Chapter 69 – Chapter 16. Baking.
A few teams of reconnaissance and investigation teams have returned. They came from a rough survey of when, where, and how many ghouls came out. Jihyeok looked at the map and checked the time of their appearance and guessed the route.
… These bastards, little by little, going up north?
Considering that they had come up here from the city of Chronostan before, it was possible to find out that they were moving steadily north even if not so fast. Jihyeok wondered what the necromancer’s ulterior motive was.
No… , Rather than that, no one pays any attention when it is openly penetrating the continent like this?
In the meantime, more than 10 brave teams must have witnessed this phenomenon, but he was a bit angry that no one paid attention and passed by. … It was a passage that showed how selfish the current warriors were. No matter what the continent is, they are only interested in their own contribution.
Fuckin’ pups.
It’s only natural that at least the young warriors still need a good attitude to some extent, but these bastards were too strict. If this is the case, is the existence of a warrior really necessary?
Ji-hyeok felt like he wanted to change the warriors once and for all. … Of course I knew that was impossible. Also, if they asked if clean water would be refilled by changing the water, that was also negative. Almost all of the nobles of the empire have rotted away, so how could the puppies below them be so clean? … In conclusion, he thought that he had no choice but to raise a reliable warrior himself.
Anyway, having confirmed the expected route, he prepared to move. The number of people to depart was seven teams of warriors, ten knights, and seven porters.
He thought that he would need about 10 knights because he thought that he would push in with the amount because he was the opponent.
At dawn the very next day after preparations for departure, they rode in a wagon and moved. Gide, who was yawning, said while scratching his butt.
“Cybal, now you get to fight a ghoul as well. … Aren’t you going to see Drake too?”
Intrigued by something he didn’t know, Mahushu asked Yayel what a drake was. Yayel, the smart wizard, pretended to flap his wings with his arms.
“There is a flying monster. It is very big and fierce.”
“Have you seen it?”
“Me? No, of course. How rare is the Drake? Very few people have seen it even on the continent. … And even if you saw it, it’s hard to survive. It is very strong and warlike.”
Then Gide stepped out.
“I heard that Drake is over there at the end of the eastern continent. Yay, you don’t even know that, huh?”
After a while, Gide boasted that he knew more than Yael. Naturally, Yayel objected.
“Drakes don’t live in one place. I was just passing by and saw it by chance. … And don’t pretend to be hit by any nonsense. He really believes that!”
Even after hearing this, Gide only laughed ironically. Yayel glanced at him once and turned his head away as if he was pathetic.
“Anyway, I want to see the face of that fucking fucking necromancer bastard. Huh. I just slap that bastard in the face, sir.”
The bald guy showed a strong fist and threw it into the air with a very determined attitude to throw away the jelly bowl.
“You’re just doing well, you bastard.”
Mafushu shot out a word. With that, the conversation was cut short.
Grace smoked a cigarette and looked at the dawning sky. The reddish light like the sunset was very beautiful.
Grendal slipped a hand on the shoulder of the woman sitting next to her. She turned her head and looked at her orc.
“Are you okay. It has improved a lot.”
It wasn’t empty talk, it was real. Seizures are rare now. Anxiety flares up from time to time, but not as severe as before. She was getting better.
“… Yes, a lot…”
… However, there was no guarantee what would happen once they entered the Monster Plains. She was afraid of it
At that time, she had no choice but to get some outside help. It was not easy for her to get through on her own without help.
Her gaze slipped over to the warrior. She hoped it wouldn’t come to the point of asking him for help.
Sincerely.
The carriage moved for two days. They arrive at the village that was most recently raided. It has already become a ghost town without a single person.
Skinny animals were seen everywhere. Orc Grendal must have been heartbroken to see that, and whenever he had time, he wandered around the animal cages and set them free. Seeing that, Gide clicked his tongue.
“Am I not misunderstanding the race of orcs? Right?”
Doesn’t every orc that comes in have a believer or a saint?
Kayak heard the sound and laughed. Gide pointed out that the four lizards were equally odd.
