Chapter 85

Chapter 85. We Are Westfalen (4)

Cain raised his sword again.

His entire body was covered in blood from ghoul claws and sword wounds.

Yet his presence had not weakened.

No choice.

I needed to provoke him.

“If I run away, will you chase only me?”

Cain grinned.

“Stop with the tricks and attack, Eric.”

I smiled back.

Truthfully,

I could not run.

Thousands of residents were watching.

Where the hell was I supposed to flee without dying of embarrassment?

How much mana do I have left? Enough for one ghoul... No. Better to use Flare Shield.

I would trust my sword and attack.

Cain would definitely die in this exchange.

The only question was whether I died with him.

I raised Soul Reaper into a high guard.

The lower-level knights around me gathered too.

They copied my stance.

Cain realized this would be his final clash.

He overloaded his aura again.

Wooooong.

The powerful low-frequency vibration made my ears feel numb.

Just before we charged,

Thud, thud, thud, thud!

Warhorse hooves.

Finally!

Every local knight was already here.

Those horses had to belong to reinforcements.

Around twenty horses rushed toward the lord’s residence.

One knight jumped down.

“Holy Knight Gottfried of Aachen. I have come to destroy the darkness and support Count Michael.”

This Holy Knight was a Sword Master.

I survived.

I seriously thought I was going to die.

Nobody told me Cain was this fucking strong.

But Cain still did not lower his sword.

“Eeeeeric! You!”

He charged like the villain of a boys’ action comic.

BOOM!

Gottfried stepped in front of me.

The swords of two Sword Masters collided.

Even in that moment, Gottfried delivered a dramatic speech.

“Cain! I name you an accomplice in the wicked use of black magic and in the murder of Noah Westfalen! In the name of the Sun God, I condemn you!”

Did he memorize that line on the way here?

This guy was incredibly dramatic.

Maybe he got excited because so many people were watching.

“Move, you pathetic Holy Knight!”

BOOM!

The two clashed again.

This time Gottfried was pushed backward.

Even at the same level, Cain was a pure knight and Gottfried a Holy Knight.

In a direct contest of physical force, the Holy Knight naturally lost.

Cain also possessed far more experience.

“Sir Gottfried, we’ll support you!”

Several knights and I rushed in to harass Cain.

Gottfried became the main attacker.

“You flies!”

Cain raised his aura to the limit and swung.

But exhaustion had caught him.

Now his attacks almost looked like flailing.

The surrounding knights stabbed with quick longsword jabs.

Gottfried waited for a chance to throw the decisive hook.

“Die, Cain! Helios, grant me one final burst of strength!”

You just arrived completely fresh.

What do you mean, final strength?

Anyway,

Gottfried swung upward with all his power.

Cain’s jaw shattered.

“Ghk!”

Broken teeth and pieces of bone spilled from his mouth in a stream of blood.

I attacked that exact opening.

Stab.

“Aaaaaagh!”

I scattered the last weak aura protecting his chest.

Then I drove Soul Reaper into his heart.

Cain died.

I shook the blood from the blade.

Then I examined myself.

I was limping.

Blood and dirt covered my entire body.

I looked terrible.

Damn.

That was exhausting.

The moment Cain’s death was confirmed,

Holy Knight Gottfried pulled out a scroll.

He opened it dramatically and began reading.

“**I!** Was deeply shocked by the actions of the apostate Cain and Sophia ‘Dijon,’ servants of wicked black magic. I! Condemn their evil actions and... support Eric Marcel ‘Westfalen,’ who has received the blessing of the Sun God... and send reinforcements to defend Count Michael Westfalen from the demons. Read on behalf of Cardinal Maximilian of the Church of the Sun God.”

He was reading on behalf of the Cardinal.

Yet he kept emphasizing ‘I’ as if these were his own words.

I had never seen such an attention-seeking Holy Knight.

“Long live Helios! Long live the Church of the Sun God! Long live Westfalen!”

Officially, most residents of Westfalen belonged to the Church of the Sun God.

The crowd shouted enthusiastically.

The Holy Knights looked deeply moved.

