"Hup!"

Thud!

Arthur's sword plunged into the eye of the wolf-like magical beast.

—Kuh-hung!

The wolf shook its head violently, trying to break free, but Arthur didn't let go of the sword and drove it deeper, then twisted his hand.

Kwaduk!

The wolf collapsed powerlessly.

Magical beasts were attacking from both sides.

They were the ones that Ashuban, Schmitt, and Linda had missed.

No matter how outstanding they were, they couldn't block dozens of magical beasts without a single one getting through.

High-rank magical beasts. Or those who had drunk the potion and become half-man, half-beast.

It was best to eliminate as many of the strong-looking ones as possible.

Thus, the magical beasts that reached the camp were extremely few.

Compared to the attacking army, their number was infinitely small, and they were relatively weak magical beasts, only D-rank.

But it wasn't easy to block them.

Because the magical beasts were attacking in a group.

But the mercenaries were not flustered and dealt with them calmly.

"Close the gap!"

"Maintain the formation! Don't go forward!"

"Be careful!"

Thwack!

—Kieek!

Their mission was not to hunt magical beasts, but to protect their targets.

The mercenaries were doing their best to protect the non-combatants and block the magical beasts.

"Huu—"

As Arthur finished off the wolf magical beast, this time a spider the size of a man crawled out of the darkness.

Arthur watched the spider magical beast and thought.

'A horde of magical beasts attacking from both sides? And a night raid at that?'

It wasn't natural.

It smelled artificial.

But what was more surprising was the leader who had noticed it in advance.

He had warned that there would be a night raid, and so the mercenaries who had woken up had quietly prepared according to his command.

They had gathered the non-combatants in two carriages and formed a defensive formation around them.

Although they had done as the leader said, they were still half-doubting until the enemies attacked.

They thought the leader might have been mistaken.

The night was still quiet, and he was a man who was usually unpredictable.

But they realized once again that crisis comes without warning at the most peaceful moments.

The moment Ashuban's star-like sparkling sword tore through the curtain of darkness and they spotted the enemies that appeared behind it.

Only then did the mercenaries' eyes flash.

'Black magic!'

They were no ordinary enemies.

To prepare a night raid so meticulously.

If it weren't for the leader, they would have been done for.

Only then did they all realize that they had been letting their guard down in a corner of their minds.

'How on earth... did he know? And to tear through magic?'

He had never heard of a sword that could tear through magic.

Arthur shook his head.

It wasn't time for idle thoughts.

Because the enemy was right in front of him.

As Arthur was confronting the man-sized black spider, a desperate shout was heard from behind.

"Be careful!"

Right next to him. Another spider that had been hiding in the darkness suddenly jumped out and aimed for Arthur.

Arthur immediately blocked it by driving his sword between the spider's fangs, but he didn't have the leisure to block the spider that was rushing in next.

Whoosh!

At that moment, something brushed past his ear and an arrow lodged in the spider's eye.

—Kieeeek!

Arthur immediately twisted his sword and drove it deep into the spider's head.

The spider collapsed, pierced from its mouth to its head.

After finishing off one, he cut open the belly of the spider that was writhing in pain from the arrow.

"Are you okay?"

Arthur sighed and said to the back.

"...No problem."

He was able to block it thanks to Ophelia, who had been evacuated in the carriage, warning him.

Camus, who was standing on the carriage, silently shot arrows at other places.

It was then.

Camus, who was standing on the carriage and looking around, saw an unusual cluster of light flashing and falling in the distant darkness.

It looked as if a cluster of stars had spread out in the dark night sky and then quickly lost its light.

Creepy—

He got goosebumps.

Camus's eyes widened.

It was almost an instinct.

"Duck!"

KWAAAAAAAAAAAAANG!!

A huge explosion occurred.

The light that burst out drove away the thick night for a moment.

A strong wind blew as the condensed air from the explosion burst. The momentum was so strong that the carriage shook.

Camus, who was on the carriage, had to duck down and hold on to the carriage to avoid being blown away by the wind.

"Keuk!"

After a long moment, the wind finally subsided.

When he cautiously raised his head, the magical beasts that had been attacking were already gone.

What came after the loud noise was a creepy silence.

Camus muttered with a dazed face.

"What the hell..."

Ophelia, who was in the carriage, stammered in surprise.

"W-what was that just now?"

Arthur answered.

"...I don't know either."

Although there was a huge explosion of light and a deafening roar, when he opened his eyes, it was as quiet as a lie.

It was a terrifyingly silent night.

It was certain that something had happened far away, but since the darkness was thick, he couldn't tell what had happened.

The stillness just ruled the night.

"...."

No one dared to make a sound.

