novelraw Chapter 38 : Chapter 38
Chapter 38 : Chapter 38
Chapter 38. Anonymous (1)
“Hahaha. This is really something else!”
Rude was extremely excited right now.
It was only natural, as he was flying through the sky on a pegasus.
Was it a different feeling from riding a dragon?
While he couldn't move the dragon as he wished, the pegasus could be controlled freely, moving in the direction he pulled the reins.
“It's hard to express this feeling in words. It's like I've become an eagle!”
Behind Rude sat Noemi.
She couldn't fall off, so she wrapped her hands around Rude's body,but anyone could tell she was trying her best to keep her distance.
Poor Noemi.
Rude, without a care for her, continued to talk to himself.
“Haha. I can't believe she'd lend me a pegasus. I'm really lucky.”
Rude's original plan was to borrow a hot-air balloon through Isabel.
But what was this?
She lent him the mode of transportation used by Cardinal Daniel.
This very pegasus.
It was an animal with wings that could fly in the sky,and putting aside its speed, it was so clever that it was popular as the steed of kings.
“It seems a cardinal can use something like this. And the one who is superior to such a cardinal is my former colleague, Saintess Isabel. Huhu.”
Rude chattered on ceaselessly, praising Isabel and Daniel.
But did he go too far?
Noemi's expression was growing increasingly uncomfortable.
Eventually, she spoke up.
“Please be quiet. My head feels like it's going to break because of your voice, Master.”
“Now, Noemi. I feel so good, how can I not talk? This is truly a once-in-a-lifetime experience!”
A mid-air argument between a master and his disciple.
Just then.
Noemi suddenly buried her head in his back and writhed in pain.
Rude, sensing this was no joke, hastily lowered their altitude and landed in a safe place.
“Noemi! What's wrong?”
“Keuk. M-my Future Foresight……”
Rude quickly surrounded them with a circular barrier of earth.
Because if they were to face an unknown enemy in this situation, they would be in grave danger.
Fortunately, after about ten minutes.
Noemi came to her senses again.
Her eyes flew open as she spoke urgently.
“Th-this is bad! We have to go home right now!”
“What's wrong? Aren't we on our way there anyway?”
“There are others who have the magic potion! They're trying to make Master Anonymous drink the potion!”
“What? What do you mean by that? You mean there's another one, not just one!”
Noemi nodded and said.
“That's right. I'll explain on the way. We're in a hurry!”
Rude dismissed the earth barrier and set the pegasus off.
The pegasus spread its wings and soared into the sky in an instant.
“We've departed, so tell me. What happened?”
“I don't know the details either. I saw fragments of a scene where a group wearing brown robes was approaching the Dragon's Paradise.”
“Are you sure it's the same magic potion we have?”
“Yes. The vial they had had the same inscription as ours.”
Rude muttered with a dumbfounded face.
“It's not that identical magic tools don't exist, but to think there's another one of this level.”
“Our house also has the same kind of Magic Crystal Ball that you have, Master.”
“True, it's still unclear how many ancient ruins exist in this world. By the way, could you tell me a little more about the future you saw?”
Noemi narrowed her brow and answered.
“The first thing I saw was a group in brown robes approaching the Dragon's Paradise. Wherever they stepped, the ground turned black.”
“And so?”
“They swung a long, rod-like magic tool, and I heard the screams of dragons. And I also saw Master Anonymous hearing that sound and flying towards it.”
“Damn it. Then, isn't that a huge problem?”
“The last scene was blurry, but… Master was in agony as she drank the potion, and at that moment, black smoke billowed from her body.”
Startled, Rude kicked the pegasus' belly.
Hee-hee-hing!!
The pegasus, already fast enough, accelerated even more.
Noemi held on to Rude tightly and prayed earnestly in her heart.
‘Please let us not be too late.’
If those guys were to turn Master Anonymous into a slave, no one would be able to handle her.
They were trying to make the first move to prevent that, but who on earth were they?
Noemi had a feeling that a tremendous mastermind was lurking behind this incident.
***
‘This is as good as me killing him.’
It wasn't intentional, but Alvarez had died due to my and Adel's neglect.
He was a guy who never died in the game and survived well until the ending.
My heart felt needlessly heavy.
Adel, perhaps feeling the same as me, said with a gloomy face that we should hold a funeral for him.
Just as I was about to nod, a thought suddenly struck me.
‘How should I explain Alvarez's death to the villagers?’
I had told Alvarez's parents that there was a minor issue and I was investigating their son, so not to worry too much.
But what if their son returned as a corpse? What if the reason was, absurdly, due to my and Adel's neglect?
That wasn't the end of it.
Alvarez, like Adel, was a knight from this village.
He was a source of pride for the people of Rarc Village.
What would happen if I announced that such a person was actually a man who had betrayed me, the lord of this village, and was in cahoots with Marquis Moltke?
Some might believe it, but others might not, and opinions would be divided, potentially shattering the village's united atmosphere, which had been brought together by the gold mine.
My relationship with the knight order would also become delicate.
In any case, he was a member of the Royal Knight Order.
As the lord, I had the right to arrest him, but not the right to kill him.
