Children of the Holy Emperor - Chapter 425



Only Noblemtl

425. Transaction (3)

“Ugh… … .”

Bartoza opened his blurry eyes and looked around.

As his mind cleared a little, he felt a sharp pain that made him want to faint. However, he could intuitively feel that if he gave up like this, then he would truly be dead.

‘I… yes. I fell off a cliff… … .’

It was dark all around, so I thought it was night. But when I looked up, I could see a cliff and a blue sky between the tall conifers.

‘I was lucky.’

Even though he protected his body with the vision of a tribe, it was a height that made it a wonder how he was still alive.

Looking around, I see the wreckage of a carriage in shambles, and the corpses of horses mangled beneath it. Naturally, my thoughts turn to the woman who fell with her.

‘… What happened to that scary woman? Is she dead?’

It could be so, seeing as how calm his son-in-law was. Although he looked quite strange, it seemed that he had unintentionally escaped the fierce pursuit.

“Ugh… … .”

Bartoza tried to raise his body, twitching his limbs, but soon he lay back down screaming as a new pain surged in like a tidal wave.

“Eww!”

I didn’t realize it because there was no part of my body that wasn’t sore, but upon closer inspection, I saw that my left arm was completely broken and twisted. Fortunately, it seemed to have avoided amputation, but my two bloody legs were clearly not in good condition.

Although he narrowly escaped death, this too was just a ember in the wind.

‘…I’d rather run away alone!’

Belated regrets began to creep in.

The symbol of the power of the Purma tribe. The weapon of the chief. If only it weren’t for the greed to take it away together!

Rolling his eyes in disappointment, he saw that the Warhammer in question was not far from him.

Despite the impact of the crash, the weapon fortunately appeared to be intact, but the box it was placed in was shattered and some of its contents, such as the hem of a garment, spilled out. The knot that Bartoza had carefully tied was also completely broken.

‘…huh?’

But then something strange caught Bartoza’s eye.

What the heck? Why is there so much blood on the box? And what is sticking out from under the red hem of the clothes? … … .

‘…hand?’

Bartoza blinked stupidly.

No, that can’t be. There was only that scary woman in the carriage, and there was definitely no sign of anyone else.

But no matter how hard I look at it, that shape is clearly the hand of a pale, tired person!

‘Do the imperial people not offer sacrifices to the dead? Rather than honoring the deceased with reverence, do they just put them in boxes and carry them around like luggage?’

What kind of horrible, unprincipled people are these!

But the really scary thing happened next. The hand that I thought was definitely a corpse suddenly started moving slowly!

Wiggle.

‘… … !’

And then, right before Bartoza’s eyes, a horrifying sight that he would never see again in his dreams began to unfold.

Wriggling, writhing.

Creak, squeak. Crunch, crunch!

“Heeeeeeek!”

* * *

Ss …

The trees rustle eerily in the cold wind.

Beneath that desolate valley, the scene of a tragic crash.

There, a human, or rather a monster resurrected from a corpse, was rising up, covered in blood, surrounded by a blindingly bright light.

Whoa whoa… … .

How much time has passed like that, the light surrounding the monster slowly fading away.

Suddenly.

After straightening the misaligned cervical vertebrae, the tall, slender figure stood tall in front of Bartoza.

Although it was wrapped in a dazzling priestly robe, Bartoza could see that the monster had a proper human form. The long, blood-soaked robes were fluttering, reminiscent of the cursed shamans of old folklore.

In any case, that ominous monster was something horrible that should never belong in this world. That much was certain.

“Heehee… … .”

As Bartoza trembled in extreme fear-

Squeak.

The monster’s head moved slightly.

Although the monster’s face was not visible because it was covered by a thick hood, it felt as if its gaze was directly directed at Bartoza.

A cool breeze runs through my whole body. It’s not just because the temperature has dropped so much recently.

“Ugh… Heuheu… Sa, save me… … .”

Bartoza trembled and let out a suppressed groan.

