27 – what did you do
Now, there are three things that I am very suspicious of.
The first is no bloodstains left.
Is it plausible that several thousand, or perhaps ten thousand people, all at once, had razed the entire city to ruins, and not a single bloodstain was left?
Moreover, it wasn’t just the building that was destroyed, there were obvious signs of looting.
If we take this as it is, it means that no murder, whether accidental or intentional, took place during the looting of many buildings, and even if there was a murder, the clean-up was done meticulously enough not to leave a single blood stain.
All over this city too.
That is conceptually impossible.
It gets even weirder when you consider who the looted shops belonged to.
There is a high probability that the shopkeepers were among those who took part in the looting, but it was doubtful whether they would have let them take their goods.
Obviously, the things on the road I passed were all robbed.
But I had something to refute.
Because other humans plundered the store, most of the few villagers who were on the lord’s side were the owners of the store, and others died resisting inside the building, so there were no bloodstains or corpses on the roadside.
I couldn’t give a definitive answer to this question because I didn’t check every single building here.
So, let’s assume that if heaven is lucky, so many people share goods with each other, and the unfortunate shopkeepers end their lives inside the building.
If so, the question remains as to what the knights and guards did this time. Of course, the guard’s corpse was nowhere to be seen.
The extent of the looting was almost all over the city. It must have been because I checked with my own eyes as I was happily beaten and thrown everywhere by Scarface.
In the midst of this, it is hard to imagine that the knights and guards would not have intervened, no matter how small the number.
It wouldn’t make much sense if they decided to assemble at the manor house and defend it without looking back as soon as they finished assessing the situation, but if they did it for real, that would be a problem in its own right.
It is because the people who need to deal with and intervene in this situation faster than anyone else have been locked away in the safest place for their own sake.
However, since the lord fainted and he had to protect the nobility from the point of view of a knight, he could make some extenuating circumstances.
If most of the troops were attached to the anti-lord faction, there wouldn’t be much they could do, and they wouldn’t have enough troops to protect the people gathered in the mansion. Of course, it can be done to any extent.
The second is people who have completely disappeared. It also makes no sense that everyone here fled the city and dispersed as soon as the looting was over.
And if it did, the knights and guards should have noticed it, no matter how much they shut themselves up in the mansion.
Nearly 10,000 people vanished after destroying and looting on the streets.
But even before Serena came, and even after Serena came, the people who were on the lord’s side were locked in the mansion.
The city is still so quiet. Even though at least some might feel weird and come out.
No one shouted or screamed, no one raised their voice, they looted in silence, not even a murder in the streets, but all the buildings were demolished.
And the people gathered at the mansion still did not notice that the looting had been carried out so quietly that everyone had disappeared.
It’s a guess I thought, but it sounded really funny. I’d rather believe that a meteorite fell here than accept this speculation.
The third is the word civil war itself. Putting Serena’s account together, what happened in this city was by no means an event worthy of the word civil war.
It just happened unilaterally that the anti-lordship faction rose up and smashed and plundered everything. And yet, apparently, no one died.
By the way, why did you use the word civil war?
I sincerely hoped that this would be my catch.
I hope that the old man who has lived so long and is half-blind has a suspicious disease and is just going around doubting everything in sight, and hanging around with trivial things.
If not, it would mean the whole city is lying to us.
“We have arrived, Lord.”
“…Certainly, it’s firmly blocked so that no one can come in and out.”
How long had it passed since Kartina took the lead, followed by Elliott and two knights, and me and Serena watched the four with suspicious eyes and followed them at the end.
Kartina stopped in front of the Adventurers Guild building. The still tightly sealed entrance greeted us.
After confirming that the door was locked by pulling hard on the doorknob, Kartina carefully observed the window next to it.
From the inside, he looked around at the windows tightly closed with wooden planks and the windows that were completely smashed, and then tapped the boards with the back of his hand.
“Elliot, are the second and third floor windows all in the same condition?”
After receiving the question, Elliot took a few steps back and squinted his eyes at the second and third floors.
“Yes, they’re all blocked off from the inside with wooden planks.”
“flaw…….”
Kartina crossed her arms and flicked her fingers up and down. Silence ensued. He seemed to be thinking about something, but that thought didn’t last long.
After a while, he made a decision and unfastened his arm and turned his body to the back.
“I’ve decided. Let’s go in.”
“What would you like to do with the door?”
“Destroy it. I will take responsibility.”
Elliot saluted and strode to the door. With a sound of seureung, he pulled out the sword from his waist and breathed mana into the sword to get into a stance.
The other two knights hid Kartina behind in case of any debris, and Serena stood in front of me.
“Haap!”
