Chapter 348: 182. Spies -2 (Part Two)
Translated by A Passing Wanderer
Edited by RED
“Let’s take a break here!” I commanded, and the soldiers quickly moved out.
The refugees all made “I’m saved!” faces and began setting up their tents.
I dusted myself off and shook my rain-soaked hair before dismounting from the skeleton horse. While stepping into the tent the soldiers had set up for me, I asked Charlotte, who was following closely behind me, “What about the spies?”
“The party, consisting of Adolf, Yuria, and Gril, has succeeded in infiltrating the city of Chaves, sire.”
...Huh. Could we really trust that group to succeed?
Although I did feel somewhat concerned, they were well-trained and also possessed quite a lot of field experience, so it should work out somehow...
I began taking off my wet clothes and tossing them aside.
Charlotte froze up, and hurriedly turned around. “It became possible to communicate with the party after we drew close enough to the fiefdom of Chaves, sire. They are currently analysing the situation.”
“How long until they figure out the location of the survivors?”
“One week, sire. At the longest, two weeks.”
I couldn’t help but reflexively frown at that. One to two weeks, was it?
In terms of evacuating refugees, that time frame was just too long for my liking. One slip-up somewhere, and many people might lose their lives. Especially so as our provisions were dwindling rapidly, too.
“Okay, so what have they discovered so far?” I continued asking her while putting on new clothes, which were basically shabby traveller’s attire. On top of that outfit, I threw on a robe with a hood attached to ward off the rain.
She replied, “They said it’s a literal hellscape inside the city.”
“Hellscape, is it?”
“Currently within the city of Chaves...”
Charlotte continued on with her report.
Apparently, the whole city was filled with corpses everywhere, while the survivors were confined to their homes, unable to come outside. Plagues were making the rounds, and the vampires would use the living humans as their playthings, prey to be hunted basically whenever they felt bored.
“Unless we supply them with a large quantity of holy water, we estimate that the survivors there will experience great difficulty trying to hold on, sire.”
Not just the decomposing corpses, but even zombies freely wandered about in that place. Toxins and plagues were rampaging around, so even I could tell that the people there would be in dire straits by now, surviving each passing day turning into a life-or-death struggle for them.
“What about my older brother, Marcus?”
“He’s still missing, sire. Our agents are still investigating as we speak. The whereabouts of the Vampire Duke named Agares are also uncertain, and...”
While listening to her, I stepped outside the tent and looked up at the sky. The rain kept falling, and I began tilting my head.
I asked her, “What’s your opinion?”
“I beg your pardon, sire?” Charlotte also began tilting her head.
“What should we do in order to achieve the best possible result?”
“...Your Majesty. We must conquer the fiefdom of Chaves, even at the cost of sacrificing a few.”
In order words, we must utilise the Heavenly Army, huh.
Her recommendation was that we conquer the fiefdom of Chaves, sacrificing the survivors still alive there in order to save a lot more people.
Although cold-hearted, it did sound the most logical thing to do. Ironically, that was the best way to minimise the sacrifices, and also the most sure-fire way, too.
Even I couldn’t think up anything else right now.
Rubbing my face, I continued to ponder my options, only for my expression to crumple at the word ‘plagues’. “...Hmm. There might be another way, after all.”
“There is, Your Majesty?”
“Yes,” I nodded at her.
The rain drops traveled down my face. The weather was rather unstable, even coming across as ominous. Each and every drop felt warm to the touch.
I held my hand out and felt the raindrops on my skin.
...For sure, this was no ordinary rain at all.
It felt like boiled water was now falling from the sky. Winter was supposed to be around the corner, yet the weather felt simply too toasty to be natural.
“Has Hans got in touch yet?”
When I asked, Charlotte shook her head. “He has received the news and according to the reports, he is currently on his way to this region, sire. However, it’s not possible to accurately gauge where he is.”
“Well, we’ll just communicate through the Aztal Rune later on.”
While conversing with her, we climbed up a tall hill. Once we arrived at the peak that afforded us a greater view of the mountain range, we took in the sprawling sight below us.
In the far-off distance, I could see the outer walls of the capital of Chaves fiefdom. To make sure, I scanned the vicinity of the city one last time.
There was no trace of the Jötnar anywhere near Chaves.
