Ch.118118. Festival (5)

I quickly thrust my foot forward and pierced the heart of the hesitating cultist.

“Kuhak…!”

She collapsed with her eyes wide open.

Even a Sword Master loses their life when their neck is cut or heart is gouged out.

This one was no different.

After dealing with her, I quickly retrieved my sword to make a hasty retreat.

Unfortunately, the remaining cultist raised her sword and shouted with a booming voice.

“You bastard!”

She charged at me with a simple movement.

The movements of someone who had never received professional training. Her only remarkable quality was the courage to rush at someone who had just killed three of her comrades in an instant.

And regrettably, mere courage couldn’t overcome the vast gap between us.

Slash!

I dodged her clumsy thrust and counterattacked.

The sensation of cutting through flesh filled my hand. The deep wound would soon take her life.

The problem wasn’t the woman whose fate was already sealed.

“They’ve witnessed our grand plan! Hurry and catch them!”

“Four of our family were killed in an instant! Be careful of that one with the sword!”

That loud voice drew the attention of those who had been quietly examining the magic circle in front of the wall.

They all rushed toward us, wrapped in murderous intent. As expected of demon-worshipping cultists. Their eyes flickered with an eerie demonic energy.

“Lady Sione, please come this way.”

I was her escort after all. While being near Lavi was fine, having her by my side was most reassuring. I guided Sione, who was relatively close to the front, to my side.

Mages from other teams joined us through the escape route I had secured. As our numbers suddenly increased, the cultists’ movements became sluggish. The unexpected reinforcements seemed to intimidate them.

If we were going to escape, now was the optimal time.

“How about we retreat now? Obtaining this much information is already a sufficient achievement.”

“…If possible, I think it would be better to eliminate them here and capture some. With the Allenar Marquis’s mages with us, it shouldn’t be difficult. Could you help us a bit more, Sir Lavi Cournel?”

“I can certainly subdue such incompetent opponents. Moreover… that magic circle should be examined immediately. What I glimpse there is concerning.”

“…Then I’ll leave it to you.”

“I’ll finish this quickly. Please watch comfortably from behind.”

The subsequent battle was cleanly resolved by four mages led by Lavi.

They were mages specialized in warfare. Not only were they skilled at bombarding from the rear with magic, but they were also capable in close combat. They responded appropriately with just the right level of magic.

As a result, these cultists who had gained nothing but pitiful Magia through their fanatical worship of demons, without even becoming Demonkin, fell helplessly.

Only two cultists survived. They were completely subdued and lay unconscious on the cold ground.

Sione, who had been quietly watching the battle beside me, slowly walked forward and spoke.

“We’ve secured some for interrogation, and now only the magic circle carved on the wall remains.”

Sione’s gaze turned toward the wall.

The circular magic circle was filled with geometric patterns. The intricately intertwined lines clearly indicated this was no ordinary magic.

“I’ll examine it.”

Lavi Cournel was the first to check the magic circle. The other mages who had finished cleaning up after the battle followed behind her.

After some time had passed.

Lavi approached us with a hardened expression.

“…I’ve completed tracing the formula.”

“Can you tell us about it?”

“Yes, of course. The formula is—”

Lavi’s voice grew cold.

“Vibration, explosion, and maximization. It seems they were trying to collapse the Count’s walls.”

“Collapse the Count’s walls……”

Whoosh…

The winter wind swept through her hood, revealing Sione’s face.

Her expression had grown cold. There was no trace of the noblewoman who had been laughing at small jokes and enjoying the festival until just a while ago.

It was understandable.

They had tried to blow up her family’s walls. And not just any group, but cultists who were all equally insane.

It was natural to worry about what sinister plots might be behind this.

Sione approached the wall and placed her hand over the magic circle.

“Sir, can you dismantle this magic circle?”

A voice filled with cold anger.

Lavi Cournel simply nodded silently in response to Sione’s request.

After the mages finished their work, all that remained for us was to return to the Count’s mansion.

* * *

“Hmm…”

Upon returning to the mansion, Sione handed over the prisoners to the soldiers, changed her clothes, and went to see Ainel.

Following her order to wait for a while, I was alone in her room, reflecting on today’s events.

Those damn demon worshippers appeared at none other than the Sianella County. Not only that, but they were plotting to destroy the County’s high walls. Coincidentally, the territory had recently been ravaged by orcs descending from the Beltrin Mountains.

Suspicious, very suspicious.

Knowing that this world’s politics are manipulated by demons makes the cultists’ malicious acts and the monsters’ rampages during emergencies all the more disturbing.

“…This is maddening.”

It’s certain that demons will eventually tear through dimensions and rampage, but these signs suggest that day isn’t far off, screaming at us.

Even so, in my current state, unless I fight alongside Siabel and Sione, I can only access pathetically weak abilities.

What would happen if demons really crawled out and tore through the County in this situation?

A quiet irritation makes me furrow my brow.

As I was deep in thought, a woman trudged into the quiet room.

“Haah…”

Sione returned to the room with an empty sigh.

That deep breath, filled with all kinds of negative emotions, allowed even the listener to feel what she was experiencing.

“Did you wait long?”

Sione smiled weakly.

She collapsed into the seat in front of me.

After looking at me for a moment, she removed the hairpin that had been stuck in her bangs, the one she had bought today.

Looking at the small ornament in her hand, she clenched her fist.

“I was really looking forward to the festival…”

Unlike when we first went out to the main street of the territory with her shoulders held high, she was now slumped and shrunken.

“…I’m sorry.”

I stared at her intently.

For some reason, she couldn’t easily meet my eyes.

