“Ahhh! Please save me! Saint, I’m going to die!”
At that cry, not only I, but the orcs who were advancing with me, also looked at the stake with bewilderment.
She called herself a saintess, but from the way she was on the stake, she seemed more like a witch.
I looked at her status window.
Sofien Lumiere
Race: Human
Status: Excommunicated Saintess of the Barkhan Church
Rank: C
・[Stat Details]
Strength: 8
Intelligence: 52
Magic: 46
Skill: 20
Health: 23
…
Though her rank was low, she was undoubtedly a saintess. As a side note, the word “excommunicated” was attached.
For her to be put on the stake, did she do something that seriously went against the doctrine?
I swung my sword and shattered the stake.
Crack.
“Ahhh! Phew!”
The tilted stake fell to the side, and Saintess Sofien’s face hit the ground.
But something felt off. No matter how long I waited, the soldiers or knights never appeared.
The mystery was resolved by the shout of one of the orc soldiers.
“Chwiik! Sir, you should look at the flag hanging over there!”
One of the orc soldiers, with a fearful voice, pointed at the symbol hanging from the castle.
A symbol of a scythe-wielding skeleton. I had no idea what it was.
The answer came from the orc’s mouth.
“Chwiik! That’s the symbol of the Reaper family, of Lauro! It’s proof that she’s the master of this territory!”
Lauro. I knew that name.
I had heard of her might when I went to Underis.
They said she was one of the strongest monsters currently in existence and a great necromancer.
Of course, what caught my eye was something else.
“Hah, she’s not even a Demon Lord, and yet a monster dares to establish a domain?”
This was a direct challenge not just to our Demon Lord army, but to all Demon Lords.
Monsters could only have domains if they were granted one by their lord, a Demon Lord.
As far as I knew, Lauro didn’t serve any Demon Lord.
“No wonder there weren’t any human knights around.”
The former lords and knights were probably killed or driven out by Lauro long ago.
The reason she didn’t worry about intruding monsters was likely because she trusted the flag, her symbol.
As clear proof of that, the orc soldiers were trembling while staring at Lauro’s flag.
“I guess I need to explain what’s going on here.”
I approached Sofien, who was writhing on the ground, and forced her to stand up.
Sofien, still dazed from the shock, mumbled like she was sleep-talking.
“Uhm… D-Death Knight…?”
Before long, her eyes widened in realization.
“Ah! D-Death Knight!?”
And then she slumped back down with a sharp gasp.
What a piece of work.
I dropped Sofien back to the ground carelessly and approached the terrified villagers.
“Answer me instead. What’s that flag about?”
“Th-that flag… For the past two months, Lady Lauro has ordered us to gather ‘Purple Clovers,’ which only grow near here, and bring them to her. Along with the curse of the plague…”
I heard that the Purple Clover, which was needed for necromancy research, only grew here.
Since it was impossible to gather it all by hand, Lauro was using the plague to dominate the village.
But the mystery remained.
“Then why was that so-called saintess being burned at the stake?”
“Th-that’s… That cultist came here saying she could cure the plague, but nothing worked, and she only annoyed Lady Lauro…”
In other words, Sofien was being burned to placate Lauro’s anger.
The villagers didn’t know, but Sofien wasn’t a cultist. She was just someone whose opponent was too powerful, and the plague they spread was beyond her ability to heal.
One of the orc soldiers muttered,
“General, the opponent is Lauro. It seems like she might target other villages…”
I shook my head. If that was possible, I would have done it already, but there was a reason this place had to be it.
First of all, the road leading to the capital of the Empire was conveniently open, and above all, there were no territories nearby suitable for the level of our Demon Lord army.
That said, I couldn’t afford to go into a full-scale battle with Lauro, so I chose negotiation over intimidation.
“Go tell the villagers, I’ll get rid of the plague, but from now on, they should follow the Balotut Demon Lord army, not Lauro. And…”
I glanced at Sofien, still lying on the ground, unconscious and unaware of the world.
She seemed like she could be of use.
“Don’t kill that woman. She’s not a cultist; she’ll play an important role in getting rid of the plague in your village.”
“Yes, sir! Understood!”
The orc I had released dashed off like a messenger.
