The fortress commander’s office.

Erich, who entered with Gustav, stood side by side in front of Richter, the commander of the fortress.

Erich’s achievements were already widely known throughout the fortress by the five hundred dispatched members, and thus a satisfied smile spread across Richter’s face.

“A splendid achievement. More than anything, the fact that you could achieve such results so quickly is astonishing in itself.”

“You never mentioned when I was supposed to finish, after all.”

An order to defeat the barbarians with only five hundred soldiers.

A frontal assault was obviously unrealistic, so what Richter had intended was not a direct approach, but rather to wear them down with raids.

If the plan was to inflict meaningful damage through small, mobile strikes, it would certainly have taken a significant amount of time.

But Erich had resolved the situation in a short time using tactics and his own martial prowess—far exceeding Richter’s expectations.

At that moment, Erich continued.

“Please, as promised, allow me to do as I wish with Joseph.”

“That’s not a difficult matter. Do as you please. We have no intention of interfering.”

Richter wore a subtle smile. While Erich hadn’t thought Richter would break his word, there was something deflating about it.

And, as if to confirm Erich’s sense of foreboding, Richter added,

“If you can catch him, that is.”

“What do you mean by that?”

“Joseph is under my protection, but he doesn’t take orders from me. No matter where he goes or what he does, I can’t stop him.”

“… So Joseph has left the fortress.”

Erich glared at Richter in disbelief. Nevertheless, technically speaking, Richter had not broken his promise.

The original agreement between him and Erich was to hand Joseph over.

But that was supposed to be after Erich’s success; since Erich hadn’t succeeded yet, Richter had no reason to detain Joseph simply on account that he was leaving.

‘Frankly, even if he sent him away directly, there’s no way to know.’

Yet Richter responded calmly,

“But, I had no intention of tricking you. Since I’ve made a promise, of course I must take responsibility.”

“So, how do you intend on doing that?”

“I’ll tell you where Joseph went. And the reason he went there.”

“He’s nearby, then?”

“Yes, but there will be resistance. He’ll be prepared for your arrival.”

Erich’s eyes narrowed. Knowing he was being targeted, Joseph hadn’t run far?

‘He must have something planned.’

What exactly had Joseph prepared as a countermeasure? Hard to guess, but it wouldn’t be anything trivial.

“Where did Joseph head?”

“Not far from here. Between the barbarian camp and the fortress is a small stream of ice. If you follow that upstream, you’ll come to a place called Angar Gorge.”

“Angar Gorge.”

Erich repeated the name of Angar Gorge silently to himself. In the language of the barbarians, it was ‘Gorge of the Dead’.

From the name alone, there was something ominous. The fact that someone suspected of involvement with the dead had holed up in a place called Gorge of the Dead…

Yet something came to Erich’s mind.

If Richter had intended to keep his promise, he would have kept Joseph tied to this place until their agreement concluded.

Had he wanted to deceive Erich, there’d be no need to even mention where Joseph had gone.

Why, then, was Richter now revealing Joseph’s location? It seemed Richter had some ulterior motive.

“Joseph was just an excuse from the start, wasn’t he? Why are you trying to send me there?”

“…… I figured you knew, but you always catch on so quickly. Did you already sense that much?”

“So what is really there?”

“Deserters. Joseph was sent on my orders to catch them.”

Deserters? Erich’s eyes narrowed.

Why would the fortress’s deserters hide in the gorge instead of simply escaping?

‘If it was just deserters, Richter could have dealt with them, so why bother?’

Moreover, it was odd that Joseph himself was sent there.

If they were just hunting down deserters, another squad should have been dispatched, so why send the research team?

Having thought this far, Erich concluded at once.

“Are the deserters connected to the dead?”

“Related, or not related—you could say either. But I won’t avoid the truth. They’re the dead. Or to be precise, they’ve become half-dead creatures.”

Now it all made sense. Joseph had clearly been engaged in suspicious activities involving the dead, so if he’d headed to where the deserters were despite Erich’s threat, it must be related to the dead.

And if humans have undergone necromorphosis…

‘Something that shouldn’t have happened is taking place.’

There are only two ways for a human to retain selfhood after becoming one of the dead. But one method is now impossible, so the other alone remains.

In this 6th Fortress, they had been exploiting the dead through Joseph.

And the result was the birth of monsters—the deserters who had become necromorphs.

Erich frowned.

“It’s clear now. Since the barbarians were in a standoff, you couldn’t move to deal with the deserters. You made use of Joseph, but now that he’s useless, you want to dispose of both at once?”

“That sounds a little harsh. Isn’t this beneficial for both you and me?”

“The moment the dead became involved, there’s nothing beneficial for either of us. Only ruin awaits. You must know that nobody has ever come out well after being entangled with the dead.”

“Ruin!”

Richter rubbed his brow and gave a laugh, as if at something absurd.

