“Oh, right…” Before leaving, Ileya seemed to think of something and quickly walked to Fukadi, who was standing behind the City Lord.
This action stunned everyone present, but they quickly snapped out of it and averted their gazes… to go about their own business.
But those who witnessed this scene— including the City Lord— felt a surge of envy toward Fukadi, the former unruly soldier… and secretly thought they should get on good terms with him.
“L-Lady…” Fukadi himself hadn’t expected that this young lady would value him so much that she would personally come to bid him farewell.
How could he deserve such treatment?
Originally, the fact that the Lady hadn’t taken him along had left the newly appointed Deputy Commander somewhat dejected.
In the military, ability was what mattered; a fierce fighter like Black Bear could intimidate other soldiers even if he wasn’t the sharpest tool in the shed.
But as for himself… without the Lady’s connection, a mediocre Deputy Commander like him couldn’t command respect, couldn’t advance further, and might even be pushed out of his position.
However, now things seemed to have turned around.
Suppressing the urge to kneel and beg the Lady to take him away, Fukadi slowly bent down, lowering his gaze below hers.
“You’ve done well. The tasks I entrusted to you were handled properly.” Ileya’s first words were praise, making Fukadi bow even lower. Indeed, his caution had paid off!
“From now on, before every meal… recite once: ‘Death is the beginning of all things; the Underworld is the cold homeland.’”
Pat, pat… Ileya gently patted Fukadi on the shoulder. “If your devotion is sincere, you have a chance to become a Transcendent.”
“Eh… Eh?!” Fukadi’s eyes went wide.
A… Transcendent?! Having a military background, Fukadi naturally knew what a Transcendent represented— it meant being above the common people.
If he became a Transcendent, not only could he keep his Deputy Commander position, but perhaps… it wouldn’t be the end…
Thud!!
“Yes! I will remember the Lady’s teachings!!” Fukadi knelt on one knee, his voice trembling with excitement.
This… was actually an experiment.
Originally, Ileya had settled some matters with that sly old fox of a Bishop, to be handled by the Holy See… but now the Lady intended to test the method herself first.
If it succeeded… it would also serve as another contingency she left here.
After all, the wisp of Death Aura she had left within his body back then should allow him to perceive the Underworld faster than others.
At that time… she might be able to sense his prayers…
“All right~” Thinking up to here, Ileya slowly stretched and looked around the carriage.
Veil, Holly, Amisa, Reliel, Arthur, Mierpasi.
Not a single person who came was missing, and two more had joined… the matters she wanted to investigate were also clarified…
“This counts as… exceeding the mission requirements, right?” The corners of her lips lifted slightly.
Amidst the farewells of the Gilliris crowd, the Lady boarded the carriage…
Clop, clop, clop…
Watching the carriage gradually fade into the distance, the City Lord of Gilliris wore a complicated expression.
The Lady had finally left; he wondered how his performance would score in her impression.
But at least on the surface… she seemed quite satisfied, didn’t she? That was enough.
The City Lord twisted his slightly stiff neck and glanced sideways at Fukadi, whose face was slightly flushed.
The latter was obviously overexcited at the prospect of becoming a Transcendent.
But… to be honest… having reached the position of City Lord, even though he wasn’t a noble himself, he still knew something about the so-called “Transcendent” matters.
Suffice it to say, becoming a Transcendent was a very dangerous thing.
For people like them, the wealthy and powerful who no longer worried about food or money… perhaps it wasn’t a good thing at all.
However, since this matter was brought up by the Lady, the Gilliris City Lord didn’t intend to dampen Fukadi’s spirits.
“Let’s go.” Only when the carriage had completely disappeared from view did the City Lord wave his hand, and the honor guard outside the city that had been seeing off the Lady filed back through the gates in an orderly manner…
And so this day calmly reached evening, then nightfall. Everything seemed no different.
All of Gilliris City was still buzzing about the previous matter of the Gravel Gang.
Commoners talked about it at their dinner tables, adventurers talked about it in taverns, leaders of other gangs gathered and talked about it.
Everything was that calm. It was normal.
This city of Gilliris, which had stood for a hundred years, would not stop turning because of the Lady’s departure.
But… no one noticed that the invisible Gears of Fate… had at this moment begun to accelerate continuously.
The Kingdom, northeastern border city Loluste… Although it was also a border city like Gilliris, this city was not under the jurisdiction of East County, nor did everyone have the daring of the “Crownless King of the Eastern Province” to agree to the Gilliris City Lord’s “multi-race integration policy.”
Here, all foreign races and Outlanders were forbidden.
Those who came and went most frequently… were probably some slave merchants who made a living along this route.
Therefore, Loluste, also a border city, appeared exceptionally dilapidated.
The old streets were muddy and filthy.
Moss and vines completely covered the outer walls of buildings.
Livestock and poultry droppings could be seen everywhere.
This… was Loluste, a true portrayal of most border cities. Poor, remote, backward…
Fortunately, the climate here was not like the extreme east of the Kingdom, where it was scorching during the day and freezing at night.
