Chapter 516: My Name is Wilhelmina

Guuwhat is this?

Celia pinches her nose with one hand while she draws her sword.

Leopolt, who is coming along this time, falls back beside me and Irijina steps forward in his place with her spear at the ready.

This stink, South Yugurias last base of resistancedoesnt seem like they are alive.

Erich covers his nose with a handkerchief as Dingus and the guards draw their swords with sharpened gazes.

I also hold the Keravnos under my arm just in case.

Its strange for them to be annihilated.

Leopolt and Erich also agree with me.

We had seen many destroyed villages, towns and forts on the way to Poron, but none of them reeked of rot.

Insects want to eat us.

They either gobble up whatever they kill or suck out all the insides.

They dont leave anything behind other than skin, bones and blood stains.

No matter how deep underground the space is, there should not be such a strong smell of death because of the ventilation holes in the wells.

We will have to check it out.

I grab a torch and descend the stairs leading underground.

Its dangerous. Shouldnt we send in a search party first?

I dont hear any special sounds or feel any presences, it should be fine. Sending a search party will be twice the work.

Erich and Leopolt sigh at my non-argument.

If this is South Yugurias final base, Wilhelmina will surely be here.

I dont have any lingering attachment.

In our previous conversation, we had completely made enemies of each other, so if we were to meet again on the battlefield, I always intended to mercilessly cut her down.

No wait, if she says, I surrender. My body and heart are yours, spare me, then what would I do? She may be an enemy that we cant comprehend, but that beautiful face and perfect figureits a mans duty to plant his seed when given the chance-

Aegir-sama, dont zone out!

Dont do that disgusting falsetto.

A pincer maneuver by Celia, who has already gone ahead, and Erich from behind silences me.

In any case, shes that much of a beauty.

She might not be in her original form at this time, but if I find her corpse, Id like to at least give her a proper burial and say a prayer.

Its the end of the stairs! I dont see any enemieshowever, please watch your feet.

Celia walks down the last few steps.

Fortunately, the enemy isnt waiting for us in swarms.

Celia sticks to the wall as she advances along the passage and peeks into the room before jumping inside doing a forward roll.

Clear!

She shouts and rolls out, sticking to the walls while moving to the next room.

Erich and I slowly take large strides behind her. Mm, shes so cute.

She was an immature little girl the first time I saw her but nowhey Hardlett, can she pour my drink next time?

I refuse.

Erich shifts his attention to the girl on my back.

I always thought the girl on your back was a ghost, but now that I look closer, shes pretty Wont you lend her to me for one night?

Rafaella stares at Erichs face, blushes, then after thinking for about ten seconds, buries her face in my back.

She probably hesitated because Erich is handsome.

If you say too much, Im going to slam my dick into the widow at the capitals fourth spot.

Erich smiles sheepishly and mutters, How do you know about that? quietly.

The reason we can talk about such stupid things is because we didnt see anything out of the ordinary.

Unlike the secret passage through the sewers of Biado, this place has been created somewhat as a shelter.

Although the path is a little old, it is paved with stone and while either side is narrow, there is a private room with chairs and beds alongside it.

There are no traces of a battle. Moreover, the carpets and sheets are not in disorder.

Leopolt says as he turns the room inside out.

Torches havent been taken either.

Sekrit knocks down the torches set up in the passage.

The food storage is also intact, huh?

There is even a well and pantry stocked with dried meat and pickles in preparation for holing up longer.

This place doesnt have any signs of a fight either.

I try one bite of the food and dont find anything wrong with it.

Running out of food and fleeing in desperationseems unlikely.

Plus, they would at least bring preserved foods if they escaped.

Even if I assume there was some sort of argument, I cant imagine the food storage remaining untouched.

I dont get it. Its weird that there isnt a single corpse here.

Erich picks up the same meat I chewed on and opens his mouth, but returns it to the shelf without eating it a few seconds later.

Damn, he backed out.

I guess we have to follow our only lead.

The one clue we have is the smell of death

Aegir-sama!!

I grab my spear and dash to meet Celia.

When I reached the source of the voice, I pulled Celia by the back of her collar and leapt backwards.

Look!

Celia points as she dangles by her collar.

There is a hole in the several meters tall marble wall.

A single spider corpse is nearby and two skin and bone remains of humans.

So they got in through here.

Celia takes a peek but its too dark for her to see anything.

I dont know how they did it, but they summoned the insects to try and annihilate us along with their own people. They did so while keeping safe underground.

Erich tosses a torch into the hole. Nothing moves and nothing else can be seen.

However, they were somehow found. And they were better at digging than expected.

Erich and I each pick up one of the empty skins.

Conduct a search, keeping an eye out for remaining enemies. Find the heads of the enemy king and upper brass. I dont think you will though

After Erichs order, the soldiers increase their alertness and the still-dangling Celia raises her sword to eye level.

