Chapter 391

As soon as Raon left the lord's manor, he turned around to look at Wendy.

"My squad members haven't eaten dinner yet. Can we start by having dinner?"

Ooh! What's up with you?

Wrath jolted out of the bracelet, not expecting to eat so soon. His bright face showed that he was looking forward to eating.

Since you are ordering food, tell her to get the regional product! Tell her to offer the best food in the area!

'Offer your fat instead.'

Raon pushed Wrath away and asked her to prepare a meal and lodgings.

"Of course!"

Wendy nodded with passionate, burning eyes. Her strong voice sounded like she was impressed by the conversation between Raon and Weegen.

"Di-dinner? Did you just say that we are eating dinner before we work?"

"I can't believe he just asked for food the first thing he did. The sun must be rising from the west tomorrow."

"Are you also giving us time to sleep?"

Burren, Martha, and Runaan stared at him with round eyes because they thought that they would immediately start their mission.

"I've never starved you before."

Raon shook his hand with a frown. He did make them skip sleep many times before, but he never failed to feed them.

But you made them feed on the grass from the mountain!

'That also counts as a meal.'

Grass was good enough as food. It still counted as a meal.

"Prica."

Wendy shook her hand to the side, and the ranger's third team leader, Prica, came towards her. He was the one who disappeared after guiding the squad to the house.

"Guide the Light Wind swordsmen to their lodgings and the restaurant."

"Please come this way."

Prica carefully bowed and guided the Light Wind squad to the right.

Raon went to Wendy instead of going to the restaurant.

"Amber Blade division leader, we should talk."

"Understood."

Wendy nodded and pointed towards the left.

"Let's go that way."

She went ahead, saying that she knew a suitable place for the talk.

Hey! You fiend!

Raon was about to follow Wendy, but Wrath grabbed him by the collar.

Why aren't you going with them?!

'I need to gather information about this place.'

The conversation with Weegen made him realize that House Arianne was in even more ruin than he'd thought. The head of house and the executives became corrupt from their stagnant lifestyles, and the entire house was buried under the mud.

'Is this why he told me to take responsibility?'

Raon had the feeling that Glenn wasn't simply asking him to deal with the anomaly in the swamp—he was actually ordering him to change the declining House Arianne.

Do you know what kind of person is the vilest of all in the world?

'I wonder. A demon maybe?'

It's the ones who give hope just to take it away afterward! And that's what you did!

Wrath violently shook him by the collar while screaming.

'I'll be eating today no matter what happens. Don't worry about it.'

As Wrath rampaged, Raon flicked his forehead with his finger to smash him into the ground.

Kweh!

Raon ignored his scream and examined people inside the house.

'This is rather reassuring.'

Unlike the executives, whose pupils were glowing with laziness and desire, their families didn't look too bad.

The situation was still worrisome, but he could tell that they'd been living a diligent and earnest life.

'It must be thanks to that swordswoman.'

Wendy Arianne was the only tree that was standing straight in the garden called House Arianne. If it weren't for her, even the family members on top of the Amber Blade division members would've become as corrupt as the executives.

Wendy stopped walking while Raon was putting his thoughts together about House Arianne.

"We've arrived."

She'd guided him above the western castle walls, where they could see the Swamp of Death.

The moonlight shining through the fog and the dim lighting created a pleasant atmosphere. If Burren were there, he would've said that it was a lovely sight once again.

"It's not too bad, isn't it?"

Wendy leaned her back against the castle wall and smiled faintly.

"This is a nice place."

Raon nodded and went to the edge of the castle wall. Even though it was in the middle of the night, he pierced through the Swamp of Death with his perception, which had surpassed the human limits.

'There are only zombies and skeletons.'

He couldn't observe too far because the fog was too thick, but he could only find the swaying zombies and creaking skeletons around him.

'However… There are too many of them.'

Despite Weegen's claim that the number of monsters had only slightly increased, he could feel a significant number of presences.

There were enough monsters to completely block the western route if they gathered at once.

Raon looked at Wendy while pointing at the Swamp of Death.

