Elqueeness [EN]: Chapter 87

The 87th Story

“Ugh, Ughaaaaack!”

A scream echoed, and a vibrant blue figure gracefully descended amidst the soldiers, who stumbled back in surprise. It was a giant wolf made of water. The clear, blue eyes glanced at me before it bared its large fangs at the soldiers. A faint mist emanated from its rapidly flowing mane.

‘Seciel?’

I reflexively turned my head. I spotted a boy in the distance, catching his breath. It was Isana, his hood pulled low. It seemed he had followed me.

“It’s a, a monster!”

The soldiers were thrown into chaos by the sudden appearance of the wolf. Perhaps they weren’t familiar with the existence of spirits. They didn’t recognize Seciel and were too busy trying to escape.

“What the heck is that? I’ve never seen a monster like that before!”

“It might be a magical beast! Please, get back, young master!”

“Ma, magical beast!”

This was a place where two magical beasts had already appeared. Seciel’s massive size made it easy to mistake him for one. But, from my perspective, it was very offensive.

‘A monster? What’s monstrous about Seciel? He’s totally awesome!’

“Krrr.”

As if my feelings were contagious, Seciel bared his teeth and expressed his anger. Naturally, this terrified the soldiers even more. Meanwhile, Isana, who had approached, gasped for breath and asked,

“El, are you okay?”

“Isana, what’s going on?”

“Sorry, I couldn’t just stand by, so I followed you. You seemed to be in trouble, so I called Seciel… Did I interfere unnecessarily?”

“No, you did great. I was annoyed, but you saved me.”

Isana beamed at my reply. At that moment, a deep rumble echoed as a section of the lord’s manor’s barrier collapsed. Seciel had charged in and smashed it.

“Young master! This way!”

“Te, tell Father! Hurry!”

At the young lord’s shout, some of the soldiers rushed into the mansion. Isana quietly whispered to me,

“Let’s get out of here while we can. More people will come out soon.”

Isana grabbed my arm, trying to pull me away. But instead of following him, I shook my head.

“El?”

Isana looked bewildered, wondering why I was standing still when we should be escaping. Seciel was still roaring in front of the lord’s manor. Each time, the terrified soldiers awkwardly fell to the ground. There was no sign of fighting spirit in them. I watched this with a triumphant smile.

“…I just had a great idea.”

* * *

“Aaaaaagh! Help me!”

A loud shout echoed throughout the village. The owner of the booming scream was none other than the lord’s eldest son.

Currently, he was dangling from the roof of the lord’s manor, held by the scruff of his neck by Seciel. His swollen face was streaked with tears and snot, and his once-pristine silk clothes were tattered with bite marks from Seciel’s teeth.

Each time a giant claw struck, the decorations on the roof crumbled and fell. The collapsed walls and crushed iron gates had transformed the mansion and its surroundings into a scene resembling a bombing. All of this was the result of Seciel’s rampage.

“Alkino!”

A man shouted loudly from among the flustered soldiers. He was an elderly man in an expensive suit, holding a staff with a crude jewel embedded in it. With each scream from the roof, the man’s face turned paler. He was the father of that brat and the lord of Halberk, who ruled this village.

“What are you all doing! Save Alkino now!”

He had rushed over after hearing the news and was speechless at the sight before him. But simply urging them wouldn’t provide a way to attack the magical beast (actually a spirit) on the roof. Moreover, the lord’s eldest son was being held hostage. Any wrong move could harm him, so none of the soldiers dared to step forward.

“El, is this really okay?”

I grinned at Isana, who was whispering beside me.

“It’s fine, we’re just scaring them. These people need to be taught a lesson.”

“But what if we get caught?”

“We won’t. These people can’t even recognize Seciel’s true nature. Even if they somehow figure out he’s a spirit, they’re not capable of tracking down a spirit master. So don’t worry and just relax. Honestly, isn’t it satisfying?”

Isana hesitated for a moment at my question. But soon, I saw him slowly nod. In fact, he probably wanted to give them a hard time even more than I did, so it was only natural that he found this moment satisfying.

Our eyes met, and we burst into laughter at the same time. It felt like a decade’s worth of stress had vanished.

We were currently watching Seciel’s performance from a spot slightly away from the scene. We weren’t the only ones there; other people were with us as well. It was dusk, and these were villagers who had come out after sensing the sudden commotion.

The bewildered people who came out discovered the lord’s son screaming on the roof, and they couldn’t hide their dismay. But compared to those who were afraid, most were watching with enjoyment, as if they were watching a movie. The situation wasn’t that serious, as there were no casualties, and only the lord’s manor was being targeted. All of this was planned by Isana and me.

“Lord! We can’t get close to the roof!”

“Blast it! Shoot arrows! Shoot that magical beast down now!”

“The young master might get hit by the arrows!”

“Are you just going to stand by and do nothing! What if my son dies! Come up with a plan, a plan!”

With each roar from the lord, the soldiers fidgeted, not knowing what to do. I leisurely crossed my arms and watched the progress. No matter what they tried, they wouldn’t be able to defeat Seciel. The title of High-Level Spirit wasn’t just for show. If they continued to be cornered like this, the lord would only have one option.

As expected, I soon saw the lord giving instructions to the soldiers next to him. The soldiers who disappeared somewhere soon returned with someone. It was Huesen and his Champagne Mercenaries.

