Chapter 56 - It Was a Dangerous Country

Chapter 56 : It Was a Dangerous Country

「Nevertheless… just what in the world is that vortex? There are also those enigmatic-looking monsters…」

「I don’t know. But…」

The female Holy Knight then continued with an awfully meek voice.

「I heard that the Kranzle Empire studies forbidden curses about the way to artificially create large-scale monster parade.」

「Artificially… create large-scale monster parades? …For what?」

「For war, of course. In fact, for the countries that have been crushed by the empire, they were invaded when their army was busy dealing with monster parades.」

If that was true, that building might be a research facility for said curse.

「Now that I think about it, that building might have been abandoned as soon as they realized that they couldn’t control that vortex. Maybe this kind of research is still going on in their vassal state.」

「Does that mean they don’t care about what happens to their vassal state? What a cruel country…」

「Well, everything is just my own opinion. I could be wrong, but… The empire cut off all exchange with the outside world. That’s why I have no idea about what happens in their government.」

Every religion had been banned too, huh.

Instead, an empress reigned supreme like God in the empire.

「And then, they also developed illegal magecraft throughout the country. Moreover, the most terrifying thing about them is the fact that all those developed magecraft and tools are for military purposes. Every country who has been invaded by them lost far too easily.」

It seemed I somehow ended up going into an extremely terrifying country.

The silver lining was the fact that I met the female Holy Knight…

◇◇◇

===The Dangerous Empire===

「Your Majesty, there’s no doubt about it.」

“

That 〝Shadow〟 was kneeling with his head down as they reporting to their master who sat behind the bamboo curtain.

「The white-haired man in the report who appeared in one of our vassal states, Raoul Kingdom, is definitely the No Life King who has become the hot topic in the world right now. By our calculation, he’ll arrive in our imperial capital in a short while.」

The content of their report was simply terrifying.

And yet, the shadow of the figure behind the bamboo curtain didn’t seem to be disturbed by such news.

「H-How…!」

「No way…」

On the other hand, the ones who were visibly trembling in fear from head to toe were the two elderly figures who stood beside the bamboo curtain.

Despite their old, shriveled figures that look like they would fly just by being exposed to a gentle breeze, they were none other than the capable prime ministers of the empire. In short, they were the second most powerful figures in the empire.

「A true monster that not even that Hero King can defeat, bu—」

「In addition, I hear that he’s accompanied by two Dragon Empe—」

But before the two wrinkled old men finished their sentences, the figure behind the bamboo curtain finally spoke for the first time.

「What are you afraid of, old men? Don’t you believe in our empire’s magecraft?」

It was a young voice.

Moreover, it carried some sort of might that didn’t allow for the interruption.

She was the empress, Deodora Kranzle.

As the supreme ruler of the empire, the remark as the one hailed as an existence equal to God was absolute.

The prime ministers, whose ages were far older than her, kowtowed toward her in front of the bamboo curtain, trembling like newborn calves.

「N-No, this lowly slave wouldn’t dare!」

「As long as Your Majesty rules this empire, we do not fear a mere undead!」

One couldn’t feel the dignity of the prime ministers from the figures that were trying to flatter the empress.

In fact, they were the prime ministers in name only. They were nothing more than attendants who faithfully obeyed every single one of the empress’ orders.

At that moment, another 〝Shadow〟 came in to give their report.

They whispered something to the previous 〝Shadow〟.

It seemed the second shadow was bringing new information.

Even the 〝Shadow〟 who could be said to have no emotions was visibly surprised upon hearing the new information.

And then, they reported the new information to the empress.

「Your Majesty, the No Life King has changed course. He’s heading toward the Holy Country.」

「What? What do you mean?」

「It seems he came into contact with a female Holy Knight and changed his plan.」

「The former captain of the squad that was formed to hunt down the necromancer, huh.」

―〝Shadow〟.

They were the intelligence officers under the direct control of the empress.

