Episode 358
Episode 118. As Rolmandy’s estate, (2)
Rochshire was a large city. Still, it was natural since it was once the territory of Rollmandi, who commanded Kyle as one of the three imperial families.
A cool pavement, a large building built solidly, and a wide waterway installed all over the place. Of course, most of the people walking the streets were also wearing clean clothes.
But this big city was hard to find vibrancy. Rather, there was a dark and sad atmosphere somewhere in the people. Most of them had melancholy eyes.
“It’s unpleasant because there are too many humans, but they all have wormy faces.”
Ariel was transformed into a human. Marlon described it as a ‘girl’, but she was a little short and had the appearance of a mature woman with silver hair.
“Because most of them lost a family member not too long ago.”
Yuma replied in a calm tone.
Ariel felt embarrassed and cleared her throat.
Changing the destination to Rokshire wasn’t just to look at the black magic ritual where an ogre was sacrificed.
-The madmen kept quiet and then suddenly started killing the commoners of the Rochshires.
It was a story I heard when I first met Randall in Wings of Touhou Yuma.
-Catch the pod and often kill or beat commoners.
It’s something that guys used to do when they were doing well. Even the dregs with only the name Rollmandy mentioned their extreme bloodlineism, just like in the days of Hayes.
– No, brother. What kind of power did such a ruined family have to go around doing such atrocious things?
-It’s not the capital, it’s the Rochshires. I went on a business trip to Rochshire on behalf of my father to deal with the deployment of magic bombardment amplifiers, and I saw all the horrors.
Randell had said at the time that there were commoner corpses impaled on stakes all over Rochshire. Even the Rollmandi guys didn’t stop at simply beating or cutting and killing commoners, they even burned them at the stake.
In the middle of this developed city, the road to hell suddenly unfolded.
There were no traces left on the streets now, but it seemed that the air was still mixed with the screams of those who died unjustly.
So, Randell murdered Rollmandy over 30 and crippled Rollmandy over 70 in a forced duel.
It was also the decisive reason for Randel to come to the east in the name of punishment.
‘Bastards…
When I thought of the deaths of the common people, it was like a pit of fire fell in my heart.
It is unknown whether the crazy massacre was revenge on Yuma and Zach, but at that time, the Rolmandies were taking ‘psychedelic drugs’ as a group. It was the information that the investigative team later discovered and found the ogre’s body.
“The massacre of commoners by the Rollmandi family was so bad that rumors spread even to the magicians.”
“The commoners of the empire held a memorial service for a while. Roll Mandi was completely destroyed by Lord Randell.”
said Marlon and Zecca.
“I don’t understand. Why is it that the same lower ones are divided into ranks and can kill those lower than them at will?”
Ariel really couldn’t understand human culture.
“Me too. It is still difficult to understand.”
While traveling together to Rochshire, Yuma and Zecca started using honorifics for Ariel. After all, it was because she was a dragon over 2,000 years old. Marlon was still half-talking.
“Let’s go to the lord’s castle for now.”
The party got off Tulka and walked towards the lord’s castle.
Yuma, the ancient wolf, and even a beautiful woman with silver hair. Even in a city steeped in sadness, it was a combination that could not but attract everyone’s attention at once.
However, people were not properly conscious even when the party was walking in the middle of the city. It was thanks to Ariel’s magic that reduced the cognitive abilities of people nearby.
“amazing. Jaega is a dragon.
Don’t you think you can’t see us? Is magic really like this?”
“I can’t keep it for long. And it’s not even magic that humans can use. Fools like you are perfect for this magic trick.”
“Yeah, you are good. Give me a compliment, too, why?”
The lord’s castle was firmly closed.
The lordship of Rollmandy, who had lost public sentiment and power due to the last massacre, looked like a prison rather than a castle.
“There are still a few traces of what we smashed down on the outer wall of the castle.”
After looking at the lord’s castle, Zecca said.
The damage caused by the three men killing Haze Rollmandi was not completely repaired.
For this reason, the outer wall of the castle, which looked drastically worn, seemed to symbolize the present of the Rollmandi family.
When Ariel canceled the recognition manipulation magic, the guards, who were rigid with haggard faces, were startled.
“omg! Who are you!”
“This is Yuma Drake. I have come to the castle of Lord Rochshire on business.”
“I’m sorry I didn’t know everything!”
“There’s no need for that, so open the door.”
Geeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee. The gears and chains connected to the gates rusted and made an unpleasant eardrum scratching sound. As soon as the castle door opened, the party had no choice but to wrinkle their noses.
A stench that was unfamiliar to Ariel and familiar to the other three emanated from it.
“Ugh! What is this foul smell? My mind seems to be contaminated.”
“…Maron, this is Shichwi. The smell that comes when a person or animal dies and rots.”
“what?”
I don’t know if the source of this smell was a person or an animal, but there didn’t seem to be any decaying corpses left behind. The smell is not that strong.
“I saw that the rotten corpse was removed some time ago. These people are still capturing and killing commoners. There are many Sorin family nobles and knights living in the territory, so I can’t do such a thing recklessly. There must be something wrong with the barn.”
No matter how suddenly they came, it was common for the castle’s butler or civil servant to meet them if someone the size of Yuma arrived. Or the lord came out himself.
But no one came out.
It wasn’t because Rolmandiga held a grudge against Yuma. The number of people in the castle itself is small.
Rochshire’s lord’s castle was on a scale that was not far behind even compared to the imperial castle.
