The Failure Marquis Is A Genius [EN]: Chapter 89

Chapter 12: Submergence – The Young Master Steps Forward

Flanked by the Liang Guardian Army on the left and the Blue Falcon Mercenary Company on the right, I arrived at Molte Castle with an imposing presence.

Perhaps they hadn’t expected a human army to break through Raven Forest and push right up to their doorstep, the elves inside Molte Castle were visibly flustered.

But only for a moment.

Regaining their composure, they raised the drawbridge, stocked up on arrows, prepared boiling water, and deployed shields, readying themselves for a siege.

Truly, their response speed was admirable.

Of course, all that fuss was meaningless.

If I were to unleash the full force of my six thousand troops while maximizing my Druid abilities, they would eventually fall.

However, since my goal was the elven stronghold, there was no need to waste time attacking the heavily fortified Molte Castle.

Therefore, as we had planned in advance, we encircled Molte Castle, applying only threatening pressure.

Meanwhile, I had other things to do.

I took the time to install the teleportation device, the wormhole generator, which Tom had given me as a gift.

The operation was simple enough.

I fixed the circular plate to the ground and infused it with mana, causing light to emanate from within the plate, accompanied by a strange mechanical sound.

Weeeeeeee!!!!

“Truly amazing.”

“The Young Master possesses all sorts of divine objects.”

“A long-range teleportation device… I’ve heard rumors that the Calon Empire’s royalty and some high nobles use them, but this is the first time I’ve seen one in person.”

My companions also watched, uttering words of admiration.

The installation was soon complete.

A dark, black circle shimmered in the air above the firmly fixed wormhole generator.

“Is it done now?”

Curious, Campbell waved his hand through the black circle.

The wormhole, upon colliding with Campbell’s hand, wobbled slightly like a phantom before returning to its shape, without giving any sense of being connected to anywhere.

“Nothing happens?”

I explained to the puzzled Campbell.

“This is just the starting point. If you install the same thing in another area, it connects to this place.”

“Ah, I see. So that’s why the Vice Commander said he was going into the Great Forest.”

“Are you just understanding that now? If you put half the passion you use for eating into this, you would have understood it in no time.”

“The maid is getting prickly again.”

While watching Zion and Campbell bickering among themselves, Aiden, the vice-commander of the Guardian Army, came to report.

“Lord Lloyd, we have learned the movements of the lord coalition army, led by Lord Pianto, through messengers.”

“How is that side doing?”

“That is…”

The news Aiden delivered was shocking.

They had suffered nearly a thousand casualties just capturing the first fortress, and now they were arguing about whether to capture the second fortress.

I guessed that the baptized, enhanced elven warriors must have been putting on quite a show.

“That’s serious.”

“Yes. It seems they won’t even make it to Molte Castle.”

“I didn’t expect them to anyway.”

The elven race, fighting to the death after receiving baptism.

In contrast, the disorganized coalition army, only greedy for how to divide the lands of Molte Territory after the war.

One side risked the fate of their race, while the other came out for a neighborhood outing; what would happen when the two collided?

It was a result I had expected from the start.

“We need to move quickly.”

Even if they were a disorganized rabble, they were still under the Lloyd family, and their serf soldiers had only been forcibly conscripted by foolish lords.

To save them, I had to enter the Eastern Great Forest as soon as possible and capture Chief Elder Richard.

“Lord, your plan is good, but the Eastern Great Forest is quite vast. It will be difficult to find the location of the elven village there in the near future.”

I smiled at Aiden, who asked with concern.

“You don’t have to worry about that. I have an S-class guide waiting in advance for that. Ah! He’s coming just in time.”

Flap!

A black dot in the sky gradually grew larger.

A cute baby dragon, smiling brightly, glided smoothly through the sky and soon jumped into my arms.

“Kyu!!”

The adorable rascal wriggled in my arms.

Judging by his confident eyes, he seemed to have completed his mission properly.

* * *

A deep forest.

The elves’ sanctuary.

Amelia, known as Chief Elder Richard’s left arm, was tied tightly with ropes and locked in a warehouse.

In the pitch-black darkness, she pondered over the baptism ceremony that Chief Elder Richard had spoken of.

However, no matter how she thought about it, unease about the baptism ceremony continued to linger in her mind.

Amelia had also initially intended to receive baptism.

The reason she first hesitated was, ironically, because of Scott, whom she considered her rival in spirit.

Since she hated losing even at rock-paper-scissors since childhood, Amelia, upon hearing the news that Scott had been baptized, closely observed his changes.

As a result, his physical abilities had improved dramatically after receiving baptism.

However, in proportion to this, his mental aspects had become weaker, especially as he indiscriminately revealed hostility towards humans from time to time, and his intelligence also seemed to have declined somewhat.

This was not just the case with Scott but a phenomenon that appeared in all enhanced warriors.

In particular, the longer ago someone had been baptized, the more severe the symptoms became.

Looking at the actions of the recent baptism recipients, they seemed like people with no future and no regard for the consequences.

It was as if they were vampires who couldn’t stand not tasting human blood and flesh rather than caring about the safety of their race.

