Chapter 120 : Chapter 120
Chapter 120:
On the way to Sarme, I mulled over Anat’s proposal.
‘She’ll release the restriction.’
I remembered her talking about a contract when we first met.
She had said she would break the contract if I didn’t stop the world’s destruction.
I had been curious what contract she was talking about, but to think it was a restriction.
The Eight Council, which was already on shaky ground before Valheit’s death, was completely shattered after he died, so most of the unresolved plot points related to Valheit were never revealed.
Among them, the most talked-about mystery was whether Valheit had died too easily compared to the foreshadowing that had been laid out for him.
My opinion, which was also the general consensus, was that the author had simply gotten rid of him because they felt they couldn't handle the mid-boss.
Now, however, it had become a problem that couldn't be so simply dismissed.
'Even considering the Duke's machinations behind the scenes, it was rather anticlimactic.'
Although the story depicted him as being defeated by the protagonist, Noah, with all his might, it was also true that Valheit seemed weak compared to how much he had been hyped up.
If that was because of a restriction placed by the commander, Anat, then it would make sense.
But that didn't solve all the questions.
'Why on earth did he make such a contract?'
Valheit was famous for being a person who never made a losing deal.
There was no way a guy like that would have easily agreed to have his own power bound.
He must have received something in return.
I couldn't fathom what on earth Anat could have given him.
I shook my head.
I could ask for the details later.
What was important now was the opportunity to become stronger without much effort.
Having decided to be on bad terms with the Duke of Leitche, I couldn't miss such a great event.
'...They're here.'
I raised my head at the rattling sound of a carriage.
I could see two carriages approaching from a distance.
One was a large freight carriage loaded with all sorts of supplies, and the other seemed to be for carrying people.
The carriage that spotted me slowed down.
Once the carriage came to a complete stop, the emblem of a medical saw, the symbol of the People’s Medical Center, came into view.
“What’s the matter?”
“There’s a person standing in the middle of the road.”
The driver answered the irritable voice in a whisper.
I heard some coarse swearing, and then the carriage door flew open.
“I’m busy as hell, what bastard is….”
“A pleasure to see you, Director.”
As I greeted him cheerfully, the face of the Director who had gotten out of the carriage stiffened.
It seemed to be taking him a while to figure out who I was.
“Oh my, I never expected to see you here, Count. Hahaha.”
As soon as he recognized my face, the Director put on a business smile and, in a syrupy voice, bowed his head repeatedly.
The other people inside the carriage also began to peek their heads out, curious about what was happening.
Among them, a familiar face caught my eye.
“Seeing Mr. Raphel here as well, it seems you’ve come for medical service.”
“Yes? Ah, that’s right. The fundraising we were doing in the Imperial Capital has ended. We decided to tour the small towns for full-scale medical service.”
“What a wonderful mindset.”
I smiled with a strange hint of sarcasm.
They weren't here for medical service, but to earn the money they received from the Ravens.
The Director, completely oblivious to my inner thoughts, laughed heartily as if overwhelmed with gratitude.
“Well, it’s tough, but isn’t that why we work at the People’s Medical Center? By the way, Count, what brings you here….”
“I have something to do.”
“Ah, I see.”
As I cut him off, the Director tactfully ended the conversation.
He seemed to know that nothing good would come from asking more questions.
“Where are you headed?”
“We are going to a place called Sarme.”
“Why there of all places?”
“Pardon? Uh, well, it’s a big village, isn’t it? Around here.”
The Director mumbled and averted his gaze.
I took a step closer to the Director.
“Sarme is currently under lockdown. Please turn back.”
“I hadn’t heard anything about that….”
“You wouldn't have. It was decided just now.”
“Just now?”
“Yes, it was decided 30 minutes ago.”
The Director rolled his eyes as if confused.
He seemed unable to grasp whether what I said was a joke or not.
“But why….”
“Do you need to know?”
“Well… that is, we are also following a certain procedure, so if you tell us to go back now, we won’t be able to do anything for a day.”
“Procedure, you say.”
“We’ve already told our superiors that we are going to Sarme, so if we don’t go, we need a reason for not going….”
The Director couldn't finish his sentence.
It’s not like I hit him or anything.
I just thrust my staff at his Adam's apple.
“That’s none of my business, is it?”
“Uh….”
“Entering Sarme is forbidden. Take a nice rest for the day.”
The Director’s face grew paler and paler.
It was all too clear that he was weighing in his mind whose orders would be more dangerous to ignore: the Ravens' or Count Valheit's.
“You’ve come to do good work, so you wouldn’t want to cause an unnecessary diplomatic dispute, would you.”
“O-of course.”
“Excellent. Then you can just turn the carriage around and go back.”
“No, that is… um….”
The Director didn't back down easily and kept stammering the same words.
It was almost pitiful to see him constantly wiping away his cold sweat.
“Hah… it is a pity for me as well that I have to be like this to those who are here to do good work.”
“Is there no other way, Count?”
The Director brought up the topic I wanted to discuss first.
I pretended to be conflicted and trailed off my words.
“If you insist, it’s not that there’s no way. Though I’m not sure you’ll be satisfied.”
“What is it?”
“As you know, Sarme is not a very large village. Of course, it’s big for this area, but that’s only in the context of this area.”
