Chapter 171 : Chapter 171
Chapter 171
I was so surprised my body jolted. Though I was trembling, I answered calmly.
“…Yes. Th-this wasn't professional treatment… You must remain lying down for the time being.”
“Is that so.”
The Star Child lay still and opened his eyes. His white pupils, resembling stars, looked up at the ceiling of the Coffee Wagon.
“It has been a while, Nerjin.”
“…Yes….”
It had been 100 years since we last saw each other face to face. The last time was… when I was escaping the Cosmos Empire.
I had received help from the Peacemaker at that time, and the last time I saw him was right before my escape, when I came face to face with the Star Child.
‘Hoo…! In the end, this day has come!’
Even though the head of the Wisdrammus family, who was both my adoptive father and teacher, had sacrificed himself, the Cosmos Emperor and the Pope relentlessly pursued me.
The Pope, hearing late of my escape, dispatched his direct elite force, the Holy Assassins, and seven members of the Peacemaker who were helping me had to be sacrificed on the spot.
Among those seven…. was the Star Child's only family member, his younger sister.
‘It's still so vivid.’
The sight of the Star Child, who arrived late, wiping out all the Holy Assassins. It was as savage and cruel as a ferocious lion roughly tearing into the slender neck of a deer.
Afterwards, the Star Child clutched his sister's body and wept endlessly. His only family. The death of a blood relative with whom he had shared life and death for over 200 years.
The Star Child emanated a wrath-filled sorrow that would terrify any onlooker. Then, that Star Child turned his head and met my eyes.
I was watching that scene from the peak of a border mountain, and when our eyes met, I was so terrified that I ended up running away.
‘Will he, kill me.’
I didn't want to show that side of myself to Bianca…!
“The Demon Lord Joverka has descended, Nerjin.”
“…!”
But the Star Child began with the story of the impending doom.
The Multiplying Laughter, one of the seven Demon Lords. I was not unaware.
“Damn it, Keltu.... I never imagined that bastard would make such a goddamn decision. He's not the type to gamble. …Right, perhaps it was Joverka's own decision. He's an unpredictable one, after all. I tried to stop him, but in the end, I failed. I don't even know how I managed to get out alive. Against that elusive, smiling clown.”
“…”
I couldn't bring myself to say anything.
‘Star Child, do you... not possess emotions?’
To not say a single word about the day of the escape, and only bring up the story of the Demon Lord, it was frightening, as if he were a person who 'lacked' something.
Would it be too much of a delusion to say that it seemed to... overlap with President Martin?
“Joverka headed for the Imperial Castle. As it happens, Martin is there. We can only trust that he will take care of it.”
“…”
After the Star Child's last words, no more conversation passed between us. Even though there must have been so much for us to say to each other. Just then.
“G-Grandfather! Come out! Grandfather!”
I could instantly sense that something had happened.
“What is it, Bianca!”
“Savo came back from scouting, and I think he's hurt!”
When I opened the door, I saw Bianca and Savo, whose apron was stained with blood. I was startled, but I was able to remain calm at Savo's serene expression.
“…It is not my blood.”
“So it seems. What happened?”
“It seems Imperium Land has been taken over.”
“…!”
My breath hitched. What did that mean? Taken over?
“Are you saying someone has taken this place over?”
“Yes. The laughing people.”
Laughing people! It's the mental domination of Joverka, the Demon Lord of Multiplying Laughter!
“…Savo.”
“…!”
Savo looked into the wagon in surprise. Because he heard a familiar voice. The Star Child, who had been lying down, was slowly raising his body.
“…White Mister?”
“I told you it's hyung, not mister….”
In Savo's case, on the recommendation of Gilbert, with whom he had a connection, he was learning the sword under the Star Child's supervision. Along with the man with the nameless red greatsword....
“Star Child! You mustn't get up!”
“It's fine…, Kgh.”
The Star Child, who was getting up, must have felt a pang of pain as he paused his posture. I immediately went in, supported the Star Child, and laid him back down.
“Hoo, ha… I can't move. Nerjin, for now, come inside and close the door. Those Demon Lord bastards... seem to be dead set.”
“Ah, I understand.”
As I went to close the wagon door, a chill ran down my spine.
Sebastian. Where did he go? There were no customers, so I let him rest comfortably for a bit…! I know he's no ordinary breed of dog, but if something were to happen….
‘I won't be able to face President Martin and Miss Lilac.’
I hurriedly took out a belt with a card case from my magic pouch and fastened it around my waist.
“Bianca, Savo! Stay inside for a moment. I'll go find Sebastian and come back!”
I immediately ran into the forest.
‘There!’
It was thanks to the location tracker I had attached to Sebastian's collar.
“Aaargh! Help me!”
I hid my body instinctively. In the distance, a person was running. A 'laughing man' was chasing after him.
Just as I thought I should save him, the laughing man knocked down the fleeing person.
“Hahahahahahahaha!”
Seeing the laughing man's expression, I froze stiff.
‘What is this, grotesque…!’
He was laughing forcibly, like someone being tortured by tickling. Tears streamed from his bloodshot eyes, and blood and saliva leaked from the corners of his mouth, which had torn from laughing too much.
In that state, the laughing man held the head of the man he had pinned down, made eye contact, and laughed.
“Hahahaha! Haha! Hahahahahaha!”
“Aaaargh! Help me! Aack!”
‘My god…!’
