Chapter 46: Return Of The Hero

Asada_translation

"Is the interrogation over?"

Suddenly I heard a voice from behind me and I turned around.

"That was quick, Master."

The little wise girl with the pointy hat was drifting softly in the dark night.

"I'm pretty tired from the treatment…"

As she looks over at… me, she notices the sword lying on the ground.

"Oh! There's something valuable here!"

Upon touching the magic sword, she absorbs the magic power from it instantly. Almost like a sponge being thrown into the water.

"What are you doing, Master?"

"I'm replenishing my magic power, Vaito!"

"That sword is probably the Dragon-Slaying Sword, LIONICHT, though?"

It was a sword known for its extraordinary strength against dragons and the dragon-kin. Even if a normal person held it, they'd be able to split a tower shield in half with no effort.

"I know it as well, but it's just what I needed at the moment. Oh, this shield is also good."

"That shield seems pretty old, the emblem belongs to the Old Kingdom. It might be at least… 150 years old?"

"What? It wasn't so long ago?"

After the shield, she starts to absorb the armor. That one looked like it was probably worn by some of the Legendary Heroes of the past… eh?

"Stop! What a waste! You can leave the armor!"

"Eh~? It's all right, I'll make one for the demons next time. For now, let me recover my magic power. I'm still recovering from Bachen."

"You're lying, you're not going to make it!"

If the magic power that I have was 1 vert, then the sword, shield, and armor would have a total of about 27 verts.

If only I was able to obtain it for the 2nd Division…!

After absorbing all the magical power from the fake heroes' equipment, the master stretched out in satisfaction.

I've been calculating it this whole time, and if I'm not wrong, it's around 128 verts. This Loli Baba's capacity for magic is truly bottomless.

"Okay, so what's with this little magician?"

"She was one of the hero's companions."

Master nods in response, turning to the young girl curiously.

"Hey, did you pretend to be a hero with such hollow equipment? Learn your place, little girl, or else you might end up like your companions! Got it?"

Ignoring the pale-faced female sorcerer, the master lightly made a mark.

"Now that I've had my fill, I'll let you return to your friends. Now wake up and let me give you your first temporary life."

With a flick of her finger, all three of the corpses began to rise. She had zombified them.

Patting the zombies who were dripping fresh blood with her small hand, the master says gently.

"Go back to your friends, they will give you a proper burial."

The Master smiles innocently and waves her hand, coated in the blood of the zombies.

This is why necromancers are often misunderstood as psychopaths….

The female sorceress was shaking uncontrollably as if she was going to have a seizure at any time.

Master lets out a smile as she watches her.

"What's this, you can't walk on your own?"

"You should take your still-living comrade with you."

After receiving Master's command, the zombies turned around sluggishly and looked at their sorcerer companion with muddied eyes.

"…what?"

The three zombies wobbled over to her and lifted her off her back.

"Huh!? No, no, ah!"

"You look better than I thought. Oh well, move along now!"

With a wave of her hand, the fake hero zombies disappeared into the gap in the castle wall, carrying the female magician.

"You're reckless, Master."

"Did I do something wrong?"

"No, ... it's fine. I'll do a little check."

Master had long since lost her humanity.

I can't help but worry, so I sneak back into the city of Schwerm. It's easy because Master will help me if anything happens.

As expected, a great commotion broke out in the city.

"The hero!? What is that injury!?"

"He's dead! He's become a zombie!"

"Lanhard's become a zombie!?"

"The Holy Knight too!"

You've got quite the title, don't you? I couldn't help it since it was self-defense, but I feel sorry for them.

"Wait! The Saint is still alive!"

Apparently, that girl was treated as the Saint. Maybe they should leave her alone for now.

The zombies walked to the central square of Schwerm, where they crashed into a heap. They fulfilled the orders of the necromancer Gomoviroa and returned to being mere corpses.

There were a lot of soldiers around, but they were too far away to see what had happened.

That's right.

A group of heroes who seemed to be the stars of hope on the Northern Front suddenly became zombies and paraded around.

