25 – what happened
It would take about two weeks for me to reach the volcano where the dragon was, but it was clear that Serena would take no more than three days.
Serena stopped by that city first, destroyed the manor house in half, and went to me, so no matter how many times I catch it, the gap period is only about 4 days.
A civil war broke out in that brief moment? No matter how tense the news of the dragon appeared, the tension continued, but in a place where things were going well?
“It makes no sense.”
Undoubtedly, the public power of the guards is still alive, and if things go wrong, knights from the lord’s mansion may be mobilized.
With the exception of a few high-level adventurers like Ryan and Scarface, most adventurers’ weapons were one step below that of knights.
Furthermore, if the fact that she joined the anti-lord faction and caused a civil war entered Charlotte’s ears, she would not be unaware that she would be tortured until she begged to be killed.
Perhaps because of her past trauma, Charlotte’s attitude towards such people was almost hysterical.
All adventurers who rebelled against the nobles who ruled the territory were crucified without a single exception.
The terrible punishment of being nailed to a cross and eaten alive by worms.
Because of Charlotte’s magic, all of their vital organs were eaten away, leaving only their heads, and the humans were alive until their brains were finally touched.
There were aristocrats who abused Charlotte’s personality to exploit the people of the territory, but most of them were idiots who did not know that once the report came in, the target of Charlotte’s purge did not discriminate between nobles and commoners.
“But the lord said so. He lamented the sudden civil war that broke out in the city after I left.”
“The civil war broke out after you left Serena… There was a catalyst, but I don’t know if it erupted because Serena said it was right because you disappeared, or if Serena’s actions were the catalyst.”
There were two main possibilities that could be considered.
No matter when it started, there is a possibility that the seeds of a civil war have been in place for a long time and have exploded outside due to Serena’s actions, and the possibility that the civil war itself broke out accidentally due to Serena’s actions.
However, the latter makes no sense in practice.
The civil war was no child’s play, and to cause such a thing while fully guessing what would happen after they were suppressed was like jumping into a fraudulent gambling board with a 0% win rate, risking your life at stake.
“If there was a civil war, the sides would have split. Did you explain who joined the lord’s side?”
“It is said that all the other adventurers, except for a few knights and guards in the mansion, and a small number of adventurers and territories, joined against the lord.”
“Wait, that much?”
My head hurt. The number of knights and guards in the mansion was very small compared to the total number of adventurers and territories.
However, among them, there were people who were on the side of opposing the lord, and all but a few adventurers and Young Ji-min were anti-lords?
At that level, it was not a civil war, but the scale of a rebellion.
I don’t know if the lord denied the reality even after thinking about the possibility, or if he didn’t think of a rebellion at all.
If it’s that weak lord, I think he’s probably blaming himself for what happened because he wasn’t good enough. Of course, it is absolutely not the lord’s fault.
Having gone through the governance of many aristocrats, I could confidently say that the lord of this city was one of those who managed their land very well.
Although it was a little while ago, when the power of the nobility was extremely strong, needless to say, even now there are a huge number of human figures committing minor corruption.
On the other hand, the lord here did not exploit the local people, and he did not create useless rules based on pure ignorance to make those who directly roll in front of him suffer. didn’t do anything
He was a very ideal aristocrat who was faithful to his work.
‘Well, on the contrary, it was a mask because he had a very kind heart.’
There was a time when his goodwill was seriously overblown, and he tried to release things that he shouldn’t have released, but he barely gave up on the advice of the least conscientious adventurers, led by Ryan.
“I have to listen to the end and judge. Explain everything the lord said to me.”
At my words, Serena put on a troubled expression.
“This is almost all the information the lord just heard. In the first place, the lord knows very little.”
“Since Serena and you left, a civil war broke out, and the sides were divided. These two are all the lord knows?
“That, he said he had fainted all along…”
oh
“It was already dawn when he barely came to his senses after being stunned for a while, and he was told that a civil war had broken out from his direct knight who was waiting for him to wake up. From what I’ve heard, the direct knight commanded the people until the lord regained consciousness, so if you want more accurate information, you’ll have to contact the human called the direct knight.”
“So, have you talked to that person?”
“No. Suddenly, in the middle of the city, I felt a high-level magic energy, so the conversation was interrupted for a while as everyone in the mansion made a fuss. because I couldn’t.”
It was clear that the super-high-level magic Serena was referring to was the purgatory that was activated by the scroll.
