Reader’S Regeneration Life [EN]: Chapter 367

367―――――

Counterattack

“Hispania has finally made the foolish decision to accept the sinners of Nudia.”

“It seems news has reached our comrades there.”

An inn located in a village somewhere between eastern and central Hispania.

People with extremely ordinary appearances were sharing various stories.

They were speaking loudly without much regard for their surroundings, which might cause concern that others could overhear, but there was no need to worry here.

“They are departing today.”

“Yes, comrade.”

“I hope you succeed.

May the light always be with you.”

The innkeeper was a devout follower of the Church of Light.

After providing food and lodging to his brethren who sought him out, the innkeeper even showed them the shortcut to the royal castle, urging them to complete their mission without fail.

Dressed as refugees, they had secretly crossed the border into Hispania, and now disguised as merchants, they nodded.

Just two more days and they would reach the royal castle, the heart of Hispania.

There, they would make it clear to the foolish and ignorant.

Who they dared to oppose, and what punishment they would receive.

They would burn to death in agony, regretting their actions.

“Let’s depart.

We cannot delay even a moment for our mission.”

The leader appeared to be an ordinary human, neither a celestial nor a fairy.

That’s why they could act so openly without arousing suspicion.

From the moment they crossed the border into Hispania, they had received help from the Church of Light members already there, and their cooperation continued.

Listening to the Church members telling them to teach the sinners what judgment and retribution were, they burned with a sense of mission.

They were determined to carry out this task successfully and inform the forces of light fighting the enemies far away that the beacon of justice had been lit.

“It’s strange.”

One day, while heading towards the royal castle of Hispania.

A man cautiously opened his mouth.

When the others looked at him as if asking what he meant, he shrugged and continued.

“They said our forces of light would come to deliver judgment directly.

That the descendants of light were disappointed in you and would not forgive you.

That if you seek mercy now, kneel and beg for forgiveness, you might be forgiven, but in reality, they are too quiet, aren’t they?”

As he said, Hispania was too quiet and peaceful.

Of course, if you got a little closer, you could hear all sorts of slander about the teachings of light, calling it a collection of swindlers and claiming that they were hindering Hispania’s progress with their ridiculous nonsense out of jealousy.

What was certain was that they had no fear of the judges who were constantly approaching.

Rather, they firmly believed that their army, which had gone to Nudia, would defeat the arrogant liars and bring true justice and goodness to this land.

“Isn’t that something you should call absurd rather than strange, brother?”

“Ah, is that so?”

“Of course.

They seem to be very proud just because they won a few battles against the non-believers of Nudia, but our forces of light are different.

When the great descendants of light raise their flags high and their servants blow their trumpets, soldiers with the iron hammer of justice charge and defeat the heretics.

It’s a completely different kind of battle than the foolish people of Hispania have ever imagined.”

“Brother’s words are absolutely correct.

The forces of light are the strongest army that has even repelled the terrifying and evil demons.

They are made up of those who are worthy of following the light, so they cannot be defeated.

Of course.”

Their belief in the army of the Holy Prussen was largely due to the fact that the celestials and fairies were helping them.

And the fact that they had stopped the demon invasion last time and even advanced to a part of the Mortal Realm played a very big role.

Although Hispania had joined hands with the beastmen and other fairies besides Nudia, no one thought they could be a match for the descendants of light.

Rather, if they spread their pure white wings and descended on the battlefield, wouldn’t those who had admired the descendants of light from the beginning immediately repent their sins, kneel, and beg for forgiveness?

If they didn’t beg for forgiveness, it would be even better.

It would be an opportunity to wipe out all the false followers who had betrayed the light and foolishly fallen for the sweet temptations of sinners at once.

“Tsk tsk.

Fools.

To shout that they have done nothing wrong, not knowing how terrible a judgment awaits them.”

“Don’t worry about it, brother.

They are the ones who will eventually kneel before the judgment and beg for their lives.”

“I’m worried.

The descendants of light are so merciful that they might forgive those sinners, that they might pardon their sins.”

