Chapter 211

Chapter 211 - Humanity's Friend Older Than Dogs

Just as knowledge and wisdom are different, mercenaries also lack erudition but are not stupid.

The ability to infer the truth by combining momentary situational awareness and intuition. Contrary to the public perception of being ignoramuses, this was outstanding. Because they wouldn't survive otherwise.

"So you were abandoned by the god you believed in!"

"You end up looking like that because you performed evil rituals and the like."

The Hammer Brotherhood warriors mocked Picard.

A race possessing extremely strong resistance against corruption is Dwarves. Since civilization began, there was never a single record of a Dwarven Lord falling for an evil god and committing cultish acts.

"Barbarians. You are paying the price for serving the unrighteous."

"The truly merciful god worthy of serving is Goddess Vanas."

The Dark Elves, who have strong bonds within their tribe, looked at Picard as if she was disgusting. The believers of Vanas drew the sign of the cross and sent reverence to the Goddess who always bestowed love.

"You guys know nothing. Ignorant ones."

After sweeping the Dwarves and Dark Elves as if despising them, Picard turned her gaze to Eugene. In that sorrowful gaze, an unthought-of emotion was contained.

"I envy you. Human."

"What are you suddenly saying?"

In this world where diverse intelligent species coexist, the treatment of humans by other races is not very good.

Because they form the largest faction, they live rubbing shoulders with others, but they hear that much badmouth.

Like the Fairy folk, there were also those who despised them with various vocabularies such as inferior species, short-lived species, monkeys, etc.

It is also the reason why Dwarves are treated the best by humanity. There's the fact that their dexterity or credit is excellent, but because they are the most friendly towards humans.

Much less a race like Rakshas would treat humans at the level of walking pigs.

"What I couldn't obtain even by sacrificing countless compatriots, you guys have from birth..."

Drip drip.

Picard shed tears. From the left, tears like morning dew, and from the right, tears of blood.

That pure yet massive sorrow proved that Picard's faith had been sincere.

Clank.

"...!"

At that moment, everyone's gazes gathered in one place. The gorgeously decorated chairs next to the altar of offerings.

A luxuriousness fully mobilizing the luxury goods obtainable in this jungle. The corpse enshrined within it was standing up.

Although it is the typical attire of a pirate captain, peculiarly, it is a top combined with a hood. A necklace with a religious symbol hangs on the neck.

Thanks to that, rather than a rough scoundrel, an atmosphere like a mysterious seeker also flows. Of course, magically as well, it exuded an intense mystery that stimulated Eugene's nerves.

'A mummy? No. It is pale and scrawny, though.'

He could tell it was a dead existence, but he didn't think of it as an undead. He supposes that's what happens when a corpse that solely drove away decomposition faces a long time.

"It's the captain."

Yakson muttered as if he couldn't believe it.

"By the captain, the one who came together with you?"

"Yes, Excellency. The one who led the sailors when I arrived on this island 30 years ago. I remember that peculiar hood jumper and necklace."

The captain was someone called Lucky Morgan. The young Yakson enthusiastically tried to preach the Main God Church to him, but failed.

- I have this necklace that brings me luck, you see.

The captain kissed the necklace and waved his hand.

"I thought he would have been miserably eaten."

Eugene's subordinates gripped their weapons and prepared to fight at any time.

The Raksha before their eyes must also be a tremendous powerhouse. Since she is the boss who rallied a swarm of this size.

However, the souls of the warriors were warning that the captain over there was a more dangerous existence.

"Pitiful."

The captain, approaching slowly, said towards Picard.

The low-pitched voice contained noise. Like communicating in a state of poor radio waves.

Is it because the physical body, the medium of the voice, is a mummy? Or is it because the god sending that voice exists in a place too far away? Maybe both.

"You betrayed me... you did."

Picard, who had been spewing out hatred. However, upon actually facing the god she served, she couldn't bring herself to use informal language.

"Even though you said you loved me... Even though you said you wanted me to write a bible for you..."

"To think you still cannot discard your faith and love for me even now after knowing the truth. Even the word foolish is a waste. Just a sad woman."

