Chapter 36 - EPISODE 36 – FULL MOON (3) (1/2)
“I am glad to greet you again, Northern Viscount.”
“Oh, I heard the story on what happened at Langesthei. I’m really glad to see you safe.”
“Thank you for your concern. Let me introduce you to my companions, Mr. Jude Bayer from Count Bayer, and Lady Cordelia from Count Chase.”
With the introduction of Lucas, the old and white-haired Northern Viscount turned to Jude and Cordelia, and the two bowed and greeted in respect.
“Mr. Jude Bayer greets the Northern Viscount.”
“Lady Cordelia Chase greets the Northern Viscount.”
“Oh, the two of you are a good-looking couple as I’ve heard. I am the Northern Viscount. It’s a pleasure to meet you.”
“Thank you for your generous welcome.”
Even though Jude, Cordelia, and Lucas were children of the 12 northern families, they were still nothing but ordinary nobles who did not possess any titles yet.
So it was natural for them to show respect to the Northern Viscount, who is their senior and possessed a noble title.
“The atmosphere of the mansion is very nice.”
Cordelia spoke as she looked around the old but not worn-down mansion that was well-maintained, and the Northern Viscount replied with a smile.
“It’s a mansion that has existed for three generations. It’s small and old…but it’s a precious place where I was born and raised.”
The Northern Viscount responded warmly to Cordelia and did not dillydally any longer as he ordered the maids to assign each of them a guest room.
‘Do you think he’s a good person?’
‘He doesn’t look like a bad person, I think?’
In the original story, the Northern Viscount was a person who was mentioned only once, so Jude and Cordelia knew very little about him.
They couldn’t fully investigate the Northern Viscount’s background because they were both stuck in the carriage throughout the journey.
‘Well, I’m sure there would be no problems.’
Although the viscount said that it was small, it was only small when compared to the mansion of counts, and the mansion itself was not really small.
Like the mansion of a nobleman with a manor, it had several guest rooms.
Having been assigned rooms on the second floor, they then had dinner with the Northern Viscount, and went back to their respective rooms early to get some rest.
And in the balcony of the guest room, Jude and Cordelia began to have their alone time together as usual.
“Ah, it’s nice. After a long time, I could finally eat delicious food, take a good bath, and sleep in a proper bed.”
Cordelia, who was wearing a nightgown, mumbled as she hummed and stroked her hair flowing down over her shoulders.
Her hair was very shiny after she had finished her bath.
“Well, I did like the bathroom.”
“It’s great, but do you really have to say it that way?”
“Moving on…”
The two sat next to each other on the balcony chair as they looked up at the night sky.
They saw the usual two moons shining with the stars.
Jude was the first to start the conversation.
“I think Landius will arrive tomorrow. He will be with us for a while.”
“Would it be enough to tell him to be careful with Duke?”
“First…we have to give him some hints about Duke’s weaknesses and attack styles. Once he knows that, Landius Gavrail will remember about our usefulness whenever he thinks of us.”
“Hmm…should we become intimately acquainted with Landius first then? That way, he’ll be able to trust in our words and we can deliver more information to him.”
“You’re probably right.”
The best situation was for Landius to not fight with Duke at all.
“Can we get him to travel with us together? Landius is a wandering warrior. He’s not affiliated with the Guardians of the Holy Cross like Kamael.”
“You’re right but…well, we have to try first.”
If they could get Landius to travel with them, they’d be able to solve more easily most of the events that would happen in the north.
‘But…it won’t be easy.’
Landius was chasing a demon follower after the fall of the Paragon Kingdom. To be exact, he was chasing after the archbishop Manuela, who had deceived the queen of Paragon to summon Baikazel.
Since Landius had a clear goal, it was close to impossible for them to make him give up his chase and everything else just to follow Jude and Cordelia.
“Well…we’ll figure it out once we meet him.”
“You’re right. Since the second episode takes place ten years after the first episode…Landius must have changed a lot, right?”
“He must have changed. I think he’ll be in his 20’s to 30’s? Kamael covers his bare face with a mask, but their faces should be the same.”
“It gets me curious though.”
Legend of Heroes 1’s main characters, Landius and Kamael, were both outstandingly handsome guys.
Kamael was an incomparably handsome young man with a neutral beauty like Jude, while Landius was an orthodox good-looking guy with bold and intense facial lines like that of Maximilian, the main character of Legend of Heroes 2.
The second episode takes place ten years after the first episode.
Kamael becomes an executive of the Guardians of the Holy Cross and fights against numerous demons. In the midst of that, he became addicted to the demon’s power itself and his appearance changed quite a bit. Surprisingly though, there were many fans who preferred his appearance in the second episode.
‘Was it because it added…a beauty of corruption to him?’
Jude scratched his chin as he turned his thoughts to Landius again.
“Well, it’s something to look forward to.”
Even when Kamael and all the protagonists of the first episode fell into despair in front of the mighty power of Baikazel, Landius was the man who obstinately stood up and gave everyone hope.
In fact, Jude also liked Landius because he didn’t talk very much.
His heart was thrilled at the thought of meeting the real life Landius.
“We’ll meet him tomorrow or the day after tomorrow, right? I’m looking forward to it.”
“Yeah.”
Jude responded with a nod and stood up as he said.
“We’ll be having a difficult time, anyway, so let’s get some sleep for tonight at least.”
“Oh, okay. Good night to you too.”
“Dream of me.”
“Yes, yes. I’ll dream of you.”
“I’ll have a risqué dream.”
“What is this crazy b*stard saying?”
Cordelia left the balcony after their usual banter, and Jude looked back at the night sky.
It was a much brighter moonlit night than usual.
