Chapter 106
I gripped the oars and crossed the sea shrouded in darkness.
I did not turn on any lights to prepare for potential dangers.
“Shall I do it?”
Luna, who was sitting across from , called out.
Even though she was within arm's reach, her figure was invisible.
I shuddered at the sohow eerie landscape.
“It is fine.”
I applied firm strength to the oars moving the boat.
I wanted to reach land as quickly as possible.
[Steady Nerves] encouraged not to be intimidated by the darkness.
Because of the trait, my ntal strength was stronger than that of ordinary people, but it had its limits.
I did not particularly want to test those limits.
Thud!
As I paddled frantically, I reached land before I knew it.
After disembarking from the boat, I joined forces with Luna to pull the boat onto the land.
“It would be best to hide it, right?”
“Yes, leaving it on the shore will draw unnecessary suspicion.”
“How about the cave where we saved the caravel last ti?”
“That is a good idea.”
“I will move it and co back.”
Luna grabbed the boat and lifted it above her head without difficulty.
Even without returning to her original form, her strength was Herculean.
Luna, who had disappeared from view, returned shortly after finishing the task.
“I hid it!”
“Good work.”
I climbed the slope with Luna.
As we stepped onto the road, lights were visible not far from where we stood.
I held my breath and calmly hid behind a tree.
Luna also lowered herself between my legs.
“Does it make sense to ask soone to look around the area in the middle of the night?”
“I know, right. Doing this in the morning would have been fine.”
“That is what I am saying.”
They were soldiers.
They approached this way holding torches.
The shadow of the tree narrowly covered my shadow.
“How was the afternoon fishing?”
“It seems the fish all crawled down to the bottom because I didn't catch a thing.”
“Is it because the weather is hot?”
“This is all because the orchard beca a ss.”
“Did they say zombies appeared? Where on earth did they co from, anyway.”
The voices gradually grew distant.
They seed to make a round of the castle outskirts before disappearing into the main gate.
“Shall I go after them and bring them here?”
“No, the people of the castle seem to have beco sensitive. If a person disappears at a ti like this, it will be harder to approach.”
“Then how do you plan to enter?”
“I will enter from the front. They will surely welco very much.”
* * *
“A-Achoo!”
“Captain, do you have a cold?”
Osmond wiped his nose.
He had felt a chill down his spine since a few days ago.
An unpleasant feeling as if soone was targeting him.
He thought it would be fine after sleeping and waking up, but today marked over a week.
“Strangely, my body feels cold.”
“Even though it is sumr?”
“I know it doesn't make sense, but that is how it feels.”
“You must take good care of your health. Getting dicine in today's world is as difficult as plucking a star from the sky.”
“Damn it, I hope I don't die of a disease at this rate.”
Osmond returned to Saint Stalia after a long journey.
He returned with the great harvest of a knight order.
He succeeded in bringing the entire Order of the Sun after persuasion.
From the Order of the Star, he failed to bring the leader, Rodwell, but he brought the adjutant, Lucille Rainwood.
In so ways, she was a person of higher value than Rodwell.
The reason he was able to succeed in bringing her.
When he thought about it, he felt suffocated as if his throat was tightly blocked.
“……Whew.”
Suddenly, he felt dizzy.
There was a face that ca to mind every ti he had a nightmare.
Bluish silver hair and eyes that looked exactly like it.
That gaze, which seed to pierce through people, was unforgettable in his mind.
“If you feel too unwell, go in and rest early. I an, what could possibly happen?”
“No. I just had a bad thought.”
“What kind of thought was it?”
“I just thought of a student.”
“Are you talking about that boy? The one you said you t at the Order of the Star.”
The subordinate had heard this story from Osmond so much he was sick of it.
Whenever alcohol entered his mouth, he talked about the boy like a recorder.
To borrow his expression, the boy was a devil.
Sotis he said he was a snake.
He heard that the boy enchanted people with excellent eloquence.
By the ti one regained their senses, the initiative had already been taken away.
Osmond feared the boy.
That much was a clear fact.
“Ahh, yes.”
“But I heard Line Tower collapsed. I heard the area is now teeming with zombies. If he stayed there, you won't ever et him again.”
“You don't know what you are talking about! If it is that bastard, he is alive. I'd bet on it.”
Osmond spoke in a voice full of conviction.
“If you hate him that much, shouldn't you hope he is already dead?”
“Just because I want it doesn't an a living person dies. I'd rather pray that we don't et.”
The subordinate shook his head.
That boy had taken a place in Osmond's heart as a symbol of fear.
Suddenly, curiosity surged.
Osmond was a human with enough courage to persuade even Carius of the Order of the Sun.
The sight of such a man fumbling over an academy student was nothing but strange.
“I will head down for now.”
“Good luck.”
The subordinate went down.
Today, as always, many people ca before the castle gate.
It was amazing where they appeared from in succession.
Osmond's role was to classify useful humans among them.
“Go back.”
“N-No. I ca all the way here after all that……. Please let inside! I will do whatever work you order.”
“I told you to go back!”
A middle aged man begged while even going down on his knees.
The soldiers had seen and experienced such humans many tis.
The emotion of pity had long since disappeared.
They raised their spears like machines.
Then they aid the tips of their blades at the middle aged man's chest.
The man's complexion turned pale, and he slowly backed away.
“Go on, the people behind you are waiting.”
The middle aged man walked away sowhere while sobbing.
As he failed, anxiety blossod even among the procession.
“No luck today either.”
Osmond shook his head.
The task of screening people was strict.
They had to prevent the number of people inside the castle from becoming unnecessarily high.
On the other hand, he thought there were many problems with the quality of the people who ca.
