Sword Emperor, Becoming the Young Lady of a Viscount House

Chapter 43: Hunting Monsters (6)

-Rustle.

Reiser brushed aside branches carelessly as he walked forward.

He was heading toward the slash-and-burn farming village.

The knights and cadets were preparing a campsite in an open clearing before entering the village.

The reason was that it was dangerous.

Overnight, the slash-and-burn village had been annihilated. There was no telling what kind of dangers lurked within. Perhaps hidden monsters.

‘This is eerie.’

-Step, step.

Reiser entered the village.

As reported, the village was scorched earth.

It was difficult to find a single intact house.

Everything was destroyed, filled with signs of fire and scorches.

-Clink.

As he walked, remaining vigilant of his surroundings—

Something caught on Reiser's foot.

He bent down to check.

‘Bone fragments.’

It was a bone.

Although its shape was too distorted for an accurate identification, it… appeared to be a human bone.

In contrast, there were no corpses to be seen.

Perhaps the monsters had eaten everything, leaving only the bones behind.

Reiser’s brow furrowed.

“Indeed, it wasn’t just one or two.”

He reached a conclusion.

The village hadn’t been wiped out by just one goblin.

Judging by the number of houses, there must have been at least 30 slash-and-burn farmers living here.

Yet, there wasn’t a single corpse in sight.

That meant the monsters had devoured all the bodies.

There was no way a single small goblin could have consumed everything.

There were more monsters.

Whether they were hiding or had returned to their lairs was uncertain.

“…What is that?”

Then, something else caught Reiser’s eye.

A tree.

It was an enormous old tree.

It looked as though all life had been sucked out of it, withered and drooping.

It seemed quite unnatural.

Even if the village had been annihilated, there was no reason for the tree to turn that ominous shade of black.

Reiser approached it.

He carefully touched the tree.

-Crumble.

The moment his hand touched it, the bark crumbled.

Rubbing his thumb and forefinger together, Reiser observed the black powder that resembled ash.

‘It’s not ash. This is…’

It was definitely different from something burned by fire.

If it were, it would have been white, not black.

‘Magic?’

A faint trace of mana lingered.

He recalled the goblin from earlier.

Black magic had been abandoned for centuries.

He had neither seen nor heard of it in practice.

Yet, Reiser couldn’t help but think this was what black magic might feel like.

A sinister and filthy sensation.

-Thud.

The sound of something falling startled him, and he quickly turned around.

There was nothing there, but the noise had been unnatural.

He had to check it out.

-Scrape.

Reiser drew his sword and leaned his upper body forward as he cautiously walked.

His forearm muscles tensed, ready to strike down any monster that might appear.

The already late hour made the ruined village seem especially eerie.

Even for Reiser, who had successfully completed countless missions, the atmosphere was nerve-wracking.

-Gulp.

He swallowed dryly and gripped the hilt of his sword tightly.

-Creak.

‘It’s here.’

The sound had come from the ruins of a collapsed building.

Reiser immediately lowered his presence and hid behind a nearby wall.

As he carefully peeked toward the source of the noise—

“…!”

Reiser realized someone was beside him.

“Wow! It’s a knight, big brother!”

**

“My meat…!”

-Boom!

“Why did you flip it over!”

-Crash!

Beatrice swung her sword with fury.

Since Beatrice was brimming with mana, every clash of her sword caused shockwaves to ripple.

Falcon shouted in exasperation.

“I didn’t flip it over!”

All he had done was plant his sword into the ground to intimidate Gareth.

The one who had actually toppled Beatrice’s table was another knight.

However, to Beatrice, such explanations were meaningless.

Falcon barely managed to block her attacks.

Each time he did, his massive frame was pushed back significantly.

This puzzled him even more than Beatrice’s sudden assault.

‘How can such strength come from those twig-like arms?’

Beatrice’s frail-looking arms seemed like they would snap at any moment.

Yet, those arms unleashed tremendous power.

Even though he didn’t sense any spirit energy from her, how was this possible?

Still, his pride was taking too much of a hit at this rate.

He didn’t want to counterattack if he could help it, but…

As the deputy commander of the elite knights, his honor was at stake.

Falcon shifted into an offensive stance.

Just as he prepared to use the power of his spirit to subdue her—

“Falcon!”

“Oh, Commander!”

Reiser appeared.

Falcon turned to him as though seeing a savior.

However, the brief moment he looked away came at a cost.

-Bang!

“Agh!”

**

“…So, you’re saying Beatrice attacked because someone flipped over her table?”

“It wasn’t me! It was this guy, this guy!”

Falcon stood, yelling indignantly.

A fist-sized lump had risen on his head.

It was Beatrice’s doing.

At the last moment, she had mercilessly struck Falcon’s head with the flat side of her sword.

“…So, in your attempt to subdue her neatly, you turned around when I called, and that’s when she ambushed you?”

“Exactly, Commander! That’s what happened!”

“What a pathetic excuse.”

Reiser sighed.

“You may be the most promising cadet, but even so, for you, the deputy commander of the Kingdom of Krapos’s finest knights, to end up with a lump on your head after just one hit—how disgraceful.”

“…….”

He couldn’t argue with that.

Whether it was carelessness or not, he should have been able to overpower a mere cadet.

“Well, Commander, that’s because…”

Falcon scratched his head awkwardly, trying to come up with an excuse.

“Enough. That’s not the point. Come out.”

Reiser spoke, looking toward a specific spot.

Then,

-Rustle.

A girl stepped out of the forest.

She had silver hair.

Though her exact age was unclear, her figure was extremely gaunt.

Her shabby appearance testified to how difficult her life had been until now.

The only peculiar thing was that the doll in her arms was impeccably clean, as if brand new.

