Ch.130All’s Well That Ends Well

The mountain of rock collapses.

The massive boulder that had stood firmly in place for over a thousand years trembled, letting out a death cry like thunder.

Broken and detached chunks of rock rained down like meteors, lashing the forest.

Dust rose thickly like smoke, and trees with broken trunks fell sideways with tearing screams.

“My, my goodness…!”

“Elpinel save us…”

The soldiers guarding the forest watched the landslide that had engulfed the woods with shock and terror.

It was like witnessing a dragon from legend on a rampage.

Some fell, unable to withstand the shaking earth. Others stood with mouths agape, at a loss for words.

Some soldiers knelt, seeking their god.

In their minds emptied by witnessing such a natural disaster, there was no room to worry about the welfare of the knights dispatched to that area.

The horses tied at one corner of the camp went wild, striking the fence with their hooves.

Had they not been tightly bound with ropes, they would have fled long ago.

Just like those deer rushing out of the forest.

Some unfortunate deer were humbly bowing their heads, their limbs trembling.

One would be hard-pressed to find more polite animals anywhere in the world.

Their flattened heads buried in the ground would never raise again.

—-

In the forest where disaster struck.

Three shadows raced like angry winds through the yellow fog.

Two of the trajectories were chaotic and messy.

Viewed from above, they would look like scribbles drawn by a child.

They dodged falling rocks with sharp turns, slid under slanting fallen tree trunks.

Frider and Demian ran desperately, jumping over and climbing across obstacles embedded in the ground.

In contrast, the other trajectory drew a clean straight line.

That is, my trajectory.

When rocks fell from above, I instantly increased my speed to pass through.

When tree trunks blocked the way, I struck through them and moved forward.

I kicked away all obstacles embedded in the ground.

“Kyaaaak!”

Millia, riding on my back, occasionally screamed.

The high pitch near my ears was painful, but I couldn’t entrust her to the others.

I was the fastest, and they seemed busy enough just taking care of themselves.

“You! When we get! Out of here! I’m definitely! Going to send you-hiyak!-send you to the infirmary! Got it?!”

Frider shouted loud enough to make the forest echo.

His mouth doesn’t seem very busy. Even though he almost fell while speaking.

“You’ll even cover my medical expenses-? That’s so like you, senior! I’ll definitely take you up on that!”

“Gyaaaaaaak!!”

Frider let out a beast-like howl.

If I teased him any more, his saw might come flying my way.

I closed my mouth and ran diligently.

“How much further?! I’m starting to lose my breath…!”

Seeming to reach his limit, Demian shouted with a desperate expression, constantly panting.

Sweat streamed down his forehead, and his eyes, distorted with urgency, shook like waves.

“Don’t talk, just run! Just a little further!”

Hearing my answer, Demian gritted his teeth and moved his feet.

It was fortunate that his greatsword had been shattered.

With his body already encased in plate armor, if he had been running while carrying such a piece of metal, he would have collapsed from exhaustion long ago.

—-

After running for about twenty minutes, we finally arrived at the camp.

It took some time because we had to keep changing our route.

I also ran alongside Demian and Frider, worried they might collapse.

Fortunately, the effects of the collapse didn’t seem to have reached the camp.

“Haa…haa…. I thought I was going to die here…!”

“Me too….”

Upon reaching the camp, the two collapsed and exhaled rough breaths.

They didn’t even notice the soldiers around us watching with terrified expressions.

Millia, who had been riding on my back, seemed mentally exhausted as well, hanging limply against my back.

Everyone’s lost it. Who’s going to report the results now?

…Just me? Well, I guess I have no choice then.

I carefully set Millia down on a tree stump and approached the soldiers.

“M-monster! A monster from the dungeon!”

Some terrified soldiers pointed their weapons at me.

The trembling spear tips were aimed at me.

It wasn’t particularly threatening, rather it was almost amusing.

“What are you doing, you idiots! Look at the armor! It’s the knight who came for the subjugation mission!”

The veteran soldiers who still had their wits about them blocked those soldiers.

Fortunately, there were still some people capable of conversation.

“Imperial Knight of Remnant Academy, Frider and three others. We’ve completed the subjugation mission at the Carmine Dungeon and returned. Are you in charge here? The other three are exhausted, so I’d like to request some follow-up measures.”

