< 149. Audience (1) >
#149
White mountain fog was flowing along the ridge. The morning air was humid. The spring rain seeping through the trees was hitting the raincoat.
The sky was much brighter than before leaving Phileon. The scent of blood permeated the fog rising over the wet soil. Ronan looked around and cursed.
“Fuck….”
Any trace of sleep that remained was completely gone. For a moment memories from a few hours ago surfaced above the water. It was dawn when Ronan received the news and the sun had not yet risen.
He was getting a good night’s sleep for the decisive battle with Schlieffen. Suddenly the dormitory door burst open and a familiar voice echoed through the room.
– Ronan. wake up
– …Instructor?
Ronan raised his head. Nabirose was standing in the doorway. From her half-asleep perspective she was wearing a combat uniform.
There was no apology for waking her or trespassing. There Ronan realized the seriousness of the situation. He shook his head and quickly shook off the sleep and opened his mouth.
– What’s going on?
– There was intelligence that the Dawn Unit was destroyed. I came here to let you know because I thought you might be interested.
Ronan’s eyes widened. The Dawn Unit was one of the special organizations of the Imperial Army dedicated to Nebula Clage. The beastman unit led by Jaipa was also part of it.
– Wait a minute.
Ronan finished preparing in just one minute and left the room. Fortunately the site was located not too far from the island. An eerie drizzle was still drenching the dark campus. Two people wearing raincoats got on a horse…
.
“That’s terrible.”
“ah.”
As I was observing the scene next to her I clicked her tongue. Ronan’s consciousness returned to reality. He nodded his head in agreement.
“Sure.”
Ronan tried to breathe only through his mouth as much as possible. The moment he breathed in through his nose the smell of blood made him feel dizzy.
There were corpses everywhere. Pieces of meat that had not yet lost their color were spitting out dark red blood. Approximately ninety corpses were densely filling the space between trees.
Imperial soldiers wearing thick armor were carrying corpses on stretchers. All of the victims were members of the Dawn Unit. Beasts that were twice the size of 70% humans made up the remaining 30%.
The good news was that the bodies were in good condition. It was as if nothing had been cut into pieces or eaten. Thanks to this there seemed to be no problem in identifying the person.
‘Damn it.’
Ronan gritted his teeth. The reality of having to be relieved by facts like this was even more annoying. He muttered as if sighing.
“I don’t think you will need to use any effort.”
“Bwauuung….”
Sita who was crouching over Ronan’s head lowered his head. He brought it in to see if anyone was still alive but it was pointless. The only survivors were those who were not at the scene.
First we had to figure out the circumstances. Nabirose seemed to think the same thing. As she looked around she motioned to her man who was giving her instructions to her soldiers.
“Look at me there for a moment.”
“hmm?”
Her man tilted his head. Seeing that he was wearing an officer’s raincoat he seemed to be of quite high rank. He recognized Nabi Rose and took a deep breath.
“…omg!”
A man wearing a raincoat ran towards me. Looking at the emblem engraved on his epaulets he was a lieutenant colonel. He stood facing Nabirose and saluted.
“Oh are you here Nabirose? “If you had contacted me I would have come out to meet you…!”
“It’s done. “Rather I’d like to hear an explanation of the situation.”
“Yes yes…! I’ll tell you what I know. But we also found out that everything was already done so we don’t have that much information…”
The major stuttered as he continued speaking. Judging by his pale complexion he seemed quite nervous. I felt Nabi Rose’s position once again.
“It was discovered by soldiers doing reconnaissance exactly two hours ago. “It is presumed that they were ambushed while they were gathering for a night operation or meeting.”
“That sounds plausible. It looks like there are some members of Jaifa Tergeng’s unit mixed in. Where is that cat? “Did it really happen?”
“What a cat… The Sword Saint was active separately when the incident occurred. “I left the scene a little while ago leaving a message that I would look for the culprit.”
When I heard that he was a swordsman I frowned at him with butterflies. The embarrassed lieutenant colonel shrugged his shoulders. He didn’t seem to be the type that was very good at military life.
Ronan took off the raincoat that covered his head. After washing his face with cold rainwater his head seemed to clear up a bit. He looked back at Nabirose and said.
“I will look for it on my own.”
“Sure.”
“Sita please look from the air to see if there are any survivors.”
“Ttaaa!”
Sita spread her four wings and flew up. First I had to find a clue. Ronan slowly took his feet away. Every time I took a step I was crushed by the swollen dirt and blood flowed out.
‘Did you just decide to leave now? ‘Why did something like this suddenly happen?’
It seemed clear that Nebula Clage was responsible for this as sparkling mana remained throughout the scene. However it was unclear why he suddenly committed such an unconventional move. I think I walked about twenty steps. A corpse with a familiar face came into view.
‘That bear…’
The size was impressive as if it had doubled the size of an adult man from top to bottom and left to right. It was the werebear that brought Asher with him when he encountered Zaipa. The sight of him gently comforting Asher was still pleasant to my ears.
‘It was true that Jaipa’s unit was also involved.’
Ronan twisted his lips. I couldn’t imagine how enraged the tiger must have been as he treated his fellow beastmen with such horror. Suddenly his eyes landed on the werebear’s neck.
A long stab wound ran across the middle of his neck. Considering that his neck bone was cut in one go he probably died without feeling any pain. Ronan narrowed his eyes feeling a strange sense of déjà vu.