***
It was a deep, deep night that was nearing dawn when Jude opened his eyes.
The reason he suddenly opened his eyes was simple.
Boom!
Jude woke up to the sound of an explosion and sprang up from the bed as he looked out the window where he heard the sound.
The windows were broken thanks to the traps he had habitually installed earlier, which was triggered when an intruder came in. That intruder was a black-masked man that was now groaning and bleeding on the balcony.
It was an attack.
At that moment, one thing came into Jude’s mind.
“Cordelia!”
The moment he equipped the knuckles on his bedside, two more masked men appeared on the balcony.
And Jude realized it.
‘The Devil’s Hand!’
The ones who failed in Langesthei attempted to attack them once again.
Though this was quite troublesome.
The fact that they’ve attacked Jude’s group even though they knew how much power Jude’s side has could only mean that they’ve sent enough troops to handle it.
‘I was complacent.’
He thought that they wouldn’t attempt a second attack because they had suffered a lot of damage in Langesthei.
Each of the two masked combatants held a small knife.
Behind them, another masked man showed up.
‘I have to avoid them.’
It was a bad idea to deal with these people when he had no idea how many they were. He had to hurry up and join Cordelia first to ensure her safety.
And at that very moment…
“Jude!”
The door exploded as a thunderous sound echoed into the air.
And what appeared after was an incomparably beautiful girl.
No, it was a witch with a fluttering blackish red hair, dressed in a nightgown.
“Get out of here!”
The moment Cordelia yelled at the masked people, two magic missiles quickly flew and hit the masked people.
“Jude! Come on!”
He wanted to save her but ended up as the one being saved. However, the important thing was that they have joined up and are now together.
Jude hastily ran from the bed as he asked Cordelia.
“What about Dahlia?”
“On the first floor! The knights said that they were having a drink together!”
That was certainly possible.
But the moment he heard Cordelia, Jude suddenly thought.
‘A trap?’
If you think about it, they were knights on an escort mission.
It was an unreasonable for such knights like Dahlia and Jun, to go drinking with a glass or two in someone else’s mansion. Even more when one considers the character of Sir Seornn, the leader of Count Hræsvelgr’s escort knights.
This could not have happened if perhaps, the Northern Viscount did not offer them drinks first.
If so, there was one possibility.
The Northern Viscount himself trapped them.
It may be the Northern Viscount’s own work, or some of his servants, but there definitely is someone who was in touch with the Devil’s Hand!
“Let’s go quickly!”
Go to the first floor.
To save Dahlia.
“Let’s find Lucas before that!”
It was Lucas and Cordelia that the Devil’s Hand were after.
Jude rushed out into the hallway, and Cordelia followed and asked.
“But what was that explosion?”
“What?”
“That sound of explosion!”
She was asking about the sound of explosion in Jude’s room.
Jude shouted as he kicked on Lucas’ door.
“It’s a trap! I installed it on the windows every day!”
“Were you really a spy?”
“No!”
“Eh?”
“There’s no one!”
Lucas’ room was empty.
But they didn’t see any signs of an intrusion.
“The first floor?”
Could it be that he slipped in the knights’ drinking party?
Or he went to the toilet?
It didn’t take him long to think, because they heard the sounds of fighting coming from the first floor.
“Let’s hurry!”
“<Magic Missile>!”
At the moment Cordelia shouted, five magic missiles simultaneously formed and flew through the hallway.
It headed towards the Devil’s Hand’s combatants who had infiltrated through the window of Jude’s room.
“You turned off the Witch Transformation?”
“I can’t use it for a long time!”
He understood then.
Jude took the lead and started running, and they found their party on the side of the central staircase.
“Dahlia! Jun!”
“Miss!”
“Young master!”
Dahlia and Jun answered at the same time.
However, there were only the two of them and some knights. The other knights such as Sir Seornn and Dame Thilion, and above all, Lucas, were not visible.
“Where’s Lucas?!”
“Outside!”
That was the end of their conversation.
More than a dozen combatants of the Devil’s Hand poured in from all sides of the first floor and attacked the knights, and on the second floor, combatants attacked and aimed at Jude and Cordelia.
It was clear that at least dozens of combatants were mobilized for this attack.
“Cordelia! Hold on to me!”
Jude held Cordelia by her waist in a hurry as he kicked the ground and jumped down from the central staircase.
And Cordelia hugged Jude’s neck. But instead of screaming and going ‘Kya!,’ she stared at the back and fired magic missiles in succession.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Thud!
The sound of the magic missiles exploding and the noise of Jude landing on the floor erupted simultaneously.
Jude carried Cordelia and kicked the ground once again.
“Outside!”
“<Fire Arrow>!”
Cordelia, who was still in Jude’s arms, formed a huge flame arrow.
The knights perfectly understood Jude’s command and formed a wedge-type formation with the two in the center as they rushed towards the central entrance.
Boom!
The <Fire Arrow> fired by Cordelia destroyed the front door and burned it. At the same time, arrows poured out from all sides.
“<Shield>!”
Count Chase’s ring activated immediately.
A translucent hemisphere wrapped around Jude and Cordelia, and the knights swung their swords in respond to the rain of arrows.
“Ack!”
But it was impossible to stop all the arrows.
Several arrows pierced the arms and shoulders of the knights.
“Dahlia!”
“Outside!”
Cordelia screamed when she saw Dahlia with an arrow in her left thigh, but Dahlia promptly replied and moved forward. They had to get out of the mansion first before the next rain of arrows poured down.
“Valiant Charge!”
Jun’s body was suddenly enveloped in a subtle golden light when he shouted loudly. He then charged like a bullet towards the front door. It was ‘Chivalry,’ the magic of the knights.