No matter how degraded it is, it has the power to vaporize all nearby houses, so the red sphere must have been visible even in the mansion. Of course, he must have panicked about what that was.
“That’s Serena, you’re abnormal. This is a place where you won’t see or use magic of such a high rank, so it should be considered normal for ordinary people to react like that. If you’re anxious, that’s your problem.”
“Yes. It’s nothing special, so I conveyed the words to be relieved. The lord seems to have taken it a little differently. Somehow, he seemed relieved.”
I could roughly guess how the words were taken differently.
It’s impossible to reveal that I was the one who activated the magic in the middle of the city, so he probably just said it was no big deal, but from the lord’s point of view, there was a good chance that he took it as a sign to be relieved that it was nothing compared to Serena himself.
Honestly, it was more comfortable to misunderstand like that.
Trusting Serena completely would be more helpful for psychological stability than leaving uneasiness after hearing a general answer.
And Serena has the ability to fully repay that trust.
“What happened after that? There’s quite a bit of time between when the purgatory magic is activated and I call you.”
Mainly because he was beaten up with excitement to dig a trap to extort information from Scarface.
I couldn’t pinpoint the exact time because I was so frantically beaten, burst, torn, and recovered, but I thought it was probably over 30 minutes.
“I walked around the mansion and its surroundings next to the lord. He said it was to calm down the people who still follow him. I asked because the fact that I’m on the lord’s side would be of great help in boosting morale.”
“You made a pretty good choice. If only that weak temper had been dealt with, I could have become a much better lord.”
“Then I heard the sound of my lord calling me, and I think you will know what happened after I ran to my lord without having to explain it.”
“Right, I don’t need to explain that. Just in case, didn’t the other people around you hear me calling you?”
“Yes. The others seemed to be taken aback when I heard my lord’s voice and said that I had something to do.”
“That’s it. In the first place, I couldn’t put mana in my voice, so of course you couldn’t hear it. I really wanted to do it.”
Since we heard that a civil war had broken out, we hadn’t moved a single step from this spot, so our position was still the same.
The surroundings were quiet, and I still couldn’t feel the presence of people at all. The occasional wind noise added to the gloomy feeling. Things scattered nearby trembled in the wind.
Right after hearing Serena’s explanation, I chewed on the question that had been lingering in my head. It seemed as if something was missing. Summarize the information received.
It was already dawn when the lord, who had passed out thanks to Serena, who had cut the mansion in half by casting the sky in front of him, was awakened.
When I checked how the sides were split, all but a few knights, guards, adventurers, and territories joined the anti-lordship faction.
So while I was stuck in the half-destroyed mansion and couldn’t do anything about it, Serena came back, so I suppressed my fear and told the whole story.
On the surface, there was nothing wrong with it. But something kept bothering me.
Suddenly, his eyes turned to the floor. The boulevard was still clean. Except for the junk rolling around on the floor and the strange papers flying in the wind.
I looked back at Serena. Serena’s right arm with dripping blood and the monster’s head still rolling its eyes were held in Serena’s hands. Blood dripped from the cut and soaked the floor.
yeah that was the problem
“Serena. Would it be okay if I ask you one more question?”
“Ask me anything.”
“I think you asked why did you hear the people around Serena calling you and not me?”
“…”
At my question, Serena’s eyebrows slightly raised to the center of her forehead. He seemed to be struggling with what answer to give.
He didn’t rush for a quick answer, he calmly waited. Serena, who had been contemplating narrowing her eyebrows for a while, carefully opened her mouth.
“Because there was no one near the master to hear that cry…?”
“That’s correct. Then, why weren’t there people around here?”
Serena thought about it for a long time. Instead, the answer he gave after that was slightly different from the one just before. Serena’s shoulders dropped slightly.
“I don’t know. I’m sorry, lord.”
“Huh? No, there’s no need to apologize. I’m still not sure about that either. I just wanted to hear your guess. Then I’ll change the question. Didn’t you say there was a civil war in this city?”
“That’s right.”
“If the situation is at a level that can be called a civil war, it would have to be said that the level of knife fighting occurred of course.”
“I think it probably is.”
“Then, why is there no bloodstain in this city?”
At my words, Serena stiffened her face and looked around. The boulevard was still clean. To be precise, only bloodstains were invisible.
All the doors of the nearby house were smashed, the windows were all broken, and the inside was devastated as if it had been looted, but there was no trace of blood.
Serena’s eyes naturally moved to her head and right arm in her hands.
