by Hiro Ainana
I see. So nobles and priests were met with a Drain curse, while commoners would experience Fear.
Hmm? Wait, so commoners can become knights? …Well, that doesn’t matter right now.
“I set out toward the basement myself at the time of my inauguration, but I was overwhelmed with terror and fled back upstairs.”
…What? So the baron didn’t have control of the City Core?
I opened the map to look at his status, and I found that unlike Count Kuhanou, he didn’t have the Lord title.
Maybe the reason the territory was suffering from a drought was that they couldn’t use the Ritual Magic provided by the City Core.
I checked the path to the City Core on the map. It was unguarded.
I still had Miss Karina’s demon-sealing bell, too. It wouldn’t hurt to check it out. I could even take a stab at lifting the curse while I was at it.
Anyway, all that aside, there was still nobody here who could keep the people of the city from panicking when the demon led the goblins here to attack.
Arisa could probably use her Psychic Magic and generally charismatic nature to calm the public, but that would be a last resort.
Right, what happened to the original magistrate before the demon took his place?
Did the demon possess and kill him, like that Sir Eral guy?
I searched for magistrate on the map but didn’t find anything in the territory, so I asked the baron about it.
“Lord Baron, do you have any idea of where the real magistrate might be?”
“The magistrate… Right, that was that old fellow, I believe. No, wait, he passed away during the epidemic three years ago. So I asked the duke to dispatch a suitable replacement, I think…”
The baron searched his memories. Apparently, he couldn’t remember the magistrate’s name, as if the information had been erased.
I couldn’t say for sure, since the AR display didn’t show any abnormal status conditions, but my hypothesis was that the demon tampered with his memories using Psychic Magic. I’d have to ask Arisa about this later.
They probably wouldn’t appoint a commoner as magistrate, so I searched for nobles on the map.
Other than the baron’s family, there was only one noble in Muno City.
“Are you familiar with someone by the name and title of Viscount Nina Lottel?”
“Nina… Nina the Iron-Blooded? Yes, I know of her. Duke Ougoch sent her to our territory three years ago as a prospective replacement magistrate…”
The baron answered my question smoothly. Then he blinked, and his expression stiffened.
A viscount to be the baron’s magistrate?
I thought viscount was a higher rank than baron… Well, whatever.
“…That’s right. Where is Miss Nina? I do remember holding her hand and asking her to take the old man’s place… When was that…?”
“Most likely, the demon has erased your memories. If Lady Nina is alive, perhaps she is imprisoned?”
On my words, the baron leaped out of the room, hurrying downstairs to rescue Miss Nina.
There were also priests and people with the “Analyze” skill among the prisoners, so if he freed them as well, that should improve our chances in battle.
I took another glance at the battleground as the baron rushed out of the room, only to find that the army and the band of thieves had been annihilated completely, much earlier than I’d predicted.
I was tempted to take off and eliminate the demons myself, but if one of the flying pests got past me and put my kids in danger, it’d be a serious problem.
It was probably better to let the opponent get closer so I could easily return to the city if needed.
It was a little frustrating to wait for the enemy to take the initiative, but I couldn’t fly through the sky or teleport around like some omnipotent hero of legends. I had to keep my priorities in order.
I wasn’t sure whether to follow the baron, but it was possible I could help him take control of the City Core. I sallied forth to the basement stairs that would lead me underneath the castle.
The ornate gate in front of the stairs wasn’t locked, so I opened the door normally and ventured inside.
And as soon as I set foot on the first step…
> Skill Acquired: “Curse Resistance”
> Skill Acquired: “Drain Resistance”
> Title Acquired: Saint
The Saint title must be because I withstood the curse?
Well, whatever. I maxed out the two resistance skills and descended.
Each step sent a cold chill down my spine. If this was what it was like with my skills, no wonder ordinary people couldn’t handle it.
My radar display changed when I was about halfway there, so I used “Search Entire Map” to investigate, but there was only one room at the bottom of the spiral staircase, not a single human or demon to be found.
The solitary room was a dome with a radius of about one hundred and fifty feet, and over a short platform in the center hovered a twenty-sided, luminous blue crystal.
The AR display designated it as City Core: Muno.
The passage to the core was a wide, short set of stairs; except for this pathway, the rest of the area was threaded with waterways where clear water smoothly flowed over glowing blue stones.
The gentle burble of cool water and the soft, steady beat of the City Core had a soothing effect as I traveled along the passage.
When I’d gotten about halfway across, a semitransparent black shadow rose from the floor in the middle of the hallway.
“Intruder. I am a shadow of he who is known as the Undead King Zen. If you be truly pure and noble of heart, show me that you are worthy of being a lord.”
Uh, I’m not a lord, though.
The AR display gave its name as cursed soul. This was probably the essence of the curse, then.
I changed my title to Hero and took out the Holy Sword Gjallarhorn from Storage. This was the Holy Sword I’d inherited from the Undead King Zen and used to send him on to the afterlife.
