novelraw Chapter 75 : Four Years Later (1)
Chapter 75 : Four Years Later (1)
Four Years Later (1)
It has been four years since the Emperor was freed from his brainwashing.
During that long time, the Emperor had to clean up the aftermath of all the things he had done while under mind control.
Strictly speaking, it was all caused by the Crown Prince, but the Emperor could not erase his guilt.
He felt it was his own responsibility for not teaching the Crown Prince properly, so the Emperor worked hard to change the Empire.
Thanks to him, many things improved, but there were still things left unresolved.
The demon realm. A hellscape where humans could never set foot.
That place, teeming with powerful monsters, was impossible to cleanse with human strength alone.
Not only that, but natural disasters raged there constantly, making it a place where most plants and animals could not survive long.
No one even knew how far the demon realm extended.
This place, which was no different from an unknown world, had existed since ancient times.
For all those long years, their only response to the demon realm had been to throw sacrifice soldiers there to block the monsters.
Today, too, the 7th Legion's soldiers were fighting monsters. More precisely, they were being eaten by monsters.
However, among those soldiers, there were some who could single-handedly hunt down hordes of monsters.
"Ah... I'm scared. Even after all these years, I still can't get used to it."
Simon, holding a dagger, said as his hands and feet shook.
Victor, seeing his stressed and haggard face, sneered at him.
"Is that something someone who's killed over 20 monsters gets to say?"
Just as Victor said, there was a pile of monster corpses at Simon's feet.
Even a single one of those would devour an ordinary soldier with ease.
It was still ridiculous that Simon, after slaughtering such creatures en masse, was now scared.
"Still, I'm not as good as you! I'm really nothing, honestly."
In fact, Victor had even more monster corpses at his feet than Simon did.
Victor was higher in the monster-hunting ranks, but it could hardly be said that Simon was insignificant.
"Hey~ Are you guys done yet?"
At that moment, a lively girl's voice rang out.
Over there, Rozen was dragging a massive monster carcass, with Pram sitting atop it.
There were dozens of arrows lodged in the corpse, and the rest of its body was rotting and torn apart.
"We took down this huge one ourselves!"
Pram, sitting atop the monster's head, waved her staff and bragged.
Just then, Rozen, who was dragging the body, gave it a kick.
"Kyaa!"
Because of the recoil, Pram lost her balance and fell to the ground, face first.
Then, she glared at Rozen like she wanted to kill him for knocking her off.
"Do you want to die! What the hell are you doing?"
"I was having a hard time dragging this thing and you were sitting up there chatting away—it was annoying. Couldn't you help drag it?"
"I've told you before, hard labor doesn't suit me. You should be able to drag something like this on your own!"
When Pram grumbled that this was nothing, Rozen smirked and replied.
"Yeah, I can drag it. But do you know how much heavier it gets when you sit on top? Felt like I was dragging a mountain, not a monster."
"What did you just say?"
At that moment, Pram's eyes became deadly.
"Heavy? A mountain?"
Pram's words dripped with thorns, as if she'd just heard the one thing she most hated.
Rozen, unfazed, responded with even more shamelessness.
"Yeah, it was so heavy my arms almost fell off. Even our special task force leader would get a slipped disc if she tried to lift you!"
"Shut up, you bastard!!"
Finally, Pram exploded in fury and grabbed Rozen by the collar.
As soon as Pram's hand touched him, Rozen's body began to rot, starting from where she touched.
"Hey, stop! My body! My body's rotting!"
"Was that good? Was that bad?"
"Aaaaagh! Okay, I get it, stop it already!"
"There's no one who has called me fat lived!"
Victor and Simon, unable to watch any longer, stepped in to break them up.
They managed to separate the two, but Pram's anger still hadn't cooled.
"So this is where everyone was."
At that moment, a female voice was heard.
Silia, clad in armor with her white hair flowing, approached them.
"Did you all finish the subjugation?"
"Squad leader!"
Rozen, clearly scared, rushed behind Silia for cover, pointing at Pram.
"Pram's crazy! She suddenly tried to kill me!"
"And who drove me crazy? How dare you call me fat!"
Pram shot back, saying that's a sensitive issue for women.
Silia responded calmly, as if this was a regular occurrence.
"Pram. I know being teased upset you, but you can't attack your teammates. Besides, there are plenty of women in this Empire who weigh more than you. Look at me, for example."