They were not just gathering information inside the empire, they also acted as her eyes and ears to gather information outside of the empire.

In fact, their information about the No Life King was also more accurate than that of the other countries.

「Hm, as expected, he isn’t an existence that we should be afraid of. Rather, the person himself might actually be looking for a way to purify himself.」

The empress saw through the intention of the No Life King.

But not a single soul in that place dared to believe their empress’ wild guess.

「Our 〝Shadow〟. Bring that No Life King to our empire.」

The old prime minister’s eyes opened wide, unable to believe what their empress had just said.

「The fact that not even that mighty hero king can put a scratch on him has already spread far and wide. That’s why defeating such an existence will only catapult the might of our empire through the sky, cementing our absolute power. In addition, that fame will make it easier for us to conquer another country without wasting too much of our resources. Kukuku, and all of that can easily be achieved just by subjugating an undead. This is low-cost effort with a high return.」

In contrast with the prime ministers who trembled in fear upon hearing that declaration, the 〝Shadow〟 just bowed and said 「Your wish is my command.」

「Then, we should kidnap the female Holy Knight first and bring her to this place. I’m sure that the No Life King is going to march to our royal capital to save her.」

「That’s a nice idea.」

「If there’s a worry on our part, it’s just from the fact that the very same girl is also the daughter of the current pope of the Saint Melt Faith. If things go wrong, we might end up making an enemy of the Holy Country… No, the majority of the country in the west.」

「Don’t worry about that.」

The empress dismissed 〝Shadow〟’s worry with a smile.

「We’re still going to make an enemy of them sooner or later, right? This is but another step to our empire’s goal―world conquest.」

◇◇◇

===A Certain Undead With Communication Disorder===

We returned to the city and told the children that we’d solved the problem.

「The number of monsters should decrease in a while, and the former citizens of this city will be back soon.」

「R-Really? Thank you, Neechan!」

「You too, white Niichan!」

「A-A-A…」

My mind was even more strained than usual since those kids were praising me like some sort of hero.

The female Holy Knight look dumbfounded upon seeing my reaction.

「…You, aren’t supposed to be like that with the children when they praise you like that.」

「I-It really can’t be helped… This is… part of my nature after all.」

「And yet, you’ve had normal conversations with me since a while ago.」

It was simply because I got used to her presence.

But knowing that I didn’t have any problem talking with women—as long as I got used to them—was the biggest finding in this incident.

…Well, it might be useless since I was about to enter the eternal rest that I wished for.

「Eh? Don’t you two look closer than before?」

「「HAH?」」

We unintentionally looked at each others’ face when the boy pointed that out.

The female Holy Knight denied that in a hurry.

「N-No way, that must be your imagination.」

「E~h, that sounds even more suspicious! I mean, say that when you’re not blushing, neech— GR^&^*^^&%$^」

「DON’T LOOK DOWN ON THE ADULT!」

I ignored their banter and entered the house while pondering the fact that there were still so many monsters in this city even after we destroyed the source of the incident. It seemed I needed to do a thorough sweep again.

I really wanted to go to the female Holy Knight’s country as soon as possible, but I felt uneasy about leaving these children behind without taking care of the dangerous monsters outside first.

Thus, I decided to leave this country after I cleaned the area around this city.

Well, it’d take at least a few days for me though.

But then, the next morning…

「…Eh? She’s gone?」

「Y-Yeah. I couldn’t find Neechan when I visited her residence this morning… That’s strange since she was still there last night…」

「Can you show me her residence?」

The next morning, the female Holy Knight suddenly vanished from her residence.

「This is her residence.」

The siblings led me to a small house.

「The spear is…」

The spear that never left her side was leaning against the wall.

There was no way she was going to leave this spear behind.

“

「…? This burn trace…」

I found a burn mark on the floor.

It was a mark that was left behind after something was burned.

「It’s the mark of sleeping temptation incense.」

「!!」

I turned around immediately upon hearing the unfamiliar voice of an unknown man.

===.