Chapter 75

Fortunately, his chest appeared to have no major issues apart from bruising.

Besides, this wasn't the time to worry about his body.

Amelia, tightly clutching Arndt's dagger and continuously muttering something without pause.

Russel, who had begun to talk about a nonexistent god with an exceedingly devout expression.

And Leandros, who suddenly seemed to be on edge as if he had entered an unfamiliar territory and wouldn't leave his side.

These were all types of paranoid symptoms.

Symptoms that could be detected before humans in this world entered madness.

Various emotions and thoughts normally suppressed by reason were pouring out as if a dam had broken.

For example.

"Do you know how you acted when we first met? Did you think I was an ordinary lady? You stood in front of me and bravely offered your arm. I fell for that kindness, worrying about your master even as your arm was burning and your flesh melting, ah! I wish you would fall for me too..."

Amelia kept muttering while stroking Arndt's dagger.

Turning his head to the other side,

"God shall make the earth empty, and make it waste, and turn it upside down, and scatter abroad the inhabitants thereof and the earth shall be utterly emptied, and utterly spoiled, he said. Yes, God said this, the earth mourns and withers, the world languishes and withers, the high people of the world languish, and the earth is also polluted under its inhabitants."

Russel could be seen passionately evangelizing to a broken stone wall with a kind and generous smile.

And beside him.

"This doesn't seem to be of any help to the future schedule. Shall I kill them?"

"Kill what! No!"

"If that is Your Grace's wish, I shall follow it."

Leandros was there with his focus completely off.

How could he get to the Margrave's castle with these people?

Now that it had come to this, he felt like he wanted to lose his mind along with them.

No, Yu Yesung. Get a grip. First, think about what needs to be done.

"Your Grace, since it has come to this, it would be better to leave them behind and search the nearby villages again."

"How is that different from abandoning them? No!"

Are you going to be like this all the time?

If this were a group project, it would have already failed and been posted on X-ta as a story!

He barely suppressed the urge to shout while firmly pressing his throbbing temples.

"...Alright, I understand. I know it's dangerous here. The monsters have fled, but we don't know when they might return."

"That's right."

While he couldn't know the identity of what he had seen before fainting, it was clear that it was an ancient god.

The snow fog and cloudy skies that densely spread everywhere had been a heaven-sent fortune.

If they had witnessed the entity's true form, they might have plucked out their own eyes rather than simply spouting nonsense.

He couldn't even guarantee what would have happened to himself.

This made one thing clear.

The fact that the north didn't just have the Lord of the Extreme Realm.

It had been his mistake to think that there would be one god for each direction, like the east and south.

He had walked right into an area where Yurik had properly wreaked havoc.

"But we need to get to the Margrave's castle somehow."

"We don't know what dangers might exist."

"There might be survivors. And there's also the issue of obtaining mithril."

Besides, he needed to know what Yurik had done in order to properly unravel that bastard's schemes.

Even so, it was dangerous to bring along companions in this mental state.

How could he solve this?

After pondering, he suddenly looked at Amelia.

"Amelia. Did you hear that?"

Amelia stopped muttering and stared at him with a blank expression.

She was gripping the dagger sheath so tightly that the jewel decorating it seemed about to fall off.

"When we were leaving the ducal residence, didn't Arndt initially tell you to come back quickly? Do you remember?"

"D-don't know."

"I remember that's what happened. But do you know what?"

"Wh-what?"

"I think Arndt wanted to tell you to come quickly, but he was too shy, so he told me to bring you back quickly. What do you think?"

"!"

Amelia's mouth fell open.

After thinking for a while, she nodded with a determined face.

"Y-you're right. I th-think that's what h-happened. Shall we g-go back now? I can c-confess my love to Arndt! Let's go right away!"

"But didn't Arndt tell us to go to the Margrave's castle first? Do you remember that?"

"...D-did he? I d-don't remember."

"Yes. Arndt ordered it. I think Arndt would like it better if we went to the Margrave's castle before going back."