But then something amazing happened. The terrifying monster suddenly started talking to me in clear Barsha.

“Stop making a fuss and keep your mouth shut. It’s so loud.”

“Ugh, ugh?!”

“If you just lie there quietly, I’ll treat you in a bit.”

“Hic? Eek?”

Then the monster turned away from Bartoza and headed somewhere with a dangerous gait.

Towards a place where the carriage’s remains were scattered in disarray, and where another faint sound was felt.

“Ugh… … .”

The woman who fell with him was closer than expected. She didn’t seem to have any major injuries on the outside, but judging from the strange twists in her upper and lower body, she seemed to have a serious spinal injury. Unlike Bartoza, she was unlucky.

The field occasionally exhaled, as if it was completely out of the question to come back to life.

Phew-!

I saw it.

The strange light from earlier seemed to spread again, and then the woman suddenly opened her eyes!

“… Ah?”

She looked up at the suspicious monster with wide eyes.

“Hey, who are you?”

“… I’m a passing healer. I stopped by to check on you because it looks like a pretty serious accident has occurred.”

If Bartoza could understand the Imperial language, he would have had a lot to say in rebuttal to that answer.

That’s a lie! He was hiding in the carriage from the beginning! Do you think it makes sense to go through this remote forest naked?

But unfortunately, Edith was not a person who usually thought much about her life.

“Accident… Oh, I see! I fell off that cliff. I thought I was really going to die this time, but I got lucky!”

Edith jumped up from her seat with a lively attitude, her injuries nowhere to be seen.

“Thank you for your attention, Father! Oh, by any chance, what is your name… …?”

“… My name is Bart.”

“Yes, Father Bart. Thank you very much. Thanks to you, my life was saved! I don’t know how to repay this favor… … .”

Then Edith noticed belatedly that the priest’s dazzling robes were soaked with blood.

“Oh, but, priest. Are you hurt, too? These bloodstains… … .”

“I was treating you and this is how it turned out. I’m fine, so don’t worry about me.”

“Oh, yes. I see! Your beautiful priestly robes were ruined because of me. I am truly sorry.”

If Bartoza had heard their conversation, he would have been startled once again at this point.

You stupid woman! Do you think that all that excited blood is something you can just ask for while treating her? In the first place, the amount of blood you shed was not that much!

“By the way, we’re in big trouble. The carriage is completely destroyed, and all the horses are dead.”

Edith looked around with a worried expression.

“Besides, I have no idea where this place is. I guess I should go back to Regina first… … .”

Then the mysterious priest responded politely.

“It would be impossible to go to Regina. There is no shortcut back to the cliff.”

“then…….”

“Instead, if you bypass the valley and walk for a few days, you will reach the central territory of Ortona. I will guide you to the nearest village from there.”

“Oh, really? I was wondering what to do… Thank you so much, Father Bart! Then I’ll pack my bags, so please wait a moment!”

Edith began to rummage through the wreckage of the carriage with a brisk pace. Most of the things it had been carrying were destroyed, but she had to save what she could.

“I’ll leave your bag of clothes aside for now. I’ll just grab some of your precious trinkets. Oh, and Red’s plate collection! It’s completely broken and unusable… … .”

Meanwhile, Priest Bart finally turned his head and approached Bartoza, staggering.

“eww…….”

Poor Barshain, who had suffered so much mental anguish in such a short period of time, cried out in fear.

“Don’t come near me! What the hell are you!”

Then a calm reply came back from the monster.

“He is a priest of the Empire. He is just an ordinary healing priest.”

“Normal? That’s ridiculous! Dude, I clearly saw your neck was broken, but how on earth can you move like that… …!”

“This is also the grace of the Lord. If you were so moved, would you now have a new faith? You noisy pagan.”

An ordinary healing priest? That couldn’t be possible, thought Bartoza.

He had also encountered several priests during his war with the Empire. Some of them occasionally showed amazing healing abilities, but even so, the sight of a human being being revived with a broken neck…!

chuck.