"When was the last time you scouted?"

"…It was October last year."

Wendy lowered her head in shame.

"October last year…"

Since four months had passed since the new year, she was telling him that they hadn't scouted for over half a year. It was a serious matter that he couldn't simply laugh off.

"Moreover, we didn't scout all the way."

Wendy bit her lip, saying that they'd never reached the end of the Swamp of Death.

"Was the head of house stopping you?"

Raon narrowed his eyes while looking at Wendy's flushed face. It really could've happened, as the head of house had mentioned that they couldn't enter the Swamp of Death without his permission.

"Yes. Scouting normally requires a scouting party and two executives or the head of house. I need one more person to go with me, but…"

"No one wanted to go."

"Yes. I tried to convince them, but the head of house claimed that scouting was unnecessary."

"He couldn't be bothered, I guess."

The executives of House Arianne were no different from their head of house, Weegen, according to what he saw in the audience chamber.

While the Light Wind squad gained muscles through continuous training, they'd been gaining useless fat while drowning in pleasure. It was obvious that they didn't want to move their heavy bodies.

They were so bad that Wendy looked like the strange one.

"Indeed."

Wendy sighed and nodded her head.

"That's why I feel even more admiration towards Sir Raon. You immediately took the upper hand against the head of house as soon as you arrived."

"It wasn't a big deal. I've just seen lots of people like him in the past."

Raon smiled faintly and looked away.

"How is the swamp right now?"

"The water level has increased by more than 50 cm. The swamp might start seeping through the gates if it increases any further."

Wendy furrowed her brow, saying that she couldn't even guess what kind of problem it was going to cause because it had never happened before.

"Then what about the increase in the undead?"

"There are at least five times as many as last year."

"Five times."

"Both the increase in water level and undead have happened before, but such a huge difference is unprecedented. That's why I had to call for reinforcement even though my superiors were against it."

"It was a good decision."

Raon nodded. House Arianne was weak in his honest opinion.

It would've been fine if it wasn't a big deal, but if a powerful monster was born from the deep swamp, then people from Arianne would've been unable to defend against it.

"That's why I'd like to apologize."

Wendy bowed deeply.

"I'm the one who asked for reinforcements, but I won't be able to join the scouting tomorrow. I'm pretty sure the head of house will stop me from leaving by saying that I need to stay to protect this place."

Raon quietly waited for her to continue since he expected that to happen.

"Instead, I'll send the third scouting team with you. They should be helpful with the investigation since I have a lot of influence over them even though I'm not in perfect control of them."

Wendy bowed once again to apologize.

"It's fine."

Raon smiled coldly while looking at the lord's manor behind him instead of the Swamp of Death.

"Because I realized that there's more than one thing that I need to eliminate."

* * *

Inside the audience chamber of House Arianne.

Raon and Wendy had left, but the head of house Weegen and the executives were still there.

"My lord."

The general administrator with a bulging belly ground his teeth while raising his head.

"Are you going to leave that arrogant young bastard alone?"

"I concur. He's going to rampage in our house like it's his home if we leave him alone."

The financial officer who nodded was wearing rings on every single finger of hands that were as skinny as a skeleton's.

"We can't leave them alone."

"We have to stop them no matter what…"

"The matter is going to escalate if there's an issue with the swamp!"

The other executives also came up next to the general administrator and the financial officer to raise their voices.

"What will you do if you don't want to leave him alone?"

Weegen lowered his gaze while wrinkling his nose.

"Are you going to fight a monster who's reached the intermediate level of Master at the age of twenty?"

"Ab-about that…"

The financial officer bit his lip, unable to respond.

"You should think before you talk instead of venting your anger."

Weegen continued while piercing him with a cold gaze.

"How am I supposed to stop them when their actions are justified on top of being the stronger ones!"

He would've continuously refused if Raon was pressuring him with his power alone, but his actions were justified because Glenn had bestowed full authority on him.

There was nothing he could do, as Raon wasn't giving them any room for plotting.

"Did you see their eyes?"

