Chapter 135 – Chapter 135 ― The Story Hidden From You (6)
Episode 135 ― The story hidden from you (6)
After taking a break, Roan blessed himself and Kerr and started running.
The Witchbeast shuddered once or twice at the unfamiliar sensation, and silently accepted the blessing, as if Roan’s touch was good.
So for a while, I ran through a landscape of unchanging sand, soil, and shrubs.
A few breaks even past Virectum.
The party continued heading east.
If it were not for the emperor, no one would want to guide them to that ominous land.
After lunch, the sun turned its back on them and began to cast shadows in front of them.
Roan was going to head east as far as the knights allowed before sunset and spend the evening in Virectum Castle.
And the farther east Roan went, the more he could understand why the knights, the people of this place, were reluctant to go near the Fallen Lands.
“… , For a moment.”
The demon beasts that were running stopped at the emperor’s beckoning.
Weak, but
Malice as if suddenly choking.
The scarred knight asked after examining Roan’s frowning expression.
“Are you uncomfortable with something?”
But Roan couldn’t answer.
Roan, who could not slow down their steps, made the party start again.
“Nothing. Depart.”
On the back of the running Kerr, Roan was still deep in thought with a slight frown on his face.
A sensation that can only be felt in someone’s life.
This evil will I feel in those who oppose me…
Why did I suddenly feel it instead of running?
Maybe someone around?
Roan, who was looking around at the knights, suddenly thought of something else.
‘… No way.’
The ‘Star’s Blessing’ that Roan always hung up like a habit. The effective time of the blessing is about five or six hours.
The moment the blessings that had been placed in the morning were finally exhausted, it seemed that an evil energy that only Roan did not know filled the air.
‘In a place like this… Are you going to live?’
Roan quietly bit his lip.
Even from the beginning, most of the East Huangling was wasteland and desert.
Most of the people lived near the mountains, rivers, and lakes that form the western border of Eastern Huangling.
It was said that the remaining 30% of the population wandered around desert oases or wells to form small villages or to live a mobile life.
However, it is said that the fallen land has become stronger since decades ago. The corrupted land, which showed its strength by gradually expanding the desert, swallowed up the cities and villages in the east one by one.
Birektum, located several tens of kilometers away from Laju, was originally a trading city where products from all over the Eastern Emperor gathered. That’s why the name attached means ‘Plaza of vegetation’.
However, the Virectum that Roan saw earlier
It was a desolate city covered in sand and dust.
The cities in the north, including the east, where goods were diligently transported to Virectum, had almost disappeared.
Perhaps those who wander the desert did not choose the desert because the energy of the corrupted land was suitable for them. It’s only because it’s harder to settle down somewhere else.
For some reason, Roan remembered the abandoned animals wandering around nearby farmhouses after the nuclear power plant accident in Japan, which he had seen in an old internet article.
He doesn’t know how to survive elsewhere.
‘Blessings… Was it a way to counter this?’
Roan once again blessed himself and the Witchbeast on top of Kerr, which ran quietly.
The Witchbeast’s red eyes widened once, and he suddenly began to speed up excitedly.
“Your Majesty, it’s dangerous to go forward suddenly!”
One of the knights screeched at him, and Roan raised his hand to apologize, calming the Tan Kerr back to his place.
After blessing, breathing becomes easier again.
For the first time, Roan felt that he had a vague idea of why the act of blessing a crystal or land was a way to protect it.
‘A place like this would need a priest.’
Ron’s expression darkened.
According to Helen, he needed to be close to the church in order to increase his divine power and learn divine magic.
The Goddess said that both humans and demons are her children, but in order to awaken her power, she first needs to contact the Order.
Whether it’s a scripture or a statue of a goddess.
That’s why many priests and paladins are produced in orphanages.
However, there is no atmosphere that believes in the Laurecia religion in the world of demons. Rather, I don’t know if I hate it.
There is no opportunity to meet the traces of the goddess anywhere.
‘Can’t I ask the church for a branch?’
Of course, I don’t think it’s going to be easy.
A church that had turned the demon king and Evirgio, the country of demons, into enemies of the Goddess.
In addition, the most elite power of the Holy Knights to protect their power was lost in vain.
Can’t look nice
Even if they wanted to accept our offer, it would be difficult to reach out their hand hastily.
No matter how gracious the Church of the Goddess is, in order to embrace those who were enemies, it is not possible to achieve it with only mercy.
An enemy of Merde, the huge kingdom of which the Archdiocese belongs. Roan was well aware by now that it would not be easy unless there were political and material gains.
“Shit.”
Roan suddenly raised his head.
Roan was startled because he wasn’t the one who said the harsh words just now.
Abusive words from someone behind Roan who couldn’t even hide his annoyed face.
Then the head of the knights came to Roan’s side in a panic.
“Your Majesty, I apologize.”
When I suddenly looked around, the expressions of all the knights surrounding Roan were stern.
It would have been embarrassing just a few minutes ago, but Roan finally understood why.
They too are affected by malice, which grows stronger the closer they get to the Fallen Lands.
“From around here…”
“Is it because of the fallen land?”
The knight looked at Roan with a moment of surprise, then bowed his head deeply.
