Chapter 202
“Dangerous.”
“Yeah, extremely.”
The two of them nodded, as if they were worried as well.
Perhaps even now, it would be best to follow and help the man…
“The monsters.”
“Or perhaps our allies.”
“…What?”
But Seres’ eyes widened at their next words.
‘Who’s going to be in danger?’
Not Uncle Gino, but the monsters?
‘And what do you mean by our allies being in danger?’
Seeing Seres’ puzzled expression, Duke Schweiss set down his teacup and clicked his tongue.
“The one opponent I absolutely don’t want to fight is that guy.”
“Same here. He’s really annoying.”
“……?”
Seeing the two of them shake their heads, Seres’ confusion only deepened.
“The Mek guys are indeed the ones.”
Duke Norah arrived at the site where the Black Forest had appeared and tilted his head repeatedly while inspecting the corpses of the monsters.
Mek—a centipede-like monster—was indeed a B-rank monster.
“Did the Halo Mercenary Group really get wiped out?”
“Yes.”
“Hmm.”
If it had been the Halo Mercenary Group responding, this level of monster would have been more than manageable. So what exactly happened inside the Black Forest?
“Dispose of all the corpses.”
“Yes, sir.”
There was no more information to gain from the monsters’ bodies. Judging by the lack of human corpses, they must have been eaten by the monsters…
‘What the hell?’
B-rank monsters don’t usually have the ability to completely dispose of human bodies.
“Duke!”
At that moment, an aide hurried over.
“The Black Forest has appeared. The location is Alice Village.”
“And the rank?”
“C-rank.”
As soon as Duke Norah arrived in the southern region, he issued orders: report any appearance of the Black Forest, regardless of rank.
“Should we send in soldiers?”
“Wait for now.”
“Eh?”
Duke Norah smiled faintly.
“I’ll go myself.”
He took out the teleportation spellbook he had prepared and immediately set the coordinates for Alice Village.
“Time to fertilize the land a little, I suppose.”
His smile, vanishing along with the light, was darker than ever.
“Here they come! Get ready!”
“Yes!”
The monsters that appeared in the C-rank Black Forest weren’t particularly strong. The problem was that they were flying types.
The mercenaries entering the Black Forest couldn’t take their eyes off the monsters circling in the air, waiting for an opportunity to attack. Ordinary arrows were useless.
The clever creatures would strike the instant a gap appeared. They snatched people into the air and devoured them on the spot, leaving no room for carelessness.
“Now…!”
The mercenaries raised their swords toward the approaching monsters but froze for a moment.
Slash!
[Screeeeee!]
Something pierced straight through the flying monster.
“…The ground?”
The ground directly beneath the flying monster shot upward sharply, skewering the creature.
“Aha, this is a poisonous monster. Not quite suitable for fertilizer.”
At that moment, a cheerful voice reached them. The mercenaries, spotting someone walking with his hands behind his back as if on a stroll, recognized him instantly.
“D-Duke.”
It was Duke Norah.
“You’ve all worked hard.”
He waved to greet the mercenaries cheerfully, and behind him, the ground continued to shoot upward endlessly.
Slash! Pop!
Rumble!
[Screee…!]
[Screak…!]
“…….”
The mercenaries gaped as countless monsters were impaled like skewers.
Even veterans of the southern mercenary forces had never seen Duke Norah use his power so effectively.
Unlike other dukes or grand dukes, little was known about the full extent of Duke Norah’s strength because he rarely showed it.
Rumble.
Slash!
“Argh!”
“Hey, why are you standing there? Come over here, it’s dangerous.”
A mercenary flinched as the ground shot up beside him. He realized that the same ground had impaled a flying monster above him, and his face turned pale. For a moment of inattention, he nearly became monster food!
“Everyone, be careful.”
Papapapapap!
At Duke Norah’s warning, countless spikes of earth simultaneously rose, defeating the monsters. Everyone present stared in astonishment.
“You alright?”
“Huh? Ah, yes!”
After clearing the surrounding monsters, Duke Norah approached a mercenary who had fallen from the rising ground and extended his hand.
“This is why I don’t like fighting. Such a nuisance, right?”
“No, not at all! Thank you for saving us, Duke!”
“Ah, I appreciate you thinking that way.”
This power was impressive, but it was also inconvenient, as it affected allies nearby.
Ordinary soldiers found it difficult to stand properly whenever Duke Norah unleashed his strength, due to the vibrations spreading through the ground. Still, the effect was remarkable.
Boom—
“Hm?”
At that moment, the ground rumbled loudly. Duke Norah’s gaze shifted toward the source, revealing a monster.
“Wow.”
A small exclamation escaped Duke Norah’s lips.
“Is it you, causing trouble on my land?”
It was a monster unlike any they had seen before. Its grotesque form made its identity hard to determine.
That made sense, as A- and B-rank monsters were mixed together. Could this be the hand of an S-rank monster?
“Good heavens, four heads? So… who’s thinking then?”
It had dozens of legs, all in different shapes. Just looking at it was overwhelming.
Everyone present was speechless, unable to look away. With a single monster’s appearance, the area seemed to transform into hell.
“There are plenty of other regions, so why cause chaos on my land?”
Duke Norah clicked his tongue lightly.
“You should’ve gone north. Everyone there would have welcomed you.”
The only one who still wore a relaxed smile, Duke Norah slowly drew his sword.
“Ah, didn’t know? I’m pretty good with a sword too.”
The smile on his lips deepened.
“By the way… can you serve as some fertilizer for the land?”
Chuckling, he charged straight at the monster.
“How many?”
“Currently, just over 170.”
“…….”
Hearing this, Seres furrowed her brows slightly.
“Over 170 children went missing?”
“About 30 in the capital, the rest from other areas. These are all reports from the past two months.”
If you include unreported cases, the number could be even higher.
Seres had requested information from the Sky intelligence organization after hearing Yulia’s story last time. She asked them to investigate the orphanage where the missing child had lived. Perhaps the orphanage was involved in illegal auctions, like before.
Fortunately, the orphanage itself had no issues.
What was more surprising was the additional information provided: the number of missing children across the empire was far higher than expected.
“Most were between five and ten years old, with the majority being orphans. The rest were ordinary commoners.”
“This is serious, isn’t it?”
This should prompt a nationwide investigation. Why had she heard nothing about it? It was too quiet.
“Not a single missing child is from a noble family.”
Ben gave a grim smile.
“Do you think the country will act because a few poor orphans went missing?”
“This is… not right.”
“Still, they’re orphans.”
Some guards tried to search for the children after reports, but most simply ignored the complaints.
They scoffed at the orphanage staff or directors, suggesting the children had run away, and even pressured the reporters.