Soon, the person pinned under the laughing man.
“Ha, haha.”
Began to laugh as well. Then he got up and headed somewhere.
…To pass on the laughter to someone else. I clutched my pounding heart.
‘Quickly, I have to escape Imperium Land. This place is already hell!’
Seeing as no alarm was ringing, the land's control room and security team must have already been taken down.
‘Where are you, Sebastian!’
While checking the tracking device, I saw that Sebastian was moving far away. As if heading somewhere. Coincidentally, it was in the direction of the Imperial Castle.
‘He's going to President Martin.’
I debated whether to follow, but I wasn't confident I could catch up to Sebastian's speed shown on the tracker.
‘I can only hope he's safe.’
In the end, I had no choice but to go back. The moment I turned my head.
‘…My god.’
At the end of the direction from which the laughing man had appeared, where the forest ended, I saw it.
The grand plaza, where a parade had been in full swing, was now a den of madness, awash with bloodshed and laughter.
“Hahahahahahahaha!”
“Haha! Hahaha! Hahahaha!”
Madness. It was a scene from hell.
‘Let's go, quickly!’
This was no time for this. I went back to the Coffee Wagon. I crossed the forest, harboring the fear that something might have happened in the meantime.
When I got to the Coffee Wagon, just as I expected, Savo was standing there with his sword drawn. The surroundings were filled with fallen people.
Bloodstains were visible here and there, but on closer inspection, they weren't sword wounds. It seemed he had struck their vital points with the back of his blade to knock them out.
“There was an attack. Engagement occurred. I have performed non-lethal suppression.”
“Well done.”
There were easily over a hundred of them. Looking around, it didn't seem as if the people from the surrounding shops had all been afflicted.
‘It would have been a disaster if Savo wasn't here!’
Unlike my old self, Savo's growth was frighteningly steep. He was reliable.
When President Martin first brought this child, I had wondered what he was thinking.
“For now, stay on guard. It seems we must leave this place.”
“Yes.”
When I went inside the Coffee Wagon, I saw Bianca and the Star Child.
“Bianca, come down. Star Child, we must escape from here! It's a pandemonium of laughing people everywhere!”
“…Kgh, I really should have stopped him back then….”
“For now, please come out!”
I thought I would be trembling in fear just by looking at the Star Child. But I entrusted myself to a baseless confidence that surged from nowhere and helped the Star Child out of the Coffee Wagon.
“Star Child, you must be careful with your movements. If there's a large impact, the taping could come off and the wound could open.”
“Alright.”
The Star Child's body felt light. It wasn't that I didn't exercise, but I thought all my muscles had died off from old age, yet a strength I couldn't explain was welling up.
“Savo, can we escape from Imperium Land?”
“The probability of a successful operation is extremely low. There are enemies in all directions.”
“…Then, we have no choice but to find a safe shelter.”
The first thing that came to mind was the underground waterway that runs beneath the capital. President Martin uses it often, but….
‘It would be difficult to escort the Star Child.’
With a seriously injured person, it's hard to enter and exit the underground. Let's just keep it as a possibility. For now, the goal is to find a shelter.
“Hahahahahaha!”
Laughing men came running. About five of them.
‘Ugh.’
My head felt strange. That laughter was clearly having a negative effect on my mind.
The Star Child, who was being supported, spoke.
“Do not kill them. They are merely being mentally controlled.”
“Yes, White Mister.”
Savo rushed out and struck the vital points of the five people, like their necks or hearts, knocking them unconscious.
“Savo. We have to go to that building.”
I lifted my head and headed for the largest building in Imperium Land. It was decorated like a giant castle, and as I recalled, it was the state-of-the-art control room, the ‘Control Fortress’.
“Even if it's been taken over, there must be something for emergencies.”
“Understood. I will clear a path.”
Bianca also took a card from her bosom and sent an approaching laughing man flying far away. Her skills were immature, so the power was low, but that actually helped in not injuring people.
Savo and Bianca guarded while I provided support. Because the Star Child had to be protected no matter what.
“Nerjin….”
“Yes, Star Child.”
“Dig a hole, bury me, then cover me with bushes. That would make it easier to escape.”
I don't know what nerve I had, but I refused.
“I cannot do that.”
“Hah…, this little brat….”
But I was too scared to look at the Star Child's expression.
“Grandfather, over there!”
Bianca pointed at the Control Fortress that was beginning to come into view in the distance.
Arrows and bundles of magic were being shot out from the fortress in all directions, and laughing people were swarming towards it.
‘…The Control Fortress is still active. Seeing as the alarm didn't go off, have only its functions been paralyzed? It would be great if we could join them.’
But breaking through seems like a distant prospect. With Savo, we might be able to reach the entrance, but it's questionable if they'll open up from the inside….
“Hey, you there! It's dangerous, what are you doing?!”
Turning my head at someone's call, I saw the voice came from inside a large building to the side. Through a closed iron door, someone was watching us with only their eyes visible.
“Come in here! Hurry!”
‘Is it, okay to go?’
I hesitated. President Martin was good at discerning the truth and falsehood in others' words, but I didn't have such an ability.
When I turned my head, the Star Child had his eyes closed as if he had fainted again.
“…For now, let's go.”
While supporting the Star Child, I took Savo and Bianca and entered the building. As soon as we went through the slightly open iron door, it slammed shut with a THUD! As if it would never open again….