'Why does no one talk about their own abilities?'
People did not talk about themselves.
What they could do, or what kind of career they possessed.
Begging to be let inside was all they did.
“There is a child. Please, let at least the children inside!”
This ti, it was a mother who ca with her child.
Even the cold soldiers could not help but be shaken at this ti.
“Sir Osmond, what shall we do?”
The subordinate asked him.
Osmond approached that way.
A boy who looked to be about five years old was tightly holding the woman's hand.
“Is there no husband?”
The woman trembled.
It seed the word husband was a trauma.
The husband must have beco a monster, or died while protecting the family from monsters.
“Currently, there is no place in the castle where a lady can work.”
“That is why I am asking for at least this child.”
“We are not philanthropists. We are a group struggling for survival. We don't have the capacity to raise a child.”
“No! Please!”
“Then would a plaything be alright?”
The woman's eyes shook.
It was a proposal to do night work.
“Since there is no husband, there won't be any obstacles. Lately, the soldiers' dissatisfaction is full, and this arose due to a lack of ways to relieve stress. If the lady takes on that role, there is no reason we couldn't let you in.”
The woman groaned.
She was swept by conflict as she looked at her young child.
Whether to be a parent who is not ashad, or to protect her child even by selling her body.
“M-Mom?”
The child trembled in anxiety.
The child saw her, the mother, sobbing.
The soldiers who were watching could not et her eyes with heavy hearts.
“Could you give so ti to think?”
“We plan to withdraw at five o'clock. If you return by then, I will take it as you working, and if you don't return, I will take it as you leaving.”
She nodded and left the place.
Osmond returned to his original position.
“Haha, I heard the story from behind. I heard you are looking for soone to soothe the mood?”
This ti it was a middle aged man and a woman.
“My daughter is 19 years old this year. Her face is decent, and her body is thin, but she will regain weight quickly if you feed her a little. I guarantee you will definitely like her.”
It seed the story from a mont ago had spread to the waiting procession.
They believed that if one was a woman, they could enter by giving up their body.
The soldier imdiately threw a punch.
The middle aged man got hit in the face and sobbed while covering his face.
“Aargh!”
“You rotten bastard, even if you want to live, how could you try to sell your own child?”
Osmond looked at the woman.
Even though her father had collapsed beside her, she was relieved before being flustered.
She was not prepared for anything.
She was rely used in the plan of the middle aged man, the parent.
'……Today will be a bust too.'
Thirty people a day ca to the castle.
At most, there were cases where fifty people ca.
If even one of them passed, it was a lucky day.
“Hello.”
This ti it was a boy wearing a cloak and a young girl who looked like his younger sister.
“I am a mage.”
The soldiers blocking the way looked at each other and were flustered.
He was different from the people they had t from the start until now.
“State your affiliation. If it is a mage tower, then a mage tower, if a student, then a student, if a wanderer, you must state an alias we would know.”
“I am an academy student.”
“Your grade?”
“I was in the 5th grade.”
“If it is alright, could you show us what kind of magic you can use?”
The boy clenched and opened his fist.
Then a firefly appeared from inside his palm and flew up into the air.
Since it was day, it was not as bright as expected, but he succeeded in drawing the interest of the soldiers.
“That is amazing. If we have that, would we not have to carry torches at night?”
“I know. He would be good as a scout.”
The soldiers began to harbor expectations for the boy early on.
“At this rate, should we not pass him under our jurisdiction?”
“Hmm, still, we must ask first. So that we don't hear other talk later.”
“Understood.”
One soldier approached the barracks where Osmond was resting.
He was sleeping inside.
“Sir Osmond, it seems you should co out for a mont.”
“……Are you calling because you couldn't do anything about another pitiful mother again?”
“N-No! A mage has co.”
“A mage?”
“Yes, it is magic I've seen for the first ti, but it looked decent.”
“Okay.”
Osmond raised his body.
The boy was at the place guided by the soldier.
The hood of the cloak was pulled down deep, so his face was not visible.
“Why did you not check the face?”
“I-I am sorry. I think I forgot because I was distracted by the magic.”
Osmond clicked his tongue and stared at the boy.
“I would like you to raise the hood.”
“Are you sure?”
“Huh?”
“I was worried that you might be surprised if you saw my face.”
“Are you teasing ?”
Osmond frowned.
He approached the boy and pulled the hood back with force.
As he looked down to examine the face.
“Gasp!”
A single scream flowed out.
Osmond stepped back while in a daze.
The subordinates were flustered by his appearance, which they saw for the first ti, and picked up their spears.
“W-What is it? Is it an enemy?”
“I will handle it now.”
“N-No. Stop! I said stop.”
Osmond pulled his subordinates back.
Since they were not part of the delegation, they did not know Joshua's face.
The subordinates felt as if their heads were going blank.
“How did you co all the way here? No, more than that, you were alive?”
“It seems you are disappointed that I am alive.”
Osmond swallowed hard.
He realized that the identity of the chill he had felt since a week ago was the boy.
“……Let's talk in another place. There is a barracks nearby.”
“Understood.”
Joshua stepped over the threshold.
Then a soldier stopped him by grabbing the boy's shoulder.
“The boy might be fine, but the girl is not.”
Osmond bit his teeth.
He hated that his usually unfaithful subordinates acted without tact at a ti like this.
He looked at Joshua.
He did not say a word.
Simply by doing that, he felt high pressured.
“I will handle it myself. You guys check the next person.”
“……Understood.”
He showed an ugly side.
The subordinates were certain to whisper about this situation.
He wanted to quickly go to a place where he wouldn't be seen by people's eyes.
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