“Burp~” Franlot had lost count of how many glasses he had drunk.
Everything before his eyes was a little blurry…
Sometimes, some incomprehensible text would appear before him, seemingly writing things like “reduce,” buzzing around his vision like flies.
“Hmph… get away… get away!”
He waved his hands wildly, as if shooing flies. Of course, whatever those words were no longer mattered.
Since his transmigration, Franlot had never enjoyed himself this much!
Eating meat in big mouthfuls, drinking wine in big bowls, plus being admired and respected…
This was the first time since he came to this otherworld.
‘Now this feels like a destined protagonist~ What kind of life was I living before?’
“Boss… are we really paying for that guy?”
Inside the tavern’s restroom, a thuggish soldier whispered to Fukadi.
“If you’re going to play the part, play it all the way, understand? Since we’re pretending to be that waste’s friends, we’ve got to do our job properly! Stop dawdling and pay the bill already…”
Fukadi frowned slightly and smacked the back of the head of the underling beside him.
“Our role… is just about over.”
“Y-yes, Boss!”
As the group drunkenly waved goodbye in front of the tavern, the melodramatic scenario Franlot had worried about—them not paying and cheating him—didn’t happen.
Now… where should he rest and sober up a bit?
Earlier, he’d found a few silver coins in the pockets of those Gravel Gang members who came after him…
He’d just find a random inn to rest for a while.
Lost in his thoughts, he didn’t notice that when he came out of the tavern…
…two shadows had already fallen in behind him.
And those two furtive figures with gunny sacks didn’t realize that behind them, these two little mantises, there was also another “big sparrow” following.
The matter actually went quite smoothly.
Under the catgirl’s lead through the familiar streets, Franlot drowsily passed by an alley entrance… And a pair of fair little hands instantly slipped a brown gunny sack over his head!
“Uh… huh?!”
Before he could react, he felt a tremendous force dragging him into the alley!
‘Why does this feel so familiar!?’
Though Franlot was drunk, his past experience of being beaten had given him enough reflexes!
He instinctively tried to reach for the cleaver he’d taken from Mierpasi’s house… but he grabbed nothing, and at the same time, someone kicked him hard in the ass!
“Ouch, damn it!”
“Returning it to its rightful owner~”
Holly kicked him deeper into the alley and casually tossed the cleaver to Mierpasi.
“Mm… thanks.”
The catgirl caught the gleaming cleaver, a dark glint flashing in her eyes.
“Now then…”
Holly curled her lips into a cold smile.
‘Let’s take back a little interest first.’
Thinking this, she pulled a wooden stick out of a nearby pile of trash.
“Who… who are you?!”
“Do you know who I… ack! No! Don’t hit my face!”
Thump thump thump!! Pfft pfft pfft…
“Oww ooh ooh!!”
[The assault process was cruel, and the negative impact on minors is immeasurable. Broadcast suspended.]
Whoosh—!
Bam!
After who knows how many dull thuds, the struggling inside the sack had almost ceased, leaving only the instinctive twitching of the body.
Stable.
At that moment, while the catgirl was panting heavily, Holly, holding the wooden stick, had already caught her breath.
And then, a thought suddenly surfaced in her mind.
‘Should I… just finish him off right here?’
Even if it didn’t achieve the goal of making this demon apologize and repent… wouldn’t she have avenged her parents?
She… could start a new life from there.
Thinking this, Holly tightened her grip on the stick. Staring at Franlot at her feet, her hands trembled slightly.
‘Should I… do it?’
Even as the thought crossed her mind, the burning hatred mixed with a trace of fear still made the girl instinctively raise the wooden stick, aiming at the head inside the sack.
Whoosh…
Just as the stick was about to swing down, Holly felt her wrist tighten!
“Huh?”
She froze for a moment, turning her head to see who was holding her wrist.
White hair, white beard—it was Arthur.
“Miss Holly… we must be lenient where leniency is possible. Why resort to lethal force?”
“Mr. Arthur…”
Holly’s mind snapped back, as if waking from a trance, realizing what she had been about to do.
“Leniency… Mr. Arthur, do you know what happened between us?”
After a brief daze, Holly asked, her eyes cold.
“I… wasn’t this your first meeting?”
This left Arthur completely bewildered, but looking at her expression…
‘Could Franlot really have done something excessive to her?’
Whoosh!
Holly said nothing, just shook off Arthur’s hand in a way quite unlike her usual self.
“Let’s go.”
The holy sword bearer turned and said to the catgirl standing nearby.
“Ah… mm.”
The catgirl nodded, glancing in confusion at the suddenly appearing Arthur.