"W-we can go right n-now! Where is the c-castle!"

"They say it's in that direction. Would you like to go ahead and check the path?"

Despite the blatant lie, Amelia skipped away happily by herself.

With her body light, she hopped over the collapsed debris as she went.

Well, that's one down. Next.

"Russel, Russel. Listen. About the Margrave's castle. I hear there are a lot of people there. I suppose that's because it's a castle."

"Is that so?"

"But I heard that all the people there are atheists."

"...That can't be! Poor souls who haven't received God's grace, all gathered together! Is the Margrave's castle a den of hell! A devil's lair!"

"Well, it seems to be because people live in a cold environment. Don't you think it would be good if you went there and spread God's word?"

"Yes, of course I should! Though not a priest, I'm a proper member of the Holy Knight Order. I can recite doctrines with my eyes closed! Ah. I must hurry to save those poor people. Poor lambs who have turned away from God even in this cold, with nothing to rely on!"

"Yes. Can you see Amelia over there? She's also going to the castle. You should go with her."

Russel ran after Amelia, continuously reciting what seemed to be some prayer.

After sending the two away, he let out a sigh.

"Phew. It's fortunate that it's not serious."

If the giant hadn't just passed by, the situation would have been more severe.

If it had discovered them, they might have plucked out their own eyes or gone completely mad due to the illogical entity, unable to even hear such persuasion.

Leandros looked at him as he watched the two people proudly running away.

"...You lie so smoothly."

"I had no choice. If we had gone alone, those two might have disappeared somewhere and frozen to death."

The thing readers hated most was when kind characters died.

If he wanted to end this story well, he had to ensure survival as much as possible, right?

Leandros shrugged and stuck close to him.

Setting off a little later, they followed the city road buried in snow.

Before long, they could see Russel and Amelia's backs in the distance.

Russel was on his knees in despair, and Amelia was stamping her feet in agony.

"The poor lost lambs are right there! Why can't I deliver God's mercy to them!"

"A-Arndt told me to g-go there! Why is there suddenly a c-cliff!"

In front of the two wailing people was a crevasse.

Even for a crevasse, its width was about 5 meters, not extremely wide.

If there were a ladder or bridge, they could certainly cross it.

However, there was a reason why the two couldn't cross and were wailing.

The bridge that would have served as a connection was broken and hanging on this side of the cliff.

It was evidence that no one had maintained it.

"Leandros, what should we do? Let's follow this and see if there's a place we can cross."

"We'll end up walking quite a bit."

"We have no choice."

While they were discussing this, Amelia, who had been glaring at the other side with a very angry expression, suddenly jumped into the crevasse gap.

"Ah, Amelia!!"

Thinking Amelia had gone mad, he lay down at the edge of the cliff.

Fortunately, Amelia hadn't just fallen.

She was hanging onto the broken bridge.

She went to the very end of the bridge, firmly grabbed the plank, and pushed the wall with her legs.

-Creak, creak.

It pushed out, came back, and using that rebound, it pushed out further, then came back again.

Amelia's eyes weren't usually timid or dull.

She was doing this crazy thing solely out of determination to "make Arndt happy."

-Creak, creek.

Going far away, coming back, going a bit further.

The end of the bridge, tied to a stake on this side, made a strained sound.

-Creeeak, creeee...

The bridge swung violently.

Like a pendulum, the bridge with Amelia as the weight went higher and higher.

Then, at the moment Amelia's body fully soared upward,

-Crack!

The stake, unable to bear the weight, broke.

Before they could even scream, Leandros and he rushed to grab the stakes on both sides.

The rope Leandros grabbed stopped immediately, but the problem was on his side.

His palms burned as his body, unable to withstand the force, was dragged along.

"Your Grace!"

"Aaaagh!"

Leandros, who had kicked away the rolling Russel, caught his waist just before he fell and tucked him at his side.

Amelia, who had failed to land, went down again, and rotation followed.

Leandros gritted his teeth.

