Chapter 70: Nazrea, City of the Dead (1)
lrpXxYHotel Mamilla.QjZCx9q
ppCaThe safeness from demonic beasts achieved thanks to the existence of the guardian academy gathered people, and all that money brought prosperity to the city.KYmaMg
YF8UAt the center of that city was the finest and best hotel. Hotel Mamilla had both a high status and an exceptional customer service that befitted its title as the best hotel in the city, and their suite room cost hundreds of coins for a single night.u6Tfp
UI1GFEven though Bishop Renault Lusignan was sitting on a top-quality leather couch with a high-class wine that was over 80 years old in that room, his voice was filled with fury.aH0LK
YhIVjR“Do you even hear yourself!!”8D3IrXk
AO7SFWUThud! He smashed on the side table, which made the wine fall to its side. It was a premium wine that cost several gold coins but that meant nothing to him right now.Kczf
Czns97“My apologies. We weren’t expecting mounted bandits to come to the platform…”RQlw5GM
0okJY– Kaang!zZFzYC
3kytTThe bishop unhesitatingly threw his wine glass which shattered on the forehead of the man giving his report.HAQA
V9XG0DHThe scarlet wine dripped from the man’s forehead but he remained still without moving a single inch.eZXb
T8KR4ls“Useless. Aren’t you the captain of the honorable Chargers of the Cross that follows the will of god? How could you not even deal with something so simple?”ljAP
iTwEDChargers of the Cross.Fooe2t
y3Uu5They were religiously fanatical secret troops that destroyed the Old Faith’s enemies while hiding in the darkness. Each of their skills was well below those of the Templar Knights, but these guys had no name or identity and were thus incredibly good ‘consumables’.YjYq7i
pwwIWz“Those things belong to the pagans from the east. Find them at any cost. If you can’t, then find replacements at the very least!”bBFN
21tRenault gave the most natural order but also added another sentence in case it didn’t work out.0Of
o5O3“Tell those black-haired guys and Kang Ryun, to tell us about the path and schedule of their carriages from their Academy!”gFRy
9Xkr“…What do you…?”mAbRR
t3rIW“You fool! We have to buy time! Disguise your men as mounted bandits and steal the items from Purple Hawk, and we will have more justification even if we have to delay the plan!”2Psk
SyQ“I, I understand.”BSUh3b
cuySsAs soon as the captain disappeared, Bishop Renault turned to the scenery of the city that he could see through the large window.ZOjGk
YmLRThere was nothing he liked about it; both the current situation as well as the prosperity of this city that turned away from the will of the god were detestable.5Tx
qHjHowever, what Renault Lusignan knew was that gods did exist in this land. The time was nigh for them to at last show themselves and display their might.BmrUvxR
OsMsN2J“Everything for the Advent of Paradise.”DGD
oFbKtgAfter all, he had personally seen ‘god’.gBbdK1p
1YPN****P5H
vxYDetails about the group event were announced.fZ2z
3Y6P16 people from Purple Hawk Academy were divided into Teams 1, 2, 3, and 4.6EqDft
GZUvMAnd 16 from Merkarva Academy were divided into Teams A, B, C, and D.QpnaGB
qURtm3The following 32 students of the two academies were announced, along with the location of the event.ITJPm
hPD“Nazrea… City?”i0ip
RJmLAlicia, who seemingly woke up too early in preparation for the group event schedule, asked with a yawn.7M0K2H
6oku0M“Where is Nazrea City?”oHr8
VkWV88Near the center of the El Rath Kingdom was a dead city called Nazrea. It was such a big thing that it always had several guardians in it.srKCWx
EU8iMarie, who appeared to know about the background history of that city, opened her mouth.ZW2f
