Chapter 14 – Perhaps, It All Started Here
#1
Lawrence gazed at the approaching giant mountain and recalled the tragic downfall of Montemer, which collapsed after just one battle.
It was so unbelievable that he kept asking again and again.
<Dammit! How many times do I have to tell you? Your father! Your siblings! They’re all dead!>
<If you ask one more time, I’ll make you starve for a week, you hear!?>
Even though they treated him like trash, they hadn’t abandoned him.
No, this time, after experiencing his father’s attitude, he vaguely understood.
Although the resentment hadn’t changed.
‘Perhaps, Father sent me away to succeed in artifact research and come back.’
That was when it all began.
When the Montemer family was torn apart, and the powers of the continent divided up its interests, the way people treated Lawrence also changed.
Even those who hadn’t crossed a line turned into monsters, and they started hitting him too.
‘Where did it all start?’
Lawrence thought endlessly.
There must have been a beginning to everything.
He thought back and back until his thoughts reached Loria’s death.
‘If only she hadn’t died here, history might have changed.’
If Loria hadn’t died during this subjugation.
If the family had remained intact, and if he had been treated better while continuing his research.
If… the family hadn’t been annihilated and he hadn’t regressed before he could succeed in his artifact research…
Could Lawrence have been recognized by his family?
He had thought about it, so he had to try it.
“Lawrence! Time to eat!”
“Huh? Oh.”
“What were you thinking about? Something strange again, right?”
“I was just thinking about how to grill the meat even tastier.”
“…”
He remembered Rachel telling him not to mess with food.
How was she doing now?
As Lawrence casually entertained Loria’s chatter, Freya, the commander, sat down beside him and spoke.
“My lord, please eat plenty. We should arrive by tomorrow.”
“Has the carrier pigeon arrived?”
“If nothing went wrong, it should have arrived today.”
Hopefully, there wouldn’t be any issues.
With a big bite of meat, Lawrence thought.
“Mmm, meat is the best. Don’t you think, sister?”
“If you keep eating like that, you’re going to get fat.”
“Hehe, but I can’t resist.”
“Ha… You’ve really come back crazy. Anyway, I do feel a bad vibe, so maybe you’re right.”
“Mm.”
Although it was a pleasant meal, they all felt it.
This would likely be the last time they could enjoy a peaceful meal.
They were heading into an undead-infested lair with a small group.
But Lawrence knew.
Some may be injured here, but no one would die, and the monster of the North would definitely arrive.
‘The Grand Duke can’t stand undead or dark wizards.’
His son had been one of their victims too.
As long as they bought enough time, everything would be taken care of.
In the meantime, he just needed to steal the Holy Grail.
And so, the last night before entering the mining village passed.
#2
A man who was gazing at the snowy expanse turned around.
Someone approached to report and handed him a small note.
“Is this true?”
“It’s directly from Montemer, so it’s trustworthy information.”
“Hah… Those bastards dared to come this far into the empire’s territory?”
“What shall we do?”
Wearing a cloak full of fur, the man spoke.
His massive, rippling muscles clearly demonstrated the immense strength of his body.
“I’ll go alone. Watch the house while I’m gone.”
“Shouldn’t someone go with you?”
“No need. Preparing takes too long. Just ready the horses.”
“Understood.”
The man didn’t like repeating himself.
In the North, while you were talking twice, your allies’ heads could get lopped off.
During winter, wolves, yetis, barbarians, and frozen skeletons all ran rampant.
You couldn’t waste time giving commands when dealing with those kinds of things.
So, this man acted first, spoke later.
People called him the King of the North, the Grand Duke of the North.
Bam!
He opened the door and looked at his son, who was sleeping, breathing heavily.
“How is his condition?”
“There hasn’t been any improvement.”
“Hmm…”
Without a word, he closed the door and headed toward the location of the report.
With his only son wasting away like that…
To release his frustration, he quickly spurred his horse south.
‘The mining village, huh? It’s close.’
“Open the gate!”
Rumble!
He gave the order to open the gate as he pushed his horse to full speed.
The soldiers responded to the Grand Duke’s shout.
“Holy crap! Open it quickly!”
“Hey, the gate’s going to blow again!”
“We need to win this time! Hurry, move!”
Clank, clank, clank!
The gate began to open.
Sweating profusely, the soldiers struggled to open the heavy iron gate.
Any normal lord would wait.
But the Grand Duke of the North wasn’t an ordinary person.
“Go! You’re too slow, you bastards!!”
BOOM!
With a dazzling flash of light, the gate was blown away.
The iron door, crushed and mangled, rolled on the ground with a hollow clanging sound.
Defeated by the overwhelming power, the soldiers were once again left in deep despair.
“Aaaah! We lost again!?”
“Grand Duke! How many times is this already!?”
“Please, just wait quietly for once!!”
Hahaha!
A hearty laugh echoed across the snowy plains.
Neither the soldiers’ wails, the biting cold, nor the numbing sensation in his hands could lift the Grand Duke’s mood.
“Hmph… Just wait, you bastards. I’m going to rip you to shreds.”
The Grand Duke’s cheerful face twisted into one of monstrous rage.
#3
[Hogen, Mining Village].
A village nestled between two peaks, with a massive mine that served as a key outpost on the way to the northern front.
