The Paladin of the Holy Kingdom: Part 1

Of course, that was not what Remedios had meant. The Sorcerer King could not possibly have missed the meaning of her words. This was probably the Sorcerer King’s way of cracking a joke, but even so...

His Majesty does not seem particularly talented at cracking jokes.

Perhaps this might be the Sorcerer King’s sole weakness. Just as that thought came to Neia’s mind, they had reached the vicinity of the city gates.

“Fall back, paladins. I am going to conquer this city now. Move to the rear… I believe you ought to get at least that far back, no?”

The Sorcerer King indicated the rearmost paladins and then, he walked into the city gates, like he was strolling into an empty field.

“Get back! If you don’t move quickly, this brat will—”

Soon enough, the Sorcerer King ran into the Bafolk who was holding the child hostage.

It was hard to tell what kind of expression the demihuman was making. It was probably shock. The other demihumans around the Bafolk probably had the same looks on their faces. No, even Neia would be shocked if she suddenly saw the Sorcerer King.

“...The, the undead!?”

With that, the word “undead” rippled through the demihuman ranks.

“Indeed. Ah, I believe they are called ‘The Living?’ I heard that once, but I do not quite trust my recollection.”

“Wha-what? Why are you? What on earth… are you really... no, a human?” The Bafolk’s eyes turned to Neia. “You! You control that undead creature, right? What a creepy guy he is!”

Thoughts like, I’m not a necromancer, or You’re being rude to the Sorcerer King, ran through Neia’s mind, but she remained silent.

“Sorry to intrude while you’re in chaos, but—”

“—Get back, undead! Or else this kid gets it!”

The Bafolk tightened his grip around the boy’s throat.

All signs of life fled the boy’s face. His glazed-over eyes reflected the Sorcerer King’s visage, but he did not react. Even so, he still gasped softly when his captor grabbed his throat.

“Fuhaha! You’re actually trying to use the living as a hostage against me, one of the undead? My, my.”

The Bafolk’s eyes went wide. His expression’s kind of disgusting, and Neia mused that the reason she had the room to calmly think like this because she was backed by the mountain that was the Sorcerer King.

“Human! Call this undead off!”

It’s not like I’m controlling him...

“Hm. Now then, shall we begin?”

“What? Stay back! Get back right now!”

Perhaps it had sensed something, but the Bafolk took a step to the rear while still holding its hostage.

When she looked around closely, she could see the forms of other children. Had they been brought here as hostages as well? Even so, they did not seem to want to kill their hostages to teach them a lesson. They probably thought, Would living hostages really work on the undead, who were the enemy of the living?

Neia sensed something like a black wind curling past her. In that moment, all the Bafolk froze in place. Ever since the Sorcerer King had shown up, everyone present had remained still, studying him so as not to miss a single move he made, but this change was far too extreme. Their eyes and mouths gaped open, and their faces twisted in an ugly manner. Also — it was not just the Bafolk. Even the near-lifeless children showed a dramatic response to this.

While she could not read the demihumans’ faces, Neia understood human expressions. Fear was written on the children’s faces. It was an absolute, unimaginable, and overpowering fear.

“Aiiiieeeee!”

The Bafolk screamed in a strange way—

“—Hmph. Release, 「Mass Hold Species」.”

A magic circle appeared, and some kind of spell flew forth from the Sorcerer King. In the next moment, the numerous demihumans and their child hostages froze in place like hideous statues, their faces still twisted. However, they did not look like they were dead. She could hear the faint sounds of breathing — quite ragged, it would seem.

And then, above them — countless cries rang out from near the city wall. After that, the thump, thump sounds of meat being bludgeoned came from behind Neia.

“All right, let’s go.”

She was briefly distracted by that sound, so when she looked forward again, at the portcullis—

“「Greater Break Item」.”

—A shrill noise rang out. It was the sound of the pieces of pulverized gate falling like rain.

“As I thought, destroying buildings with this drains a lot of mana… although I didn’t use it like that over there… I guess all I can do is accept the fact that I need to pick my targets for best effect. You can’t look down on small things, after all.”

The Sorcerer King muttered to himself as he walked over the hill of the gate’s debris and passed through the city gate, with nobody to block his path.