bVM“Wow. Isn’t this the one that’s well-known for being a city of undeads?”gWRFmA
MHgCHE“A, a city of undeads?”cbLA
le1“Nn.”6pFA
vPGyTamMarie took out a pamphlet from her protective robe which she prepared for the group event.7cJI1
MW1d“Nazrea was a big city that used to prosper 300 years ago. But it fell from its former grace.”HSF
CGA“Uh… that’s tragic. Why did that happen?”6kzZU
nRF5“A black mage summoned undead into the city, by using a large-scale black magic called Immortal Legion.”kSQ
QHm00ln“A b, black mage?”OON
JojTEoImmortal Legion. It was a grand spell that raised as many undeads as possible inside the magic circle as long as there was enough mana to support it.qREzCl
8N7“W, well that’s an ominous event.”EMm
Q5AgWuL“The problem is that the spell still exists 300 years later in the form of a special barrier,” I added.BKu5N
Q3BI“Yes. Nazrea is still called the City of Undeads because there is an unending number of undeads roaming around the city.”9vSnrQ
Gsg“How is that possible when it’s from 300 years ago?”zpRslL
CeS“If it’s done at a miraculous timing in alignment with a special astrological shift, it is.”ZPAcFp4
Ws7Being a mage, Marie seemed knowledgeable about the undead-phenomenon of Nazrea, and continued on with her explanation.fZR
IGdFN“300 years, 3 months, and 24 days ago, there was a super-blue-blood-moon. It was an extremely unique lunar eclipse where a super moon, a blue moon, and a blood moon all happened at the same time.”WLGu
8yXSuper moon, a phenomenon that made the moon appear bigger than usual;v18y
spsXEcBlue moon, which came every 2~3 years like a leap year;5S8SAOI
twSAnd blood moon which made the moon appear crimson due to the instability of the atmosphere.j19C97i
i1PAll of that happened on that rare day, which was a rare occurrence that might not even come once every few centuries, and caused a supernatural phenomenon.XmkZ
7TDJjp“When that happens, a unique wave of mana comes down to the earth. Any grand spells that are formed using this mana can forever be under the protection of the moon.”gIsv
SwAf“Umm… so that means?”QnsQ
3Ou4“It means the city called Nazrea now has an everlasting spell that infinitely revives those undeads.”QUE
k3r“…”sNlg
gPvDAlicia had a questioning look on her face, as if she couldn’t understand why we would leave such a dangerous place alone.tuFW71
XIvdL“It’s impossible to cleanse Nazrea. Their numbers are already a problem, but cleansing the city in one day… or rather half a day is impossible even if the kingdom sent all their soldiers for it.”cDzb
g6R5pTx“What do you mean, Senior Marie?”FJ0lFg
nsZ6ew“Nnn… You’ll see once you get there! I’ve been there once last year as well, you see!”PLs8
8NoIn any case, after realizing that it was a dangerous place, Alicia raised a different question.LSgsUg
96TSIL“…So why would we have the group event at such a dangerous location?”JEFZLqj
JIE“It’s not that dangerous as long as you stay away from the center of the city. We’ll probably stick to the outer areas of the city that have low-grade undeads.”Qgp6K
uR1VN3But no one could say for sure whether this trip would be safe or not.kKVKAj
7jgegThese days, even though the city was often used as training sites for priests and a venue for the group event of students, Nazrea was still a demonic field.hVZ2XT
0W200qAfter all, in that place was a Grim Reaper.jx2KU2n
fMFMbk****TLA7A40
qi8– Kieeeee…!M6Ny
nmhvfThe houses started a smooth flight and before long, I could see white clouds outside the window.oUIt
Qm4JdfFour monster carriers including a Hresvelgr were carrying the students and professors while flying across the sky.Caup
GJKqtLY“Huaahm~”xyoawf