From the place where this monster was cut into cubes to the place where we stopped, blood dripped regularly and made a long dotted line.
The problem was that that was all.
“……I do not know.”
Serena shook her head. However, the shoulders that had drooped slightly had some strength again. It seemed that he felt that something was strange.
“Let me make a hypothesis. Earlier, the lord, no. To be precise, the knight under his direct command reported to the lord that a civil war had broken out.”
“yes.”
“Why do you think they used the expression civil war?”
“…?”
“For those who are still on the lord’s side, the number of people in the mansion is probably all. On the other hand, um… let’s just call it anti-lord. People were the whole rest of the city.”
Although this city is located at the actual end of the continent, it was a place where quite a lot of adventurers went on the contrary.
If you go further from here, you will enter their territory, which is infested with monsters. It can be said that it is inevitable that in places where many monsters gather, many adventurers gather to catch them and sell them as materials.
“The power difference is too big.”
It was clear how wide the gap would be if the expression “minority” was used openly. At least 5 to 1, or better.
“And, Serena, do you see those stores over there that have been completely destroyed?”
As I pointed my finger around, Serena looked around at the buildings. And he nodded his head condescendingly.
Until now, you probably weren’t interested. Buildings with only gruesome traces clearly showed that there had been looting there some time ago.
“It’s been given a grandiose name like a civil war, but while the anti-lords, most of the city’s residents, were plundering like that, the manor house was intact and there were no bloodstains. Does this make sense? So many people really Did you just rob things?”
“But there are plenty of ways to kill people without blood.”
“Right. Use a blunt instrument to shake the brain, or break the neck.”
I knew very well how a person could die. I’ve tried every possible way, and all of them have failed.
As I entered the city entrance, I remembered the broken tiles I suspected Scarface had done.
I doubted Scarface that he fought so hard that the tiles on the street were smashed, but there was no bloodstain, and that he seemed to have broken only bones.
“By the way, Serena. I don’t trust people very much.”
Maybe this is just a simple catch-up of my horse.
The situation was so hectic that I came up with a random word, but it could have been the word civil war, or it could have been just a speculation close to grandiose delusion.
And, I’d rather simply be.
“With so many humans arguing over things, there’s never been an accidental murder? What’s more, if you’re caught plundering the city, you’re guaranteed the death penalty? Or, if there were murders, were they all dealt with in a bloodless way?”
“…”
“And a bigger problem. Where did all those people go?”
The door to the Adventurer’s Guild building was locked. The windows, which were barred from the inside with wooden planks, were clearly intended to keep out things from the outside.
However, if Scarface had used his strength in earnest, that wooden plank would have been crushed like a can of millet. It wasn’t even a specially processed board.
At least the door, which was built with the assumption of a monster invasion, was sturdy enough to withstand even dozens of adventurers clinging to it, but due to limited resources, it was only a slightly stronger door.
There was nothing that Scarface couldn’t break if he was determined to destroy it.
At first, I just thought the Adventurer Guild building was stronger and could withstand it. However, after getting hit by Scarface a few times, I changed my mind.
It’s just that I can’t stand that level of durability. Moreover, when I first entered here, his gang apparently made a nuanced remark that ‘there’s still a guy out there’.
Saying that there are guys still wandering around means that there are also people who have confined themselves to the building thinking the opposite, but it bothered me that all the buildings, including houses and shops, were destroyed.
It was questionable whether there was a human trying to hide in such a ruined building. And if you’re not hiding inside a building, what the hell is the difference between the inside and the outside they’re talking about?
At first, I thought it was simply that the city had gone bankrupt, but the more I dug into it, the more I found contradictions.
“If so…?”
Serena was about to ask a question, but out of the blue, she clicked her tongue. I turned my head to something. A group of people was approaching from far away.
It was a rather strange face. I thought I’d just stay at the mansion, but you’ve come all the way here.
There are a total of four people coming this way. A woman stood in the forefront. Her long orange hair draped down her back, and even though her face was a little emaciated, her beauty still stood out.
It hadn’t been long since he had regained consciousness, and his body was dressed in light casual clothes, probably because he had heard shocking news one after another.
Next to him was a tall man who seemed to be 190 cm tall. He had blonde hair close to bright yellow, and was heavily armed with heavy armor while holding a huge greatsword.
The rest of the knights also followed suit, fully dressed in their armor.
It was Kartina, the lord of this city, and her direct knight, Elliot.
