Chapter 151 – The Battle of Yeongji (9)
How did it happen?
I thought as I watched the commotion unfolding in front of my eyes.
Clearly, it was peaceful until morning.
Even though it was a beggarly bed, the members’ faces were full of smiles. Celis was also happy with my promotion and smiled, and Ariel was giggling at the sound of giving her pocket money with the money she received this time.
Kara said she was anxious because things suddenly went well.
– Don’t worry Kara. Did something really bad happen to you recently? That’s what’s called soldering. Are there any good things left for us?
We laughed together at her words filled with Cersei’s confidence.
…It was.
“Undead!!!!!”
“What are these bastards?! Why are you suddenly jumping out of here!?!”
Sval, I never thought the undead would come out of the ground. The genre of my life isn’t even horror, so how do you expect something like this?
“Uh…?”
Seris looked at the battlefield where the undead popped out with a stupid expression, perhaps in the same mood as me. Kara next to him straightened her shoulders in her elation.
“Look, am I right? You said something was going to happen!”
“Eh, why is this… I thought it was a trick…”
“Ceris, maybe we’re just out of luck.”
I said in a resigned voice.
“What are you guys doing in peace now..? We must run away quickly!”
Ariel, trembling at the sight of the undead, tugged at my sleeve. I took her hand away and explained gently.
“If you run away now, you will be deserting. And desertion is the death penalty. You can run away if you want to be decapitated and impaled on a spear post.”
“…What?”
Ariel’s complexion turned pale. She quivered her eyes and suddenly grabbed me by the collar.
“This, this, this… Son of a bitch! So what now! Are you telling me to just die?! Do not be ridiculous! I’m not dying! I want you all to die!”
“If I die, you die too.”
“Aaaaa!!!! Why! Why did you drag me to this place?! Why baby!!”
“Did you know that this would happen?”
“Ariel, calm down. Being angry doesn’t change anything.”
“What? Why are you so calm?!”
As if Ariel couldn’t understand, she looked at me and Sister Ceris. I released Ariel’s hand from my collar.
“It’s not just once or twice, what…”
I clapped my hands and looked back at the 1st trillion members.
“As you heard earlier, if you run away now, you will be deserting. Did you know that everyone on the roster is still on Kalita? Even if you escape safely, your throat will be cut later.”
The expressions of the adventurers who were looking around and trying to escape were tired.
“Then what should I do?”
Albore stepped forward and asked. Her hand trembled as she gripped Sigrid.
“Should I die like this?”
“No. Why do you die? First of all, the instructions coming down from above… Ah, it’s moving now.”
The two knights attached to the young lady in the back row of the main unit moved. Whipping their horses, they rode quickly toward the battlefield.
“Uh, huh? The knights seem to be fighting!”
“Then can we not fight? Thank god…”
“No, wait a minute… Is that overdoing it?”
The two knights quickly passed the battlefield, cutting off only the undead that were clinging to each other.
‘I don’t think he’s running away…’
Because the young lady was still in the rear of the main unit. Then why are they heading there?
I had no way of knowing that.
-Puuu~!
In the confusion, the trumpets sounded loudly. It was the sound of a trumpet announcing a retreat, not an advance.
“Fortunately, they don’t ask us to fight. Sooner or later, a messenger will bring you detailed instructions. Let’s wait for that.”
The excitement of the adventurers calmed down at the sound of not having to fight.
I also waited for the messenger, thinking that I was fortunate in Young Ae’s rational judgment.
And after a while, instead of the messenger, the one who appeared in front of the first group was Lady Karen, with her platinum hair fluttering in a Napoleonic pose.
Her eyes were pinned on me among countless adventurers and mercenaries.
At that moment, I had a very foreboding feeling.
“Han Yuseong! I will thank you for your hard work later. Follow me from now on!”
That hunch was right.
* * *
“Get on board quickly!”
Under Karen’s command, mercenaries and adventurers got on the wagon.
After looking at the wagon, she turned to the battlefield.
I saw the mercenaries running this way and the undead chasing after them. The laggard mercenaries were devoured by the undead.
Karen gritted her teeth.
“Move quickly! We must leave the wagon before they arrive!”
Even without her urging, they were already moving in haste. Because no one wanted to become food for the undead.
“All boarded.”
Yuseong came to her and reported. Karen gestured to the driver, and the wagon started moving at a slow pace.
“We go too.”
Karen got on the horse with one leap. Even though she was wearing full plate armor, she was a light body move. She stretched out her hand towards the meteor.
“Let’s get on.”
“…Is this really the only way?”
“It can’t be helped that you can’t ride a horse.”
Karen raised her eyebrows as if to ask what she was talking about.
