LIGHTNOVELONLINE Chapter 50: I Saved the Children
===A Certain Female Holy Knight===
After entrusting my big sister to Porm, I departed from the royal capital and headed toward the western-most village of the Tana Kingdom.
Recently, I heard the story of the village chief after I told him my identity.
「Y-Yes, a white-haired, red-eyed young man did come to this village a few days ago…」
As I thought, that guy really visited this village.
The village head said that the white-haired undead went straight toward the border, entering Raoul Kingdom.
「Did you see any dragon along the way?」
「Dragon? Nope, I don't see any dragon at all…」
It seemed he didn't take the two dragon emperors with him.
Come to think of it, that guy DID ESCAPE the moment he saw the two dragons.
…Were they really his familiars?
But well, it didn't change the fact that both dragons did turn into undead.
「But… is that young man really a dangerous undead?」
The village chief continued on timidly.
「I am also not that clear about that matter, but… I still have a hard time believing what you say… because in my eyes… he definitely doesn't give off that kind of air… 」
In his opinion, though the white-haired undead looked like a shy young man, there was nothing abnormal about him aside from that.
In short, the village chief had no idea that the white-haired man he spoke with a few days ago was an undead until I told him.
Naturally, none of the villagers turned into undead either.
After hearing the village chief's story from start to end, I said to him…
「He's an undead. There's no doubt about it.」
「…」
「…But personally, I still have my doubts about whether it's appropriate to call him dangerous. That's why I'm going to personally ask him in person.」
After staying in the village for a night, I headed toward Raoul Kingdom in the morning the next day.
「Let's go.」
「Kulululu~」
Currently, I was riding on the back of a certain bird which was often used as a substitute for horses. It was known as a ridebird.
Although it almost couldn't fly and anyone only needed a bit of skill to ride on its back, its maximum speed rivaled that of a horse.
The best trait of this bird was its friendly nature and wisdom.
Even a wild ridebird would allow a human to ride on its back. As a species, they were not fussy about their riders.
Unlike the horse, since it had two legs, it could travel in terrain such as mountains.
Moreover, it could go back to its home as long as I told it to return.
The ridebird has always been the most trusted transportation method in the Tana Kingdom since a long time ago. The one I rode was loaned by the prime minister.
His judgment to lend me the ridebird turned out to be correct.
The mountainous terrain of the kingdom’s border truly did allow the ridebird to show its best capabilities.
Had I refused the prime minister's offer to accept the ridebird, I would surely have had a hard time traversing this area on foot.
By the way, I took off my armor and changed into lightweight armor for ease of movement.
It also served to disguise my identity along the way.
A while after I entered Raoul Kingdom, on my ridebird's back, I discovered a strange road.
「Is that… ash?」
The road was filled with piles of ashes.
And those ashes continued on to the west.
I kept thinking about that as I headed to the west.
And then, a few hours later…
By the time I saw the end of the ash-covered road, I saw the silhouette of a city a little bit away in front of me.
But I couldn't find even a shadow of a person on the highway toward the city. The city gate itself had already been destroyed.
「This place… has been abandoned too, huh.」
In fact, I encountered no one along the way. The village I passed had long since been abandoned.
When I was looking at the traces of destruction in each building, I discovered that it was destroyed by monsters. This city seemed to be destroyed by an army of monsters.
Corpses of monsters were scattered all over the place.
「And yet… I hardly met any monster until I arrived in this place.」
I walked toward the city despite the numerous questions in my head.
And then I… found the traces of people still living in the city just when I was about to enter the city gate.
It seemed there was some sort of reason that forced the citizens of the city to evacuate.
「MONSTER!」
The one who appeared from behind the building was an orc.
It was a humanoid monster whose strength rivaling that of a grown adult. Its intelligence was on the low side, but there was no mistaking its brute strength.
「BUHIIIIIIII!」
It rushed toward me with increased nasal breathing the moment it saw me.
Still straddling on the back of the ridebird, I threw my spear toward its nose.
「BUHI?!」
The orc toppled over grandiosely the moment the tip of my spear pierced its nose.
The back of its head crashed on the paved road; it had fainted with its eyes wide open.
I got down from the back of my ridebird, approaching the orc. I pulled out my spear and used it to stab the orc in its throat, finishing it off.
「…I see. It seems this city has become the living place of monsters right now.」
I set my spear again the moment I felt several other presences.
There were five of them.
One orc, three kobolds, and one hobgoblin.
But they were still no match for me.
My role as the captain of the Holy Knight Order squad wasn't just for show. [TL: This Nu Gundam isn't just for show!]
The ones who charged first were the three kobolds.
Maybe their dog heads thought that there was no problem as long as they attacked together, but I spun my spear quickly, dispatching the three of them with ease.
「「「GYAN?!」」」
The hobgoblin rushed toward me the moment it saw the three kobolds fall while barking in unison.
But my spear was faster and had a longer reach.
The hobgoblin's throat, heart, and abdomen received a single thrust from my spear.
By the time I finished the triple stab, my focus had already moved to the orc who approached me from behind.
I turned to the side while thrusting my spear toward the orc.
That single thrust pierced through the orc's right eye all the way to its brain, killing it immediately.
The orc’s body rolled on the ground the moment I pulled my spear.
「Fuuh.」
I heaved a deep sigh as I stopped moving.
At that moment, I felt a faint killing intent come from under my feet. I jumped back immediately.
「!!」
The hobgoblin who received my triple stab from before turned out to be still alive. It grabbed onto my ankle.
It seemed the wound from those stabs was too shallow.
I hurriedly stabbed my spear into its hand.
But I was too late.
Prepared for its own death, the hobgoblin pulled my ankle, making me lose my balance.
「GUH!」
The air in my lungs was forced to leave the moment my back crashed on the ground.
Despite having my spear pierce its arm, the hobgoblin pulled me in closer, getting on top of me.
Unlike the normal goblin, having a hobgoblin whose strength rivaled that of an orc mounting on top of you could only mean bad news.
The moment I resisted, I kicked its abdomen so the hobgoblin would get off of me.
Hyun!
An arrow that came out of nowhere pierced the hobgoblin's head.
「OA?」
…Was the last remark of that hobgoblin before it died.
By the time it noticed the arrow that pierced its head, it was already too late for the hobgoblin.
Its body collapsed as the light vanished from its eyes.
「…Who?」
I used that chance to get back on my feet, looking in the direction that arrow came from.
「That's so close, Nee-chan!」
「A kid?」
The archer who came out of hiding above the roof turned out to be a 10-year-old girl.
Since she held a bow in her hands, the arrow that pierced the hobgoblin's head was most likely fired by her.
A while later, a youth showed himself.
That youth's age was only a little bit older than the girl.
It seemed that some people were still staying in this city.
「You're so amazing, Nee-chan. I mean, you dispatched all those monsters with such ease by yourself.」
「Are you a knight?」
The two talked to me in a friendly manner.
「No, I'm just a warrior-in-training on a journey.」
「Hee, cool.」
「Rather than me, how about you guys? And what happened to this city?」
I asked them while hiding my true identity.
「About that, I guess it's better if you come with us to a safer place first.」
「There's a safe place!」
Thus, I decided to follow the two.
The destination turned out to be a really old rampart.
Its gate was sealed with all kinds of furniture and debris.
But they opened it slightly, just wide enough for an adult to pass.
「Over there.」
「Onee-chan, are you slender enough to pass through the opening?」
「O-Of course.」
===
TN: Can she pass the gate? her diet will be proven next week!