At the same time as a short spirit erupted, Elliott swung his sword vigorously. The mana wrapped around the blade burrowed through the door, spurting out along the trail. Yeah, just digging in was the problem.
The sword strike created by Elliot did not break the door to open the way for us to pass through, but rather penetrated the door and caused a huge explosion inside.
Through the hole in the door, I heard a bang, and an explosion along with the sound of all sorts of things breaking. Elliot, the person who created the explosion, leaked a stupid uh.
“Elliot, what are you doing! What if there were survivors inside…!”
“Sorry, lady!”
When Kartina was shocked, Elliott hurriedly knelt on the floor. Because he was wearing thick armor, that was the limit.
Serena’s face twisted. I’m probably making the same expression. What do you mean by that?
In the already suspicious yard, he was doing more suspicious things.
He exchanged glances with Serena. Serena nodded slightly and reached out to the two knights in front of the lord.
“Hold it.”
“Yes? Oh, yes!”
When the monster’s right arm and head were pushed out, the knights seemed to be taken aback, but took it over with a spirited gesture.
The one who received the head vomited at the sight of the eight eyes rolling in all directions and the long torn mouth, while the one who received the right arm staggered for a moment at the unexpected weight before straightening itself.
Serena pulled out the World Eater. Elliot, who had been kneeling on the floor hesitantly, staggered to the side.
Serena’s body standing in front of the door seemed to leave an afterimage for a moment, then the sound of putting the World Eater back into the scabbard resounded.
Soon after, the door came crashing down.
Kartina and the rest of the knights could not hide their amazement with their mouths wide open at that ignorant speed.
Serena, the person who did the astonishing act, was graciously ignoring the gaze and pushing the pieces that were neatly cut and scattered on the floor with her tiptoe.
“What are you doing when you don’t come in?”
“Ah… I’m sorry. For a moment, I was so surprised.”
It wasn’t until after Serena’s prompting that Kartina begin to move her stiff body.
The rest of the knights struggled and entered the building holding the monster’s right arm and head, followed by Elliott, who stood up.
Serena was still waiting for me by the door.
When I crossed the threshold, Serena entered the building as if escorting me. A familiar landscape caught my eye.
A table and chairs for those waiting for requests, requests for requests filling up a corner of the wall, and a reception desk where a receptionist was always standing. Although the reception desk was wrecked because of what Elliot had just done.
“…it’s nothing special.”
I approached the window blocked by a wooden board. It was nailed at the end. It was so carefully blocked that not a single ray of light penetrated.
Tong-tong, I knocked on a wooden plank. It was an ordinary wooden plank that had not been strengthened by magic.
I recalled the wooden planks I had checked outside. Couldn’t drill through this ordinary tree, leaving traces of an attempt to destroy it?
I think I can break it with a suitable knife or blunt weapon. After confirming the location of Kartina and the rest of the knights, she secretly called Serena with her hand. Serena came closer.
“Check if there are any traces of enchantment.”
As I whispered, Serena stared at the plank for a moment, then shook her head. meant no
I thought it might have been strengthened with magic and then released over time, but that’s not even true.
“What about the other planks?”
Serena closed her eyes and sighed for a moment. I opened my eyes and shook my head once again.
I don’t know if they even inspected the boards on the 2nd and 3rd floors, but it became clear that at least the boards on the 1st floor had no traces of magic reinforcement.
“Serena.”
“Speak.”
I glanced back. Kartina and the knights still didn’t pay attention. From a distance, he kept his appearance as normal as possible, and kept the volume as low as possible by opening his mouth.
“I’m going to separate Kartina from Elliot. Then you stick next to Kartina.”
“If so, the lord…?”
“I have other business to do.”
I turned my eyes and found Kartina. Kartina was contemplating between the stairs going up to the second floor and the stairs going down to the basement.
Elliott next to him was looking around his head while groping with his hands after making eye contact with the monster.
“What are you thinking about?”
“Ah, adventurer.”
As I approached Kartina, the rest of the knights frowned as if they were about to say a word, but Serena seemed to have shot her eyes, and then focused on the monster again.
“I was debating whether I should go down to the basement first or go up to the second floor. It may sound trivial, but.”
“In the basement, among the materials of monsters brought by adventurers, things that cannot be processed right away are stored here, and the 2nd and 3rd floors are simply parlors… If people were sitting in here, it would be more accurate to assume that they took refuge in the basement. The basement door is a little stronger than the parlor door.”
“I thought so too, so I thought about going down to the basement first, but I kept getting the fact that even the windows on the second and third floors were blocked. There is a possibility that he was evacuated there.”
The premise itself is wrong. Even wooden planks can’t stop adventurers who are determined to enter here.
