Chapter 46
Madam’s eyes, caught in Simon’s grasp, gradually narrowed.
[Dammit, be careful!]
Feer’s tense voice echoed in Simon’s head.
Simon focused all his attention on Madam’s leg, partially revealed beneath her dress. There was a dagger strapped to the band on her thigh.
But her hand didn’t reach for the dagger in the end. Madam closed her eyes tightly and opened her mouth.
“I apologize, but would you please let go of my arm?”
Simon belatedly realized he was gripping her wrist too tightly.
As Simon let go, Madam sat back down and brushed her disheveled hair behind her shoulders.
“Very well.”
She nodded.
“If you truly want the truth that badly, I have no choice. But the risk from sharing information must be borne entirely by you, dear customer. Is that acceptable?”
“Yes, of course.”
“Then please wait here for a moment.”
Madam stood up and walked into another room. The tense atmosphere eased, and Simon let out a soft sigh.
‘Feer. It was just a hunch, but it looks like there really is something here. If I’m lucky, maybe I can find Erzebet’s location…’
[Hehehehehe!]
Feer, sitting beside him, started shaking his shoulders with laughter.
[Hahahahahahahaha!]
Simon frowned and covered his ears. Of course, that didn’t make the voice in his head any quieter.
‘W-What’s with you all of a sudden?’
[I wasn’t sure before, but now I’m certain. Stay sharp, boy!]
Feer’s eyes gleamed inside the helmet.
[That woman is Erzebet!]
“...Whaaaat?!”
Simon blurted out in surprise without thinking, just as something began to shift within the Thieves’ Guild.
People who had been drinking or playing poker at their tables started to swell up with a series of cracking sounds.
[Kahahahaha! You’ve got guts, boy! Threatening an Ancient Undead right to her face! If I hadn’t been sending out killing intent next to you, your head would’ve been flying already!]
Chiiik!
Chiiiiiik!
The skin on people’s faces ripped apart, and spiders with dozens of eyes burst out from within.
Simon stumbled back in horror.
–Kireeereee!
–Kirik! Kireeereee!
A type of undead known as “Corpse Spiders”.
They were Erzebet’s minions. In an instant, Simon and Feer were surrounded by the spiders.
“That was quite the display of bravado, little one from Keyzen.”
Madam, who had gone into the back room, walked out again with the sound of heels clicking. She gracefully stepped onto the table and crossed her legs with seductive poise.
Placing her index finger on her forehead and pulling downward, her skin slid off like clothing, revealing grotesque crimson eyes.
[Kill them all.]
Her voice turned ominous.
At her signal, the Corpse Spiders lunged from all sides.
[Boy!]
Feer shouted. Simon quickly activated the subspace on his finger and summoned Feer’s greatsword.
Feer gripped the massive weapon with both hands as if it were nothing, stepped forward with his right foot, and swung horizontally.
Buaaaaaaaaang!
A massive arc tore through the air in a straight line, and every spider caught in its path was sliced clean in half like brittle twigs. Green blood sprayed into the air, soaking the floor and ceiling.
[Erzebet!]
Clang! Clang!
Feer’s roar echoed through the underground as if to tear it apart.
[Oh my, it really was you, Feer.]
Erzebet smiled, switching the leg she had crossed.
[What kind of vile scheme are you plotting in this backwater?! The Legion has returned! Stop this nonsense and return immediately!]
She smiled with her eyes and stretched out her arm.
[I refuse.]
Ku-kooom!
With a deafening crash, the ceiling shattered, and more Corpse Spiders dropped down on webs.
Simon quickly ducked while Feer swung the greatsword and sliced through them. Chunks of flesh and entrails splattered onto the floor.
[Feer, you really are foolish. Richard used us however he pleased and tossed us away like trash. Even after going through such a disgusting betrayal, you still cling to the Legion?]
[You fool!]
Feer shouted as he drove the greatsword through the body of a charging spider.
[Living among humans has rotted your mind! The Legion is ‘power’ and ‘will’! And you, a general of the Legion, let yourself be swayed by such petty emotions?!]
[And how could I not be swayed?]
Her crimson eyes burned with immense hatred.
[I loathe Richard to death, for falling for some mere woman and throwing comrades—who fought and lived alongside him for decades—into certain death.]
Corpse Spiders continued to pour in. This underground space was, in truth, a paradise for them.
[And also—]
Her gaze turned to Simon.
[Feer, you’re so pitiful. That first-year boy from Keyzen you met back then… Now you’ve replaced him with another obedient brat…]
Fwoooosh!
Suddenly, a brilliant white greatsword ripped through the air, aiming straight for Erzebet’s face. She hastily caught the blade with both palms.
THUUUUUUM!
The shockwave alone sent nearby objects flying and shattered all the glasses in the room.
[You've got a hell of a mouth on you.]
Feer opened his hand.
The hilt of the greatsword shimmered with Darkness, then snapped back into his palm at incredible speed.
Simon’s eyes gleamed as he witnessed it.
‘Skeleton’s Attraction!’
In one fluid motion, Feer twisted his waist and swung again. Another wave of slashing force surged forth like a tsunami, crashing into Erzebet.