Arthur held his breath and swallowed dryly.

How much time had passed like that?

A little later, a certain sound was heard from far away.

It was the sound of something being dragged on the ground.

"...!"

Chucheok!

The startled mercenaries aimed their sword tips at the place where the sound was heard.

They swallowed dryly and watched the darkness.

To them, that place looked like a distant abyss.

It felt like a monster would jump out of the darkness. It felt like the darkness would swallow them whole. It felt like the host of darkness would manifest itself with a physical body.

Cold sweat ran down their backs.

And then, a bloody light flashed in the darkness, and a man came out into the light.

It was their leader, Ashuban.

The mercenaries let out a sigh of relief.

Their tense shoulders relaxed.

Ashuban looked at them and asked in a nonchalant voice.

"Is it over on that side?"

Arthur answered calmly.

"It seems so. It seems they all ran away with that explosion just now."

"I see."

Ashuban approached, dragging something behind him.

Camus, who had been aiming his bow at the darkness where Ashuban had come from, lowered his bow and said.

"...Was that you just now, leader? I thought the sky was falling."

"Ah, you mean 'Love and Peace'?"

"Love and Peace...?"

"The aftereffects didn't reach here, right? That's a relief."

"...."

'What nonsense is this?'

But he didn't say it out loud.

Camus was utterly confused about what had happened, and he was even more confused after hearing the story.

At that moment, a cheerful voice was heard from the other side.

"Devil!"

And then Linda, who had jumped out of the darkness, ran over and gave Ashuban a body slam.

Ashuban held out his hand and grabbed Linda's head.

"Get off, you brat."

"Eeing."

Ignoring Linda, who was flailing her hands.

Ashuban's gaze turned to the place where the mercenaries were, and then to the back.

"Did you save a few?"

The mercenaries hurriedly followed his gaze.

A strange golden light flashed in the darkness, and then Schmitt came out into the light, dragging someone just like Ashuban.

Ashuban, who saw Schmitt nod, muttered with satisfaction.

"Alright. Let's start the interrogation right away."

And then he passed by the camp as if to join Schmitt.

"Linda."

"Huh?"

"You go and treat the people. I'll give you a reward if you do well."

"Alright!"

Arthur could finally see the identity of what was being dragged by Ashuban's hand.

It was a bloody half-man, half-beast, and it was twitching as if it were alive.

It was a strange-looking creature that was neither a magical beast nor a human.

It seemed to have lost consciousness, and its distorted face was filled with fear, as if it had witnessed something terrible.

Ashuban waved his hand at the people who were staring at him blankly, as if it were no big deal.

"Ah, don't mind it and just clean up. No one's dead, right?"

"...That's right."

"Good. The injured should get treatment from Linda."

And then he dragged the bloody half-man, half-beast and went back into the darkness with Schmitt.

A little later, a terrible scream was heard from the direction they had disappeared.

***

I brushed my hands and said to Schmitt.

"Member Schmitt. Was there a black magician on that side too?"

Schmitt moved his hands seriously.

—There was.

"Did you catch him?"

Schmitt, who was shaking his head.

It was the same for me.

Although I had swept away the guys, I had missed the leader.

"Aigoo."

I sighed and looked down at the ugly ones who were covered in blood and groaning softly.

They were in a disgusting state of being half-magical beasts.

Some were relatively intact, and some were so mangled that their forms were unrecognizable.

This was Schmitt's work.

Our Schmitt, with his rather crude yet fiery interrogation style, has an excellent ability to evoke primal fear.

"Keuu..."

But the strange thing was that they were still breathing even after being in such a mess.

This must be the power of that black potion.

Still, at first they spoke human language well, but as their fingers and limbs were mangled one by one, they started to talk nonsense.

I mean, real nonsense.

"Hmm."

I guess... the more their bodies are damaged, the faster the magical beast transformation proceeds.

Or not.

Anyway, I had tortured them to this extent using not only acupressure but also classic methods, but I hadn't found out anything.

The only information they had given was worthless.

It wasn't that there was a problem with the interrogation process, but that they were low-level guys and knew very little.

"Tsk. Useless bastards."

Schmitt looked at me and moved his hands.

—These guys don't know anything.

I nodded in agreement.

What is the Dark Heaven Cult, what is their purpose, where is their base, why did they attack us, what are their future plans, how did they control the magical beasts, and who made the black potion...

I had a mountain of questions, but these guys didn't know the answers.

They just kept repeating that it was to advance the grand plan.

Of course, I couldn't know what the grand plan was.

"There's nothing more to see."

Fwoosh—

I created a blue flame in my left hand and threw it at the guys.

—Kyaaak!

—Khaaaak!

