Chapter 49
"…."
Aum blinked his eyes and stroked his chin as though deep in thought. And a few seconds later, he smiled.
"Ahh, this, my goodness. I need to relay the information...!"
He pressed his forehead with exaggerated theatrics and glanced to the side. It was the spot where the Skeleton had already vanished.
"But there's no one to send!"
"…?"
While everyone was bewildered by Aum's awkward, contrived behavior, Aum Rinia looked at Kudan with a smile.
"Kudan."
"…?"
"Put the Berserker Corps on standby."
The Berserker Corps.
It was a corps created under Loki's command as Asgard was established.
It was Aum Rinia's direct unit and an elite corps created by Loki's skillbook.
It was also humanity's mightiest corps, comprised of over one hundred members, all capable of wielding divine artifacts.
"Why them...?"
"I must go and greet him. Who else would I entrust with such an important duty? I must personally escort His Holiness back."
"…Don't you actually just want to run away, brother?"
"Shut up! I'm on the verge of death from overwork! Besides, if I go in such grand fashion, His Holiness will have no choice but to return! No matter how willful he is, would he refuse to come when the elite corps moves like this?"
Just who was the willful one here?
Everyone gathered in the hall had the same thought.
Syaman stepped forward and spoke, looking at Aum.
"What of your duties?"
"Hans will wake up soon. He will help."
"Wouldn't it be too much for him alone?"
"You must help him, Syaman."
Syaman blinked his eyes in bewilderment.
"M-me? As you know, my eyes…."
"You only need to listen and stamp with the seal. Pereu cannot write, but he can read to some extent."
"…."
At those words, Syaman and Pereu stiffened.
Pereu, suddenly finding arrows flying his way, rolled his wits about him and shouted.
"I... brother! Did you not say so yourself? That Asgard's existence must not be revealed! But if you move the Berserker Corps…."
"A group of one hundred is considered mid-sized among mercenary bands. Would that not be sufficient to disguise ourselves as mercenaries?"
"…."
"Besides, there is no need to hide everything entirely. Now is the time to show our strength. And…."
Aum Rinia licked his lips.
"Because we have grown strong enough to go on the offensive, not merely defend."
The nation was gradually stabilizing. Moreover, it was already prepared for invasion. On the contrary, it had built up enough strength to 'invade' the neighboring Kingdom of Ronia.
"Kudan. What is your opinion...?"
Kudan swallowed dryly, looking at the piled-up documents.
"…Very well. Let us prepare at once."
It was Kudan, nodding his head for fear of catching a stray spark.
"Good. The party will consist of me, Kudan, and Kankun as well."
"Your nephew as well?"
"It is the best way to escort him."
Kudan found himself nodding unconsciously at those words.
Aum gave a sly smile and slammed the seal he held onto a parchment. Thick killing intent oozed in his eyes.
"Please wait a moment. I shall go to greet you, Your Holiness!"
***
"…?"
Loki touched the back of his neck and tilted his head.
'Is it just my imagination?'
Feeling a strangely cold chill run down his spine, he shook his head with effort and looked ahead.
He could see a long, winding road. However, it was not a road built by human hands but one formed by countless people repeatedly walking upon it.
Above the road, numerous groups were waiting to pass through the checkpoint.
Most were carrying luggage or pulling carts.
Though their appearances all differed, if there was one thing they shared, it was that their clothes were filthy and their faces haggard with accumulated fatigue.
They were refugees who had suffered from the East-West War of Ronia.
All of them looked at the checkpoint with anxious, desperate eyes.
"…So the aftermath of war has reached even this backwater?"
Ash, who was beside him, said while covering himself with rags obtained from somewhere.
At the checkpoint, soldiers guarding the fortress walls and gate were meticulously inspecting each and every person heading toward the territory, taking aside those who looked suspicious.
The Hareuma Territory was a neutral zone, but not a safe place.
Rather, it was another danger zone that could become a target of either Western Ronia or Eastern Ronia.
The reason it had remained safe until now was that it was located at the edge of the Celt mountain range, and because occupying it offered no geographical advantage, neither force felt the need to take the territory.
