chapter 88
Holy War (5)
Black lightning struck from the sky. Hundreds of pitch-black steel swords left deep scars on the gray earth and crushed all the approaching army of monsters.
“What is this…?”
“Ohhh… Black Saint.”
“God, thank you…! thank you!”
The people who were determined to do something desperate cheered, hugged each other, looked up at the sky, and bowed.
From a certain moment, a rumor circulated in the Northwestern countries. All kinds of monsters that started from inside the Kingdom of Gotland gradually invaded the land of humans, and ‘He’ appeared when countless people were moaning in pain.
Seeing a great human who suddenly appeared in the air and wiped out the monsters, and quickly left for another area without receiving any kind of payment or thanks properly, people called him a black saint and worshiped him.
Because it appeared here and there so strangely that it was hard to believe that it was human, many people were curious about its identity, but its existence was still shrouded in a veil.
To be precise, the intelligence departments and high-ranking aristocrats of each country knew about it, but they tried to ignore it. The person who helped them was from the empire, and he was also called the hero of the empire. Rather than simply spreading the truth, he moved busily to figure out what the Black Saint was doing with his intentions.
“There is no end.”
Carol sighed and took out various items for camping from the subspace.
After going around the border of the kingdom of Gotland and wiping out the monsters, he came down to the ground to rest.
“The Black Saint.”
Soo-ryun, who came out of sub-space, looked at Carol and muttered softly.
“…That word is forbidden.”
“huh.”
Soo-ryun nodded slightly with a strange expression. I never thought I’d even hear that I’m a saint. I tried to hold back my laughter, and lit a bonfire by extinguishing the fire.
“It’s warm.”
Su-lily went to the campfire and sat down with her palms. As she moved with Carol, training seemed to open her speech little by little, and she used to say simple words easily.
Carol’s current location was on the outskirts of the Grand Duchy of Toledo, at the northern tip of the continent. Water was at such a low temperature that all water would freeze, and all sides were covered with snow.
The endless snowfields reflected the moonlight and were dazzlingly bright.
Deep in the mountains where people are so rare that even wild beasts cannot be seen.
Suddenly, Carol lightly beckoned.
Kwagwagwagwang-!
The strong sword that appeared in an instant pierced through the obstacles and spread out in all directions, leaving a huge crater on the ground.
“Carl?”
Su-ryun raised her scythe and guarded her surroundings.
“There were several undead coming. I’ve taken care of it now, so you don’t have to be vigilant.”
“huh.”
It was because of these things that monsters, especially the undead, the living dead, were difficult. Each country’s military fortifications are built in strategic locations.
And most of the key points were ‘human standards’. The supply of human armies was key. The reason why the strategic point is important is because it is difficult to go back to the point where the supply cannot withstand without passing through it.
Conversely, monsters like the undead that didn’t need supplies didn’t have to struggle to pass through the strategic points.
Even if it took a little longer, it was just a matter of pushing in all directions while taking turns.
Before Carol intervened, the Northwestern Kingdoms were not able to properly respond to the characteristics of humans and other monsters and were suffering a severe blow.
“Karl, can I eat it?”
Soo-ryun looked at the meat being grilled over the bonfire with her eyes shining.
“okay.”
He put his hand into the roaring flames, pulled out the meat stick, and began to eat wildly.
Because she shared energy with me after signing the contract, training did not need to eat. Training was close to a biological weapon that could be activated with magical power.
However, they tasted little by little while watching me eat next to them to see if their taste and preferences were similar to humans.
In the end, he turned into a child with such an intense appetite.
“slowly.”
“huh.”
Soo-ryun nodded slightly.
It’s not a responsibility without pleasure. Only then did it feel like there was nothing much different from seriously raising a child.
Of course, it was true that it helped a lot more than a simple child.
A high-pitched cry of falcons spread through the deep mountains in the middle of the night, where there was no sound of mountain birds. Through the cold and strong wind, the hawk sent by the Imperial Secret Service descended toward me.
The content was simple.