“Hmm, hearing that makes me a little worried too.

I think it would be right to offer a prayer and inform the descendants of light about that part.”

Whatever the true nature of the celestials, it didn’t matter to them.

The only thing that mattered was that their faith, their belief, their fantasy was not shattered.

“Hmm?

Ahaha!

Everyone, look there.

Look at that poor thing.”

“What’s wrong, brother?”

Suddenly, he burst into laughter while looking at one place, and in the direction he was pointing, the others saw.

A man was running on the road quite far from the shortcut they were walking on.

It wasn’t a problem since the road wasn’t just for carriages or horses, but it was so unheard of to see someone running so foolishly that they burst out laughing.

“Ahaha!

How ignorant!

Look.

Sinners are indeed foolish beings.

The closest city from here is more than half a day away, but if he runs that fast, he will be exhausted in less than an hour.

It seems he wants to spend the night on the road.”

“Judging by his appearance, he seems to be a young man who hasn’t been running for long.

Still, to be able to run while maintaining that speed.

His spirit of challenge is truly commendable.”

They laughed and chatted merrily as they hurried on their way.

They had no idea that the man they were making fun of was actually deliberately controlling his stamina and adjusting his speed for someone who might be following from behind.

―

“We are almost at the royal castle of Hispania.”

“Finally, we have finally arrived.

At the heart of the heinous sinners.”

“What is the plan now?”

“First, there is someone who is just right to cause the greatest confusion.

The sinners will be busy dividing, biting, and fighting each other with just a little spark, so we just need to throw a spark.”

Having reached near the royal castle of Hispania, they said that and waited for someone.

The royal castle was a place with incomparably stricter security than other places.

It was a place where you couldn’t even enter recklessly unless you had someone inside helping you.

No matter how much money or something else you tried to give from the outside, the guards had a level of loyalty that was different from other territories.

If you did such a thing, you would be caught immediately, and even if you succeeded, you would be constantly watched by others who found it suspicious.

“Hmm.”

One of the group glanced around and inserted a pole with a blue handkerchief attached to the luggage cart that they had received in advance from those who were helping them.

Then, after a while, a lower-ranking commander who was guarding the outskirts of the royal castle cautiously approached.

“We will have an inspection.

Please remove the cloth to check the cart.”

“Of course.”

When the cloth of the luggage cart was removed, what was revealed was an empty cart with nothing inside.

The lower-ranking commander deliberately took his time so that the soldiers who followed him could see it sufficiently and not leave any room for suspicion.

“What business do you have at the royal castle?”

“I’m going to buy some things.

Here is the pass.”

When he handed over the pass he had received from someone else, the lower-ranking commander pretended to examine it diligently before returning it to them.

Then, not hiding his sharp momentum, he gestured to the soldiers who were waiting for his command that they could pass, and only then did the soldiers withdraw their momentum and say that they could enter the royal castle.

“Thank you for your hard work.”

“I hope you achieve your purpose of visit and return.”

As the group and the lower-ranking commander exchanged those words, when the man standing at the very end of the group passed by, the lower-ranking commander cautiously approached him and muttered in a voice that could barely be heard.

“May the light be eternal.”

The moment when the fact that they had spent a lot of money and time to finally make him a devout follower of the Church of Light finally paid off.

They succeeded in entering the royal castle without much difficulty and without arousing much suspicion.

“What do we do from now on?”

“First, we will need a proper justification to shake the sinners.”

“What do you mean by justification?”

“What if there were two suns in the sky?

Wouldn’t it be confusing?

We must use that.

When they think that there are only enemies outside, we will cause chaos from within, disrupting everything and making them think that this battle can never be won.”

After saying that, the man took out a map showing the approximate appearance of the royal castle of Hispania.

He scanned the map with his finger, and then, with a sigh of exclamation, he pointed to a spot on the outskirts of the royal castle and continued.

“It’s here.

Here is the sun we can use.”

“I heard that he originally stayed outside the royal castle.”

