Ch#105
"Are you deaf?! Move! I said move!!"
Reginald shouted.
But the soldiers were just milling about in place.
"L-Lord......"
And understandably so—the barrier surrounding Agavert and Adelin looked far too sturdy in their eyes.
Not only that.
"Th-that red mist......"
The red mist that had begun creeping out from the stable moments ago was another issue.
Several knights had already collapsed around it.
As if warning that even touching it would be dangerous.
"Y-You useless bastards!"
Reginald finally flew into a rage.
He snatched up a sword from the ground and brought it down on a nearby soldier.
As the cleaved soldier groaned and collapsed, the others turned to him with pale faces.
"I am your master! The lord of Kaldbain-Ridge is me! Anyone who doesn't obey my orders will have their heads cut off!"
At his rage-filled voice, the soldiers faltered but gripped their swords again.
Their hands trembled violently, but they had nowhere to retreat.
They knew Reginald's cruelty better than anyone, having watched him up close all this time.
"Ch-charge!"
In the end, a squad leader squeezed his eyes shut and shouted.
"Bind the ruffians who harmed the lord!"
With that, all the soldiers charged toward the stable at once.
They had lost many troops, but there was still hope.
Reginald's soldiers still outnumbered the mere handful of Agavert members.
Reginald, regaining hope, burst into mad laughter.
"Yes! Kill them all and seize the Will......!"
But he couldn't finish his words.
His bloodshot eyes shook wildly, losing focus.
The charging soldiers also faltered and halted in place.
"A-Arghhh-!"
Irregular screams erupted from various spots.
Something was rising from underground, causing soldiers to collapse one by one.
"S-Spare me!"
"Lord—! Sa-Save, guhgh!"
Reginald froze in place.
His sword hand trembled like an aspen leaf at the unbelievable sight.
Before his eyes, the lush green grass covering the backyard was withering black in an instant.
As if its life force was being drained by some irresistible force.
Piercing through the brittle grass, bizarre, never-before-seen things began emerging one after another.
"Wh-what is this......"
Dust rose.
Storm clouds gathered in the sky, the damp smell stinging his nose.
"Th-the dead! The dead are rising—!"
The soldiers began fleeing in panic.
Reginald stared blankly at the soldiers passing him and heading toward the opposite side of the Lord's Castle.
But the soldiers didn't get far before stopping.
Their sole escape route had long been blocked.
Reginald dropped the sword he held.
Before he knew it, the surroundings were filled with dirt mounds rising to human height.
The surfaces of the dirt writhed, and something began crawling out from within.
They were bones riddled with holes like eroded rocks.
"......Spare me."
The soldier at the front collapsed in place.
But the twisted bones moved as if alive, thrusting a rusted sword before the soldier.
Dust trickled from between the finger bones gripping the sword.
"A-Argh......!"
That was not the end.
As the skeletons closed in, the soldiers dropped their weapons one by one.
The temperature had plummeted suddenly, chills flooding in.
It was while Reginald remained frozen like a statue.
"Thinking of my daughter and wife who will be left behind, and the territory's people, weighs heavy on my heart."
A reciting voice came from behind.
Reginald turned his head in disbelief.
Outside the stable.
The platinum blonde child from earlier held the previous lord's Will in her hand.
"Even after I depart, Kaldbain's glory must continue...... I hope Reginald Kaldbain will take charge of the family's protection and the territory's management."
But suddenly, the child reciting the Will word for word fell silent.
She quietly lifted her head and looked at Reginald.
"......Until my successor, Adelin Kaldbain, reaches adulthood."
Dry saliva slid down his throat.
"Uncle."
The child took a step forward.
At that, the army of bones covering the backyard parted left and right as if waiting.
A straight path formed between the child and him, and Reginald backed away with ragged breaths.
"Do you know the greedy squirrel story by any chance?"
She was just a child.
He couldn't understand why he himself was stepping back.
Unlike him, the child's face showed no fear at all.
"It's about a squirrel who sneaks into his friend's snack warehouse, steals candy, and gets caught."
The child continued taking one step, then another.
As the distance closed, Reginald staggered and looked around.
But no one could help him.
Swords from the risen dead hovered at the soldiers' necks.
And Letchia had vanished somewhere.
"D-Don't come closer!"
Reginald hastily picked up the sword he had dropped again.
But,
"......Where do you think you're going."
Basto, who had approached, gripped his arm roughly.
Reginald swallowed dryly and tensed his body.
The child was now right before his nose.
"The squirrel stole so much candy from his friend. Later, when he finally got caught and tried to run."
A faint look of pity flashed in the innocent green eyes.
"He couldn't escape. Know why?"
"Wh-what nonsense are you spouting all of a sudden!"
The child let out a deep sigh.
"His belly was too full, and his fat got stuck in the hole. The book says that's what happens when you're too greedy."
Reginald's face crumpled.
But the child's face was utterly serious.
"Don't steal others' things. Don't lie. Keep your conscience. Even the ladybug class siblings know that."
"......Ha, haha."
Hollow laughter burst out.
Reginald ground his teeth with all his might.
"What the hell do you want from me right now?"
The last shred of pride on the verge of crumbling blazed in his eyes.
"I am the lord of Kaldbain-Ridge! Everything you're doing right now is treason!"
The child scowled and covered her ears.
But Reginald shouted even more passionately.
"If word of this reaches His Majesty the Emperor's ears! You think he'll let you scum off?!"
He glared at the other members standing at a distance.
"You're all dead men! Lowborn commoners, filthy mercenaries who live off hunting monsters! How dare you, how dare you lay hands on me, the lord......!"
[The traitor is not them, but you, Reginald.]
But at that instant, a blue apparition flashed right before Reginald's nose.
Reginald's eyes widened upon confirming its form.
"Y-You, how......"
What appeared was Stasia.
Reginald's sister-in-law, the woman he had personally poisoned to death.
Stasia gripped Reginald's neck roughly with her pale hand.
White frost began forming on his skin.
