Chapter 426

Chapter 426

For Sale. Fallen Lady. Never Used.

Episode 426: The Letter (2)

“It’s wide.”

I nodded, looking at the nameless eastern plains we arrived at shortly after leaving the Yareunshade Territory.

If the north has many mountains and rich minerals, the south has large forests and diverse vegetation.

And the east and west have vast plains… While the west has been mostly developed by the Levantin Empire, already being used for farming or other purposes.

The east, on the other hand, has the Crasius Kingdom, which is more interested in combat than farming, and other smaller nations are also less developed compared to the Empire, so there’s still a lot of neglected land.

The place we arrived at is one such plain. Not anymore, though.

It’s still very much a plain, but since the front line is conveniently nearby, we’re using it as a temporary teleportation square.

By the way, the outpost itself is a teleportation-forbidden zone, so you can’t go there directly.

Well, you could if you wanted to. Most problems can be solved by pouring in magic.

But there’s no reason to tear through the spatial interference magic field they went to the trouble of installing. And no reason to cause unnecessary conflict.

More than anything, it’s not a big deal since it’s a quick flight anyway.

It was when I nodded inwardly and was about to cast a simple flight spell on my companions.

“Hmph!”

Iris raised her magic, resisting my spell.

“…Are you still sulking?”

“What are you talking about? I’m not sulking. I just feel like being carried by Master for a bit.”

“You are sulking…”

I sighed deeply, recalling what had just happened.

Now that I could use teleportation too, I thought it might be faster if Iona and I alternated, so I tried it out.

And it really was. If you just knew the spatial coordinates, the system correction would cast it automatically.

So, by saving Iona’s mana recovery time and calculation time for the formulas, we could arrive faster than usual…

Perhaps feeling left out, Iris insisted on trying it herself.

Of course, Iris had also reached the pinnacle of high-level magicians, so she could cast teleportation on her own.

The problem was that it’s a very difficult spell, so Iris’s teleportation was inevitably slow since she wasn’t as accustomed to it as Iona, nor did she receive system correction like me.

So, we decided that Iona and I would continue to take turns… and that must have been why she was sulking.

I chuckled at Iris, who was turning her head away, avoiding my gaze, but still flailing her hands forward as if to say, “Hug me quickly.”

“Alright. Come here.”

“Ahem. Since Master is so repentant, I, being magnanimous, shall forgive you.”

“Magnanimous? Your heart?”

“Kwaaaak!”

As I tilted my head, looking at Iris’s heart, as vast as the plains before me, she let out a threatening sound like a platypus whose tail had been stepped on and climbed onto my back.

“So you’re getting on, after all…”

“That’s one thing, and this is another.”

Carrying Iris on my back, who answered in a resolute tone, I began to fly towards the outpost visible in the distance.

How long did we fly? Perhaps in revenge for earlier, Iris pressed her “plains” (it hurt a little where her ribs touched) firmly against the back of my head and spoke.

“By the way, Master.”

“Hmm?”

“What was in that letter that made you depart so hastily?”

“Ah, I gave you a rough explanation but didn’t tell you the details, did I?”

The content, if you just looked at it, was something I’d received many times lately.

It was usually a message asking for help to definitively finish things, saying they had roughly driven out the Evil God’s forces, or were ready to.

Well, most of them were just people who mistakenly thought they were winning or wanted to call me to gain some credit.

“But if Tarla said it, it’s a different story.”

“Because she was the Evil God’s Saintess, she wouldn’t speak carelessly about anything concerning the Evil God, would she?”

“That, and as you can see with Carla, by nature, she’s not the type to just say anything to attract attention, is she?”

Though twisted in many ways, she is fundamentally the same person as Carla, so it’s natural.

However, Iris still grumbled, as if she wasn’t pleased.

“I still feel uneasy. Is there no possibility of it being a trap?”

“Why bother? If they intended to kill us, there were much better opportunities, weren’t there? And whatever happened, she definitely seemed more sane.”

“Hmm. If you put it that way, then yes, but…”

Iris pouted, as if unconvinced. It was then that I gently patted her bottom to soothe her.

Carla, who had approached right beside us without me noticing, asked with a serious expression.

“Master. More than that, I’m curious what was in the letter that made Jarl Rohan say, ‘Even this was sent.’”

“What?”

“Can you show it to me?”

“It’s not that I can’t…”

I was just a little surprised that Carla was so fired up.

Surely she wasn’t suddenly obsessed with hunting cultists like Helena or Solaris now, so it was probably a form of jealousy towards Tarla.

“…Just know that nothing really happened, and read it.”

“Yes!”

As I took the letter out of my inventory, Carla’s eyes lit up as she began to read, as if she wouldn’t miss a single word.

