Magic Caster of Destroy

The eyes of the villagers reflected their agreement.

Of particular note were those villagers who moved to Carne Village after their original homes had been burned down. Their hatred of the Kingdom for not being able to defend them swiftly turned into trust and reverence of the magic caster who saved this village.

Be it the gift of the horn that had summoned the goblins, or the provision of the golems that built the sturdy walls that now protected them, or the maid Lupusregina who saved the village when they were attacked by the troll, all these came together and became reverence for Ainz.

“…But, there’s a lot of them. If we don’t open the gate…”

“But if we betray Ainz-sama like this after receiving his kindness…”

“Wait! They said they just want to ask us something. It doesn’t mean we’re betraying him…”

“Is that so? In the end, it still sounds ungrateful to me.”

Everyone’s eyes were on Enri.

She understood well the hearts of both sides. Because of that, Enri hesitated, unable to choose between the sides. Just at this moment, an angry shout came from outside the gate.

“If you understand, open the gates right now! If not, you will be treated as traitors to the Kingdom!”

Pushed to the limit, Enri shouted back something to try and buy time.

“Dung, there is cow dung everywhere! W-we can’t let the Prince walk into a place like this!”

After a brief silence, a calmer voice pierced the air.

“Oh, um. Understood. Then how about this. We will enter instead of his Majesty the Prince. We’ll think about what happens later.”

There were no more excuses she could give.

Enri’s mind had gone completely blank. Not caring what it was, she shouted the first thing she could think of in response.

“S-sorry! The dung’s on my hands! I can’t rub it off! Let me wash my hands and I’ll be back!”

“―O-oi!”

Enri watched the retreating backs of Jugem and the others. She was worried about how much time that had bought them.

♦ ♦ ♦

Barbro’s increasing impatience was starting to spread to the rest of the unit. He glared at the reporting knight with a look usually reserved for an enemy.

“Say it one more time, what foolery is this?!”

Barbro’s anger overflowed with every word he spoke from between the gaps of his grinding teeth, and the knight repeated himself.

“Sir! Carne Village still has not opened their gates.”

As he listened to the knight’s calm reply, Barbro was filled with the sudden desire to punch him.

However, that would have been foolish. Barbro struggled to control the anger welling up in his fist.

This knight included, nobody here was actually sworn to Barbro. In the first place, Barbro commanded no troops. Every man here was under orders from their liege lord, or in the company of their lord. Because of that, he could not strike his allies while the other knights were watching.

“―Why? Why are those peasants in Carne Village not opening the gate? The land is directly ruled by the royal family! They’re supposed to obey me! I told them to open the gate, didn’t I?!”

As his impatience built and his blood pumped faster, his words started to lose coherence.

“What’s the problem? Are they looking down on me? What are you waiting for?!”

The villagers were beings far inferior to the Crown Prince. These beings were now insulting him.

As that thought came to mind, it blended with the aggravation that gripped his heart. This festering, sticky hatred that had been building up inside him for the months since the demonic disturbance, and the upwelling of resentment burst like a dam.

The words came out in an instant.

“Traitors! Traitors, all of them! I declare that everyone in Carne Village is a traitor!”

The shout carried through the air, into the ears of the surrounding soldiers, triggering a surprised commotion from the men.

“My lord, please wait! If you do that…!”

Barbro stared unhappily at the panicked knight who replied.

If they designated the village as traitors, they would need to exterminate each and every last one of them for starters, then burn the village down until no trace of its existence remained.

But so what?

Prince Barbro couldn’t understand why his subordinates were not following the order he gave. After all, these men belonged to the Marquis and they were looking down on him and refusing to obey his words.

“What nonsense is this?! Allowing them to live after disobeying a royal command is a sin!”

That was true. Permitting treason against the royal family was an insult to them. Sparing them would eventually result in a loss of authority and the mandate to rule.

Even on the nobles’ own territory, once any of their serfs rose up in revolt, they would undoubtedly be destroyed without mercy. The knights of the Marquis should have known that much.