The bleak, stone-built dungeon was, in fact, warmer than the world above ground.
In the gray corridor lit by magic lamps, the sound of boots integrated with leg armor echoed loudly.
“This way, sir.”
Gomez, a stern, middle-aged knight, guided Lawrence.
Gomez was one of Lawrence’s subordinates, entrusted with his own squad. Lawrence highly valued his integrity and loyalty to the king. Though he was past his peak as a soldier and beginning to show signs of decline, he was still the finest individual combatant among Lawrence’s men.
That was precisely why he had dispatched Gomez’s squad to capture Bartil. Against a truly powerful foe, a hundred ordinary soldiers would just be swept aside.
As Lawrence entered the cell, which was sealed by a steel door, the man chained to a crude bed managed to lift his head.
“Lawrence…! What is the meaning of this!”
It was Bartil.
Stripped of his upper body armor, Bartil’s powerful, statue-like physique was exposed.
But from his shoulders down, his arms were gone. There were only blood-soaked bandages wrapped around the stumps.
Despite the chill of the stone prison, Bartil was drenched in sweat. His breathing was labored.
“Well done capturing him, Gomez.”
“Sir. He resisted, so as per your orders, we cut off both his arms and apprehended him.”
As Gomez spoke, Bartil writhed, rattling his chains.
“Lies! From the very beginning, I—”
“Silence!”
Gomez slammed his sword down beside Bartil’s head, piercing the wafer-thin pillow.
“You’ve shown your filthy true colors, Bartil! I knew a day like this would come, ever since you started defying His Majesty’s sacred judgment!”
“What did you say…”
With the furious visage of a war god, Gomez bellowed at him. Bartil could only stare back, dumbfounded.
Lawrence grasped the general situation. Unable to contain his overflowing sense of justice, Gomez had likely resorted to unnecessarily rough measures.
Even knowing this, the only thought that came to Lawrence’s mind was, Serves you right.
“I will state only the facts. The South Gate tower was attacked by approximately twenty members of the Second Knight Order, and the gate was breached.”
“Wh-what…!?”
Bartil’s eyes widened, and he was left speechless.
“What… is happening…”
“Are you feigning ignorance? Or do you truly not know? Well, no matter. In any case, this is a result of your own making.”
Lawrence’s words were sharp, striking like a sword instead of cutting with one.
Even if Bartil hadn’t betrayed them, Lawrence was certain that the Second Knight Order had acted this way as a result of the earlier meeting. This outcome was brought about by the soft-headed idea of trying to negotiate with the utterly vile and inhuman undead. And the cause of that, Lawrence believed, was Bartil’s heart, which held an affinity for the former king.
“What of the undead army?”
“There’s no point in you knowing.”
But Bartil’s lips curled into a cynical smile, as if he could see right through him.
“I can guess, though. The gate was breached, yet you left the command post to come see my face. It must be a lull… a standoff at the walls, or you’re retreating while the undead regroup in the city and their assault has paused. The city wall… it’s been completely broken through, hasn’t it?”
“…Tch.”
Lawrence clicked his tongue. It seemed pointless to talk to Bartil any further. It would only infuriate him.
“Healing magic?”
“None has been administered. He is a traitor.”
Gomez answered the question with a self-righteous look on his face.
Lawrence now understood why Bartil seemed to be in so much pain. Perhaps it was a miracle he even had bandages.
While thinking he could let him suffer a little longer, Lawrence still gave a practical order.
“…It will interfere with the interrogation. Administer the minimum treatment.”
“Yes, sir.”
“He might have some information. Make him talk. I don’t care how. Just don’t kill him.”
“Understood.”
Following Lawrence out of the cell, Gomez locked the door and hurried away to summon the ‘interrogator’.
“God… protect the people of Ciel-Terra…!”
Bartil’s whisper was likely heard only by Lawrence. Grinding his back teeth in irritation, Lawrence left the prison, his footsteps echoing loudly.
Casting Consecration on the members of the Second Knight Order and using them as disposable pawns…
The Temple’s cooperation was indispensable to execute this plan. A large number of priests would be needed to cast Consecration on so many people.
But in response to the request to the Temple, which he had expected to be accepted without a second thought, what came back was the Temple Head’s scream.
“We are already at our limit! We’re at full capacity just treating the retreating knights. About half of our priests have already collapsed.”
“You can’t hold on any longer? What about mana recovery potions?”
The word was that if they gathered the catalysts, they could raise the barrier again. Conversely, if they gave up on that, they should have had a considerable surplus of mana resources.
But the Temple Head’s reply was the same.
“We’ve used all of those as well! If it weren’t for the resurrection just now…”
“Resurrection!? In this situation, we have no leeway to be using resurrection magic unless His Majesty’s life is in danger! Why did you do such a thing?!”
Even Lawrence, who was no mage, knew how much mana a resurrection spell consumed. He knew it was no ordinary feat.
Even in a city the size of the royal capital, a single temple could only resurrect two or three people a day. Any more than that was impossible without a massive supply of mana recovery potions.
