Cooking Swordmaster [EN]: Chapter 204

62. Beauty and the Beast

The place Marquis Beast told me about was roughly a two-day ride from Marseille.

Provence is renowned for having some of the most beautiful scenery in Gaul. If I had my way, I would have rented a carriage and enjoyed a leisurely trip.

However, with the Gate to the Demon Realm potentially opening at any moment, I couldn’t afford such a luxury.

“It might be faster to enhance our bodies with Aura and run, rather than take a carriage.”

Morgana’s Aura Blade is a body enhancement technique based on extrasensory perception.

Its efficiency was greater than Cainchel’s using Double Booster.

Cainchel calculated the maximum speed he could achieve and nodded.

“That would definitely be better.”

Then, as if on cue, Leman, who had transformed into a bat, slipped into Cainchel’s cloak.

“As expected, my lord’s embrace is the warmest and coziest!”

Morgana’s eyes sparkled with an intrigued expression.

“…I can’t just let that go. Can you tell me more about it in detail?”

“Well, you see…”

Cainchel smiled wryly and tightened his cloak. Then, with a squawk, Leman became quiet.

“But what about Calliope? We can’t just leave her behind, should we carry her on our shoulders?”

“I’ll carry her on my back. Lady Calliope, please get on my back.”

Morgana knelt down and offered her small back.

Calliope may look like a small child, but her true form is that of a great dragon.

Moreover, she was essential to closing the Gate to the Demon Realm.

Perhaps that’s why Morgana was always by Calliope’s side, attending to her.

“Thank you, Morgana.”

“You’re so adorable! Then, let’s go…!”

Morgana, with Calliope on her back, exploded with Aura throughout her entire body.

And she gestured for Cainchel to follow.

The leg strength of a Sword Master is enough to cover hundreds of meters in a single step.

Using that, they were able to reach their destination in three hours.

Cainchel had Asura protect Calliope.

They might have to fight Undead from now on. He couldn’t take her to such a dangerous place.

“Asura.”

“Yes, Chef.”

“Protecting guests is also the duty of a trainee chef. I’m counting on you.”

“Overwhelming assistance!”

Asura had the cutting board Cainchel lent him attached to his arm. The protective power of Aegis [a legendary shield of Zeus], known as the Shield of God, is absolute.

Even if the Seven Deadly Sins appeared, it would buy them some time.

Cainchel crossed the ridge and approached the coast south of Orléans.

There, an amazing sight unfolded.

“…An Undead Legion?!

The number that roughly caught his eye was close to five hundred, a large army. Moreover, they were lined up in an orderly manner, as if they were a well-trained army.

“The Taint [a dark, corrupting energy] is immense. Those aren’t naturally occurring Undead.”

“Do Undead appear spontaneously?”

Morgana lowered her stance further and explained. Undead are like epidemics.

Taint accumulates in places where many corpses are gathered, and that gives birth to Undead.

Most of the individuals born that way are low-level, like Zombies or Ghouls.

However, what was gathered before their eyes was clearly all mid-level or higher.

“…Skeleton Knights, Dullahans [headless horsemen], and even a few Death Knights.”

With so many Undead gathered, there was not even a slight smell of rotting corpses.

That meant they were all artificially created.

“Seeing this many Undead is the first time since I fought Baalzebub, the King of Gluttony.”

Moreover, most of them were armed with swords and shields.

It was difficult to guess the gender of those who only had bones left.

However, at least they were not Undead created using slave women as a medium.

No matter how skilled a Necromancer is, they cannot create something from nothing.

Where on earth did they get so many corpses of warriors?

The answer was not difficult to obtain.

“Surely Orléans was the biggest battleground in the Gaul Civil War, right?”

“Yes, that’s right. When I calculate it, the numbers are roughly similar.”

This confirmed that the female slaves Batory bought had nothing to do with the Undead.

However, that didn’t mean she was completely innocent.

“Usually, when casualties occur due to civil war, the lord near the battle site is responsible for the cleanup. They may have used the corpses obtained at that time to create Undead.”