5I2lLnFAlicia was dozing off to sleep while going through a pamphlet about Nazrea but Marie was nowhere to be seen. She was probably steaming potatoes in the kitchen or something.N7LbQQ7
bMBVbzThe individual and doubles events were probably still taking place at the Academy right now. People like Marie and I, who were also participating in the group event, had our turns before others.H1KcBZ
gokAThis group event made me think quite a bit.UdU6
dUV7gFH‘Originally, it was supposed to be about stealing an egg from a semi-dragon.’xTnnxgp
3jp7fADThe future changed.c1g0BNn
SNsQThe original Nazrea was just a location that the player happened to visit during the main scenario. It was closer to a side quest than a main one, and had definitely not been used as a stage for the festival.HEeHQ
vAI『Senior Professor Kang Ryun has changed the location of the group event.』TgDI
ircnIt was quite dumbfounding when I heard that from Professor Josephine.T5KY5d5
SUx1OvAll the details of the festival were decided by the representative of the visiting Academy. That was the convention added to avoid the hosting Academy from having too big of a home-ground advantage.GK91
0y6fFTThe details were generally decided as soon as the visitors arrived at the hosting Academy, and it was rare for things to change after the decision was already made.Sm9
KPBQTKIt was probably because of the Old Faith’s carriages being robbed a week ago.e9eMK7h
fhkOT‘Trying to buy time, huh.’egGO
eOoAVBSince all the important articles that were supposed to form the Eight Gates Sealing Formation: Evil Extermination were stolen, they were probably trying to buy time until they could either regain them or find replacements.1Fn7
UBufIKThe special items, that were supposed to have been smuggled into the city away from the eyes of the guards, had been stolen so they were bound to be lost.LE1CAI
TPd『Apparently the items that were being brought by Purple Hawk had been stolen by mounted bandits. Was that you?』c3uSqEU
uIF0hHNAs for this, I could definitely say that it wasn’t me. The ones I stole were from the Old Faith that was trying to smuggle in the articles and not Purple Hawk.QVXcg
eHnuIn other words, that meant that Bishop Renault and Kang Ryun pretended like their other carriages had also been stolen in order to buy time. That was probably their excuse for changing the content of the group event.0jZIu
c8OCBy‘That pig. His brain works quite fast.’5un
TrVHis name was in my death note as well. He was a stereotypical religious villain, but was a tough nut to crack because of his social position, influence, and proactiveness.GHyeqy
597RtBesides, most of the higher-ups of the Old Faith including him were fundamentalists that dreamed of the ‘Advent of Paradise’.TAFS
8pWYSVHIn ❰Heroic Legends of Arhan❱, one of the factions that were always removed regardless of the ending was the Old Faith that had their sanctum in Xeruem. That was just how horribly useless those people were.t4w
KguZX‘The Grim Reaper is a problem though…’VXZFsN
exyz『Grim Reaper of Nazrea』Vrt06
Q4oeFIt was a powerful existence that also appeared in the main scenario. Rather than a demonic beast or a demonic spirit, it was closer to being an elemental and a spirit.i7GZz6X
HoNIf everything went according to the scenario, the player would be meeting this angel of death.Vzl
PCGU89bThe guider of souls that ended up having to stay behind because of the Immortal Legion incident of Nazrea 300 years ago.diNgkf
9r6qVWyThere was a very high chance of it appearing in front of us.Ucnyf
Jvo– Flap! Flap!RDD
6vZvdyThat was when the sound of the wings changed. It seemed that the monster carriers were preparing to descend by lowering their speed.tRiMcm
sgTe“Ugh… I just finished boiling my potatoes though!”mmJTV
