After the city was turned upside down.
“Please, have a seat.”
We had been invited to the estate by none other than the Viscount himself.
The chaos that erupted tonight… once again, I was reminded of the prestige of the Boyd family.
“Haha… my soldiers were rude to you.”
“No, not at all. Thank you for the invitation.”
Right now, I was meeting with the Viscount in the reception room alongside Sienna.
Viscount Bellermark was younger than I had expected.
A sharp-featured young man in his early thirties, with neatly slicked-back brown hair.
His attire was sophisticated, fitting of a noble, but the toned build beneath and the faint scars on his exposed skin indicated he was a seasoned commander with real battle experience.
On top of that…
‘An Aura User.’
Even at a glance, he was skilled.
Viscount Bellermark… I hadn’t heard much about him, but in this world, most nobles learned Aura by default.
If he had talent, it wasn’t surprising for him to be an Aura User at his age.
“Our coachman…?”
“He is receiving treatment. We have assigned the best healer in the territory, so there is no need to worry.”
“That’s a relief.”
“I will make sure your journey is not delayed. At first light, I will provide a new coachman and soldiers to escort you.”
“Thank you for your kindness.”
I bowed slightly to the viscount, who was showing more generosity than expected.
Even if I was affiliated with the Boyd family, it was only proper to show respect—especially to a noble of his rank.
“Haha, it’s nothing. But… I heard you were attacked by my citizens?”
“Yes, we were ambushed by a group of farmers on the way here.”
“Could you share the details?”
“Ah, of course.”
Since we had received aid, it was only right to explain everything.
I recounted our journey, from the moment we departed the Reichen County in the morning to our arrival in this city.
“I see… That must have been difficult.”
“Thanks to your generosity, we were able to breathe a little easier.”
Hearing my account, the viscount’s expression grew grim.
But it seemed his concern was not about our coachman’s injuries—there was something else.
“Were the farmers acting strangely?”
“Strangely?”
“Yes, excessively agitated, unable to communicate properly, or anything of that nature.”
“…That’s exactly how they behaved.”
“Hah… As I suspected.”
The viscount let out a sigh and rubbed his face tiredly.
“Do you know something about this?”
It was clear that there was more to this situation.
Then again, those attackers were far too unusual to be mere starving farmers.
“It seems to be a case of drug addiction.”
“Drug addiction…?”
“A substance known as Red Powder has been spreading among the farmers. It induces intense euphoria, but if they don’t take it again within a certain time, they suffer severe withdrawal symptoms.”
“So, it’s a drug.”
“Yes, and a particularly poor-quality one with severe side effects.”
It appeared that a cheap narcotic was spreading among the farmers.
A troubling issue in the middle of a territorial war.
“This is serious.”
“Yes… It’s not something we discuss with outsiders, but I wanted you to be aware of the situation.”
“I understand.”
Drugs, huh…
If it had spread, that meant someone was distributing and selling it.
I didn’t ask who or why.
I would be leaving in the morning—this wasn’t my concern.
“It’s getting late. I will have a room prepared for you, so please rest comfortably.”
“Understood.”
That night, I retired to the assigned room and fell into a deep sleep.
The next morning.
“I will see you safely to the Boyd territory, Sir Rain.”
(TLN: Author might have changed the rank of Boyd from Marquis to Margrave. It might be a mistake so I’ll just leave territory for now.)
As promised, the viscount provided a new coachman and five well-equipped soldiers at dawn.
Considering the ongoing territorial war, sending soldiers was a surprising gesture.
Then again, as the ruler of a fortified city, losing a handful of soldiers likely wasn’t an issue for him.
Either way—
“We’re departing.”
“Yes.”
Leaving the injured coachman behind for treatment, we set off with a new one at the reins.
“I’m glad everything worked out in the end.”
“We met a kind viscount.”
As Sienna said, things had been resolved smoothly, so we would likely arrive on time.
A slight delay shouldn’t be a problem.
“I hope the coachman recovers well.”
“He received emergency treatment, so he should be fine.”
We had done everything possible.
The rest was up to fate.
The viscount, for his honor, would at least make sure he was well taken care of.
After that, the carriage peacefully rolled eastward along the road.
Perhaps exhausted from the late night, both Sienna and Whitey dozed off.
I, too, closed my eyes for a brief rest.
With the soldiers escorting us, I could finally relax a little—
Screech—
– Who is it!
Once again, the carriage came to a halt.
From outside, the soldiers’ angry voices rang out.
“Haah, seriously.”
I snapped my eyes open and sat up.
I just wanted to get moving, but someone kept blocking the road.
BANG!
Annoyed, I slammed the carriage door open and stepped out.
And there they were.
A group of men stood facing off against the viscount’s soldiers.
They had rough features and were clad in leather armor.
Mercenaries.