While the soldiers of the allied army stood around stunned, a nobleman who seemed to be a civilian came running in a hurry. It's the first time I've seen him, but he looks like he'd be a clerk in the Senate.

As soon as the nobleman saw the Saint, he shouted out in a demanding tone.

"What happened!? Explain it to me, Saint Miradine!"

Panicking, the female magician replies in a screeching tone while sitting on the cobblestone ground.

"It was a werewolf! All were killed by a single werewolf! Moreover, it turned them into zombies…"

"A werewolf!? Absolutely ridiculous! The hero isn't someone who can easily be defeated by such a simple monster!"

He wasn't wrong. If it was a normal werewolf fighting the fake hero's party, they would be defeated instantly. In fact, if I didn't have "Soul Shaker," I might have died too.

However, the woman called Miradine shook her head and argued.

"His howl alone blocked my magic! The hero couldn't move his sword either! We couldn't win!"

A disturbing conversation began to leak from the soldiers on the side during this exchange.

"Has there been any record of a hero losing to a single werewolf with three companions?"

"No, but I've heard that the Demon King's army has a werewolf general who is extremely powerful."

"There's no way a big shot like him would just waltz here on his own, do you?"

I'm here.

The nobleman winces at the muttering of the soldiers around him.

"Patience, everyone! The Saint is mortified! Saint Miradine, come here!"

The noblemen tried to pull Miradine's hand, but one of the soldiers stopped him. He was a citizen-soldier wearing only ordinary clothes and a breastplate.

"Wait, was Lanhard really a hero!?"

"Yes, a hero couldn't die from something like this!"

"You've been deceiving us, haven't you?"

The standing army hired by the Senate was made up of professionally trained swordsmen, mercenaries, and nomadic warriors. Since they were professional, they will take any fight no matter what they're up against.

The City Guards and drafted soldiers were different, though. They generally fell under the jurisdiction of their own city, and the drafted tended to be an amateur who was forced to fight. If something bad happens to them, their morale could easily collapse.

Gradually, the number of soldiers surrounding the square increased, the situation quickly becoming chaotic.

The clerk of the Senate was being confronted by angry soldiers, and they eventually started beating him in the face. Blood quickly covering his face, and someone grabs him by the sleeve before pulling him from the crowd.

No one pays respect to the corpses of the fake heroes, and the soldiers begin to surround the fake saint.

"Weren't you a master of the 26th School of Magic!? You're supposed to be able to defeat a simple werewolf with that kind of ability!"

That's awesome. You're even better than my master.

Saint Miradine shook her head and looked up at them with a frightened expression.

"No, I can not ... do that..."

"What do you mean you can't?"

"It's because… it's because I'm a Senate magician! All I have… are… illusions…"

"Illusions!?"

When the tough soldier threatened her, she even said something she didn't have to.

"Hee! It's my job to enliven the rituals, cover up the scandals, and so on!"

A moment of silence passed.

"You're a fucking fraud!"

"You're a fucking fake Saint! You've got to be kidding me!"

"Do you know how many of our people have been killed because of you?"

"Kill her!"

"Kill her! Cut off her head!"

Are they out of their mind?

It's not normal to kill an unarmed, unresisting woman so hastily.

If they thought about it, the only reason they were able to take back two cities was because of their fake hero.

When I was thinking about that, I had my sleeve pulled from behind.

"Vaito-sama, Vaito-sama!"

The man calling out my name was a subordinate who belonged to Mao, the trader. He was accompanied by another man, who were both looking at me in astonishment.

"What are you doing here alone, Vaito-sama?"

"Nothing, I just wanted to check out the situation here. I encountered the hero on the way and beat him up, though."

"That's strange!?"

It's because your boss was too shady to begin with.

"Anyway, come this way. Change your clothes."

They pulled me into a nearby tent and dressed me in the common jacket of the Northern citizen-soldier.

"Don't stand out too much, you'll endanger us all."

"Sorry,"

I'm sorry. It's your boss's fault.