“Centurion, being here is ruin itself. The 6th Fortress is a place that absolutely must be defended, and, by rotten luck, that burden fell to us. Ruin? For us, it’s just a matter of now or later.”

After he finished speaking, Richter’s gaze was resolute. Of course, Erich knew that this was not just insane talk. He’d already seen with his own eyes the reality of the 6th Fortress—besieged by barbarians and barely surviving on meager supplies.

If someone did not hold out here, the barbarians would continue to expand their territory. In that sense, Erich could not deny that, at least, Richter and the Watchmen of the 6th Fortress were ‘doing what had to be done,’ even if the methods were questionable.

Yet Erich shot back at Richter,

“You really don’t know what consequences your actions will bring, do you, commander?”

“I’m always prepared. But even if you criticize me, your tasks don’t change because of it, do they?”

Erich fixed Richter with a frosty stare. Indeed, he had only one thing to do first.

First, he had to go to this ‘Angar Gorge’ and deal with both the deserters and Joseph.

“……”

It would not be difficult to execute the commander right here. But lacking real evidence, and due to the weight of a mere centurion assassinating a fortress commander, this was not trivial.

If he did so, other fortress commanders with separate chains of command might revolt as well.

Priorities were clear. If he captured the deserters and Joseph, he could track the connection and report it to higher authorities, implicating Richter.

Thus, to proceed step by step, going to the gorge was the only option…

The problem was, all of this felt too much a part of Richter’s plan—unsettlingly so.

“The number of deserters, and the reason Joseph went after necromorph deserters—can you at least tell me that?”

“There aren’t many deserters. Perhaps around a hundred at most. But what Joseph’s after is related to a new weapon.”

“A weapon? You mean to make weapons from the dead?”

“That’s right. To do that, dead who have retained human will are necessary. They call them death knights, don’t they?”

Erich’s eyes trembled. To attempt to create a death knight—with a human body!

“… He really is out of his mind.”

Erich wondered if this Joseph even knew what a death knight truly was. It was not something a human could make.

To Erich’s recollection, only the ‘Lord of the Dead’ and his direct subordinates could forge death knights.

Normally, he would have dismissed this as nonsense…

But he could not ignore it, for before his regression, the most powerful death knight had indeed appeared at this 6th Fortress.

If Joseph really could produce a death knight…

It was a situation Erich absolutely could not let go. No being could easily cope with a properly-created death knight.

“I’ll depart as soon as possible. Will you provide me with troops?”

“I’ll give you as many as possible. It benefits both me and you to destroy them all, does it not?”

“… Give the details to Gustav, then. I’ll take my leave now.”

“Do as you will.”

Without hesitation, Erich left the office.

― KWAANG!

A sound so powerful it seemed the door might burst open again echoed as the door shut. Erich strode rapidly toward his quarters. There was more than enough to prepare.

***

After Erich left, Gustav and Richter sat in silence for a while.

Then, it was the fortress commander Richter who broke the silence.

“So, having watched him closely, what kind of person do you think he is?”

“Arrogant, clever, and cunning. His strategy, too… And his martial prowess is unbelievable for someone of his age. Even though they already almost had victory, he killed the head hunter in a single blow.”

“… Surely not?”

“No, he was a swordmaster.”

Richter let out a wry laugh. For someone barely into adulthood to be a swordmaster—even talent had its limits.

“Then I suppose we can trust him a bit more. Even if Joseph manipulates the dead, it might still be possible.”

“How many troops should I assign?”

“A thousand should suffice. You assist him.”

“That many? That’s nearly all the available troops.”

“Not only Joseph, but the necromorphed Watchmen are not easy opponents. Especially Franz will be a real problem.”

Franz. As his name echoed through the office, the atmosphere seemed to drop. Gustav cautiously spoke up.

“… Um, but are you really going to eliminate Franz?”

“Do you still have affection left?”

“It would be a lie if I said otherwise, but they had no choice but to go there.”

“I know. But with the barbarian threat gone, they are of no further use. They’re nothing but monsters craving blood and flesh now.”

Gustav’s face darkened. Franz. And all their comrades.

They might now be called deserters, but at one time, they had fought together to defend this place. The reason they chose desertion was itself an unavoidable decision.

Joseph was entirely undeserving of sympathy, but those comrades were different.

Feeling pity for them was not something only Gustav had experienced; Richter’s gaze also became icy and cold.

“Gustav, I don’t regret what I’ve done. Isn’t it the same for you?”

“I… I’m not sure, commander.”

“We have something to protect. Never forget that. The moment we do, we’ll truly be lost.”

Gustav slowly nodded. They had a secret to protect. Even if someone became one of the dead—even if they were destined to rot away in such a fortress,

There was a secret, more precious than anything else, that they had to defend.

————-= Clacky’s Corner ————-=

【ദ്ദി(⩌ᴗ⩌)】

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