In the current situation, not just potions, but the priests’ own mana was a precious strategic resource. If Hilbert were to die, he would be the highest priority for resurrection, but they couldn’t afford to use it on anyone else.
“It was for the reinforcements from Noacurio… at the request of Lord Theo Colin Edelfelt.”
“Theo…?”
The name didn’t ring a bell, and Lawrence tilted his head. He knew of the Marquis Edelfelt’s house, but he didn’t recognize the name Theo.
He must be a new courtier, Lawrence surmised, questioning Hilbert with a glance.
“Who is that?”
“The third son of Marquis Edelfelt. He’s involved in diplomacy with Noacurio.”
“I told him we had no leeway to perform a resurrection for the sake of the defense. But he insisted forcefully.”
“Why didn’t you refuse him!”
Theo, the great fool who had requested a resurrection at a time like this, was one thing, but the priests who had accepted and wasted precious mana were unbelievably foolish as well.
However, the Temple Head argued back, his tone tinged with a certain servility and sarcasm.
“『Consider the words of those who work for the country as the words of His Majesty』… That is what you told me the other day, is it not? Lord Edelfelt is involved in diplomacy, recognized by His Majesty. For such a person to push so hard for his wish, I thought it must be His Majesty’s strong intention, yes.”
Lawrence ground his teeth. Seeing the temple folk as defiant, Hilbert had taken measures to bring them to heel. Lawrence himself had cooperated, implicitly threatening to denounce the temple in his capacity as Commander of the First Knight Order. Lawrence was aware that he was a national hero, and he knew what the consequences would be if he were to condemn the temple. Thanks to that, the temple had finally started to become more cooperative.
And now… a colossal fool who put other great fools to shame had wasted it all!
“…What happened to the resurrection?”
“It failed.”
“Where is Theo? Is he still at the temple!?”
“A skeleton assassin that attacked the temple earlier was hiding inside… He was attacked and, regrettably, lost his life.”
I see, was all Lawrence thought. The explanation was suspicious beyond belief, but he didn’t think it was a problem. At least, not right now.
“Fine, if you say it’s impossible—”
“This is Falcon Squad, please respond!”
As Lawrence was considering his next best move, one of the Caller talismans barked.
It was from Falcon, one of his squad leaders in the First Knight Order.
“This is Lawrence. What happened!?”
“Revenants! There are revenants mixed in with the Second Knight Order!”
“Revenants!?”
Revenants. Unlike easily identifiable abominations like zombies or skeletons, they were undead that were indistinguishable from humans at a glance. They could use the knowledge and physical skills they had in life, and if their very soul was converted, they could even wield magic. Their nature made them suitable for infiltration. Incidents where evil mages turned living humans into revenants to infiltrate human cities occurred from time to time.
“Was it the ones who attacked the gate tower!? Or others!?”
“We haven’t been able to confirm regarding the knights who attacked the gate tower… but they were among the retreating knights! Our squad’s mage discovered one and has already eliminated it. It was acting alongside the other knights as if nothing was wrong.”
Lawrence could sense Hilbert take a sharp breath.
“It’s not likely just one…”
“No…”
Lawrence felt as if a cold hand were stroking his back. He could understand betrayal, or even instigating it. But secretly replacing soldiers on your own side with undead in the middle of a battlefield was a blasphemous tactic beyond comprehension.
Damn it, we’re fighting monsters. I should have expected this from the start!
The knight orders of Ciel-Terra had experience venturing out to subjugate monsters that appeared within the country, but they had almost no experience fighting a demon army. Whatever the case may have been at the nation’s founding, the Demon Lord’s army had weakened in recent times, and countries far from the front lines had made it a habit to limit their involvement to rear support, like sending money and goods to the “Human Allied Forces.” Even those battles where the human nations formed an allied army had not occurred for more than ten years.
Even Lawrence himself had little experience fighting a “demon and monster army.” He had been careless in preparing for their monster-like tactics.
“Could this be Bartil’s doing?”
“Surely not…”
To make some kind of deal to have his subordinates turned into undead? …That seemed highly unlikely. The “Second Knight Order Revenant-ification Project” had likely been proceeding without Bartil’s knowledge.
Was capturing Bartil a rash decision…? No, it’s not as if the ones who attacked the South Gate were necessarily revenants. More importantly, it’s still dangerous to leave the Second Knight Order in Bartil’s hands in this situation. I can’t trust him. There’s no telling what he might do!
“Good work. Prioritize the retreat.”
“Yes, sir.”
Having given the order, Lawrence now picked up the Caller connected to the Temple Head.
“Hey, no matter how low on mana you are, you can still tell the difference between an undead and a human, right?”
“Of course, we can tell that much.”
“Good. We have a report that revenants are mixed in with the Second Knight Order. Forget Consecration, just identify them. If you find any, leave their disposal to the Second Knight Order. There’s no way there are more revenants than knights.”
But before he could hear the reply, Falcon’s Caller cried out again.
“Commander!”
“What is it now?”
It was a desperate, almost sobbing shout.
“The ‘Rose Princess of Hellrage’ has appeared!”