KUGUGUGUGUGUGUGUGU!
She grimaced and caught the attack with both arms.
[Have you already forgotten the days you crawled like a dog at my feet?! How dare you rise against the Legion’s master!]
At that moment, blood-red Darkness gathered on Erzebet’s fingernails. The slash pressing her against the wall cracked and shattered like glass.
[You’ve grown weak, Feer. Your seal must have only recently been broken.]
She stepped on the rubble and ascended toward the surface.
[Are you running away?!]
Feer raised the greatsword and tried to pursue, but the Corpse Spiders blocked his path. His expression twisted in rage.
[These little pests!]
[See you next time, Feer. And—]
Erzebet, waving from above, locked eyes with Simon.
[Boy from Keyzen.]
Leaving only those words behind, she vanished with the waiting spiders above.
‘…So that’s what it was.’
The only remaining Thieves’ Guild in this fief was, in truth, Erzebet and her cohorts.
Controlling and distorting information would’ve been a piece of cake for them. No wonder the lord couldn’t solve the incidents no matter how much time or money he spent.
—Kriririririk!
That aside, even after Erzebet left, the spiders remained, grotesquely numerous. Feer was putting up a fight, but if this dragged on, they might lose their chance to pursue her.
“Haah, what a shame.”
“…!!”
Simon shuddered. A completely unexpected voice rang out, a third person.
He quickly turned his head and saw someone quietly rising to their feet just behind him.
“I was waiting for the moment when the two monsters would destroy each other.”
It was the woman in a robe who had been drinking alone in the Thieves’ Guild. The spiders spotted her and pounced.
“Aaah~ well, can’t be helped. Guess I’ll have to erase everyone here and chase after them.”
Flash!
A pure white flash burst from the tip of the staff she raised overhead. Recognizing the nature of the power, Simon couldn’t help but gasp.
—Kiiiiiiieeek!
—Screeee! Screee!
The spiders twisted in agony like vampires caught in sunlight. The white light at the tip of the staff grew ever brighter, enough to swallow the entire Thieves’ Guild.
‘Feer! Let’s escape while we can!’
[What?]
‘Hurry!’
The woman swung down the staff she had raised high.
“Goodbye, everyone!”
Fwaaaaaaaash!
A divine explosion erupted, reducing every undead spider in the blast zone to dust. The entire guild was engulfed in brilliant white light.
“Phew.”
The woman, having cast holy magic, casually rested the staff on her shoulder and glanced around.
“Looks like I lost the big skeleton and the boy. Oh well.”
She turned her head and leaped onto the pile of rubble in the direction Erzebet had fled.
* * *
[Kehahaha! A priest barging in now?! What a mess this is!]
Feer was running, Simon slung over his shoulder.
‘…A priest.’
Simon was deep in thought.
He had chosen the blue request form and ended up in a Dark Alliance country, but never expected to run into a priest here.
“She looked pretty skilled, didn’t she? Wiped out that whole swarm in one go.”
[I saw white clothes under her robe. That’s definitely the Efnelle college uniform.]
“…Ah!”
Not just any priest, she was a student from Efnelle, Keyzen’s polar opposite!
By Keyzen’s standards, it was as if she had taken on a black request form mission.
[If she’s come all the way to the Dark Alliance, she’s almost certainly a second-year. Be careful, boy! She’s still out of your league!]
“Yes, I’ll be careful.”
She seemed to be pursuing Erzebet too, just like Simon.
Which meant that the lord of Arnish had commissioned this mission to both Keyzen and Efnelle.
‘A dual commission. I’ll have to confront him about that later. But for now…’
This is getting way too big for a blue request form.
An Ancient Undead hostile to the Legion, and now even a student from Efnelle.
How should he unravel this tangled mess?
“Feer.”
[What is it?]
“Tell me more about Erzebet.”
[I already told you everything on the way here.]
“No, not her abilities or physical specs, more personal stuff.”
Simon swallowed dryly.
“What happened between my father and Erzebet?”
Feer let out a dry laugh.
[Keh… What happened, he says. Dammit.]
“Pardon?”
[…Fine, I’ll tell you. Erzebet was in love with Richard.]
Simon’s mouth dropped open.
[An undead in love with a human. And not just any human, she was a Legion member, harboring personal feelings for the Legion Commander.]
Feer looked visibly displeased as he spoke.
[From the very start of joining the Legion, she was different. Emotional in ways no undead should be, and far too swayed by those emotions.]
Feer began recounting story after story involving Erzebet.
Erzebet’s love. Her obsession with Richard. And even her jealousy toward Anna.
Simon closed his eyes, lost in thought.
[We’re here, boy!]
Feer had brought him to a forest near the Arnish Fiefdom. Simon looked around the thick coniferous woods.
“There’s nothing here.”
[Step back!]
Feer swung his greatsword, cleaving the air. The space itself split open like torn fabric, revealing a decrepit old fortress covered in cobwebs.
[Keh-heh! This is their base.]
“Let’s go.”
Simon and Feer opened the door and entered the ruined castle.
‘Ah…!’
And the moment they stepped inside, an incredibly graphic scene unfolded before them.
Superb.