novelraw Chapter 102
Chapter 102
Ch.102 Capture Every Last One!
Upon arriving in Pisa, my companions’ eyes widened in astonishment.
“This domain is quite sizable! It’s practically a city in its own right.”
They must’ve been impressed by the tall buildings—rivaling those in the capital—and the many carriages filling the streets.
“I’ve never seen a city of this scale, even in the New Continent.”
Seeing the elves so amazed filled me with quiet pride.
After all, how much effort had it taken to build this place?
I’d drastically reformed gate taxes, window taxes, and land levies to lower the burden on citizens.
I’d persuaded merchant guild leaders I knew to relocate their headquarters here.
I’d invested enormous sums to develop infrastructure and cultivate this territory from nothing.
“Well, this is just the bare minimum,” I said casually—though it was anything but.
Before I bought this land, there was nothing but wheat fields—not even a single mill to be found.
So from the very beginning, I poured massive investments into it.
Over time, windmills and watermills appeared, and a grand marketplace took shape.
The change felt surreal.
Mia, looking vaguely discontented, muttered while gazing out the window:
“Too many humans… it won’t be good for the children.”
Huh? What did you say? Children…? Why are children even coming up?!
Please spare me, High Elf Lady…
“Kyaa~”
“Ahem…”
The two Sand Elves blushed and turned their heads away.
So flustered was I that honorifics slipped out without thinking.
“Um… isn’t it far too early for that? Children? We haven’t even married yet…”
“You don’t seriously intend to accept my vow and then refuse to marry me, do you?”
Her emerald eyes narrowed sharply.
Instinctively, I looked away.
‘Oh… Lord… why do you do this to me?’
“Tell me—were you planning not to marry me?”
“Of course not! How could I possibly refuse marriage to someone as exalted as a High Elf?”
“Are you being sincere?”
Mia asked with uncharacteristic seriousness.
I replied in a honeyed tone, as if it were obvious:
“What man wouldn’t desire to wed someone as noble and beautiful as you? It’s only that… my life is short. When I pass, you’ll be left alone—and that thought stays in my heart.”
Using this as a gentle excuse to defer marriage…
—Whoosh!
“You fool… that’s my burden to bear. If I feared such things, I never would’ve made that vow to you in the first place.”
Ah… I’m doomed. Mother… am I fated to have my skin flayed alive in this distant land?
As tears welled in my eyes, memories of my family in my original world flashing before me…
“Oh? O Sage… is marrying me so moving that you weep?”
Long golden hair, beautiful green eyes—
Mia gave a soft smile, watching me.
Inside, I screamed:
‘Are you a psychopath? How can you be so blind to human emotion?!’
But if I said that aloud, I might end up on the receiving end of an enraged Spirit King’s punch—so I played along, feigning deep emotion.
“Yes… I was so overwhelmed, I couldn’t help myself…”
Does the god of this world truly wish for my death?
Why must I endure such absurd trials…?
—Whistle~
Nekhuf, seeing us, let out a cheerful whistle.
“Nekhuf, we can’t fall behind!”
Nephert suddenly looked oddly motivated.
Please… anyone… save me…
Just then—the carriage stopped.
“Oh? We’re here.”
Spotting the familiar mansion through the window, I hurriedly opened the door and jumped out, eager to escape the situation.
—Click.
“Baron Hans. Welcome back.”
Giovanni bowed with restrained grace.
Was it because I hadn’t seen him in so long?
A wave of warmth washed over me—
—Thwack!
I channeled divine power into my fist and slammed it straight into his solar plexus with all my might.
“Urgh!”
“Hey! How dare you handle things like that?!”
—Thwack! Thwack!
“B-brother! Mercy! My solar plexus! Aaargh!”
“You nearly got me quartered because of you! Solar plexus, my foot!”
“My ribs! You hit my ribs!”
Giovanni writhed in pain on the ground.
“Stop exaggerating! This doesn’t even hurt!”
—Thwack!
“Waaah!”
“Kyaa! Hans has gone mad!”
“O Sage?! What… what is this?!”
“Brother?! Stop!”
Mia and the Sand Elves rushed to hold me back.
“What’s going on? Why are you beating him?”
“Brother, calm down!”
This idiot had carelessly engraved only ‘Hans’ on every tombstone—which is why the Hero Party found out I was alive!
—Thwack!
“Aaah!”
“Brother?!”
“O Sage!”
“Tch. I’ll let it go at that.”
After stomping on him one last time, I healed Giovanni with a divine spell.
“It’s been a while—what’s this nonsense?”
He winced, rolling his shoulders as if sore.
I shot back sharply:
“What about you? How could you write the same name on every grave?”
“Oh? So that’s how they found out? Makes sense now.”
Just then—
Mia turned her gaze to Giovanni.
“Oh? Could it be… you’re the one who sent those letters to me and Cecilia?”
“Wha—?!”
Giovanni’s face went pale with dread.
“Well… uh…”
His eyes darted around desperately, searching for a way out.
“It was… Baron Hans who ordered me to!”
—Zap!