They could bypass it, but the mountains were swarming with monsters.
Normally, the place would be filled with guards, mercenaries, and miners, but…
[Uuuuuhhh…]
[Aaaargh…]
“As expected, it’s become an undead lair.”
“We’ll need to bombard the entire village with magic.”
The place was already teeming with undead.
It was safe to assume there were no survivors left.
Lawrence visualized the scene in his mind.
‘If my memory serves me right…’
The Holy Grail should be in the basement of the village chief’s house.
<They say their family has protected that place for generations.>
<Tch, that’s why they met such a fate. Poor souls. Didn’t the Grand Duke of the North’s prestige also fall because of it?>
Bits of information gathered from various places.
If he was going to act on it, it was best to do it alone.
Everything was already perfectly prepared.
The one to face the powerful undead wouldn’t be him—it would be Freya and the Grand Duke.
Lawrence checked the remaining charges of his artifacts.
[Fire Arrow: 6/10]
[Lightning Bolt: 8/10]
[Healing: 12/30]
[Warrior’s Agility]
[Negative Energy]
With only five artifacts, it was certainly insufficient.
However, he didn’t have infinite mana, but rather, a fair amount of artifacts.
“I’ll move in first.”
“What!? Are you crazy!?”
“Commander Freya, please follow the plan.”
“But, my lord! My lord!?”
Thud—!
Lawrence quickly dashed forward, using Warrior’s Agility.
No one had predicted his sudden move, and thus, no one could stop him.
Loria gasped, covering her mouth, while Freya’s face turned pale.
If anything happened to the young lord here…
“Everyone! Move in! Start chanting!”
“Y-yes!”
Crackle—!
The mages began preparing their assault on the entire village.
At the same time, the soldiers formed a phalanx and advanced slowly.
[Aaargh!]
The undead, sensing the mana, turned their heads toward them.
Creak, Creak—
Like broken wind-up dolls, one by one, the creatures with decaying eyes began moving.
The mages, undisturbed, continued their chants.
Fwoosh—!
The heat from the fire magic, the pride of the Phoenix Mage Corps, began to fill the air.
Loria chose a completely different spell.
She focused not on offense but defense.
“—Blessing of Mana, grant me the blessing of strength! Strength!”
“—Flames of devastation, burn the enemy! Fireball!”
Boom—!
A massive fireball exploded.
The soldiers were buffed with enhancement magic.
Thus, the battle began.
Meanwhile, Lawrence headed alone into the midst of the undead-filled village.
The villagers, having turned into undead, began creaking and clattering as they chased after him.
Without hesitation, Lawrence pulled out the Holy Meat he had saved.
“This isn’t just meat. This will purify you.”
Smash—!
The undead’s body dissolved immediately after being struck by the chunk of meat.
Lawrence’s body, strengthened to match that of a saint, combined with Dragon Body and Warrior’s Agility, made ordinary undead no match for him.
[Holy Bone]
[Solid Bone from the Meat]
[Manifestation: Healing]
[Manifestation Charges: 14/15]
Of course, he also brought ordinary steel weapons, but they were merely for self-defense—
a last resort.
“Fire Arrow.”
Fwoosh—!
Even though it was just a 1st Circle spell, it was more than enough to quickly deal with the low-level undead that were once villagers.
Faster, even faster.
Lawrence swung the bone and moved swiftly.
Boom!
An explosion echoed from the entrance.
Bright red flames soared, and a large group of undead began heading toward it.
The ones controlling them were likely in the mine.
<At first, they thought the Holy Grail was deep inside the mine, so they searched it. But it wasn’t there—it was hidden in the run-down house of the village chief.>
<Ha! How could they not know?>
<They hid it so well. Who would have thought they’d make a secret passage inside a waste pit?>
<It was only revealed after someone, in anger, blew up the whole house.>
“Ugh, I really don’t want to go in there…
But what choice did he have?
It was better than summoning a Death Knight.
He had to move fast before they heard the commotion and emerged from the mine.
‘There it is.’
At the centre of the village.
A dilapidated house stood on a hill overlooking both the mine and the entire village.
Of course. Since it was on a hill, they must have dug below it to create a hidden space.
It was geographically perfect.
Lawrence hid himself as he observed the village chief’s house.
It seemed like the place had already been ransacked, with only undead wandering about inside.
Apparently, they hadn’t found the secret passage yet.
Carefully, Lawrence headed toward the waste pit.
“Ha, seriously… I’d rather just fight the undead.”
He had prepared for this, but still…
Lawrence deactivated the Fire Arrow artifact and shoved it back into his bag.
Then, he pulled out a new artifact and implanted it.
[Artifact: Fancy Teapot]
[Manifestation: Clean]
[Charges: 5] [Simultaneous Manifestation: 1]
[Implantation Status: Ready]
“Phew… Alright, let’s go.”
The magic could clean any dirt or waste stuck to his body.
Lawrence gritted his teeth as he reached for the waste pit.
[Negative Energy is activating.]
[Absorbing negative energy from the waste.]
Don’t absorb that—!
Suppressing the urge to cry, Lawrence desperately fumbled until he finally grasped a ring—like object.
Click.
With a grinding sound, the waste spilled inward.
At the same time, a set of stairs leading down appeared.
—
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