Chapter 29
Before long, Lesche was clad in the constellation gold armor.
In this world, for knights, the constellation gold armor was truly a necessity. This was because demonic beasts were the common enemy of the continent. Thanks to the many improvements made in each country, the sacred gold armor was even easier to use than traditional armor. Of course, the price was astronomical.
The armor Lesche wore at this moment was the lightest and simplest of all. It provided enough protection to deal with one or two spells.
Apart from being reassuring, the situation was not easy to understand. Why did the demonic beast appear?
'How many days has it been since I went to the glacier?'
Seria didn’t go to inspect the glacier today because she had to get Abigail out of jail. She also skipped yesterday. But that was only a few days. Normally, it was very rare for demons to come down this far a week after the inspection.
“Hmm, it’s rare, but it’s not like it hasn’t happened before.”
The chances were very low, but there was a possibility that a demon would appear. At that moment, there was a light knock on the carriage door, and it burst open.
It was Linon.
"Lady Seria! Are you all right? It’s so hot in here. It’s like heaven."
Linon quickly sat on the other side and crouched down, looking as if he was about to cry. Seria asked while looking at his blue face.
“Were you riding a horse?”
“No, I was in a cart.”
“Why didn’t you travel in this carriage?”
“No no no. We left in a hurry, and I needed to check something.”
Linon, who dragged out the words, continued.
“You know we’re almost at Laurel Mansion, right? If you enter there, you’ll find knights, servants, including myself… Anyway, don’t use honorifics with anyone. Or we will die. There are demons living in that house.”
Linon's face was very serious as he spoke solemnly. He seemed frightened. The demons seemed to be related to the story Lesche had trouble telling her. When she was about to ask for details, she heard Linon’s cry.
“Oh, miss. Get behind me quickly…”
“What…?”
Before she realized it, her gaze turned to look out the window, and she followed it reflexively.
“……”
For a moment, her own breath became difficult.
As if dreaming, she saw the demonic beast right in front of her eyes. It was a much stranger figure than she had seen in the picture. All its skin was so black, and its gums and red teeth protruding evoked strong repulsion and disgust.
As a Stern, she often inspected the glacier, but it was the first time she saw the demon so closely. Those two differently colored eyes were unfocused and gleaming.
Above all.
The demonic beast was in perfect human form.
That was the strangest thing of all. Unlike normal humans, it was of great stature, its arms were too long and dragged on the ground, and it seemed to be three meters tall. However, its basic shape was that of a human, only more terrifying. When she first witnessed it in a dream, she was nearly mad, and now she fully understood it when she saw it in person.
This demon, by the way, was now… standing in front of the carriage window, staring at her.
This was the moment she had the premonition that she had to jump out of the carriage.
But the demonic beast opened its mouth wide and bit into the carriage.
“Miss!”
At the same time as Linon’s scream, the carriage shook violently. The horses neighed loudly, and the carriage tilted in place. Seria screamed and crouched down.
“Miss!”
“There’s another one!”
“The carriage is being attacked!”
She heard the knight urgently shout.
“Linon!”
When Seria barely got out of the hole where the carriage broke down, she grabbed Linon by the arm.
She pulled. Fortunately, he hadn’t fainted.
“Miss! Hurry and run to the other carriage…!”
Linon's words didn't last long. A black spot burst from his cheek. That’s why humans should never be near demons.
“…"
A chill ran down her spine. She turned around slowly. The demonic beast was pulling Linon’s leg with its long arm.
“Linon!”
Seria immediately shouted and pulled Linon’s arm. Although she couldn’t expel the demon like the sacred gold armor, Stern had purification power to some extent. Although Seria was born with weak purification power, it seemed she could purify Linon’s face somehow.
A knight immediately raised his sword and charged at the demonic beast.
With a deafening sound, the knight’s body flew. She widened her eyes in surprise. She knew it. She knew that the body of the demonic beast was as hard as metal. She knew it from the original story, and she also knew it from Stern’s knowledge that remained in Seria’s body. However, experiencing it firsthand was a different matter.
The mouth of the demonic beast opened wide. That was when the other demon stared at her. Suddenly, the arm of the demonic beast was cut off and fell to the ground.
Lesche was right in front of her.
It happened so quickly. It was only a matter of seconds before Lesche jumped and cut the demon’s throat. She vaguely observed the scene as the demonic beast fell and Lesche ran towards her.
