Necromancer, What the Heck Is Summoning 055? Section 26

He took the vast majority of the thermite grenade's damage with his flesh and his tin can of armor, leaving Peiwen with only minor burns after his plate armor shattered. The captain of the guard, who had been closest, felt it most keenly and reacted fastest. He rolled twice toward his own lines and roared:

"Heal him!!!"

Old Locke had worked with Captain Peiwen for many years. Though the sudden turn of events on the field had left him dumbstruck, he reflexively cast his first healing wave when he heard the swordsman's shout.

The old man then fully came to his senses and hurled the [Hymn of Life] he had been storing in the wood-grained bracelet on his wrist at the captain of the guard. Warm, surging green life force began to flow over the captain's body.

The golden-scaled swordsman began slaughtering his way through the enemy.

He met almost no resistance. The orc cavalry had completely collapsed.

Because of their line of sight, even the humans facing them had been unable to see exactly what had happened. The wolf riders, who had been watching the human position all along, were even less likely to have seen it. When their leader's earthshaking roar made them turn around, they saw a horrifying scene of death.

"Tika, tika!"

It was a phrase in an orc language, meaning [Divine punishment, divine punishment!].

The orcs could not understand how their leader, who had been in complete control of the battlefield, had been reduced to charcoal and dust along with his armor, the only suit of its kind in the entire cavalry force.

They could only interpret it as punishment from the gods or their ancestors, and the orc riders lost all will to fight.

After Peiwen cut down several dazed wolf riders in succession, the remaining cavalry finally came to their senses and scattered, fleeing in every direction.

Without their leader, the orcs were no different from a pack of mongrels.

Commandery Princess Liushuang finally rushed out of the position, tears on her face. She called out as she ran, "Uncle Peiwen, how are you? Are you all right?"

Locke, his face full of disbelief, got there first and crouched in front of Moglu's extremely iron-rich corpse.

His withered fingers trembled. He wanted to touch it but did not dare, and he asked hoarsely, "What happened? What on earth happened?"

Peiwen braced himself on his sword and pushed himself up. Gritting his teeth, he roughly pulled the comb and dinner forks out of his body one by one as he issued orders in his capacity as head of the guards.

"Stop staring! We can't stay here! Escort the commandery princess out of here at once! To Boulder Fort!"

"Leave everything behind. Go, now!"

"Get to safety first!"

Chapter 42: Flight back to Boulder Fort

The captain of the guard had been on battlefields and fought his way through blood and fire. With an almost resolute finality, he abandoned all their supplies, taking only a little drinking water and all their horses, and ordered the remaining members of the party to flee at full speed.

Their destination-Boulder Fort!

It was no short distance away. Ordinarily, several human towns in the Creek Moon Federation were closer, but Peiwen's nerves were stretched like a drawn bowstring, taut to the breaking point.

He trusted no one in the Creek Moon Federation!

For an orc wolf cavalry force of this size to slip unnoticed into the human heartland and lay an ambush with such precision, a powerful local force had to be providing them with logistical support and intelligence.

Otherwise, how could they have slipped past human eyes? How could they have obtained enough meat to feed the wargs? And how could they have known the exact route and timing of his party's journey?

Peiwen even suspected that the mastermind was very likely one of the dominant powers in a nearby town.

Boulder Fort it was.

Its city garrison commander had once studied alongside the lord of Cloudmist Territory, so they had some acquaintance. By comparison, he seemed just a little more trustworthy.

The two carriages raced along, bouncing over the road. There was no time to stand on ceremony: the young commandery princess Liushuang, the lady-in-waiting Linda, and a maid squeezed into the first carriage, while the other was packed with Master Locke the alchemist and three other maids, still shaken by the ordeal.

Inside the carriage, old Locke had no thought of enjoying the company of the women around him. His mind was full of that terrifying scene on the battlefield.

As a healer, he had kept his attention fixed on Peiwen, who needed help, waiting for a chance to act. So he had seen it clearly: Peiwen had thrown out a little thing...

Just one little thing!

It had melted the refined-steel plate armor, right before his eyes! After the orc leader Moglu tore open his own breastplate, old Locke had rushed over and witnessed a horrifying sight: most of the orc leader's body had been burned clean through, and even his bones had been carbonized.

And all of it had happened in the space of a few breaths.

He had seen powerful war implements before, but something so small, activated without warning and without the slightest fluctuation of magic, was a little shocking.

Paying no attention to the young maids huddled in the corners of the carriage like rain-soaked quails, Locke could not resist lifting the curtain and calling out, "Peiwen, what did you use? What was that thing?"

Peiwen and Luke, the mercenary serving as their guide, each rode a warhorse. They controlled their mounts while driving the spare horses along, keeping close behind and to the side of the carriages.

Hearing Locke's call, Peiwen squeezed his horse's flanks and drew alongside.

As a warrior, respect for healers was ingrained in his bones, and this master held an especially high standing in the territory. After a moment's hesitation, Peiwen urged his horse a little closer and raised his voice to reply, "It was a gift of thanks to the commandery princess from the young necromancer who rode on the airship!"

"I don't know what it was. He said it was an implement that could spray fire and told me to use it carefully. I never imagined it would have that effect!"

"Huh? Was it the thing that little skeleton's master gave me?" The young commandery princess's face appeared at the window of the other carriage. Her face was pale, and her wide eyes held a mixture of fear and pleasant surprise.

"Yes, Your Highness!" The golden-scaled swordsman's answer was firm and decisive.

"Your kindness saved us!"