"That girl is...?"

"I found her alone in the ruined village. She appears to be a survivor."

"I heard there were no survivors."

"She's such a small child. Her parents must have hidden her somewhere."

It wasn’t unheard of.

Sometimes, only children survived attacks on villages.

Monsters weren’t meticulous.

If it were humans, they would have searched every closet and under every bed, but monsters didn’t do that.

They only killed what they could see.

However, there were monsters that searched thoroughly.

Goblins, for instance, had the intelligence to do so.

Yet, goblins also had a peculiar trait—they often didn’t kill children.

Perhaps it was because their small size reminded them of themselves.

"Cadet Beatrice."

"What."

Beatrice looked at Reiser with annoyance as she endured Seria’s nagging.

At the same time, she noticed the girl.

"Wow! A pretty sister!"

-Whoosh.

The girl, as soon as their eyes met, rushed into Beatrice’s arms.

Beatrice caught her with a bewildered expression.

‘What’s with this child?’

She looked at Reiser, her face demanding an explanation.

Reiser gave a brief explanation.

She nodded in understanding.

‘What a tragic child.’

"Could you take care of her, Beatrice? Along with Seria?"

"...Me?"

She wasn’t particularly skilled in childcare.

As she considered it,

"An inexperienced cadet or one of these beastly knights would be worse.

Wouldn’t it be better for a woman?

You’d understand each other better, and the child would feel more at ease."

It was an irrefutable argument.

It was completely reasonable.

Beatrice had no choice but to nod in agreement.

‘Actually, this works out.

Now I have an excuse not to participate in battle.’

Her wrist tingled slightly.

It wasn’t enough to stop her from fighting, but it was bothersome nonetheless.

Plus, Seria’s constant nagging was grating on her nerves.

All things considered, this was fine.

"How old are you?"

"Miya is 10 years old!"

"Ten?"

Beatrice’s eyes widened.

She looked younger than that.

She was that petite.

"Yep!"

"Oh my… How adorable."

Seria, standing nearby, sparkled with admiration.

Even Beatrice found Miya cute.

Despite her shabby appearance, her distinct features and large eyes hinted at a bright future.

"What are you looking at, you fools? We still have work to do!"

"...It’s late. Let’s just sleep."

"But Commander! This is tradition!"

"That so-called tradition isn’t more important than your life."

"...Fair point."

It seemed they would be heading straight to sleep.

‘What about food?’

Beatrice’s pupils wavered.

Did this mean they wouldn’t eat?

‘Damn it, I should’ve killed that guy.’

[As much as you’re annoyed, killing someone over food isn’t right.]

-Growl.

Beatrice clutched her rumbling stomach.

"Sister, are you hungry?"

Miya mumbled as she asked.

Too embarrassed to admit her hunger to a child, Beatrice asked instead.

"Aren’t you hungry?"

"Miya is fine! I ate lots of delicious food."

"I see."

‘...That doesn’t seem to be true.’

The girl was far too thin.

She didn’t look like someone who had eaten well.

Moreover, with all the adults dead, it was hard to believe a little girl could have fed herself.

This wasn’t the 21st century, after all.

It was the Middle Ages.

There were no canned goods or similar conveniences.

How had she survived?

Just as Beatrice was about to ask to resolve her doubts, she sensed someone behind her.

"Cadet Beatrice."

"...What?"

It was Reiser.

He spoke with a somewhat serious expression.

"Could you come with me for a moment?"

Beatrice handed Miya over to Seria, mouthing the words, ‘You hold her.’

Seria nodded her head quickly, almost as if she had three heads.

Beatrice handed Miya to Seria and stood up.

It seemed Reiser had something important to say.

**

Beatrice followed Reiser.

He walked far enough away that the others couldn’t overhear before stopping.

"What’s going on?"

"There’s something I must discuss."

"...What is it?"

"That girl."

Reiser hesitated briefly before saying something unbelievable.

"...There’s something strange about her."

"Strange?"

"Yes. I thought I should inform you."

Beatrice crossed her arms and leaned against a tree.

Then,

-Crumble.

"...?"

The bark crumbled and fell to the ground.

Reiser frowned briefly before glancing at the late hour and speaking quickly.

"First of all, that child has no sense of fear."

"...No sense of fear?"

"A normal child would have been scared.

She was left alone in a village that had been annihilated for several days."

"She’s still young, so maybe she hasn’t fully grasped the situation."

But as Beatrice said this, she realized.

Ten years old.

That wasn’t too young.

Especially in the Middle Ages, where lifespans were short.

"That’s not the only strange thing."

Reiser swallowed nervously.

"Even though I was on high alert, I didn’t notice her approach until she was right next to me.

If she had been holding a sword instead of a doll, I would’ve died."

That was indeed strange.

‘Solid, how skilled is Reiser?’

[He’s a high-rank knight.

One step away from becoming a Master.]

A knight nearing Master rank.

And yet he hadn’t noticed a mere girl approaching?

That was certainly strange.

A knight of his level, on high alert, had failed to notice her presence.

‘Something’s off.’

"That’s why I want you to keep an eye on her.

Since nothing’s certain yet, don’t tell anyone else—just keep it to yourself."

-Nod.

Beatrice’s expression grew equally serious.

Knowing that tragedies often began with small things, she decided to observe Miya carefully when she returned.

But then—

-Thud.

"...?"

Reiser and Beatrice both felt a strange vibration and looked at each other.

"This is…"

"Just now."

-Thud!

The faint tremors grew stronger.

-Thud! Thud! Thud!

As chills ran down Beatrice’s spine—

The tremors intensified to the point where the ground visibly shook.

At the same time, they realized.

"It’s an attack."

The monsters had begun their invasion.