"... Yes."
"And Rozen. Don't poke at your friends' sensitive spots for no reason. Nothing good can come from digging your own grave."
"..."
"Most of all, you all aren't kids anymore. Act your age."
With the arrival of their squad leader, Silia, the rampaging squad members finally calmed down.
There were only a handful in the world, including Silia, who could control them.
"By the way, where's the last one?"
Counting heads, there were still only four.
While Silia was asking about the whereabouts of the other member—
BOOOOM!!-
A huge roar sounded from somewhere.
From that direction, a crimson wave surged toward them.
Silia and the squad members walked toward it.
The closer they got, the thicker the bloody aura, and the stench of monster blood filled the air.
Beyond that, hundreds of monster corpses were piled high like a mountain.
Atop that mountain of corpses that seemed ready to pierce the sky, a girl with black hair blinked her crimson eyes.
"Ah, squad leader."
Rio, having spotted Silia and the others, descended to the ground.
At the sight of Rio's filthy, battle-worn figure, Silia's face grew troubled.
"Did you fight them all at once again?"
"Yes. But I properly controlled my strength this time. I didn't use the 'Blood Sword Technique'."
The Blood Sword Technique, a transcendent destructive technique that manifests when she expels blood from her body.
Because its power consumed so much blood, she was forbidden to use it.
Also, the Church considered it a forbidden, evil power, so it wasn't something that could be openly revealed anywhere.
"I see. You've grown a lot."
The fact that Rio could massacre so many monsters without even using the Blood Sword Technique left Silia impressed.
And that wasn't all. It had already been five years since they left Paruzan.
Pram and Rozen were now 18, Victor and Simon 19.
And this year, Rio turned 16.
Victor, Simon, and Pram had not only grown physically but, after living in the demon realm, had developed fierce auras.
Rio and Pram, too, had undergone a lot of physical growth.
Especially compared to their scrawny selves four years ago, their chests had swelled into full mounds.
As a result, more soldiers with lecherous intent tried to approach them, but all ended up cut to pieces or rotted away.
For the grown-up group, the monsters of the demon realm were no longer a threat.
.
.
.
"Looks like you managed to wipe out all the monsters attacking the area near the Fortress. Good work."
Inside the special task force commander's office on the upper floors of the 7th Legion Command.
Kelian, the one holding the position, spoke to them in good spirits.
"All the other soldiers got wiped out, but the moment you guys stepped in, the situation turned around."
Klein, the command headquarters' mage, also praised their abilities.
Amid the squad members, who shrugged their shoulders at the compliment, Rio asked,
"What happened to the bodies of the dead soldiers?"
"You mean the ones who, unlike you, got completely wiped out? They're probably being buried by now, but are you asking because of blood supply?"
"No. One of them was a pervert who tried to assault me and Pram. Normally, I'd kill him myself and hang his head in the middle of the fortress as a warning."
Rio was sick and tired of those who kept lurking after her.
She was extremely sensitive about this, since she had almost suffered the same thing at Paruzan Fortress four years ago.
"No, actually. I should cut off more than just the head and hang it up. That way I can really make a point...."
"Rio. P-please, that's enough."
At the gruesome suggestion, Klein broke out into a cold sweat, trying to appease her.
But Rio just looked at him, puzzled, as if she didn't know what was wrong.
Pram, next to her, agreed, saying, "I think that's a great idea!" sending Klein's head spinning.
"Pardon me."
At that moment, there was a knock, and the door opened.
An officer in armor came in to report something to the special task force commander's office.
"Eek! H-hello...."
As soon as the officer saw the squad members seated, he awkwardly bowed his head.
If it had been any other soldier, he would have barked at them for making eye contact.
But with Silia's squad members, that wasn't possible.
They held the most overwhelming record of achievements among all the soldiers in this Command.
If he messed with them, he'd be the one punished.
Regardless, they couldn't be touched.
Amazingly, even torture spells don't work on them, despite being ordinary soldiers.
Not only that, but they are the 7th Legion Special Task Force, established personally by His Majesty.
If he crossed them, he could lose his head at any moment, so he had no choice but to treat them with utmost respect.
"Hello, mister~"
"Ah... Hello."
When Pram greeted him cheerfully, the officer replied awkwardly.
He then turned to Kelian to state his purpose for coming.
"Reporting in. His Majesty has requested a task from the special task force."