As the scrawny finger pointed at Picard, she trembled quiveringly.

It is Picard who had served passionately for a long time and offered even her kin as sacrifices countless times. Even knowing she was abandoned, withdrawing that faith right away wouldn't be an easy matter.

"Even at this very moment. From your soul, tear-soaked bread is fattening me as tribute. Are you satisfied with that?"

"...!"

Picard aimed the sword she wore at her waist at her own neck. As if she couldn't endure being used until the end on top of being betrayed.

"■■ ■■■■■ ■■■. ■■■..."

She spoke in Raksha language which was hard for Eugene to understand.

What her pride did not permit letting foreigners hear, yet what she earnestly desired for the last time facing death.

However, the captain didn't seem to have the intention to accept it.

"A pity, but you are not human."

Thwack!

Picard, whose face couldn't be more ruined than this, chose suicide.

A wise and mighty Raksha Queen who had driven the vast jungles of the new continent into chaos. Its end was an ephemeral and vain death.

With this, Eugene's victory in the war was confirmed, but his subordinates maintained their tension.

The Dwarven warriors held their shields and prepared to jump in at any time. Readied to throw their bodies and take the hit instead of Eugene if push comes to shove, whether it be magic or curses.

"I have been looking forward to meeting you. Glad to meet you."

However, the captain's words contained goodwill. The exact opposite of how he treated Picard coldly until just now.

Like nodding in greeting, his lifeless gaze went back and forth between Eugene and Yakson once. As if the Hammer Brotherhood, Blackhand Tribe, Valda, Homi, Sasha, etc., arrayed in the surroundings weren't even in his eyes.

"My name is Sullivan. Seeing a human with blue blood flowing in this place feels quite good."

Eugene made his subordinates step back and stepped forward.

"It is fine, so everyone step back."

"Excellency! But..."

"A god from another world cannot send more than a voice to the present world. Unless they have a devout believer. Even just raising that body must be overdoing it, so he won't be able to cause harm."

Of course, he didn't let his guard down. He gripped the handle to draw the Last Autumn at his waist at any time.

"Do not worry. Because I have absolutely no intention of harming you. And as you said, no power to do so either."

"Sullivan, the God of Agony."

"Glad you recognize me."

Growing up in the Main God Church, Eugene learned the names of various gods. Sullivan is a god particularly guarded against by multiple sects.

'Thief of Faith.'

Partially because his existence originated in evil, but because he is infamous for stealing believers.

As one lives, they face situations where their convictions collide head-on with their desires or the reality they face.

Those who are not strong enough fall into the quagmire of agony, and that beckons Sullivan.

"If you intended to execute Picard in a different way, I apologize. However, I assure you, the death just now would have been the most agonizing form for her."

"She is someone who served you that devotedly, yet aren't you sorry?"

Eugene was certain that the existence before his eyes was treating him with sincere goodwill.

"Even a god who overcomes time and death cannot do anything about favoritism. Because being swayed by love is the fate of all conscious existences."

There was no sympathy whatsoever in Sullivan's gaze looking down at Picard's corpse.

"Young Supreme Ruler. Please do not look at me with blaming eyes."

"Because you made a champion and blessed her, this uproar happened. Are you asking because you don't know how many people died?"

"I am not the instigator of this tragedy. I also visited this land as a single audience member. What I did was merely touching up the script. So the protagonist meets a different ending."

The protagonist spoken of here probably means Picard.

"Most barbaric species run on parallel lines over countless generations. Just eating, excreting, and breeding. There is no difference whether it's a thousand years ago or after."

"What's a mere thousand years? Even hundreds of thousands of years are possible."

"Hoo?"

Sullivan looked at Eugene as if surprised.

"However, occasionally a singularity like Picard's tribe appears. Just like your distant ancestors experienced. Given the timing, if left alone, they would have been chosen by a god who truly loves them."

The captain shook his head.

"That wouldn't do. Since the cries of Raksha babies would have filled this land."

Kkadeudeuk.

Kkudeuk.

The captain showed his shriveled two fists clenched. As if like a boxer.

"If that happened, in the distant future, humanity might have faced the worst enemy. Continent versus continent. Civilization versus civilization, that is."

