NOVEL WEB Chapter 343
Chapter 343: Dreadful Means
“Hey, Edgar.”
“What’s up, Alex?”
I was aware that my face had turned pale. Yet, Edgar replied in a very calm tone, as if trying to soothe me.
“Night Elves sometimes skin humans and Forest Elves to make masks and gloves.”
“……No way.”
Just that seemed to be enough for Edgar to piece it together. He groaned as he looked up to the heavens.
“……Identity bleaching! If they’re refugees under the company’s care, they’ll have minimal contact with others and no family. It would be hard to get caught even if they swapped places; if they were just examined a day or two ago, they wouldn’t be suspected! …But to go that far… could they really do it?”
“They probably would.”
Actually, let’s be real, they would.
Damn it, should I just use necromancy to yank out some souls and find out who they were targeting?! I’d rather not do that in front of the Holy Church folks, though…!
Wait a minute.
“At the treatment site, wasn’t it said to be ‘a charity facility of Cortera Trading Company located just slightly outside the main street’?”
“Yeah… That’s right.”
Iyas nodded.
“……”
“Do you have some sort of clue?”
“…… I visited today.”
I felt a nagging dread swell up as I stared at Edgar.
“I told you, I’m looking for the wife and daughter of my comrade… and I found them. They were under the care of Cortera Trading Company. They were at a warehouse and shared residence a short walk from the Todomarl branch.”
“……What about their illness?”
“She had tuberculosis. Complete recovery is tough without a high-level practitioner…”
And if my memory served me right…
“She looked similar to Officia…”
As I raised my hand to the height of her head.
Officia was about this tall too, come to think of it…!
“Ah.”
Iyas suddenly exclaimed, drawing our gazes.
“Come to think of it, Outluke said they would pay the treatment fees all at once. I thought they would use company members, but there’s a possibility that one of our comrades—Officia—might join in…”
Edgar and I exchanged glances, as if rebounding off each other.
“Why didn’t you…”
“Say it sooner!”
““Tell us already!!””
†††
— And so we come to the present. Sorry, but I left Leila behind. Frankly, she wouldn’t have been able to keep up at this speed in human form.
“I’m so glad we made it on time…”
Antedeixis, stop that disappointed tone!
…Isabella must have been desperately protecting Nina. Her back was covered in stab wounds, and I feel like crying.
As for the wounds, I pushed them all onto Officia, so that’s fine, but Nina is the problem. Her eyes are vacant, her breathing shallow, and her consciousness seems low… did someone poison her?
“Edgar!”
While cradling Nina, I shouted out of the broken window.
“Is there an injured person?!”
Across the street, I could see Edgar, crackling with lightning magic, rushing over at lightning speed.
Diagias used a similar magic; apparently, it boosts leg power. However, due to the sheer difference in magic power, he couldn’t catch up to me, who was sprinting at full speed.
“There’s a child who’s been poisoned! I can’t do anything!”
Teleportation spells can move injuries or diseases, but toxins or curses left in the body remain. While curses can sometimes be overwritten or displaced with brute force of magic, toxins must either be expelled from the body or patiently wait to break down naturally…
Even though I’d learned various things from Virosa, I had no clue what kind of poison it was. I’ll leave this to the healing professionals, the priests!
“Wait! This won’t end well for Isabella if we keep going like this.”
Antedeixis warned, his tone now serious.
“She’s covered in blood but has no visible wounds. It’s undeniably unnatural.”
Ugh… that’s certainly true.
But Isabella was on the brink of death, and there was no time to leave a few wounds deliberately while teleporting…
“Enough chatter. The problem is what to do now.”
Alright.
“Hang tight! I’m coming right away!”
With a series of loud cracks, Edgar’s footsteps grew closer—damn it, no matter how I slice it, there’s no time left—
“It’s simple enough.”
Antedeixis chuckled softly.
“It’s unnatural because there are no wounds, right?”
It was a sinister whisper, filled with glee.
What he was getting at… I understood.
I understood, but…!
“Alex, what’s wrong?”
Edgar was almost here now. I heard a voice from below, out on the street—
Damn it!
I leaped out of the window while holding Nina, landing in the street. Edgar was just about to jump this way.
“This girl.”
“Got it.”
Edgar laid Nina down on the ground, enveloped in silver light, and began to pray. In that moment, I pushed off the ground and flew back into the room.
I approached Isabella, who was still lying there.
“……”
She seemed unconscious. All her wounds had completely vanished, and her complexion was fine.
…But this won’t do. It’s not enough…
I focused my attention on the knife that slid from Officia’s hand.
“I’m sorry…”
Kaito, if I ever make it to the Netherworld, make sure to beat me to a pulp.
Picking up the knife, I reaffirmed that Isabella was unconscious and stabbed her in the back with a solid thrust.
I aimed for a spot that would minimize her life-threatening risk. Still, she let out a muffled groan and contorted her face in pain, despite remaining unconscious.
I’m sorry, I’m really sorry…!! Gritting my teeth, I picked Isabella up and leaped out into the street once more.
Edgar appeared to have successfully completed Nina’s treatment and was wiping sweat from his forehead as he took a breath.
“Oh, Alex, the detoxification was successful—wait!”
Edgar’s eyes widened as he beheld Isabella, covered in blood with the knife still embedded in her back.
“Severe injury! Too much blood loss! Hurry!”
It seemed Edgar was unusually flustered by the sudden turn of events. Swiftly, I laid Isabella facedown before Edgar.