The word that the meeting I requested was accepted, the date of the meeting, and the place of the meeting.
The time has come.
* * *
The place of the meeting is near the border of the Empire, near the city of Euphonia in the Republic of Almeria.
In the wide plain in front of the city, representatives of each country and their troops began to gather.
Republic of Almeria, Grand Duchy of Toledo, Kingdom of Kalmar.
Northwestern countries and the Imperial Army, excluding the Kingdom of Gotland, etc.
The parties to the talks took their seats first.
According to the original plan, this was the end, but unplanned, a group of troops waving numerous flags approached the meeting place.
“welcome. Archbishop Urbano.”
Marquis Albrecht, who was riding a horse and looking down vaguely, greeted the troops arriving near the meeting place and greeted them first.
“Yes, long time no see, Marquis Albrecht.”
“The temple army is coming. I can be so reassured.”
“I have arrived at the order of the Pope. Could you possibly observe this meeting?”
The Crusade Army, which consisted of numerous knights and monks comparable to knights, was far ahead of the Imperial Army in terms of strength alone. There was nothing more to say, especially when fighting demonic beings.
“of course. These two women…?”
Marquis Albrecht asked, looking at Stella and Chloe standing on either side of Archbishop Urbano.
“This is Lady Stella, a saintess and warrior, and Lady Chloe, an Inquisitor and executive officer of the Imperial Secret Service.”
“Oh, I’ve heard of the names of the two of you. Nice to meet you.”
bang-
While the Imperial and Crusade troops were greeting each other amicably, Carol arrived near the conference room.
When Stella saw that Carol had come down, she hurriedly ran to the nearby area.
“Carl-nim?”
“A long time. I didn’t know you were coming.”
“Yes, long time no see…!”
Stella smiled brightly, putting her hands on her chest.
“Did you decide to pick up the sword again?”
As in the past, Stella was heavily armed and even equipped with a holy sword.
“Now is not the time to worry about that. The descent of a high-ranking demon…”
“Still, the Crusaders arrived sooner than expected.”
“Yes, there was full support from the Empire. Thanks to the provision of horses everywhere, I arrived pretty quickly.”
“Hello, Carol.”
After talking with Archbishop Urbano, Chloe also approached Carol.
“Yeah, it’s been a while.”
peek.
“hello. Me, I’m here too… yo.”
Noah, still looking like a little squirrel, peeked out from behind Chloe.
“Noah, you should say hello properly.”
“…hello.”
At Chloe’s bruise, Noah fully revealed himself and bowed in greeting.
“Did you come too?”
Carol felt that Noah had a personality that didn’t suit the battlefield at all. Of course, being an Inquisitor, I don’t know if it’s different from being honest.
“Chloe-sama brought it… yo.”
“I dragged you, but you made a fuss about following me.”
“I didn’t know it would be like this…”
“It is already too late.”
Noah drooped his shoulders with a stunned expression.
“Oh, by the way, does Carol-nim move with the Imperial Army?”
“No, we don’t necessarily move together.”
“I see, then how about moving with us?”
“hmm.”
Carol crossed her arms and pondered for a moment. As the imperial army was a large army, the pace of advance was quite slow. On the other hand, although the scale of the Crusaders was smaller than that of the Imperial Army, all of them rode horses, and except for some troops, most of them were knights or knight-level monks.
Of course, the speed of the advance was incomparably faster than that of the Imperial Army.
“Let’s move near the temple army. Not quite together.”
“thank you! The answer was to push forward with the declaration of the holy war. In fact, I only believed in Carol-sama.”
“…Don’t believe too much.”
“Ah, if I don’t trust Carol, who will I trust?”
Chloe smiled brightly and proudly pushed her chest out.
“Then let’s see you again at the meeting. Stella, are you free in the evening?”
“yes?”
At the sudden question, Stella looked up at Carol with a bewildered expression.
“I was wondering if there was anything else I could do.”
“Oh, no. doesn’t exist. Maybe why…?”
“Then come to me when you have time. I will be near the Crusade.”
“…All right.”
