chapter 41
At the mansion of Count Ctolari, who returned from work, the Count was waiting for me outside the door.
“Thank you for your effort.”
“It’s your own estate, so you don’t have to come out at least once?”
Count Ctolari had never come near the walls during the defense.
“There is nothing good about me because my face is known. Just because I’m going doesn’t really help.”
As a human being who has lived for over 100 years, I understand that there is nothing good about knowing your face if you do not want to be suspected. But that doesn’t mean it doesn’t help. Count Ctolari is quite strong. At least it will be master level.
“But this time without me, it would have been pretty dangerous.”
“There would have been quite a bit of damage, but it would have been prevented.”
I felt it when I saw Count Ctolari’s laid-back attitude. There was something. Then there was no way that Cthullah could see his territory being covered with ants like that.
“I feel like something happened.”
“no. Thanks to that, there was little damage to the manor. I am very grateful.”
Count Ctolari looked sincere, but that didn’t make the feeling go away.
Thanks to the artifact Dragon Breath, the reputation of the Second Saint shook the continent. People’s faith in Junon deepened. As a result, I felt awkward because the big picture of Junon, who gave me the title of saint, seemed to fit, but I felt that it was difficult for me as a mere human to deviate from the arrangements planned by God, as well as with Ctula.
Unfortunately, the Dragon Breath was virtually unusable. The Dragon Breath was an artifact that was used by charging magical energy, and apparently, in the description written by Drakan, it was said that it could be used by charging only a small amount of magical energy, but that was the standard for dragons. Based on my standard, even if I only charge 24 hours, it seemed that I could use it for about 3 years or more.
If a formula capable of automatic recharging was developed, it would be possible to use it someday, but anyway, it was impossible at the moment.
My work at Count Ctolari was over, but I still remained at Count Ctolari. It was because he was using his alter egos to search for Nanagopi, whom Ctula had asked him to capture.
The Earldom of Ctolari is located quite east of the Western Continent, and is also close to the passageway to the Eastern Continent. If you find Nanagopi on the eastern continent, it is easy to move.
Of course, I didn’t think I could find Nanagopi in such a short time. Because there are no clues. Nanagopi appears infrequently in the books that collect savages. But all the stories have nothing in common.
However, the number of alter egos will continue to increase, and it seemed that if you search for strange phenomena, you will find them.
The two alter egos, including the nearby No. 1, have grown a lot this time. It was because he absorbed quite a bit of the demons’ souls during the defense battle. The two alter egos, except for No. 1, went back to their original areas. I stayed in the County of Ctolari and started producing clones. A few months later, while I was getting used to making two new alter egos, the alter ego 6, which was exploring the central part of the East Continent, found something.
The East Continent was like that in the past, but it is still backwards compared to the West Continent. Originally, there was such a side, but the gap was further widened in the aftermath of the plague caused by the fragments of Nergal and the undead incident of Necromancer Jimnus Klagel a long time ago.
In the mid-northern part of the eastern continent, there were few large cities and sparsely small villages. Even so, there are very few villages that are properly managed by a lord.
An incident was taking place here in one of those half-abandoned villages. At first, he was the only hunter in the village.
The villagers found the hunter wandering in the mountains as an idiot and came back. Next, it was a man who went to the mountain to pick trees, and then three children who went to the mountain to pick fruit were found as fools.
The small town was turned upside down. However, it is an incident in a small town without a name. No one cared and there was nowhere to turn for help. The village became a house of mourning, and word was coming out that we should abandon the place now and move to another place.
It was discovered by Number 6, who was passing by. No. 6 immediately began searching the surrounding mountains. The first day yielded nothing. But I found it the next day. There was a stag moving without a crowd.
It is not unusual for a stag to move alone. But if the stag’s soul had a fragment embedded in it, it would be strange. I decided to follow the stag from a distance.
The stag had surprisingly little effect on the surroundings. There were beings who followed the stag for several days. They were wolves.
The stag that was grazing looked up and looked around. I think I noticed something strange. But the stag did not run away.
Then, as the wolves surrounded the stag and tried to attack it, the stag’s antlers flashed and shone. Number 6 reflexively left the place, but felt a tremendous sense of loss. The problem was that it wasn’t just the 6th that felt that sense of loss.
As I was eating, I lost my fork with the well-smoked duck due to a sudden sense of loss.
“what?”
When I suddenly acted strangely, the servants belonging to Count Ctolari were nervous.
“Don’t you like the taste? Shall I ask you to come back?”
My sincerity in cooking was something the servants knew well. He even went to the kitchen to cook several times, and Count Ctolari’s orders fell on him because of that.
“no it’s okay.”
I picked up the fork again and chewed the duck meat. The sense of loss was felt by all of the alter egos, not just No. 6 and me.
‘Something happened. I need to find out what happened’
All alter egos entered cause analysis. Eventually, I found the cause of the loss. memory is gone This is why the villagers became idiots. The memory of the bastard days before the age of 10 has disappeared.