Since she spent every day with the baptized executives, these changes became even more apparent.

As someone who insisted on the philosophy that ultimate strength could only be achieved when the mind was firm, she couldn’t help but feel repulsed by the baptism ceremony.

But how could things in the world only go as one wishes?

The warehouse door opened, and two elven executives, boasting sturdy physiques, approached.

“Amelia, it’s time for your baptism ceremony.”

“I’ve already told you. I will not receive baptism.”

“You have no say in the matter. The great Chief Elder will bestow the baptism ceremony upon the entire race, starting with you.”

They tried to drag her away by force.

Was that why?

Amelia, who had cut the ropes with a sharp stone she found on the floor, struck one of the executives on the back of the neck like lightning, knocking him unconscious.

The other executive, startled, tried to call for help in a loud voice.

“Not a chance.”

Amelia, who had almost landed a valid hit on that monster Henon, found it easy to deal with one enhanced elf who had lost his stance in surprise.

She quickly ran up, climbed onto the opponent’s back, put him in a headlock with her hands, and squeezed his waist with her legs.

The executive, feeling extreme pain in his abdomen and oxygen being cut off to his brain, couldn’t even scream and choked before falling silent.

In the end, she had done it.

There was no turning back now.

Keeping her presence hidden, she left the elves’ sanctuary.

But even though she had succeeded in escaping, she had nowhere to go.

Where could she, an elf, go after leaving the village?

Looking at the sky with a dazed heart, a human suddenly came to her mind.

It was Lord Henon Lloyd, whom she had been clashing with since Raven Forest.

“Damn it! Why does that damn bastard’s face have to come to mind at a time like this.”

She didn’t even want to meet him in her dreams.

Still, as someone who had been in opposition to him, she knew better than anyone about his strength and competence.

Above all, Amelia paid attention to the fact that Henon was with Sasha, who was a high elf and the spiritual pillar of their race.

‘I have to meet Sasha-nim [respected Sasha].’

Although she was concerned about the human by her side, meeting Sasha was her top priority now.

At this point, she was the only one with the authority and power to stop Chief Elder Richard’s mass baptism ceremony.

Amelia fearlessly pushed through the dense forest and headed towards the outskirts of the Great Forest.

At that very moment.

Henon and his party, accompanied by Sasha, were also entering the depths of the Great Forest at tremendous speed.

* * *

Eastern Great Forest.

Thick, ancient trees that even the giant Campbell couldn’t fully embrace stood densely packed.

Moss hung like a net, blocking the path, and unfamiliar flora and fauna appeared everywhere.

Raven Forest was also a fairly deep forest, but it was like a baby compared to the Eastern Great Forest.

“Lord was right. If we had brought the army here, it would have taken forever just to clear the path.”

It was a word from Zion, who was taking out a dagger to clear the way.

Campbell, who was at the front, was even using his mana sword to cut down grass and trees.

Because time was short, I also wielded the Demonic Heavenly Sword, joining Zion and Campbell in their work.

“Damn it! It’s so damn hot!”

It was still early summer, and the forest was cool.

Yet, sweat poured down like rain, which was due to the fact that we were moving non-stop at a rapid pace.

Seeing us struggling, Sasha offered to help, but after swinging the sword a few times and breaking her wrist, she chose to follow quietly.

“Kyu! Kyu Kyu! Kyu!”

On the other hand, Coco was excited.

Now that I saw it, this little rascal loved the forest, as befitting a dragon.

Moreover, since he had wings, he wasn’t affected by the terrain, so he flew around in circles in the air, enjoying his freedom.

Occasionally, small monsters that inhabited the forest attacked us, and Coco would unleash a body slam from the sky onto those monsters.

Although he was a hatchling, he possessed hard scales comparable to orichalcum [a mythical metal], so the monsters that collided with Coco fell silent on the spot.

[Coco – Hatchling I]

[Evolution Rate – 2%]

As expected of a hatchling who swallowed demons.

By hunting monsters, he gained experience points, and his evolution rate increased.

When the evolution rate reached 100%, he would grow one stage, and as he repeated this, Coco would break free from being a hatchling and become a powerful adult dragon.

Anyway, guided by Coco, we steadily made our way through the Great Forest at maximum speed.

Judging by Coco’s reaction, it seemed that our destination was not far away.

“Take a short break.”

We decided to take a final break before arriving at the elves’ sanctuary (a term referring to the elves’ residence, as Sasha had told us).

Sitting in a circle, we took out triangular rice balls [Onigiri] from our pockets and munched on them without even a bonfire, fearing that our presence would be detected.

The triangular rice balls were a food that didn’t exist on the Arnia Continent, so I had separately explained to Zion how to make them, and he had produced them as a special meal.

“This is quite delicious.”

Zion said, biting off one side of the triangular rice ball demurely.

Sasha also admired from the side.

“That’s right. Steaming rice, seasoning it with salt, and then wrapping it in seaweed. I’ve never seen food like this before. It’s much more nutritious and filling than dried jerky.”

“Originally, it’s common to add other ingredients as well, but since the situation is what it is, we only seasoned the rice with salt. When we return to the castle, I’ll teach you more diverse recipes.”

