CHAPTER 170

The elves lost their mother world tree.

The dwarves lost their eternally burning furnace, and the humans lost their shining kingdom.

Each race lost something different, but ultimately they all must have been other names for possibility.

There was once an era where a single being monopolized all the possibilities of this world.

An era where he gathered the rising stars and confined them beneath his feet.

People called that era the Age of Dragons.

And here, in that tumultuous era, there was another race that lost its possibilities.

A race with the ears of beasts, the beastmen.

What they lost was called 'mystery.'

※※※※

"Sir Knight! Sir Priest!"

A black horse and a young donkey trotted along the narrow path.

However, their quiet journey was being rudely interrupted by a beastman following them from behind.

"Please let me come with you! I'm sure I can be of help!"

The man named Nibelun, whom Vlad and Jean had saved from the fire, was still following them and screaming for them to come with him.

"Should I just break his legs slightly so he can't follow us?"

"God is always watching over us, wherever we go, Sir Vlad."

"Right, right. Of course."

After hearing Jean's words, Vlad scratched his head and frowned.

While the world of knights and violence was something he could relate to, dealing with a young deacon like Jean still made him feel awkward.

"Then it's okay if I just curse him and not break anything, right?"

"...I suppose I can tolerate that much."

Though Vlad was the elder and the leader, the person driving this journey was none other than Jean.

The one to be protected and the one to abide by the rules.

Though he could easily be dismissed as a mere child, Vlad had already decided to show Jean respect instead of disdain.

"Hey. Mr. Nibelun, who walks with death."

"Yes, yes! Sir Knight!"

Even so, the accumulated anger doesn't go anywhere.

Noir's snort, as angry as Vlad's, was brushing against Nibelun's twitching ears.

"How much longer do you plan on following us like this? Didn't I say it's not allowed?"

Despite the threatening tone, Nibelun just clasped his hands together and chuckled softly.

"Oh, don't be so annoyed like that..."

Black robe worn out here and there.

And although he is not wearing it now, the strange mask hanging on his back still gives the beastman an ominous aura just like the first time they saw it.

"Even so, I will be useful. After all, I am a mage!"

"What kind of mage gets caught by swindlers and ends up as barbecue?"

Nibelun, claiming to be chasing death, was introducing himself as a mage.

A mage who chases away diseases and curses.

Vlad once again frowned as he watched Nibelun, who, from their first meeting until now, had only been spouting words he wanted to avoid.

"My magic takes a bit of time to activate due to its nature."

"Yeah. The more I hear, the less helpful it seems."

The things he was holding were strange enough, so he could have been a mage as he claimed.

But if he's caught by no more than mere bandits, then his level might also be understandable.

"This is your last warning. If you keep following, I will break one of your legs."

There was no need for unhelpful companions.

Moreover, if the target is someone who is not pleasant at first glance.

Vlad still found Nibelun's crow mask he was holding disturbing.

"Utman Barony!"

However, Nibelun paid no heed to Vlad's reaction and only repeated what he had to say.

"Please allow me to enter there. It may not be of help to Sir Vlad, but it will certainly help others."

"...Just someone who says whatever he wants."

Vlad still looked at the thick book Nibelun was holding dear.

The book, which he examined while unconscious, was filled with drawings and efficacies of various herbs.

Mage Nibelun.

He was both a mage and a plague doctor.

※※※※

"Chasing death?"

"Yes, that's right."

The beastman who had just awakened still seemed groggy, but he was claiming that he was a person who had followed death.

"What death? Is there death here?"

The appearance of the beastman unfamiliar to northerners, the shabby black robes woven here and there, and even the strange-looking crow mask.

Watching Nibelun's ominous appearance, standing quietly behind, the village chief began muttering that they should have burned him at the stake back then.

"That's right. I'm here chasing death... and as you said, there is death here too. Because, everyone will die if they stay here!"

"Sir Knight, please! Can't you burn that crazy cat? He keeps cursing our village!"

"The village is already doomed. We need to get people out as soon as possible."

"Sir Knight, please!"

Even if Nibelun hadn't been a bunch of con artists to begin with, he seemed like someone who would be burned at the stake.

Maybe it was because he was out of his mind, but the words he spoke out in a hurry showed no consideration for his own well-being or the people around him.

"The land is already contaminated. It won't just stop with a bad harvest."

"...".

The village chief's eyes still glowed as if the flames of the stake hadn't been extinguished yet.

However, Nibelun seemed not to care about everything around him and just took out a map and held it out to Vlad, asking him to look at it.

"Look at this, look at this."

"This... this is getting more suspicious."

The map Nibelun showed was too detailed for an ordinary traveler to possess.

It not only showed rough road locations but also rivers, hill heights, and the size of nearby villages.

