Ch.274EP.61 – The Knight Fear Humans More Than Ghosts 2(4)

…What on earth is this about?

Simon, who had access to a lot of information since becoming the Guild Association President, hadn’t encountered such mysterious information in quite some time.

[Ghosts appear on a 60-year cycle.]

[The ghosts extract people’s souls.]

[Those who are loyal to Modred are cursed.]

“Hmm…”

Information diligently collected by his subordinates.

There was plenty of quality information that couldn’t have been gathered overnight, but Simon was somehow bothered by these mysterious yet trivial stories.

Simon. The reason he became the youngest Guild Association President was none other than his exceptional ability to get to the core of information.

Thanks to that, he had risen to this position, surpassing all those who were better and stronger than him. That’s why Simon didn’t ignore his unique intuition.

Rather, he trusted it and believed he should dig deeper if he felt it necessary.

“…I need to hear the story directly.”

“The story?”

“Living information is always found at the scene. If I go there and look around myself, something will become clear.”

“Isn’t that too optimistic?”

“Even if it’s optimistic, we have to try something.”

“Sigh, alright. Then I’ll prepare to leave right away.”

“Mm, thank you.”

“Don’t mention it, this is my role after all.”

The secretary smiled brightly as she handed Simon his coat, and Simon was planning to run around until the soles of his shoes wore out.

If the battlefield of knights is where swords clash…

‘My battlefield is where information flows.’

-Thud!

“What battlefield…”

Unlike his confident first steps, Simon was now sprawled out in the middle of an empty lot, completely exhausted.

Despite walking around so much that his shoes and the hems of his pants were covered in dust, he hadn’t gathered any particularly useful information.

Seven whole hours of walking around, and he had learned virtually nothing.

That’s when…

“Did you really not find out anything, Simon?”

“Huh?”

“I’m asking because I know the Simon I know isn’t the type of man to give up this easily. I feel like you must have discovered something.”

“……”

“Simon?”

“I really did hire a good secretary.”

Simon felt that after all their time together, it was difficult to deceive his secretary’s eyes.

“As you know, my style of gathering information is a bit unique compared to others, right?”

“Ah, that pseudo—I mean, puzzle theory?”

“…Pseudo? Even when you speak, you…!”

Puzzle-style information combination.

It was Simon’s specialty, and it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say it was the skill that had elevated him to his current position, no less important than his intuition.

The method is simple.

For example, he remembers all the trivial, seemingly insignificant, or miscellaneous stories within a single area.

All the small talk, like why the couple next door fought, or which man committed adultery.

And then.

“From there, I combine those stories.”

These trivial memories are broken down into pieces in his head, and based on these stories, he extracts a single piece of information.

“I actually identified the real culprit in a murder case using this method.”

“…Wait, how can you figure that out from people’s marital fights or affairs?”

“The important thing isn’t the fight or the affair. It’s about reading the process and behavioral psychology behind those events. And in the process of reading behavioral psychology, you can discover more trivial things, and then combine those trivial things again and again. Eventually, you end up with a ‘puzzle piece’ of plausible information.”

“……”

“Isn’t it easy? But when I try to teach this to others, I just get cursed at. Even though I’m teaching them something valuable, it’s really unfair…”

“What’s unfair about it?”

“?”

Simon might look like someone who gets beaten up like a drum, but he was actually a genius.

That must be why he could demonstrate such an unbelievable talent.

‘In a way, this person is really amazing.’

The secretary clicked her tongue in admiration.

But her admiration was brief.

Rather than being impressed by his ability, the secretary was more curious about what he had discovered.

“Sigh, Simon. So what important thing did you find out?”

“You don’t know? Even though you were with me?”

“I’m not an abnormal person like you.”

“…But I’m normal?”

“……”

“Wo-woah, d-don’t get angry.”

Before the secretary could get any angrier, Simon cleared his throat and shared what he had discovered.

“Hmm, where should I start…”

“……”

“Right, to be precise, what I found out isn’t the principle behind the Race’s occurrence. However, I did discover something else for certain.”

“What?”

“The location of [Bidon], where Modred’s bloodline has entered.”

“!!?”

“Yes, I was able to figure out that much.”

“H-how on earth…?”

The secretary’s eyes widened in shock.

What was so surprising was that [Modred’s Bidon] was something they had been unable to discover despite all their investigations.

The Bidon, whose location was known only to Modred’s direct bloodline and no one else.

That’s why even now, with Modred’s family head and knights gone, no one could think of going to look for them.

So when Simon confidently declared that he had discovered its location, she couldn’t help but be surprised.

Of course, if someone else had made such a claim, she would have been skeptical, but the person before her…

‘Because it’s Simon.’

The secretary wasn’t foolish enough to doubt the abilities of the leader who oversaw the entire Southern Guild.