Knowing this, refugees had flocked here.
As time passed and it became Loki's turn, the soldiers guarding the gate glared at Loki with wary expressions.
A man wearing a crow mask and covered in rags, and a hooded girl to boot….
Truly a strange combination.
The soldiers could not be very wary of the girl, but they had no choice but to block Loki and Ash.
"W-what… brings you here?"
Seeing the soldier ask with an extremely tense face, Loki was inwardly surprised.
'He's young?'
At most, he looked like a boy soldier of sixteen or seventeen.
Even so, he wore a green surcoat over the leather armor of the regular army uniform.
The boy pressed a leather helmet deep onto his head and placed his hand on the longsword at his waist.
Most of the other soldiers around were sturdy adult men, but they too watched Loki no differently than the boy.
Unlike the other refugees, Loki's appearance truly looked suspicious.
"I am an herbalist. I stopped by the territory to rest and sell medicine."
It was not a lie.
In Loki's case, he didn't need to sleep, but he wanted to avoid sleeping outdoors.
Because the forest weather was fickle, and rain could fall at any moment.
"H-hey, an herbalist?"
The soldiers looked at each other.
"He says he's an herbalist."
"Then, shall we let him pass…"
"No, in this urgent situation we can't trust just anyone. Do you know how many died because of swindlers running around just yesterday?"
Loki let out a hollow laugh upon seeing the soldiers.
Judging by their reaction, it seemed swindlers posing as herbalists had caused some trouble.
"Do you carry a token that proves your identity?"
"A token proving my identity?"
There was no way he had such a thing.
He was thinking of offering a bribe, but...
"…Bribes won't work."
…said the soldier, giving him a look.
Loki smacked his lips.
'What to do?'
Loki looked at Ash beside him, but he too seemed to have no clear solution.
It was just then.
A middle-aged man who appeared wealthy and a child were moving to undergo inspection.
At that moment, perhaps tired from the arduous journey, the child tripped over his feet and fell flat.
With a clattering sound, the child's pants ripped and his knee flared red.
"Waaah!"
Startled by the child's cry, Saelleot approached the child.
And when she took out an herb from her pocket and applied it to the child's leg, the child's father beside her was startled and enveloped the child, shouting.
"W-what are you doing!"
Saelleot shrank back when the child's father shouted.
It had been a good deed simply to help an injured person, but the man glared at Saelleot as though unaware of that fact.
"N-no, I just…."
As Saelleot stepped back, the sniffling child tilted his head and looked at the medicine applied to his knee.
The pain at the wounded area began to gradually subside.
Feeling this, the child looked at Saelleot, and upon seeing the long ears inside her hood, the child's eyes sparkled with wonder.
"…A fairy?"
"…?"
"Dad! My leg doesn't hurt! Amazing! A fairy! The fairy healed it!"
When the child pointed at Saelleot and spoke, Saelleot pulled her hood down even deeper.
Because she knew well what reaction ordinary humans would show upon seeing her.
The child's father hadn't seen them, but at the child's words, he could see the green medicine applied to the knee.
"This is…."
"…It's a medicinal herb. It soothes pain and removes scars."
At Saelleot's words, the child's father realized his mistake.
And his face turned pale.
Medicine was precious.
Especially medicine with such immediate effect would obviously be an expensive drug used by nobles.
Refugees who had abandoned their homes in wartime could not possibly have money to buy such precious medicine.
"M-money, we don't have any! Who asked you to treat him? Hng!"
Rather than being grateful for the help, he got angry, causing Saelleot to frown.
'This is why humans!'
Even when you help them, this is what you get.
Who wanted money? She merely helped because the small child was crying and it was pitiful! Instead of thanks, he got angry!
It was when the angry Saelleot was about to use her divine artifact.
Someone pressed down on Saelleot's head.
"…?"
"What did this child do wrong?"
It was Loki.
The child's father flinched upon seeing Loki's crow mask.
"N-no, it's just…."
"She offered help, yet you get angry instead."
"W-we didn't ask for help…."