He knelt on one knee in front of her and asked in an urgent voice.
“Are you hurt?”
“No, I’m not hurt.”
He methodically checked her condition. He exhaled silently once he realized she wasn’t actually hurt. Then, Lesche pointed with his chin at Linon and asked.
“Is he dead?”
Linon heard and laughed.
“Hahaha… I’m not dead…”
“If you’re not dead, what are you doing?”
“Ah, yes. I was trying to purify him…,” Seria said.
“How much longer do you have to do that?”
“I’m finished,” Seria said.
“Then let’s go.”
Lesche grabbed Linon by the shoulders and pulled him mercilessly. Seria gently pulled her arms away from Lesche’s hand and tried to stand up again, but he grabbed and lifted her. Perhaps she was the only one who panicked, because Lesche was as calm as before.
Meanwhile, Linon checked his ankles and was crying.
“I thought the demonic beast had caught me and killed me…”
“I’m glad your face is okay.”
Seria felt relieved. She was worried because it was said that Seria’s “purification power” was weak in the original story, but fortunately, Linon’s face was clean. There was no trace of the demonic beast left.
“Thank you, my lady. Thank you…”
Linon sobbed. It wasn’t actually too difficult, but it was still an objectively good situation for the Grand Duke’s chief assistant to cry out “thank you.”
Meanwhile, the bodies of the demons were burning black. If they hadn’t rotted away, it would have been a great task to dispose of the bodies. Above all, it would have been aesthetically very frightening.
She felt like she was going to have a nightmare today.
“Your Highness, we can’t use this carriage anymore.”
“It’s gone.”
Lesche looked at the half-destroyed carriage, clicked his tongue, and looked up at the sky. A knight said in a worried voice,
“The snow doesn’t seem to stop.”
“What about the cart?”
“It’s fine, but it can only carry one person.”
“It’s going slow.”
Due to the sudden appearance of heavy snowfall, Seria couldn’t change her clothes and was “kidnapped” by Lesche. Fearing that the roads would be congested, he gave top priority to moving quickly, so there were only two carriages in the procession. One was a small cart. And the other was the carriage Lesche and Seria were traveling in, which had just been smashed by the demonic beast.
“You have to ride a horse, miss.”
“Oh, yes, sir.”
As Seria prepared to descend from Lesche’s arms, she asked.
“Where are you going?”
“Aren’t I going to ride a horse?”
“You have to ride like this. I don’t think you have time to take your riding clothes out of the cart.”
“No, as long as I take off this quilt, I can ride.”
Seria was now dressed in a loose nightgown, not looking much like a noble lady. However, she could accept that. She was confident because the original Seria was good at riding horses.
What was a waste was the blanket. It was warm, light, and soft, like her favorite quilt made of blue silk.
“You’ll freeze to death.”
“What?”
Lesche pointed with his chin at a knight standing beside him.
“Untie my cloak and lay it on the ground.”
“Yes, Your Highness!”
The knight immediately untied Lesche’s cloak and spread it on the ground. Lesche placed Seria on top and quickly took off the quilt that had been covering her body and began wrapping it around her shoulders. The cloak was wrapped and tightly tied around her waist.
What the hell is happening now?
“Seria Stern.”
“…Yes?”
Lesche exhaled and said in an angry voice.
“Your arms are frozen. Do you want to freeze?”
“No…”
Seria replied, looking at his face, but Lesche’s expression remained the same. She could tell he was worried about her, but the anger in his voice honestly scared her.
“Your Highness, it’s my fault. The young lady couldn’t help but purify me.”
Linon stood by her side with his dragged-out voice. But Lesche was right, she didn’t notice her arms were cold. However, she couldn’t help it because Linon was caught by the demonic beast.
She thought Lesche was incredibly cool. How could he not flinch at all in front of such strange creatures, and even get rid of them in an instant?
While thinking this, suddenly her body was lifted again into a pile, and before long, she was on a horse. And what’s more, Lesche was sitting behind her. She faced an awkward and strange situation of being a larva that was evaded on the ground and held in Lesche’s arms.
“Your Highness… Am I your luggage?”
“If you were luggage, I would have put you in the back.”
“That’s more valuable than luggage. But now I’m like a kimbap… no, a larva.”
