#43: The Doomed Fief’s Dying Lord (43) — The Doomed Fief’s Dying Lord

I dismounted from the horse.

“Young master!”

“It’s fine.”

I waved my hand at Avenger, who tried to stop me.

The room was packed.

The number of manticores filling the room easily exceeded ten.

“Fall back! Regroup in front of the rear door! Signal officer, call for reinforcements immediately! After we link up, retreat once more and execute a pincer attack!”

Alejandro’s judgment was correct.

This was the number of manticores we were facing.

No matter how good Alejandro and his unit were, it would be hard to handle this alone.

But even that precise assessment couldn’t eliminate all casualties.

No matter how fast the signal officer moved, he couldn’t be quicker than the charging manticores.

A single detachment couldn’t withstand the impact of over ten manticores.

This was a tactic that presumed sacrifice.

‘It’s my role to make it not have to be that way.’

I aimed at the new enemies beyond the door.

They were like a tidal wave.

A wave that would mercilessly strike our formation.

“[Mana Transposition: Signal - Coagulate].”

I would turn that into a handful of spray.

“Fire.”

A pulse of mana struck the brow of the first charging manticore.

An explosion.

Shards of mana rained over the shield formation.

A unit expecting the manticore impact was stunned.

The monsters were the same.

When the vanguard literally evaporated, the enemy’s momentum faltered.

But I did not stop.

My two fingers pointed at another enemy.

“Fire.”

-KWAJAZAZAZAZAZAK!

“Fire.”

-KWAJAZAZAZAZAZAK!

In an instant, three manticores became fragments of mana.

Something in my stomach felt queasy.

Whether it was caused by the magic.

Or just my chronic condition.

Well, either way, it didn’t matter.

I only do my job.

“Fire.”

The fourth manticore shattered into fragments.

The surroundings glowed with mana.

In that light, my eyes met Alejandro’s.

He seemed flustered, but he never called my name.

‘Exactly. Father Shane. You’re an A+.’

He turned without hesitation and threw a spear.

His thrown spear pierced the manticore’s flank.

The manticore collapsed.

The enemy’s strength had already fallen to less than half.

Alejandro shouted.

“Retract the previous order! Charge! Cut off the original’s lifeline!”

Soldiers surged into the room.

When four or five Denabi warriors swarmed a single manticore, even a manticore was helpless.

They fell one by one.

The only one left was the original, still with color in its face.

Only that one remained.

Alejandro ordered the other soldiers to fall back.

He faced the original alone.

In his left hand was a sword; in his right, two spears overlapped.

Suddenly he flung one spear up toward the ceiling.

At the very moment the spinning spear in the air held the eye,

he threw the remaining spear in his hand.

At the original manticore.

The original didn’t loosen its tension.

It moved quickly to dodge the spear.

Its movements were surprisingly nimble for its bulk.

But the original that landed after dodging faced the second thrown spear.

The spear pierced exactly through the original’s left armpit.

Two thrown spears in an instant.

They were lightning-fast.

Alejandro had leaped into the air and caught the second spear and thrown it before the first even landed.

It was a motion that drew gasps.

But Alejandro neither relaxed nor forgot his duty.

He charged the original himself.

The original resisted.

Even with a spear in its vital spot, the manticore was still a threatening beast.

Alejandro slid his sword aside to avoid its foreleg.

With that simple maneuver, the manticore’s foreleg was cleanly severed.

The following second move was also concise.

The blade drew a clean arc.

-THUD

The original’s head dropped in an instant.

There were no triumphant cheers.

They were warriors who had served Denabi’s lord for many years.

This was nothing surprising to them.

The unit’s gaze moved elsewhere.

At the intersection of those gazes was me.

Alejandro approached me.

As he came, he called to his aide.

“Send soldiers to cancel the request for reinforcements. And seize the signal officer to obtain the battle report and route. We’ll advance to [0, 8].”

“Understood.”

Alejandro’s voice gripped his aide once more.

“Wait, Sigrun.”

“Yes.”

“We didn’t see this wrong, did we?”

“No. It was that exact magic.”

The middle-aged warrior called Sigrun nodded.

She seemed about Alejandro’s age.

Even as she left, she kept looking at me.

As if trying to find someone else within me.

Finally Alejandro stood before me.

He looked at me with his father’s eyes.

But his face still bore the expression of a warrior.

He laid a hand on my shoulder.

“So it was you after all.”

It was a moment of unavoidable recognition.

I looked him squarely in the face.

“Yes. I did it.”

“…”

Silence followed.

Two seconds, or maybe three?

It was very brief.

His conflict and duty were probably a mountain.

But with iron will he severed all of it.

On the battlefield he could not be a father.

He was a commander who bore countless lives on his shoulders.

The words that followed the silence were succinct.