“No… Wasn’t it just a carriage ride for me too?”
“Oh, I hadn’t thought of that.”
This time her eyes widened. Yoosung stared at me dumbfounded and scratched her cheek with her embarrassing face.
“Would you like to get in the carriage now?”
“All right. We have already left.”
Yuseong took Karen’s hand and mounted her horse. Sitting behind Karen, he seriously contemplated where to hold on.
“…Hold your waist. What are you thinking about?”
“That’s what Young lady said. You won’t be punished for blasphemy later.”
Yoosung put her hand on Karen’s waist. Her waist was very thin, and even though she held on to it, she didn’t feel secure. As she pondered whether to hug her a little longer, she pulled Karen by the reins.
“Let’s go!”
The horse that carried Karen and Meteor roared and moved its legs. Matching the speed of the wagon, they ran side by side.
“Me! Accept me first!”
“Henry! I made you some soup yesterday! Please accept it quickly!”
“Huh… Heh… The wagon… Slow down…”
The mercenaries who had fled from the battlefield caught up with the wagon before they knew it. It was a slow start to catch up in the first place. The mercenaries in the wagon pulled the running mercenaries and loaded them into the wagon.
However, the fact that the mercenaries who ran away followed the wagon meant that the undead were also getting closer. A few fast-footed undead jumped into the wagon.
“Quaaaaagh! Let go of this!”
An undead clung to the obstacle and bit the mercenary’s hand. The mercenary waved his arm and tried to pull it off, but the undead clung tenaciously.
The simplest way to kill an undead is to break its head.
A dagger that flew from somewhere was lodged in the side of the undead’s head. The blade pierced the brain and the undead fell from the fallopian tube and rolled across the floor.
The dagger slipped from the skull of the undead and returned to its master.
“You are good at throwing. Who did you learn from?”
“I was self-taught.”
“If you don’t want to talk, you don’t have to. Isn’t that too close?”
Karen stared at the meteor, squinting her eyes. He wrapped her right arm around Karen’s waist and pressed her upper body against her back.
“My words are shaking more than I thought. This side is more comfortable to throw.”
Yoosung swung his left hand at the moment he answered. An undead aiming for the back of the mercenary’s head struck him with a dagger and fell down.
“Is it. I get it.”
Karen lightly agreed, then she focused on riding again. Yuseong kept throwing and retrieving the dagger to keep the undead in check.
“…By the way, young lady.”
“Karen.”
“Yes?”
“My name is Karen. Call her by her name, not by her name.”
“Oh, yes Karen. Don’t you think the number of undead has increased?”
“Hmm?”
At Yoosung’s words, Karen turned her head. Almost all of the mercenaries boarded, and there were only a few left, and after that, dozens… No, hundreds of undead chased after them.
“Certainly so. More than the first What happened?”
“…The supply and demand continues. Look that way.”
The meteor pointed to the end of the undead group. New undead were breaking through the land and joining the horde.
“I’m going crazy.”
Karen laughed at the undead.
The sight of hundreds of wilted humanoid undead running at her was enough to make her a little sick of it.
“Is boarding still far away?”
“There is only one left. You just got on.”
“Good. So let’s speed it up now. Hold on tight.”
Karen gave her signal to her horse by pulling the reins. As Karen’s horse gradually picked up speed, she passed the wagons and she ran in the lead.
The other wagons also started running in earnest.
A wagon is slower than riding a horse, but much faster than a person running.
The distance between the undead and the wagon gradually increased. To the extent that the undead can be seen as dots.
“You sighed.”
“Get some rest. I’ll be busy again in a little while.”
Yooseong wanted to know what that meant, but she soon found out.
Because the wagons stopped in a certain village.
“What is it?”
“Why did you suddenly stop?”
The mercenaries were puzzled and stuck their heads out of the wagon. The villagers were wary of such mercenaries and wagons and surrounded them. In their hands were blades like hoes and scythes.
In that situation, Karen moved without hesitation.
Jumping off her horse, she drew her sword and brought the tip of her sword to her floor.
She exclaimed in a solemn voice.
“My name is Karen von Klener. She is a writer’s blood after Clénère.”
Self-introduction followed.
Naturally, the villagers did not understand and tilted their heads at her.
However, only the village chief knew the meaning of Klener’s name. Even though he was over 70 years old, he knelt down and lowered his head.
“Ears, how did a noble person come to this humble place..!”
“Chief?”
The residents of the village were shocked to see the tight-knit village chief bowing down. At the same time, she realized that the woman in front of her was not an ordinary person.
“Oh, who is the lady?”
“Yeah man!! What disrespect is that to the lord’s daughter now!”