“Waaaaah!”

As they were already famous, the villagers recognized them all at once. Cheers and enthusiastic applause erupted from everywhere, as if they were watching the entrance of players before a game. In contrast, Huesen and his group looked bewildered. They seemed to have been brought here without any explanation and hadn’t yet grasped the situation.

“Save my son!”

The lord’s request, blurted out without preamble, made Huesen and his group frown. Only then did they discover Seciel rampaging on the roof.

“What is that?”

The lord desperately pleaded with the bewildered Huesen and his group.

“Please help me! A magical beast is attacking my son!”

“…A magical beast?”

“If you rescue my son safely, I will not pursue the matter of the banquet today and will release you! Furthermore, I will provide ample rewards!”

Huesen and his group exchanged glances at the lord’s words. From their perspective, they had been quietly imprisoned and were suddenly caught up in a strange situation, so it was understandable that they were confused.

“What exactly is that?”

“Can’t you tell by looking? It’s a magical beast!”

“But that’s…”

Huesen muttered with a troubled expression. He, of all people, couldn’t possibly fail to recognize a magical beast.

At that moment, Trowel, who was standing next to Huesen, nudged his shoulder. When Huesen looked puzzled, he subtly pointed towards me, avoiding the lord’s gaze. Only then did Huesen discover me and Isana, and he pursed his lips. He had finally grasped the entire situation.

“…Hmm, I understand. We will save your son.”

“Ca, can you do it?”

“Frankly, it’s difficult to be confident. It’s a very dangerous magical beast.”

“Is it, is it that ferocious?”

Huesen began to spin a plausible tale to the terrified lord, making up stories about a magical beast that ate people alive, limb by limb, and had already annihilated several territories. Most of the stories were designed to scare him. Thus, Seciel was instantly transformed into the most powerful and cruel magical beast in the world, one who enjoyed eating people, could freely travel to and from the Demon Realm, and frequently annihilated villages. After hearing the entire explanation, the lord turned pale, and Huesen said with a very pitiful expression,

“In any case, it seems impossible for us to kill that magical beast with our strength alone.”

“Th, then what will happen! Is there really no way at all?”

“As I said, killing it is impossible. It’s practically immortal, so it won’t die, and attacking it will only make it more ferocious. However, it might be possible to simply drive it away.”

“Wo, won’t the magical beast come back?”

“Ah, you don’t have to worry about that. The unique characteristic of that magical beast is that it never shows interest in the same place twice. Once we send it back, it will never come to this village again.”

Could he have a natural talent for fraud? Huesen was lying skillfully, as if he had rehearsed it from the start. It felt like I had discovered a new side of him that I hadn’t known before.

“If that’s the case, that’s a relief! Then please do that. I entrust everything to you.”

“Understood. But before that, there is one condition.”

“Co, condition?”

Huesen nodded firmly as the lord’s eyes widened.

“We don’t need a reward. Instead, please apologize to us for this incident.”

“What…!”

“Although we caused a disturbance, the cause was clearly your son harassing my group. We must receive an apology for that.”

“Im, impudent! How dare you to ask a noble like me…!”

“Even a mere mercenary has pride and honor to protect. Does the lord of Halberk disregard such basic things?”

The lord couldn’t answer the coldly rebuking words. The lord stared at Huesen with a frozen face for a while, then lowered his gaze to the ground. His lips, which had been hesitant for a long time, soon seemed to harden with resolve and opened firmly.

“…Ugh, I understand. It is clear that my son was at fault. I will apologize like this.”

Of course, it wasn’t as polite and sincere an apology as we had expected. But that alone seemed to be enough to satisfy Huesen and his group. It seemed they found significance in the fact that they had received an apology from a noble. The fierce atmosphere eased, and smiles appeared on their faces.

“Thank you for speaking up despite the difficult decision. I am deeply impressed by your concern for your son, Lord.”

“Th, then will you save my son now?”

“Of course. We will rescue him right away.”

“Thank you. If my son survives safely, I will never forget this favor.”

“Don’t worry. We will do our best.”

Huesen’s face, as he answered seriously, showed more determination than ever before. Anyone could see that he was nervous before a great battle. In that state, he looked back at his group seriously.

“Alright, everyone, let’s begin.”

“Um, okay. But Captain, is that really a magical beast? I’ve never seen anything like it before.”

The members who still didn’t know the truth still looked bewildered. Huesen pretended not to know and said,

“Don’t you trust me?”

“No, that’s not it…”

“Anyway, there’s no time, so let’s proceed immediately. Matthew, you’re the fastest, so go up to the roof and lure the magical beast away.”

“Yes.”

Trowel’s reaction was just as nonchalant. After pretending to warm up for a moment, he lightly jumped onto the roof with just two leaps. It was a moment that left all the soldiers who were struggling to bring a ladder from below with blank expressions.

But the one who flinched the most was Seciel. Even though it was just a game, a Spirit King was still a Spirit King. Perhaps he hadn’t expected to face Trowel directly, his eyes were trembling pitifully. Sweat seemed to be dripping from his ears, which he was forcibly holding upright.

Trowel grinned playfully at the sight.

“Come on, show me what you’ve got, Mr. Magical Beast.”

“…”

‘Sorry, Seciel.’