Mhsi6FMarie complained while waking up Alicia, who was dozing off to sleep. Meanwhile, I woke up Lark and Jaeger who were sleeping in a corner of the room.fd7fXu
Rvr– Kuuung!jg8
REoGzyBefore long, the buildings were softly placed back down on the ground and 16 of our students each left the rooms with our belongings.AcHX6hj
KBOMeXdThere were people waiting for us already.PNb
vcS“Welcome, ladies and gentlemen from Merkarva Academy. I am Priest Flamel, who will be one of the guides for your exploration of Nazrea. Please enter the carriage over there.”FFdEfbZ
XGYroOn the landing zone where our monster carriers just landed, I could see other monster carriers that were eating their fill. It appeared that Purple Hawk had already arrived and had already set off for the entrance of Nazrea City.kRn4RxP
k7w3zAlicia was just about to enter the horse carriage but soon realized that it was too small for everyone to fit in.haBHppC
8uw7“Isn’t the carriage a bit small?”weql
0zxd9b“Unfortunately, that was all we could manage because it was a very sudden visit. We couldn’t prepare a big-enough carriage so I would like to ask you to use horses if you can… Is there anyone that knows how to ride a horse?”MIV6rU
t5X4The priests also seemed troubled by the short notice they received. There was nothing that could be done about it.2WECt5P
iySzmIw“I know how to ride one.”n6IV4c
DfyghLu“Ah, I know as well!”ZFg
eGaSHJuMarie and I knew how to ride horses.e4PE
5rR6NAs for Marie, it was natural because she had a farm of horses, and I also learned horse-riding while going to several places in the last iteration.uJhJ
p8lB6rS“Marie. Can I get on your back?”78T
ubuYT“Nn. Hold onto my waist, Isabelle!”oe3O
id1xsWnIsabelle got on behind Marie who was skilfully maneuvering the horse while I also picked a random horse to get on.QQYEiJW
uwbI turned to the students that weren’t on the carriage.8F5Pc7
AmhKTl“Jaeger. What do you wanna do?”IUd
DbwAY“You want me to ride behind a stinky guy? Ehew~ please don’t. That’s not how we do things and you know it.”jCJhl
WEBa“…As expected of my buddy.”Dkf
T9mNodding my head, I displayed my whole-hearted agreement with his opinion.WTewIy
yywRC“Alicia. Do you know how to ride horses?”WjkGt
o74MK“Uhh… N, not really.”G3yZ
MwK“…Aren’t you the daughter of a swordsmanship family?”DPRpK
YbPdWWasn’t horse-riding a must in the Arden family?wZvaF
2Ig0HG“Do you want me to ride on a horrible animal that kills people with its hind legs? How could you say such a thing as a human?”k8Gyf
kCakrqt“…”XnaRqh
xEzWpwVWhat was she even talking about? She straight-up denied the most traditional method of transport that had existed throughout the history of humanity.9XQKd8I
EBibwi“Just get on my back if you don’t know how to ride one.”lsKv
oEb3L“U, uhht… N, no thank you. I can use the carriage…”WArm
wouSWhen I drove the horse next to her, who was slowly taking a step back, she went ‘Hieek!’ in fright.vRmS
ewAtHm“My arm hurts. Hurry up and get on.”lsW
M37Et73“Ughhh…”00B5JK
WfCqbJI had to carry a guy behind my back if not Alicia, and I didn’t want to do that. Why would I let a sweaty guy hold onto my waist when I had better options?TXQ
5wST3FAfter getting on the horse, she immediately started shivering and displayed her urge to quickly get off the horse.AES
IucTe“Marie? What’s wrong?”WtG4Sy
8wd“I should’ve said I didn’t know how to ride horses…”TwEse3
iUaI decided to depart before Alicia changed her mind.vXpO
6jd7A4h“Go, Chi Tu[mfn]TLN: Chi Tu (Red Hare): A famous horse from three kingdoms rode by Lu Bu and Guan Yu. Known to travel 1,000 li a day without getting exhausted.[/mfn]!”kuR
ypV“Mr. Korin? Ugyaaahtt?!”uvh
Tc82Z– Trot! Trot!NfXfhy
