Chapter 61

Rescue Team (1)

Rumbleee.

The ground had caved in from the force of the blow.

Looking at it, the servants of the estate turned pale.

“What the hell? Did some kind of magic explode?”
“It was the young lady. She suddenly smacked Young Master Leinrant.”

As Laia looked over the murmuring servants, she shut the door and glared at me sitting in the chair.

“No, is this really something worth getting this angry over?”
“Shut up. Or I’ll hit you again!”

I shook out my stinging left hand while enduring Laia’s sharp glare.

‘Well, this is the normal reaction when people hear the word necromancer.’

At present, there were only two necromancer factions remaining on the continent.

The Empire, and the Archimond Order.

One side was the Empire’s vanguard, secretly aiding Helian in manipulating Paul wyvern from the shadows.

The other was a group of corpse-obsessed pleasure killers.

Unless someone already knew me personally, being wary was only natural.

‘Back then I might’ve been ignored, but it never got this bad.’

While I was recalling memories of my previous life, the butler’s voice came from beside me.

“Still, this may actually be an opportunity, My Lady.”

Laia’s confidant, Butler Gordon.

Even after fleeing their stronghold in such a grim situation, the old gentleman still retained his dignity.

“You remember the state Helian’s knights were in, don’t you?”
“So that was necromancy?”
“At the very least, it certainly wasn’t magic or divine power.”

If it had been a power they understood, they wouldn’t have been defeated so helplessly.

“Young Master Klein possesses information regarding necromancy. He’ll be of help.”
“Haa…”

At Gordon’s explanation, Laia steadied her breathing and nodded.

“The most urgent matter is the people imprisoned in the underground cells.”

Hearing my words, Laia’s eyes sharpened.

“You remember what those ‘Fallen Leaves’ captured back then received as payment, right?”
“…Holy Blood.”
“The thing that amplified Helian and the knights’ strength was precisely that Holy Blood.”

At Laia’s answer, I nodded and gave her the same information I had told Heinkel.

“And the material used to create it… is living humans.”

At those words, both Laia and Gordon’s faces turned deathly pale.

“Then if the people imprisoned underground are left there…!”
“They’ll be used as materials for Holy Blood. And Helian’s strength will continue to grow accordingly.”

Bang—!

Laia slammed the desk violently.

“How could they… how could they commit something this cruel?!”

“Calm down.”

I restrained Laia as her trembling hands refused to settle.

Meanwhile, Gordon stroked his chin thoughtfully as he recalled something.

“That knight we met back then said it himself. His Majesty the Emperor already knows about this.”

To leak information like that to the enemy.

Looks like they’d become utterly intoxicated by their sense of victory.

“Even if we report this, the Imperial Army won’t move.”

Gordon spoke firmly.

“The moment we try to act rashly, the information will likely leak to Helian instead.”

The Empire’s deployment was airtight.

Even in this estate alone, countless eyes disguised as guards were watching us.

However—

There was one thing even the Empire’s flawless web had overlooked.

“…So all we need is a way to get outside?”

When I said that to the gloomy-faced Laia, her gaze slowly turned toward me.

“I asked whether there’s a possibility of rescuing them if we can just escape the Empire’s eyes.”

When I repeated the question, Laia finally nodded stiffly.

“There’s an old passage beneath the main castle. It was once used by the Dragon Slayers.”

As expected.

The information that came from Laia’s lips was something Helian, an outsider who’d rolled into the family, could never know.

The security there would likely be lax as well.

“If we use that route, we can reach the underground prison directly.”

“The route is secured. What about manpower?”

When I asked again, Gordon answered this time.

“I informed the surviving main family knights of a rendezvous point after they escaped the castle. However, I can’t determine their exact numbers, and as for us, the important ones…”

“You’re trapped here.”

Laia was the only remaining legitimate bloodline of the former Duke of Paul wyvern.

If she rallied the fractured Paul wyvern forces against Helian, she’d become a thorn in Helian’s side.

“If they’re alive, do you think the remaining knights will gather at the meeting point?”

Laia hesitated briefly before nodding.

A knightly house serving one of the Empire’s Three Great Ducal Families.

And judging by the reaction of the woman who once led them, I reached my own decision as well.

“Good. Then let’s get moving.”

As I said that with a grin, the question immediately came.

“But the Imperial Army’s security is strict. There are no gaps.”
“And it’s the same at night. How exactly are we supposed to get outside?”

Looking toward Gordon and Laia as they spoke, I raised three fingers.

“The Empire doesn’t know I’m a necromancer like you two do.”

As I said that and traced my finger through the air, black demonic energy formed a summoning gate in empty space.

“That’s…”
“Necromancy? Why summon undead at a time like this…?”

While the two stared in confusion, the creature emerging from the gate wriggled toward me.

Three blobs of liquid squirming like mercury.

Undead capable of imitating another person’s appearance and voice—

Doppelgängers.

“You were curious, weren’t you? About how I made Hector’s knights and the necromancers fight each other.”

“That’s impossible.”
“Count…!”

At the western fortress on the border between Paul wyvern and Leinrant, Count Pensta’s cold voice rang out toward Laia and Klein, who were surrounded by countless Imperial knights.

“Our knights’ lives are at stake. Please permit this, Count!”
“To think the children of a ducal house would act so recklessly based on unverified information!”

Don’t tell me they actually intended to infiltrate Helian’s castle alone.

If he hadn’t already stationed knights nearby in advance, he might have lost track of them.

‘Still, no matter how much they struggle, they’re in the palm of my hand.’

