Kays Translations
Just another Isekai Lover~
51. Mirage after the rain
Author note:
I made a mistake yesterday in the order of the stories to be posted, so the timeline is back and forth,
I apologize for the inconvenience…
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In the northern Ziemeld territory, when the mountain of immortalized undead slime disappeared, the ruins of a half-collapsed one-story house were left at the back. It was built half-underground, and an old man was lying on a bed in one of the rooms that still retained its shape.
“He is barely breathing. …… it seems, ironically, he was being kept alive thanks to that blessing of the magical slime…”
The priest frowned as he checked on his condition.
“…It’s an illness that can’t be cured with magic. I don’t think he’ll last long.”
The priest whispered to Lionel, who then turned to face Clark, the old knight who was standing to his side.
“I don’t suppose you did that to prolong His Excellency the Duke of Ziemeld’s life?”
“That was also part of the ……Experiment …….”
“Experiment ……? Was that sorcerer doing some kind of experiment?”
“It is true that at first the sorcerer was thinking of using the properties of slime to prolong the life of His Excellency. But partway through, he… went mad.”
The old knight Clark looked regretfully at the body of the sorcerer that had been recovered earlier. The sorcerer was obviously elderly, and had already been dead by the time the barrier disappeared. The old knight remained silent, as if fearing the words ahead.
He too was clearly exhausted, he could barely stand.
“…I’ll hear the details once we’ve finished protecting the survivors and things have calmed down.”
Giving up on finding out for now, Lionel prioritized securing and transporting the survivors.
He asked the knights of Ziemeld to arrange for a mansion in the capital to protect and treat the Duke and the survivors, and ordered Gilbert, Flora, Dolph, and Barbara to wait in the carriage.
“…… wait in the carriage, why?”
“Have you forgotten? The knight who brought us here must have been wounded by human hands. Until we can confirm the situation, your job is to protect Flora, the old man and the others.”
When he whispered that to him, Gilbert nodded with a straight face that he understood.
–If it were true, you would probably not listen even if I told you that you also needed to be protected.
Lionel, smiling wryly and thinking this inwardly, patted Gilbert on the shoulder to encourage him.
Gilbert’s battle axe has tanned leather wrapped around the head. He was grumbling that it glowed all the time and was blinding, but it seemed that even he must have realized what it was. Seeing that he was hesitant to dare mention it, he left it at that.
The capital of the Dukedom of Ziemeld is a castle town that surrounds an old castle. As Lionel and his group enter the town, the few remaining residents come out onto the streets. While their expressions show relief, they all also carry a dark look of fear.
The old castle, once the castle of the Ziemeld royal family, is no longer used for habitation, and not a single light is on. For the largest and most powerful city in the north, it seemed desolate.
They were shown to one of the villas of the Dukes of Ziemeld. After entrusting the duke to the servants, the surviving knights were housed in a vacant room.
“The knights we retrieved from the undead slime, though badly weakened, do not seem to have any serious injuries. There was almost no sign of corruption either…”
The priest who had made the report hesitated slightly on the latter part of his statement.
“So there was some.”
“Yes. But the purification has already been completed.”
Lionel asked Sydney, the priest, who was listening closely beside him.
“Father Sydney. In the past, Have you ever seen a human being turned into an undead?”
Sidney returns a wry smile.
“As far as I know, there has never been one. The person would normally die before becoming undead. The most common reason for this is that due to the intense pain of decay, many will naturally be healed and purified.”
He paused and looked out the window, in the direction of where the “Undead Mud” mountain used to be.
“…… However, I have never heard of a case in the past where a very small slime has been so weakened, poisoned, and became undead.”
Lionel frowned when he heard this.
“I just confirmed with the young knights of Ziemeld. The number of survivors we recovered does not match the number of missing knights ……. Hypothetically, is it possible that some of them had already become undead and were caught up in Gilbert’s attack and vanished?”
Lionel spun his words in a low, pained tone, and Priest Sydney, gave him a gentle smile as if to appease him.
“There’s no need to worry about that. All the knights who were consumed were wearing armor, right? If that had really happened, there would have been armor left there, without an owner. The fact that it wasn’t there means that, at the very least, your younger-brother didn’t kill anyone.”
Hearing the cleric’s words, Lionel let out a sigh of relief.
Dolph’s carriage, along with the mercenaries and clergy from the Kelvim territory, had chosen not to rest in the mansion, but instead rented a garden and set up camp there. This was an act of self-preservation as well.
As Lionel and his friends sat around the fire in the middle of the night sorting out the situation, several young Ziemeld knights came up to them.
Ad
“What’s the matter? You guys should get some rest for now.”
“Um, Sir Lionel, there is something I absolutely must report to you.”
Lionel and the others look at the young knight who seems to have made up his mind.
“……There was another barrier until about five days ago.”
“……what?”
Lionel looked at them in shock.
“After one disappeared, we thought that It had been contained within the barrier last night, but, well, the number of survivors didn’t add up…”
The knights stutters to say it, clearly confused and in hesitation.
“Do you have a map of the area around Ziemeld?”
“Y-Yes. Here.”
One of the knights, who had likely come prepared with the intention of disclosing everything, spread out a leather map on the ground.
“The other one was around here.”
Lionel exhaled deeply and held his head as he looked at the place the young knight had pointed to.
“…I was mistaken. I was thinking that they might plan on using the undead magical beasts to invade a neighboring country. That’s not the case. Their target from the beginning has been this country.”
The knight pointed to the bank of the Uleri River that flows through the Ziemeld Dukedom. If the target was a neighboring country, the barrier would have been placed on the east side of the Uleri River, near the untamed Forest. However, the barrier was located on the west side of the river, closer to the royal capital.
Ad
The mercenary men who were present and silently listening to the conversation frowned.
“The rainy season has started and the river is flooding due to the continuous rain. The water is muddy and the current is fast. If it gets mixed in with the muddy water, it will be hard to tell the difference. …… The damage will spread.”
Everyone there was at a loss for words at the situation that was about to unfold.
“I can no longer say things like, “I hope my fears aren’t real.” We must hurry and check the surrounding area along the river. ……”
“I doubt we’ll have time to find out Duke Ziemeld’s true intentions…”
Closing their eyes and rubbing the creases between their brows, Lionel and Priest Sidney both exhaled deeply.