187 100. The Blackened Village -2 Part One

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The day after Third Imperial Prince Ruppel gave me the hints I needed, Charlotte and I set off towards the village of Rost.

Since the kingdom of Lome was a direct neighbour to the empire, the distance we needed to cover wasn’t all that much, and the village itself was located north of the kingdom’s territory, which meant that reaching there didn’t take all that long for us.

We rode on the skeleton horses, and after travelling non-stop with no breaks in between, we were able to reach our destination in ten days.

1

The village was fairly large and famous for being a tourist attraction with gorgeous scenery, so my initial plan was to find out the dragon slayer’s current whereabouts and then leisurely wait for the arrival of the First Prince. But now…

“Well, what a great stroke of luck this is.”

Who could’ve guessed in their right minds that as soon as I arrived in the village, Prince Barus would run straight into us?

Not only that…

“You… how do you know me?”

Barus stepped back while clearly on edge, his hand resting on the hilt of the sword mounted on his hips.

Unlike his meticulous self, though, the other knights were beginning to buckle under the pressure.

“You bastard! Just what or who are you?!” A knight cried out while yanking his sword out and pointing it at me.

Huh. That’s a big mistake, you know?

Charlotte’s expression turned incredibly cold in an instant.

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She easily sliced apart the pointing sword of the knight, then her left hand rapidly moved to grab his throat before lifting him up cleanly off the floor.

“…!”

Barus’s eyes nearly popped out of their sockets.

After all, I only had one business to take care of in this place – to apprehend the Second Crown Princess Consort, Rose Darina. That’s it.

1

Barus shifted his gaze over to the knight currently gripped in Charlotte’s hand.

“It’s alright now.”

Charlotte let go of the poor man after I reassured her.

The knight fell on his butt and wheezed in pain.

“Your highness, we must make our escape now!”

One of the knights fighting off the zombies cried out.

It was understandable, considering the great numbers of zombies had shown up outside.

Barus’s eyes shook powerfully just then. He squeezed his eyes shut and cried out, “Of course I know who Rose Darina is! She’s the Second Crown Princess Consort of the Theocratic Empire! She came to visit the kingdom in the past for diplomatic purposes!”

“Can you tell me where I can find her?”

“I do not know! Of course I wouldn’t know where she is. She only came to see me briefly three years ago. I haven’t run into her ever since then!”

“I heard that you, as the leader of the rebellion, were providing her with a place to hide.”

“And I heard that she’s accused of plotting high treason! It’s already too taxing for me to deal with the Second Prince, so you tell me this, what will I possibly gain by attracting the Theocratic Empire’s ire?!”

Barus cried out urgently.

One of the knights had been surrounded by the zombies, and the axe swung by the zombie warrior had chopped down into his shoulder, spraying a lot of blood in the air.

I guess this should be enough.

“Alright, fine. We shall discuss the rest later. For now…”

It was time to hunt these undead down.

Charlotte and her expression-less face tilted this way and that. “Should I deal with them?”

“Nah, let me do it.”

I couldn’t sense any Vampires nearby. If it’s just some measly zombies like these, then it should be a cakewalk.

I summoned a musket and let out a breath into its loading chamber.

“Oh, Gaia…”

It sure had been a while since I last prayed like this.

Without a doubt, we got really lucky with finding Barus as soon as arriving here. Maybe the dear goddess had a hand in it, silently helping us out and all that. Like how some people might say.

Although I wasn’t exactly a fan of the gods of this world…

“I express my gratitude for your love once more, and…”

…It wouldn’t be such a bad idea to say thanks at least this one time, right?

“Please grant this servant your grace to pierce through the walking dead.”

The corners of my lips curled up as I began snickering.

[Divine Aura has been used.]

[Your equipment will temporarily be upgraded.]

[Your upgraded equipment has been granted ‘Burst Fire’ skill.]

Divinity rapidly swirled within the musket’s muzzle.

I took aim at my front. My targets? The undead creatures right in front of my eyes.

Didn’t big sis Hilda say it sometime ago? That nothing was…

“Amen.”

…As entertaining as ‘hunting’ out there.