“It is.”
Roan hesitated for a moment.
Is it okay to cast the ‘Star’s Blessing’ on them?
It was then.
Suddenly, a gust of sand hit the group.
“Uh… !”
“Your Majesty, bow your head!”
A hood for those who have lived in the desert to cover their faces from the sandstorm. Roan wore the hood he had received while leaving Laju like a knight.
The head of the knights, who saw the emperor wearing his hood, also put it on and waited for the wind to pass.
I could see him coughing several times, as if he had already eaten sand.
It was a short wind of about tens of seconds, but the expressions of the knights who were hit by the wind became even more worried.
Seeing this, Roan quietly spread the will of blessing.
I’ve never blessed so many people at once, but it’s like betting on the ground.
The start words are recited only inwardly.
Star blessing.
Moment.
The group started to stir up.
The monsters shook their heads several times, and the knights riding on them began to look around.
Seeing Roan smiling quietly, the leader asked lowly.
“Perhaps, His Majesty…”
“Hmm. It is magic.”
“Thank you.”
He used to be coughing in the fields before that, but he seems to be fine now.
The speed of the party who received the blessing was faster than before.
It was around the time when the geothermal heat reached its peak, no matter how hot it was in the desert.
Roan and his knights stopped.
“This is it. Your majesty.”
The limit that non-desert people can come the farthest to the east.
Roan looked to the east.
After a while, Roan looked back at the standing knights and got off Kerr. When the knights tried to follow him, Roan stopped them.
“It happened. I’ll spend some time alone to rest.”
The knights hesitated.
The fear of sending the emperor alone to a dangerous place seemed to conflict with the knight’s duty to follow the emperor’s orders.
However, as the head of the scar-face standing next to the emperor stepped back, the others began to dismount from the beast one by one.
Seeing that, Roan gave the reins to one of them and started walking a bit.
There is nowhere to hide,
At least, it was to secure a distance where the sound could not be heard.
How long did it take
The knights barely caught on the edge of detection,
Around the time when he came to a distance where even Roan could not hear his voice.
Roan gripped the hilt of his sword.
“Fiora.”
And unexpectedly, the answer came back.
— … Why did you come to such an ominous place? I can’t sleep.
“… Are you sleeping?”
— I’m kidding.
“…”
After looking down at the hilt for a moment, Roan looked back to the horizon.
“I’m sorry about last time.”
— To be honest, I was really surprised. Isn’t that almost the domain of Taoists? How can you reject a beauty like me? Great. I’m the one who has even defeated a swordsman.
“Because there is nothing more precious than life.”
— Did I tell you? I can’t hurt Roan.
“It’s arbitrary.”
Fiora only smiled slightly at Roan’s subdued reply.
— … Whoops.
“I still want to believe in you. Come on.”
— …
Perhaps it was unexpected, Fiora listened to Roan without saying anything.
“So I was looking for something about you. But it wasn’t easy.”
— I will.
Fiora said in a self-deprecating voice.
— It’s an unpleasant sword, to record. If you write that you played with the sword, no one will believe you and you will be embarrassed.
“…”
This time, Roan couldn’t find the right words to say.
Roan, who had been silent, opened his mouth after a while, when Roan remembered what he originally wanted to ask.
“I read a strange story. It was a story about a monster with the same name as you.”
– Monster… ?
“They said they sealed the devil with the goddess’s expedition.”
— Youkai… Did you
Fiora’s voice was low and trembling.
I wonder if she accidentally touched something she shouldn’t touch, but as she said, Fiora can’t hurt me anyway.
I hold on to my heart that almost gave up without even realizing it.
“Because records get distorted over time.”
I couldn’t express myself, but I was quite surprised.
She said she was with a goddess?
Then, how long ago was the sword?
“Really, Goddess… Did you see it?”
— Goddess… ? Are you talking about Laurecia?
Fiora seemed a little taken aback.
— Laurecia is what people used to call Goddess? … Now people call her her goddess. Ah… Is she that many years old…
It was a sigh as if something crossed the boundary of disrespect. As Roan opened his eyes wide, Fiora said.
— Did you bring me here on purpose? This eerie sign is the energy of that guy at that time.
Roan shook his head.
“I didn’t believe the story was true. All we currently know is that somewhere beyond, a sealed demon is said to be asleep.”
— We called it ‘greed’.
Roan shuddered.
“… We… ?”
– Is it so.
Fiora’s voice was cold even though it contained her longing.
— The holy and the strong. Fairies of two regions, and rulers of the skies. We are here to defeat ‘greed’. Otherwise, all the guys on the continent would be eaten by ‘greed’.
“Really, did you seal that ‘greed’? Beyond this land?”
Then Fiora burst into a red smile.
— Ahahaha, the goal was good, but I think we failed in the end.
Roan opened his eyes.
A failure…
Could it have something to do with the gradual death of the Eastern Emperor under the influence of the corrupted land?
Fiora said quietly.
— You know Roan, right? After all, how many people live with greed? It was impossible to completely seal him.
And at Fiora’s words that followed, Roan’s hand trembled slightly.
— And I’ve been forgotten and turned into a monster.