This bloody battle would undoubtedly leave an indelible mark on everyone. Peiwen did not care about the others, but he hoped the young commandery princess could shake off its shadow as soon as possible.

Positive feedback was the best psychological treatment.

Sure enough, Liushuang's eyes lit up at once.

Hooves clattered and the west wind howled. The captain of the guard, whose hearing was exceptionally keen, heard Commandery Princess Liushuang's rather smug voice from the carriage.

"Linda, Linda! Did you see that? I told you I wasn't being tricked!"

Then came the gentle reply of Linda, the lady-in-waiting, tinged with relief at having survived:

"Yes, yes, yes, my little princess, you're the best! You have the best judgment!"

After they had raced on for some time, Peiwen arranged for the party to change horses. During the pause, the young commandery princess Liushuang quietly slipped out of the carriage and tiptoed up to Peiwen, who was checking the harnesses.

"Uncle Peiwen," she said softly, "your injuries... are they all right?"

"Thank you, Your Highness. It's nothing serious. I'll recover soon!"

"Then, if we hadn't had that weapon, would we have been in a lot of danger today?"

Peiwen pulled firmly to secure the horse's collar and harness straps, adjusted his broken, dangling pauldron, and gave the young commandery princess an impeccable military salute.

"Your Highness, without that weapon, all of us would either be dead or have been carried off by the orcs."

"You saved every one of our lives!"

Liushuang's eyes curved into crescents.

And so, with the people pressing on without rest and the horses taking turns, the party finally reached Boulder Fort, a major stronghold of the Creek Moon Federation, before the last rays of the setting sun sank below the horizon.

A guard went forward to present their travel documents, while Peiwen untied a warg's head from his saddle and slammed it heavily onto the ground.

"Orc wolf riders have crossed the border and attacked nobles of our Emerald Duchy in the Longwind Hills! Notify the city garrison commander at once!"

A wolf's head was far, far, far more intimidating than an orc's. The castle guards immediately blew the whistles in their mouths.

"Clang-clang-clang!"

The heavy alarm bell boomed and reverberated! The enormous gates began to close amid the piercing screech of winches! Soldiers shouted as they pushed stout barricade stakes in front of the gates! Dust rose in the city as large numbers of helmeted and armored city guards rushed up to the walls!

Peiwen's taut nerves relaxed slightly, and he let out a long, stale breath tinged with the smell of blood.

Just then, the young commandery princess Liushuang's clear voice sounded behind him again, with a hint of pride.

"Grandpa Locke, that thing the young mage gave me was pretty impressive, wasn't it? Could you... could you make one?"

Old Locke looked at the young commandery princess. She was clearly full of anticipation, yet trying her hardest to look casual, as if to say, I'm just asking. He could not help showing a trace of a smile at having survived.

Playing along, he replied in a slightly exaggerated tone of amazement, "Oh, my little princess! This old man couldn't make that thing!"

"You have the best judgment! This old man has to hand it to you! Remember when we first met that young mage? Everyone was wary of him because we didn't know where he came from, but weren't you the one who ordered me to heal him?"

"If not for you, this old man would have left his old bones here today!"

The lady-in-waiting Linda and the maids beside her also chimed in softly, with sincere gratitude and the joy of having survived.

"Yes, it was all thanks to our kind little princess!"

"Your Highness truly is the duchy's lucky star!"

"I always said being able to serve at Your Highness's side was the greatest fortune of our lives!"

Liushuang's little face flushed slightly. She twisted the hem of her clothes in embarrassment, scuffed the ground absentmindedly with her toes, and squirmed gently in the last rays of the setting sun.

Captain Peiwen gave old Locke an approving gesture, then turned and called in a low voice, "Luke!"

"At your service!" Luke the mercenary, who had been slumped on the ground nearby, rubbed his thighs and sprang up.

"I have a task for you. Ask around about that young mage on the airship. His name was... Chen Mo, right? Aren't you well acquainted with him? Go find out where he is."

"As quickly as you can!"

Chapter 43: Transaction complete

Chen Mo was still entirely unaware that the little toy he had given someone had gently nudged the firing pin of history, killing an orc leader who might otherwise have earned great distinction and even shone brilliantly in the future.

Of course, conversely, the medicine the young commandery princess had given him might likewise have made a tiny adjustment to the original course of Eastern Xia's history.

It really was a special two-way journey between two representatives of two worlds.

Three more days had passed since he and Deputy Director Vincent had reached a preliminary agreement on the price of "transferring into a class" over drinks at the reception.

Chen Mo was somewhat impatient. He had wasted another precious three days on his path of cultivation-that was dozens more hours lost.

Although he still kept up his daily two hours of meditation without fail, his progress was as slow as a snail climbing a cliff without the aid of magic materials.

Fortunately, Mr. Vincent had finally sent an invitation, and in a spacious, enclosed room at the skill level assessment institute, Chen Mo received the good news he needed.

"I'm pleased to say I didn't let you down!"

The room's doors and windows were tightly shut, and heavy curtains completely blocked out the light from outside. Magic lamps embedded in the walls gave off a soft, cool glow, casting hazy halos on the dark wall coverings.

Vincent was still holding that "not very valuable" wooden smoking pipe. He took a deep draw and slowly exhaled a long plume of smoke. It curled upward in the light of the magic lamps, casting a twisting, shifting shadow in a sinuous pose on the wall.

"I still have to make this clear again: there's no hope with the three great academies on the west bank. This isn't something money can accomplish!"

The three great academies on the west bank referred to the three conspicuous towers standing beside the North Foothills River.

Chen Mo rubbed his wristwatch with his fingers and nodded slightly. "You already told me last time. I understand completely!"