In his carriage, Mordred opened his eyes after a short nap. The atmosphere was somewhat changed from what it was before, and the road they were going on now was better built than the bumpy road they had traveled before.
"Seems we are getting closer to the kingdom... or maybe we're nearby some noble's household."
It was his experience that he expected the road would be much smoother when it was closer to, or led to, a noble household, a city, or a village. The bumpy road he traveled before was a road that went through a solitary area, through a forest. Although it was the only road, there were not many passengers going through it, so it was pretty much abandoned.
Opening a window, he gazed outside to see a field of farms. The carriage was at the moment running along the side of these fields, and the smell of mud instantly rushed in as Mordred opened the window.
But the smell did not give him discomfort; instead, it gave him a fresh feeling.
In the field, he saw the farmers working their hardest to live another day, and animals that survived under their care.
While observing the scenery outside, in front of Mordred appeared the digital panel of his inventory. In there was the icon of the latest item he had obtained: the Staff of the Pixie King.
But compared to the other items stored in the storage, the icon of the staff was somewhat like a shadow.
"Is there any way to redeem the Pixie King's staff without being influenced by him?"
As he asked, a purple glow appeared along with the mischievous pixie.
"Maybe after his death, when his influence on the world fades off, you'll be able to wield this however you like — but that would take... more than one human lifetime."
"I expected that..." whispered Mordred, gazing at the passing scenery outside.
"But I think other than the Pixie King's staff, you have more important matters to be aware of," said the mischievous pixie as she flew toward Mordred, stretched out her hand, and pulled out an illusory golden thread that wrapped around him. Although she pulled it out, once she let go of her grip, the thread once again surrounded Mordred and attached itself to him.
"This is... Isn't this Benevolent Promise?"
"It is. Do you have anything that would be helpful in this situation?" asked Mordred.
"Benevolent Promise is one of the signature powers of the Benevolent Pixie, just like my Ruination Curse. To my knowledge, it has only one solution, and that is to fulfill whatever requirements the promise has bonded."
Explained the pixie — and that information, Mordred already knew very well. Realizing that the pixie wouldn't be much help, Mordred once again gazed outside and started to look through his memory.
"This plan has not gone exactly as I planned, but the main thing is the Chosen One has died. I wonder how the other plans are going on..."
While Mordred pondered, the carriage continued to move along the road through the fields until it soon entered the prosperous city, followed by a bird that never left its sight. The carriage halted in front of a tavern to rest for the day.
The day after, the carriage left the city and headed toward the direction of the kingdom. Seeing the surroundings getting more and more densely inhabited by humans, Mordred knew they were getting closer to the kingdom.
"Getting crowded, I see. Wake me up once we are at the kingdom gate," said Mordred as he leaned onto his seat with the token of gratitude in his hand.
The mischievous pixie nodded as she continued to gaze at the outside scenery through the window.
. . . . . . . . .
In the dark night, specks of light could be seen in countless numbers from the sky. The little sparks shining on the ground moved like a group of little bugs toward one exact direction.
Clank! Clank!
The sounds echoed as numerous swords and metallic armor of the knights collided with the various objects they carried. All equipped with horses and their belongings, groups and groups of holy knights moved like this through the dark, illuminated by the bright torches that each one held in their hands.
They moved silently, closing their mouths, but the unnecessary sounds coming from their movements were not things they could prevent from leaking.
Swish!
Suddenly, a rough wind blew through the darkness and some of the fire torches were extinguished.
In the absence of the fire torches, darkness engulfed the knights, and when the darkness came, it brought with it the screams of the knights.
Arghhh!
"What... Help..."
Alerted by the knights' cries, some nearby knights moved, and their fire torches illuminated the darkness where the others had drowned — only to see that there were gaping carvings through the knights' bodies, cut deep enough to see through.
"Something is hunting us," they whispered to each other as they drew closer together.
Among them stood one knight who was larger and more muscular than the others, and he wore very heroic-looking full armor along with a heavy double-handed sword strapped to his back. The knights moved closer to this knight when the danger came, and the heroic knight stood like a pillar of hope for them.
"It must be, or maybe this is another test. We are in the midst of the journey to reach the birthplace of our predecessors, and although the dark forces have long been extinguished, their influence still does its best to prevent us from stepping into that land. If this creature surpasses the level we can't manage to take down, I hope at least one of us will be able to escape..."
"Saying unfortunate things is not the way for justice seekers like us! Whether this creature weak or not... if the damned ones stand in my way to God..."
While his words echoed, the heroic knight grabbed a few fire torches into his hand and threw them toward the direction he guessed the creature would be. And just as he had predicted, one of the fire torches illuminated a slimy creature latched onto the top of a giant tree.
The smoky creature had a massive slimy body with three heads — each head resembling a human-like skull that the creature wore as faces.
"Mutated Green Slime," came the name from the knight commander.