Of course, the busy movements of those who were always in charge of armed knights, soldiers, and castles had to be seen.
‘I’ve heard that most of the actual management of the Rochshire estates has been passed on to Povian and Thoringa, but this is serious. It’s like an abandoned castle.’
I felt ominous and deja vu.
“This is Rochshire, right? Not Joachim?”
“that’s right.”
It was only after entering the central building that I could feel the presence of people. However, it was only confirmed that a few middle-aged men and women who seemed to be members of Rollmandi were staring into space with unfocused eyes.
It seemed to be a side effect of hallucinogens.
There were also young aristocrats. They seemed to be in better condition than the older nobles, but as soon as they saw Yuma, they all averted their gaze and pretended not to know.
Yuma didn’t even care about them. It was because even if we had a conversation, we couldn’t have a good conversation with each other and the condition didn’t look very good.
After the death of Hayes Rollmandi and the disappearance of Ryoka Rollmandi, the person acting as the lord was Shonan Rollmandi.
Yuma intended to visit him and ask him to double check the source of the hallucinogen and lead him to the place where the ogre had been sacrificed.
‘Sir Randell said that the reason for the massacre of commoners by Rohl Mandi, which the investigation team had uncovered, was blasphemy. However, the source of the hallucinogen is not clear, and it seems that there must be something else for some reason.’
For example, black magic rituals.
As Marlon put it, the current Rochshire Castle had a feeling almost similar to that of Joheim. However, even if the senses of the demon god were raised, the demonic energy was not detected.
The gloomy atmosphere continued until the party reached the lord’s office. No matter how you look at it, it was closer to an abandoned house than the corridor of the lord’s castle.
However, after pulling the doorknob of the lord’s room, the party encountered a completely unexpected person.
“You are here. I was waiting.”
Lot, the high priest of the Zeil Church.
It was he, not Shonan Rollmandi, the lord’s deputy, who greeted Yuma’s group. Yuma looked at him with a sense of absurdity.
“I think I heard that line in Mus Icahn. Why are you here?”
There was not a single common civil servant in the lord’s room, and the desk was dusty. Only this suspicious high priest stood there.
“The apostle of Zeil gave a prophecy that Yuma-sama would come here.”
“Is it a hobby for that pseudo-sage, Resol, to watch the movements of the day? A writer called the Apostle of Light chose to do only unpleasant things in many ways. Where is Shonan Rollmandy?”
“He hasn’t been there since I came here. I don’t know why, but they said they left for Suher Snowfield.”
“So you’re saying that the other Rollmandi here left you alone? Are those crazy guys the pseudo-priests who come and go in and out of the lord’s room?”
“Since he suffers from the withdrawal symptoms of hallucinogenic drugs, he did not kick me out when I told him about the self-tortures of the Zeilgyo.”
“It’s really going crazy.”
Yuma suppressed her embarrassment and studied Lot’s face carefully.
Even the last time we met, his left eyeball was twisted into darkness. Through it, Yuma also confirmed the appearance of Amanjo leading a large army.
– Not too long ago, the faces of some believers, including myself, began to be crushed. I confirmed it by letter, and by that time my eyes had changed like this. It’s not even been a month.
It was a phenomenon that occurred under the influence of Hwa.
When Yuma summoned Amula in the void dimension opened by Rugal in the Kantra Imperial Castle, several beings including Rugal were briefly exposed to the power of Hwa.
Only Alpenter and the members of the Zeilgyo were the only people who had darkness bloomed all over their faces or bodies due to Hwa. They all had one thing in common: they were related to the apostles of light or the god of light.
“By the way, your face is back, Lot. “It looks like the apostle took some action while Yuma-sama subdued the demon. The other believers are also fine.”
“Isn’t Jailism going to randomly recruit slaves and force them to suffer asceticism like before?”
“of course. Emperor Rugal is constantly sending prisoners to the branches of our religious orders…
I wonder if Yuma-sama could ask for some prisoners from the West as well.”
“You and I are not clear allies yet. I learned that there was a cause to prevent the return of Hwa due to the atrocities of the Zeilgyo, but it doesn’t clear what you guys did before. I don’t really like the way you approach me and say, “I was just talking to you. And no matter what Yuma-sama thinks, we, Jailgyo, have decided to help Yuma-sama.”
“Is that your judgment or Risol’s judgment?”
“It is the judgment of the Jail religion.”
The unexpected development left Yuma speechless for a moment.
Lot and the Zeilgyo he leads. Looking back at them, there were not only one or two questions. Before returning, Cagor was able to kill Hugo with their help.
In addition, Lot knew the existence of Amanjo, the demon of the underworld, and Sekmeira, the demon of the underworld, from the first time they met.
‘Did Resol give you all that information? What was the method of murdering Hugo? I’ll have to go to the stronghold of the Zeilgyo at least once. What kind of role were these pseudos playing before returning?’
While Yuma was organizing his thoughts, Lot moved closer to the rest of the group. Then he gave a light bow to Zecca, whom he had known for a long time, and stared at Marlon.
“Why are you staring at me like that…
“The mercenary prince of magic. You picked the wrong person for your destiny.”
Saying that, Lot’s gaze was directed to Zekka’s chest, where the Pijin Carta was sealed.
“what? I know? What are you talking about all of a sudden? Yuma, is this nobleman a fortune teller?”
“I am not talking only to you.”
[Innoooum!]
At that moment, Ariel shouted with her eyes shining. Before she knew it, a sharp spear made of ice was clutched in her hand.
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