Read Novel Full Chapter 286
Chapter 286
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Chapter 286 – Hidden Conspiracy
“Wait… Ecla-san?”
I jumped down from the ramparts, eliminating the black-robed corpses and pulling out the witch’s body. Her face is pale, and her lips are purple from blood loss or hypothermia.
“You’re late, aren’t you? I’m tired of waiting for you.”
“Don’t talk, you’re hurt!”
When I lifted her clothes, I saw a terrible wound on her side, which had been gouged and torn to shreds. It’s a miracle she’s still alive. I picked up Ecla-san’s body, used teleportation to fly into the air, and landed on the roof of the Griffon. Stepping down from the gun emplacement, I called to the child elf who was treating someone.
“Hjelmar! Please, it’s urgent!”
“Y-yes!?”
At first glance, Hjelmar seemed to understand the situation and immediately began to undress Ecla-san and cast a healing spell on her. I took out a clean towel to cover the exposed skin, opened the first aid kit I got from Simon, and took out an antibiotic to put in the witch’s mouth. I felt sorry for myself that my hands were shaking as I opened the cap of the bottle. If this was…
If this was Myrril.
“…Damn it.”
“Calm down, Yoshua, Ecla-dono is not going to die. Thanks to you and Hjelmar.”
Myrril admonished me in a calm voice, and I managed to regain my composure. I bring the plastic bottle with the open lid to Ecla-san’s mouth. Her lips are still purple, but the bloodlust has returned to her face.
“Now drink. It’s an anti-festering… medicine that prevents the wound from festering.”
“Y-yeah.”
Looking at the closed wound, I put some of the distilled spirits in a small barrel in a towel and wiped the wound. Maybe I’m in the wrong order, but I couldn’t touch the wound before the healing magic was applied.
“What is it… It’s cold, isn’t it?”
“It’s a strong alcohol. It prevents the wound from rotting.”
“…Heh. …You’re not only good at killing… you’re also good at keeping alive.”
Ecla-san’s eyes are still a little unfocused as she laughs at such things.
“The treatment is over. You may have a fever while you heal, but I don’t think you’ll die.”
“Thanks, that’s a big help.”
“…I’m sorry, Hjelmar.”
The child elf’s cheeks are turned up, and she looks at Ecla-san with teary eyes.
“P-please don’t worry too much. Isn’t that what I’ve always been told?”
“…Yes, you’re right. I can’t face… your mother now, can I?”
Although she was low on blood, the crisis seemed to be over for the time being. After distributing the blankets to the refugees, I wrapped the remaining blanket around her body and let her lean back in the chair.
Ecla-san, looking somewhat embarrassed, looked terribly young, perhaps because of her ageless good looks.
“How did someone as strong as Ecla-dono end up like this?”
“I was out of magic… and then I got hit by a magic bullet… I feel so pathetic.”
“Huh?”
Why again? I only have hearsay about the extent of her power, but at least she is not a person who has problems with her magic power. If she was consuming it with some kind of extraordinary magic, I could understand it, but…
“Ecla-san. Could it be that the reason the city was deserted was not because the Imperial Army destroyed it?”
The Witch of Sarz looked at me and nodded her head, but she didn’t seem to deny it.
“I threw as many of the inhabitants as I could… to Hagwai. …I didn’t think there were nearly 5,000 left.”
“…Kilgerai’s emergency transfer magic circle? It was already completed?”
“Only the first layer. The second and subsequent layers are temporary, hastily made arrangements.”
“It’s a mess. It is crazy to think that they could get away with something like that without running out of magic power.”
Hjelmar seems to understand, but I have no idea what they are talking about. My guess is that they ran out of magic when they tried to evacuate all the townspeople at once.
“I can’t think of any other way. …Half of them may have arrived naked, but that’s okay. …It’s better than dying in a place like this.”
“But.”
“These are the people Kilgellai and the others risked their lives to protect. I wanted to help them as much as I could.”
The two elves with somber faces told me that the staff of the magic cave that was sent to the western territory of Keol seemed to have been wiped out.
“Do you know this Kilgerai-san?”
“He is my husband from two generations ago. When I met him, he was a terrible scoundrel… Well, I don’t want to talk about that. I’m sorry, Your Majesty the Demon King, but can you take the refugees there to Hagwai?”
“I don’t mind, but the imperial mages who are left in Keol”
“About fifty of them had infiltrated the city. I killed 60% of them, so there are about 20 left. You can leave them alone for now.”
“I heard the sound of battle.”
“The guards are either dead or escaped. They probably fell into one of the traps set by Kilgerai.”
“A trap? Have they already started building the fortress?”
Hjelmar asked with a doubtful look on his face. The slight hint of uneasiness on his face was puzzling.
“…I don’t know. It seems like there was a very elaborate setup around the lord’s mansion, but I didn’t go near it, so I can’t say…”
“…It might be a hidden golem…”
“What?”
Hjelmar jumped when he saw us and Ecla-san staring at him with tense faces.
“N-no, I only heard rumors in the “Magic Academic Zone,” but I heard that the Western Lord was in a position of subservience to the capital, but was also in communication with the Empire.”
“This is not a rumor. It’s a known fact. Then why are we talking about a golem?”
“I heard that the Northern Lord and the Empire blamed her for not participating in the last rebellion, and that they had written that she had to return the golem immediately because it was a breach of contract.”
Ecla-san pondered. The fact that she doesn’t deny it means that she must have some idea of what she’s talking about. I thought it was the fox lord who was upset, but maybe they had their own reasons for denouncing her.
If they brought such a huge thing into the territory, there is no reason for it to go unnoticed.
The cavalry golem we saw in Casemaian was quite large in parts, even if it was disassembled. The main body parts, not to mention the arms and legs, would extend beyond the bed of the carriage.
“There had been sightings of strange men going in and out of the lord’s mansion. So I thought they were assembling it at the lord’s mansion.”
“Assembling? What are the components?”
“…I don’t know that much.”
“Ecla-san, that kind of report…”
“Is it a Golem? No. At least, I have not heard of it, but if that is the case, it makes sense that the Imperial Mages are bloodthirsty to disarm the trap. However…”
A roar came from the direction of Keol. When I locked eyes with Myrril, she nodded slightly.
It sounded like the firing of a bronze cannon.
“If only I was convinced that getting it would be a turning point in my life, but…”