Chapter 443 – The End of Suffering.
“How much do you know about Paciphenia, Mr. Usher?”
One day, Xian Xian asked.
“Why are you asking that?”
Her investigation had already ended when she stopped by the Holy Land, so she briefly returned to Parz to reorganize and was on her way to Pasifania.
“Well, I was wondering why you thought of going to Pacifenia.”
Was it because I was talking inadvertently? Usher looked at the brazier as Sulsien wiggled his fingers across the crackling brazier, watching him.
“There are only people who are looking for it.”
It was always the same as it was reflected in the red flames burning with the pungent smell of burning oil. The blurry flames, as if they were not one, resembled the light he knew.
“You’re looking for someone… Are you saying you have acquaintances in Paciphenia!?”
“Why are you so surprised?”
However, when I looked at Seol Shien, who was strangely surprised, with a question, she looked around as if noticing that there was no one around except for them, and spoke politely.
“Pasifenia has been under an isolation order for a long time.”
Diana had heard the story of her seclusion order. If the country thinks it is necessary, did she say that it is a so-called act of locking the door, prohibiting exchanges with other countries and movement of people?
“But aren’t you here?”
But isn’t Usher talking to Sulsien right in front of him? Indeed, if Parsi Phenia was enforcing her seclusion order, he shouldn’t have even met her.
“Before I came out of the investigation, the seclusion order was gradually being lifted.”
It’s still not to the point where ordinary citizens can come in and out freely, but at least in the case of a special situation like the investigation of Sulsien, it was said that they could come out after a long examination.
“What does that have to do with my acquaintances in Paciphenia?”
“But the seclusion order has been enforced for nearly 15 years.”
That’s why the fact that there are acquaintances of Pacifenia now means that there is a high possibility that he is a person who violated the seclusion order. Hearing the story, Usher remembered the owner of the goggles he hadn’t returned yet.
‘They said it was during a civil war.’
Donar, the former Paciphenian knight who took the girl and himself. It is highly likely that the reason for the seclusion order was also the civil war. Presuming that he had escaped with the guild in the middle, Usher decided to cover it up.
“I heard that a person who came from Pasifenia long ago has an acquaintance he left behind in his hometown.”
It wasn’t quite a lie. There were many people from Pacifenia, including Donard, and their acquaintances could still be in Pacifenia.
“I was just asked to say how he is.”
“…Certainly you couldn’t even come in because of the seclusion order.”
Fortunately, Seol Shien guessed it based on his words and understood it on his own.
“Can I know who you were?”
“He said he was a retired knight.”
Since he stopped working as a knight in his hometown, it is safe to say that he has retired.
“So, did Mr. Usher learn from him?”
Usher pondered for a moment. You could say that, but it was Krikaliev who taught him in earnest.
“No. He was in a bad situation, so I only taught him the basics and learned from someone else.”
“Ah, I guess you’re already elderly.”
It seemed that the image of an elderly Noh knight was drawn in Seol Sien’s head before he knew it, but he had no intention of clearing up the misunderstanding. It wouldn’t be a danger to Donnar, who would live in Lantua. Even if he was beyond the cloud zone, he wouldn’t know.
“Well, you must be familiar with Paciphenia, right?”
Seeing her notice again, Usher shook his head.
“He never really talked about her hometown, so I don’t know.”
This was true. Donard didn’t know much, as he would turn around with a complicated look on his face when he asked curiously about Paciphenia. At most, it was about that the iron processing technology was excellent and that it was a country with many excellent knights enough to be called a knight country.
“Then I can tell you!”
Sulshien was somehow happy and tried to talk about this and that, but Usher had to restrain her by raising her hand.
-Puuuuu!
“Go in. It’s a monster.”
At the same time as Hildisviny’s warning sound resounded through the empty wilderness, black figures approached from far away in the veil of night.
At first glance, it reminded him of the Desert Locust he had been fighting against in the wilderness, but Usher recognized its identity at a glance.
“Armored Cricket.”
Because they were monsters who attacked the forest village before he and the girl left the forest.
-Close to close!!
The creepy sound of his two sharp jaws clashing, and the shiny black eyes that seemed to be swaying with malice, even though he was far away, brought back vividly even forgotten memories.
