The debt that Richard left behind was brief, but the miasma of the plague lingered stubbornly.
Splat—
Corrupted blood spurted from the neckless body of Kalgos like a fountain.
And again, it tainted the air and land around it.
Even in death, Kalgos’s corpse was utterly malicious.
Watching the sight, Sig bit his lip.
The men of Riot Castle also wore anxious expressions.
The dead Kalgos had itself become another Plague Castle.
They had to dispose of the corpse quickly before the situation worsened.
“Richard. This disgusting thing, do you have any way to deal with it?”
Richard, who had been staring blankly into space, turned his head.
Sig’s finger was pointing at the giant.
“A way? I don’t have one.”
“What? Then…”
“For now, at least.”
Richard’s words filled the room with a sense of disappointment.
By land and by wind.
He pictured the plague spreading across the continent.
At that moment, Richard strode up to the giant.
Hss—
A foul stench, carried by the wind, swept over him.
He could vividly imagine the Artifacts and treasures melting inside the monster’s belly.
From the Crown of Ice to the cloak, Dragon Tooth, and White Ghost.
All of them had been swallowed whole.
Richard now stood with only the clothes on his back. If not for the Light of Bartenberg wrapped around him, he would have been in quite an embarrassing state.
“How thoroughly defiled they’ll become. My precious treasures.”
Suppressing a sigh, he gazed at the giant’s body and head.
Right there, the Light of Bartenberg rose and engulfed the two plague-ridden lumps.
“Don’t worry too much about the spread of the plague. For now, I’ve put a Seal on it.”
The Light of Bartenberg, having reached Intermediate Divinity, completely blocked the foul energy.
After such a fierce battle, he had used up most of his Faith, so this was the best he could do.
“So then…”
Richard trailed off, letting out a long breath.
He looked around at his companions and finally turned his gaze to Alan.
Then, suddenly—
Richard’s body crumpled.
“S-Saint!”
A voice squeezed in among the startled men.
“I’m going to get some sleep… Adele, if the mages do anything stupid, wake me up.”
Richard, who had returned from death once already.
It was a miracle he had remained conscious this long.
“So he’s asleep now…”
Was that really the right word for it?
The Lord of Ord Castle let out a relieved sigh.
“This is not a suitable place for the Saint to rest.”
“I agree.”
The family heads around him nodded.
“Prepare to return!”
A Commander gave the order.
Just then, someone cried out as if wringing out the words.
“The Baren Kingdom must answer for this incident!”
Clang.
Pitch-black ‘armor golems’—the so-called Magical Armor Corps—took up battle formations.
Behind them, the mages began to raise their Spirit Staffs one by one.
“The plague that poured from your lands! We too could not escape its toll and have had to bear countless casualties and astronomical costs. Besides, you received our support to solve your own disaster—you cannot deny it!”
The mages shouted in unison.
They demanded compensation and reparations for their damages.
Otherwise, they threatened to go to war.
But the men of Riot Castle simply blinked.
“What’s wrong with them? Why are they so meek?”
“Aren’t they trying to pick a fight?”
“In that state?”
The murmured voices of the knights remained unconcerned.
A Spirit Staff without mana was little more than a sturdy stick.
At that, the family heads of the Magic Alliance were infuriated.
They had to carry out the plan they made for the sake of war justification, or at least to leash Baren.
But…
Their minds told them to threaten, but their hearts were unwilling.
“Because of that man’s aura…!”
The mages’ gazes flickered toward the collapsed Richard and then away.
Honestly, they felt guilty.
The Light of Bartenberg, which had bloomed on the battlefield, had also been a great reassurance to the mages.
“Tsk…”
Sig stroked his chin.
The Temple Knights also looked at the mages with curious eyes.
An awkward tension spread through the air.
Then Alan stepped forward.
“This is pointless. Put your staves down.”
All the family heads looked toward him at once.
Alan, ignoring them, walked over to Richard.
“No matter how much I think about it, I still can’t understand.”
Alan’s eyes were filled with questions.
Just what are you, Richard von Bartenberg?
In fact, Alan had only learned today that the northern Saint was of the Bartenberg Bloodline.
Moritz had shouted the name “Richard” as if coughing up blood, and it was not a common one.
Still, Alan wasn’t curious about his status right now.
Some of the knights who heard Alan’s muttered words lowered their gazes.
Richard lay as if dead.
The knights, too, wanted to ask him:
Why did that monstrous Kalgos call Richard ‘Father’?