“It seems they brought him back into the royal castle to prevent such a thing.

But what can we do?

It seems they never even thought that we would come this far inside.”

At the man’s words, the group all nodded.

Certainly, no one in the kingdom would have expected that they would arrive so easily at the heart of Hispania without any difficulty.

At least they thought they would be caught by those who noticed something suspicious on the way to the royal castle and have their identities exposed, but still, Hispania was where the Church of Light members stayed to some extent.

Their conclusion was that unless the light fell, not many people would betray it.

“We must use the sun to cause as much chaos as possible in the royal castle.

In addition, if we can解除 [remove/undo] the magic barrier that is set up here, it would be the best situation for us.”

“Can we use him properly?

There are more people who are loyal to the current queen.”

“We two will take care of that concern.”

Two men and women cautiously stepped forward.

They didn’t seem to have anything particularly special about them, and even their mana didn’t seem to be very strong, but the group smiled with trust and faith after hearing their words.

“If you two step forward, it would be nothing but good for us.”

“Humans are beings who succumb to power.

If a powerful being appears, they will surely fall into chaos and panic, and eventually choose the path to survive.”

“In front of the flames of judgment, in front of the light of retribution, all those in this royal castle will kneel before the will of light.”

“Let’s wait until nightfall for now.

We must meet him, talk to him, and make all the preparations to perfectly complete our mission.”

There were very few Church of Light members in the royal castle who cooperated with them, almost none.

Even the lower-ranking commander was a Church of Light member who was ‘created’ almost forcibly with a lot of money and time.

Unless they believed it themselves, there was a possibility that they would change their minds at any time, so they had to approach with extreme caution.

Therefore, they took a seat at an inn like ordinary people who had come to the royal castle and waited for it to get dark.

As the sun set and it became late at night, some of the group left the inn to avoid arousing suspicion from the innkeeper or other guests.

It looked as if they were going out for a night stroll, but in reality, they were the strongest members of the group, the ones who would be in charge of the practical work in carrying out this task.

“This way.”

The one who was guiding them led them to a building, and another man appeared from inside.

His identity was not an ordinary royal citizen or soldier, not even a lower-ranking commander, but a formal nobleman of the kingdom.

Although his title remained above baron, he was a person who had served the prince, who was the leading candidate for the next king during the reign of the late king, so he had relatively free access to the royal castle.

When others distanced themselves from their lord and clung to the new queen, he still supported his lord, Prince Erader.

The person who had previously been discussed as the powerful next king was pushed out of the throne.

Usually, as soon as the next king took office, he would be immediately removed or exiled to a remote place where no power could reach, but Prince Erader was allowed to stay near the royal castle.

Seeing that, some nobles sensed that something was wrong with Prince Erader, but Baron Curdran still did not give up on Prince Erader, who still believed that he was the true king of this country.

Prince Erader was the one who gave him, an ordinary knight, the opportunity to make achievements and even receive the title of baron, and in the baron’s own view, Prince Erader did not show much difference in his abilities compared to the current Queen Vanessa.

“It’s here.”

“How are the guards?”

“It seems they think it’s a bit safe because they think it’s inside the royal castle.

Of course, it’s not to the point of being careless, but today I formally reported that I would be meeting with Prince Erader for a while because I wished for Hispania’s victory, and I also got permission.”

“The palace gave permission?”

“The palace allowed it because it was said that only a few errand runners besides me would go.

Above all, they seem to have judged that I am just a nobleman with only a good title and no power, so they don’t have to be too wary of me.”

“They have no idea that their foolishness will tighten their necks.”

“You promised.

You will definitely make my lord the true king of Hispania.”

“Of course.

If he promises to formally accept our teachings of light, the rest will be taken care of by the judges recognized by the descendants of light.”

Baron Curdran nodded and handed them the costumes of the servants he had prepared in advance.

Different dreams.

They were too different in what they ultimately wanted.

According to the order of things, those who were trying to raise the sun that had already fallen to the ground were moving.