“Zen has passed on to the next world. That means your role here is done, too.”
I raised the Holy Sword above my head as I spoke to the cursed remnant of its creator.
The Holy Sword Gjallarhorn sliced through the shadow in a trail of blue. As soon as the sword touched it, the soul began to fade away.
I never really found out whether I’d proven myself as a lord or not, but the soul’s expression during the exorcism was peaceful, just like Zen’s.
With that, my work was done. Still, I was already here, so why not take a closer look at the City Core?
“Welcome, O king, ruler over a superior territory. Do you wish to register this land as a satellite city?”
As soon as I walked up to the floating core, a voice issued forth from it. The heavy echoes made it difficult to tell which gender it belonged to.
> Title Acquired: King
> Title Acquired: Nameless King
> Title Acquired: Hero King
> Title Acquired: Lord
Who are you calling a “king”?
I mentally snapped at whoever was responsible for the system messages appearing in my log.
The titles Nameless King and Hero King probably came from my blank name and currently equipped Hero title respectively.
This “superior territory” thing must have been about the Valley of Dragons mana source. The strongest dragon god once ruled it, after all.
“No, I’m not registering anything. The lord of this city is Baron Muno.”
“Search completed. There are three individuals in this land by the name of Muno. Please clarify.”
With the help of the map, I found the baron’s name.
“Mr. Leon Muno.”
“Registration completed. Henceforth, I shall serve Lord Leon Muno.”
“Great, thank you.”
“Acknowledged, O unnamed king.”
It was getting stuffy down there, so I waved good-bye to the core an
d returned to the surface.
Of course, I changed my name and title back to normal when I returned to the Muno Barony territory.
Once I was back upstairs, I continued monitoring the doppelgängers on the map.
The demon had fused back with his doppelgängers to reach level 36 and was now at the battlefield of the soldiers and thieves with one possessed knight and fifteen wraiths.
As I watched, zombies began appearing around the wraiths.
This must be the effect of “Create Servant,” a race-specific ability of the wraiths.
A bunch of monsters had entered the vast stretch of cultivated land in front of Muno City, so I decided I would cremate the lot of them with a barrage of Fire Shots. As long as I did it under cover of nightfall, nobody should find out my identity.
The farthest doppelgänger was still prowling around the hydra den.
Most likely, his goal was to possess a hydra. Well, a bigger target would just be that much easier for me to take down.
The goblins had regrouped and were advancing toward Muno City in three large squadrons.
Demi-goblin lords and demi-goblin tamers had started to appear among them; the goblins might have been raising their levels with cannibalism.
Their names sounded impressive, but they were only level 10 at best, so I should be able to take them all out at once. If they kept this pace, they would arrive before sundown.
“Are you Satou?”
A maid had guided me to a room where a woman in her early thirties sitting up in bed greeted me. Her rugged appearance would be more accurately described as “cool” rather than “beautiful.”
The baron was perched in a chair next to the bed.
I was the only one who’d been summoned there, by the way. Since the goblins would be showing up soon, my kids were busy checking their weapons and armor.
“Sorry you have to see me like this. I’m Nina, the magistrate.”
“Nice to meet you. I’m Satou, a traveling merchant.”
The baron had told me that she’d been imprisoned for almost two years, but her eyes were bright with resolve despite her sunken cheeks, and her husky voice sounded strong. Considering her nickname was “the Iron-Blooded,” she was obviously stout of heart.
I wasn’t sure why the demon hadn’t killed her, but he probably had some evil purpose for it.
“I heard you and your vassals defeated the demon that was nesting in our castle. Thank you.” Miss Nina ducked her head. “So, is it true there are still more demons about?”
“Yes, that is what I was told.”
“I see… Man, if we could use that thing, we could beat ’em without a problem, but…”
At first, I thought she meant the City Core, but apparently, she was referring to the Magic Cannon on the turret.
Just then, a messenger came rushing into the room.
“I have a report, sir! A huge horde of goblins has just been sighted on the edge of the forest!”
“Is it only goblins?”
“They appear to be riding praying mantis monsters, and there was an unidentified quadruped with a cylindrical body among their number, sir.”
I already knew that thanks to my map, of course, but I couldn’t reveal that here.
The goblins were accompanied by a level-27 monster called a rock shooter, which had four legs and the girth of a four-ton truck, as well as some soldier mantises with levels in the upper teens.
The rock shooter had merely been possessed earlier, but now it had been taken over entirely, as its race had changed to Demon. Its only skill was Psychic Magic, so it was probably merely hosting one of the doppelgängers.
Just to be sure, I checked for any other monsters or creatures under the demon’s control in the area.
The remaining possessed knight had lost his body completely and become a demon knight. He was leading a horde of zombies this way. They moved surprisingly quickly, but it would probably still take an hour or two for them to reach the edge of the forest.
The farthest doppelgänger had finally succeeded in possessing a hydra and was flying toward Muno City with two more hydras in tow. They still had a long way to go, but at this rate they would arrive around the same time as the demon knight and the zombies.