The Director blinked his eyes as if to ask what that had to do with anything, and I spoke to him as kindly and gently as possible.
“One doctor should be enough to make a house call. Any more than that will be difficult.”
Disappointment filled the Director's expression at the words ‘any more than that will be difficult,’ but he soon put on his business smile and nodded eagerly.
“I understand. Then I will choose one person and let you know….”
“Let’s go with Mr. Raphel. It’s more comfortable with someone I know, after all.”
“…Of course! We’ll get him ready and send him over.”
The Director quickly jumped back into the carriage, and I could hear whispering.
It was hard to make out what was being said, but they were probably discussing points to be careful about.
After waiting for a few minutes, Raphel got out of the carriage with a house call bag.
“It’s been a while.”
“Not that long, though.”
“Raphel! Don’t forget what I just told you!”
With the Director's desperate cry as a final note, the carriage began to turn back.
Only after a long while, when the carriage was completely out of sight, did I open my mouth.
“What did he say?”
“He told me to report for sure what condition the patients are in and what their symptoms are.”
“A more ordinary request than I thought.”
“He also told me to hide the patients’ diagnoses from you, Count.”
“That’s an easy request.”
Considering what happened in Kranacht and the experience Raphel shared with me before, the People’s Medical Center must have come to conceal the curse as a disease.
The ‘superiors’ he mentioned would be the Ravens, not the People’s Medical Center.
“So why is Sarme under lockdown?”
“The entire village has collapsed due to a curse, and we are in the process of lifting it.”
“Uh, is it okay for you to tell me that? I honestly thought you wouldn't answer.”
Raphel was even more flustered after hearing the answer.
“What does it matter? I have to give you this much information so you have something to report when you go back, don't I?”
“Isn’t that something I can confirm by going there myself?”
“Hahaha, didn’t you hear? Right now, no one can enter Sarme. Not me, not you.”
“Then why did you talk about a house call?”
I grinned at Raphel’s bewildered expression.
“Because a lot of other patients are scheduled to appear soon.”
“Other patients?”
“Yes. The other uninvited guests who are trying to visit Sarme.”
***
Kaseph quietly watched as Anat took each person’s hand one by one and offered a prayer.
The sight of the curse's energy receding as if startled and a little life returning to the deathly pale faces was astonishing even to him, who had a deep knowledge of curses.
“Where to next.”
“That building over there.”
Anat led the way with a quick pace, and Kaseph followed behind her, creaking.
Although the most critical patients had been treated, more time was still needed to deal with the rest of the people, and furthermore, the curse that had seeped into the land.
“I have something to ask.”
“You looked like it.”
“Do you intend to trust Valheit?”
Anat smiled at Kaseph’s dry question.
“You asked that question not long after we first met, too.”
“Then and now are different. Because Valheit… has changed.”
“Yes, he certainly has changed.”
Anat said softly as she took the hand of someone who had collapsed in front of a house.
“He has gotten better, but he is still a person whose true intentions are unknown. Furthermore, his purpose remains unclear.”
“There’s no need to beat around the bush. You’re just saying you don’t like him.”
“…Is it alright to release the restriction?”
An uncharacteristic hint of dissatisfaction was present in Kaseph’s voice.
“Isn’t that contract a kind of safety device? The shackles that prevent Valheit from moving as he pleases.”
“Do you know why I left the Eight Council?”
“How could I know such deep intentions?”
When Anat left the Eight Council, she had said there was something important she had to do, but she left not a single clue as to what it was.
“It was to find a way to stop the destruction. And I came to realize. That I couldn't keep Valheit bound forever.”
“If you let go of the leash, that fellow might destroy the world, mightn't he?”
“That’s right. That’s why, even though I thought I had to let go, I held onto that leash until now. But I don’t think I need to anymore.”
After carefully finishing the treatment, Anat stood up and let out a small sigh as if in relief.
“The reason I held onto the contract with Valheit was that he had no interest whatsoever in the Eight Council. Even if they were eccentric and wicked, they were all necessary people, but in Valheit’s eyes, they must have been meaningless.”
Certainly, the old Valheit had no interest in the organization, unfitting for his position as the second-in-command of the Eight Council.
The only reason he belonged to the Eight Council must have been because of the contract he had with Anat.
“The Valheit of now has changed. Should I say he is finally doing his job as Acting Commander properly? So I think it’s okay to let him off the leash a bit now.”
“I am still opposed. If you do such a thing, the Saintess might….”
Kaseph stopped talking and looked back.
There was no one on the curse-infested village street.
But behind the mask, tension filled Kaseph's eyes.
Stetten's knights had arrived.
Their arrogant mana could be felt even from here, so they were not ordinary knights.
“Uninvited guests have arrived. Shall I dispose of them?”
“Do you think the barrier won’t be enough?”
“If they were ordinary folk, there would be no problem, but it doesn’t seem that way.”
“Then let’s trust Valheit.”
At Anat’s words, Kaseph’s face contorted, a fact that could be felt even beyond the mask.
Looking at his face, Anat grinned.
“Valheit doesn’t make losing deals, does he? As long as the reward I promised him is certain, there’s no one more trustworthy.”
Saying so, Anat once again began to treat the cursed people.
Because Valheit would not disappoint her.