He had clearly been killed by the monster, so how did he return with the Light of Bartenberg?
What was that sacred and brilliant ‘aura’?
Alan closed his eyes gently.
He stood in silence for a few minutes, as if sorting out his thoughts.
Countless hypotheses came to mind.
But in the end, only one floated up in his mind.
“…Hor.”
In the end, Alan reached a conclusion.
It was that Richard received Hor’s special favor.
He had witnessed the miracle called ‘Divine Revelation’ several times, so he knew well how a god manifested.
And the power Richard had just displayed was very similar to that.
“Was it you who dwelled in this man’s body? Not me, but him!”
His voice, full of jealousy, struck the ears of the knights.
Clang—!
In an instant, the elite of Riot Castle drew their swords.
“Step back. If you look at the Saint like that again, you won’t be forgiven.”
The atmosphere overheated.
The Magic Alliance and the northern forces stood off once more.
“Tch. Insolent brats.”
Alan, surrounded by swords, let his spirit flare up, then let it subside.
He recalled Hor’s Divine Revelation.
“If you weren’t followers of Hor, I’d burn you all alive.”
His mission was only to judge heretics.
He had no right to threaten followers of the same god.
With a snort, Alan turned away.
“…Let’s go back.”
***
When I opened my eyes again, I was already on the road back to Riot Castle.
“Richard, are you all right? Are you hurt anywhere? Oh! Would you like a sip of water?”
“Ah, geez!”
I shoved Moritz away as he kept fussing over me.
Then Aaron, and next Gide, scrambled to look after me.
Watching the scene, the Lord of Ord Castle laughed heartily beside me.
“You should accept it a little. It’s all because they’re worried about the Saint.”
“Ha… I do understand.”
They thought I was dead, but I came back to life. It’s not unreasonable for them to react like this.
“Still, it’s a bit burdensome, isn’t it?”
We walked on and on.
Behind us, no less than a thousand Magical Armor Corps marched.
“The mages… They seem more reasonable than I expected.”
“Heh, that’s true.”
I chuckled at the lord’s joke.
Why were the pride of the Southern Continent, the Magical Armor Corps, following us?
I’d already heard the whole story.
“Those Magical Armor Corps are indeed seriously contaminated. If they brought them back like this, the Southern Continent would be ruined.”
The Light remaining in Alan’s Spirit Staff was only enough to protect their bodies.
They had no time or energy to purify them.
If they could, they might have preferred to destroy them, but the mages didn’t even have the strength left to walk.
And, of course, they couldn’t stay on enemy soil forever.
In the end, they could only drag their weary bodies home.
“To think those guys would end up giving up the golems they prized so much… If they hadn’t tried to threaten us, it might not have happened.”
The lord snorted in disbelief.
He looked back at the pitch-black Magical Armor Corps, unable to hide his complex feelings.
“Riot Castle’s power will soar sky-high now.”
I nodded.
“I’ll have to purify all the Magical Armor Corps before we arrive at Riot Castle.”
Unlike Alan, my Faith recovered by the day, so I’d be able to restore them all to their original state before arrival.
“Truly, they’re friends who give without holding back.”
They’d supported us in the Plague War and even donated golems to Baren.
I was so grateful, I didn’t know what to do.
I suppose I’ll have to give them a present someday.
***
“Is it really over?”
“It’s over. And if it isn’t, we’ll end it again.”
The knights whispered among themselves.
They had stayed near the Plague Castle to guard the sealed corpse of Kalgos.
“Those mages. They went back looking pretty pathetic because of the Magical Armor Corps, but they’re still not to be taken lightly. No doubt, like before, they’ll try to blame the plague damage on us.”
One knight said, clenching his fist.
His steel gauntlet rang with the sound.
“Don’t let your guard down just because the Plague War is over. Our main enemies are still those mages.”
“Yeah. You’re right.”
“But that thing… isn’t it strange?”
“What? That corpse… Huh?”
Suddenly, Kalgos’s body, still shrouded in the Light of Bartenberg, began to swell.
“Wha—what…”
“What the hell!”
The knights quickly drew their swords, their faces turning grim.
Kalgos’s swollen corpse looked about to burst.
Something was rising up from within it.
Before long, a long sword thrust through the Light of Bartenberg.
“That’s the Saint’s…”
The knight had no time to finish the thought.
Swaaak—!
The sword flew through the air with unstoppable force.
From the lips of those on watch, a familiar word echoed.
『Father—!』