Chapter 41: Raven’s Nest
41
“Gasp…! Gasp…!”
After driving off the undead horde that had assaulted the wall.
Korax of the Big Raven Knights, Ian, and the Watchers were running.
“Is that really true?! Young Master Klein alone…!”
“I told you not to worry, but we don’t know what happened. Hurry!”
At Ian’s words, Korax’s footsteps across the snowy field grew frantic.
A massive undead horde numbering in the thousands.
If Ian hadn’t arrived in time, even within the wall they would have had to endure countless casualties—it was that overwhelming in scale.
But beyond that assault, the information the knights had brought was even more shocking.
“Buckets… if that’s really true…!”
Beyond the wall lay the civilian residential district.
Most of the knights guarding the wall, the Watchers, and the sentries had been born and raised here.
‘If the Necromancers aimed for this and struck the rear, the soldiers’ own families would…!’
Reaching that point in his thoughts, Korax shook his head, forcing them away.
The worst-case scenario he didn’t even want to imagine.
Young Master Klein, whom he had confined in the annex, had foreseen this and warned them.
“Don’t be too late…! Please…!”
Korax knew how formidable Young Master Klein’s swordsmanship was.
And that he used the unfamiliar power called necromancy.
Even so, Korax couldn’t easily put his mind at ease.
‘No matter how exceptional he is, he can’t overcome numerical superiority. And if they’re this troublesome…!’
Recalling the undead that had crossed the wall, Korax ground his teeth.
Ordinary weapons were useless, and only blades imbued with faint power could cut through undead flesh.
Even a glancing scratch from their claws caused severe poisoning, and even if they were killed, their corpses exploded, scattering rotten blood everywhere.
With thousands of such creatures swarming in, the knights left at the wall were all utterly exhausted.
Only himself, Ian, and a few Watchers had belatedly rushed out to help Klein.
“Captain! It’s here!”
A Watcher carrying a crossbow shouted as he pushed aside a patch of undergrowth.
“There was a tunnel in a place like this?”
“Huh…! If this goes wrong…!”
The tunnel at the location Klein had indicated.
The moment he confirmed it, Korax felt his vision go white.
“The smell of blood…. The smell of dead blood.”
“Tch!”
The first to throw himself into the underground passage was Ian.
“It’s dangerous! We don’t know what’s inside…!”
“What do you mean what’s inside! There’s just one half-dead brat in there!”
At Ian’s shout cutting off the Watcher, Korax also hurled himself underground.
“Kgh?!”
The moment they entered, a thick stench of blood assaulted them.
Forcing down his anxiety, Ian ran deep into the underground passage.
“Don’t you dare be dead, you damn nephew…!”
Muttering that to himself, after running for quite some time, what Ian felt was the faint breathing of a boy.
“You’re… later than I expected.”
Hoo.
Only after hearing that voice did he finally feel at ease.
Klein was leaning against one wall of the cave, calling out to him.
After checking the surroundings through magical fluctuations, Ian sucked in a hollow breath.
“You blocked all of this…. by yourself?”
Fifteen massive ragged undead.
Twenty small, feral beast-like monsters.
And roughly a hundred zombies, along with twenty Necromancers controlling them.
“The heat went to my head too much…. I overdid it a bit. I used demonic energy far too excessively….”
As he said that much, Klein’s head slumped to the side.
Catching his body in a hurry, Ian saw the boy’s shoulders rise and fall with faint breaths.
“Ian-nim, are you alright?”
Entering the passage right after was Captain Korax.
“Gasp…!”
Holding a torch as he stepped into the underground passage, he was struck speechless by the sea of blood before his eyes.
“Nearly a battalion-sized force, all by himself…!”
If it were a one-on-one duel, Korax was confident he could defeat Klein.
Even if necromancy and swordsmanship were combined, he had the magic power and sword skills to dismantle them all.
But if he were told to face that undead horde Klein had fought, alone?
He couldn’t guarantee it.
‘Even if I had been here instead of Young Master Klein, I couldn’t have held all of them back.’
He was a knight.
Breaking through the enemy formation was possible, but facing an entire group alone was not.
Even if it were possible, they wouldn’t leave it that way.
They could draw attention with a small number of monsters and lead the remaining forces to the civilian residential district.
But Klein was different.
His fighting style was that of a one-man army.
A method optimized for group combat, capable of holding back an entire army alone.
If it hadn’t been him, the civilian residential district would have already….
“When he wakes up, there will be a lot to say. Don’t you think?”
Carrying the unconscious Klein on his back, Ian straightened up.
“…Yes. That seems likely.”
Only after a long while did an answer finally escape Korax’s mouth as he mulled over the battlefield.
In Korax’s gaze as he looked at the limp Klein, the hostility from before could no longer be found.
When I opened my eyes, the familiar herbal scent of the temporary infirmary tickled my nose.
“You’re awake!”
Along with Pai’s urgent voice, I heard the sound of someone hurriedly leaving the room.
“Ugh, my head….”
Clutching my throbbing head, I pushed myself up from where I lay.
My vision was blurred as if covered by a black veil, and the ceaseless haunting of the dead rang in my ears.
They were side effects that appeared when operating demonic energy beyond the allowable limit.
‘Looks like I really let the heat get to me.’
Tracing back my memories, I recalled why I was lying here.
I had clearly heard some bullshit about the Akimond Order, blown my top, and rampaged like a mad dog.
