[I can't tell you how suffocating it's been!]
Bark, wrapped in black smoke, laughed heartily and shouted.
[Finally, I can show you the appearance of a brave knight!]
Every time Jigor flapped his wings, the black smoke grew denser.
[It's been so long since I've drawn my sword.]
With a sigh of admiration, Minte lightly shook his body. The black smoke shot upward like flames.
[Hehe, is it because everyone is young? Your blood is running hot.]
[And Ganik, are you too old to even hold a sword?]
[Tristan, seems you've forgotten who appreciated your sword.]
Glaring at the bickering Ganik and Tristan, Palides swept the black smoke aside with his hand.
[I don't understand why everyone is so excited about such hideous appearance.]
The thick black smoke scattered, and my enormous knights revealed themselves, filling the clearing that had felt unusually wide. Though their physiques, sizes, and appearances differed slightly, they all wore black armor and rode black horses.
And in place where heads should have been, hazy smoke billowed in black wisps as well.
They stood in line on either side of me, displaying their majestic presence. Whenever the knights moved slightly, the heavy sound of iron armor and eerie friction resonated.
[Captain retrieved the key to Belladia Castle, so it seems we've become stronger too!]
Jigor shouted aggressively as he pulled his horse's reins. The black horse he rode stomped its front hooves and snorted.
Minte, who was usually calm and rational, also seemed excited as he swung his sword through the air a couple of times and stretched his wrists.
"D-D-Dullahan...?"
Seeing the attackers' faces frozen white, I naturally felt pleased. Standing upright and gazing at them, I narrowed my eyes and smiled broadly.
"I thought I found a relatively wide clearing, but it feels narrower than expected."
When I spoke calmly, Fresci looked at me with a pale face. His eyes, which had been arrogant all along, were now filled with deep fear.
"The rampant evil..."
It was somewhat amusing that they were frozen, not even attempting to flee.
'After branding me as undead, did they not imagine such a scene?'
I tilted my head back and looked up at the sky.
It was a clear sky without a single cloud. There were no large, dense trees, so it was a place where one could be thoroughly soaked in the pouring sunlight.
Though it was a dark and damp forest, the circular clearing where I and my knights stood felt bright and warm, as if a blessing was descending.
"I worked hard to find this clearing, how about showing a more novel reaction?"
"...A real undead who commands monsters."
Someone must have dropped the sword they were holding, as the sound of a sword hitting the ground was heard. Just from my knights revealing their true forms, they were this terrified.
I found it a bit boring. I had expected them to have quite a bit of spirit since they confidently surrounded me.
I pouted my lips and sat on a rock I had spotted earlier. I happened to make eye contact with a baby lizardman that had just poked its head out of the bushes.
"Come here."
The baby lizardman, blinking its large eyes, trotted over to me.
[Kyu!]
[Boss, this might be too violent a scene to show to a child...]
Ganik expressed his concern in a worried voice. I smiled at such Ganik, stroked the baby lizardman's head, and spoke.
"Then we should handle it quickly and neatly, considering the child's eyes."
The baby lizardman didn't seem to have any intention of hiding in the bushes.
Actually, I expected that, which is why I had brought finely chopped meat for the child to eat.
I took out the meat pouch I had prepared and gave it to the baby lizardman, who then sat down right next to me.
It's a bit regrettable that I didn't bring snacks for myself to eat, but at least one of us won't be bored.
"Now then, shall we bravely face the rampant evil?"
Sitting with my legs crossed, stroking the baby lizardman, I shifted my gaze to the enemies.
"Ah, of course, the evil is you."
I didn't forget to smile especially at Fresci standing in the middle.
* * *
Samuel, who had been staring blankly at the quiet and peaceful Lindea River, suddenly raised his eyes.
Across the river, a forest filled with dense and thick trees was visible.
The forest seen from where Samuel stood looked as peaceful as the Lindea River. However, Samuel's gaze at that forest was not so.
Samuel, who had tightly pressed his lips into a line, stood motionless and gazed at the opposite side for a long while.
Force was applied to his hands behind his back, enough to draw blood. An indescribable emotion crossed his face.
His legs twitched several times, as if he wanted to rush out at any moment.
But in the end, or perhaps ultimately.
He didn't move a single step from where he stood. He only applied strength to his innocent fists.
* * *
Actually, there was no need to mobilize all the Dullahans.
At most, deploying about two of them would have been enough to handle everything.
