked her to show proof of her status as a Saintess.”
Kaseph, cleanly ignoring my sarcasm, continued with what he had to say.
“Accepting that arrogant proposal, she opened the eyes of this humble one.”
“Why do you have to say it in such a long-winded way when you could just say she showed you her curse-breaking skills right in front of you?”
“My apologies.”
As Anat pointed it out with a smirk, Kaseph imdiately lowered his head.
Wasn't the difference in treatnt a bit too much?
“Then let’s leave quickly to get this over with. We don’t know when Stetten’s things will arrive.”
“As I said, the easiest and fastest way is to burn everything the curse has touched until it turns to ash. Her thod is benevolent, but it takes so ti.”
“How long?”
“We can finish by morning. However, we have to stop anyone from approaching.”
There was no one coming anyway, so shouldn't we just start right away?
I was about to say that when I noticed the atmosphere between the two.
“Soone is already on their way here.”
“Yes, doctors are coming.”
Hearing the word doctors, I realized who it was.
There was a group I had forgotten about while dealing with the Ravens.
“You an the People’s dical Center.”
“They are currently staying near Ruhindorf, but they will hear the news soon and co here.”
“…To clean up after the experint, I see.”
If the Ravens ca, I could just subdue them with force, but the People’s dical Center was a bit different.
Their higher-ups might be in bed with the Ravens, but the majority of the mbers of the People's dical Center were just doctors with a strong spirit of service.
Besides, if handled wrongly, there was a high risk of it escalating into a diplomatic issue.
Vestol might have turned a blind eye to the commotion in the Imperial Capital, but they wouldn't stand by and watch their own citizens get hard in so backwater village.
“Sealing Sar to prevent outsiders from entering is well within her and my abilities. The problem is that it would be too strange a sight.”
I nodded, recalling the thod Anat used when she t at the tavern in Schwaben.
She made it so that others couldn't approach or even see her.
In the tavern, the custors hadn't noticed that one seat was empty, but blocking entry to a village was on a different scale.
“So you’re saying soone needs to draw their attention.”
“Not just the People’s dical Center, but the other Eight Councils… we have to stop Til from coming too. If she finds out I was here, she’ll raise hell about locking up sowhere I can't leave.”
Anat said it with a smile, but considering how sentintal she got whenever the Commander was ntioned, it was probably true.
“Does that an you have no intention of returning yet?”
“Yes, for now. However, the choice is yours. You are the acting commander of the Eight Council, after all.”
Shifting the responsibility like this, huh.
Well, it's not like I can't accept it.
“If you intend to work this Count Valheit, I trust you’ve also considered the compensation for it.”
“You irreverent fool….”
“Honestly, we could just burn everything and leave. I have no intention of stopping our Commander if she wishes to save these poor souls, but I have no intention of doing it for free.”
I wasn't asking for much.
I intended to find out for certain what she was doing and what her objective was.
From behind his mask, Kaseph’s eyes grew bloodshot as he made a strange noise, but Anat raised a hand to stop him.
“Of course. The creeping snake of the Empire wouldn't listen to soone else's request for free.”
“In that case, for information….”
“I will release the restriction I placed on you.”
…Huh?
What restriction.
As if I didn't understand, Anat stated it more clearly.
“For example… like your eye, which I sealed.”
***
“So you’re saying this is a problem we can solve just by taking them to the Count.”
“I’m saying this because that man told not to.”
“And I keep asking you what the reason is, you dense bastard.”
Til was in a very bad mood.
She didn't like that only Hugo was at the rendezvous point with Valheit, and she didn't like Falsh, who was following her with a creepy vibe from behind.
All she wanted was to join Valheit right now and finish the job.
But Hugo was adamant.
“If it’s a superior’s order, you should at least pretend to listen.”
“I told you that bastard isn't my superior! You wanna fight?!”
She yelled, but Hugo just smiled faintly, as if this situation wasn't so bad.
Seeing her old colleague lost in nostalgia, thinking ‘it was like this back then too,’ made her blood boil.
Should she just knock him down?
“Now, now. I don’t know what’s going on, but fighting won’t solve anything.”
“…Who?”
“Oh my, how rude of not to have introduced myself. My na is Falsh. A rchant. I happen to be helping Mr. Brauder.”
“Brauder?”
Hugo, quickly glancing at Til, realized it ant Valheit and played along appropriately.
“What a coincidence. I also happen to be cooperating with that person. My na is Hugo.”
“Oh, a pleasure to et you. Well, I don't an to interrupt your friendly conversation, but I wanted to ask what we should do with these things.”
Falsh kicked the collapsed Ivan with his foot.
Gagged, Ivan silently endured the kicks and averted his gaze.
Watching the similarly bound demon curse-weaver startle and struggle, Falsh chuckled.
“Well, I suppose it wouldn't be so bad to just watch them like this.”
“We have ti to spare, so why don’t you interrogate them. It’s your specialty.”
“Hah, damn it….”
In the end, Til gave up and sat down in front of the prisoners.
If Valheit told her not to co, there must be a reason.
It had better not be for nothing later.
“Purpose of the experint.”
“Huh?”
“Speak.”
Til twisted her expression and poked the demon's face with the handle of her axe.
The curse-weaver, who had been darting his eyes back and forth between Til and Ivan, decided to listen to the one holding the axe rather than the one tied up.
“W-well… I don’t know the exact details, but, no no no no! I know, of course I know!”
As Til spun her handaxe around and gripped the handle, the squeaking demon’s voice grew louder.
“The goal was to capture soone.”
“Why would soone like the Duke of Leitche resort to a curse just to capture soone? Couldn’t they solve the problem by just sending a whole bunch of guys like this?”
“We-well, there must be circumstances… they said we had to capture a very important person!”
“So who.”
“Well… what was the na? Ana, Ana… what was it?”
Thwack!
A handaxe embedded itself in the tree the curse-weaver was tied to.
The demon felt that Til’s blazing eyes were scarier than the axe stuck next to him.
“Anat?”
“Yes!! I think that was the na!!”
Til stood up from her seat.
Her face, which until a mont ago had been a mixture of annoyance and displeasure, was now twisted into a murderous grimace.
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