Then Gottfried quietly approached Count Michael.

“The Cardinal told me to collect the donation.”

I had promised the Cardinal of Aachen two rewards for helping.

First,

a massive donation in the name of the Westfalen family.

Second,

both Westfalen and Marcel would actively support the Cardinal from now on.

That included diplomatic support.

Cardinal Maximilian was aiming for the next papal election.

He accepted my request and sent Holy Knights.

Michael, surprisingly quick at reading the situation, immediately answered Gottfried.

“It will take time to confiscate the rebels’ property. Until then, remain here as guests at the lord’s residence.”

“We rode a very long distance and are exhausted. Please assign people to attend us while we sleep.”

A few maids and servants had been executed.

But most workers inside the lord’s residence were ordinary commoners unrelated to the coup.

They quickly guided the Holy Knights inside.

Now it felt like the situation needed cleanup.

What should I do next? I suppose I should make another ghoul.

Ramita was recovering in a corner under Pascal’s care.

Ambrose had been destroyed by Cain.

So I planned to make a ghoul from Lorian’s corpse.

I had learned something while creating Ambrose.

Female bodies were more suitable for combat than male bodies.

Their levels were almost the same,

but women were lighter and faster.

Ghouls barely used raw muscle strength anyway.

A smaller, lighter female body seemed better.

The female corpses scattered in front of the lord’s residence had all been decapitated.

That left either Lorian or Sophia,

who were still hanging from the ropes.

I felt uncomfortable using Sophia.

I would have to see the ghoul every day.

Her final tears had been enough to make me feel some sympathy.

So I chose Lorian.

I could keep her around and insult her whenever I wanted.

I gathered nearby soldiers and gave orders.

The area was chaotic.

The only people available to work were soldiers.

“Dig up Noah’s grave and find the cursed necklace around his neck. We’ll send it to Aachen as evidence of black magic. Preserve it carefully and hand it to Sir Gottfried. Then gather every rebel corpse here and burn them together.”

“Young Master, the bodies hanging there too?”

“I’ll burn Lorian separately. Sophia’s body will be returned to Dijon. Call an undertaker.”

“You’re not sending Lady Lorian’s body to the former Count?”

I honestly had no desire to be considerate toward that old man.

Part of me hoped the shock would make him collapse.

“Count Michael and I discussed it and made this decision.”

“Understood, Young Master.”

The soldiers still called me Young Master.

I used them to quickly clean the area.

Count Michael had apparently decided he needed rest and vanished somewhere.

At least the residents occasionally shouted my name while watching me work.

That felt pretty good.

“Long live Young Master Eric!”

“Long live Eric ‘Westfalen’!”

* * *

Inside a miscellaneous storage room beneath the lord’s residence,

Lorian’s corpse lay on the floor.

I thought for a moment.

I wanted to send another gift to Count Palatinate, whose territory had poor relations with Westfalen.

It was a diplomatic effort.

I wanted to discourage Palatinate from starting a dispute while Westfalen was weakened.

I’ll cut off Lorian’s right arm and send it. Wrap it nicely.

I gathered Martin, Raul, and Pascal.

“I’m thinking about sending Lorian’s right arm to Palatinate. What do you think?”

“......”

All three looked away.

Why were they avoiding the question?

Was this really that disgusting?

No choice.

I personally brought a box.

Then I cut off Lorian’s arm so it fit inside.

She still wore a bracelet engraved with the Westfalen crest.

A large jeweled ring remained on one finger.

Her hand was white and soft.

Clearly, it had never done hard labor.

Nobody would doubt that it belonged to Lorian.

Now,

let’s see if creating a ghoul restores the missing arm.

I placed my hand on Lorian’s corpse.

“Create Ghoul.”

Guuuuuh, crack, crack, crack.

Lorian transformed and rose.

Fortunately, a new right arm immediately grew out.

I also heard the sound of her broken neck bones resetting.

She had become slightly taller, around 160 centimeters.

But her body was still extremely thin.

She looked incredibly light.

She would probably almost fly around during combat.

Martin frowned.

“I thought I would never have to see the Countess’s face again.”