Anyway, they decided to stay there for a day and unpacked. Jihyeok suddenly remembered the past. At that time, Bella, the healer of the Elim team, came running to me because she was scared at night and slept with me.
He glanced at the three women. Still, it seemed that no woman would come running here because she was afraid of ghosts. Grace, who has been active in the warrior team for a long time, would of course be indifferent, the rational Yayel would not believe such nonsense, and the fearless beastman warrior would expect to see a real ghost once it was there.
… It wouldn’t hurt to have one woman that pure.
Sometimes when I’m bored, I have the taste of teasing… He smiled at the thought of Bella’s terrified expression.
Team members chose the room they wanted. Of course, there were not as many rooms as the number of people, so two or three people had to sleep together in one room. Jihyeok entered the master bedroom with the kayak.
Since the necromancer could appear at any time, Jihyeok and Kayak did not relax. I was sleeping for a while when suddenly someone knocked on the door. Kayak jumped up and opened the door. It was Yayel.
“Very, Captain, Grace is, that… !”
Jihyeok moved quickly. And when she went into the women’s room on the second floor, she saw Grace having a seizure. Mafu Shu was also surprised, as he was stuck in a corner of her and only rolled her eyes.
“You guys sleep in the bedroom. Ask Kayak for your understanding.”
“Yes.”
Yayel and Mahoushu left the room.
“Fuck, Seabaal, Ah, ahhhhh.”
Grace shuddered as she cursed. Jihyeok climbed onto her bed and held her in her arms.
“It’s okay, Grace. I’m with you. I’ll be by your side. Don’t worry, I’ll be by your side today.”
Jihyeok patted him so gently, like soothing a crying child after waking up from a nightmare.
It’s been quiet lately, but I never thought it would explode today. She had been through anxiety before, so she could understand her pain. The anxiety and trembling that overtook her as if she were about to die were not something she could easily overcome. Even more alone.
He calmed her down and slowly laid her down. She lay right next to him too.
“Sleep comfortably. Don’t worry. I’ll be by your side hmm. I will stay.”
He patted her arm with her hand. Her shortness of breath gradually calmed down.
Woo woo.
Jihyeok was a little worried that he might not have taken this issue too lightly. Clearly, her talent and experience were unmistakably genuine, but this insecurity was a problem. Although she said she was gradually getting better, as it was a mental problem, she was worried about whether or not she would be cured.
… Yeah, you have to suffer a bit. You can’t easily find a healer like this.
He was prepared to endure enough if it ended at this level. In any case, anxiety is a symptom that can be greatly improved if the cause is removed, so if revenge is successfully completed, there will be no worrisome situation.
Okay, let’s suffer just once. Just this one time.
Originally, in the early days of the guild’s establishment, it was a law that had to go through some hardships. And I had no idea that the 15th car would be a smooth road. It was almost laughable to think about it to the point of having a seizure. This fell far short of his expectations.
Yes, this much is easy, this much…
The patted hand slowly stopped. He too fell asleep slowly.
Ah.
As soon as Grace opened her eyes, she was surprised to see the captain’s face. My heart was pounding. She shuddered at what the situation was now. Then she remembered last night that she had a seizure.
It seems that the captain kept the seat next to me all night because of that. … Something warm came through.
Mmm.
The captain tried to open his eyes. Oh. She was startled and pretended to sleep with her eyes closed again.
“… Are you going to sleep better?”
The sound opened Grace’s eyes. The captain was laughing.
“Oh, no. I was trying to get up.”
“Yes, then.”
The two got out of bed. Grace felt strangely embarrassed and was about to die.
Ai-san, what is this really…
He barely held back the thick swear words that were about to come out of his snout.
Still, he was the son of a promising aristocratic family, so he pretended to be arrogant and noble, but to see him again. He’s been quiet for a while, but why did he fuck again yesterday?
I just forgot about it now. A whopping two years have passed. Her head understood that. But the heart doesn’t seem to.
“It’s because it’s hard to live here. So you must have had nightmares. I understand your feelings. It’s not easy to fix, I know.”
The captain soothed Grace with calm words.