I began with a small sigh.

“Don’t do such reckless, dangerous things from now on.”

“Huh…?”

“I told you before. Sione is more important to me than Sianella.”

“Ugh…”

“I’ll let it go since the outcome wasn’t bad, but you went to an unstable slum area and even engaged in combat. This is the last time. Understand?”

Sione nodded slightly.

For a while after that, I continued my nagging.

Sione’s spirit was completely deflated. Having lectured her so thoroughly, I’m sure she won’t act so recklessly next time.

After finishing my lecture, I simply patted her head, which was bowed so low I could see her crown.

Sione slightly raised her head to gauge my reaction.

“Are you done being angry…?”

Now that I look at it, she seems to have zoned out after listening to some of my nagging, just waiting for me to finish.

Annoyed by her attitude, I pinched her cheek.

“Wuet!”

* * *

Ainel Sianella was deep in thought.

After Sione visited her office, she called in Lavi Cournel and her colleagues for a discussion, resulting in some troubling information.

While waiting for the interrogation results of the cultists currently in the mansion’s dungeon, she was contemplating how to handle this situation.

It was then.

“The reconnaissance team from the Beltrin Mountains has returned!”

Finally, the long-awaited news arrived at the County.

These were the people sent to check on the ominous stirrings in the mountains and confirm the safety of the previously dispatched reconnaissance team.

They had been gone for so long, returning only after the territory’s biggest festival had begun.

“Bring the returnee here.”

She waited with anticipation for the news they would bring.

But soon that anticipation was shattered.

The person who entered the office was in a miserable state.

Their entire body was covered in blood. For some reason, their left eye socket was empty where an eyeball should have been.

They knelt on trembling legs, almost collapsing.

“Sianella County Ranger, Tiya…! Reporting to the head of the family!”

The ranger’s voice resembled rusty metal.

“Out of thirty rangers and soldiers from the County! Survivors… just one…!”

“Out of fifteen combat priests and regular priests from the Papal State! Also just one survivor…!”

“Out of a total of forty-five, only two including myself managed to return alive!”

These were carefully selected elites. Not the kind to die easily.

Moreover, the church had supported this dispatch not only with regular priests but also combat priests. These individuals, tougher than ordinary soldiers and showing more daring and excellent combat abilities, had all died except for one?

It was hard to understand. No, what happened was beyond imagination.

“…What happened in the mountains?”

“……”

Tiya couldn’t answer readily.

She stared into the past with her empty eye socket.

Gulp.

Finally swallowing, she spoke.

“The mountains have been occupied by the enemy. The high mountains will no longer serve as our shield.”

“Explain in more detail.”

“We engaged in unavoidable combat with dozens of Demonkin in the mountains. We were gradually pushed deeper into the mountains, into a corner. Eventually, all surviving members of the search and reconnaissance teams could see it.”

Crack!

The fountain pen in Ainel’s hand broke.

“Demonkin…”

What kind of place was this becoming?

How could those who worship cunning and evil demons gain a foothold here?

Tiya continued speaking quietly despite Ainel’s reaction.

“Through some demonic art, countless monsters from the demon realm have gathered in the mountains. In the worst case scenario, they could invade the territory.”

The Beltrin Mountains.

When Siabel and Sione went there to eliminate threats in the past, they discovered and destroyed an altar of demon worshippers.

Since then, knights and soldiers had been regularly dispatched to monitor the situation. How could these demon minions have planned such a thing?

…The only time attention wasn’t on the mountains was when they went to the capital for the princess’s coming-of-age ceremony.

After returning to the County, there were almost no reports about the mountains. For a while, no unusual signs were found there. When Siabel was governing the territory in her place, dealing with monsters invading and causing problems in the territory took priority over the mountains.

…I should have given clear instructions about the mountains too. That was a mistake.

While thinking this, the ranger’s voice carried chilling words.

“I suggest you prepare for war.”

An invisible pressure began to emanate from Ainel Sianella. Her eyes burned blue.

“Did you just say war?”

“…Yes. They were slowly moving out of the mountains toward our territory, our homeland. Unless they change course—”

The ranger bowed her head deeply.

“They will come here.”

Ainel closed her eyes.

That magic circle the vile cultists had carved on the wall. It was said to be magic solely for destroying the walls.

How coincidental. Doesn’t it all fit together perfectly?

This was the worst news.

Just as Diolia had said.

The calm before the storm. No phrase could better describe the current situation.

Ainel quietly pushed aside the broken fountain pen and took out a new pen and paper, writing swiftly. After placing the final period, she stamped it with the seal permitted only to the head of the County and placed the paper in an expensive envelope.

“Deliver this letter to the church.”

“Yes, I will deliver it urgently.”

The maid respectfully received the letter from Ainel and hurried out.

Drrrk.

Ainel also rose to follow her.

It was then that the ranger, who had been keeping her head bowed, spoke again.

“There is one thing I would like to request.”

“What would that be?”

“…My close friend is not far from here. If I could at least recover her body—”

“…I’ll assign two soldiers to you. Recover it quickly.”

“Thank you…!”

With those words, the ranger left the office.

Ainel put on a thick coat and looked out the window.

Unlike the shadowy room, the weather outside was remarkably clear.

She was looking at the world with colder eyes than ever before.

“First… I need to eliminate all the vermin within the territory.”

If the ranger’s words were true, war was inevitable.

The path connecting the demon realm and the kingdom was precisely at this point. The County was the only thing standing in the way. Where else would they go if not here?

The signs of war discovered too late.

All she could do was complete all possible preparations, even if it meant picking up a sword instead of a pen.