"What?"

"I'm talking about those damn Light Wind squad members' eyes!"

The gaze coming from the Light Wind squad behind Raon felt terrifying enough to make his heart skip a beat. He almost felt like he was looking at the eyes of mad dogs instead of humans.

"The moment that Raon bastard refused the banquet, their pressure became deadly. They were literally mad dogs."

Weegen's lips trembled as he remembered the ferocious madness he had seen from the Light Wind squad.

"Hmm…"

"Wh-what can we do…?"

As the executives failed to find an answer, the audience chamber's door opened, and a middle-aged man with a nicely trained body entered. He was Baneder, the head of the rangers.

"Don't worry about it too much."

Baneder bowed at Weegen.

"I took some appropriate measures, as the Light Wind squad is obviously going to take the third team of rangers with them tomorrow."

"But your measures didn't work today! They managed to arrive here without getting a single person wet, so what's the point?!"

Weegen clicked his tongue at Baneder.

"That's why I bribed the team leader this time."

"Prica?"

"Yes. I promised him a promotion to executive and told him to guide them to a deserted location. Since the Swamp of Death is extremely foggy, even the White Sword Dragon should be unable to find the direction."

Baneder smiled, saying that the Light Wind squad was going to return without finding anything in their investigation.

"After that, we can just send the youngest lady to deal with any problems that might occur."

"Ahem!"

Weegen slowly nodded. His thick lump of fat trembled from the movement.

"Moreover, I've also contacted that person."

"Already?"

"Yes. It's better to do it earlier than later."

Baneder bowed nonchalantly.

"You are the best."

A broad smile appeared on Weegen's face as he tapped on his armrest.

"You will be rewarded lavishly if this incident ends without any issues."

"Thank you."

Baneder rolled his lips into a smile while lowering his head.

"I'll be looking forward to it."

"Yaawn."

Krein yawned loudly and placed his fork on his empty plate.

"Our vice squad leader doesn't know what a rest is. He just never rests."

He sighed, saying that he could have accepted a welcoming banquet.

"He refused it on purpose."

Burren furrowed his brow while looking at Krein.

"You must've seen it, but the executives here are different from the leaders we know. It's obvious that things will become annoying if we interact with them, and that's why he removed the possibility."

He shook his head, saying that Raon did the right thing.

"Raon is clearly insane, but he's insane in the right way."

Martha licked her lips while supporting her chin with her fist.

"He would never do anything that would be problematic for us and Zieghart."

"I know that, but it's regrettable. We could be resting…"

Krein frowned, saying that his shoulders and knees were aching.

"I was also looking forward to resting for a day at least, but I'd rather fight right now. I also want more training."

Dorian smiled while rubbing his belly pocket.

"What? You must've finally lost your mind! You became a training-holic like that monster!"

"But couldn't you feel it today? We've gotten stronger from it."

"Ah, that's…"

Krein slowly nodded.

"True, actually."

Thanks to their continuous training from Zieghart and on their way to House Arianne, they became capable of walking on the swamp as if they were on dry land.

'Moreover…'

Because they'd practiced their footwork on water, their proficiency with footwork had increased drastically. Their martial arts' realm had also increased, and their swordsmanship and footwork were on a whole different level from before.

"Do you know what that flower is?"

Dorian pointed at a blue flower in a vase at the center of the restaurant. Every member of the Light Wind squad looked at the flower.

"It's called malleane, and it blooms with a red color in normal soil that has enough nutrients and a blue color in acidic soil."

He smiled cheerfully while touching the malleane.

"Unlike this flower, we are growing in the soil called 'Raon', which has an insane amount of nutrients."

Dorian raised his finger while looking at the petrified Krein.

"I learned this while hanging around the vice squad leader. He never does anything for no reason."

He had made a strong impression at Habun Castle and during the recent visit to the Sephia company.

He just needed to follow Raon. He was bound to be rewarded accordingly.

"I agree."

Mark Goetten nodded while putting down the tea he was drinking.