‘If the knight order were to make an issue of it, it could escalate into a political problem.’
Would it be fine if only Adel and I kept our mouths shut?
That was precisely the problem.
Adel had a pure and upright personality.
Would she really be able to hide this fact?
Above all, the biggest problem was that Alvarez was a villain.
He had committed a great crime.
He was a shameless bastard who had betrayed me and Adel and sided with Moltke and Bruno.
He even tried to cleverly deceive Adel and drive a wedge between me and her.
I felt sorry that he died, but why should I have to rack my brain over such a bad guy?
After much thought, I said a funeral was impossible.
Adel asked with a startled face.
“Why not?”
When I laid out the reasons why not, Adel also clamped her mouth shut and fell silent.
She must have had complicated feelings as well.
Alvarez was her childhood friend, and though it wasn't her intention, they had even confessed to each other.
On the other hand, he was a subordinate who was also a traitor, and a man who did not repent for his mistakes until the very end.
While I was pondering with my arms crossed how to handle this situation.
I felt something I had put in my bosom in my hand.
‘This is?’
Was this what they call a perfect fit?
The something was a potion that could resurrect the dead as an undead.
***
Meanwhile, at that moment.
Bruno was staring out the window with a dazed face, thinking of a woman.
“Ah, my Anonymous. I miss you so much I could die.”
Bruno, who hadn't been able to sleep for days thinking about her, decided he couldn't take it anymore and swallowed some wine.
“Hoo! Will I think of her less if I drink?”
Was it thanks to the wine?
Gradually, thoughts other than Anonymous came to mind.
Marquis Moltke, who had the nickname of a wine lover, came to mind.
“By the way, I haven't heard any news of Marquis Moltke recently.”
He must have returned to his marquisate for Thanksgiving, but news of his return should have been heard by now, yet there was complete silence.
A high-ranking noble like the marquis had to report to the royal palace before moving.
In that respect, it was surprising that he still hadn't reported.
‘It doesn't seem to have been discussed with His Majesty the King beforehand, is something wrong?’
Then, just in time.
A brilliant idea flashed through his mind.
What if he went to greet the marquis himself? It seemed he couldn't come due to some circumstances, so what if he solved that problem for him? What if he followed the road that passed through Frank's barony on the way to the marquisate?
He could see Anonymous and also score points with the marquis, a truly one-stone-two-birds effect.
“Am I an unavoidable genius? How could I think of such a thing!”
Bruno was over the moon with self-praise.
Of course, having to see that insufferable Frank again was something he hated more than death, but he shouldn't forget the fact that he was Anonymous' uncle.
‘Hmm. It's a bit much to go empty-handed, so I should buy a gift for Frank.’
If Frank were to oppose his marriage to Anonymous, everything would be for naught.
It wasn't certain if Anonymous had parents, but if Frank was her only legal guardian, his permission would be absolute.
Bruno immediately snapped his fingers and called for a subordinate.
“Hey, is anyone there?”
“You called, Count.”
“Bring me the latest product catalog. I need to see what's in fashion.”
“Are there any additional conditions?”
“If possible, please get things that fathers in their thirties with daughters would like.”
Was this man really the same Bruno who, until just a short while ago, was hell-bent on getting Frank?
They say love makes you betray even your country, and right now, Bruno's mind was only filled with thoughts of how to score points with Frank and Anonymous.
***
“Tch. To increase the soldiers threefold. And to not even conduct inspections is no longer a request but a threat, isn't it.”
Moltke crumpled the letter in his hand and muttered.
“The Lombard bastards are clearly trying to use the marquisate as a military base. At this rate, the marquisate will become the front line of the battlefield.”
After joining hands with the Lombard Kingdom.
Their demands were more than he had expected.
He could understand the request to increase soldiers with a war ahead, but to not even inspect the Lombards when they hadn't even annexed yet was,
“Anyone would see it as a betrayal of the kingdom. Tsk. It's over with the Benedict Kingdom now.”
Quite a few Lombard soldiers had already entered the marquisate.
Perhaps someone had already noticed his betrayal.
He should have left for the royal palace by now, but he hadn't even submitted a report.
But the water was already spilled.
It was better to do it properly when he was at it.
Wasn't this the first step to becoming king?
Despite the Lombard Kingdom's unreasonable demands.
There was something that made him feel good.
The fact that Frank would soon be thoroughly crushed.
“Huhu. By now, the high-ranking Mages of the Lombard Kingdom must have started moving with the potion to feed to Anticus.”
They had numerous magic tools he had never heard of, and if they used them, subjugating Anticus might not be a dream.
Did Frank even have an inkling of these facts?
The future where the village is burned down by the dragons he trusted and the residents are massacred in large numbers.
Just the thought of it made every cell in his body tingle.
“Kuhahaha. You're finished now!”
Moltke laughed like a madman, then suddenly straightened his face and muttered.
“Frank. I gave you a chance, yet you refused my offer. Now it's your turn to face the consequences.”
But who would have known.
Bruno's actions and Moltke's conspiracy. And the potion held by Noemi and Frank.
The moment when these four seemingly different paths would intertwine was gradually approaching.
And in a direction that no one could predict.