The moment he drove his horse toward the village engulfed in chaos, a blue light flared before Gunther Sirhe’s eyes.
Ding!
[Act 2, Chapter 1 begins: «In Repose and Justice»]
You have confirmed that the condition of the Union of Kingdoms is far worse than expected. Valloren borders directly on Luthien. If it falls, the Union will collapse in an instant. Though you originally intended to head to the kingdom of Nereus, you have decided to intervene in Valloren’s affairs.
Objective: Emergency rescue of Labrin Village and subsequent investigation of the surrounding area.
Gunther’s brows drew slightly together as he read the message. The tone of the status window had changed. It felt as though the narration was now centered on “him.” Before he could fully process that strange sensation, another notification sounded.
Ding!
[Stigma: <The One Who Raises His Head> evolves under the guidance of the King of Ninety-Nine Defeats]
[A new authority of the King of Ninety-Nine Defeats is engraved into your body]
Pshhhh!
Pain pierced his forearm, as if his skin had been sliced by a sharp blade. The sword-shaped stigma that had once occupied only his forearm began to expand. A silver pattern crawled up his body like something alive, from his shoulder all the way upward.
New symbols appeared: a shield and a falcon. The shield firmly guarded from below, while the falcon above it folded its wings and fixed a piercing gaze somewhere beyond. A familiar voice echoed in his ears:
['The shield represents the weak who must be protected, and the falcon represents precision of judgment and a sense of balance']
At the same time, a new indicator appeared in the upper right corner of his vision.
[Chivalry: 0]
[You grow stronger by upholding the code of chivalry]
“...What kind of chivalry is that supposed to be?”
[The King of Ninety-Nine Defeats says you know better than anyone]
There was no time to press further. The first clash happened almost immediately. The village knights and their soldiers, having noticed Gunther’s group, quickly regrouped. On the other side of their spears and swords, dozens of empty eyes stared back.
Swish—swish—swish!
Arrows fired from the rear by Cheonmae pierced their arms and legs, but the enemies only swayed for a moment before returning to combat stance.
— ......
Gunther raised his sword to cut one down, but stopped and stepped back. His gaze shifted behind him. Seril Barkel and Servan Barkel. Both had already engaged in battle, yet their ◈ Nоvеlіgһт ◈ (Continue reading) movements were unusually stiff.
He had seen them fight monstrous birds and mutants before. Back then, they had simply been unaccustomed to fighting monsters, but in terms of pure skill against humans, they undoubtedly surpassed most of the platoon. After all, they were members of one of the Five Families of the Round Table. And yet now, their blades seemed weighed down by doubt and inner turmoil.
“...Hm.”
Gunther flipped his sword. Not the blade— the spine. Not to kill, but to suppress.
The platoon immediately picked up on the signal and changed tactics.
Tarsha Everlight deliberately reduced the power of her lightning. Levain Bernecker aimed only at joints, avoiding vital points. Blanc Ibel abandoned air blades and began slamming enemies into the ground with close combat techniques. Parco Draven applied only slowing debuffs.
— Rookie, with me.
— Ah, w-what?
— We’re doing the most important thing. Move!
— Yes!
Cheonmae and Ryan Parker began evacuating the villagers. Aside from the severely injured who could not move, the rest were fleeing the village in blind panic. No one knew what dangers awaited outside. With Cheonmae’s wide field of vision and Ryan’s ability to carry multiple wounded on his back, they were the perfect pair for evacuation.
Crunch!
Gunther’s sword spine slammed into the stomach of a knight trying to block them. The man’s body folded in half like a shrimp.
Whoosh!
But a reflexive counterattack followed immediately. If Gunther hadn’t twisted his body away, his head might have flown off. He spun and kicked the opponent in the jaw, knocking him down, then clicked his tongue.
“...The level of brainwashing is absurd.”
Their minds were gone, but their movements had grown sharper. Their trained skills remained, and with fear and hesitation removed, they displayed far more dangerous combat power than usual.
“This isn’t the work of some ordinary priest... Is there a named priest nearby?”
In the end, however, they were all subdued. Seven knights and more than fifty soldiers. For capturing a single small village, it was an excessive number.
Most likely, their force had grown as they passed through other villages and estates. The dried, layered dark-red bloodstains on their equipment were proof enough.
Pshhhh!
Tarsha’s lightning periodically pierced the fallen enemies.
Paralysis. Watching those who could no longer resist, Gunther frowned. Levain beside him tilted his head in confusion as well. They were thinking the same thing.
— Hm, where’s the caster?
— ...Watching from somewhere, most likely.
— Not small fry, right?
— Definitely not.
After finishing the evacuation, Cheonmae vanished, saying she would scout the surroundings. It would be ideal if she found the caster... but Gunther had a feeling things wouldn’t go that smoothly.
“...They should hurry up and calculate the reward for clearing Act 1, Chapter 5.”
Act 2 had already begun, yet there was still no news. For Gunther, who was certain he had cleared the final chapter of Act 1 brilliantly, it was irritating.