Loki raised his head.
Red eyes inside the crow mask looked down at him.
Intimidated by the murderous gaze, the child's father lowered his head in fear.
"I-I'm sorry!"
And he fled with the child.
Saelleot watched the departing child and his father, closing her mouth.
Then she suddenly realized she had used the medicine carelessly and gauged Loki's reaction.
"Umm… I'm sorry. For using the medicine carelessly…."
"That medicine is yours. As a borrower, I have no right to tell you what to do."
"…."
"And you did well."
"…?"
Did he just praise her?
Saelleot made a strange expression as she looked at him.
"What will you do?"
Ash had approached at some point and asked Loki.
Though Ash didn't want to stay here long either, the mental fatigue washing over him was unavoidable.
He wanted nothing more than to be able to sleep properly, regardless of reality or anything else.
"It can't be helped. We'll make camp and go straight to Roden Territory."
He intended to make camp without rest and go to Roden Territory.
Just then, a soldier who had been inspecting people approached.
"Excuse me…"
"…?"
"I just saw… it seems you really are an herbalist."
"That is correct."
Though he actually wasn't.
"Then may I ask a favor?"
"…?"
The soldier spoke cautiously while watching Loki's expression.
"Please sell your herbs to our territory."
***
Loki was permitted to enter Hareuma Territory.
Of course, during the process he was searched for suspicious items, but during the search, the soldiers discovered the token of conversion Alex had given him, and they were startled and let him pass without further inspection.
"We're sorry! We had no idea you had received conversion from a Holy Knight of the Holy Order! Please forgive this rudeness!"
Their attitude was remarkably polite.
'They let me off surprisingly easily?'
Loki looked at the token of conversion Alex had given him.
A wooden piece with a [Wood] symbol.
Ash, walking beside him, swallowed dryly as he looked at the token Loki held.
"It's a token of the Holy Order. Moreover, a Holy Knight belonging to the Black Inquisitor!"
"Is it a big deal?"
Loki had no idea how much influence it exerted.
Hearing that, Ash pointed at the token with a dumbfounded expression.
"Don't you know? It's a pass that allows passage in and out of any country without need for identity verification. If you wished, you could even enter the royal palace."
Not only that, but one could receive treatment equal to a Holy Knight in the name of the Holy Order.
Seeing that Loki was unaware of this, Ash spoke with a meaningful expression.
"Don't tell me… did you steal it?"
Loki put it in his inner pocket and said.
"An acquaintance gave it to me."
"An acquaintance? Then are you perhaps someone belonging to the Holy Order?"
"I'm an atheist."
"…."
Ash was at a loss for words at Loki saying it so brazenly.
If a Holy Order official had heard those words, he could immediately be branded a heretic and burned at the stake.
Loki observed Hareuma Territory, a continental city he was visiting for the first time.
Houses built of stacked stones were constructed densely and cramped.
The roadsides were filthy with muddy water and unknown sediment, and in the alleys, emaciated people were cowering or collapsed.
A rotten stench wafted heavily; it was the scenery of a lifeless city.
'Was what Paul said not true?'
According to what Paul's group said, the city was managed by the lord.
He had heard the streets were clean and pristine, with officials separately in charge of managing them.
Yet seeing this….
'Is it the aftermath of war?'
It must be devastated by the war.
Loki turned his gaze elsewhere.
"Hoo… hoo…."
A person wearing a bird-beak mask could be seen exhaling rough breaths.
He seemed to be examining patients, inspecting fallen people at the roadside and offering medicine.
At that sight, others gathered too, but the apothecary shook his head as if he had no more medicine.
Those swarming the apothecary coughed and returned with despairing expressions, or else grabbed the apothecary by the collar as if pleading.
During this process, soldiers patrolling the street were even seen approaching to dissuade them.
'Even if it's not a Worm Pest, it seems disease is spreading.'
Loki looked at Saelleot.
"May I ask a favor."
"…!"
A favor?!
Saelleot's ears perked up.
It was the first time he had asked her for a 'favor'.
"Teach me pharmacology."