It was only briefly exposed to the light from the deer’s antlers, but the memories of 10 years disappeared. What is most surprising is that the light also affects the soul.
First of all, I made No. 6 far away. Deer don’t seem to sense spirits, but some sensitive animals do. It’s like a dog or cat barking or raising its fur in empty space.
You don’t know how many memories will be blown away if you get close enough to the light.
The power of No. 6 is still not strong enough to attack with magic from a distance. A valid attack method would be to infiltrate the body and explode the heart, but it is too dangerous if it is exposed to light.
Count Ctolari came to see me while I was drinking tea after dinner and thinking about various things.
“What are you here for?”
Count Ctolari hadn’t come to see me since I locked myself in the annex to make an alter ego.
“It doesn’t have to be something to come.”
Count Ctolari was sly, but it was clear to anyone that he had come because he had business to do. I waved my escort and servants out.
“Now tell me.”
“There was a message from Ctula-sama.”
Could it be that it has to do with deer? Or are you trying to do something else?
“What is it?”
“They told me to go back to the Akasha estate.”
It was completely irrelevant. Was the real Ctullah right?
“okay. Still, I guess I’ll have to stay a while longer. Something happened that made it difficult to move.”
“What is going on?”
From Count Ctolari’s point of view, I’m stuck in the annex every day, doing nothing.
“It’s hard to tell.”
When alter ego #6 met a deer with glowing antlers, their memories were erased for 10 years. Isn’t it a bit like saying that?
“Anyway, I told you.”
Count Ctolari has returned. If it’s really Ctula’s will, I think it would be better to go back quickly, but the priority is to deal with Unit 6’s work.
Six was still chasing the deer from a great distance. The problem is light. So, wouldn’t it be better to approach the place where the light doesn’t reach? I thought. When I thought about it, I had a good idea.
6 entered the ground. It went deep enough that the light couldn’t reach it. Then, after roughly estimating the direction and distance of the deer, he approached in that direction. He has over 100 years of experience as a soul. He can do that much.
And called the spirits of the surrounding land. After following them for a few days, the stag’s physical abilities were no different from those of other deer.
[Dig a hole for the deer on top to fall in]
The earth spirits started working. The deer struggled as the soil beneath their feet suddenly slumped.
[In case you don’t know, you should also hide in the ground so you don’t get exposed to the light]
I don’t know if the spirits have separate memories, but I didn’t think there would be anything good about receiving that light.
The deer fell into a trap created by the earth spirits. I couldn’t see it myself, but I could feel it. You will be struggling tremendously. Going out to see it now is suicidal.
It came up from a distance through the ground. As expected, light was shooting up from the pit where the deer had fallen into. waited so long A day or two, the mournful sound of deer resounded, and several beasts approached, bathed in the light, and wandered around as idiots.
After three days, the cries of the deer subsided. It seemed to be running out of power. Now the light only comes out very occasionally.
After four days, the deer stopped crying. No light was coming out. I wouldn’t have died yet. Because life is pretty tough.
It’s a bit risky, but I decided to reduce the pain. Still approaching the ground. As I approached, I heard a small cry of a deer. Approaching the place where the sound was heard, it rose up at once and burst the deer’s heart. And absorbed the debris along with the deer’s soul. I hoped that the memory would come back, but it didn’t. Still, alter ego 6, which absorbed the fragments, grew tremendously.
It’s a shame because it’s a deer that lives in the mountains. If this shrapnel landed on a person living in a city, it would surely have happened. In a sense, it was an ability as terrifying as that of Emperor Eugene.
I don’t know what the principle is, but I knew that humans weren’t the only ones getting fragments of foreign media. Anyway, I solved one thing that was presumed to be a world crisis. It’s not that I’m particularly happy or anything like that.
After solving the deer case and trying to return to the Akasha territory as Ctula’s message, a blockade was placed on the Neos kingdom to which Count Ctulari belonged. It is said that the king was assassinated.
“Was this…”
I’m not sure if it’s because of this that Ctula asked me to go back quickly, but even if I wanted to go back, I couldn’t go back right away.
In order to investigate the situation, two nearby clones were dispatched to the capital of Neos Kingdom. It is not unusual for a king to be assassinated. Looking at the continent’s history, it’s not like it’s never happened, but it’s not like it’s never happened too often. And behind the king’s assassination case follows a lot of blood. Someone has to take responsibility, because the weight of the case is that heavy.
The Countess of Ctolari had nothing to do with this incident, but neither did it pass quietly. The Earldom of Ctolari is one of the most powerful military territories in the kingdom.
Did the king suddenly die? That is, there will be a fight over the next kingship. At that time, the most important thing is military power. The nobles around Count Ctolari’s mansion were already coming and going until the threshold was worn out.
Either way, the annex was quiet as always. There was no external activity other than Joseph and Jake and other escort knights sparring with the Rangers.
Count Ctolari visited the peaceful outbuilding again. It also came with a large piece of sh*t.