The armored cricket was famous for its hard shell, true to its name. They don’t have the same notoriety as the crayfish under the clouds, but they are a nuisance because they are more frequently encountered in the vast wilderness.
Usher made sure Sulsien entered the wagon and looked at them. The number of them revealed in the brightly shining moonlight goes beyond hundreds even at first glance.
No matter how much he was a paladin, it was difficult to protect the wagon intact from such a reckless attack by himself.
Even if it was a knight of that size, if he rushed at once and pushed, he would be pushed and crushed by that huge size and weight.
Attacking with overwhelming numbers and weight is a simple, but equally dangerous and sure strategy. That’s why they didn’t stop running to this place.
‘Armored cricket’s weakness is…’
Compared to the body protected by the hard carapace, their legs are thin and fragile, so it would be enough to break them, but now it was impossible to stop them by breaking each leg one by one.
Usher was the only one stopping them. At this rate, it would only be a matter of time before he was pushed and crushed to death by them, but Usher did not escape. He simply puts on his arm the cross-shield he had been wearing on his back until now and puts it forward.
– Kagagak!
– Crack!
As if laughing at him, the cries of those who got closer were heard louder, and the door of the carriage suddenly opened.
“Mr. Usher?! Why don’t you dodge…!?”
Sulsien came out with doubts about the wagon not moving, whether he thought he would avoid it.
-Kagagagak!
As if excited by the appearance of a host capable of harboring their seeds, they slap their jaws even louder and run faster.
“Mr. Usher! Hurry up!”
Seolsien shouted urgently at him, but Usher calmly collected himself and muttered.
“‘I hope I can protect you from any pain.'”
– What!?
The magic that saved his life time and time again. As the silver light that started from the shield shone brightly and began to remove the curtains of the night one by one, an embarrassed sound came from the people rushing towards this place.
It must be because they couldn’t adapt to the light that suddenly cleared the night and went blind. Even so, it wasn’t that they stopped moving, but that was their failure.
-Kigeek?
The first ones who collided with the wide-spreading silver curtain made a questioning sound, but it soon became a deathbed. Right after the lead guys forcibly stopped their movement, the armored crickets running after them couldn’t control their speed and crashed into them.
-Cut!!
– Snuggle Geek!
Caught between the widely spread shield and the compatriots charging from behind, the cries of those who were crushed without being able to do this or that rang out for a while.
‘As expected, your magic seems to remove all shocks.’
‘…Is that all?’
He was disappointed by Kayaba’s story, which confirmed Usher’s magic as a paladin. That’s because I didn’t think that the magic I had acquired could be used as a weapon, like controlling Kane’s flame or Boas’s water.
In reality, he even tried to hit the opponent directly with a shield applied with magic, but it was a magic that could not be used in an offensive way because even the impact was removed without covering it.
‘There are dozens of knights dying every year because they couldn’t get that magic. We might not know, but be careful what you say.’
Usher kept his mouth shut at Kayaba’s lightly bruising him. Eventually, when their death rage was over, the scene revealed when Usher undid the magic was, of course, full of complaints.
– Put on.. Right!
Usher took care of the few remaining armored crickets himself and approached the last one. Armored Cricket, who was exceptionally large among them, was also a female.
It seems to have tried to get out of the way somehow, as it has intelligence enough to command, but the males, excited by the appearance of the host, rushed at it without listening to the command, so the one in the center, which should have been the safest, became a bad news.
“It’s amazing. This is the paladin I’ve only heard of…”
As Usher finished by stabbing him in the head with his rapier, Sulsien watched with admiration. How long did you run again after the work of that time?
“I think we’re finally getting to Paciphenia!”
Usher, alerted by the sight of a green meadow approaching from afar, stopped his wagon and called for Sulshien, and he could hear such a story.
“…Are you really sure?”
“That’s right! It’s definitely Grandis Prairie.”
She affirmed casually, but he was still suspicious of Xian’s words. That’s right, right in front of his nose, like what he’s seen in Lantua and also in the Holy Land. Because there were weeds that were common in every way.
If you ask why that is a problem, it is because a grassy forest with overgrown weeds, even the size of a blade of grass, surpasses the size of Hildis Beanie, blocking their way.
