Episode 249 – The Lord of Tobaron (2)
As the Siren’s Hymn dispelled the black sorcery, Kamel’s soldiers came to their senses, dropped their weapons, and quickly surrendered.
Clatter—
Something fell from the soldiers being rounded up.
Each one carried at least a single gold coin. When gathered together, the pile of gold coins amounted to hundreds of thousands.
At a glance, I realized the truth—the gold coins were the medium for the black sorcery.
“Is it ‘Pure’?”
A collective spell that amplifies emotion.
If Kamel’s control ability was combined with a group of shamans, infecting an entire army with black sorcery wouldn’t be difficult.
Karl’s eyes sparkled as he looked at the mountain of gold coins.
“That’s a fortune. No owner, right?”
“You’d better not touch that gold.”
“Huh? Why?”
“It belongs to Fenry.”
Karl, who had been scooping up coins, paused to glance at me, then quietly stood.
He’d already heard from Arthur what happens when you get tangled up with Fenry and money.
“He really raked it in.”
“That just means there were a lot of prisoners.”
“What do we do with them? We can’t leave them here—it’s too much.”
There were a huge number of prisoners.
Most of the high-ranking officers and lords were dead, so there was no immediate threat, but it would still be too risky to keep them all near the castle.
After thinking it over, I turned to Karl.
“Nella? The priestess?”
“Yes. She’s likely still staying near the Blue Inn. I’ll bring her here.”
“And if she refuses?”
“If you tell her I sent you, she’ll come.”
Karl nodded and disappeared from view, and I summoned Lochter, Heinz, and Sharbadin.
Heinz came and greeted me, and I expressed my gratitude. Thanks to his perfectly timed arrival with the alliance army, we had won with minimal casualties.
“I only followed orders. I didn’t do much.”
“You’ll be doing a lot more from now on. I look forward to working with you.”
“Just say the word.”
Though Heinz was under Lochter’s command, he didn’t hesitate to nod.
He knew the man before him outranked Lochter.
The golden wave.
And he had personally witnessed this man’s power during the battle.
A mysterious figure with immeasurable depth.
Even now, Beneta’s key figures had rushed to him at a single summons.
Heinz realized that this man’s influence already extended beyond the Anti-Kamel Alliance—into Beneta itself.
Moments later, Sharbadin arrived, and I asked her how she was.
“Are you alright?”
“I was in serious danger, but Sir Lochter saved me. I want to thank him again here. Thank you.”
As Sharbadin bowed politely, Lochter simply waved it off like it was nothing.
But her gratitude didn’t end there—she stepped closer to me, took my hands in hers, and bowed her head.
She knew well who the true savior of Beneta was.
“You’re no longer just my benefactor—you’ve saved all of Beneta. I will never forget what I owe you.”
“I only fulfilled a promise made in the blood pact. Don’t worry about it.”
“But still…”
“Is Lord Dorneth alright?”
We turned our gaze to where Dorneth was lying peacefully.
Healers had just treated him, but he had yet to regain consciousness—his strength completely spent.
“Fortunately, there were no severe injuries. But it will take time for him to wake.”
“That’s why I called you, Lady Sharbadin.”
“Me?”
“Someone needs to act in Lord Dorneth’s stead.”
She was both his consort and the lady of the house—more than qualified to serve as his proxy.
A short while later, Karl returned with Nella.
Flanked by her escort, the Black Roses, she paused at the sight of the devastation before approaching with a grim expression.
“You called for me?”
“You look like you’ve got a lot to say, but please listen to me first.”
The reason I had summoned Sharbadin and Priestess Nella was because they were the ones who could mobilize Beneta’s forces.
The blood pact was led by myself, Dorneth, and Fenry—but for now, I was the only one present.
So I had summoned Sharbadin and Nella to stand in as proxies for Dorneth and Fenry.
There was only one reason:
“Because I need support for what I’m about to do.”
First, I explained black sorcery and ‘Pure’ to everyone.
Then I revealed the existence of the Dagger of the Dead.
As expected, the atmosphere grew heavy.
Beneta and Kamel’s main force—both had been sacrificed for the sake of Kamel’s personal ambition.
When I told them about Demtor’s existence and the current state of the Ordor Forest, everyone groaned.
The battle wasn’t over yet.
“What should we do from here on?”
Sharbadin’s question drew everyone’s attention to me.
The Guide of the Other Races.
Beneta was already prepared to listen to me.
Now that I had earned their trust, even a single word carried weight.
I nodded slowly and began to speak.
“Heinz, take the prisoners to Elletor Fortress.”
“All of them?”
There were more prisoners than alliance soldiers.
I nodded, then turned to Sharbadin.
“Please mobilize troops from Beneta to assist the alliance. Not only to guard the prisoners, but to defend Elletor Fortress.”
“You’re saying Hell Grime’s forces might reach Elletor?”
