Chapter 127

The villagers knew nothing.

They merely made up legends of witches to entice travelers' curiosity,

And thought only of ambushing people and dragging them to the farmhouse.

They thought that if they fed the pigs with procured food, the creatures would not climb up from the pit.

But that thought was a big misconception.

Feeding the pig-humans,

Thinking the pig-humans would go back with this,

All of it.

"Mercenary! Where's the mercenary! Contact the royal representative quickly!"

"Save me, run away! Everyone run away quickly!"

"No, please, just once spare me, aaaah!"

It was difficult for mercenaries near the village to notice the commotion happening at this farmhouse that was far away.

The mercenaries knew that villagers occasionally stealthily headed to the farmhouse, but they didn't particularly interfere.

This was because they had no relationship whatsoever with the villagers.

As a result, the farmhouse was in complete chaos.

People who had run away quickly first entered the house and locked the door.

"Open the door, open it! There are still people who haven't gotten in!"

"Please, those things have scratched my leg, it hurts so much..."

Those who were a step late pounded on the door, screaming to be let in, but the people who had already taken refuge inside would never allow it.

"What are you saying? Are you trying to put us all in danger too! Just run away somewhere else!"

"Quickly block the door with chairs or other furniture. Hurry! If this door breaks too, we're done for!"

The smell of blood spreading everywhere.

The pig-humans, who had consumed high-quality magic from beneath the pit, rushed toward the gathered people.

People who were caught or trampled by the pig-humans struggled frantically until the very end.

However, their desperate resistance only served as an appetizing seasoning in the face of the pigs' endless gluttony.

Screams, pleas for help, straw bundles burning from fallen torches, acrid smoke, and the cries of jubilant pig-humans decorated the night.

Even in the midst of such pandemonium, Leandros and Amelia did not spare a glance for the villagers.

The two descended into the pit.

What lay before them was a person who was clearly not in a normal state.

Amelia, suppressing her dry heaving and tears, covered him with her torn cloak.

From her arms, a round ice lump rolled out and settled on the edge of the cloak.

Leandros was watching this scene.

He felt empty, yet his insides seemed to be quietly boiling.

One moment he wanted to strike down and kill all those villagers, and the next he wanted to pick up this body and run to the temple.

What should he call this feeling?

Why had they come here in the first place?

Amelia whispered in a voice that barely came out.

"What do we do..."

What should we do with His Grace?

What should we do now?

Is this the end? Are we unable to do anything after such an unfortunate event?

Leandros couldn't provide an answer.

Because the person who always made decisions remained silent.

The only thing he could say was merely one thing.

"His Grace's body, to the castle."

If they could hold a funeral, it should be at the castle.

Just as Leandros, recalling only this fact, reached out toward the lying Arenheit.

"My worshipper. Alive."

"...!"

"Wh-what, what did y-you say!"

"My worshipper. Feel magic. Dead things have no magic. But my worshipper's magic, still there. Extremely little. But there. Great me, not wrong."

The sight of a snowman with only a head speaking was highly bizarre, but that wasn't an issue for the two.

When Amelia hastily removed the cloak she had covered him with, the smell of blood wafted strongly.

Although it was a tragedy impossible to think of as alive, Leandros quickly checked Arenheit's breathing and put his ear to the blood-soaked chest.

"S-Sir, how, how...!"

"...It's faint."

"B-but he is a-alive, right?"

"He's lost too much blood. Even now, it's quite miraculous."

One arm had been torn off, and there was hardly any intact skin remaining.

In this state, it was strange that he was still alive.

The snowman's head spoke.

"My worshipper dying. Great me opposes. Heal worshipper. Worshipper, rest needed."

"There's no one available to treat him right now. We need to find a physician in the nearest village as quickly as possible."

"Meanwhile my worshipper dies. Magic disappears. Continues to disappear. I have one good method."

"What good method?"

"Put worshipper to sleep. Just sleep? No. Freeze body. Stop bodily functions. Not healing. Not getting more injured either. Good method. Great me is genius."

Freeze and put to sleep?

At this unimaginable solution, Amelia cried out.

"Th-that's like t-temporarily dying!"

"Better method exists? No. Leave like this, dies."

"Th-that may be t-true, but still, another method..."

Amelia shot Leandros a look asking him to stop this.

Leandros thought for a moment, then spoke.

"The Lady is right. Even if you temporarily stop bodily functions and put him to sleep, it's no different from a temporary death. Will there be no side effects when His Grace wakes up?"

"No side effects. Borrowing power of great me. My worshipper, though irreverent, receives blessing."

"What about mentally? If the heart temporarily stops beating, it wouldn't simply be dreaming, would it?"

"My worshipper's mind. Evacuate to another place. Evacuate to safe place. I accompany. My magic, helps stop worshipper's functions. I sleep together."

"J-just a moment. Sir. Wh-what is all th-this talk about?"