‘This…’
It was a cold sword mark that gave me goosebumps. Even a butcher who kills cows for a living seems more likely to hit the cow’s neck emotionally than this. I don’t know who lived there and did this but it was clearly someone who had never laughed or cried in his life.
‘What the fuck are you doing?’
Ronan quickly began examining other corpses. In most cases only one wound remained on each corpse.
Ronan frowned as he examined the forty-third corpse. All sword marks had an extremely similar feel. It was almost believable even if they were all wielded by the same person.
‘One person killed so many people? No…it’s subtly different.’
However if you look closely there are very very subtle differences. Even though there were two or three people it was just as shocking as just one person.
However there was something else that was even more shocking. The basic shape of the sword marks was very familiar.
Ronan laughed holding his face until his fur pricked his corneas. It didn’t take long to figure out the identity of the deja vu.
“under.”
It was definitely true. It was a sword technique based on the savior’s swordsmanship. However it felt different from the sword marks of the savior or the robber. Should I say it is more concise and emotionless? Rather it gave a similar impression to Nabirose’s swordsmanship.
‘It’s clear something…is going on.’
Ronan did his best to find additional clues. However except for the sparkling mana there was nothing left that could be called a trace. After completing the search to some extent he carried the body away with his soldiers.
“The face looks familiar… Are you Ronan who ended winter?”
“that’s right. “Can you pick up my head over there?”
“It’s an honor to meet you!”
“I want you to pick up my head.”
Shoot… the wind blowing from the bottom of the mountain swept through the wet forest. The body collection did not end until noon. The spring rain had already stopped. Ronan said lighting a pipe.
“In the end we couldn’t find anything.”
“Put out your cigarette.”
“Just take a look. “How can you tolerate something like this?”
Ronan rebelled against Nabirose for the first time. She didn’t say anything more as if she understood it to some extent. Butterfly who was looking at the blood stains with his hand in his pocket took Ronan’s pipe and put it in his mouth.
“Huh instructor?”
“Haaaa…damn.”
Nabi Rose took a sip and exhaled smoke. It was clear that his attitude was unusual and that he lived with it in his childhood. White smoke dispersed in the air. After sucking and spitting out about three puffs she handed the pipe back to me.
“Hartaway County in the North. “You’re still young and you’re doing something this good.”
“It’s my only luxury. “I don’t have anything else to spend the money on.”
“It was hard. “More than anything else the lack of results is the most frustrating thing.”
With a butterfly I clicked his tongue. His clouds were receding revealing a blue sky. The bloody smell was still coming from the blood traces left on the slope. Ronan said looking back at Sita.
“Sita.”
“Bwait!”
Sita spread her four wings. All the blood that had seeped into the ground rose in the form of drops and was absorbed into Sita’s body. The absorption capacity seemed to have increased several times compared to two years ago. The soldiers were continually amazed by the amazing sight. By this time most of the blood had been absorbed.
“…Pyeol?”
“what’s the matter?”
Suddenly Sita tilted her head. A red magic circle was drawn in front of Sita’s snout as she quickly looked around. Ronan’s eyes widened.
“This is…!”
A red path was slowly forming in front of the magic circle. I remember seeing it in Gran Cappadocia in the past. It was clearly a magic that traced blood traces and chased down survivors.
Sita and Ronan’s gaze met. Sita spread her wings and took off. Almost at the same time Ronan got up and started running along the road.
“Fuck it I’ll be back!”
“Ronan?”
Ronan ran without looking back. Twigs and leaves brushed my cheek. The mud that bounced up stained my pants.
The road didn’t last as long as I thought. Sita stopped in front of a huge old tree. It was a really big tree. Weeping sounds were coming from underneath the old tree where her body seemed to have been laid more than a hundred years ago.
The red road was cut off in front of the old tree. It seemed like there were survivors down here. Rolling up her sleeves Ronan pushed against the tree.
“Hmm!”
It was so heavy. In the end Ronan who switched the power source used Varen’s auror. A golden energy rose up his arms and his muscles swelled.
It was all good but the problem was that my strength had improved too much. Kwaaaaang! As the old tree flew away Ronan’s body leaned forward.
“What?!”
Ronan’s eyes widened. A huge hole had been dug under the old tree. Ronan tumbled down his slope.
Sigh! He stopped when he bumped into something soft and wet. The smell of the beast and the smell of blood were mixed together. Ronan raised his head and frowned.
“you are…!”
“Ah…ahhh…ah….”
A were lion was crouching down. Since it had no mane it was a lioness. Moans were coming from her mouth.
“Pyeol.”
Sheeta landed on Ronan’s head. Ronan recognized the werelion and raised his eyebrows. She was clearly Major Nemea who served as Zaifa’s adjutant.
“…are you okay?”
“Ahh…ahhh….”
She didn’t seem to notice that Ronan was here. She had never seen a were lion so scared. Her once shiny fur had become soggy with blood and rainwater that it had turned into a rag.
“This is not the time. “Come here.”
Ronan hurriedly rummaged through her pocket and took out a glass bottle. It was Varen’s special potion that he carried as a courtesy. If she combined it with Sita’s healing she would be able to heal quite a few serious injuries.
She was being approached cautiously by Ronan. Only then did the major who felt he was popular raise his head. The two people’s eyes met. Suddenly the major stepped back the hair on her entire body standing on end.
“Who eyes! Those eyes…!”
“yes?”
“Kuhuhuhhh! “Don’t come any closer!”
The major roared. Ronan tried to calm her down but it was in vain. When she reached her dead end she raised her fingernails and began scratching at her walls. She could hear people approaching above her head.