“…Did you figure that out through your puzzle combination method too?”

“In a way, yes.”

“That’s amazing, Simon.”

“It’s nothing.”

“So where is it located?”

“The location? Well…, a-aren’t we too close?”

“…Ah, I’m sorry.”

The secretary blushed with embarrassment.

Even if it was out of curiosity, being this close was somewhat improper.

“N-no, I don’t mind.”

“Simon?”

“……”

“You…”

The secretary thought that he was still a man after all.

Even in such an urgent situation, he was giving her such a seductive look.

But the secretary didn’t mind. She wasn’t without feelings for him, and she couldn’t deny that he was quite an attractive man.

So if he was going to give her such a passionate look first, she wouldn’t refuse either.

“Come here.”

“……”

“Hurry.”

“But…”

“Don’t be so shy as a man. A man should be more confident.”

“Ah, alright, then…”

Swish.

Simon slowly raised his arm.

It was a hand that seemed to be about to cradle her head, and the secretary closed her eyes tightly, happily accepting his touch.

Simon gazed at the secretary with a distant look.

Really…!

Stab.

“…Ihan said so. That there’s a rotten smell. And I think so too.”

“!!?”

“Die, you disgusting monster.”

Simon pulled out a cloak from somewhere and wrapped it around his body, and the next moment, the flame scroll he had attached to the secretary’s head…

BOOM!

With a tremendous roar, it ignited and caused an enormous explosion.

* * *

WHOOSH!

Among flame scrolls, the rare <Large Beast-Grade Flame Scroll>.

Already possessing powerful destructive force, this scroll was coated with the ‘water of explosion’ created by an alchemist and compressed with the magical power of ten magicians—a special-grade scroll indeed.

It was a scroll that only a select few in the military had authorization to use, and normally it would be impossible to obtain no matter how much money one had. Fortunately, a knight Simon knew showed his prowess by casually procuring such an item with the inexplicable explanation that “the spell-casting serfs I control made it.”

Originally, it would be better not to have to use such an item, but given the situation, Simon had no choice but to use it.

And the result of its use…

“I-I really a-almost died…”

Trembling, he gasped for breath.

If it weren’t for the defensive cloak enchanted with the barrier magic that the knight had provided, he would have been engulfed in the explosion and burned to death.

As evidence, the defensive cloak had already burned away long ago.

In Simon’s case, he had been thrown about 10 meters by the force of the explosion, causing him to roll mercilessly on the ground, leaving him aching all over.

But what matters is survival.

Simon drank a potion he had kept in his pocket and barely managed to calm his heart.

Then.

Crunch.

“That was reckless, mister.”

“Indeed.”

“…I-I had no choice. I had to take a gamble when I saw the opportunity.”

The twin beastkin siblings who had been secretly escorting him looked at Simon with disdainful eyes.

It was frustrating to receive such looks from those much younger than himself, but unfortunately…

“The knight mister will be angry, you know?”

“The knight brother said not to do dangerous things, didn’t he?”

Flinch!

…He was the one at a disadvantage.

“C-could you keep this a secret?”

“For free?”

“I don’t want to.”

“…I see why Ihan says you two are cheeky.”

Simon grumbled like that, and the twins stuck out their tongues mischievously.

But even while joking around, the twins didn’t take their eyes off the lot where the flames were rising.

“Tina.”

“Yes.”

“Is it still alive?”

“It’s alive.”

“…Persistent.”

“I really hate that thing.”

“Me too…”

The twins frowned.

It wasn’t because of the smell of burning human flesh.

The reason the twins were frowning was because…

“It’s disgusting…”

“Rotten smell…”

The smell was even more pungent than burning garbage, and the twins felt nauseous.

This smell, how should one describe it? More intense than the smell of a corpse, making one’s stomach turn?

What’s shocking is that this terrible, revolting smell isn’t coming from a dead person, but from a human who is still alive.

…Ah, well.

Considering the identity of the opponent, such a smell made sense.

After all…

“─You filthy bastards, how dare you say my beautiful body smells, huh?”

…That thing shouldn’t be treated as human.

Whoosh!

Flesh is emerging from the fire.

Even while still burning, it continuously regenerated, finally recovering its head, and revealed its outline with a chilling killing intent that would make even grown adults tremble with fear.

However.

“Everything.”

“Stinks from your character.”

The twin siblings were not ordinary humans, and they could respond calmly to the monster’s killing intent.

But unlike the twins, Simon was completely frozen in place.

‘…Ihan was right.’

Hadn’t he said it the day before?

That humans are scarier than ghosts.

At the time, it sounded like a joke, but seeing this…

‘It really is scarier than a ghost.’

To the point where even magical beasts would look cute in comparison.

…Though I’m not sure if a [Vampire] should be considered human.