Chapter 62 : Chapter 62
Chapter 62
The queen of a small city.
Betty Pollard had always thought of herself that way.
She always got what she wanted, everyone bowed their heads before her, and the words she uttered were no different from laws that had to be followed.
Therefore.
For Betty, this was the first time she was experiencing such a moment.
What she wanted more than anything was somewhere in Romain, yet for days, it had not come into her grasp.
“You still haven't caught him?”
Betty Pollard asked with a wide smile.
Her voice trembled slightly with anger.
The reflection of the person bowing his head in front of her was captured in her widely dilated pupils.
Sanderson.
The old butler who had served her his whole life was looking down as if he had no excuse.
“Yes. We have not yet found any trace of him.”
“Why?”
“...It seems he has no intention of revealing himself. He might have already left Romain.”
There was no certainty in Sanderson's voice.
Betty recalled the knight’s reaction that Otis had described.
‘No, he was after the Magic Stone. He won’t leave.’
The unidentified knight had approached, aiming for the Magic Stone.
He knew its value.
Enough to willingly throw himself into the threat of the plague.
“He’s still in Romain. Have you searched the temples?”
“Yes. We have checked every nook and cranny without exception.”
“Did they let you in? Even the prayer rooms? And the place where they keep the holy artifacts?”
“Yes, they were as cooperative as always.”
“...I suppose so. They probably think we haven't noticed their little scheme yet.”
Betty glared at Sanderson and paused for a moment.
It couldn't be helped.
Of course, she knew it too.
If a single person was determined to hide, it would be difficult to find them no matter how many people were mobilized.
“Ganesha.”
“I apologize.”
“You can find Ganesha! Even if not the knight! Does Ganesha have only one or two people working for her? Does it make sense that you couldn't find a single one?”
“I apologize.”
“What are you sorry for.”
Swoosh-
Betty's voice dropped heavily.
At that, the old butler Sanderson could only lower his head even further.
When his master pushed him with such an attitude, all he could do was to keep his body low, hoping that the anger would not be directed at him.
“Otis is dead. You know that? Otis is dead because you all failed to find the knight in advance.”
The person who had ordered Otis to be dealt with was Betty herself.
But Sanderson couldn't bring himself to point it out.
“I want that audacious knight in front of me. Is that a difficult request?”
“It is not. I will make it happen without fail.”
“I don’t think I can wait much longer. You’ll have to hurry.”
“Yes. I will hurry.”
Sanderson, who had been sweating profusely, bowed deeply and quickly left her space.
Betty panted, trying to calm her anger.
The surroundings were filled with rabbit dolls. She hugged a human-sized rabbit doll and buried her face in it.
‘What should I do?’
Her anger just wouldn't subside.
But the opponent had thoroughly hidden himself.
She had tried to have him followed, but the result was the cold, stiff body of her subordinate in a corner of an alley.
The orders of Romain had also started to move.
Those who had been passively focused only on treatment had begun to implement countermeasures in earnest.
Objects imbued with divine power were placed all over Romain.
They were objects that possessed the power to push back Morganes's black magic.
‘How did they know?’
It was a truth not yet known to the world.
Warlocks who dealt with plagues never revealed themselves.
They always spread disease from behind the scenes, secretly, so that no one could deal with it.
Even the great Paganoa Knights were in a situation where they couldn't come up with a proper countermeasure.
In the first place, it was normal not to even think that it was the work of a warlock.
That's why they hadn't dispatched a knight even in this situation.
They must have judged that it was not under their jurisdiction.
‘Thinking about it won’t change anything.’
But the situation had already unfolded.
If left as it was, Betty would be unable to fulfill her contract.
If she couldn't deliver enough death, it was her share to pay the rest of the price.
“Betty.”
Flinch.
Betty's body trembled at the voice that dug into her ear.
The eerie voice made her feel as if her life force was being drained just by hearing it.
“Death has slowed.”
“I’ll clean it up soon. Can’t you wait for just a few days?”
“Betty.”
A man shrouded in black mist moved without a single footstep.
He stood in front of Betty, staring at her with bright yellow eyes.
“The contract will be fulfilled without fail. You must not forget.”
“I know.”
“Hurry.”
Poof.
The mist cleared, and the man disappeared.
Cold sweat trickled down Betty's forehead. Her body trembled as if she had the chills.
If she doesn't kill, she dies.
And if she died without fulfilling the contract, she would have to pay the price she had yet to pay.
“Sanderson!”
Betty screamed.
The door burst open, and the old man who had just left rushed in, out of breath.
“Yes, my lady.”
“Get the kids moving right now. Tell them to clean up all those things as soon as night falls.
And tell the mayor to cooperate immediately. Whether he moves the soldiers or whatever…”
“But my lady. Didn’t the mayor already say he couldn't get involved himself?”
“Just do it! You have to! Go and tell him right now! Tell him I’ll kill him if he doesn’t! Tell him to move now if he doesn’t want to be hanged on the gallows!”
Betty shouted explosively.
She had usually pretended to respect the mayor, but this time, the situation was different.
If they couldn't solve the problem they faced, both Betty and the mayor were as good as dead.
They might even experience something more terrible than death.
Butler Sanderson hurried away.
Having said this much, the other party would understand.
If they mobilized the soldiers of Romain, solving the problem was not an impossible task.