In the end, nothing was clearly revealed.

Cainchel suddenly had a very good idea.

“Undead usually move with hatred for the living. But the fact that they’re so docile means they’ve been gathered for a specific purpose.”

“You speak as if you’ve fought Undead before.”

“I have fought them. Ghouls, which are low-level Undead.”

Then, a different light flashed in Morgana’s eyes.

Few knights had experienced battles with Undead after the Seven Deadly Sins War.

She wanted to hear what kind of growth process Cainchel had gone through. But now there was still work to be done.

“So, if we make a fuss there, wouldn’t the owner be surprised and come running?”

“…I would think so. It’s literally like being robbed while the house is empty.”

Mid-level Undead like Dullahans and Skeleton Knights are so strong that even the same number of Sword Knights would have difficulty facing them.

There were hundreds of those gathered.

But Cainchel had Fragrach [a mythical sword that always returns to its owner], the natural enemy of the Undead.

And Morgana was the one who played a major role in wiping out over a thousand Undead during the Seven Deadly Sins War.

For a Necromancer, it was like a bolt from the blue.

“Then, before dinner, let’s take a look at the face of the Necromancer, whoever it is.”

“I really like that idea.”

Cainchel drew Durandal [a legendary sword]. Wide-range freezing using Sherbet could tie up a large number of feet.

“Then, I’ll go first! Sherbet!”

“…Full Buster of Body Acceleration!”

At the same time as the extreme cold that freezes everything was emitted, Morgana’s body disappeared without even leaving a trace.

* * *

Thwack! Crack! Whoosh! Thud!

The seven Fragrachs pierced the bodies of the Skeleton Knights.

Skeleton Knights are formidable enemies that even Sword Knights cannot easily face.

The Taint-stained bones deflect even Aura Swords, and being cut by the sword they wield causes wounds to rot instantly.

However, they couldn’t even put up proper resistance, and their bones turned to dust and scattered.

In an instant, more than a dozen Undead lay sprawled on the floor in a miserable state.

Morgana’s eyes widened as if she was impressed.

“What kind of sword is that that makes Undead so powerless?”

“It’s Fragrach, a sword made in the East that destroys evil. I heard it’s a national treasure of El-Ahharad.”

“…I never thought that old raccoon from Deutschland would hide such a good thing. If he had lent it to me, I wouldn’t have had such a hard time dealing with Baalzebub. Well, what’s the point of cursing a dead man.”

Morgana grumbled while simultaneously dealing with two Dullahans.

Splat!

She stomped hard, crushing the head of the skeletal horse the Dullahan was riding, and swung her sword.

The Dullahan belatedly raised its sword, but couldn’t block Morgana’s attack.

If Elizabeth’s swordsmanship was refined, Morgana’s was elegant.

It almost looked like she was dancing at a ball.

But the power contained within was enormous.

Using her specialty, body enhancement, she gains enough strength to arm wrestle three ogres at the same time.

She is reborn as a monster capable of destroying a castle with a single sword.

‘If that’s her strength stat, it’s at least two hundred… No, two hundred and fifty.’

If she ever had the chance, she wanted to drink Dracula’s blood and fight properly.

Wouldn’t that be a very good match?

Morgana, a veteran of the Seven Deadly Sins War, assisted Cainchel as if she knew what he wanted without being told.

While Cainchel, who is skilled in fighting against many opponents, faces a large number of Skeleton Knights,

She smashes the Dullahans with ghostly speed.

In that way, the two were able to defeat over a hundred Undead in an instant.

It was at that moment.

― Human, you, you will die in 48 hours. And, I, inform, the army. By order of the Lord, retreat, now.

It was a horribly distorted voice that didn’t sound like a living human’s voice at all.

A roar that sounded like it was coming from the abyss of the Demon Realm!

The Death Knight at the rear of the legion was giving orders to the other Undead.

Grawaaaaah-!

Then, like a well-trained knighthood, they began to flee in an orderly fashion.

The Death Knight delivers a declaration of death to the opponent with a cursed voice.