He let out a short sigh and shifted his gaze. While his companions busied themselves checking on the rescued villagers, the twins caught his attention—standing there, staring at the paralyzed prisoners with heavy expressions. From their eyes, Gunther understood several things.
— Looks like familiar faces.
Servan nodded grimly.
— ...They are vassals of our family.
This land belonged to the House of Barkel—one of the Five Families of the Round Table to which Servan and Seril belonged. There was no way they wouldn’t recognize the vassals granted these estates. Seril’s gaze fixed on one of the bound knights, his body covered head to toe in dried villagers’ blood.
— Sir Aidan... When the village suffered poor harvests and people starved, he would personally go hunting in the forest to feed them.
At that moment, Servan cast aside his pride and looked at Gunther with pleading eyes.
— Is there a way... to return them to normal? Do you know?
The pretended maturity was gone. Gunther sighed and looked away.
Reversing mental manipulation wasn’t simple. The first condition was the caster’s death, but even then there was no guarantee the mind would return—or whether it had already been irreparably destroyed. The individual differences were too great. Especially if the brainwashing had lasted a long time, the path back became exponentially more difficult. This was one of the reasons players cursed the Cult of Repose endlessly. If you let your guard down for even a moment, carefully raised party members could be broken forever.
— A way to immediately lift the influence... — Gunther was about to speak.
[The Drug-Addicted Saint cries bitterly]
[Alphonse of Red Street watches her in astonishment]
[He asks if she has finally gone completely insane]
[The Drug-Addicted Saint does not even blink]
[She only shakes her flasks and retorts wildly, saying that her moment has finally come]
Gunther fixed his gaze on the upper part of his vision.
“...No way. Really?”
[The Drug-Addicted Saint proudly confirms: “Exactly!”]
Since he remained silent, the twins stared at him.
— ...Why did you stop mid-sentence?
— Don’t rush him, Servan. Looks like something like a pufferfish floated up in his head.
— It’s called an insight.
— ......
After listening to the explanation, Gunther slowly nodded.
— It might be possible. At the very least, we can stop their condition from worsening.
— R-really?!
The twins’ faces brightened instantly. At that moment, Gunther thought they might be much younger than they tried to appear.
— Please wait a moment.
He began manipulating Karma.
Ding-ding-ding!
[You offer 100 Karma to the Drug-Addicted Saint]
[The Drug-Addicted Saint carefully shakes her head]
[She says this is not out of greed, but because your skill is insufficient to create a mind-awakening herbal mixture]
That made sense. Compared to the Karma offered to Alphonse or the King of Ninety-Nine Defeats, the Saint had received very little. She was the only one among the trio whose rank had not yet increased. Naturally, that severely limited Gunther’s “alchemical knowledge.” He quickly checked his remaining Karma.
[Remaining Karma: 1900]
Five hundred had been spent after speaking with the One-Eyed King, but the reserves were still more than sufficient. The reward for Act 1, Chapter 5 would arrive soon, so he could afford to spend now.
[You offer 300 Karma to the Drug-Addicted Saint]
[The Drug-Addicted Saint widens her eyes]
[She trembles at the amount she has received for the first time in her life]
[She clenches her fists, declaring that a rank increase is near]
[Alphonse of Red Street clicks his tongue]
At that moment, a bubbling sensation rose in the area of his heart where the stigma was engraved.
[Stigma: <Healer and Executioner> greatly strengthens under the guidance of the Drug-Addicted Saint]
— Fifty forbidden mixing recipes engraved!
As new knowledge surged into his mind, another message appeared.
[The Drug-Addicted Saint examines the surrounding flora]
[She notes that it is fortunate that it is currently winter]
[This is the season when mind-restoring herbs grow best]
[She provides you with a list of herbs to find]
If a few more ingredients were added to what they already had, it would be possible to create a compound that weakened mental influence. The moment Gunther explained this, everyone’s faces brightened... except for one.
— Restoring their minds... is that really the right thing?
Parco Draven’s voice was so quiet only Gunther heard it. Gunther looked at him—but there was no time to ask.
Whoosh—thud!
Cheonmae, who had gone scouting, landed in the center of the village as if falling from the sky. It was a descent worthy of her codename—like a falcon diving. She had returned faster than expected. Dust and cold wind swept over the group.
— Senior, you’re back—
Gunther cut himself off. Something was in Cheonmae’s hand.
Thud-thud. A head rolled across the ground. With arrows stuck in it like ornaments, it rolled unevenly before stopping at Gunther’s feet.
— That’s the caster.
Ping!
With a casual flick, Cheonmae kicked the head away like a football, sending it flying beyond the village.
— Probably not the main boss... but this area was under his control. Took some effort to track him down.
— ...Ah, um.
— What’s with that face? Did you think I’d come back empty-handed?
— Me? How could I possibly think that, senior.
While Seril and Servan stood there with their mouths open, Gunther realized Cheonmae wasn’t finished.
— What else did you see?
— ...You’re sharp.
Cheonmae’s gaze shifted beyond the village.
— Not sure whether to call it a “welcome guest”... or something else.