“How did you do it… I won’t ask that now. There’s no time. The fight is still ongoing.”

He only asked this.

“If I tell you to rest, will you?”

“No.”

I shook my head.

He looked pained as he looked at me.

I thought he would immediately order the soldiers to bind me and send me back to Denabi Castle.

But what he said next was nothing like what I expected.

“Take care of yourself.”

I watched his back as he left.

Guilt welled up.

‘I’m sorry, Father Shane. For handling your son so roughly.’

It wasn’t something I could say aloud.

He drove his unit and returned to the operation.

The time he spent with me was barely around a minute.

After the unit left, I went to Avenger and the horse.

But then a headache hit.

“Wait…”

I sensed it.

This was not an ordinary pain.

No, no, no, no, no!

I couldn’t hold back and screamed.

“AAAAAAAH!”

“Young master…!”

A pain like my skull splitting overwhelmed me.

I sank down and rolled.

It was unbearable.

Not pain but terror.

I was terrified.

The fear that my skull would split and a Mana crystal would erupt from it devoured me.

‘Is this the risk?!’

“Ugh, ugh, ugh…”

The pain wouldn’t subside.

Avenger didn’t know what to do.

It took a long time to regain stability.

It was only after that that I could make sounds other than screams.

“…Avenger.”

“Young master! Are you all right?!”

But the one who answered me wasn’t Avenger.

He was Denabi Castle’s physician.

For a moment I doubted whether this was Denabi Castle.

Fortunately, not that much time had passed.

This was room [0, 0].

The doctor looked like a military physician drafted in.

Avenger must have moved me here.

I asked the doctor.

“Is there anything wrong with my head?”

“Yes…?”

He asked back as if he didn’t understand.

I looked into his eyes.

In them my head looked fine.

Probably.

I tried to get up.

The doctor held me back.

“You must remain stable!”

“Why did I faint?”

“We don’t know yet. But if the headache caused you to lose consciousness, it’s clearly serious!”

“How many minutes was I unconscious?”

“About fifteen minutes since you arrived…”

“Avenger… no, the Steward?”

At that the doctor made an awkward face.

“When I said I didn’t know the cause of your fainting…”

“And then?”

“He cursed me as a quack, mounted his horse, and rode off. He must have gone to find another doctor.”

“Puhat… ugh.”

I burst out laughing.

With the laugh, the remaining headache exploded.

“Young master!?”

“No. It was just funny… don’t worry. You’re not a quack.”

I pushed him away and stood up.

“Young master! You have to rest!”

“My, this world is so kind.”

“Look at you. Spouting nonsense… lie down again at once!”

Nonsense, huh.

I’m serious.

This world is really kind.

So many people tell me to rest.

Back in South Korea, everyone was nagging me to work.

I actually feel like confronting you all.

You’ve spent decades stuck in this lousy domain fighting Dungeon after Dungeon.

Aren’t you tired of it?

‘So sometimes hand it off to someone and rest. I finally got an OP skill after all.’

At that moment Ronari ran up to me.

“Young master! What on earth have you been doing…?”

“The battle map cleared up a bit, right? That was actually thanks to me. I learned magic.”

I grinned.

But Ronari’s face contorted.

She shoved me with her arm.

“Ugh…”

I sat back down on the blanket.

She shouted.

“We don’t need that! That kind of thing!”

“What are you doing? I’m still the lord’s son.”

“So what…! This is my painting. Don’t you dare repaint it however you like, young master!”

She was genuinely angry.

“I can do it without you! I’ll lead the operation successfully, casualties will be minimal, everything will go as planned! Why are you getting involved? Pushing yourself that far! Why!”

I glanced at the others.

The staff left without her looked troubled.

What to do.

I think I understood Ronari’s feelings.

They were emotions I’d stirred up.

Jealous of me,

Wanting my approval,

So she wanted to do everything on her own.

‘But sorry. I should accept your feelings… unfortunately now isn’t the time.’

I stood up again.

The remaining headache made me frown.

“Ugh.”

“Didn’t you hear me? Lie down!”

“Hmph. I absolutely won’t.”

“What!?”

Ronari’s composure was gone.

But there was nothing I could do.

‘All I can do is hope Ronari’s common sense comes back home soon.’

“I have work to do. I’ll repaint every picture. Whether it’s your painting, my father’s, or the one who created this world, I’ll redraw it as I please.”

I thumped my chest.

“All the cool scenes are mine. No one can stop me.”

“Why on earth…”

“Why ask when you know.”

I promised you the day I escaped from Limone.

That I’d become a Lord.

That I’d become a great sovereign.

Do you really not know what that means?

“Because I’m going to be the protagonist of this story.”

“Wha…?”

“So if you want to be a supporting character, you’d better stick close.”

And then I passed by her.