Amelia, unable to keep up with the rapidly progressing conversation, asked.

Leandros answered slowly, in a calm tone.

"If His Grace is left as he is now, his life is in danger. So this snowman will temporarily freeze His Grace to stop his bodily functions, and during that time, we will find someone who can treat His Grace."

"B-but. Was th-this snowman actually a h-healing artifact? I h-heard the word m-magic being used."

"...It seems so for now."

Leandros glossed over it.

It didn't seem necessary to talk about what had happened in the northern mine.

The snowman rolled over to Amelia.

"Human female. Put me on my worshipper. Put me up."

"L-like this?"

When Amelia placed the snowman's head on Arenheit, snow-white ice began to be stained with blood from where it touched the flesh.

"I, bless. Irreverent worshipper bastard. Protection for my worshipper who lacks caution."

Cold spread over Arenheit's body.

Blood froze, flesh and muscles hardened.

Leandros and Amelia, who had been watching the whole process without taking their eyes off it, witnessed Arenheit's blood-soaked eyelids twitch.

Brown eyes that barely opened turned toward the direction where the two were, without even being able to focus.

"Lean..."

"Please don't speak as it's not good for your wounds. We presumptuously decided on your treatment, Your Grace. Please forgive us."

"Th-that's right, Y-Your Grace. Don't m-move, don't sp-speak either."

The eyes rolled once more.

The pandemonium of screams and chaos could be heard down below.

People begged for their lives, cursed, or wailed at the cries of the pigs.

There was no hope. There was no despair either.

Only death awaited them.

Arenheit listened to it and with difficulty opened his mouth.

"People... save..."

"That alone I must refuse, Your Grace."

"N-no. Not that."

Amelia and Leandros spat out simultaneously.

Leandros couldn't understand Arenheit's order.

Who was it that had deceived Arenheit and made him fall into this pit, and now he was asking to save such people?

Amelia shared Leandros's sentiment.

When she had been ambushed on the mountain, if it had been someone other than herself, their neck would surely have been broken.

"Th-those people t-tried to m-make us s-sacrifices! Th-this is them p-paying for their s-sins!"

"At any other time, I would have complied with your orders, but these people have harmed Your Grace. Yet still, do you carelessly command us to save them?"

Amelia, unusually, raised her voice in anger.

"It's f-fine to lose s-some territory! Y-you don't need to r-restore everything p-perfectly now, no! E-even if you d-don't fulfill all of His H-Highness the Crown Prince's c-conditions! S-someday, when the d-ducal family is w-well, there will be p-plenty of time to g-get it back! But, Y-Your Grace is the only o-one here!"

This was no longer just a matter of getting the territory back or not.

At least Leandros and Amelia both thought so,

But it seemed Arenheit did not.

Arenheit's colorless lips moved.

"...This time, just... Lean, dro... please..."

Only short words emerged intermittently.

But even with just that, the two could understand what Arenheit was thinking.

An opportunity had finally arisen to reclaim what had been taken.

Please, I beg you.

Leandros closed his eyes tightly.

From what he had heard from Arndt, his Duke had been considering matters regarding the territory for quite some time.

He had apparently complained that he couldn't face his ancestors, but Leandros could vaguely guess.

The disgrace, shame, and despair Arenheit must have felt when his family had fallen.

The cause of all of that lay with Crown Prince Yurik.

Therefore, Arenheit wanted to take back everything from the past,

And at the end of it all, Crown Prince Yurik...

"...Understood. Please be at ease regarding the village."

"S-Sir Leandros!"

Amelia shouted, but Leandros remained firm.

He covered Arenheit and the snowman again with the cloak.

"However, next time, I will not obey orders given in such a manner. If someone hears, they might mistake it for sleep-talking."

"..."

The corner of Arenheit's mouth twitched.

If he had the strength, he would surely have laughed foolishly.

Cold air flowed to the floor.

As even those slight muscle movements ceased, Arenheit slowly closed his eyes.

That was the end.

Leandros touched Arenheit's arm to confirm that his body had successfully hardened, then turned around.

"Wh-where are you g-going?"

"I'm going to carry out the order His Grace has given."

"B-but there are s-so many. W-will you be a-alright? Even I c-could..."

"No. I'll entrust His Grace to you, Lady. It may get somewhat chaotic outside. For your safety, it would be better if you stayed here."

"A-aren't you a-angry with th-those people, S-Sir?"

"Lady, have you ever directly felt what it means when one says their internal organs are twisted with anger?"

"Wh-what?"

Amelia asked back.

Leandros said as he drew his sword.

"That's exactly how I feel right now. It's not for me to consider the circumstances of this village. But no matter how twisted my intestines may become, if it's what His Grace wishes."

Amelia couldn't understand Leandros.

As she embraced Arenheit's cold and hard body,

She could only think that someday she wanted to kill every single person in this village.