"Are you perhaps..."

Eugene realized with what intention Sullivan made Picard a champion and led her.

"Your army arriving was beyond expectations. If I knew that, I would have used a slightly more refined method, though. Isn't this quite a passable conclusion?"

Sullivan had approached Picard to lead them to destruction.

"As a result, the human tribes living in this land were annihilated."

"That would have been the same result whether I intervened or not."

Sullivan's hand pressed onto his chest.

"I admit that I also hold partial responsibility for the slaughter in this land. But this was the best."

"Why go this far?"

"You've already noticed, haven't you? I am on your side."

"To say that, you exude a wicked mystery."

Eugene is more sensitive to otherworldly auras than anyone else. And what he felt, the existence before his eyes was definitely an evil god.

Starting from the blessing that corrupted Picard's elite soldiers into existences similar to demonic beasts, it was wicked beyond compare.

"There is no need to trust me. No need to be thankful either. My weeding and your path of supremacy. My great cause and your practical interests. You could say our respective values luckily gained profit through the same method."

The captain pointed at the corner of the altar with his hand.

"...Oh my god."

"What is all that?"

Eugene's subordinates opened their eyes wide at the massive amount of treasures piled up there.

"Since I've already obtained what I wanted, that is your share."

Though he used a medium, was it because he forcefully stayed in the present world? The captain's physical body is crumbling crumbilngy from the extremities. Soon, Sullivan's voice will disappear from this land.

"Why are you so favorable toward humans?"

"When a wolf first visited humans and became a friend in front of the bonfire. What do you suppose the reason was?"

"Suppose it was hungry or something, what else."

Sullivan smiled with crumbling lips.

"Think again about who the one standing before you is."

"..."

"Agony fills my hunger. And humans are the vessel that matures the thickest agony in the world."

The noise in the voice became increasingly worse.

"The numerous sensations and desires humans have experienced since the beginning of time, I too have shared from the side. And I sent infinite respect to the pain humans endured due to the collision of convictions and desires."

With those words as the end, the captain's body worn by Sullivan crumbled like sand.

Crumble.

The necklace he was wearing also lost its power and shattered. Besides that, the clothes and shoes were perfectly fine.

The war that caused wind and waves in this land ended completely, and what was gained was also a lot. However, among the victories Eugene had reaped so far, the aftertaste was the most grating.

"Everyone."

At Eugene's words, his subordinates listened closely.

"Forget the conversation that just went back and forth. Do not divulge it, and do not record it either. This is a Lord's gag order."

He didn't know if he could manage this many mouths, but it would be better than doing nothing.

"U-Understood."

"Do not be swayed by sweet words and profits. That is an evil god and a god who deceived those who believed in him."

Eugene was concerned that someone hearing this anecdote might think favorably of Sullivan.

'Well, is it not something to worry about that much?'

The absolute majority of Eugene's subordinates are not human. Moreover, a trustworthy good god named Vanas was embracing them.

* * *

"Everyone hurry."

"You wouldn't want to keep smelling this disgusting stench, right?"

Eugene's subordinates busily collected the treasures at the altar where the smell of death vibrated. How many sacrifices did they offer, a red steam even rose due to the blood.

"I wondered why there wasn't much spoils even after searching Acran City, but they were keeping it collected here."

"Is it Sullivan's goodwill? It is somewhat reluctant."

Valda covered her nose with a handkerchief.

"Money has no smell. We must take what we must take."

Homi was covering her nose with her long and fluffy tail, and Valda furrowed her fine eyebrows.

"Dress yourself with dignity. Haven't I told you so much to carry a handkerchief? You are Eugene's squire and a noble lady."

"I ask for forgiveness."

Bow.

To Valda scolding with a stern face, Homi bowed her head as if she had no face.

Keureureung-!

On the other hand, Might strolled the surroundings like taking a walk. As if the smell of slaughter filling everywhere was boundlessly sweet.

"Is it alright if we tear down the wooden buildings in the Acran urban area and make carts?"

Rampage asked.

