Chapter 167 : Chapter 167

Chapter 167: Homunculus

The hall where the residents held a banquet yesterday was, unbelievably, completely cleaned up.

“This way.”

Oliver led us.

It was natural, as if he had already anticipated this would happen.

“Now that Deiron's dead, is there anything urgent?”

“I don't know either.”

Bolero grumbled.

He had been woken up and called out.

Creeak.

Oliver opened a door in a corner of the hall.

It was a place I didn't even know existed yesterday.

The inside was packed with old wooden furniture.

There was a sweetish smell.

A large map hung in the center, reminiscent of a strategy room.

“Please sit. This is our secret meeting room, which even Deiron didn't know about.”

The three of us picked seemingly appropriate seats.

Looking closely, the map was an enlarged view of the Kingdom's southwestern region.

“I will get straight to the point. The fact that Deiron is gone thanks to the three of you is a miracle and the best news for all of us. But... the problem is that this is not the end, but the beginning.”

Oliver paused to choose his words and pointed at the map.

He pointed to the territories in the area one by one, starting from Tarnholt.

“To put it simply, the current situation is like only the head of this giant monster called chaos has been cut off. With the head gone, the body that has lost control will run rampant as it pleases. That frenzy might spread even more violently than when Deiron was alive.”

Deiron's evil influence was not limited to Tarnholt.

It stretched across the entire southwest.

This was a fact I knew.

‘Deiron was practically the king ruling this area.’

Noser muttered softly.

“Aren't the other territories in a similar situation to Tarnholt? Now that they are freed from Deiron, they should just find their own ways to survive. But your words, Lord, sound as if Deiron's remnants are still around. If you mean those guys, didn't we already wipe them all out at that mansion?”

That was the question I was about to ask.

I wondered if it was something for Oliver to worry about to this extent.

To be frank, now that the target with whom dialogue and compromise were impossible was gone, what remained was their burden to bear.

We couldn't meddle in every single one of those matters, nor should we.

“Surely you're not asking us to help with the pacification, Lord Oliver?”

Bolero said in a low voice.

I, too, felt a similar sense of 'surely not', but I decided to wait for an answer without rushing him.

“That is correct.”

None of the three of us looked stern.

It was because all three of us knew that Oliver was not a man to harbor useless ambitions.

“Explain it slowly.”

This time, I spoke.

Oliver caught his breath and opened his mouth.

“There are about six territories where Deiron's influence reached. They are all located in the southwest of the Kingdom.”

Oliver pointed to the map.

They were small territories, and even combined, they weren't half the size of Conwell.

“Not all of these places are in the same situation as our Tarnholt. A few were used as Deiron's core bases.”

“Core bases? What does that mean?”

“Literally, Sir Noser. They are regions that serve as the nerve center of the Deiron Legion.”

Noser narrowed his eyes.

Bolero and I crossed our arms at the same time.

“...The Deiron Legion, you say. Don't tell me Deiron really broke the pact and plotted treason?”

“I don't know the exact details either. But it is true that he increased his forces. Whether that power was really planned to be directed at the Imperial Capital as you say, or if there was another purpose....”

Oliver swallowed.

The wrinkles around his eyes seemed to have deepened overnight.

“What is clear is that leaving them alone will surely bring disaster. The other territories of the southwest, and even the Imperial Capital, are no exception. We must nip it in the bud before that happens.”

Noser clicked his tongue.

He tapped his forearm with the fingers of his crossed arm.

“I understand what you're saying, Lord. But in the end, they are just remnants. Them threatening the Imperial Capital? That sounds a bit irreverent. I'm saying there's no need to make a fuss.”

Noser glanced towards Bolero and me.

“It would be good to take a look around before heading to the Imperial Capital.”

To think he was asking for the consent of his prisoners, I almost teared up at his meticulousness and consideration, but this was not the time for that.

I stared at Oliver.

“Seeing you go this far, it seems there's something more?”

Oliver nodded. It was as if he had been waiting for me to ask back.

“Have any of you heard of Homunculus?”

The three of us looked at each other and remained silent.

Oliver's long explanation followed.

Homunculus.

It was a school of magic created by those seized by madness.

They were deviants who believed they could literally create life with human hands by crafting a body and breathing a soul into it.

In the Kingdom, the Imperial Magic Corps had long designated such magic and research as taboo and cracked down on it.

This was because imitating life against the principles and providence of nature was not tolerated for any reason.

“...Thus, although their line seemed to have been cut off on the surface, their bizarre experiments have continued here in the southwest under Deiron's protection.”

Having finished his long explanation, Oliver moistened his throat with tea.

In the meantime, the three of us exchanged glances.

I asked first.

“Was that also why Deiron consistently captured living people as sacrifices?”

“Yes, that is probably the case. They would have needed a steady supply of experimental materials.”

This time, Noser spoke.

Even he, who must have encountered numerous secret histories of the Kingdom, wore a bewildered expression as if he had never heard of it before.

“So Deiron tried to obtain an inexhaustible army with that. Since soldiers could be endlessly produced through experiments.”

“I think so too. The numbers are threatening, but the results are an even bigger problem. I've never seen them with my own eyes, but bizarre beings on the border between humans and Demonic Beasts must have been created.”

I tilted my head without realizing it.

He tried to infinitely increase his forces for his own ambition?

‘That Deiron?’

...I wonder.

‘It doesn't suit him. Deiron is not that kind of person.’

I have no intention of defending a man worse than an insect.

But I feel a sense of dissonance.

Because a swordsman who confidently boasted of having glimpsed the pinnacle of martial arts and holding a fragment of it in his hands would not obsess over something like the number of soldiers.

Even if it was just his own delusion.