I watched the guys writhing in pain and burning, and muttered softly.

"Do you think they'll come back?"

—Probably.

"We didn't catch the key figure."

—If they come again, we can catch them then.

"...Yeah."

I looked at the guys who were burning blue at my feet for a moment.

They looked like humans, and they also looked like magical beasts.

For a moment, I thought that the ugly magical beast inside them had come out.

[They're burning well.]

The Heavenly Demon muttered in an indifferent tone.

I watched the guys burn from beginning to end.

At some point, the guys stopped screaming terribly, and then their flailing struggles also subsided.

And finally, they burned black like charcoal.

Tuk.

When I lightly kicked it with the tip of my foot, it crumbled.

Only then did I raise my head and look at the sky.

Dawn was breaking and the first light of day was coming.

***

As soon as the day broke, we departed immediately.

Fortunately, there were not many injured.

Even if there were, the wounds were not deep.

It was because we had prepared in advance, and also because the experienced mercenaries, who had been through thick and thin, had cooperated with each other and fought against the magical beasts.

Still, since there were some injured, it was right to rest for a while, but since it was urgent to leave the place, we couldn't postpone our departure.

Instead, I frequently went back and forth in the procession, checking the condition of the mercenaries and taking breaks in between.

Surprisingly, Linda's treatment was well-received.

A man who had been limping after having his thigh bitten by a magical beast started walking normally just half a day after receiving Linda's treatment.

A man whose face was pale after having his side scratched by a magical beast's claw also regained his color not long after.

Everyone just fumbled with their bodies with a dazed face.

[I told you. Medicine and poison are the same.]

"Hmm."

[In the central plains, a skilled doctor who held a grudge often became a man who was good at handling poison. Most of those who had the title of Poison Demon for generations were also from doctors.]

Was it not a lie that she had learned from the Red Witch, Scarlet Bellucci?

This was a shock to me too.

To think that the mad Linda had turned over a new leaf like this.

It was enough to bring tears to my eyes... not really.

Because I had promised her a reward, because the treatment was really effective, and because I couldn't think of any excuse to avoid my responsibility...

I had no choice but to give Linda one of my ears.

"Ang!"

Linda clung to my back like a turtle shell for a while and chewed on my ear.

Why is this girl so desperate to chew on my ear?

To the puppy Linda, my ear seems to be no different from a dog bone that a puppy always chews on.

Although the wet feeling was not very pleasant, and my ear tingled from her poisonous saliva.

Anyway, I endured it, telling myself that this was the path to becoming immune to all poisons.

The path to becoming immune to all poisons is long and far...

***

Two days after that.

The escort was as peaceful and smooth as before.

So much so that I wondered if I had had a nightmare.

In the meantime, Arthur had been sitting in the driver's seat with Ophelia, the poor woman who had lost her father, and teaching her how to drive a carriage.

Every time he came to the campfire for a meal, his face was covered in fatigue and his expression was so stiff that it seemed Ophelia was not a good learner.

Even when they were resting after a meal, Lady Ophelia would sometimes come running over and bother Mr. Arthur.

It wasn't that she was really bothering him, but she would ask various things about how to drive a carriage, and looking at Mr. Arthur's expression, it was no different from being bothered. A face as if he had chewed on shit.

So Lady Ophelia was a student who was working hard and full of motivation, but her skills didn't follow.

In a way, she would be the student who bothers the teacher the most.

Of course, every time, Arthur would manage his expression and hide his feelings, but it was obvious to us.

Camus would laugh and tease Arthur, and I would also add a little.

Every time, Arthur would shoot me a disrespectful look.

'Is this a rebellion?'

Fortunately, it wasn't.

I just thought that Arthur didn't think very highly of Lady Ophelia and moved on.

And then, about four days after the attack.

Tadak— Tadak—

A late night when everyone was asleep.

Arthur, who had taken off his hat, spoke up, with the campfire between them.

"Leader."

I watched his eyes, thinking 'here it comes'.

Is this what it means to have spirit in one's eyes?

There was a certain power in the gaze that was looking at me, and his eyes were clear.

The campfire was reflected in his transparent eyes like a candle.

It was a firm candle that would never waver in any wind.

I met Arthur's eyes and muttered quietly.

"Mr. Arthur."

It meant that I was ready to listen, so speak.

In that short moment, many thoughts crossed my mind.

Is he finally going to declare that he can't take it anymore?

Is he going to quit?

Well, he's endured for a long time. How many times has Lady Ophelia deviated from the procession and crashed into a tree?

What if he says he's going to kill Lady Ophelia?

And then Arthur's mouth opened.

"I'm thinking of proposing to Lady Ophelia."

It was an unexpected word.