“You can get better little by little. You are better than before.”
Jihyuk smiled kindly and patted her on the back. … Grace was not a child, but strangely, his touch felt so good. Warm and cozy
“Just remember this one thing.”
Grace slightly raised her lowered gaze and looked at the captain.
“That there are colleagues who always worry about you by your side.”
· · ·
The group left the village early in the morning. The carriage moved slowly and steadily, basking in the morning sun. Grace sucked on her pipe again and let out a long puff of smoke.
Especially sensitive to the evil magi, Yayel felt that she was getting closer to the necromancer. Mafushu, a half-blood of a wolf-beast, also kept furrowing his forehead and said he could smell the rotting corpse.
“I think we are getting closer.”
Kayak said that to Jihyeok. The captain also nodded.
“Looks like you were right. I’m glad I didn’t step in vain.”
“How are you going to deal with it?”
Lizardman asked Jihyeok’s thoughts. The eyes of the team members were focused on the captain. The hero grinned and glanced at his comrades with one glance.
“You don’t have to go round. There is a quick way.”
“A quick way?”
“Once you know the route, all you have to do is wait. Then he will come to you on his own.”
Ah.
Those who were quick-witted quickly grasped Jihyeok’s inner meaning. Yayel quickly said what he understood.
“You mean you’re aiming for the time to attack the village.”
“That’s right. He should come himself. They might run away if we chase them.”
Of course, it wasn’t that he couldn’t catch him by running away, but he had no choice but to waste more time. If so, it seemed much better to wait for him to approach on his own and make a surprise attack.
“Of course, I am not saying it will be easy. You guys probably have no experience dealing with ghouls. Another opponent is a necromancer who roams the continent openly. If you don’t have some confidence in your skills, you won’t be able to do something like that.”
Tension ran across their faces.
“Just like in the Devil’s Nest before, be tight. … This necromancer must have been contracted with the devil. So don’t be careless.”
“I see, chief.”
They camped overnight and reached the village early afternoon the next day. It was a village of about two hundred people. It seemed that they had heard the rumors, and it seemed that they hadtily formed vigilantes out of young men, but it was absurd to fight against a group of ghouls with people who had never held a spear.
Seeing the group of heroes that appeared at this moment of crisis, the village headman even bowed in congratulations.
All the villagers, regardless of gender or age, came out and looked at the warrior they were seeing for the first time like a mysterious animal.
“Chief, let’s talk for a minute.”
“Yes, it will be fine.”
The village chief prepared a separate, secret place. He was startled when he heard Ji-hyeok’s purpose for coming here.
“So, are you saying that a group of ghouls are coming to our village too?”
“Maybe. It will come today at the earliest, tomorrow at the latest.”
Ah-.
The village chief put his hand on his forehead with a bewildered expression on his face. It was a terrible story. Such a big thing is about to happen to a village that has been peaceful for decades.
“Then what should we do?”
“There is nothing to help. Just make sure we’re comfortable here. … And if a group of ghouls appear, tell the villagers to evacuate quickly.”
“Would you really like that?”
“Okay.”
The old village chief knelt down once again to express his gratitude and quickly went outside.
Jihyeok also went out of the village chief’s house. It seemed difficult to gather all of them in one building because there were so many of them. Even at the village chief’s house, there were seven members of his family.
So the team members matched up and spread out to several houses. Jihyeok took Grace and Grendal to the village chief’s house. Grace decided to share a room with Jihyeok in case of a seizure.
She knew the situation, but she seemed a bit ashamed to say that she only shared a room with a man. She was, of course, even though she pretended to be calm on the outside, she was a bit off the mark.
Jihyeok explained the details to the knight commander. He passed it on to his subordinates.
Once this is done, the preparations are complete. Now, as soon as the necromancer showed up with a group of ghouls, they were going to move as planned.
Today? Or tomorrow?
Jihyeok was vague about exactly when. But he was certain to come here. The vile murder that had already spread bleakly through the air was indispensable proof.
Coming, obviously.
… The hero was curious about the face of this damn necromancer.
