Knights, Let’s Smash Them

93 – How to set fire to our holy land (2)

[The head of Petra’s administration and two apprentice knights have not yet arrived at the Order. If you are still staying in Monterto, please return quickly.]

Following the disappearance of villagers, Petra and his apprentice knights also went missing.

At first I thought it was just a shipwreck, but I’m sure something bad is going on here in Monterto.

“Call in all the frontline workers. Also, call the captain of the guard.”

“Yes, I understand.”

“Andrei, please request assistance from the Knights Headquarters.”

“Isn’t I going myself?”

“We can’t afford to miss an important power when we don’t know what might happen right now. Please send it by messenger as quickly as possible.”

Andrei nods at my words.

There were an adventurer’s guild, a mercenary group stationed there, and the Monterto City Guard as troops that could be mobilized immediately.

Still, it was uncertain whether he would be able to generate knight-level power.

If it was the work of a monster like Worm last time, even taking a few more guards and mercenaries might not be as good as a single knight.

“Time is urgent, so please finish quickly and come back.”

As the two knights rushed out of the conference room as soon as their words were finished, the mayor of Monterto trembled nervously.

“Wouldn’t that be a bunch of thieves!?”

That wasn’t something I asked because I really didn’t know. The answer was that he would rather be a thief. I answered firmly to him who was trying hard to deny the reality.

“Absolutely not.”

I don’t know if it was just raiding the wagons and not harming the crew, or if there were even signs of a battle…… The wagon scene was so neat.

As if only the workers disappeared in an instant.

‘Vanishing’.

If this was an ordinary world without magic or monsters, this incident would be treated as a creepy urban legend.

Unfortunately, however, such disappearances are not uncommon in this world.

“It is most likely the work of the monster. Or those who use black magic. Worst case is both.”

The mayor’s face went pale.

A situation where even a member of the ‘Imperial Black Lion Knights’ might have been caught up in.

It must have been unimaginable that such a strong monster or evil organization was sneaking around the city.

“Have any other villagers gone missing or been in some strange accident lately?”

“Dah, nothing has been reported separately.”

“Did he start his activities all of a sudden…… If not, was it introduced from outside? … ?”

It was a headache that this happened during the road construction project, and I was about to die, but when I thought that Petra, not anyone else, might have been caught up in it, I wanted to run out right away.

But at times like this, I had to stay calm.

‘Keep your mind straight.’

I was currently here as a small lord, and the residents of the city were immediately involved in an accident.

In this situation, it was clear that if I, who should be the main control tower, expressed agitation, the situation would only get worse.

“Magician! I’ve brought the captain of the guard! Fortunately, the workers are also in the city before starting work.”

Shortly thereafter, Irfin gasped and returned to her conference room. Standing next to her was the captain of the guard, whose face was as pale as that of the mayor.

“Captain of the guard.”

“Yes…… Yep!!”

“Command. Get your frontline guards ready to go. I’ll give you 30 minutes. And the mayor.”

“Yes…… So Yeong-ju.”

“Let’s organize vigilantes. With the authority of the lord, I will declare a state of emergency in the free city of Monterto and the Baron Kirten area.”

First of all, it is important to act quickly.

In addition, in the yard where we can’t even figure out what kind of situation the victims are in, we can’t just wait for support from the headquarters.

If you can’t make a quick decision and struggle, you won’t be able to find anyone to save.

Golden time.

I haven’t let go of hope yet.

***

The mayor of Monterto quickly declared a state of emergency and organized a vigilante group of stalwart men.

About 80 people were gathered as a result of combining guards, adventurers’ guild members, mercenaries and vigilantes who voluntarily expressed their intention to cooperate.

I organized them into a search party to track down the missing workers and villagers, as well as Petra and his two squires.

“All search activities are conducted in groups of 10 people. Please focus on the eastern part of the city and assemble at the eastern gate for an hourly report.”

“Can’t we just keep searching?”

At my words, a member of the search party raised his hand and asked a question. Judging by his attire, he looked like one of the adventurers.

Of course, continuing to search is much more beneficial in terms of efficiency.

However.

There is too little information now.

Now, when it is impossible to know who the opponent is, dispatching personnel without any preparation may cause even greater damage.

The reason for reporting every hour was purely for the safety of the searchers.

From noble mtl dot com.

“Six rather strong adult men went missing at once. There is no guarantee that this will not happen even if there are now 10 people in the search party, up from 6 to 4.”

The mercenaries and guards generally agreed with my opinion. Even an adventurer scratched the back of my head with a raised hand, as if it was difficult to put my life on the gambling board.