“Insult her whenever you walk past.”

“I have barely ever cursed anyone.”

“...Then hit her.”

“I think I would lose.”

“When are you reaching Upper-rank anyway? Raul is already Mid-rank.”

“Father says probably soon. I’m not in a hurry.”

The gap between Mid-rank and Upper-rank Sword Expert was enormous.

It was normal to remain stuck there.

Despite Martin’s words,

his leg suddenly began shaking.

He had definitely become nervous.

“Hehehe. Once we return to Marcel, let’s spar.”

“...Yes. By the way, what is that smell?”

Lorian had not washed in a long time.

She smelled terrible.

And because she had been hanged, both urine and feces had leaked from her body.

We needed to wash her immediately.

I called Ramita, who was chewing on something in the corner to recover.

“Ramita, once we return to the inn, wash Lorian. Scrub her until there is no smell left.”

“Yes, my lord.”

We took some maid clothes from the storage room.

Then we returned to the inn.

I did not want to stay at the lord’s residence.

If Count Michael or some Holy Knight asked me to eat dinner with them, it would be annoying.

* * *

While Eric remained in Westfalen waiting for the territory to be reorganized and rewards to be distributed,

the undertaker’s carriage carrying Sophia’s body arrived in Dijon.

Young Lord Janis came personally.

Many officials, knights, and territorial liaisons accompanied him.

The incident was too large.

Anyone who failed to appear would attract suspicious attention.

Janis had already received a warning letter from the Cardinal of Aachen.

So he calmly accepted Sophia’s body.

At least outwardly.

Damn Eric Marcel! He destroyed my entire plan! And now I’ve even angered the Cardinal! Fuck!

The plan he had spent so long preparing had been progressing perfectly.

Until Eric interfered.

Now even direct military action against the weakened Westfalen Territory had become dangerous.

If Dijon started a territorial war,

the Germania Imperial Family might intervene under pressure from the Cardinal.

At this point, should I just attack Marcel instead? Cut off Eric’s head too?

For now, that idea was almost impossible.

Dijon and Marcel were far apart.

The powerful Ronalp Territory stood between them.

Most importantly,

the Franche royal family actively suppressed territorial wars.

Janis’s fist trembled with rage.

The Head Butler approached.

He had educated Janis for years because Janis’s weak father could barely manage anything.

“Young Lord, swallow your grief. I will take responsibility for the funeral. Also, a guest has arrived.”

It was anger, not grief.

“A guest?”

“Countess Karin Ronalp.”

“Ronalp? Why is she suddenly here?”

“It appears an opportunity has arisen to avenge Lady Sophia.”

Janis’s eyes widened.

“Bring her in immediately.”

The two hurried back toward the lord’s residence.

Someone watched their backs.

Jonas, the Westfalen liaison.

He was Noah’s distant cousin.

Relations between Dijon and Westfalen had deteriorated badly.

He was already preparing to return home.

He had attended the funeral procession hoping to gather one final piece of useful information.

By coincidence, he overheard Janis’s conversation.

Something felt wrong.

Jonas immediately began planning his return to Westfalen.

His liaison position was already gone anyway.

He intended to sell this information and obtain a new position.

* * *

Young Lord Janis received Karin Ronalp in the reception room.

After exchanging formal greetings,

he asked,

“For you to come personally, Countess, this must be extremely important.”

“Hohoho. Very important. An opportunity for both our territories to soar at once.”

Karin leaned back on the sofa and crossed her legs.

With a seductive smile and dangerously revealing clothes,

she tried to set fire to the heart of the twenty-four-year-old Janis.

The method worked on nearly every man except Eric.

And as expected,

Janis struggled to find somewhere safe to look.

“W, what opportunity?”

“Young Lord, have you heard that Marcel is constructing a canal?”

“Yes. Roches Mage Tower is handling the construction, and I heard Court Count Chatillon is watching the project closely.”

Karin lightly waved the fan in her hand.

Her tone was as casual as if she were asking,

‘Want to go drink some tea?’

“**Hehe. Then let’s take the canal away. Let’s attack Marcel together.**”