* * *

Cadel let Van stay home with the child, while Lydon was kept at Van’s side in case of any threats. With that, Cadel and Lumen began to scour the village’s houses.

Dodging the mucus smeared on each door, Cadel burned the doors with fire magic, then searched inside to see if there were any survivors. Any survivors they found were quickly pulled out of the house and taken to the house where Van and Lydon were.

After repeating that grueling labor 20 times, the day was getting dark before they knew it.

Cadel exhaled, wiping the sweat from his forehead. He hadn’t used much mana, but the physical labor of finding survivors and carrying them away was exhausting. Even with Lumen doing most of the work, it was still hard work.

He looked up at the sky, still in the stench, still in the silence. The full moon had risen, casting a dull glow that was obscured by the lingering clouds.

‘All villagers will die…….’

He couldn’t help but chuckle when he remembered the quest failure penalty.

‘What the hell is this quest, what do you want from me?’

Cadel never imagined it. It was a terrible penalty every time, but he didn’t expect to go one step further from the loss of the mercenary corps.

His trembling fists tightened.

‘The quest’s success condition must be to deal with the demon, the spreader of this plague. If that fails, all survivors found so far will die.’

It was ridiculous. Even if they couldn’t defeat the demon, there were many ways to protect the residents. The Scarlet Scales Mercenary Corps could step in and protect the residents, or the White Kingdom’s guards could step in. It just didn’t make sense to have them all die in one fell swoop.

‘Is the system going to somehow create that situation, and if we don’t kill that demon, it’s going to kill them all?’

Did the system have that power?

Of course, the system had the power to drag a soul from the real world into the game. The extent of the system’s power was unknown, but aside from the initial ‘transmigration’, the system had never interfered too much with the world.

‘All of the penalties so far were close to foreseeing the flow that would happen if the quest failed. If that’s the case, it’s more realistic that this trend will happen again.’

It was the flow in which everyone would die. There were many things that came to mind, such as the deterioration of the condition, the attack of the demon that could not be killed, and so on.

However, he didn’t think it was an absolute flow that couldn’t be stopped. Cadel lowered his head, his hard sunken eyes shining.

‘As always, failure is not on my mind, but I can’t risk the lives of so many people with this resolve. I have to do everything I can to avoid the penalty.’

Lives were at stake. There was no way he could pass it over with the will of ‘I’m going to clear it unconditionally, so there’s nothing to worry about!’. Whether the quest succeeded or not, he had to at least be prepared to avoid the tragedy of the penalty, because he felt it was the least he could do for the lives of this world.

As he turned his back with determination, Lumen, carrying the last of the survivors, approached him. He had been running for half a day, carrying a steady stream of limp people. It must have been hard work, but Lumen didn’t show it, he was only a little out of breath.

“What are you doing standing here, Leader? It’s cold, let’s go inside.”

“How are the survivors?”

“Most of them are unconscious. There’s no more energy pill to feed.”

“Ah…….”

“It’s not something we can handle on our own. I think we should cross the gates of the White Kingdom and ask for help directly.”

He agreed. Cadel also had no intention of leaving the dying residents behind to find the culprit. Otherwise, the villagers would be annihilated before they could find the ‘Plague Spreader’.

Cadel nodded.

“The most urgent thing is the healer. I have some idea of the demon responsible for this misfortune, but even if we manage to deal with it, it won’t be enough to heal the villagers.”

“You think you know the demon’s identity?”

“Roughly. I don’t know where the demon is, but Lydon can smell the demons. He’ll find that demon if he takes the time. Therefore, it is better to call in the Holy Knight Order equipped with all healing and combat abilities.…….”

The Holy Knight Order of the White Kingdom.

Although he said it himself, Cadel’s eyes widened as if he had heard something tremendous. He stiffened in surprise as he replayed his words.

And when Lumen’s questioning gaze landed on the abruptly interrupted conversation, Cadel clamped his mouth shut.

‘How did I forget about this? The White Kingdom! He lives in the White Kingdom!’

Could it be because of a series of events? He had completely forgotten about it.

Cadel’s favorite in 「Hero of Knights」.

[Garuel Monzasi, Corrupted Holy Knight]

A born S-class knight who boasts unrivaled performance even among paladins with both healing and combat abilities. Heal if heal, deal if deal! The one who had got nothing to lose and no skill to waste, leaving Cadel in a state of blissful distress!

The face that had been so cold a moment ago came alive. Cadel grabbed Lumen by the shoulders then shook the bewildered body back and forth and shouted.

“Lumen! The Holy Knight Order of the Kingdom! We need to get the Holy Knight Order directly under the Kingdom’s command!”

“What?”

“This is a serious situation without having to inflate it, but you should make the situation intolerable without the Kingdom sending the Holy Knight Order under its direct control. Okay?”

“Why did you say that to me―”

“You’re the second son of the Dominic family! Wouldn’t a kid of your caliber have to explain the severity of the situation for them to even pretend to listen? As soon as the day dawns, cross the gate and call for support.”

Cadel gave a hearty smile as he patted Lumen on the shoulder, who was about to protest.

“I have faith in our temporary member’s abilities. You can do it, Lumen!”

Lumen gave a thumbs up and spat a false smile at Cadel, who smiled brightly. But Cadel didn’t care. There was only one person in his head right now. His no.1 knight, whom he had secretly been looking forward to seeing face to face.

‘Garuel Monzasi……. With that guy, I can safely entrust the protection of the survivors to him.’

It was hard to suppress the soaring expectations. Cadel turned his back, pressing down on the corners of his mouth that kept twitching.