It would be wise to start with the rock shooter and the demon knight, then dispose of the hydra hosting the main demon.
I had to be careful of the order of attack, or else the demon might switch out with a doppelgänger just as I was about to defeat him.
Miss Nina sent a messenger to the garrison soldiers and asked the civil official, a young woman waiting anxiously in the next room, to speak to the bureaucracy of the territory.
“I’m going to the observation room. You there, help me out.”
I carried Miss Nina up to the top of the castle.
The baron’s daughters, Hauto, and the kids had all finished checking their arms and assembled there. They were talking and pointing at something past the city gate.
As if to reflect everyone’s anxiety, clouds had gathered to obscure the sun.
“Satou.”
“Masterrr?”
Mia and Tama were the first to notice my arrival and turned toward me.
“Black things are swarming out of the forest, sir!”
Pochi, who’d climbed onto the fence around the observation room, pointed toward the forest as she made her report.
“I’m impressed you could see them from so far away.”
“Soluna let me borrow her longpoke, sir.”
Apparently even Pochi couldn’t make out figures more than four miles away, so they’d used a telescope-like magic tool called a “longscope.”
Miss Nina snatched the longscope from Miss Karina, observing for herself the horde of goblins emerging from the forest.
“There’s so many…”
Miss Nina passed the longscope to the baron, who looked through it and gulped.
Coming to a decision, the baron handed me the longscope as he spoke.
“Lady Nina. I am putting you in charge of this situation.”
That sounded like passing the buck to me, but the baron’s expression was serious, so everyone waited in silence for him to continue.
“I—I am going to claim control of the room in the basement. That is my duty as a l-lord.”
The baron’s voice trembled as he finished speaking.
Miss Nina seemed to be the only one who understood the situation, as his daughters just responded with confusion.
“…If it isn’t possible, turn back right away,” said Miss Nina.
Encouraged, the baron headed toward the basement, accompanied by a maid.
Miss Soluna tried to follow him, but Miss Nina stopped her.
As I saw the baron off, I noticed something strange on the map.
Miss Nina asked a different maid on standby in the room to arrange a lifeline and bell to facilitate the baron’s safe return. If the sound of the bell stopped, a manservant would be waiting at the entrance to the basement to pull the lifeline.
Once she’d finished giving these instructions, I approached her.
“Lady Nina, pardon me, but I have a question…”
“What is it?”
“Did you order an evacuation out of the city?”
“…What are you talking about?”
Miss Nina accepted the longscope from me to survey the entrance to the city.
“The main gate of the outer wall is open?”
A few high-ranking government officials and military officers were gathered near the gate, along with their families.
They were escaping from Muno City with an escort of soldiers along the main road toward the Ougoch Duchy.
There were no soldiers at the open gate, leaving Muno City completely defenseless against the goblin horde rushing toward it.
“This simply won’t do. We must go and close the gate!” Miss Karina cried.
“Karinaaa?”
“It’s dangerous to go alone, sir!”
Miss Karina rushed out of the room, and Tama and Pochi looked to me pleadingly.
“Let me go! I shall protect your sister, Lady Soluna.”
“You mustn’t, Hauto. You’re injured, aren’t you?”
Hauto brandished the fake Holy Sword in one hand.
True, his injured arm would probably be a hindrance. I handed him a good-quality lesser recovery potion to fix the bone fracture and went to protect Miss Karina myself.
“Sir Hauto, please protect Lady Soluna and Lady Nina. We’ll take care of the rest.”
“…All right. Make sure Lady Karina is safe.”
Hauto gripped my hands fervently. I nodded at him and the others, then left the room with my kids.
Lulu came along, too, of course. She was bad at combat, but it’d probably be more dangerous to leave her at the castle.
While we galloped on horseback down the main street, a stampede of townspeople came rushing toward us, meaning the goblins had invaded.
If Mia used the Balloon spell to push them aside, someone would probably get hurt.
“Arisa, I’m counting on you.”
“Okeydoke! …Repellent Field Kihi Kuukan!”
Once Arisa’s Psychic Magic had done its work, the fleeing citizens gave us a wide berth as if we were repugnant to them.
With a clear line of sight, we could see Miss Karina fighting alone and a handful of citizens who’d been caught and pushed down by goblins.
Countless monsters surrounded Miss Karina, but Raka’s powerful protection and Strength Enhancement kept her from being overwhelmed, so her tremendous bust was as peerless as ever.
Up close, the goblins looked like the devils you might see in a painting of hell, with hairless black skin and green blood that made for a truly monstrous presence.
Despite being humanoid, they didn’t seem to have language, since hearing their gurgling shrieks didn’t net me a new linguistic skill.
Since they were monsters not demi-humans, there was no point in holding back.
“Mia, Tama, take aim. These guys are monsters, not people. It’s okay to kill them.”
“Mm.”
“’kaaay.”
I left the reins to Lulu, who was riding the horse with me, and started firing my short bow at the goblins.
