There are two methods of White Noise infection.

The first is a consensual approach, infecting through what feels like a shared mind with the target.

Ordinary members and officers are generally infected this way.

The other is a forced infection.

It is a method of forcibly inserting White Noise into the body of someone resisting and manipulating their mind by force.

“Uhgh… Ugh…”

“… Eeek.”

When White Noise is forcefully driven into a rejecting mind, it’s common for the victim to become brain-dead from severe pain.

“Heheh, luckily, quite a few are left.”

Montana glanced at the standing soldiers and let out a small chuckle.

Though some occasionally let out mechanical groans, almost 80% were still standing.

When White Noise is forced into the body, it’s often the case that they become so completely mindless that they can’t even move, so 80% remaining was quite a lot.

“Ah… Ah…”

“Oh dear, baron Max~ What will we do if you end up like this?”

Among those completely turned into mindless husks, lying sprawled on the ground, was also Baron Max.

Baron Max, eyes wide open, drooled and let out moans.

Montana looked down at him with a sneer and turned away.

“Well then, shall we just wait until synchronization is complete and then leave right away?”

“You, you scoundrel! Just what have you done?!”

At that moment, the only knight of Max’s territory, Martro, appeared.

He had stepped away briefly to take care of territory affairs in place of Baron Max, and upon returning, he found this catastrophe.

“Damn it! I had a bad feeling ever since the baron first brought you in! Just what have you done to the baron and the people of his land?!”

Shiiiing!

Martro drew his sword, shouting.

Montana watched Martro and his drawn sword in turn, then smirked.

“Like a dog. Are you sad for your master’s death?”

“Shut up! You wicked monster! I’ll cut your head off right now and restore the territory…”

Thud!

Before Martro could finish, Montana approached in a flash and stabbed his hand into Martro’s abdomen.

With a simple thrust, Montana’s hand went right through Martro, emerging out his back.

“Gah!”

Martro trembled, letting out a groan, unable to put up any resistance.

Montana whispered into his ear.

“Then die.”

Rip-crash!

A pure white tentacle sprouted from Montana’s arm, tearing Martro’s body to shreds.

Blood splattered, staining Montana’s pale skin red.

Montana licked the blood off his lips, wearing a blissful smile.

“Ah~ This is why I love the countryside. Even if I go wild here, the guards don’t bother me.”

There was one reason he had volunteered to come to such a remote backwater.

To indulge in slaughter as much as he pleased.

He had come to Albino just to kill humans to his heart’s content.

“Well then… Oh, that’s right!”

Montana beamed as he looked toward the residential area of Max’s territory.

It was still quiet, as if no one there knew what had happened.

“This territory is going to vanish soon anyway… Guess it won’t hurt to kill a few more?”

That day, not a single person survived in Max’s territory.

* * *

Ding!

― Hint has been updated.

[Oddball Alchemist, Bern Doyner]

― Meet the disciples of Bern Doyner. (○)

― Meet him directly with his disciples. (○)

― Protect Potro Village together with Bern Doyner. (X)

-???

-???

I thought it was about time for an update.

Luca looked at his phone and smacked his lips.

‘This seems like it’ll be over soon—wonder what the reward will be?’

He roughly understood the situation.

There was a rule: only those who would become villains would show up as hints.

Indeed, Bern Doyner was someone who would become a “villain”.

‘He’s not a villain right from the start, but by context, it’s certain he’ll become part of Albino.’

He wasn’t exactly sure what his role was in Albino, but just like Kryphi had become an “Imitator”, Bern Doyner must have shown up in some other form.

Or perhaps he was merged into the “main body” of White Noise.

‘The important thing is, I just have to survive and get out of here.’

Once this situation was resolved, the Bern Doyner hint would be complete.

Just thinking about the reward had him thrilled already.

Peeeep!

At that moment, Whistle came flying in.

“M-master! Master! That guy’s gone crazy! He’s a terrifying monster!”

“Calm down, Whistle.”

“He’s sticking strange things inside people’s bodies! And then killing them too!”

Whistle was clearly agitated.

Luca calmly soothed her, as if he understood everything.

“I get the situation. Can you tell when they’ll come here?”

“They won’t be able to come right away! The people who got caught by the bugs were in a weird state!”

“That’s good. Keep scouting for us.”

After sending Whistle out again, Luca returned to his party, who had just finished eating.

“No meat…”

“There is meat.”

“Not monster meat!”

Being a rural area with no livestock, meat had to be hunted, but with Baron Max around these days, they hadn’t been able to go out hunting.

So, they hadn’t seen any meat at all.

Stuck eating hard bread and bland potatoes just to fill their bellies, Ottbo looked quite weary.

“Well then, since we’ve filled up, let’s talk about the Max Baron family again.”

Bern spoke up with his opinion.

“I don’t think the Max Baron family will send soldiers again immediately. Their morale must be low, so first, they’ll try to negotiate.”

“No. They’ll definitely come again, and much stronger this time.”

At Luca’s confident words, Bern looked displeased.

“Why do you think so?”

“Because I found out that the people backing them are Albino.”