“Kyu Kyu!”

Coco also seemed to find the triangular rice ball delicious, as he jumped around with rice grains smeared on his mouth.

Campbell… was stuffing his mouth with his eighth triangular rice ball all by himself.

Zion frowned and rebuked.

“Stop eating so much? At this rate, we’ll run out of food before we even arrive.”

“We’re almost there anyway, right? We should finish all the remaining food and solve the next meal in the elven village.”

“We should save emergency rations in case we don’t know what the situation will be like.”

“I don’t care. I’m just going to eat it all.”

“Ugh!”

“Kyu! Kyuu!!”

As always, Zion and Campbell were bickering.

Recently, Coco had also joined in, ganging up with Zion to push Campbell around.

Campbell, who had suddenly become 2-on-1, grumbled.

“Tch! Why does that lizard only take the maid’s side?”

“Kyu Kyu!”

“It’s because you don’t know the reason why he doesn’t take your side.”

“I should have just fried him up when he was still an egg.”

“Kyuu!?!?”

Coco, startled by the words of frying him up, quickly hid behind me.

It seemed that Campbell’s words when he was an egg had been quite shocking, as Coco showed a strong reaction to the word frying.

Right now, Campbell was much stronger, so Coco hid behind me, but I wondered how he would handle it after he became an adult.

‘Will Campbell try to hide behind me? He won’t be able to hide…’

I chuckled, having useless imaginations.

Just as we were letting our guard down.

The voice of the Demonic Heavenly Being echoed in my consciousness.

-Young one, there is an enemy ahead. It’s like that assassin from before.

I snapped to attention.

If I hadn’t known until the Demonic Heavenly Being warned me, it was clear that it was that woman I had released in Twin Tail Canyon.

Even if nothing else, her skill in hiding her presence was certain.

“Everyone, prepare for battle.”

With a single word, the atmosphere, which had been filled with laughter and chatter, changed in an instant.

Zion took out sharp daggers, scattering them in both hands, Campbell raised a giant bastard sword as big as his torso, Coco flew around, keeping watch, and I also drew the Demonic Heavenly Sword to protect Sasha.

I stared intently in the direction the Demonic Heavenly Being had told me for about ten seconds.

The bushes across from us rustled, and a black figure rushed towards us like an arrow.

“Hah!”

The response of the party, who had been waiting in advance, was swift and accurate.

Campbell, who was at the very front, swung his bastard sword like handling a baseball bat, striking the attacker’s torso.

Kwaang!!

The torso was hit squarely by the sword’s surface.

The attacker, having received the full impact, rolled across the floor.

Zion, using his water strider steps [a quick movement technique], restrained the enemy’s arms, who couldn’t come to his senses, and aimed a dagger at his vitals.

In the end, the attacker was subdued without being able to do anything.

“Wait! Surrender!”

The attacker was a mysterious woman.

As expected, it was the assassin I had met before.

She had a desperate expression.

“Please listen to me.”

“This is like the enemy commander coming in by the vine [an idiom for letting the enemy in]. It would be perfect to cut off her head and then start the attack, right?”

“Wait a minute! Listen to Amelia’s words!”

Sasha stepped forward and stopped Campbell.

I also agreed with Sasha’s words.

Based on what I had gathered so far, that assassin was not the type to recklessly charge in alone like this.

I didn’t even know if she had any intention of attacking us.

It felt like we had just run into each other by chance.

“Campbell, stop. I want to hear what that woman has to say.”

“Tch! If the Vice Commander says so.”

Campbell stepped back, and Zion also loosened his pressing stance.

Then, Amelia looked at Sasha and cried out desperately.

“Sasha-nim! Our tribe is in danger. Please help us. I am also being chased by the elven race.”

“What are you talking about?”

“Chief Elder Richard is trying to forcibly conduct a baptism ceremony on all the elven race!”

“!!!!”

It was shocking news.

I had already found out how much the baptism ceremony was ruining the elven race.

The reason for attacking the Eastern Great Forest in the first place was to prevent more victims of the baptism ceremony that Chief Elder Richard was performing.

But to bestow baptism on the entire elven race, if that happened, the elven race would be annihilated.

“We must never let that happen!”

Sasha almost screamed.

I also thought the same as her.

“Is what you just said true?”

“If it weren’t true, why would I be wandering around here alone?”

“That’s true.”

It felt quite credible.

Right then.

A unit of warriors appeared along the path Amelia had come from.

It was the pursuit squad she had mentioned.

The elven warriors, seeing Amelia with us, smirked and sneered.

“Hehehe, I knew it. The traitor was fraternizing with humans.”

“You’re kicking away the last bit of mercy we were offering. You’re not getting baptism, but immediate execution.”

“Furthermore, we’ll kill all of you inferior humans as well.”

Enhanced warriors exuding murderous intent.

It seemed like we couldn’t just let this go.

“You’re Amelia, right?”

“That’s right.”

“Let’s take care of this place first. Then, let’s talk calmly.”

I drew the Demonic Heavenly Sword and stepped forward.

Now was the moment when a conversation of bodies [fighting] was needed rather than a conversation of words.