Then, from the backlash, I had been sitting there and lost consciousness….
“C-can you drink?”
As I steadied my hazy mind, a cup of herbal tea appeared before me along with Pai’s voice.
“Yes. Thank you.”
I said that as I accepted the teacup and held a warm sip of tea in my mouth.
The body that had been tightly wound with tension loosened, and a languid fatigue wrapped around my entire body.
“Uh, um….”
While I was enjoying that long-awaited rest.
Pai, who had been stammering, suddenly stood up from her seat and bowed her head toward me.
“Th, thank you!”
“……?”
As I stared at her blankly, not understanding what was going on, Pai hurriedly added an explanation.
“Th-the civilian residential district that you protected, Young Master, my family was there. My mom, and my little brother….”
“Oh, was that so?”
Only then did I understand the reason for her thanks, and I waved my hand while bringing another sip of tea to my lips.
‘Normally, I would’ve made a show of telling her to praise me more….’
I gazed emptily at the tea flowing in the cup.
Those who had turned Northerners into undead and assaulted the wall.
They bore my name, worshipped me, and devoured my knowledge.
‘If I think about it another way, the responsibility for creating them also lies with me.’
I knew it was an excessive leap.
They were merely captivated by my fame and power, and what lay inside them was worlds apart from me.
Even so, it wasn’t something I could just shake off so easily.
For those who had been sacrificed by them, the name Akimond would have become a scar they could never erase for the rest of their lives.
“……Fuck.”
I muttered the curse under my breath and set the teacup down.
Creeeak.
“Have you awakened, Young Master.”
Along with the creaking sound of a wooden door, a pitch-black giant revealed himself.
Captain of the Big Raven Knights, Korax.
He approached in silence, accompanied by Watchers, the vice-captain, and several knights.
The men clad in black leather armor advancing all at once were overwhelmingly intimidating.
“Alright, alright! I get it! It’s because I ran off on my own, right? I don’t care anymore, do whatever you want! House arrest or exile…!”
Eyes resolute, as if heading into a battlefield.
As I jumped to conclusions while looking at that gaze and spoke up to that point—
Clack!
With the sound of greaves colliding, the knights surrounding me all dropped to one knee at once.
“……?”
No, seriously, the healer, these knights—why does everyone act before explaining?!
You should at least tell me why you’re doing this!
“Thanks to Young Master’s devotion, those living in the civilian residential district were able to remain safe.”
Korax spoke on behalf of the knights kneeling before me.
“For failing to recognize this and confining Young Master. For attempting to isolate Young Master due to my narrow-minded thinking…. As the captain of the Big Raven Knights, I offer my deepest apology.”
“…Uh, it’s fine as long as you understand.”
I accepted Korax’s apology with an awkward smile.
So basically, ignoring a superior’s orders and running off, talking back in disobedience—everything was being swept under the rug, right?
That alone was more than enough.
At the very least, I wouldn’t get nagged by Heinkel when I got back.
Just as I was thinking that.
Srrrng—!
Suddenly, Korax drew the sword from his waist and handed it to me.
“…And what is this supposed to be?”
As I asked in a daze, Korax, his expression stiff, slowly opened his mouth.
“I know that even apologizing a hundred times would not be enough for the sin of treating the wall’s benefactor so carelessly. Therefore….”
“Therefore?”
At my question, he slowly rolled up his right sleeve and extended his arm.
“Please cut it off.”
….
…….
……….
Hey, you crazy bastard, what?
I stared blankly at the sword in my hand and looked around.
“….”
“…….”
The knights, the vice-captain, even Pai—who I had trusted the most—none of them said a word.
No, in Pai’s case, she was actually holding hemostatic powder and bandages in her hands while desperately holding back tears.
‘Hey, aren’t you going to stop him? Do I really have to cut it off?’
Clutching at straws, I looked around for where Ian should be, but this old man was nowhere to be seen at a critical moment.
‘This is driving me insane. What the hell am I supposed to do….’
It didn’t seem like I could just refuse and brush it off.
Judging by the atmosphere, if I said I wouldn’t cut it, they looked ready to cut it themselves.
After much agonizing while holding Korax’s sword.
‘…Ah, right. That’ll work, won’t it?’
As a thought flashed through my mind, I stood up from my seat with the sword in hand.
‘Damn, my head….’
Whether it was the lingering shock from overusing demonic energy, or because these lunatic knights were completely overturning common sense.
Clutching my throbbing head, I raised the hand holding the sword.
Korax closed his eyes, seemingly relieved.
And the very next moment….
Crack—!
As the sound of the bluish blade piercing wood rang out, Pai, who was watching, squeezed her eyes shut.
But when no sound of flesh being cut nor the stench of blood followed, all the other knights opened their eyes and looked at me.
The sword was embedded not in Korax’s arm, but piercing straight through the wooden floor.
“Nothing to gain from it, so why the hell would I cut off your arm? I don’t want to, bastard.”
While everyone was left speechless by the unexpected turn of events.
I lowered myself to bring my eyes level with Korax’s and spoke to him.
“Your arm’s fine. Just give me something equivalent instead. Then this matter’s over.”
If the person involved drew the line like that, the knights couldn’t very well object.
“…What do you want?”
As Korax asked, seemingly having reached a conclusion himself, I immediately told him what had come to mind.
“I’m planning to go outside the wall, and I need a guide.”
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