Of course, Kartina must have thought that the obstacle was enchanted, but as far as I could confirm, it was an ordinary wooden plank. Serena’s guarantee, so that’s for sure.
In the end, there was only one fundamental question. Why did I have to make it feel like this place was sealed off by doing such useless things?
“Then we have no choice but to divide them into two and look at each one. I will search the upper floors, would you like Kartina-sama to search the basement? Or, it doesn’t matter if Kartina-sama searches the upper floors and I go down to the basement.”
“I’ll do as you wish, Mr. Nameless. Let me search the basement. Elliot—”
“Let me follow you.”
Serena stepped next to Kartina. Cartina was startled and turned her head to Serena.
“The 1st Knight Commander? You mean me?”
“Yes. Any problems?”
“No. Of course not, but…”
“Chief of the Royal Knights.”
Elliot took a step closer to Serena with a firmer expression. This time, it seemed like he just couldn’t get over it.
“It is our job to escort Kartina-sama. Even if the Knight Commander doesn’t step forward—”
“Not required.”
“Yes?”
“Even if I have a toothpick, it’s much stronger than the three of you holding a sword. So instead, I’m going to protect your master, so why put a toe on it?”
Emotions flashed across the trio’s faces. It was only natural that they would do that since they were openly putting themselves down.
However, since it was true, there was nothing to refute, and it was rather something to be thankful for, having a person equal to the head of the Royal Knights personally escort their lord.
Elliot, who hesitated for a while, lowered his head, clenching his fists as if he couldn’t find an answer.
Kartina restlessly looked at Elliot, who lowered her head, and Serena, who was standing next to her.
“Go down.”
“Ah… I see.”
As Serena went down the stairs without hesitation, Kartina followed with quick steps and looked back several times.
Elliot stood still with his head down until the two of them opened the cellar door and went inside. Only after the door closed completely did Elliot raise his head.
“Fuck bitch.”
Yes, I wanted to swear at least once.
No matter how noble he was on the periphery, he still rose to a position equal to that of a knight under the lord’s direct command, but when he was cut down from the front like that, of course, his heat was bound to spread.
People who don’t show their temper when they hear something like that either have to suppress it somehow or become weak like Kartina at all.
“What do you see?”
“You mean that?”
“So, who else is here besides you?”
“Aren’t those knights over there?”
Elliot growled and grabbed me by the collar. His eyes were full of life. He was ready to pull out his sword and strike me down.
It seemed that the day that seemed easy was targeted for venting anger. I must have misunderstood the fact that Serena lit up her eyes because she yelled at me.
“There’s nothing good about getting angry here, so why don’t we calm down and talk about it?”
The hand that gripped the collar felt even stronger. this doesn’t work Well, it didn’t matter, since I had something to ask Elliot anyway.
It’s just a question, but it’s essentially the same.
“Is it okay if I ask you a question? You must have grabbed me by the collar. Think of it as the price.”
“…”
“At the door earlier, why did you do that?”
“…what nonsense.”
“Ah, you know everything.”
He put a smirk on his face. Legs went up in the air. His body was dangling from the hand holding his collar.
“It’s not like the power control failed. Didn’t you just leave a cut on the door and make it explode when you go to the reception desk? That’s how I saw it.”
“If you talk nonsense one more time, I’ll cut you.”
“Because it’s not bullshit.”
Sreung, Elliot drew his sword with the other hand. Sparks flew in his eyes. I didn’t lose and faced it.
Anyway, once I started to question it, there was no place to retreat from this side or the other side. And, I couldn’t back down.
“You wouldn’t think that you could stop a group of adventurers from plundering a city with a wooden plank that wasn’t magically reinforced. Just put mana on a sword, and with one or two strokes, it would be shattered.”
spit out doubts
“You confirmed that there was no one in the city. Why did you keep shutting yourself in the mansion? Didn’t it seem strange that you would come out at least once?”
Point out limitations.
“Lastly. Who did you hear that there was a civil war?”
And, question the core.
“I just relayed the report I received! Listen, you keep talking nonsense!”
Elliot brought a knife to my throat. I felt the touch of cold metal. I also hardened my expression and took it back.
“I’m asking who got the report from.”
“Of course he’s one of my knights, from whom!”
“So, remember which of the knights under your command, name and face.”
“…”
Elliot’s expression turned blank. The hand that was holding it by the collar slowly released its strength. After getting down to the floor, I roughly adjusted my clothes and straightened my back.
Whoa, he sighed. The expressions of the knights in the back were also following Elliot’s in a daze. The head and right arm in his hands fell and rolled on the floor.
“hey.”
I glared at those three. and spit it out
“What have you guys been doing here?”