If it were the past, he would have just torn them down on his own without particularly asking. However, working under Eugene for a long time, he also became able to do non-combat thinking.

Since he knew well that Eugene deeply cared about the reputation of occupied territories.

"It doesn't matter. It's not like we'll rule here, and we can just make an excuse that they were destroyed during combat. Just set up the guards thoroughly."

"Of course. There is nothing as unfair as getting stabbed while collecting spoils after winning."

Mercenaries going to the netherworld due to a surprise attack by an enemy soldier thought dead while rummaging through corpses on the battlefield after victory happens just often enough to forget.

"Then are we withdrawing troops now?"

The knights, led by Hind, asked with earnest faces.

The weather is hot and humid, and the ground is slushy.

Flying bugs frequently charging at their faces.

Poisonous insects sitting on shoulders or heads if they look away for a moment.

Everyone was fed up with the terrible jungle life, but among them, the knights had the hardest time.

The point that they couldn't charge riding horses like knights drove them crazy. There were also a few knights whose beloved horses collapsed after eating poisonous weeds.

"Not right away. We also have to mop up the remaining remnants, and check the gold mines too..."

Eugene chuckled at the Dwarves' earnest gazes. Gathering both hands at their chests and looking at him like abandoned puppies was unsuitably cute.

"We have to go around catching Vertigos too."

"We have been waiting for those words!"

"Excellency. This is a blueprint for a dedicated trap for capture. If you only give the command, we will show you 50 made within 3 days."

As if he had been waiting, Rampage unfolded and showed a blueprint from his chest.

It is the result of seeking advice from Homi and diligently inquiring the Cat-folk hunters. It was a capture trap 100% utilizing the habits and favorite foods of Vertigos.

"If tamed properly, they will definitely become a tremendous combat power. Becoming living shredding vehicles, they will surely tear down Your Excellency's enemies."

Yakson said.

"They are also inhabited in the western desert region outside the jungle, you said?"

"Yes. It's just that they mainly inhabit the jungle because they love cassava so much, they are fellas with good adaptability to climates."

The only part he was worried about was also resolved.

"I heard there are hot springs."

Eugene has many things to do as a leader besides that.

As much as he always demands a high level of professionalism and development from his subordinates, he himself, the boss, must show treatment corresponding to it.

Aren't they subordinates who followed their liege lord to a remote region thousands of miles away and suffered?

He wanted to present a novel experience to relieve their accumulated fatigue. Whether he noticed such a heart, Yakson smiled broadly.

"You may look forward to it. It is a place the natives here call the Breathing River."

That river is heated by geothermal heat, so steam rises all year round. It was a place the natives considered sacred.

"The scenery is beautiful and it's good for the skin too. And it's wide enough to accommodate Your Excellency's army."

"Good."

Eugene massaged Cassandra's shoulders.

"The best spot is the share of you and your subordinates."

"Oh my?"

Cassandra covered her mouth and laughed.

"What kind of sudden reward is it?"

"I must keep the promise from the Britannia subjugation even now."

The fortress in the middle of a quagmire that blocked Eugene's army. The number one contributor to the fall of Sludgehold is Cassandra's Special Ops force.

- Are there perhaps any prizes everyone wants?

- If there is one wish, it's a hot spring. I heard hot springs here are really famous.

Regretfully, there was sabotage committed by the retreating Eastern Army, and the situation was urgent, so they had to just pass by.

"Were you keeping that in mind continuously, something even I had forgotten?"

Cassandra's eyes sparkled. Actually, it wasn't a demand she earnestly hoped for either.

In a situation where they established a great merit of a castle falling, ignoring the liege lord's sincerity is also not the duty as a vassal. So it was a wish casually thrown out, yet.

"Isn't this the good point of a small organization? Since you can remember even the detailed parts and take care of them."

"Ahaha. Small, you say."

The number led under direct control is certainly on the small side for a Great Lord. Because Eugene always pursues quality.

He doesn't recklessly expand to swallow as many territories as possible like other Lords.

Hence, the fullness and solidarity. The love the subjects send. There would be no Lord who eats intangible tributes more fully than this.

The first great expedition across the ocean. It was successfully concluded.