Ch.191Rur (3)

The beginning of all events erupted just as we were finishing our business in Lur and preparing to leave.

“Have you packed everything?”

“Ah, yes!”

“Yes! I’ve packed everything… sir!”

Hannah was simply beaming with happiness, enjoying the new environment and the attentive service of the servants, while Gretel, timid and hesitant as always, seemed not to mind the situation too much.

In addition to the Wolfblood sisters who appeared to have been merely enjoying themselves, the rest of our party was gradually packing their belongings. The others had loaded their purchases from the big city onto two cargo wagons, stacking them neatly.

And as our group was preparing to depart and packing up, someone came looking for me specifically… and with great urgency.

“Lord Alzar?!”

“Ah, Deputy Lord? Why so suddenly…”

For such an esteemed person as the Deputy Lord to rush to me like this, it was highly likely that some incident had occurred.

No matter how I thought about it, I couldn’t imagine any positive scenario. I listened tensely, and indeed, the news the Deputy Lord delivered spoke of an extremely dangerous reality.

“…It’s terrible! Undead have suddenly appeared in massive numbers in the territory, in Baron Lur’s domain!”

“Undead?”

With the mysteries of life weakening in winter, making it the season of undead and corpses, the appearance or mass emergence of undead itself happens occasionally.

Especially when several unfortunate events coincide, unintentional large-scale undead gatherings occur almost as an annual event.

However, from what the Deputy Lord was saying, this incident seemed far from ordinary.

According to reports from the cavalry unit stationed near Yester, the undead that had appeared weren’t simply a horde of thousands.

“An undead army… you say?”

“Yes! Several mid-tier undead have been sighted!”

Surprisingly, according to the cavalry unit’s report, these undead formed an actual army, and moreover, they were led by mid-tier undead.

To make matters worse, they had appeared from the direction of the main road leading out of the city, completely blocking the exit route from Yester.

The appearance of an undead “army” is certainly different in its very nature from the emergence of a typical undead group—an undead horde.

In normal circumstances, an undead horde is simply a “group” of randomly generated undead that somehow clustered together and wander aimlessly.

The individual undead within such groups vary greatly, and as the group grows larger, so does its danger level. However, since they’re ultimately just a loose collection, the situation changes when a professional combat unit like an army confronts them.

Dozens to hundreds of different types of undead that don’t coordinate with each other, recklessly advancing in a disorderly manner—no matter how strong they might be individually, they’re not particularly formidable against an army’s bullets.

An undead “army,” on the other hand, is a different story.

They’re completely and uniformly controlled by someone who could be called a commander, with each undead positioned according to its role and specialty, capable of coordinating with others.

Literally, they can fully utilize the advantages of being an “army,” and particularly, an army composed of undead offers incredibly powerful benefits beyond imagination.

Lower-tier undead are entities with extremely limited autonomy. Those under control never move without orders from above, and if ordered to die, they execute the command without the slightest hesitation.

While this characteristic means you can never expect organic responses from individual undead, their absolute obedience to orders and willingness to follow any command becomes a tremendous advantage for an army.

In other words, the mid-tier-led undead army blocking our territory is more dangerous than one might imagine.

“…I suppose we can’t just leave.”

“Are you certain, sir?”

In such a desperate situation, I couldn’t simply ignore it and depart. I firmly declared my intention, determined not to tarnish the name of “Alzar.”

While we could certainly find detours around the blocked exit from the territory, even if that were possible, how could the lord’s son and future ruler simply leave in this situation?

This, after all, is the duty that a knight must uphold.

※ ※ ※

Thus, after I announced to my companions that my stay would be unexpectedly extended…

Representatives of all armed groups within the city gathered at the city hall, once the palace of a tyrant, to discuss the situation.

The Deputy Lord, who exercised actual sovereignty; myself, the future heir to the territory with undeniable authority; the supreme commander of the territorial army stationed in Yester; and the branch head of the Alzar Knights Order of Baron Lur’s domain.

While these were the figures directly associated with the city’s government, the following were either affiliated with external forces or closer to being independent.

