The Death Knight Became an Escort Knight for the Saintess

46. A Place Called Good

46.

The actions taken when a person meets a person are largely divided into three categories. It is to look at each other with pleasure, hostility, or wariness. In that sense, if the three things mentioned above are substituted into the current situation in which the Death Knight, the saint, and the unknown person encounter each other, it can be said to be the third case.

The reason why I expressed it as ‘reasonably’ is simple. The Death Knight was grabbing the Partizan, and tension was evident on the saintess’ face. But the other person showed no reaction. She was rather indifferent. In the case where a mutual reaction is assumed, if only one side is showing such a reaction, it will be ambiguous to include it in the standard.

The person showing such an indifferent attitude was an old male orc. He seemed to be about the same age as Pan Bano, but his characteristics were the exact opposite of that sailor. The orc was thin and emaciated, his muscles barely visible.

And yet, since he was tall, it was enough to arouse concern that if he took even one step, he might be pushed over himself and fall. It was a long time after the normal alert time had passed when the orc spoke. For that reason, the words were sudden to the Death Knight and the saintess.

“Nush?”

Unknowingly, the Death Knight almost put her right hand holding her spear in front of her. Ecilia gasped at her words, but after a few deep breaths she calmed down, she was able to answer.

“Hello, old man. I’m Gemini, and this is Huchi. As you can see, Lord Huchi is a knight. It is a free article.”

Even though she had finished her basic self-introduction, the old man said nothing. The saintess, who expected that her opponent would introduce her at least basic information like she did, swallowed a bit of embarrassment. She searched her brain for information to add to her. Soon, pertinent information came to mind.

“We are going to El Carnidel now.”

A significant reaction came from the old orc. However, that reaction also fell far behind the saintess’ expectations.

“El Carr… Nydel? Where are you?”

“Uh, huh? Yes? Uh… That, the city with the mage tower.”

After blinking her eyes a few times, the old orc finally responded as expected. The old orc smiled broadly. The appearance of a sudden smile from a dazed expression evoked a feeling that is difficult to explain.

“Magic Tower! If it’s the magic tower, you know it well! What a nice place!”

“Uh… yes. So….”

The saintess paused her words and glanced up at the Death Knight. There was a question in his gaze. &QuotMay I come in?&QuotZer Pied pondered, then nodded her head slowly. It was for a reasonable reason.

It is less tiring to take a break in a building than taking a break on the street, and you can also get information if there are people around. Because information is more than one. And at least the old man in front of him seemed harmless to them, he judged.

“Maybe… may I come in?”

At Ecilia’s question, the old man said nothing. He smiled innocently enough and turned around and ran away. Zerfied and Esilia looked at each other. There was bewilderment in that gaze. Ecilia’s words were also embarrassing.

“Even if you enter… I guess… ?”

“… I guess it will work though. There was no word of refusal.”

The two cautiously moved into the seemingly temporary village. As seen at the entrance, the village that was not the village was more similar to the nameless village witnessed in the Central Continent.

Although Sharcot was a declining village and the roads were also left close to the traces along with the villages, it was vaguely possible to find the roads through the layout of the buildings. In the nameless village, the buildings themselves were erected in a regular manner.

However, the place I see now is completely different from the former. The buildings were messy, as if they were stalls rather than buildings. Even though they are all similar buildings, the old orc knows how to distinguish them in his own way, passing by a couple of buildings and opening the door to one building.

The Death Knight and the saint stopped walking at the entrance of the building. However, when no one came out of the building after some time, Ecilia had no choice but to knock on the door and open it. And when the door was opened, Ecilia and Zerpied had to taste even greater embarrassment than before. There was no furniture to be found in that large cabin. It was filled with people.

About twenty people were lying or sitting in the cabin. They were all scattered. As different as they were, they had a few things in common. Most were thin and emaciated, and the majority were Orcs and Trolls.

And most of them were quite old. People didn’t ask who it was, even though a stranger came in. I just stared blankly. It was an indifferent look. An old orc standing not far from the door smiled broadly.

“He said he was going to the Magic Tower!”

People showed a significant response.

“A magic tower?”

“A magic tower?”

“Magic Tower! Are you going somewhere nice?”

Each of the different people showed the same reaction, smiling broadly. All of them were positive reactions, but the sense of disparity was considerable as the thin, emaciated, and scattered people were showing positive reactions as if they didn’t care. Ecilia tried as little as possible to stutter her words, and she questioned them.

“Yes, yes…. We are heading to the city where the mage tower is located. Uh… I’m sorry, but can I take a short break… ?”

People all smiled and said in unison. Now, even a glimpse of the bizarreness was revealed.

“Of course not! You are going to a good place!”

In the end, Celia failed in her efforts. Still, she showed a sufficiently saintly attitude. She didn’t let her natural smile fall off her face.

“Thank you, thank you….”

Everyone had a big smile on their face, and then they lay down, sat down, or leaned against the wall. The saintess and Death Knight carefully moved their bodies to a corner of the building. Most of the people were concentrated in the part close to the center of the building, so it was hard to see people in the corners. Ecilia and Zerfied leaned in the corner and exchanged opinions as if whispering to each other.

“What the hell are you doing here… ?”

“…… Gemini, have you seen how many huts there are in total?”

“Uh, no? Didn’t you even count that?”

“Six in total.”

“I see, but why… ?”

Celia trailed off her words, then covered her mouth with the palm of her hand. Because she realized what Zer Peed was talking about. Her eyes were wide and trembling. She whispered more as her voice trembled.

“No way, no way… ! Could it be… ! There is nothing here! Look, no tables or chairs or anything? Are all those cabins like this?”