“Grimlok.”

Oliver pointed to a place on the map. It wasn't far from Tarnholt.

“It is the main base of the Homunculus under Deiron. It's not even easy to approach as it's surrounded by swamps. Around the time Deiron's rampancy began, a thick fog of unknown origin also settled in the area, leading to all sorts of strange rumors.”

Oliver added as if talking to himself.

Rumors that the people of Grimlok had all burned to death at once and the smoke looked like fog, or that an un-dissipating steam was created because of strange experiments....

“The truth is unknown. Since the footsteps of outside merchants ceased long ago, there's no way to even hear the rumors.”

“As the Left Camp Leader of the Imperial Capital Knight Order who has roamed the entire Kingdom, I have never even seen or heard of such a bizarre place.”

I nodded. It was no different for me.

Bolero subtly raised his hand.

“You mentioned core bases of the Deiron Legion earlier. Does that mean there is another place like Grimlok?”

“I'm not sure if I should call it fortunate, but there are no other places as suspicious as Grimlok. However, there is one region where a danger no less than that lurks.”

Oliver pointed to a place on the map.

North of Grimlok, in the direction heading up to the western region.

It was a bay where the sea had cut in, and the land was concavely bent.

“Brakenport. I knew it.”

It was before Oliver even opened his mouth.

Noser slapped his knee and nodded.

“In fact, it is no exaggeration to say that Brakenport alone shoulders all the infamy of the southwest. It's a place where all sorts of evil groups, chased out from all over the Kingdom with nowhere to go, flow into. A place like the Kingdom's cesspool, where thieves, bandits, pirates, sinful mercenaries, and vagrants are all entangled.”

He said it while looking at me.

It was an explanatory tone, conscious of me being an Imperial.

Bolero, like Noser, also had a look of having already guessed.

‘I appreciate the consideration, but.’

I know that place too. No, it's more than just knowing it.

Because some of the legions from my past life landed at Brakenport.

‘...Back then, it was far from being a group of heinous villains; it was no different from an empty port.’

Was that also part of the Eight Demons' arrangement?

“Brakenport serves as the main force of the Deiron Legion. If the Homunculi are mass-producing monstrous weapons under Deiron's command, then the swarming scoundrels of Brakenport are the main fighting force.”

Noser and Bolero shook their heads at the same time.

“Ridiculous. Deiron alone controlled that many bastards? I can't even believe those scoundrels bowed their heads to that one guy in the first place. Even for Deiron, it makes no sense.”

“Deiron treated the entire Brakenport as something of a mercenary recruitment center.”

Oliver added a word to Noser and Bolero, who were still shaking their heads.

He said it was something Deiron had told him himself, as if doing him a favor, since they were once master and disciple.

“He liked that although they were crude and rough, they were simple and thus easy to handle. As long as there were no problems with their livelihood and an environment to enjoy all kinds of pleasures was provided, they would bow their heads on their own. Above all, since Deiron protected them, they competed with each other to pledge their loyalty.”

Oliver's brow often furrowed as he spoke, ruminating on his memories.

It was as if horrific scenes were flashing before his eyes.

“Then you should have asked. What he was plotting with them.”

“...Of course, I asked. I just couldn't get an answer.”

For a while, the room was silent.

It was just as Oliver said.

Punishing Deiron alone wasn't the end of it.

The task of cleaning up the remnants that had lost their leader remained.

The personal guard composed of a heinous group and the unknown secret weapons all had to be destroyed to nip it in the bud.

One never knew when or how it would return to the lives of the common people and serfs.

‘Perhaps this, too, is a scheme set up by those bastards.’

So, in other words....

I have to tear down the seditious kingdom established by the Eight Demons.

The three of us decided to go to Grimlok for now.

“What about us!”

“Are you leaving just the two of us behind again?”

Krnock and Deli protested fiercely.

They had risked their lives to come all the way from Aldenfort, so being told to separate again was unacceptable.

“Go to our rendezvous point, little priests. If you take this, my subordinates will give you a warm welcome. This is an important matter for which I even left behind the elites of the Imperial Capital Knight Order, so it's troublesome if you keep whining like this.”

Of course, the reason Noser had sent his subordinates ahead wasn't because it was dangerous.

It was a ploy to move freely, away from their eyes.

But now, it was being used as a plausible excuse to soothe the young priests' pride and make them understand.

“Such crude friends. So tactless.”

Noser shook his head from side to side.

I felt a strange sense of defeat for some reason.

After sending Krnock and Deli off first, we left Tarnholt.

A few of the residents saw us off, and not only Bolero and I, but fortunately, Noser was also not a person to be greatly moved by such things.

Leaving Tarnholt, we soon reached the Grimlok area.

Indeed, it was swamps all around.

The air itself was different.

Damp and sticky moisture choked the throat.

“Ah, damn it. The southwest is really the worst.”

Bolero complained.

Since coming to Aldenfort, he had been listless the whole time, like a brown bear that had starved for days.

Before long, a thick fog settled low, blurring the distinction between the path and the water's edge.

Every time I inhaled, the fishy smell of dirt and the stench of rotten grass came in at once.

It felt as if a damp film had covered my entire body.

Wooooong—

A low rumbling vibrated.

The three of us ducked our upper bodies at the same time.

“What's that sound?”

“It's not the cry of a beast.”

It was then.

Beyond the fog, among the shadows, an ominous figure flickered.

‘....’

I wasn't the only one who saw it.

All three of us were silent.

To be precise, we were at a loss for words.

A figure that looked like an old tree rising from the water intertwined with vines seemed to be moving slowly.

“Wh-what, what is that...?”

In other words, the terrain was moving on its own.

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