Fuck, these guys who mess with time really are monsters.
We were only thinking. We just entertained a thought—how on earth did he notice us?
Can he sense even that?
Though howling madly on the inside, Lynch's expression remained tranquil on the surface, undisturbed like the surface of a lake.
Even if panicked as hell on the inside, one had to remain steady as a rock on the outside—the so-called thunder in the chest, calm on the face.
Thus, Lynch calmly met the mad old man's gaze across the distance and returned a smile—one even more bizarre than the old lunatic's.
Steadfast, like a silent confrontation between towering mountains and a deep abyss.
Never show weakness in demeanor, not to mention I haven't lost.
I represent the majesty of the red moon right now; could I really be intimidated by you?
A familiar chuckle echoed in his mind. Listening to this string of gentle laughter, a slender yet hazy silhouette seemed to emerge deep within Lynch's consciousness, gazing at him with amused eyes.
Lynch suddenly blushed a little—in his imagination.
He still remembered how cowardly he had acted right after transmigrating.
Back then, even though he had already stepped onto the path of immortality, he hadn't possessed the mindset of someone striving for the Supreme, or even that of a Soul Severer. He had been frightened out of his wits over every little thing and needed to be coaxed by his neighbor—completely the mindset of a timid mortal.
But now things were better. Now... uh, actually he was still a bit cowardly, but at least a little less so.
【Hehe...】
‘What are you laughing at? I know what my problem was,’ Lynch felt his face in the mortal world starting to blush, ‘watching your own neighbor make a fool of himself without even giving me a heads-up.’
【I was only admiring the scenery. It was quite a view.】 The gentle laughter sounded rather light and brisk, like an invisible hand gently patting Lynch's soul with a deeply comforting sensation. 【In truth, the transformation of one's mindset is the very first step on the path of immortality. It was for my own selfish reasons that I brought forward the later stages of the path. Although it was an unavoidable measure, in reality it caused much trouble and was not good for you. Fortunately, with your wit and perseverance, you found your way back to the proper path on your own, showing me the nobility of mortals. You did very well, neighbor.】
‘Tch, flattery won't cover up your abominable habit of enjoying the spectacle.’
Realizing he was about to get carried away, Lynch immediately cut off communication with his neighbor. Ignoring the string of gentle, soothing laughter echoing behind him, he resumed his calm staredown with the old lunatic.
It had only been an instant, but as soon as Lynch returned to his senses, he realized that the farmers who had been standing near them had backed away in terror, leaving the four of them—one man and three women—standing isolated in the center.
What was going on?
“He smiled at you...” Judy translated.
This old fellow is truly ill-mannered. Why curse someone the moment we meet?
Now that they had seen each other's cards, there was no point in pretending anymore. Even though it was hard to tell friend from foe, Lynch judged the chances were higher that he was relatively friendly. In that case, laying everything out in the open face-to-face was better than harboring mutual suspicions that might ultimately benefit the enemy.
Having made up his mind, Lynch took a deep breath and walked toward the grain pile.
Yet he had barely taken two steps when noisy footsteps came from the distance. Turning back, he saw two soldiers hurriedly running over, their target clearly the four of them.
“Hahaha! Calamity has set its sights on you! Even hiding in that room won't save you! Prepare to welcome the descent of calamity, outsiders! Tonight, as the silver moon rises, calamity will come for you! Hahaha...”
This old man really deserves a beating. I shouldn't have stopped that person from throwing things at him earlier.
Lynch curled his lip, but before he could say anything, the two soldiers had already arrived beside them.
The armored knight and Dr. Sven wished to invite the four of them back to the fortress.
It was already past nine o'clock. Calculating the time, if things in the fortress went smoothly, they should indeed be finished by now. Lynch glanced back at the mad old man atop the grain pile, subtly gave a thumbs-down gesture, and turned to leave with the two soldiers.
“The things he said... is it really okay?” Miss Diana asked uneasily. “Judging by everyone else's reactions, some of his prophecies have been quite accurate.”
“Don't worry. Everything he says is nonsense—no need to pay attention to it. Just grasp the key points. A monkey taught me that.” Lynch curled his lip and said irritably, “Translated, those curses mean: ‘I found you. Get ready to make contact with me. When the silver moon rises tonight, I'll come looking for you. Don't hide in someone else's house; come out to meet me. I don't want Dr. Sven to see me.’ Yeah, that's roughly what it means.”
“A monkey?” Officer Natalie asked beside him with a puzzled expression.
“Uh, maybe I should say, a smart monkey?”
“I understand. You must be implying that in matters concerning evil gods, mortals are as powerless as monkeys.”
No, more than twenty evil gods combined probably couldn't beat that monkey. But Lynch had no interest in rewriting Journey to the West, so he could only sigh.
The two soldiers didn't seem to know what had specifically occurred inside the fortress, leading the way with normal expressions.
Lynch naturally wouldn't let the two off the hook. Through Judy, he kept questioning the two poor soldiers, confirming that a physical examination had indeed been conducted in the fortress just now. The reason given was that someone had contracted an illness over the past few days, and Dr. Sven, worried about others getting infected, conducted a unified checkup on the fifty-six people who had visited the barracks today.
Judging by their reactions, the examination had gone relatively smoothly, and the results seemed optimistic, putting Lynch slightly at ease.
Once such a dangerous plague broke out, it would spread at an exponential rate. A small city of eight thousand people would probably fall completely in less than two days, and he had no intention of letting that happen.
His task was to disrupt the ritual that transformed the entire city into ghouls, though what the ritual actually entailed still required him to figure out on his own. Regardless of whether the contagion phase counted as part of the ritual, he had to stop it; otherwise, once it spread across the entire city, the mission would automatically fail.
Dr. Sven and that armored knight had some skill to quietly bring the situation under control, but... only fifty-six people? That was far too few.
Upon careful questioning, he learned that the small city had only fifty true professional soldiers led by three armored knights, plus a hundred auxiliary soldiers and logistical personnel—that was the entirety of Noran's military force. Excluding the soldiers on rotation and one granted temporary leave, only fifty-six people had been to the fortress over the past two days. Lynch couldn't help but sigh: no wonder a hundred ghouls could slaughter the entire city; ancient professional soldiers were simply too scarce.
“Though, why is someone on temporary leave?”
Lynch was somewhat curious. Logically speaking, even if they didn't mobilize the soldiers on rotation at a time like this, they shouldn't be letting anyone take time off.
The soldier said with considerable reverence, “It's Leonard. He fought desperately against the ghouls and rescued Kemitt, so the commander specially granted him three days off.”
“Then his checkup...?”
“When Dr. Sven treated Kemitt yesterday, she already examined him. He wasn't injured.”
“That's good, then.”
Lynch nodded in relief and kept pace with the soldiers. Yet he had barely taken two steps when he suddenly froze, rooted to the spot.
“Wait... did he just say Leonard fought off the ghouls and rescued Kemitt?”
“Yes.”
A flash of inspiration struck Lynch's mind, and he finally realized why he had felt something was off all along.
Before this, no one had ever witnessed ghouls killing people with their own eyes; everything was deduced from traces left behind.
All anyone had ever seen were corpses, never the actual killings taking place.
That was very intriguing.
Rate on N.U.