I approached the soldier who appeared to be the highest-ranking, speaking as I moved.

He wore a blue epaulette on his left shoulder and had a sword at his waist.

The soldier, who had momentarily flinched, quickly saluted with discipline.

“Honor to the knight! Squad Leader Max at your service. Please state your requests, and I will take immediate action!”

Max? Sounds like a name for someone who would start a labor revolution.

If he had a beard, I might have had to arrest him.

“Good. We need to report the results and return to the capital, so please prepare our carriage and a week’s worth of food. Also, bring a healing priest.”

“Yes!”

Max nodded and gave various instructions to the other soldiers.

I leaned against the still-vibrating fence, lit a cigarette, and watched the rocky mountain shaking itself.

It was a spectacular sight from a distance. Though it had been a disaster when we were in the middle of it.

“Excuse me, Sir Knight. If it’s alright, may I ask a few questions?”

Max cautiously approached me.

“Questions? If you’re curious, go ahead and ask.”

“Thank you. My first question is, did you eliminate all the monsters in the dungeon?”

I wonder. They might still be alive?

It would be best if they died, but… being undead, that’s unlikely.

“I don’t know. Aren’t they buried somewhere down there?”

I pointed at the still-rumbling rocky mountain with my cigarette.

Seeing how violently it collapsed, I wonder if the inside was completely flattened without a single empty space?

I hope so.

Max looked at the rocky mountain with a terrified expression.

“Was that really done by you knights? My goodness, I thought a dragon had appeared.”

“You have quite an imagination. I heard dragons all died out long, long ago.”

Yes. Dragons are just legends; there’s not a single one in this world.

Not now.

“That’s what I learned too… but the Dragonborn of Jin say dragons are merely in a long sleep.”

“That’s just their faith or something. Anyway, we didn’t cause the landslide.”

That’s not a lie.

It wasn’t “we” who did it, but me.

I didn’t particularly want to reveal the exact truth.

It would be awkward to be accused of deliberately destroying ruins as a Ka’har.

Everyone would be curious about what I saw inside that made me do such a thing.

That would be troublesome. I deliberately destroyed it, after all.

“Then how did…?”

“Well… let’s say it was the aftermath of battle. The fight with the monsters was quite intense. We destroyed various parts of the dungeon during the battle, and eventually, it ended up like that. So we just got out of there.”

“…Were there such powerful monsters?”

Cold sweat ran down Max’s forehead.

Understandable. If such monsters had escaped the dungeon, they would have been the first to be slaughtered.

“Yes. The dark mana inside the dungeon was so thick it was hard to breathe, and master-level monsters appeared. They probably died since they couldn’t escape from there… but just to be safe, I plan to request this area be designated as forbidden when we return.”

“Master-level…!”

Max muttered blankly with wide eyes.

The conversation with Max ended there as the soldiers brought a healing priest.

A young man. He wore the holy symbol of Saulite around his neck, a regular priest.

Seeing my injuries, he rushed over and manifested a healing miracle.

“How is it? Will it heal soon?”

“Yes. Fortunately, for injuries from monster battles, there’s almost no dark mana infiltration. Did you drink holy water like regular water?”

The priest nodded. That was good news.

By the way, are wounds infiltrated by dark mana difficult to heal?

Is that why I occasionally see disabled people or those covered in scars?

In a world where healing arts seem closer to the future than modern times, I wondered why there were still disabled people.

“It’s not that, probably thanks to my mana resistance.”

“Ah, you’ve been blessed with anti-magic! That’s amazing! …But why is your expression…”

The last mutter was in such a small voice.

Even I could barely hear it.

What’s wrong with my expression, my good man?

Even with divine blessing, one can still look a bit intimidating.

Wouldn’t Carlos the Great, whom you all praise so much, have looked terribly fierce in the eyes of other races?

—-

While the priest who healed my wounds was checking the condition of the other three, the soldiers returned with the carriage.

They seemed to have struggled as the horses were quite excited.

But finally, we can go back.

I boarded the carriage with my companions.

Demian, who had lost his weapon, was temporarily supplied with a soldier’s greatsword.

It was a simple steel greatsword, and being a soldier’s weapon, it wasn’t very large… but better than nothing, I suppose.