"What does His Majesty want this time?"
"There's information that demonkin may be hiding in a large casino located in the southeastern part of the Empire. On top of that, there are also rumors that someone resembling the former Crown Prince Orbel has been seen."
"That rumor has reached us as well. If it's credible, then we have no choice but to move first."
Most of the special task force members, including Kelian, were sensitive about anything regarding the Crown Prince.
Because of that, they were obsessed with any information related to him.
"We were going to put off investigating, but if His Majesty gave a direct order, we have no choice but to go now."
From the Emperor's point of view, too, it concerned his son.
If Orbel was out somewhere making another pact with a demon, he would make sure to put a stop to it.
"Then I'll go."
At that, Rio proudly raised her hand.
When Kelian asked why, Rio's eyes glinted with anticipation.
"I want to face a stronger opponent. If it's a casino, there's bound to be guys who've honed their skills in the underworld, right?"
She no longer found the monsters enjoyable.
At Rio's belligerent attitude, Kelian shut her down.
"No. You're not going there to fight, but to investigate. And you can't just go wild there without justification."
"......."
As Rio pouted, Kelian added sympathetically,
"Besides, I already sent someone."
"Already?"
Didn't he just say the investigation had been put off?
To that question, Kelian replied,
"Of course, I didn't send them to investigate. I sent them to catch a deserter. There's a guy who was dispatched recently and hasn't returned past his due date. I've received word that those guys are currently at that casino."
The place His Majesty ordered them to check, and the hideout of the deserter, happened to coincide.
If possible, they could wrap up both missions at once—a win-win situation.
"Come to think of it, isn't the young master missing?"
Just then, the squad members realized one of their male members was absent.
****
"Yes!! Jackpot!!"
Crossly—a city located southeast of the Kilvus Empire.
At the intersection of a circular plaza and a cross-shaped road stood one of the Empire's most famous casinos.
A young man operated a casino machine and let out a triumphant shout.
The numbers 777 came up on the slot machine, and the basket underneath it overflowed with coins.
The young man licked his lips in delight at the sight.
"Hey, you!"
Right then, someone called out to him.
Several mercenary-looking men glared and surrounded him.
"You just stole our money, didn't you?"
"What?"
"Don't play dumb! The attendants saw you!"
In truth, the young man was not gambling with his own money.
Moments ago, he'd lost his entire fortune gambling, leaving him with nothing.
But addicted to gambling, he wanted to gamble more—even if it meant stealing someone else's money.
"Ah... damn it."
Caught, the young man lashed out in anger.
"What do you want from me, bastards! Do you have any idea what it's like getting worked like a dog in the legion?"
"What nonsense...."
"I'm busy enough running intelligence missions, but then I have to do laundry, repair weapons, and every other damn chore! Do you know how that feels?"
If you don't know, shut up, he said. The mercenaries finally drew their weapons.
How dare this thief act so high and mighty!
They swung their swords at the young man—but he caught a sword barehanded.
"What!"
Grasping the sword with his bare hand, the young man swung it back, sending the other mercenaries flying.
In an instant, the casino machines toppled and chaos erupted.
"No one can take away my freedom!! I just want to get away from that guy, even for a little while!"
The casino staff moved to surround the rampaging young man.
But he knocked them away as well and made an even bigger scene.
"Ahhh... Is this what freedom feels like!"
He wanted to stay here forever.
He absolutely did not want to go back to the unit.
If he went back, that guy would no doubt say, "Hey intelligence squad, time to work!" and treat him like a dog again.
He would never return to the demon realm.
"I'm free!!"
Relishing his newfound freedom, the young man shouted again.
"Catch me if you can!"
At that moment, someone grabbed the young man's wrist.
Thinking it was another staff member, he tried to shake him off, but ended up being thrown to the ground instead.
"Huh? Whoa!!"
Slammed to the floor, the young man spat blood.
"Cough!"
"So here you were, deserter."
"Huh?"
Hearing that voice, the young man—Alpher—was horrified.
"What the hell are you bastards doing here?"
Alpher turned pale as he met the face of that damn guy again.
"Where are the others?"
Louis asked about the whereabouts of the others who were with Alpher.
-------------= Clacky's Corner -------------=
I'm just glad it wasn't Louis who was addicted to gambling...
Surprisingly, it seems Alpher grew stronger as well...
【ദ്ദി(⩌ᴗ⩌)】