“What…?!”

At the mention of “Albino”,

Bern’s eyes widened.

Hav tilted his head at that.

“Albino? What’s that?”

“It’s a notorious criminal organization from the south. Famous for ruthless methods and strong loyalty. They were the ones backing the Max Baron family.”

“How do you know that?”

To this, Luca pointed at his own eyes.

“There was someone with pale skin and blood-red eyes near them.”

“So what?”

“That means it’s definitely Albino.”

Hav asked back, but Bern seemed convinced right away.

There were no other features as distinctive as that.

“This is bad. The people of this village can’t hold off Albino. We need to persuade them to run!”

“Master, is Albino really that dangerous?”

Bern nodded with a pained look at Hav’s question.

“Yes. If they’re here, it’s basically a death sentence. Since they didn’t catch us all at once, baron Max might already be dead by now.”

“I-is it that bad?”

“They do things like that. We might already be under the control of their strange power.”

“S-so, what do we do? Do we tell the men and women to run?”

“… Even if we tell them, they won’t listen. They’ll want to die here.”

After a moment’s thought, Bern shook his head with a bitter expression.

He had already tried asking the villagers to leave this place.

Their answer was always the same.

“I can’t leave the village where I was born and raised, master.”

“I’ll die here, even if it kills me.”

“Thank you for everything. At least you, master, please find a safe place.”

No matter how much he tried to persuade them, they wouldn’t listen.

That’s why, even if it was crude, he had given them guns and armed them.

“T-then…”

“Calm down, Hav.”

“Luca…?”

Luca spoke dispassionately.

“If you make up your minds, you can escape this crisis.”

“‘You’?”

At this, Hav looked dissatisfied.

“Yes. If you and Moula both commit, you can get through this.”

“When you say commit…”

Hav looked around, and Moula, standing next to him, answered bitterly.

“You mean being ready to kill?”

“!”

“Yes. Honestly, I’m not even sure those things can be called human anymore. Either way, if you’re prepared to kill, you can save the villagers.”

Hearing Luca’s words, Hav and Moula exchanged glances.

“I…”

Hav’s eyes trembled.

But Moula already looked determined.

“I’ll… I’ll do it.”

“Good. Honestly, we don’t need Hav. As long as you’re willing, Moula, that’s enough.”

“W-what do you mean?!”

The fact that he wasn’t needed seemed to shock Hav.

But Luca ignored him, speaking to Moula.

“You brought it, right?”

“It…?”

Moula looked puzzled, and Luca made a gun gesture with his hand.

“I mean your masterpiece.”

* * *

“Keheheh. Did it take too long?”

It had taken all day for Montana to infect everyone in Max’s territory.

“Not that it matters; they won’t try to escape anyway.”

Like most country folk, they had no will to leave the land where they were born and raised.

Even Potro’s villagers had endured Baron Max’s oppression without running away.

It would take more than a day for them to run.

“All right, let’s go.”

Montana led the White Noise-infected residents of Max’s territory toward Potro village once more.

His goal was to capture Bern Doyner and slowly infect him with White Noise.

‘If I capture the villagers and kill them one by one in front of him, no matter how strong his mind is, he’ll break eventually. Hah, I can’t wait!’

Even if you forcefully infect an expert like an alchemist and he ends up a husk, it’s not much loss.

That’s why Montana planned to use the Potro villagers as negotiation leverage.

‘How many do I have to kill before he gives in? I want to find out soon!’

The reason Montana ranked among the top five officers was precisely this cruelty.

Doing the brutal tasks that others wouldn’t even dare, unabashedly.

For that reason, he had turned many talents into Albino members and received just as many White Noise replicas.

‘No matter who this alchemist really is, if I add him to our side, I’ll get even more replicas. That means I can kill even more people—a dream come true!’

Montana’s eyes glittered with madness.

His pace quickened.

Leading the residents of Max’s territory, he arrived right in front of Potro village.

Dong dong dong dong dong!

As he approached, bells rang out from the village.

‘Heh, did they know I’d come again? Not that it’ll matter.’

Even a swordsman who could use magic power coating wouldn’t be able to handle soldiers empowered by White Noise, who no longer feared death.

Besides, crude guns would do nothing against protective gear.

There was no way for Potro villagers to win here.

“Now! People of Max’s territory! Destroy Potro village!”

Ziiiing—pew!

Boom boom boom boom!

Just then, a beam of light shot out from within Potro village, landing squarely among the residents of Max’s territory.

A huge explosion followed, and dozens of territory folk disappeared in an instant.

“…?”

While Montana stood there dumbfounded, unable to comprehend what had happened, someone was walking out from the village entrance.

Glorious dark-green hair and clear blue eyes shining like a lake.

It was Luca.

“So it really was you. Montana Way.”

“?”

As they drew close enough, Luca taunted.

Montana pulled a sour face.

“You know who I am?”

“I know you very well. But that’s not what matters.”

Shiiing.

Luca drew his sword.

He lifted the corners of his mouth and spoke.

“What matters is that you die today.”

Crackle!

Lightning flowed along his blade.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep