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~Chapter 35~
An Astonishing Woman
A knock sounded, followed by Lina’s voice.
Blair closed the book she had been reading.
“Come in.”
The moment Blair gave permission, Lina entered the study.
With the solemn expression of someone carrying an important mission, Lina approached and held out a letter to Blair.
“It’s a letter from the guild.”
It was the news she had been waiting for.
Blair placed the book she had been holding back in its place and unfolded the letter.
In case someone else might see it along the way, the letter omitted any information about the sender or recipient and only briefly wrote the message that needed to be delivered.
[We have discovered the source of the sentence you previously ordered us to investigate.
That sentence is…]
As Blair read down the letter, her eyes began to tremble aimlessly.
* * *
“It’s coming!”
A knight’s voice echoed through the quiet winter forest.
At the same time, from far away the ground split with a cracking sound as something approached.
There was something enormous beneath the ground.
And standing directly in the path of that charging thing was Herdin.
Watching it approach with cold eyes, Herdin thrust the sword he was holding into the ground.
A blue magic circle spread out from the sword.
It was a freezing spell, but instead of casting it on the surface, he had directed it underground.
Beneath the magic circle, sharp ice that burrowed into the earth stabbed the thing hiding beneath the ground as it approached.
Then a gigantic demonic beast shaped like a worm burst out onto the surface.
“Now!”
At the order of the knight commander, the knights who had been hiding in the forest fired their crossbows all at once.
Dozens of crossbow bolts with cords made from twisted thin steel wire embedded themselves into the beast’s body.
The beast twisted its enormous body to shake them off and dive back underground, throwing several knights away, but it was impossible to throw off dozens of grown men.
The knights gritted their teeth to withstand the monster’s strength.
“Gah!”
One of them failed to endure the force and was flung away.
The beast opened its huge mouth to swallow the knight.
The moment the terrified knight froze—
Herdin appeared in an instant, grabbed the knight first, and hurled him toward the forest.
Then he quickly formed another magic circle and stepped on it to move.
In the blink of an eye he reached the worm’s head and swiftly severed it.
There was not a single wasted motion.
The monster, cut into two pieces, writhed as its head began regenerating the body and the body began regenerating the head.
At that moment, swords made of light appeared in the air.
The blades of light rained down on the beast’s body like a torrential downpour.
The knights watched in renewed admiration at the sight of him fighting, something they had already seen countless times.
Magic required extreme concentration, which made it difficult to use while moving.
For the same reason, it was impossible to cast more than one spell at a time.
Yet Herdin not only moved continuously while using magic, he even cast spells consecutively.
Anyone who saw it had no choice but to admit it.
A power that surpassed human limits.
Landing lightly, Herdin drove his sword into the monster’s head lying on the ground.
When the beast’s heart lodged at the center shattered, both the body and the head stopped moving.
Seeing this, the knights finally let out breaths of relief.
The battle was over.
Herdin sheathed his sword and looked down at his palm.
He could feel the mana within his body moving.
‘Since the New Year Festival, there haven’t been any abnormalities.’
Ever since the problem with his mana control during the New Year Festival, he had been periodically checking his condition, but there had been no particular issues.
Even after searching through magic books, he had not found a single case where mana temporarily vanished and then returned.
He could not reveal such an unstable condition to others.
His weakness would become Delmark’s weakness.
All he could do was observe it carefully and figure out the state of his body himself.
‘There have been many irritating things lately.’
His abnormal mana condition, and the visions he saw while fully awake.
“Your Grace.”
A squire approached the deep-in-thought Herdin and handed him a towel.
Herdin wiped away the demonic beast’s fluids splattered on his body.
Meanwhile, the squires began collecting the beast’s corpse.
Hunting demonic beasts came with enormous danger, but their corpses were valuable, so arrogant monster hunters often entered their territory in search of profit.
And sometimes, like today, they would end up luring monsters all the way to the villages.
“That beast was practically already caught by us.
We dealt the damage, so it ended like this.”
Herdin looked at the culprits of the incident—who had been begging for their lives just moments ago but were now stepping forward to claim credit—with a disdainful gaze.
‘They should take responsibility and become the monster’s food.’
But there was no need for him to step in.
The knight commander, who was already used to dealing with monster hunters in the north, would handle it.
After returning the towel to the squire, Herdin quietly stared at the beast’s corpse being collected.
After killing, the feeling always turned foul.
Whether the opponent was an enemy or a demonic beast.
He had taken countless lives over more than ten years and thought he had grown used to it.
So why did it feel unpleasant again?
As he pondered the reason, Herdin suddenly thought of Blair.
The woman in his arms had been warm.
The skin pressed against his had been soft, and the heart beneath her chest—small like its owner—had beaten vigorously.
Being alive was something so miraculous.
A fact he had always known now felt new again.
Perhaps that was why the deaths he caused with his own hands now felt unpleasant.
He wanted to return quickly.
To the mansion where that woman with such miraculous life was waiting.
As Herdin turned toward the horse he had tied up, he saw Ruth approaching.
And behind him were several faces he was not pleased to see.
The Imperial Knights.
At their center was the vice-commander leading them.
“Oh my, while we stopped by the temple to bring a priest…
You’ve already taken down that big one?
As expected of the Delmark knights, the natural enemies of demonic beasts!”
He praised the Delmark knights with exaggerated surprise.
At least, that was how it appeared.
Herdin looked at him with indifferent eyes.
He knew the Imperial Knights had deliberately arrived late.
It was always like this.
If civilian lives hadn’t been at stake, he would have ignored whatever happened to the Imperial Knights.
“Well then, it’s a good thing we killed it just a little earlier.
Otherwise we might have seen the imperial crest you’re wearing come out of that worm’s rear end.”
At Herdin’s clearly sarcastic remark, the atmosphere immediately turned cold.
The vice-commander’s expression stiffened for a moment before he quickly recovered and laughed heartily.
“Haha, our knights aren’t that incompetent.
After all, we are the Imperial Knights.”
“Oh, I know very well how capable you are.
You always bring the priests at such perfect timing.”
“….”
“Go ahead and hurry the wounded back to the village.
That’s another thing you’re good at.”
It was a remark that treated the Imperial Knights like attendants responsible for cleaning up afterward.
Unable to hide his displeased expression any longer, the vice-commander turned away from Herdin and began giving orders to the Imperial Knights.
Standing beside Herdin, Ruth clicked his tongue while watching them leave.
“What a waste of taxes.”
Herdin watched the Delmark knights being treated and held out his hand to Ruth.
“Our wounded?”
Understanding the meaning immediately, Ruth cut a cigar and placed it in Herdin’s hand.
Then he lit it and replied,
“Five in total, but they’re only minor injuries. Nothing you need to worry about.”
“What’s today’s schedule?”
“There’s nothing special, but Lord Caligo and his party should arrive around today.
You remember, right?”
Caligo was one of the knights who had fought alongside Herdin on the battlefield, a skilled and loyal subordinate.
Originally stationed at Delmark’s main fortress by Herdin’s order, he was currently coming down to the capital.
“I know.”
In truth, he had only just remembered, but there was no need to say that.
Herdin casually nodded and drew in cigar smoke when he suddenly sensed someone’s presence behind him.
“Um…”
Herdin and Ruth turned around at the same time.
“Oh! It really is Your Grace!
We met once at the temple before—do you happen to remember?”
A silver-haired woman greeted Herdin brightly.
As Herdin exhaled smoke and looked at her with an indifferent face, Blair’s voice from some time ago surfaced in his mind.
‘That priest earlier… she’s the woman you will fall in love with.’
The calm voice that had sounded as if she were speaking about someone else.
Her eyes as well.
Remembering that moment, Herdin’s gaze sank coldly.
He didn’t know her name, but he remembered that face.
A face he couldn’t forget, even if he had no particular desire to remember it.
“I remember.
Priestess.”
Even if he hadn’t remembered, he could have guessed she was a priest simply from her clothing.
But Miela smiled brightly as if she were delighted simply because he had said that.
She was a woman whose emotions showed clearly on her face.
“I’m strangely happy to see you again like this.
Are you injured anywhere?”
“No.”
At his short reply, Miela felt embarrassed but quickly tried to find something else to say.
“How is the place you were treated last time?
May I ask how it’s doing now?”
“It’s fine.
Your healing magic was perfectly flawless.”
Despite the words of praise, Herdin’s eyes—smoking his cigar—were full of boredom.
It meant there was no problem, so she should go on her way, but Miela seemed not to understand the meaning and instead blushed.
“I’m glad.
Since it was an internal injury, and I was very nervous at the time, I was worried that maybe I hadn’t healed you properly…”
“……”
“Ah.
How is the Duchess?
She seemed very shocked that day as well.”
At the familiar title coming from Miela’s mouth, his previously bored expression changed.