It seemed that the information was right. I felt relieved that the one thing I was most worried about, the threat posed by the giants, was not present here.
“Hey, Charlotte.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.” She slightly bowed her head.
“If the Jötnar suddenly attack us, are you confident of repelling them?”
“Of course I...”
“While I’m not around, that is.”
“...”
Charlotte stared at me silently for a while. Eventually, her gaze shifted to the city of Chaves over yonder. It seemed that she had already more or less figured out what I was planning to do here.
“As long as we rely on the Rune Armour, it should be possible for us to buy enough time, sire. Although we won’t be able to protect all of the refugees in the process.”
I shifted my gaze over to the refugees at her reply.
Their procession really seemed endless from up here. We definitely needed a place, a city preferably, for them to take a break. The capital of the Chaves fiefdom should meet the size requirements pretty nicely.
“Okay. I’m going to enter the city as a spy myself.”
“...Your Majesty, you wish to do what, sire?”
“We can’t waste any more time on this. All I need to do here is to quickly figure out where the most of the survivors are located in the city, then prepare a location where they can be safely evacuated. That’s all.”
While protecting the survivors, I’d be attacking from the inside, just as the Heavenly Army started attacking from the outside. That should make the conquest of the fiefdom of Chaves a cinch.
“Are you really planning to go there, sire?”
“There is no better way, though?” I extracted my bird-beak mask from the item window. “Besides, the plague, huh...” I turned to look at Charlotte, and smirked at her. “Well, that’s my speciality, you see.”
I was a Necromancer. Dealing with plagues was a cakewalk for me.
“...?” Charlotte made a puzzled face, not understanding what I was saying.
I found her expression funny and laughed out loud, before putting on the mask. “I shall leave the military and the people under your care.”
Very soon, a new plague would circulate within the fiefdom of Chaves.
A plague that blessed the living while cursing the vampires, that is.
**
Currently in the capital city of the Kingdom of Lome, Lomania...
The night was deepening. Darkness had blanketed the world.
The whole city was enveloped in flames. Everything the eyes could see was burning away, while countless corpses had turned into burnt cinders at this point.
Within this burning cityscape were many giants trudging around, seemingly minding their own business. They were sweating profusely at the choking heat dominating everything, yet at a certain prompt, they all focused their attention on a single spot.
A humongous existence that dyed the pitch-black darkness of the night in a crimson hue was slowly shifting around there. Its whole body was made out of hardened bedrock, yet from the gaps and the joints of its body, fierce flames still gushed out.
This huge Jötunn was made out of flames and wielded a lengthy whip.
Whenever this thirty metre-tall giant moved, the ground rumbled and quaked ominously. The ground it stepped on melted down and lava flowed out.
When this creature expelled heat from its body, its surroundings became even hotter than before.
“O-oh, the King! The King of Fire!”
A lycan hurriedly rushed up to the giants.
The Fire Giant looked down at the ground to see this lycan kowtowing before it, some distance away from its feet.
“T-the Frost Giant was killed!”
The Fire Giant began tilting its head in confusion.
“T-those bastards, the ones responsible for killing the Frost Giant, are heading to the fiefdom of Chaves, and... Ah?!”
Even before the lycan could finish its report, it flinched nastily and hurriedly stumbled back. That was because the Fire Giant was walking up to the undead beast.
Even though the giant was merely getting closer, the lycan found it almost impossible to even breathe. The undead beast, suffering from agonizing torment, tried to back away, but the Fire Giant grabbed the creature before that.
“U-uwaaaaahk!” The lycan’s whole body was set on fire. The creature screamed out in sheer pain and torment.
-So, are you saying that Hrímr has been killed?-
“Y-yes, that is cor...”
The lycan couldn’t finish the rest of its sentence before its body was completely burned out of existence.
The Fire Giant lightly dusted off its hands of the ashes of the lycan before raising its head back up.
-Hmm. Hrímr has died, is it?-
Who could have killed the Frost Giant...?
It was hard to tell. To think that there was an existence living in this world capable of opposing the giants to that degree.
-Let’s go! I shall confirm the one who killed Hrímr with my own eyes!
The giants all roared out raucously in unison.
The Fire Giant turned around to leave the burning city. Its new destination was this fiefdom called Chaves.
In order to burn everything down...
It began its march!
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