Here, it was summer-like year-round; the humidity and heat were not suitable for human habitation, but many plants thrived in such weather.
Whether vegetables or tuber crops like potatoes, they all grew well.
This was actually a good business opportunity, but not every city lord was exceptionally shrewd.
Especially in a humid, hot place like Loluste, where snakes, insects, rats, and ants abounded; staying too long would cause bone problems.
Any capable smart person had long since left for other places.
So the city lord here, though not stupid, was mediocre, fearful of everything, and only wanted to maintain the status quo.
However… although the city’s economic system was a mess, as a border city, its walls and gates… were quite tall and sturdy.
The giant walls, over fifteen meters high, separated the human kingdom from the outside world.
And unlike Gilliris, the area in front of the walls was a dense primeval jungle…
Naturally, it was fraught with danger, but to the soldiers on the wall… it posed no threat.
Even if there were occasional rustling sounds from the dense forest, the soldiers wouldn’t even bother to lift their eyes.
Some of them had served in this city for nearly ten years. In their words…
“In the old forest, nothing is strange! As long as nothing climbs up the wall… you don’t need to worry!”
Listening to the veteran walking ahead carrying an oil lamp, the rookie Luhaosi nodded bewilderedly.
No wonder these veterans were so lax. Having an inert city lord was a bad thing, but not entirely bad.
Because he was timid, he had no curiosity about the resources in the primeval forest ahead, nor any desire to develop anything.
And without curiosity, there was no danger. No danger meant that for these old soldiers, they could just coast along.
“Ah… you’ll be on duty here tonight~ Someone will come to relieve you in the second half of the night.”
The veteran guiding Luhaosi pointed to a spot on the side of the wall. “Yes!”
On the wall, there was a sentry post roughly every five or six meters.
Luhaosi scratched his head, feeling a bit odd seeing his colleagues leaning against the wall dozing off.
But regardless, he had to obey the senior’s arrangement.
Taking a deep breath, the young man held his halberd and stood upright like a pine tree at his post.
Seeing his posture, the other veterans let out a snicker.
Back in the day, when they first stood guard, they were like that too… Standing straight did look good and imposing, but it was exhausting~
There were still at least five hours until the shift change.
They estimated this kid would last an hour standing straight at most… Shaking their heads with light laughs, the other soldiers withdrew their gazes.
No one warned the foolish kid, and they continued leaning against the wall to rest.
But Luhaosi was clearly tougher than they imagined.
For a full two hours, the guy still stood straight…
Only occasionally did he need to stretch his limbs… standing like that was indeed tiring.
Huff… huff…
But just as the young man was loosening his stiff neck, he suddenly heard a whooshing sound in his ears…
“Huh?” He looked up in confusion and saw… under the pale purple moonlight, clusters of dark shadows sweeping past above…
Were these… birds?
He turned his head in confusion toward his left-side senior.
But that one was leaning against the wall behind him; while still standing, faint snoring could be heard.
At a loss, he turned to look at the senior on his right… That one wasn’t asleep, but was also leaning against the wall, letting out a big yawn.
Huh… Didn’t the seniors notice? Or… were these big birds common at night?
Luhaosi opened his mouth blankly.
But the next second… Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh… Those black shadows in the sky shot straight toward the wall like flesh meteors!
The closer they got, the more confused the young man became… Did birds dive like this? And… they were this huge?!
“Huh?! En… Enemy attack!! Something’s happening! Wake up, everyone!!”
Even as dumb as Luhaosi was, he knew something was wrong!
He shouted loudly, gripping his halberd tightly, his pupils trembling as he stared ahead.
In front of him, a monster that had just landed on the wall… only two or three meters away.
Under the pale purple moonlight, Luhaosi also saw what these monsters looked like.
They were aberrations with huge crow heads, black wings on their backs, extremely thick limbs covered in black fur…
Through its slightly open beak, he could see the inside of its mouth… filled with densely packed sharp teeth.
“Gaaah—!!”
Before the young man could even recover from the monster’s terrifying appearance, it pounced!
The immense force left the rookie completely unable to defend himself.
The weapon in his hand was snatched away, and he himself was grabbed by the neck and lifted up.
“Urgh… urgh…”
He flailed his legs in panic, trying to find a chance to fight back, to call for help…
But without even needing to glance around, just hearing the cries growing louder and louder…
Luhaosi knew he was done for…
Whoosh!!
The huge Crowfolk holding the young man didn’t hesitate much.
After snatching the weapon from him, it threw Luhaosi off the wall like trash!
And in the moment he was thrown, Luhaosi’s eyes saw in the sky, appearing from who knows when… countless dense black shadows…
They were countless Crowfolk… like a locust plague passing through, nearly covering the entire sky above Loluste…
“How… could this be…” Why were so many Divine Kin gathered here?! If so many foreign races entered the Kingdom… what would happen?
Thud!!
As the sound of a heavy object hitting the ground rang out… Luhaosi’s thoughts came to an abrupt halt.
Throughout the border city… only the hoarse cawing of crows and the desperate wails of awakened people remained…
“Gaaah…”