“Gemini, we looked at it on the way home, but the exterior of the six huts was very similar to the one we entered.”

“With just that… !”

Zer Pied shook her head heavily.

“If buildings are built for different purposes, the characteristics that fit the purpose must be revealed to some extent in the exterior. No matter how thoroughly you try to hide it, it has to come out somehow.”

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Esilia finally had to speak. She felt her mouth go dry. Her saintly soft tongue licked her pale pink lips. She swallowed her saliva once.

“Then… Are you saying that all six huts are empty and full of emaciated people like this?”

The Death Knight nodded. He also lowered his voice.

“It is very likely. The only thing to be sure is to check it yourself. But I can’t even guess. What is this place….”

Zerpied stopped talking. Seeing that the escort knight turned his head, Esilia followed him to where he was looking. The first old orc I saw was holding a colander. What was in the colander was some bread. The old orc smiled and held out a colander. Upon receiving it, Celia bowed her head and said hello. Zerfied also bowed his head and expressed his gratitude.

“Ah, are you giving it to us? Thank you. Thank you for this food.”

“You said you were going to a good place. Of course you should.”

“… Yes?”

Esilia asked back at the old man’s incomprehensible words. However, the old orc laughed innocently and went back to his original place to lie down under his blanket. Zerfied picked up the bread the old man had brought and examined it. The Death Knight, who was examining the bread carefully, nodded.

“There doesn’t seem to be any poison. I think you can listen.”

Zer Pied squeezed the bread in his hand and broke it. Ecilia smiled in her gratitude to the escort driver who broke the bread so she could eat it, then she put the broken piece of bread into her mouth. As is often the case with non-fresh bread, the bread was extremely hard. The saintess munched her mouth and wet the bread with her saliva.

Zerpied looked carefully at the seat where most of the people were lying down. People surrounded it, so I noticed a few colanders I hadn’t noticed before. The colander contained some bread-like items the old man had brought him. The saintess, who was chewing on the bread, spoke quietly.

“Um, um…. But, it’s amazing.”

“What do you mean?”

“People. They are all quite old… Most of them are trolls and orcs.”

“The former is certainly amazing. But what is so strange about the latter?”

“Huh? Aren’t you curious? There are as many as 20 people, but the constituent races are concentrated on these two.”

“That’s natural, no. This is the Eastern Continent.”

At the Death Knight’s words, the saintess opened her eyes wide and asked again.

“Yes?”

“From the beginning, the Eastern Continent was home to Orcs and Trolls. Most of the land is plains and grasslands. It’s a perfect place for those who lead a nomadic lifestyle. Well, the central continent has the largest land mass among the four continents, and many races live there. It is a place where orcs and trolls have flourished before, so of course there are bound to be a lot of them.”

Escelia nodded her head with her curious eyes and listened to the Death Knight. After finishing her explanation, the Death Knight started looking around again. There was still no change in people’s movements.

They didn’t chat to each other in particular, they just sat casually. Aren’t those people going to work? No matter how much you live on farming, shouldn’t there be someone who does the work?

However, none of those present here showed such an appearance. I wanted to get information from them, but I didn’t think I would be able to get information easily with the same reaction as before. Ecilia looked at the Zerpie Ed and started rummaging through her backpack. Zerfied asked.

“What are you doing?”

“I want to share our food. They also gave us the bread they used to eat, so we have to repay it.”

Zerpied tried to say that was a bad idea. It’s not hostile now, but I haven’t been able to fully confirm this place. He thought it reasonable to get out and get some helpful information if he could.

However, when the saintess of hers sent her eyes asking for her permission with her two big eyes moving, Zer Peed had to let out a sigh. Zerfied looked at the people sharply. After he judged that the old people were not harmful, he nodded his head.

Esilia smiled broadly at the fact that she was able to repay her grace like a saintess, and she took out some of her dried rations from Ehardo. The saintess approached them with one swift step. Zer Pied also raised her body and chased after her.

“Hey….”

As soon as the clear voice of her saintess was heard, her elders threw indifferent eyes at her. Ecilia smiled and handed out dry food to them.

“Eat.”

“What is this?”

A troll old lady lying down asked. A weak voice flowed through the long dull hair.

“This is our food. It’s dried squid. I want to give you the bread as a reward.”

“… Did you bring this from a good place?”

“… Yes?”

Esilia was taken aback as she did not understand the old woman’s question. But soon, a sharp word came flying in response to the old woman’s question. It was an old troll sitting hunched over under a blanket.

“That didn’t come from a nice place!”

The old troll grabbed the colander.

“What’s in here is from a good place! It’s like it came from a good place! Verpa, how many times do I have to tell you!”

The ‘thing that looked like this’ the old troll said was bread. The old woman, who was called Verpa, said with a shy laugh.

“Ah, indeed…. Look at my mind…. Are you constantly blinking? Then I won’t be able to eat it.”

At the old woman’s words, the saintess and Death Knight’s faces were embarrassed. Zerfied asked.

“Why can’t you eat?”

The answer came from the sharp-tongued old troll.

“That’s because it didn’t come from a good place.”

“… Good place?”

“Yes, nice place. I heard earlier that you guys are going to a good place too?”

Ecilia tried to follow this conversation somehow, blinking her eyes. She stuttered.

“So, do you only eat food from good places? Its good… Are you bringing food from somewhere?”

“Yes.”

The old troll’s answer was natural. His tone seemed to affirm the proposition that the sun rises in the east. Zerfied also asked in the most calm manner possible.

“What do you mean this place brings you food from that good place?”

The elderly people who were standing there all at once turned their heads towards them. A big smile appeared on the old man’s face at the same time. They said

“It will take us to a good place. To make us better.”