ZzRnRcnChi Tu, the Red Hare, raced forward at a rapid speed. That sudden march was a bit cruel for newbies, and Alicia quickly wrapped her arms around me to avoid falling off the horse.d2hW6X
ZMymfi“M, Mr. Korin! Wait! Wait!”rQln2y
mnXx“Huhahaha! This is what it means to say ‘Korin among men and Chi Tu among steeds’!”[mfn]The original saying is ‘Lu Bu among men, and Chi Tu among steeds’: Lu Bu was known to be the strongest man during that time, whereas Chi Tu was the best horse.[/mfn]DucEX
rW2g6“Hieeeekkk…!”Vm4oef
pksBsrThe excitement from riding a horse for the first time in a while allowed us to arrive in the blink of an eye. Even though wyverns were too expensive… a horse or two should be fine right?oAwGds
cMCNow that I was earning a hefty sum of money, it seemed that the god of impulse buying had descended into my body.8LaK
v4isL2B“Huehk… M, Mr. Korin! M, my eyes are spinning. I feel super dizzy!”g9Y
V1VFGX“Come on… if you run seriously, you’re faster than a horse, you know that right?”OIkfnaa
6VCn“I, I can’t walk.”CaLI
oqWSW“Ehew… get on my back then.”4Fo
YTwLIn the end, I had to carry Alicia on my back before heading to the Nazrea encampment.gpKL
86P06A sister with the sign of a different-patterned cross welcomed us when we arrived at the entrance of the city. She was from the New Faith just like Hua Ran.ibYzz
cYA“Welcome. You are the first to arrive from Merkarva.”iCCqb
ar8Because of our full-speed dash, we were the only students from Merkarva that arrived at the encampment so far. Marie was the type to ride her horse leisurely so she would probably arrive at the same time as the carriage.yapcNjz
oD7QZEa“Do we get our explanation straight away?”Zh3b2FV
sAj“No. I believe you’d be tired from the flight, so please rest at the accommodation first. Please follow me.”m5Q
cq5BNL“Alright.”LUP
AhwPt3There were several priests and clerics waiting at the entrance that seemed to be the guides of the city. Out of them, we followed the sister called Lina.aVfDUx
BkinI“Huhh?”q9aAHjn
ueHpEqAlicia widened her eyes immediately after entering the city.ym3
ST0wU3UNazrea, the City of Undeads.f76
YLjuKFor it to be considered a city full of the undying, it looked way too ‘normal’.0uQS
7P67bcm“L, looks quite normal to me?”a5SwD6q
ak9VfOaFrom the old gates heading into the city to the fruit stands, bakeries, and sprinting children… The city had an old yet normal look to it.YEf5X
LxlM02k“Hello there! Would you like some hot, steaming bread? It’s straight out of the oven!”3NdIee
bBVUiAlicia was tempted by the baker who seemed way too normal to be considered a denizen of a dead city.YXkY
ctlO5“Sniff… It smells delicious. Mr. Korin, should we get one?”fme
62lsSS“You cannot.”RbnN6Kn
PAwv6ZLSister Lina stopped Alicia from taking out her coin purse.WE34
sRC5CG“Uhh… yes. Umm… you’re short on time right? I’m sorry.”cwswMWi
D5Bjq“That’s not it. You cannot have any food in this place. Did you not check the things you need to be careful of before coming inside?”Q4wBq
uU4AG“H, huh? S, sorry.”bAlzO
4oEew“Listen to the sister. We’re heading to the hotel first.”A8rO0cM
Ak7DUYuSince I knew about the reason why we shouldn’t have any food in this place, I persuaded Alicia and continued heading to the hotel. The one we arrived at was a 3-story building that was quite close to the entrance of the city, Hotel Kanna.1PizL
oQP4c“Welcome! We’re getting a lot of guests today!”3SD6d
quZFThe hotel owner welcomed us in. Clerics and professors were sitting on the first floor but the students were nowhere to be seen.sCP
tXu“Please head up to the 2nd floor. You must come down by 6:40 pm.”kNngn