It seemed dubious to carry such a map for simple travel purposes.

"It's a map that would be good for spies to carry around."

However, despite Vlad's suspicious gaze, Nibelun only perked up his ears and did not react in any way.

He was just waiting for Vlad's answer.

"······What are these circles?"

"They indicate areas where the plagues have spread."

The detailed map was full of pitch black circles.

The circle that looked like it had been drawn by Nibelun even marked the village where Vlad and Jean were now.

"But this...".

After scrutinizing the map for a while, Vlad noticed something odd and furrowed his brow.

"Yes, indeed. Isn't it strange?"

As if pleased that Vlad had noticed, Nibelun was pointing to a specific location on the map.

"If you look at this, it seems like the Vatican hasn't properly purified this area, doesn't it?"

"...".

The circles on the map grew larger, denser, and darker as they pointed towards a particular location: Mosiam, the capital of Baron Utman.

※※※※

In the early morning, while the young Jean was still struggling to emerge from his sleeping bag, the first light of dawn began to seep through the smoke of the dwindling campfire.

"You see that? Didn't I say I could be of help?"

"...The mage part seems to be true."

Vlad, who was rummaging around the cooled campfire, was answering bluntly as if he did not want to agree with Nibelun's words.

A large circle that seems to surround the group.

The circle that Nibelun had drawn yesterday, saying he didn't have to be on watch, was creating strange distortions that were difficult to explain even when seen with Vlad's closed left eye.

"But what are you going to do by going all the way to Mosiam?"

At Nibelun's begging and Jean's request, the group decided to go to Mosiam together.

However, Vlad knew well that to bring this suspicious mage into Mosiam, his endorsement as a knight was necessary.

"If you don't explain exactly what you're planning to do, you won't be allowed in."

"Uh..."

Sensing a gap in Vlad's words, Nibelun's hazel eyes began to sparkle.

"Are you letting me in?"

"First, tell me why you want to go in."

The Holy Knights of the Northern Orthodox Church will already be gathered in the city of Mosiam to search for any unusual beings. The reason Bishop Andrew sent his young deacons to Mosiam was because he hoped he would eventually move with them and gain experience.

"Haven't you already seen? I am a mage who pursues plague and curses..."

Vlad remembered Nibelun, who shouted that everyone had to leave the village until the end, even though it was a village that had tried to burn him down.

Although many people criticized Nibelun because it was a warning that went straight to the point without a proper explanation, he just repeated what he had to say without the slightest hesitation.

"Because death is there."

And still, just like then, Nibelun was spitting out the words without organizing them.

It seemed like an innate quality that was hard to change.

"Why death?"

"Don't you know that death is inevitable?"

Though he had solid beliefs within himself, when expressing them outwardly, it seemed overly simplistic.

Vlad was able to realize that Nibelun was no more skilled at speaking than himself, who lived in the back alley.

"Mystery lies within the unknown. It's something hidden within the undiscovered worlds. We've been wandering around looking for it all our lives."

"We?"

However, Nibelun responded to this question with actions rather than words, leaving no room for misunderstanding.

"The beastmen?"

"Yes, yes. We, who wander aimlessly without a place to call home."

Nibelun pointed to his pointed ears, indicating himself.

"Please allow me to enter Mosiam. There, death resides, and since death is something no one has experienced, I am eager to see it for myself."

"..."

A beastman mage who seeks mystery and desires to experience death.

As the first rays of sunlight began to shine upon the now extinguished campfire, Nibelun's hazel eyes, unlike his cloudy speech, held a vivid color.

-There is intelligence that a plague may soon follow a poor harvest. Be especially cautious of that.

Josef whispered this warning to Vlad before departing.

The rumor originated from a note brought by the retired knight Larmund, bearing the clumsy insignia of the Vatican.

"Well, at least inform the responsible authorities there. It might not amount to anything, but..."

"Oh, thank you, sir!"

Thanks to Nibelun's loud voice at any time, Jean began to wake up with a puffy face from his small sleeping bag.

A black horse, a young donkey, and a cat.

The three of them now stood facing each other under the sun of the day.

※※※※

[That thing moves as a curse. It cannot be cut with an ordinary sword.]

The voice of the young deacon's song echoed through the foggy campsite.

In that voice, which quietly silenced Vlad, the voice spoke.

The voice spoke to Vlad, who was holding his breath amidst the sound.

"Then what should I do?"

[I wonder if you can use aura now.]

"Are you kidding me?"

[Listen.]

A woman shedding black tears from beyond the fog.

She was the pitiful woman who cried as she searched for her child.

[To break that curse, you must need an exorcist who wields God's will or a knight with his own world. Or a mage who defies the rules of the world.]

The voice spoke.

Only these three who have solidified the world can cut off the woman's tears from that evil being.

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