As she waited, biting her lip, for a long time.
BOOOOOM! BOOM! BOOOOOOOOM!
At the loud roar, Betty shot up straight. She could even feel a slight vibration from the floor.
“...!”
It was unbelievable.
The protective device here was strong enough to completely block everything, be it an earthquake or a lightning strike.
Betty looked at the tightly closed door with surprised eyes.
For no one to come in and report even though this had happened.
Shhhhrk.
Betty hurriedly drew the curtains from the window.
In that moment, an intense light filled her vision.
“Ugh...!”
She reflexively squeezed her eyes shut.
Guuuung-
A heavy impact was transmitted throughout her body.
Betty flinched reflexively. Her eyes were so dazzled that she raised her hand to cover her vision.
“Fireworks...?”
A dazed voice escaped Betty's lips.
Flashes of light were exploding from all directions.
***
The center of Romain.
Near Betty Pollard's mansion.
“Peep. Peep. Peeep!”
Reinhardt received Bitdori's report while hiding his body in the darkness.
The fellow was Reinhardt's eyes.
It had looked down on Romain from above, checking everything that was happening in every corner without exception, and returned.
“You said the anti-magic power settings are definitely in place.”
“Peep.”
Bishop Dalton had kept his promise.
The priests of the large orders had moved quickly, placing holy artifacts and other items throughout Romain.
All of them were items with considerable anti-magic power.
“Ganesha?”
“Peep.”
“Good.”
The doctor, Ganesha Edropin, had also gathered the people who followed her and finished preparations to move.
It meant that the scrolls sleeping in the drawer would soon cause a chain of explosions.
And that too, precisely around Betty Pollard's mansion.
“You said this was the most loosely guarded area, right?”
“Peeep.”
Reinhardt took a position near the mansion.
The moment the first explosion occurred, his role was to infiltrate the mansion.
Reinhardt waited, holding his breath.
He had two immediate goals.
To eliminate Betty Pollard and to secure the Executioner's Magic Stone.
And so, for a moment.
Just as Reinhardt was looking up at the sky with an anxious gaze.
BOOM- BOOOOOM-!
Explosions of enormous scale occurred simultaneously around the mansion.
Immediately, Reinhardt jumped over the wall.
Thud.
There were no people in the well-decorated garden.
Even if there were people, they would have flocked to where the explosion had just occurred.
“Bitdori!”
“Peeep!”
Bitdori took the lead and delved into the mansion.
Then it popped out again and gestured wildly at Reinhardt with a sound like blowing a whistle.
It meant to go in now.
Grip.
Reinhardt climbed the wall. There were enough irregularities on the outer wall, so climbing to the second floor was not a problem.
A noise even louder than before was echoing from all directions.
While on the wall, Reinhardt glanced over his shoulder.
Ruuuumble!
The building that had stood firm for decades collapsed.
The roar awoke the city. The ground shook.
Intense light embroidered the air, and the dark night sky became as bright as day.
And a dark red energy was slowly gathering from all over the air.
But it couldn't spread.
The efforts of the priests were paying off.
‘This is not the time for that.’
CRASH!
Reinhardt frowned and broke a second-floor window, jumping into the mansion.
There was a man looking at Reinhardt with startled eyes.
“Uh, uhh!”
The man frantically fumbled in his clothes. What followed in his hand was a short dagger, but Reinhardt's sword strike was already cutting the man down.
Chwaak-!
The man collapsed, spraying blood. The unused dagger fell to the ground with a loud noise.
Reinhardt stepped over the fallen man and ran down the hallway.
His target was on the fourth floor of the mansion.
“This is…!”
“Guh, gurgle.”
Shink. Shink.
Reinhardt cut down the organization members he met along the way and quickly climbed the stairs.
A corridor decorated with more splendid ornaments than before was revealed.
Betty's space was at the end of the path.
“It’s Ganesha Edropin! Ganesha used magic!”
A frantic shout came from beyond the heavy door.
“Ganesha? She's a healing mage!”
“I confirmed it myself! Ganesha Edropin relentlessly used attack magic of the four elements!
She was hiding her skills!”
“The possibility of it being scrolls?”
“My lady, there’s no way she could possess that many scrolls…”
Betty was arguing with her butler.
A surprisingly calm voice followed.
“No, it's scrolls. Pull the kids back. Until all of Ganesha's scrolls are used up.”
“Yes, I will give the order.”
Reinhardt held his breath, practically sticking to the door.
He heard urgent footsteps.
‘Bitdori.’
Reinhardt gestured to Bitdori with his eyes.
The fellow understood quickly, peeked through the crack in the door, and signaled to Reinhardt.
The footsteps got closer, and Bitdori raised its short arm with all its might.
“Peep!”
Now.
Reinhardt swung his sword horizontally and cut down whoever came out.
Shink.
He felt the sensation in his hand. A person split in half and rolled on the floor.
A red stain spread wide over the carpet that was laid out along the corridor.
‘It’s Betty’s butler.’
Butler Sanderson.
He was the most troublesome enemy encountered in the process of dealing with Betty Pollard.
He was a kind of named monster, and because he used all sorts of items and skills, one never knew when they might receive a fatal injury if they fought him head-on.
“Gasp, gack.”
The old butler's pupils lost their focus.
And leisurely, Reinhardt pushed open the heavy door.