NOVEL NEXT Chapter 1462: Quarantined Nobles
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Once we walked into the quarantined house, we finally met the nobles that had sent that letter of help to us. You would usually not even think that this country was in such danger when you arrived at this coastal city however, as everything seemed to be just fine and peaceful.
However, the capital of the country had already fallen to the Dark Fog, and the effects of the Slumbering Curse could be seen in some places, with people sleeping on the streets out of nowhere.
Anyway, these nobles were a group of dwarves of all shapes and sizes… well, not sizes, they had mostly the same size, but had different hair colors, and some looked similar to Alberta or her uncle, with brown skin and fiery red hair.
However, there were some that had pale skin and blue hair, or others with silver hair, and some had blonde hair… all men had beards, even the young-looking ones, while the ladies wrapped their long hair into braids around their necks, which looked similar to beards, Alberta doesn't do this, however.
"Aahh, Princess Alberta!"
"So you've returned…!"
"Hellburn too!"
"To think we would desperately ask for their help from all people…"
"We are truly pathetic…"
Alberta looked at them with surprise, some looked very sleepy already, barely fighting their desire to sleep, while Alberta seemed relieved they were okay, she also suddenly became furious.
"So you're the ones that ran away and abandoned my father? Where's your loyalty?! He's your King! How could you do this to him?! And you call yourselves nobles?!"
That was definitely not the reaction we expected from her, and even Eric gave a step back in shock as he saw Alberta's reaction to the nobles, who were fighting the Curse as much as they could.
"A-Alberta?! Please calm down, this isn't the way you should be greeting these people!" Eric panicked, quickly grabbing her shoulders and stopping her from lashing out on the poor nobles.
"W-We apologize, we couldn't…!"
"The King and his family were all asleep…"
"Those that tried to tend to them as they slept were also falling asleep one by one, like flies!"
"A terrifying sense of dread overcame our judgement…!"
"We are terribly sorry, we are indeed cowards as you said, princess…!"
However, to the surprise of everyone, they didn't act like we imagined proud nobles would, attacking Alberta angrily for her having dared to speak to them in such a tone or something.
No, instead, they accepted and admitted everything Alberta said about them, and knew they were indeed cowards that were overcome by fear and despair.
"Y-You guys…"
Alberta sighed, looking at them with more pity than anger, it seemed that a lot had happened between her and these people, but even then, they were nobles from her family.
Some of them were her aunts and uncles, or cousins.
"Hmph… if you admit to it, then you better pay for this treason later! We won't go easy on you once things are solved."
Her uncle, Hellburn, stepped forward and quickly reprimanded the nobles with a steer look, he had a stronger aura of authority, unlike Alberta.
"L-Lord Hellburn…!"
"Your brother the king…!"
"We are sincerely sorry…"
"We couldn't… damn it, we've left behind our pride as dwarves, nobles, and warriors behind…!"
"We are not asking for your forgiveness, we know very well we don't deserve it…"
Turns out that Dwarves were very prideful and also honorable, the way they genuinely felt sorry made me realize they were a pretty interesting race, and quite similar to elves in more ways than both sides would like to admit.
"Okay, alright, there's no point in discussing and fighting anymore, right?" Eric sighed, patting Alberta's shoulders and talking to the nobles. "Hello, I am one of the members of the Summoner's Party, you could say I'm like a Hero? My name is Eric; it is nice to meet you. I am Alberta's… well, I am currently her boyfriend, but… we are planning a wedding eventually."
"E-Eh?!"
"What?!"
"T-The princess…?!"
"Is she marrying a human?"
"Hmph! W-What's wrong with that?! Eric is the loveliest and kindest man I've ever known! I love him, and I don't plan to ever let him go!" Alberta said while grabbing Eric's arm tightly, he was her property now.
"A-Alberta… hahah…" Eric giggled, feeling embarrassed, and growing red. "Ahem! Anyway, we came here to help you, not to fight… Alberta has already made her own life in the Central Continent and has only asked us to come help you out of the goodness of her heart. I want you to tell us, what happened? When did the fog start? And… have you seen something else, or someone suspicious around it?"
The nobles looked at one another, I guess Eric stole the words from my lips, I might as well let him take the reins for once, he seems like he is invested into this.
"Indeed," I nodded. "I am the Summoner, Blake. Sorry for late introductions. As my friend her asked, could you tell us anything suspicious you saw?"
"Well…"
"Yes… we saw a few things…"
"I saw someone that…"
"Hmmm…"
"Ugh.."
Although, it seemed they wanted to talk, they looked sleepier and sleepier, until one of them, a woman with long blue hair fell to the floor, asleep.
"Oh no!"
"Has she fallen to the curse?!"
"D-Don't touch her, or you'll fall asleep too!"
"What…?! So quickly?!"
The nobles panicked, as they stepped back in horror. I stayed in silence there, watching, I quickly walked towards the sleeping woman.
"Wait, don't touch her! You'll get the curse!"
"I know, that's what I want."
I touched her shoulder and felt nothing.
Is it from direct contact?
I placed my finger on her forehead, and then.
FLUOSH!
I felt it, a small blob of ethereal black essence rushing into my hand.
"I see, so this is it." I nodded.
"Blake, did you see it?" Eric asked, walking to my side.
"Yeah, it is exactly the same Curse as before… it has been years and Belphegor has not improved at all, as lazy as ever," I smiled.
"Is it possible to dispel it?" Alberta wondered.
"Is it?" I wondered, as I held the curse in my hands and crushed it, making it disappear. "It is."
The nobles gasped, realizing that we weren't just warriors that fought demons and that's it, we were more than just that, and we were about to show them, and this entire country what we were made of.
"Y-You…!"
"Summoner! Can you dispel the curse?!"
"Is it possible?!"
"I believe it is," I nodded. "However, I need to analyze it a bit more."
I closed my eyes, placing my hand over the woman's head and then, letting the curse take over me completely.
FLUOSH!
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