Just then, the monster claiming to be a priest lightly touched his shoulder with its hand.

“Why are you doing this? Please let me go!”

At Bartoza’s scream-like question, the monster tilted its head slightly as if in doubt.

“That’s a strange thing to say. Do you want to die like this?”

“What… what do you want from me?”

“I don’t have any specific requests for you. Just help me and that maid, and head to the nearby village.”

“If I do that… then you’ll let me live? Like the ancient demons, demanding my soul in exchange for a deal or something… .”

“…transaction?”

The monster, who had been asking questions briefly, slowly nodded his head.

“Yes. I guess you could say that this is also a kind of transaction. Since you have caused me great inconvenience, from now on you will become my servant and serve me with all your heart.”

As soon as those words fell –

Hwaaak-!

A terrifyingly bright light enveloped Bartoza’s entire body.

* * *

Ddud, dduduk.

The sound of a heavy blunt object being dragged on the ground constantly rings in my ears.

“Follow that stream all the way down. You’d better not rest for even a moment until evening.”

And above his head, a terrible monster gives him orders he cannot refuse. Bartoza really wished that this was all a dream.

No wonder, Bartoza was carrying a bloody monster on his back along with freshly slaughtered horse meat.

‘It’s too light to be a human. As expected, this monster is an evil spirit!’

Moreover, this monster lacks any of the vitality that a human being should feel – what the Empire calls ‘aura activity’.

As he thought about this, a chill ran down Bartoza’s spine from the overwhelming fear.

‘Ah, Bartoja, Bartoja! Just crouch quietly and grow your power within the tribe! Your foolish choices have ultimately led you to the path of death!’

The problem was that she was an imperial woman who knew nothing. There were more than one or two strange things about her, but this blind woman just chattered with the monster without any hesitation with an innocent face.

“Father Bart. But how do you speak Barsha so well?”

“I once served in the Southern Mission. I learned it then.”

“Then you were on the front lines too? You’re really amazing!”

I wish I could just hand over this burden to that stupid woman right away.

But that couldn’t be the case, because that woman already had another important burden to carry. The Warhammer that Bartoza had struggled with so much was being dragged around with an indifferent expression.

Dddddddddd!

The more I looked at it, the more incredible the power was.

“… Yes, you guys are here.”

But if I had to pick the scariest thing about carrying this monster, it would be the soft muttering coming out of its mouth.

The monster was staring into the empty space, spewing out words that Bartoza couldn’t understand.

“Don’t rush, Herna. As you can see, I’m fine.”

“This is nothing, Gades. You’re not hurt or anything, so just contact Regina and reassure everyone.”

Bartoza was now becoming more and more afraid.

Is this monster talking to other evil spirits right now? Is he trying to curse me to death?

It was just then.

Shudder.

I felt the monster’s body suddenly stiffen, as if startled by something.

“…Mores.”

Then, the bastard remained silent for a while, making Bartoza even more scared.

“… It’s rare. You come all the way here… … .”

After a while, the monster finally let out a small sigh and said.

“Don’t be so angry. I’m really sorry.”

“Yeah. It was my fault. I just couldn’t let you go without any preparation… … .”

“No, that’s not it. I’m not blaming you for leaving Sir Sharon behind… … .”

“It’s just… … .”

Then, a long, long silence flows again. The monster’s expression becomes increasingly gloomy, as if he is being scolded by another evil spirit, and this can be clearly seen through Bartoza’s back.

‘What kind of terrifying evil spirit must have come to silence this terrifying monster!’

Bartoza was now so frightened that his teeth were chattering.

Oh, I’m scared. I’m so scared!

“…okay.”

And at the end of that silence, the monster shook its body slightly as if laughing.

“It’s okay. Don’t you know that? I can come to you by myself.”

It was such a soft laughter that it was impossible to believe it came from the mouth of an evil monster, to the point that Bartoza, who was momentarily surprised, listened blankly.