She was wondering…
When had this old man shown up?
“Sigh…”
Watching the two girls walk out of the alley, Arthur felt an instant embarrassment.
He looked down at the sack-bound figure again.
‘Why does it feel like nothing good ever happens when I’m around this guy?’
“Alas…”
With a sigh, Arthur pulled the sack off and looked at Franlot, who had already been beaten unconscious.
He sighed again.
‘It feels like, apart from me, no one else can stand Franlot.’
‘Or maybe that’s just my imagination.’
Thinking this, he slowly took a pendant out of his pocket.
It wasn’t any treasure—all the clothes on him had been arranged by the young lady, so he couldn’t pull out anything decent.
The pendant was a cheap street vendor’s item, but Arthur had already modified it.
Since he still couldn’t leave the young lady’s side, Arthur, after a night of thinking, had to settle for the next best thing.
He made these two pendants.
Through this pendant, he could see what was happening with Franlot, and he could also use it to send voice guidance to him.
“In that case, I guess I’m half your teacher now.”
Muttering to himself, Arthur wrapped the pendant and a few gold coins in a piece of cloth and stuffed it into Franlot’s chest.
“I hope… you’ll achieve something.”
After muttering this, Arthur picked up the unconscious Franlot and headed toward the nearest inn.
Buzz buzz buzz…
In the study, looking at the third-rank ant-man zombie Milonglong, who could now deftly flap his wings and move without any stiffness…
Ileya nodded in satisfaction. She had finally come to understand the difficulties of being a necromancer.
If she didn’t have the [Underworld] , raising a third-rank zombie like this would have taken a tremendous amount of effort.
Especially for a necromancer who didn’t want to do evil, they might have to walk through a dozen cemeteries just to gather enough death aura.
Of course, Milonglong’s body was already at the white silver rank in life.
If she simply wanted him to be a muscle like Insmouth instead of giving him some intelligence to avoid suspicion, it wouldn’t have been this troublesome.
The reason she was pushing Milonglong to third rank and giving him intelligence so quickly was that Ileya had a mission for him.
That was to become her mole, infiltrate the ant nest, and try to get close to the ant queen…
Though Ileya was confident in her own strength and had previously pulled some strings with the Holy See, she was anxious about the possibility of standing against the kingdom… or even all humanity.
She desperately needed a safe, stable rear area with ample troop supplies.
And the ant queen could obviously solve the young lady’s current problems.
The antfolk race came with built-in armor; some could even fly. As first-rank mooks, they were far superior to human-converted zombies and skeletons.
As long as she controlled the ant queen, the entire ant-man empire under this Gobi Desert… would eventually take the surname “Bateos.”
If they were truly backed into a corner, she and her family would have this safe haven.
Thus, this mission must succeed—failure was not an option!
“Young lady…”
Just then, Amisa’s voice came from behind.
“Everything is ready. When shall we depart?”
“Mm.”
Ileya acknowledged and walked over to Amisa, with Milonglong following closely behind her.
“Since everyone’s back, let’s go now.”
Compared to when they arrived, Ileya’s convoy clearly carried much more luggage.
Besides some good-tasting dried rations, there were local specialties and treasures specially sent by the city lord of Gilliris.
Apart from Ileya’s carriage, there were three fully loaded carts.
“Young lady… are you sure you don’t need guards?”
The city lord of Gilliris stood by the carriage, pointing at the fully armed border guards behind him.
He meant for this squad of nearly a hundred to escort the young lady all the way back to the Crystal Capital.
They’d be safe, serve as labor when there was nothing to do, and finally show their faces to the marchioness.
But how could Ileya agree to such a bloated formation? A hundred-man escort would take nearly three months to reach the Crystal Capital…
“We have enough people. You needn’t worry about that, Lord City Lord. As for your help… I will naturally recount this journey’s events to my mother when I return home.”
Ileya said, giving the city lord a slight smile.
With this assurance, the city lord burst into laughter.
“Good, good, good! Then many thanks to the young lady. Ah, by the way, regarding the antfolk matter you mentioned earlier…”
The city lord looked at the tall ant-man zombie standing beside the young lady.
He felt a dangerous aura emanating from this creature. If Ileya weren’t standing there, he would never have gotten so close to it.
“Mm. Starting now, he is our mole within the antfolk. If you need to request reinforcements, do your best to help him. His will is my will.”
“Ah… yes!”
The city lord of Gilliris nodded, trying desperately to imprint Milonglong’s appearance into his memory.
But to human eyes, antfolk all looked the same. He could only note the two pairs of conspicuous wings on his back.
Premium Chapter
Login to buy access to this Chapter.