Chapter 86
Splat.
The monster’s body split apart, and slime splashed into the air.
“Who’s going to clean that up…?”
Tinya muttered with a look of despair.
“Sorry. I didn’t think it’d die like that.”
“Let’s go! I’m not afraid of anything anymore!”
“Liar.”
Evelyn, seeing Tinya’s trembling legs, lifted her by the arm.
“I’ll protect you, so don’t worry.”
“I’ll trust you, my lady.”
Boom!
Boom-boom!
No sooner had she said that than explosions echoed in the distance.
Startled, Evelyn pulled Tinya close and scanned the surroundings.
“Over there… what a sound.”
Tinya, shivering, checked the direction of the noise.
“T-that’s where the stables are.”
“They must’ve caught the scent of the horses.”
“W-what do we do?”
Evelyn looked around.
“I heard there’s a defensive magic circle on the stables. Ordinary monsters shouldn’t be able to get in.”
In the north, horses were considered powerful weapons. Well-trained horses knew how to flee from low-tier monsters, and the bigger, stronger ones could even stomp them to death.
It was alarming, yes—but not yet something to panic about. The knights would surely be protecting the horses first and foremost.
Thud!
“Looks like there’s smoke over there.”
Evelyn’s eyes widened at the sound of yet another explosion, just as she was about to go protect another area.
“I’ll get you somewhere safe. Stay hidden once you’re inside. I think I need to move immediately.”
“Kyah!”
Just as she tried to move Tinya to safety, a familiar scream echoed from below.
“Princess!!”
It was the voices of startled knights—and her brother.
“Tinya. Can you keep up?”
“Yes!”
Tinya’s body trembled, but Evelyn could no longer hesitate. Spotting the stairs, she leapt down without a second thought.
“Everyone, get out of the way!”
Tinya, watching her lady jump down, yelled toward the knights below.
The guards, realizing the duchess was falling from above, quickly cleared the area.
Leonel grabbed the princess’s wrist and pulled her toward him. In the process, her dress, caught on the monster’s claw, tore clean through.
“So it’s spiders here too.”
Was this a spider attack?
Evelyn frowned.
[There’s too many of them. They’re hard to deal with. They live in nests, swarming by the thousands.]
“Ugh.”
She felt queasy just imagining the monster’s nest, thanks to her holy sword’s words.
“I’ll finish them all—fast.”
‘Even if you cut off their limbs, they keep moving, right?’
[Yeah. Only way to kill them is to blow them up, like before.]
At the sword’s response, Evelyn imbued her blade with aura and swung. The aura shot straight for the monster’s head, slicing exactly where she wanted.
Grrrrk.
“Amazing.”
A knight guarding the princess gasped in admiration.
“We’ll escort you to safety.”
Now that they’d found the princess, protecting her was the top priority.
Exchanging glances with her brother, Evelyn took the lead, cutting down monsters as they moved.
“Huff… Huff…”
Tom hurriedly poured mana stones into the magic circle as monsters surged toward the stables.
“More! Don’t we have more mana stones?!”
“They’re being moved from the warehouse!”
Damn it!
Tom ground his teeth as he looked at the monsters slamming into the stable doors.
It wasn’t just one or two. There was a concealment spell in place, so even if the monsters had entered the main castle, they shouldn’t have noticed the stables!
Somehow, they’d picked up the scent, and one by one, they approached.
Now, they were slamming their bodies into the magical barrier around the stables.
As the circle activated, the mana in the stones rapidly depleted.
Good thing they had packed plenty of high-grade stones just in case.
But as the number of monsters grew, so did the tension of those holding out inside.
“The knights and mages have arrived outside!”
“Great! Calm the horses and let’s hold out in here!”
Tom sighed in relief and checked the mana stones.
The once-bright stones were slowly beginning to dim.
“Hey! Watch this area!”
Leaving an assistant to monitor the magic circle, Tom stepped outside to check on the horses.
“Whinny! Neigh!”
The horses cried out in fear at the loud noises.
“It’s okay. It’s alright. The knights are here!”
The stable hands moved among the panicked horses, trying to calm them. As Tom surveyed the scene, he spotted spiderwebs.
That was odd. This place was cleaned meticulously every day, with no room for even a single bug. How could there be webs?
“How did a spider get in?”
“There definitely weren’t any this morning!”
Tiny spiders, smaller than fingernails, clung to the ceiling and skittered about.
Because cleanliness was a top priority, the stable was completely odorless and pleasant. Thanks to magical circles, even horse waste was cleaned automatically, allowing caretakers to focus solely on the animals.
“Their movement is too fast.”
Just watching them spin and dart along the web was creepy.
“Could they be connected to the monsters outside?”
One of the handlers asked nervously.
“Considering they’re targeting the stables, it’s not impossible.”
You had to kill monsters when they were young to avoid future threats.
“I’ll kill them now.”
Tom licked his dry lips and raised his sword. The moment he did, the spiders abruptly stopped moving.
He had the eerie feeling that their tiny eyes were all staring at him.
‘They’re small. I can take them out if I do what I was taught.’
The others also raised their swords, not wanting to miss any of the tiny creatures. As Tom slashed at the web—
The spiders all jumped into the air.
“Ahh!”
Slaaash!
“Gah! Aahh!”
As the spiders rained down on him, Tom prepared to slash wildly—but a wall of flame burst forth in front of him.
Screeech!
The tiny monsters instantly burned to ash.
“Brave, aren’t you?”
“T-thank you. Thank you!”
Raven clicked his tongue as he looked at Tom. The monsters outside had already been dealt with.
“Did their mother come looking for them?”
He examined the stables thoroughly, stroking his chin. The defensive spells were working perfectly. How had the baby monsters gotten in?
“Has this ever happened before?”
“No. Sometimes bugs get in, but we eliminate them right away.”
Tom pointed at the ceiling.
“They were up there, so we missed them. I checked in the morning but didn’t see anything.”
“Then that means the monsters crossed the barrier this afternoon. They were too small to trigger detection.”
They were so tiny, the wind could blow them away. Not large enough to be recognized as monsters.
“I’ll reinforce it. Not even a speck will get in next time.”
“Thank you for saving us!”
Tom bowed deeply at the mage’s kindness—clearly someone from the Magic Tower.
Raven moved toward the magic circle, looking around again.
Something still felt wrong.
A bad feeling continued to nag at him.
“Are the only ones who come here the stablehands?”
“Mostly, yes. Occasionally, staff stop by to look at the horses.”
So… anyone could get in.
“Who visited most recently?”
“They had to sign the guest log. I’ll check!”
Tom ran off and came back quickly.
“A maid came by to prepare the Duchess’s horse!”
“Her personal maid?”
“No, a lower-ranked one carrying out orders.”
Tom recalled the face of the Duchess’s handmaid’s subordinate.
“Anyone else?”
“The squires for the knights passed through.”
Am I just being paranoid? Raven tapped his foot against the ground, deep in thought.
“Not as good as a priest, but this should do.”
He clicked his tongue and muttered,
[Purify.]
As divine magic flowed through the space, Raven finally took a deep breath, the air slightly clearer now.
“Battle isn’t over outside, so stay here until you get further orders.”
“Yes, sir!”
Tom bowed deeply and began shouting for the others to give treats to the horses.
“This is strange.”
Was it following Evelyn? Or had it snuck in with the princess’s group?
That foul sensation earlier… It was similar to the darkness he’d felt near the sealed evil god.
Even though his purification spell had cleansed the taint, suspicion lingered.