I stationed the orcs around the village to prevent the villagers from running away, then asked, “Do you have a way to contact Lauro?”
“Sh-she told us to report with this…”
An old man, presumably the village leader, handed me a crystal ball. It was black and opaque.
I knew how to use the crystal ball. Even as a human, I had seen wizards make and use these for communication.
I tapped the crystal ball.
After a moment, a girl with an expression that seemed irritated appeared vaguely in the ball.
…She must have warned me not to use the crystal for trivial matters, or else I’d be wiped out. She’d remember that.
A girl dressed in a loose robe with a skeleton pattern, undoubtedly Lauro, whom I had seen in a profile at the monster trading post before.
She stared at my face reflected in the crystal with narrowed eyes, then tilted her head.
“A monster? Who are you?”
“I am Kan, the General of the Balotus Demon Lord Army, serving King Rupia. Is that really you, Lauro?”
Kan..?
Lauro tapped the table a couple of times and nodded as if she had remembered.
Ah, you’re the Death Knight who cut Rodon’s paw. Sorry, but I have no interest in serving your weak king.
“…It’s not because of that.”
She must have seen the article about me fighting Rodon because of Lauro.
I held back my anger and got to the point.
“Lauro, I want to take control of the village you’re ruling. You wanted the Purple Clover, right? If you calm the plague and hand over the village, we will deliver it ourselves.”
Hah, why would I do that?
As expected, she reacted in that way.
From her perspective, I was just an uninvited guest, and she was simply extorting the village as usual, so I chose negotiation.
“Tell me what you want. I am more capable than you think…”
I don’t need it. I can get everything I want with my own abilities.
Click.
And the crystal ball went dark.
“….”
In the silence, I suppressed my anger. Was it because of the old habits I had from my human days? It was hard to hold back.
“This rude…!”
Just as I was about to touch the crystal ball again, The orc soldiers pointed to the sky, horrified.
“Kiik! Sir, look at the sky!”
“…!”
A small, distinct, black cloud was gathering. Despite being at a distance from the ground, I could sense a considerable amount of magic power.
The cloud spread like a shadow, causing the villagers’ faces to show signs of tension. Soon, that unease turned into reality as it poured down.
“AAAAAAHHH!!”
Black rain fell, and the first person to scream slowly melted away. Aside from me, who had magic resistance, the orcs were also affected.
I didn’t need to ask who was responsible for this. Was this the power of the necromancer, the one considered the greatest among monsters?
The crystal ball I dropped on the ground once again showed Lauro’s face.
She spoke with contempt.
Stop messing around, Death Knight. I don’t care how strong you were as a human, but this is my domain.
Finally, I saw the magic circles Lauro had set up all over the village.
Using such ridiculous dark magic from such a distance… so this was it.
Ah, make sure to send the Purple Clover properly. I’m happy to have an S-class worker.
With that, Lauro cut off the communication. Her mocking laughter seemed to echo in the crystal ball.
I swallowed my curse and ordered the orcs to retreat. The orcs who fled in droves groaned in pain, clutching their blackened skin.
This was clearly my mistake. I had underestimated Lauro’s abilities.
Dozens of orc soldiers died. The villagers were the same.
“…Shit, so this is how it is.”
With this, negotiations were over.
Though I wanted to avoid a full-on battle with someone like Lauro, it wasn’t completely impossible.
Usually, the demon world’s packages were delivered directly from Underis to the dungeon entrance, but if the destination was Raven’s Gorge, that was a different story.
For a long time, skilled ghouls had been delivering packages through the swamp, which was a one-way route to the mansion.
Looking at the properly delivered ‘Purple Clover’ on the promised date, Lauro smiled with satisfaction.
Of course, no matter how much of a Death Knight I was, what could I do against her?
“…Hmm.”
Lauro squinted slightly and gathered magic power, staring at the package.
The guild in Underis must have properly checked it before sending it, but you never know.
As expected, there was no anomaly in the detection magic.
After all, even though I was a Death Knight, I wasn’t bold enough to carry out a terrorist act against the Reaper family…
“…?”
After checking the contents, Lauro blinked in surprise, her expression frozen.
“…What is this?”
Inside the box was
A neatly wrapped brick.
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