The bishop of the Debona Temple, representing the Pantheon; the branch head of the Adventurers’ Guild in Yester; the head of the Yester Mercenary Association; and several mid-tier mercenary captains.

In practical terms, there were nine mid-tier individuals gathered here. By this world’s standards, this represented a force equivalent to 9,000 soldiers, and the number of mid-tier individuals could potentially increase…

“…How many confirmed mid-tier undead are there?”

“At minimum, more than nineteen, Lord Alzar.”

The problem was that the enemy force—the undead army—identified by the territorial cavalry far exceeded conventional levels.

Mid-tier undead, presumably undead knights, numbered at least 10. The commander was suspected to be an intelligent entity among the mid-tier undead, and they were clearly targeting this territory as their enemy.

Of course, if the enemy forces were limited to just this, the Knights Order and I might be able to defeat them all…

But this undead army had thousands of soldiers under its command.

About 3,000 undead “soldiers” with clearly distinguished roles and specialties, who could be considered the main force of the undead army.

And approximately 2,000 undead horde members who, unlike the undead soldiers, were mixed indiscriminately without proper control, but could be used as expendable assets.

A force of 5,000 combatants, even if they were lower-tier undead, represented a substantial threat by sheer numbers alone.

Even if they were all skeletons that even ordinary people could defeat, the danger level would be extremely high, and it was clear that there would be considerable forces mixed among the lower-tier undead.

On our side… honestly, apart from the number of mid-tier individuals, it would be difficult to claim a clear advantage.

The territorial army consisted of 700 infantry, 200 cavalry, and 100 artillery, totaling 1,000 troops.

The Knights Order’s direct “retainers” numbered just over 200, and if we were to conscript from the territory, we could add another 2,000.

A total of 2,200. Moreover, with chaotic command structures and different operational methods, it would be difficult to expect any systematic organization or formation.

“Our Adventurers’ Guild will fully cooperate in this operation.”

“The Mercenary Association will also cooperate, of course.”

At least the Mercenary Association and Adventurers’ Guild had pledged their cooperation, and with the Temple, second to none in its hatred of undead… perhaps the situation would improve if these natural enemies of the undead joined forces.

But even if we somehow compensated for this disparity in forces, the situation still couldn’t be called extremely favorable or good.

Since the command structures were all separate and effectively operating independently, we would first need to unify the command authority. We also needed to discover the identity of the undead and the reason for their appearance before we could even attempt to formulate a countermeasure.

Particularly, 5,000 undead and more than 10 mid-tier undead represented a force and number that could not be summoned by ordinary means.

There must be a reason why they suddenly appeared overnight, and knowing this might provide a breakthrough.

As I’ve mentioned several times before, all mystical phenomena and magical effects ultimately operate under the law of equivalent exchange.

The method of managing 5,000 undead and more than 10 mid-tier undead must involve a mastermind behind this incident…

“As expected… ‘Gluttony’?”

The most certain factor I could think of now was undoubtedly Gluttony. If I were to list the problems in my life, it would be obvious that this entity was the cause of most of them.

[—Hear me.]

And just as I was reasonably suspecting Gluttony as the culprit, a “voice” spread freely in all directions.

[I am Baron Lur, your ruler.]

What came was a declaration. A proclamation transmitted not in the form of sound. Immediately after this message, delivered through some kind of mystical means, spread, several people in the room suddenly stood up with pale expressions and shouted.

“It’s him! It’s really him!”

“…The former Baron Lur?”

Perhaps they had encountered Baron Lur before. While some expressed genuine hostility and indignation, the voice continued to spread throughout the entire city, regardless.

[In 24 hours from now. My army will trample your lands. However, as I am merciful, I will give you miserable creatures a chance. Surrender within 24 hours by offering the head of your ruler. If you do—]

The voice continued to boast arrogantly, echoing in all directions, but most who heard it responded with utter coldness.

And observing these reactions, I stood up from my seat and calmly declared with “power” in my voice, ignoring the nonsense the entity was spouting.

“Well, the culprit has been identified. He said we have 24 hours, so let’s prepare quickly.”

Of course, not even the slightest complaint arose among the leadership gathered here.