And not long after, she shrieked and stomped her feet in mid-air.

“What is this woman?! Why is she suddenly acting so familiar with Master?!”

“Is she? I thought it was a rather formal, aristocratic letter.”

“There are different kinds of aristocratic expressions. This one includes many expressions used between intimate acquaintances!”

“Oh.”

I didn’t know that.

Not quite “Hey bro!” but perhaps like adding “Dear” at the beginning?

“Didn’t she clearly try to kill Master at first?! It doesn’t seem like that now, but… just how shameless do you have to be to send a letter that assumes Master will help no matter what?!”

“Because I know that if I were an Evil God, I’d want to kill him first?”

“Are you taking that woman’s side now, Master…?”

“No, why would I?”

“But look at this! She’s acting like there’s something only the two of you know! The delusion that only she understands Master! The letter is full of that! Anyone would think like me!”

Silently, I took the letter from Carla and handed it to Elisha.

Elisha read it quickly, shrugged, and handed the letter back.

“It doesn’t seem to warrant such a fuss, but… I understand Carla’s point. Though it’s not explicitly mentioned, a feeling of trust in you comes through in various parts of the letter. Jarl Rohan was probably surprised by this part too, since dwarves are a race sensitive to loyalty.”

“Even Elisha says so, so it seems that way…”

After tilting my head a few times, I finally put the letter into my inventory.

“Well, I can ask about that when I meet her in person later. We’re almost there, aren’t we?”

“…Indeed.”

Carla nodded and looked straight ahead.

That is the front line where various forces from the east, primarily Crasius, are stationed, preventing the expansion of the Serpentine Leisure.

…And it’s also the place where we’ll form a temporary alliance with Tarla, who has become even stronger by absorbing the Evil God’s power.

—————

The black ramparts surrounding the outpost were not as grand as those seen in the Yareunshade Territory, but they looked considerably sturdy. They were probably actually built by dwarves.

It’s no coincidence that news of Tarla reached the Nidavellir Royal Family. Someone among the artisans stationed there for the rampart’s maintenance must have reported it.

However, dwarves are merely contractors. The true owners were elsewhere; the beast-warriors of Crasius are such.

…And I have a past grievance with Crasius.

“Hmm. A young master who wants to play mercenary, perhaps. We said we’d accept anyone with proper identification, but let me make one thing clear first. This is a place directly led by the Crown Prince of the Great Crasius. It’s not a front line for cowards.”

“What?”

“If you tuck tail and run during a fight, summary execution is possible, so think carefully before presenting your identification card. It’s annoying to even clean up a rookie’s corpse.”

“……”

Thanks to magic, the civilization level of this world has developed quite a bit, but it’s not an era where everyone can watch videos or see photos.

In other words, it’s entirely possible that they wouldn’t know who I was just by looking at my face.

This is also why not just anyone can be a noble gatekeeper. They have to thoroughly memorize the emblems of each family and the faces of important figures.

I didn’t expect that much from a soldier working rotating shifts.

But it’s a different story when I’m treated as a coward by those Crasius bastards who ran away when they should have fought, despite me having helped them out.

Thinking what of me, who just stood there agape in disbelief, the fellow sighed deeply.

“Ah, right, right. You must have a reason to gain merit. But that’s your problem. To us, it’s just a hindrance…”

“Hey.”

The snake beast-man with vertical pupils squinted at my rude tone. But before he could open his mouth, I landed a punch first.

Pwoosh!

The fellow spun several times in the air and tumbled to the ground. He wouldn’t die, but he wouldn’t be able to get up again for a while.

How could an ordinary warrior handle a body boasting specs equivalent to or higher than most knights?

However, gatekeeping is normally a job for at least two people working as a pair. This is so that when one person is incapacitated, the other can report the attack.

“I-Invader! An invader has broken in! Cough!”

I waited until the other gatekeeper finished screaming before quietly silencing him.

Noisy sounds could be heard from all directions, and soon after, armed soldiers came rushing in.

Most were beast-warriors, but about 20% were of other races. Mercenaries were the most numerous, but priests from the Church of Righteous Radiance and knights from smaller nations were also mixed in appropriately.

Perhaps because it was a military facility, they instantly formed a battle-ready stance, and Iona chuckled, asking,

“Hey, hey. You thought about what to do next before doing that, Student Yandel?”

“Of course. It’s one thing for others, but hitting even Solaris’s followers is a bit much, isn’t it?”

I shrugged and took a deep breath. Then, expelling the air filling my lungs in one go, I cast Fear.

“[Do you know who I am?! Tell the Crown Prince to come out!!]”

For some reason, Iona burst into laughter.