With a serious face, Edgar prayed, pulled out the knife from her back, and poured forth the miracle of healing.
Moreover, he began to tear the back of Isabella’s dress to check for wounds, remaining unbothered by the splatters of blood that stained his face, even leaning in to check her breathing and heartbeat.
“…Good. She’s saved…”
Edgar sighed, exhaling a long, thin breath of relief as he slumped down.
“Thank you…”
I bowed my head. I’m sorry. You had to go through unnecessary trouble… Edgar has been taking care of me since earlier. Didn’t I have a handkerchief or something for the blood on my face…? Oh, right, that’s something Leila would have.
“…What about Officia?”
“I killed her.”
I answered simply to Edgar, who asked now as if it were no big deal.
“I see…”
Edgar nodded, chewing on his thoughts.
“…That’s a pity. From what I heard, she seemed to be the leader, and I would’ve liked to extract information from her while she was still alive…”
He sighed as he laid Isabella back and offered Nina a knee pillow.
“…Wait a moment.”
Then, with a focused look, he stared at me as if thinking of something.
Oh no, that gives me an incredibly bad feeling—
“Is there a way to summon her and make her spill information…?”
Edgar whispered, and I immediately clapped my hands together to deploy a soundproofing barrier. Don’t let anyone overhear us outside—!!
“…What about the two of them?”
“…… They’re asleep.”
There might have been a hint of anger in my voice, as Edgar straightened his posture to reply.
Sigh… eventually, we’d have to confront this topic. Of all things to pick now, coming up with Officia, that man…
“That woman was starting to figure out your identity, so…”
I absolutely cannot let any information leak. There’s a possibility that her soul is damaged since I killed her with Adamas, but I have to handle it when we get back to the inn…
“—To summon a soul with necromancy, certain conditions must be met.”
Suppressing those thoughts, I began to lecture in a serious tone.
“First, you must open the ‘Gate of the Spirit World’ to connect the physical world and the spiritual world. After that, you must call out the ‘Name’ of the person you wish to summon.”
“Oh.”
Even just that explanation seemed to give Edgar a hint.
“Does it have to be their ‘true name’?”
“Officia is likely just a pseudonym, at best.”
I realized I had answered his inquiry in a rather evasive way. Strictly speaking, I wasn’t confirming that I couldn’t summon Officia. I was framing it so it sounded like I was saying she couldn’t be summoned.
It’s true that I can summon a soul with their true name. However, it need not be strictly the true name. Known nicknames or pseudonyms, heirlooms, or corpses can also suffice to summon an individual, and even gender, age, or race can narrow down the options somewhat.
But, that’s problematic!
Unlike other Night Elves, Officia is dangerous!!
“I see…”
Edgar was stroking his chin, pondering my words.
“But what about the necromancers in the Demon Lord Army? It seems they haven’t been deployed in significant numbers, yet there are numerous sightings of the undead. Do they somehow manage to figure out all the true names of the poor souls being forced into servitude?”
He struck a painful chord. It was a fair question, to be sure.
“The Demon Lord Army has likely taken over local cemeteries, Holy Churches, and municipal offices… so they might have access to official registries.”
I replied with a smug expression.
“I see…”
“Well, even without that, it’s possible that with overwhelming magical power or further dark arts, they can summon souls without knowing true names.”
While summoning with true names is the easiest method, other conditions require extra power, so it’s not a lie.
“One thing for certain is that there’s a gap in knowledge and skill between the necromancers of the Demon Lord Army and those of the allied factions… sadly.”
That, too, was probably true. The best necromancer among the allied powers was probably either me or Enma’s subordinate. Naturally, I can’t compete with Enma in pure ability—
“That’s why it’s ‘the Seventh Bureau,’ huh…? Until I conduct more research, there’s no way to compete on that level…”
Edgar seemed to have accepted that. Then, his gaze lifted as if he had remembered something.
“So, if we can get Outluke to reveal the true names of his colleagues, that’d be a starting point, right?”
Yes! I’ve got to handle everything by tomorrow morning! Let’s do it!!!
“Yes! But since I killed him with holy properties, there’s a chance his soul is shattered and can’t be summoned!”
“O-oh, I see…”
My explosive addition caused Edgar to take a step back.
“Um, huh…”
At that moment, Isabella, who had been lying down, let out a small groan. Has she awakened?
“…Nina?!”
As she slowly opened her eyes, Isabella’s gaze wandered around before she sat up abruptly.
“I’m fine. She’s safe.”
I squatted down and spoke as gently as I could to Isabella.
“And you’re… Alex?!”
She seemed to notice Nina, who was peacefully asleep with Edgar’s lap as her pillow, and her face filled with realization.
“Ah…!!”
She quickly held her cheeks, checking Nina’s temperature and breath, and then collapsed in relief.
“I’m so glad… so glad…!!”
“I’m sorry for the delay in rescuing you…”
“Not at all… one could never say that, truly…!! Thank you so much…!”
Isabella shook her head with tears in her eyes as she faced my awkwardness.
“And that person… Kaito, he was the one who helped us…!”
With a sniffle, Isabella continued.
“…Why is that?”
“What you brought to us, his remains… it radiated a holy light, which scared Officia away!”
Eh…………!?
What does that mean…!!??
――――――――――――
Seems I realized from comments and Twitter that it’s only been four days since Alex entered the allied territory!!! What a fulfilling experience!
Plus, the reprieve period hasn’t even started yet…!
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