“Then…… Now let’s start the search in earnest. The search headquarters will be set up at the eastern gate of Monterto, so the mayor and the captain of the guards please collect reports from the personnel here.”

“Yes? Then So Young-joo…… What do you plan to do?”

To the mayor who asked back with a puzzled expression, I replied by tapping the sword attached to my waist.

“Before I was the little lord of the barony, I am the administrator of the Snow Leopard Knights. I can’t be alone in a safe place with the knights alone.”

On top of that, a person’s life that I hold dear is at stake, so it’s only natural that I jump with my own feet.

“Disband! Everyone please take care of yourself! If there are any suspicious circumstances, please report them immediately!”

The search crew scattered with determined eyes.

I, too, took Irfin and Andrei to the scene.

Andrei was a former Imperial Ranger, and even while she was on her way there, she carefully checked her surroundings.

Irfin, who was in charge of the rear guard, drew his sword and immediately took a counterattack stance.

Since these two are clearly capable, the sense of stability they felt was far superior to that of other searchers who had been improvised.

“Can you feel anything?”

“Not yet.”

Click.

Andrei shakes her hand lightly, and a bowgun hidden in her gauntlet covering her forearm appears.

When he was serving in the Imperial Black Lion Knights, it was a portable wrist crossbow used only by Imperial Rangers specializing in search, reconnaissance and surprise attacks.

Like the two men who lifted their arms, I took out the sword from my waist and caught my breath.

“Yeah, but is there a reason why only the three of us move separately? No matter how much the two of us are knights, the more people we search, the safer it is… ….”

Irfin said in a very nervous voice.

“I did it on purpose.”

“Yes?”

“Just as we don’t know who the guy hiding here is, he doesn’t know who we are either. If you were in your position, who would you target first?”

Andrey adds an explanation to my words.

In short, it was bait. Rather, it wants to be pampered.

“…… Knock.”

Irfin swallowed. He probably knew what our intentions were.

However, despite continuing the search, deliberately claiming to be a weak bait, no special phenomenon was found.

‘Could it be that you’ve already hunted and ate a suitable game and then rested…… ?’

It’s possible, but that’s why it’s the worst assumption.

If the attack on the workers and Petra’s party was a beast-type beast such as a hydra or a basilisk, it would be a scenario that was more than possible.

First of all, assuming that the beings who attacked the two groups were the same, they were absolutely not undead, cursed corpses.

If it were the undead, the workers wouldn’t have disappeared without a trace. Rather, there would have been only an indescribably terrible scene left.

As soon as I realized that fact, it felt like my heart was being stabbed.

‘Please…… Be safe, Petra.’

Even Petra wouldn’t be without skills at all, but if he was suddenly attacked by a monster of that level, it would not have been enough to fight with just two squires.

The workers went missing yesterday.

Two days ago Petra was presumed missing.

‘… ….’

As her time passes, the odds of her being unharmed drop exponentially. Thinking so, the composure he had been trying so hard to maintain began to crack.

Ku-wook was trying to maintain as much stability as possible while holding onto the hilt of the sword he was holding onto.

“Wait.”

Andrei, who was conducting reconnaissance in the lead, raised his hand and said.

It was a hand signal to stop.

“Did you find anything?”

“Look at this.”

In the direction Andrei pointed, there was a limp, drooping purple flower. A flower that stands out clearly among the green bushes.

As a person who once dabbled in alchemy, I was able to easily recognize the identity of that purple flower.

“La Verantia.”

“What is that flower?”

“Among plants, flowers are particularly sensitive to magic. With just a little touch, it withers like this.”

“That means… ….”

“It’s the work of a monster.”

Warlocks practically do not radiate demonic energy. Black magic only uses magic as a catalyst, not magic that deals with magic itself.

I quickly opened the map and checked my current bearing. It was only about 300m to the southeast from the direction where the wagon was left.

“But wouldn’t it be more strange if it was a monster? To subdue six people at once? And without any resistance?”

“It must have been poisoned. Or use psychotic hallucinations.”

I quickly made a list in my head.

As long as it is confirmed that it was the monster that attacked the workers, if you erase it with the elimination method through a few inferred facts, you can narrow down the monster in question as much as possible.

“You can eat cannibals, use paralyzing poison or something hallucinogenic to subdue humans… ….”

“Extra incapacitated prey was not preyed on the spot. This case is quite rare even among monsters.”

“Besides, I must have incapacitated six personnel almost simultaneously. It is not a method of directly injecting poison with poison needles or fangs, but a method of attacking by spraying poison within a certain range.”

“…… So, it seems to have been roughly decided.”

My eyes met Andrei’s.

He also seemed to have figured out the answer.

“Arachne.”

A man-eating spider was nesting in the mountains of Monterto.