Chapter 88

The large-scale tragedy caused by necromancy in the city of Baraila has come to an end.

However, the damage was immense.

Most of the adventurer guilds had dissolved due to a lack of personnel, and many had merged to compensate for their lost strength, significantly reducing their numbers.

It is also believed that half of the city's population perished.

Many of those who survived have left this place, bearing scars in their hearts and the bitter memories of the past.

The day when the city of adventurers, Baraila, can regain its former power is still far off.

When the attack occurred, the adventurers of "Dancing Sword," who were guarding the earl's mansion, revealed that the mastermind had called himself "Mephistopheles," one of the Eight Sages, Manji.

The remains of an old man believed to be Manji were already discovered within the city of Baraila by the private troops of Earl Mondo.

His distinctive appearance, with a deformed head, matched the testimony of the adventurers of "Dancing Sword," and it is almost certain that he was Manji.

This confirmed the existence of "Mephistopheles," which the kingdom had barely grasped until now.

It is rumored that the Inquisition, the kingdom's most powerful and feared group of magicians, will intensify their thorough investigation of "Mephistopheles" following this incident.

"Dancing Sword" was one of the most influential guilds in Baraila and made significant contributions to the security of the earl's mansion.

However, the guild master, Yunos, fell in battle against the war god Robin Hood, who had joined the attack out of a grudge over past events.

Robin Hood, who was severely wounded, retreated from the earl's mansion.

He was reportedly killed by the undead that had spread throughout the city while attempting to leave Baraila.

After the incident, "Dancing Sword" was almost entirely absorbed by another guild.

The guild that made the greatest contribution to the necromancer attack in Baraila was forced to abandon its honorable name and was erased from the city's records.

Yunos, the guild master, was known as a person of good character and was well-liked within the guild, but the former members of "Dancing Sword" strangely avoid mentioning his name.

It is said that this is due to the words Yunos, who had become an undead and lost his mind, had spoken, but the details are unknown as no one has spoken out.

One week after the "Mephistopheles" attack, in a corner of a tavern in Baraila, where reconstruction efforts were ongoing, a woman was playing and singing a song.

She wore a thin garment and a thick cloak.

From under the scarf wrapped around her head, her hair, a shade of brown close to red, could be seen.

She was Alvana, the blind bard.

She sang the story of the Undead Knight, who protected the city from an evil magician, "The Heroic Tale of Baraila."

Riding a headless horse that roamed the forest, the knight drove away the bandits who targeted adventurers, punished the great evil, and left the city.

It was a compilation of the rumors about the Undead Knight that circulated in Baraila.

Although it was an absurd story, many of the city's residents claimed to have witnessed the armored knight riding the headless horse.

The fact that the hero who killed the monster Manji has not come forward has fueled the rumors even more.

"Is there a woman named Alvana in this place!"

At the entrance to the tavern, a giant man stood, shouting loudly.

The tavern fell silent at his harsh voice.

"Alvana, you seem to know quite a bit about the Undead Knight! If you know anything, spill it all to me, Master Glassco!"

Raising his thick arms to intimidate, it was Glassco, one of Earl Mondo's private soldiers.

"What an unsightly man, to interrupt my singing like this."

Pushing through the other patrons, she approached and replied to him with a teasing, nonchalant tone.

"It's an order from Earl Mondo! We must find the swordsman who saved this city at all costs! Even if it's just a suspicious tale from a traveling bard, if there's a shred of truth in it, we can't ignore it! Who is he? Where did he go?"

"I don't know such things. I'd like to know myself."

"Then what do you know! Tell me everything you know!"

"…Why are you so desperate, soldier? It sounds like you want to meet the knight."

"Tch, no! I don't want to meet that guy! How many times do I have to say it's an order from Earl Mondo! Just tell me quickly!"

Glassco stomped his feet on the spot.

Alvana, seemingly unaffected by his aggressive attitude, calmly placed her lute down and traced her fingers along her lips.

"Well… most of what I know is already common knowledge, and there's nothing I can tell you that would help the search…"

"Is that true! Think harder!"

"Oh! The headless horse is called Nightmare. I named it, so it's definitely correct."

"H-Huh!?"

Glassco's tough face twisted, and he responded with a bewildered look.

Laughter rippled through the crowd.

Realizing he was being mocked, his face turned red, and he turned around.

"D-Damn it! If you don't know, fine! You're just mocking me!"

"It's the truth…."

After hearing the sound of the door closing as he left, Alvana picked up her lute again.

Her blind eyes opened slightly, and her pale eyes gazed aimlessly into the air.

She thought absentmindedly about where the general who had returned to the modern era had gone next.

Smiling faintly, she began with a clear voice, drawing the attention of the surrounding patrons.

"Where did I leave off? I think it was the part where he rides the headless horse and chases the fleeing necromancer."

With a somewhat absent-minded tone, she continued "The Heroic Tale of Baraila."