To avoid it, you must find and defeat the person who cast the curse or receive a blessing from a high-ranking priest.

Perhaps it was to buy time to retreat.

But for Cainchel, who has the divine power of an Archbishop, it’s not even as bad as being bitten by a mosquito.

The same was true for Morgana.

She is a witch who made a direct contract with a demon. She didn’t even sneer at the Undead’s curse.

“Where do you think you’re going!”

“Come to think of it, it’s unpleasant. How dare you curse a witch? Bring everyone from me down to you right now!”

Cainchel shot the Sword of Ego at the fleeing Undead Legion. The seven Fragrachs flew through the darkness-stained sky.

And in an instant, they slaughtered dozens of Undead.

Morgana aimed for the Death Knight as if she was only going to beat one guy.

A streak of light shot out from her waist. The Death Knight tried to block it with his shield, but Morgana’s sword cut through his shoulder.

― Human, strong, strong, human, cannot win.

The Death Knight, who belonged to the upper-level Undead, was being toyed with without being able to do anything.

“Tell your master. There are days when you have such bad luck in life.”

And the Death Knight eventually returned to where he was supposed to be.

This is the true strength of Morgana, the strongest in one-on-one combat.

In that way, Cainchel and Morgana reduced the number of retreating Undead Legions by half.

It was a pity that they couldn’t defeat them all.

Clatter, clatter!

As the Undead retreated, a group of knights came riding on horseback as if they had been hiding somewhere all along.

At the head of them was a female knight wearing armor that clearly revealed the curves of her body.

The female knight, who arrived in front of Cainchel, said in a gentle voice.

“Did you two really defeat that many Undead?”

Morgana rolled her arms around and replied.

“Isn’t that a bit of a rude question to ask when you’ve been watching all this time?”

The female knight got off her horse and took off the helmet she was wearing. Then, dazzling silver hair appeared.

She bowed her head and greeted them with the etiquette of a knight.

“Ah, I’m sorry. I’m Lulutia, the lord of Orléans. I received a report that a large number of Undead were encamped near the territory and was watching the situation.”

Lulutia briefly explained the situation.

For some time now, an Undead Legion had been gathering here by a Necromancer whose identity was unknown.

That was what Cainchel also knew.

“…Five hundred mid-level Undead is a number that the forces of Orléans cannot possibly face. I had no choice but to request reinforcements from the royal family. But I never thought that such strong people would appear.”

Lulutia bowed deeply and said pleadingly.

“I don’t know which country’s Sword Master you are, but would you be willing to help us? We have been fortunate enough to uncover the identity of the Necromancer. If you help us defeat her, we will never forget your kindness.”

She had such a desperate expression that she looked like she was about to burst into tears right now.

Lulutia was so beautiful that she couldn’t hide it even though she was wearing armor.

Such a female knight was making such a desperate request.

Unless you were the owner of a heart made of stone, wouldn’t most people grant it?

However, Morgana’s expression was indifferent. No, it even contained contempt.

“Cainchel. You were right.”

“I know, right? I didn’t expect her to come looking for us so quickly.”

Then, Lulutia waved her hands with a flustered face.

“N, no way, does that mean you don’t trust me because I’m a woman acting as a lord? Currently, many heads of households have lost their lives due to the long civil war in Gaul. There are many people like me who have become lords as women. In the name of Orléans, this grace will never…”

“Lady Lulutia. That’s not what I meant. Ah, I’m late for the introduction. I’m Cainchel from Britannia. Of course, you probably already know that.”

Cainchel shrugged his shoulders and continued.

“Surely the Necromancer you’re talking about isn’t Countess Batory Erzsébet [Elizabeth Báthory, a Hungarian noblewoman known as the ‘Blood Countess’], is she?”

“H, how did you know that…”

“If so, then I would like to answer you like this. Where do you think you’re selling drugs, Lulutia Orléans.”

In Cainchel’s arms, Leman, who had woken up from his sleep, was whispering something.

It contained the identity of Batory that Zeke had investigated.