Thanks to Leandros, who barely endured the total of an adult male + an adult female + bridge weight + centrifugal force, Amelia was able to land safely on the other side this time.

Watching Amelia connect the bridge from the other side, Leandros caught his breath and said in a low voice.

"...Your Grace."

"...I won't show off anymore. I'll take care of myself."

No matter how he thought about it, Leandros might not need him in his future path...

Somehow connecting the bridge, they were able to cross the crevasse and head toward the Margrave's castle.

It didn't take as long as expected to reach the castle.

Although it felt like they hadn't even walked for thirty minutes, the castle gates began to appear faintly, making him wonder if it had been this close.

"The castle gates..."

"As expected, they're closed. I'll look for a back door."

The small back door used by people working at the castle was also closed, but at least it was much easier to break through.

Inside, they could see reasonably well due to the ambiguous light flowing in through the windows.

The first thing they noticed was the musty smell of rotting decay.

"It seems to be the kitchen."

"It's all rotten. There doesn't seem to be any damage here."

Muffling their footsteps as a precaution, they left the kitchen.

The corridor didn't have even a single torch hung, and occasionally, things like rats would squeak and brush past their feet.

At the end of what seemed to be an endless corridor.

As they passed through a round arched door, it suddenly opened up into a spacious hall.

A place to officially welcome visitors, or to hold feasts with many people.

But now there were neither servants nor furniture.

All that was visible was a massive stone mountain.

Rocks and stones were mixed together, rolling around freely.

To cross the hall, they would have to walk right over the pile of stones.

"Why did they pile all the stones here? What's the meaning of this?"

Leandros picked up any nearby stone and examined it thoroughly.

"This is not an ordinary stone, Your Grace. There's a blue tint mixed into the stone. I suspect it might be mithril."

"Mithril?"

As he said, the stone showed a strange blue tint in various parts.

The reason he had come all the way here, what he sought, was rolling around in the hall of this castle?

It was absurd.

"I heard they monopolize it in the north and don't release it much, but they've been piling it up in the castle? For what reason?"

"Wouldn't it be better to ask that person?"

Leandros pointed to the top of the mine heap.

And the person sitting there was.

"The Margrave!"

So there was someone still alive!

His feet, which had unconsciously started to run, stopped.

The moment of joy was brief as he realized something was strange.

Why was he deliberately sitting on top of the ore heap with his back to them?

Where were the other people who assisted the Margrave?

-Munch, munch, munch...

Plus, this sound.

The Margrave was continuously chewing and swallowing something.

Whether unable to hear sounds or not, he was just greedily stuffing something into his mouth.

He seemed to pay no attention to them at all.

Despite him standing right behind him on the ore heap, the Margrave didn't even glance at him.

"Um, Margrave. I apologize if this sudden visit is rude."

-Munch, munch, munch.

"...Margrave?"

Over his shoulder, he could see what the Margrave was holding in his hand.

It was mithril ore.

Blood-covered hands were gripping mithril ore.

At that sight, he took a step back.

A small stone rolled down from his feet.

At that sound, the Margrave turned toward him alertly.

The Margrave was a very old man.

Black hair interspersed with patches of white.

Dull, cloudy eyes.

His mouth was smeared with stone fragments.

The lips that had been ceaselessly mumbling slowly split.

Cracks spread vertically and horizontally, and the mouth split into four parts opened.

Inside, broken mithril ore and stone pieces were rolling around.

-Chaarrrrrr!

What was this?

The one who was once called the Margrave made a strange cry.

Would it be this chilling if you took insect wings and rubbed them together amplified?

Along with the urge to cover his ears, similar sounds began to be heard from elsewhere.

-Chaarrrrrr...

-Sharalarrrrk...

-Keerak, shirrrrr...

It wasn't just one.

The sounds, increasing to two, three, and beyond, echoed throughout the empty hall.

And the source of those sounds...

He looked up.

Countless people were gleaming their eyes from the darkness of the ceiling.