“Yes? A lord?!”
The eyes of the villagers widened. Soon after they hardened stiffly, they collapsed on the floor without leaving anything behind.
Originally, even aristocrats did not need to be so polite.
However, in this rural village, where all people had heard about nobles, nobles were like kings.
“I’m so sorry for being rude! That… That… The lord’s daughter! Forgive me just once!”
The man who had spoken to Karen bowed his head deeper and begged for forgiveness. The village chief also carefully defended him.
“That’s because I don’t even know that friend. Forgive me only once…”
“It happened. It doesn’t matter now.”
Karen shook her hand and dismissed it. The faces of the man and the villagers brightened.
Karen looked back at the villagers and continued her words.
“Many monsters of unknown cause have appeared around here. It will be coming here soon too. I don’t even have time to pack my things. Get in the carriage right now.”
“Yes? What is that…”
“What are you talking about!”
A mercenary’s cry broke the village chief’s bewildered voice. After shouting, the mercenary got off the wagon and strode toward Karen. The unstoppable footsteps were blocked by Yoosung.
The mercenary rolled his eyes.
“What are you?”
“Karen-sama temporary escort. If you have any complaints, tell me there. Don’t come any closer.”
“What? It sucks. This bastard knows who I am…”
The mercenary took his hand to his waist. Yoosung smiled and put his hand on the mercenary’s shoulder. He whispered softly into my ear.
“If you pull out your sword, you will die.”
A warning in a calm tone.
The mercenary’s body trembled. A strange aura oppressed him. Contrary to his stiffened muscles, his heart beat fast, and a drop of cold sweat trickled down the nape of his neck.
It feels like standing naked in front of a beast. In the face of primal fear, the mercenary became infinitely smaller.
“Just put your hand down from the handle of the sword.”
The mercenary did not lower his hand. This sword is the last resort. The moment he lets go, his body is exposed defenselessly.
“Count to three. One.”
Reason and instinct clashed.
Reason tells you not to let go of your sword, instinct begs you to put down and surrender.
“Two.”
He is a cold-hearted mercenary who values reason. The reason he has been able to survive so far is because of his personality that follows reason rather than instinct.
‘He’s being careless. I just need to quickly pull out the sword while taking out his body.’
He affirmed his life so far, and eventually chose the opposite sex.
Though his instincts had sent the most violent alarm ever.
“Three.”
“OMG!”
The mercenary moved his hand that gripped his handle. Yoosung placed his palm on the tip of the sword handle. His sword could not even be pulled out and was blocked.
“Ah…”
The mercenary, sensing that it was ruined, let out a sigh.
Yooseong’s right hand grabbed the mercenary’s neck. It was just as he was about to knock it over and pin it to the ground.
“Stop.”
Karen stopped him. When Yuseong turned around, she nodded her head as if it was okay.
Yooseong let go of the mercenary’s head.
“Karen says it’s okay. Go see.”
Yooseong pushed the mercenary’s back. The mercenary stood in front of Karen, holding the captured head. The momentum he had when he shouted earlier was nowhere to be found.
“You must have been the mercenary captain Mandrick, right? It sounds like you have something to say to me. Do not allow Speak.”
“…”
Mandrick did not open his mouth as he looked at Yoosung.
Karen sighed.
“As long as you do not use insults, you will not be harmed. Not my promise so let’s talk I do not have time.”
Mandrick opened his mouth a few times before he managed to speak.
“…When we first signed a contract with Karen-sama, it was clear that our role was to join the Battle of the Territory. Dealing with the undead or rescuing the villagers is not our job.”
Karen looked at Mandrick as if to keep going.
That was all Mandrick could think of. He forced himself to say more.
“…Also, if you put the villagers on the wagon, the wagon’s speed will slow down. We don’t want to take that risk.”
“Right.”
Karen crossed her arms and nodded her head.
“Certainly, you have no obligation to save the villagers. However, it is an emergency now. They were attacked by unknown monsters, and the people of the territory were in danger. I have to fulfill my responsibilities as a noble, so I asked for your minimal cooperation. Is it difficult to accept that minimal cooperation?”
Her atmosphere, which had been solemn, changed to high-handed. She learned from childhood and became accustomed to the aristocratic way of life. It wasn’t just a mercenary or a mercenary.
“…No.”
In the end, Mandrick bends his will.
At that, Karen withdrew her high-handed attitude and smiled.
“Don’t be too sad. We will give you a fair reward for your efforts. On my honor.”
“Yes. All right…”
Mandrick returned to the carriage with his shoulders drooping.
Karen shouted at the villagers who stared blankly at them.
“What are you doing? Hurry up and don’t get on the carriage!”