“It’s unlikely, but we need to prepare.”
If the Ordor Forest were to fall, we’d also need reinforcements to rescue the witches.
Sharbadin realized the urgency and nodded.
“I’ll discuss the troop allocation with Sir Natone.”
After she left, Heinz looked puzzled and asked,
“Then… what are you planning to do with the prisoners?”
“We’ll absorb them all.”
“Pardon? Them?”
“It will take time, but it’s not impossible.”
Both Kamel’s main force and the Anti-Kamel Alliance were made up of people born and raised in the Tobaron region.
In other words, they shared a common homeland.
The conflict had only arisen from the choices of a few lords—most who followed them bore no real fault.
If peace continued, they could easily become neighbors and friends once again.
I knelt and drew a rough map of Tobaron’s major territories in the dirt. As I marked it up, I gave instructions to Heinz.
“Once this battle wraps up, begin occupying the territories one by one, starting with Blyer.”
Kamel had abandoned Tobaron and fled.
Blyer and Etor could be claimed without resistance.
Once order was restored and it was made clear that a new lord had emerged, the other territories would stabilize naturally.
“Then Lord Lochter should be named the new ruler—”
Lochter shook his head.
“I refuse.”
“...What?”
“There’s no place for a lord in the future I seek. That’s not what I want.”
His goal was to rise to the pinnacle as a swordsman.
The role of ruler would only hinder that path.
“But—who else could possibly take your place?”
“Tobaron will come under the control of the blood pact. And its new ruler—has already been chosen by the heavens.”
“The heavens?”
Heinz looked confused, so I turned my gaze toward one thing.
Even unconscious, he never let it go.
I looked at the Shield of Oath gripped in Dorneth’s hand and replied:
“Tobaron’s shield.”
Protector of the region.
If they heard Dorneth’s divine name, no one in Tobaron could object.
“Ah...”
Heinz realized it too—but he also showed hesitation at the fact Dorneth was of another race.
The same would likely apply to many nobles of the Anti-Kamel Alliance and the humans as well.
The gap born of racial difference.
That wasn’t something easily bridged in a short time.
So, I planned to use the blood pact to manage things.
“Lord Heinz, I ask that you govern Blyer Territory.”
“What?!”
Eyes wide, Heinz waved his hands in disbelief.
A lord?
He had never even considered the idea.
“A human domain cannot be ruled by another race. Human lords will be appointed from within the alliance—”
“But all appointments will be made solely by the blood pact.”
Hunt, Beneta, and the Black Rose would form the core of this alliance.
Among them, the humans would be placed under Hunt’s leadership.
“So, give the nobles a clear warning. No more men like Kamel. If another rises like him, Hunt will show no mercy.”
At my words, Heinz swallowed dryly and nodded.
Perhaps my presence had intimidated him.
“Then… Kamel must never set foot in Tobaron again.”
A voice came from behind—Nella.
She was right.
If the blood pact was to fully take root in Tobaron, Kamel’s presence had to vanish.
“That’s why I need the power of the Black Rose.”
“Say the word.”
So many had died in this battle.
Humans and other races had pointed swords at one another. Their loved ones had died to those very weapons.
If hatred and resentment deepened, Tobaron could never be one.
“We’ll make Kamel the sworn enemy of Tobaron.”
The Black Rose controlled Tobaron’s ears and eyes, and spread its rumors.
That both races had shed blood because of Kamel.
That he and the black sorcerers were responsible for today’s catastrophe.
I intended to make him a public enemy.
“I’ll spread the word myself.”
“You will, Lady Nella?”
“An elf doesn’t lie.”
Nella recalled what Kamel had done, then smiled bitterly.
Her loved ones had been tortured and killed by him.
She was a victim, too.
“Everything Kamel did is true. I think I’ll be pretty good at cursing that man.”
If the elven priestess spoke herself, everyone would listen.
“By the way, has the master sent a signal yet?”
“She will, once she finds Kamel’s hiding place.”
“A signal…”
Instead of replying, I pointed upward.
The shadow sprite that always hovered at Fenry’s side.
Nella glanced at Banri and nodded slightly, then stepped back.
“Take care of the master.”
“How many could even threaten her? Don’t worry.”
Fenry wasn’t the one we needed to worry about right now.
It was us.
More precisely—our condition.
“We’re all close to collapsing.”
Clashing with a 5-star, the battle at the wall, the fight with Lyon, and the final conflict…
If the signal came now, we’d ride out by carriage.
But while we still had this moment of calm, we couldn’t let it slip by.
“Can we get treatment? Full strength.”
“I’ll prepare a temporary ward. Call in your companions.”
We’d done enough to stabilize Tobaron for now. The rest could be handled by those who remained.
Hunt was now shifting its focus to hunting Kamel.
But first—we had to recover.We needed this brief rest—To prepare for what came next.