Count Pensta adjusted the monocle over one eye and coldly cut off Laia’s plea.

“There is no time to delay. Even now, the people of Paul wyvern are—!”
“It is unverified information, Young Master Klein.”

The next to speak was Klein, standing beside her.

Though he spoke with a resolute expression, Count Pensta had no intention whatsoever of listening.

“This may be a civil war, but Duchess Helian is still an official noble of the Empire. Refrain from making reckless judgments!”
“Reckless?!”

Klein immediately shot back angrily at Count Pensta’s words.

“The Imperial Army is supposed to protect Imperial citizens, yet you intend to turn your backs on them?!”

A voice filled with fury.

Watching Klein’s emotional outburst, Count Pensta sneered inwardly.

‘So unlike the rumors, he’s emotional. Well, that Leinrant bloodline was never going anywhere.’

Leinrant was a traditional knightly house.

Which made them ideal prey for politicians like himself.

‘If not for Duchess Priscilla, one of the Five Chancellors, they’d have been dealt with long ago…’

Entirely contrary to his inner thoughts, Count Pensta instead raised his voice against Klein.

“Did I not say the information is unverified?!”

“…!”

As Klein faltered speechlessly, Count Pensta immediately pressed on like rapid-fire artillery.

“You intend to flee in the dead of night because of rumors with no confirmed origin?! Do you realize how absurd that is?!”

“Th—!”

Klein now looked close to tears.

Seeing that, Count Pensta ordered the knights.

“Escort the two young nobles to separate chambers immediately! Ensure their protection is handled with utmost care!”
“Yes, sir!”

At those words, the knights seized Laia and Klein by the shoulders and began escorting them away.

“Lieutenant.”
“Yes, Commander.”

Meanwhile, Count Pensta quietly called over his trusted subordinate.

“Deliver a message to Duchess Helian.”

Tapping the Commander-in-Chief’s imperial insignia against his shoulder, the Count spoke.

“Tell her Lady Laia is being safely protected on our end, so she should avoid any rash actions.”

At those words, the lieutenant bowed deeply before disappearing into the crowd of soldiers.

“Well then… with this…”

The fortress of Paul wyvern.

And beyond it, the vast forested lands stretching into the distance.

Greed filled Count Pensta’s eyes as he gazed upon them.

“The forest regions of the Paul wyvern territory shall belong to House Pensta.”

The agreement approved by the Emperor and negotiated with Helian.

Recalling it, Pensta smiled with satisfaction and returned to his office.

Soon he would be busier than ever developing his new territory.

There was a mountain of work waiting for him.

“To think escape was actually possible like this…”

The moment the morning sun touched the horizon—

After confirming there were no pursuers, we quickened our pace while glancing back at the distant fortress.

“It only worked because there were just three of them.”

The more undead one controlled simultaneously, the less precise their movements became.

In the past, controlling even two entities at once had been my limit.

‘Absorbing nearly the entire Side Ore Ring made a huge difference.’

Thinking that, I set down my backpack, opened it, and pulled out a water pouch.

After swallowing several gulps—

“Puwaah—!”

Breathing heavily, I looked around the plains that served as our rendezvous point.

“You’re exhausted just from walking this much? And you call yourself an official knight of House Leinrant?”

Seeing my disheveled state, Laia approached with a look of disbelief.

“Try living without mana yourself. Walking this far is impressive enough.”

“What’s even more unbelievable is that you passed the knight examination without mana.”

As she said that, Laia dusted off her hands and looked proudly at her handiwork.

“Woooow…”

A gigantic pillar that looked over four meters tall.

Blue smoke billowed from the mass wrapped around its peak.

“It truly was an astonishing deception tactic, Young Master Klein.”

Gordon took the canteen from my exhausted hands and organized the supplies for me as he spoke.

“To think necromancy could be utilized in such a way…”

“It’s only possible because I’m the one using it.”

Answering Gordon, I stretched my stiff back.

After walking for so long carrying a heavy pack, every part of my body was screaming in protest.

“The Empire’s necromancers will likely come searching soon. Will that really be alright?”

“It’ll be fine.”

I recalled those third-rate fools—a twisted group that had only ever researched soul-return techniques for reviving corpses, to the point I hated even calling them necromancers.

“The Empire’s necromancers won’t even understand what those things are.”

Doppelgängers were spirit entities, not corpses.

Existences completely beyond the understanding of those fools.

“Gordon! Over there!”

How much time had passed since we lit the signal smoke?

Laia, whose expression had brightened considerably, pointed toward a spot in the distance, and Gordon’s face filled with satisfaction as well.

“As expected… they did not forget the order.”

As though responding to the smoke pillar Laia had raised, smoke began rising all across the plains.

Blue smoke. Red smoke.

Even crude bonfire smoke that looked hastily improvised.

As I watched the signals drawing closer, men dressed in black camouflage uniforms began waving toward us.

“It’s the Blue Sacred Spear Knights, My Lady!”

The Blue Sacred Spear Knights.

The direct knight order of House Paul wyvern—and Laia’s own knights.

“Idiots… not a single one of them ran away until the very end.”

Perhaps moved to tears by their appearance, Laia rubbed the corners of her reddened eyes as she waved back at them.

‘Around thirty of them… Perfect size for an infiltration unit.’

Helian, transformed into a monster intoxicated by the power of Holy Blood.

The castle that had fallen into that monster’s grasp.

And her servants.

Despite experiencing that hellish nightmare firsthand, not a trace of fear could be found in the approaching knights’ eyes.