Under Mia’s icy glare, Giovanni stammered in panic:
“Lady Mia! I’m Baron Hans’s knight! How could I possibly disobey my lord’s command…?”
“Doesn’t matter. I never believed the Sage was truly dead anyway. But if Cecilia finds out…”
—Gulp.
Mia smiled coldly.
“Your head won’t remain on your shoulders.”
“Eeek…!”
Hearing Giovanni’s pitiful squeak, I sighed inwardly.
This wasn’t the character I remembered.
In the original story, Giovanni was the son of a poor farmer—a simple boy who loved the daughter of the former Baron of Pisa.
The baron’s daughter, charmed by his kindness and good looks, returned his feelings—but their love was doomed by class difference.
Giovanni left home to become a hero so he could marry her.
He endured countless trials and rose to greatness—only to find she’d already married another man.
Later, during the King of the Dead arc, he died protecting her.
Such a noble, tragic figure… how could he be reduced to this?
I’d cried as a kid playing Destiny when I first controlled Giovanni.
Seeing this once-honorable man so thoroughly broken left me hollow.
“Enough. Just give me your report on preparations so far.”
“Oh! Right this way, please.”
***
In a dragon’s lair deep in the snowy mountains of the New Continent, Icira and Aria slept soundly.
Dragons live for eons—perhaps that’s why they love sleep so much.
—Puuu…
The white Hatchling dragonlet and her mother snored softly, curled together in peaceful slumber.
Then, from one corner of the lair, a small golden light shimmered—and took form.
An elderly man in his eighties.
Auros Auripex, the Dragon Lord and final boss of the DLC ‘Dragon War.’
Had someone trespassed in his lair?
The white-scaled mother dragon opened her eyes and fixed him with a sharp gaze.
—What is it?
Unfazed by her lethal stare, the Dragon Lord replied calmly:
“There’s trouble in the world.”
—Trouble?
“Yes. A very grave one.”
—Haaah…
Icira yawned widely.
The Dragon Lord spoke in a tranquil tone:
“Come at once to my lair.”
Having delivered his message, his body dissolved into golden light and vanished.
‘Troublesome business…’
As dragons bound by duty to protect the world, when the Dragon Lord summoned them like this…
it could only mean something dire had begun.
Icira glanced at Aria, who squirmed adorably in her sleep beside her.
‘Should I go for just a bit?’
It wouldn’t take long, after all.
Shifting into human form, Icira thought:
‘She won’t run away again while I’m gone… right?’
Things had been quiet since Aria’s last runaway incident—but Icira still worried.
‘If she runs off again this time, I won’t let it slide.’
“Teleport.”
With that, she vanished—reappearing in the Dragon Lord’s lair.
Dozens of dragons had already gathered—all wearing expressions of profound annoyance.
Dragons were fiercely independent; they rarely listened to others.
Then, the Dragon Lord stepped forward and spoke:
“Thank you all for coming.”
—Why did you summon us?
—I trust this isn’t trivial. Speak quickly.
Amid the impatient murmurs, Auros scanned the crowd.
“A brother who traveled to the Old Continent for leisure has sent urgent word.”
His tone remained calm.
The dragons waited silently for what came next.
“The dead have returned.”
Those few words sent shockwaves through the assembly.
***
Broad daylight.
Leah, Cecilia, and Scarlet led a squad of Holy Knights toward a tavern in the capital.
Perhaps because it was lunchtime, the place was fairly crowded.
Leah peeked inside and grumbled:
“Are you sure this is really run by the Church of Death?”
“Father Hans said so—it must be true.”
Scarlet glanced at the ordinary sign—’Bread & Beer’—and the serving staff.
“It looks so normal… hard to believe they’re plotting something so horrific.”
Indeed, from the outside, it seemed like any common tavern.
Of course—if they’d openly displayed symbols of the Church of Death, they’d have been dragged to the Papal See before they could even open for business.
“The Church of Death has always excelled at disguise,” Cecilia said.
She gave Leah a meaningful look.
Leah nodded.
“Fine. We’ll search the building thoroughly.”
Leah raised her hand—and a violet sphere the size of a house materialized in midair.
—Wh-what’s happening?!
—A mage?!
The crowd gasped in alarm at Leah’s magic.
Ignoring them, she hurled the sphere into the tavern—
—Boom!
A massive shockwave knocked everyone inside unconscious.
“Search every corner of the building,” Cecilia ordered.
“Yes, milady!”
The Holy Knights in gleaming white armor stormed in.
“Shall we go too? Just in case.”
“Nothing left to do here anyway.”
“Let’s go.”
The three women followed the knights inside.
The Hero Party surveyed the scene: patrons collapsed mid-bite, servers slumped over trays.
Leah clicked her tongue, looking at a man face-down in his plate, a beer mug beside him.
“Drinking at noon… really?”
Just then—Scarlet sensed a faint movement.
“Here!”
She drew her dagger and plunged it hard into the wooden floor—
—Hrk!
A startled gasp echoed from below.
“There’s a basement! Search it immediately!”
Holy Knight Eric’s voice rang out.
“Capture every last one!”
Thus, the hidden branch of the Church of Death in the capital was exposed.
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