* * *
As long as there was a subspace, Carol’s camp had already reached a level where it couldn’t even be called a camp.
The huge magic tent, reminiscent of a nomad’s house, was filled with all kinds of furniture and all kinds of tools for convenience.
Eating with non-perishable ingredients was also luxurious enough to be compared to ordinary travelers.
Fresh vegetables and meat, not dry food like beef jerky.
“Carl.”
Su-ryun opened her mouth slightly and stared at Carol’s actions.
“wait.”
The problem was that Carol had to cook herself, but she learned how to cook to some extent while traveling to Gangho in Moorim anyway.
That point didn’t matter too much.
Inside the warm tent, the smell of grilled meat and various foods vibrated.
“Karl-sama, this is Stella.”
“Come in.”
Stella cautiously entered the tent.
And immediately it froze with a blank expression.
“Karl, can I eat it?”
Soo-ryun was only focused on food, whether or not Stella came in.
“done. Don’t eat it all.”
“huh.”
“Um… Carol?”
Stella, who had been staring at the scene blankly, parted her lips with a puzzled expression.
“What is going on?”
“Who is that woman?”
Carol letting a woman into the dorm. Besides, it didn’t seem to have moved for a day or two. The roles seem to have been reversed, but it’s like…
‘It’s an impious thought.’
Stella immediately blocked the possibility that he was struggling to come up with.
“Karl, my master.”
The answer came from training, not Carol.
“master…?”
“There may be some misunderstanding. It can be seen as a kind of workhorse. Although the appearance is human.”
“yes? Familiar?”
Stella, who was shocked at the thought that Carol had bought a slave, made a more puzzled expression.
“This child… is of dragon heritage. I got it from ruins in the west.”
“okay.”
Only then did Stella understand the situation to some extent.
“It is not for that reason that I called you.”
“then…?”
“Take it.”
Carol took out a book from subspace and handed it to Stella.
“This….”
Stella’s eyes widened when she saw the title on the cover.
“If the kite touches it, it is the martial art I was going to give you.”
“Why did you suddenly do this to me…?”
“As you said, now is not the time to worry about such things, so it would be better to become a little stronger.”
More than anything else, in Carol’s opinion, the ‘current’ Stella was someone she could trust.
“…Can I learn it before fighting?”
“possible. i will help The Milky Way Meteor Sword is not a very difficult martial art. Basically, it takes a lot of unique energy to cast, but if it’s you, there won’t be a big problem.”
“…thank you.”
Stella bowed her head politely.
* * *
meeting day.
It could be said that the structure of the meeting room led by the Empire was quite blatant. Originally, in this world, meetings between countries often used a round table. so as not to quarrel with each other.
But now, the conference room is clearly the top seat of the empire. And the rest were placed in order of national power.
“This is so blatant.”
The apprentice of the Republic of Almeria, Lorenzo sighed and entered the meeting room. To some extent, I expected it, but I didn’t expect it to come out so nakedly.
“I mean.”
With Donato II, the king of the Kalmar Kingdom.
“I am worried about this meeting. What kind of unreasonable demands are you going to make?”
Archduke Alvise of the Grand Duchy of Toledo also nodded in a worried tone.
“By the way, isn’t that the Black Saint?”
Lorenzo sneakily asked Archduke Alvise, who was sitting next to him. Carol and the core of the Crusade were watching the meeting from the auditorium.
“Yes, that’s for sure. According to the report of the Ministry of Information.”
Archduke Alvise stared at Carol and nodded.
“Why did you come here?”
“That’s right. Aren’t you trying to ask for something with the help of the Black Saint?”
“We never really asked for help.”
“It’s true that I did get help…”
“His Excellency Marquis Albrecht enters.”
After the representatives of the Northwestern States sat down in the conference room, Marquis Albrecht came in late and took a seat of honor.
“I’ll start with the main point. Surrender immediately and comply with the Empire’s demands. Then I will preserve your life.”
At the words of Marquis Albrecht, who uttered it without hesitation, the atmosphere in the conference hall rapidly cooled.