HrxWithout giving us any explanation, they moved us to the 3rd floor of the hotel. On the wooden key that we received, which was too ancient to even be used outside, was our designated room number.sgYVRZ
M0Ft0Rp“Please stay quiet. It would be even better if you take some sleep.”PlX8kOY
K7qWEP‘It’s the middle of the day though?’ Alicia asked but the sister simply shushed her by placing her finger on her lips.tOA
DjdqM“Ugh… I have no idea what’s going on.”mC4
lk9LF“Be quiet. We’ll explain later. You should get some sleep for now.”FGtxP
99jrY“Sorry?”zfS
nyY“Now’s not the time to stand out just yet. You have to take into account that ‘we’ are not the only ones in this place.”BZVS
LolVl5“…”1lMlIFE
dgjiAfter seemingly realizing that I wasn’t going to answer any of her questions, she quietly laid herself on the bed after unpacking her belongings.IrsN
Mf21O****FcLiu
7ekW6:40 pm.mCfy
wAdTLJ0We, who had been awake from 20 minutes ago, headed down to the lobby of Hotel Kanna just in time.QDX7
XKEIs1I could see other students that were also leaving their rooms at the same time as us. Among them was the student council president of Purple Hawk Academy, Kang Yuhua.fGcDvXs
D0QK“Huaaahmm~”kMQDaeM
xK3vHEveryone quickly walked down the stairs as if they were itching to begin. Professor Haman gestured to us once we arrived at the lobby.ObS6Ele
91vr“Come here and sit.”akpr2A
MJE“Yes sir.”DD8bf
XgXZe4AAlicia and I sat down at the same table as Professor Haman. Around us, the guests of the hotel were bustling with noise while enjoying their meals and booze.S8C
pZMdFh4“Umm… Mr. Korin? This is a lot different from what I was expecting.”sJqde
7eE“It’s because you fell asleep while reading your pamphlet.”MgF1
1XOf5ST“Ugh…”gkEVA
4WzlfpThe Merkarva students arrived one by one. Soon, we had all our 16 students including Marie, Isabelle, Jaeger, and Lark.bIhh
uqaMUrSenior Professor Kang Ryun, the one who came up with the details of this group event, gazed around to confirm our numbers.5R6
ERPT5P“Everyone’s here, it seems.”XAhJbKP
IYg32 participants of the group event, along with 8 professors and 20 clerics.OA7
SPWDEven though quite a large number of us were inside the lobby, this place was still bustling with noise from a bunch of other guests.EBP
VkGS“6:58.”G1BP
kK9VCProfessor Kang Ryun said as most of the students started to turn tense. There were a few students like Alicia and Jaeger who weren’t aware of what was going on, but everyone was ‘prohibited’ from asking questions so none of them were opening their mouths.bVll3j
cqq2“6:59.”9GtjY
HUbPThe hotel was still noisy. Guests were indulging in their meals and booze while the workers were hurriedly serving their food. On the side, the owner of the hotel was picking out his best wines.YCY
hAJ“6:59 and 30 seconds.”NaJY4O
4DGIt was such a normal scenery that might happen anywhere else on the continent – so peaceful that it was even fascinating.49z
f9KFl“6:59 and 50 seconds.”tt8bP
tIXXAlong with a rustle, several people took out their maces. They were the clerics.QTIC
591“5… 4… 3… 2…”XdYj
X0kXe“What is going…”wBQDDDX
KKp7aV“…1. Begin.”psuc
QrHAs soon as he said that, all the students including myself and the clerics took out our weapons.FJf
xpIqx“Kill everyone you see!”cSECe
92zZFJDMy silver spear immediately pierced through the temple of the guest that was indulging in his meat on the next table, and an ice lance shot by Marie blew away the head of the hotel owner.YcFLzj
uwVaB1H“H, huh?”dhf
19jP“W, what are you guys doing…!”yLVLN
yc5While the ignorant students were lost as to what was going on, more than 50 of our armed forces started massacring everyone inside the hotel.CQPHGLM
mmgByfEThe massacre at Hotel Kanna ended in less than a minute.p8qVkgT
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