"I came to know Sir Raon a lot later than you, but I don't regret it. My skills have grown even more during the short time I've spent with him than in the dozens of years of my training."

He smiled, saying that he needed to repay the gratitude for the rest of his life.

"Well, that's not wrong."

"No one we saw today looked stronger than us except for Lady Wendy."

"I can indeed feel that I'm getting stronger."

The Light Wind members nodded while smiling.

"It can't be helped."

Burren clenched his fist with a faint smile on his face.

"We have to keep following him before that monster starts sulking."

He swirled his finger, saying that the Light Wind squad had to be patient since they were the nice ones.

"Yeah."

Martha snorted while standing up from her chair.

"No one other than us is going to follow that damn bastard."

She stood up, saying that they should move on from the meal.

"Let's go to sleep."

Runaan nodded while wearing a sleeping cap on her head.

None of the Light Wind squad hesitated as they stood up. They went to the lodgings that they'd visited before going to the restaurant.

Once everyone left and the staff finished putting away the dishes, Raon appeared from behind the restaurant's pillar.

'How commendable.'

Raon had thought they would hate him because he kept forcing them to train, so he didn't expect them to think that way.

When it comes to a relationship between human beings, you need to talk to know what they are thinking. You can never tell what they have in their minds just from thinking about it.

'You are so knowledgeable despite being a demon.'

The King of Essence has already told you! He's closer to being a human than you!

Wrath snorted, saying that Raon wouldn't be able to comprehend humanity for the rest of his life.

Let's start eating since that is settled…

As he was asking him to order the food already, the light turned off inside the restaurant.

He could see the staff leaving from the back door. They seemed to have cleaned up in a hurry before they left because the Light Wind squad had made them work overtime.

Wh-what?! Why are they leaving?! We still have another person here! You bastards!

Wrath barked, but obviously, no one looked back.

Hey, you damn cicada! We are about to skip a meal because you took your damn time!

'Ah, but I still have other stuff to eat.'

Raon smiled faintly and took out a loaf of bread from his subspace pocket.

Uhah!

Wrath's face turned pale.

'Do you want some Nadine bread instead?'

Put away that evil stuff!

* * *

House Arianne before sunrise.

The Light Wind squad and the rangers were gathered in front of the western gate.

Raon pointed with his chin, and the third team leader of the rangers, Prica, nodded and opened the gate.

Rumble!

The gate was opened with a huge vibration that shook the land. The dust that had been accumulating soared toward the sky and created a thick gray cloud.

Probably because the water level of the swamp had drastically increased, a very small amount of mud was leaking into the opened gate.

Raon turned around to look at the Light Wind squad. Their unwavering eyes showed the same determination they'd shown the day before.

"Are you ready?"

"Yes!"

The Light Wind squad replied firmly without a single exception. Their powerful voices, filled with determination, made the people around them tremble.

"Sir Raon."

Wendy Arianne came up next to the Light Wind squad and bowed at him.

"Like I said yesterday, I was ordered to stand by. I'm sorry, but in return…"

Her eyes sparkled as she pointed at Prica and the third team of the rangers.

"They are going to guide you to the best of their abilities. Please count on them."

"Thank you. You can rest assured until we return."

Raon nodded while looking at Wendy and Prica.

"Let's go."

He went ahead to advance on the swamp and the Light Wind squad followed him.

The slowest ones were the rangers who'd been living there all their lives.

Probably because they hadn't scouted for over half a year, zombies and skeletons started to gather from all directions even though they didn't even advance that much.

"Hmm!"

"There are so many zombies…"

"I never expected this number…"

"Th-that's a lot."

The rangers frowned while looking at the swarming undead.

"Light Wind squad."

Raon tapped on his scabbard without slowing down his advance.

"Eliminate them."

As soon as he made his declaration, the Light Wind squad at his back dashed forward with their eyes glowing yellow.

Whaam!

Even though they only attacked once, the entire swamp around them was devastated. Not a single one of the undead remained alive even though there were easily dozens of them before.

"Let's go."

Raon shook his hand towards the panicking rangers.

"We have no time to waste."