And judging by how they were obstructing the viscount’s troops, they were likely hired by a rival noble in this territorial war.
“What’s this?”
The moment I stepped out, all eyes turned to me.
Ignoring their stares, I walked straight toward the mercenary leader—the biggest and burliest of them.
“Why are you blocking the road?”
“We were ordered to stop anything that passed!”
“An order? You bastard, I’m under orders too.”
BAM!
Before he could argue, I slammed my fist into the mercenary’s head.
Since the viscount had lent me five soldiers, I figured I should help thin the enemy’s numbers a bit.
Creak—
The moment my fist connected, the mercenary’s head didn’t just snap back—his neck twisted at an unnatural angle.
“…Huh?”
“What the hell?”
I shook my hand, feeling an odd numbness.
The impact didn’t feel like hitting a human body.
Frowning, I looked down at the mercenary, whose head remained grotesquely twisted from my blow.
And yet—
“Hrk… Hikikik.”
His lips split apart unnaturally.
“Kraaagh!”
His neck stretched as he lunged at me with bared teeth.
BAM!
I wasn’t particularly fazed, so I simply swung my fist again, knocking out every single one of his teeth.
Without hesitation, I drew my sword.
“They’re devil worshippers.”
Of course.
Only devil worshippers would have such grotesque bodies.
By now, I was used to them.
I immediately swung my blade at another one standing beside the one I had just punched.
But—
Swish!
The bastard leaned far back, avoiding my attack.
“S-Sir Knight!”
“Prepare for battle.”
As I spoke, I pulled out a hand axe and threw it at the worshipper who had dodged me.
THUNK!
It embedded itself in his chest, but the impact felt off.
Just like the first one, these guys didn’t move like normal humans.
Looking around, I saw that the others were also staring at me with those eerie, distorted expressions.
“…”
“…”
They watched with vacant, hollow eyes.
It was an unsettling gaze, like mindless dolls trying to assess me.
“Don’t just stand there. Come at me all at once.”
There were ten of them.
Disguised as mercenaries, but in truth, devil worshippers.
No sign of any Aura-using officers among them.
Well, in that case…
This wouldn’t take long.
*
A little later.
“You took them all down…?”
“Incredible….”
The fight was over quickly.
Despite their eerie, puppet-like nature, they weren’t difficult to deal with.
The ones in the Kaine Mountain Range had been much more troublesome—those bastards had toughened skin that made cutting them difficult.
As long as my sword could pierce, they weren’t too bad.
“Dispose of the bodies.”
“Y-yes, sir…!”
Since they didn’t seem to feel pain, I had to take them down rather brutally.
Now, it was up to the soldiers to clean up the mess.
“But why were devil worshippers here in the first place…?”
Amid the soldiers, Sienna pulled her axe from the skull of one of the corpses as she asked the question.
She had joined the battle naturally midway through.
In fact, she had taken down a third of them herself.
“There could be many reasons.”
I replied, stepping over a body to flip it with my foot.
It was the one I had punched earlier—the one who had lost all his teeth.
“But if I had to guess….”
Using my sword, I sliced open the chest pocket of his coat, revealing a small, transparent bag.
“It’s sabotage.”
Inside the bag was Red Powder.
“Ah… this is—”
“So I was right. These bastards are behind it.”
Viscount Bellermark hadn’t shared all the details, but it wasn’t hard to put the pieces together.
Why had drugs suddenly started circulating in his territory, right in the middle of a noble war?
Clearly, an outside force was involved.
At first, I had assumed it was just a rival noble’s scheme.
But now that devil worshippers were involved, the picture changed completely.
From experience, whenever something bizarre happened out of nowhere, these guys were usually to blame.
“Take this body and the bag back.”
I ordered the soldiers who were moving the corpses.
“Huh?”
“This drug…”
The soldiers looked confused, having no idea about the Red Powder’s significance.
Regardless, I needed to report this to the viscount.
“Return to Viscount Bellermark and tell him exactly what happened here.”
“B-but what about your escort—?”
“Do I look like I need one?”
The only reason I had brought the soldiers was to have someone handle inconveniences.
And now, an inconvenience had come up.
So, it was time to use them accordingly.
“Ah…”
“Understood….”
With that, the soldiers turned back toward the city to deliver the message.
Meanwhile, we had places to be.
We got back into the carriage and resumed our journey.
As we left the viscount’s domain, Sienna stared out the window at the fading city.
“What do you think is really happening there…?”
I glanced at the distant lands and shrugged.
“Whatever it is, it’s probably a mess.”
A territorial war was already in motion.
And now devil worshippers were stirring up more trouble in the background.
It had to be complete chaos.
But, well…
That’s Viscount Bellermark’s problem.
He was the one fighting over the territory.
He’d have to handle it.
After that, we traveled for several days without further incident, heading steadily eastward.