I guess Im done.

One of the corpses was wearing a maid uniform and the other was wearing armor.

Individuals who, even after crawling underground, keep their guards and maids this room is also bigger and more luxurious than the other rooms.

Its safe to say my goal is gone.

I cant turn back because Erich is here, so Ill just tag along at the back later.

I slowly follow in the rear as Erich advances with his guards.

The hole to the abyss is closed so the insects are done. There should be a few survivors.

Um, you can lower me now or else I cant take my position in battle.

Then it happened right as I was about to put Celia back on the floor.

A high-pitched cry resonates into my ear.

What the-!?

Wah.

I couldnt help dropping Celia.

Looking for the source, I find a small fox at my feet.

There was no time to wonder how long it had been following us.

Im no expert in foxes, but I could tell that howl is a warning.

I twirl my spear 180 degrees and stab the spider on the ceiling.

They are above us!

The light from the torches held by our hands created a blindspot on the ceiling.

Reacting to my yell, the guards began thrusting their spears upward.

Theyre in the small room to the right too!

Celia points as she rubs her reddened nose.

Irijina rushes in, stomping on a worm that emerges from under the bed and sticks her spear into its mouth.

Behind too!

Rhinoceros beetles appear out of nowhere.

Ill hold them off. You aim at the bottom!

Jumping in was Dingus, the commander of the eastern army who has chosen to accompany me to the end.

He plunges his greatsword into the beetles jaws to seal its greatest threat, and then lifts it up.

Uu, nobut

The one perplexed at why he followed me this far was Rinuga, the leader of the South Yuguria refugees.

He recoiled at the sight of the beetle, not having gotten over his fear, but once Dingus shouted at him, he roared as he crawled under the beetle and pierced the soft underbelly with his sword.

Multiple enemies in front!

Spiders fall from the ceiling one after the other and the guards could no longer stab them all.

One of them tries to squeeze into the ranks.

In a short but firm breath, the four fore legs fly off, and the spider leans forward.

Almost simultaneously, a sword sinks into its head.

The one who swung the sword was Erich.

A bee then flies over the spider.

Erich, with his sword already pulled behind his shoulder, takes a step toward the bee.

Shh!

The fluid slash slices the bees wings.

Having lost its method of flight, the bee crashes and slides along the ground in agony.

His swordsmanship is elegant unlike mine which relies on power.

I ready my spear to face further incoming bees.

Uooooh!! Behold my sword play! Consolation money Savate!

Jim knocks the insects down before I could make a move.

Hes being suspected? How skillful.

Well, looks like were surrounded.

I say to Sekrit as I stab the large eye of a bee.

Yeah, from all sides. Sorry for jumping in.

Leopolt and Celia seem to be trying to open a path of retreat in the rear with all the other guards.

Despite being among soldiers, that guy occasionally steps forward to finish off a spider himself.

He never really fights on the frontlines but hes pretty skilled, huh?

How many are down!?

Erich shouts.

Nobody in front, just barely!

Same at the back, we narrowly held them off!

As I consider whether to aid the front or back, I ease up my strength.

Its odd. Normal soldiers are like a one and spiders are like a five on a scale of power level.

If they had support from defensive encampments and siege weapons, the number would be higher, but this is a regular encounter.

In other words, its strange that we havent lost more troops.

Cease attacking! Get into defensive formation!

You, giving out your own order!

Erich glares at me, meanwhile the soldiers stop moving, unsure of what to do.

Its a fatal opening, but it doesnt change the situation.

The insects stir restlessly next to the soldiers and dont attack.

Although the insects were initially on the ceiling and approached us sometimes, not a single one attacked.

Erich also returns to my side, confused.

Whats going on?

How would I know?

I spread my arms to display my bewilderment.

A spider passes by me and Erich.

Feeling something latch onto my leg, I look down and see the fox that warned us earlier.

It might not have mattered in the end, but I guess it saved us in that moment.

Lets brush its fluffy tail.

So, what do we do?

Leopolt interjects when I pose the question to Erich.

We should investigate deeper. The insects here dont seem like a threat. There is no need to search this place again.

Erich and I unconsciously look at each other.

Even Im a little worried about going forward in such a situation. Leopolt isnt someone who typically suggests reckless ideas.

Leopolt proceeds to draw his sword and whispers to us while pretending to lead the way.

I can see the insects moving uniformly. They are blocking the exits we have prepared for retreat.

I see! When the mission is over, why dont we drink some delicious booze at that shop.

Erich gives a loud unrelated reply.

A worm happens to crawl by our feet.

The way its keeping a fixed distance away makes it seem like the worm is eavesdropping.

Also, Ive be feeling unnatural vibrations on the wall for a while now. Something with considerable mass is on the other side

Fufufu, youre a pervert too.

It means that if we