Nevertheless, I summoned all the Dullahans from the bracelet because Fresci, who had been following me around doing Lilia's bidding, was so annoying.
Also, the grudge from the past when he deceived me while on Lilia's side added to it.
"This will look like a monster attack to anyone."
Getting rid of the annoying tail that had been following me, and also persuading the Emperor who was going on about magic and whatnot after being swayed by nonsense.
I deliberately smashed a few surrounding trees in a convincing way, so that anyone who discovers this place later will not doubt it was the work of monsters.
And actually, that's correct. Dullahans are monsters, right?
"If he has any sense, he won't attach people to me anymore."
I crossed my arms and looked at the corpses, then clicked my tongue and turned around.
Since Lilia has no sense, she'll definitely send someone to tail me again. But it will be hard to find someone as capable as Fresci, so it'll be much easier to shake them off.
It was truly fortunate that I could dispose of Fresci, the most troublesome among the people Lilia employed, in this way.
Moreover, this guy had many subordinates planted in the imperial palace and was someone who had assisted during the succession dispute, so I had been waiting for an opportunity to deal with him.
'Since I took out the leader first, cleaning up the strings should be easy.'
So Heinri should be able to handle that much on his own.
[Minte is still strong, just as I love...!]
[Shut up, Bark.]
Minte, who kicked away the loudly charging Bark, looked down at his sword.
[But really, there were only numbers, nothing special.]
Minte, who had been happy saying it had been a while since he held a sword, seemed disappointed that the situation ended without even swinging his sword a few times.
At Minte's words, Jigor said in a cold voice.
[They were just an ant colony with only numbers!]
[Don't ignore ants! Jigor, ants are amazing insects that can lift 30 times their body weight!]
Tristan immediately retorted. Then Palides interjected with a lukewarm voice.
[...Tristan, have you been meeting the queen ant lately?]
[Ah, no... I got lost in an anthill and happened to enter the queen ant's room...]
What does getting lost in an anthill even mean? And he happened to enter the queen ant's room?
In the first place, how does a hornet enter an anthill?
Even to me, the words were absurd. Ganik, who had long since transformed into a sea turtle and was being held by the baby lizardman, sighed.
[Don't listen to such useless talk. You should only hear good words and grow.]
[Kyu!]
[By the way, did you eat a lot of meat earlier? You need balanced meals to be healthy.]
[Kyuu...]
What exactly is a balanced meal for a lizardman? Various meats? Surely they don't eat seaweed too?
My mind was completely lost in the Dullahans' chattering after a long time. Still, I also felt glad inwardly.
Leaving the imperial palace and mansion that were like walking on thin ice and being out in the forest like this reminded me of my wandering days.
'It would be perfect if Zenon and Nesi were here.'
Come to think of it, it's been too long since I saw Nesi. If Nesi were here, she would have clicked her tongue politely, saying the group was too noisy.
As I was settling the rising regret, the Dullahans who had been chattering noisily transformed one by one.
Only dug ground, broken trees, puddles of blood, and cold corpses remained in the clearing.
I glanced at the terribly changed clearing scenery and moved my steps toward the forest.
"Now I need to find Nadev quickly. Tristan, any news from the insects?"
[I was just about to say that I stopped by a nearby hive earlier and asked for cooperation!]
Because of the Dullahans, the animals in this forest had all fled long ago. Only the insects remained, so I was making inquiries through Tristan, but no useful information had come in yet.
"Don't worry, Captain. Nadev must have found another knight and captured him."
I nodded in agreement with Palides' words.
Nadev is serious, so if he met a new knight, I think he would have persuaded them well and kept them with him.
What I'm curious about is the power that put the Empress to sleep. Whether it's the power of the newly appeared knight, or another monster, or a third possibility I couldn't even imagine.
"I said that because I retrieved Belladia's key, you all became stronger too, right?"
[Yes! We are the Captain's vassals! Of course we're influenced by the Captain's power!]
Jigor, who had been happy saying he became stronger earlier, answered confidently. Jigor, who had returned as a bulbul, circled around me and diligently explained how much stronger he had become.
I listened quietly to his explanation and slowly spoke.
"By any chance, was there a knight who could use magic due to my influence?"
The answer to my question came from Minte, who was lying leisurely on Bark's back.
[There was a knight who was temporarily allowed to borrow a portion of the Captain's authority.]
At Minte's words, Jigor shouted brightly as if pleased.
[Ah, Mori!]
Mori?