Grandson of the Holy Emperor is a Necromancer

Chapter 68

Although it was late in the evening, we were already fairly close to Hilda fiefdom anyways, meaning it was unnatural for the carriages to stop so abruptly like this.

While tilting my head, I opened the carriage’s door. “What’s going on?”

One of the Crimson Cross members nearby responded promptly. “It’s nothing to worry, your highness. Please go back to bed and let us handle it.”

I peeked my head out further and took a look at the path ahead of us.

“I don’t know what kind of touring troupe you folks are, but it doesn’t matter now! Give up all your belongings and we’ll let you go!”

What I saw was a muscle-bound man boasting rather abundant beard. He was accompanied by a large contingent of men reeking with obvious signs of desperate poverty. With suspicious grins in their faces, they were blocking the road.

Their hands were gripping woodcutting axes, kitchen knives, and other shoddy make-shift weapons.

The burly beard man roared out, “Give us all your money and women, and maybe we’ll let you pass! Looks like you’re either a troupe of pierrots or performers, so surely there must be some beauties amongst you lot! Isn’t that right, fellas?”

Wow, isn’t this one of those clichéd developments that often appears in fantasy novels? A protagonist on an adventure, bandits that try to rob him, and then the protagonist mercilessly slaughters said bandits.

Now that I got to experience that very development I only ever read about in books before, I couldn’t help but feel rather stoked by it.

Well, this was also a part of a fun travelogue, wasn’t it?

“Oh-hoh! Bandits!”

My excited tone of voice elicited slow head shakes from the Crimson Cross members.

The one who answered me by the door continued on. “Your highness. They must’ve stopped us in the hopes of robbing us blind since they have numbers on their side. And judging from how that man talks, they have no idea who we are.”

“Man, they sure do have some guts. In my eyes, our little group looks like a collection of psychos, and yet they wish to attack us?”

Our group consisted of people wearing creepy bird beak masks and crimson robes, plus they were carrying scary weapons like scythes, greatswords, and maces. If I was in their shoes, I would have found a suspicious group like this one waaaay too ominous and just let them pass by without doing anything.

“They seem to have mistaken us for a troupe of pierrots or street performers, your highness. Well, a festival is scheduled to take place in Hilda fiefdom in a month after all. What are your commands?”

“Teach them just enough so that they won’t harm other travellers, then let them be on their way.”

“In that case, we should cut off their tendons.”

Now that’s properly savage.

Still… letting them go would inevitably result in other travellers getting attacked by these same people. So yeah, it’d be better to subjugate them now and ensure that other unfortunate folks weren’t unduly inconvenienced by this bunch.

The members of the Crimson Cross began approaching the bandits.

I could only send my sympathetic prayers in the hapless bandits’ direction. “I pray that you all behave better in your next lives.”

Just as I was about to close the carriage door shut, my gaze shifted over to the surrounding forest. An unmistakable acrid stench of blood wafted in. At the same time, I noticed rapidly moving shadows.

Eyes glowing blood-red, and fangs as sharp as blades that belonged to these shadows, began appearing one by one between the gaps of trees.

My expression hardened immediately after locking my gaze with those eyes.

“Everyone, battle stations!” I roared out reflexively. “Ignore the bandits, now!”

The Order of the Crimson Cross members immediately turned their heads to me.

I shouted out once more, “Maintain formation! Protect the carriages!”

Without asking a single question, and not even a hint of hesitation, they answered my call and carried out my commands to the letter. After quickly surrounding the carriages in a protective cordon, they lowered their postures and began urgently scanning our surroundings.

“Monsters are coming. Get ready!”

I shouted out while exiting from the carriage myself. Then, I quickly summoned my musket rifle and breathed into the loading chamber.

Meanwhile, I continued surveying the forest all around us.

The red glowing eyes, a whole lot of them… were beginning to move forward.

It seemed that the Crimson Cross members had finally noticed those things too.

“It’s them!”

“The demonic beasts of the forest are here!”

From the sounds of it, they must’ve known the identities of the monsters hidden in the forest.

“What are you all doing? Why don’t you put on your performance later, and…”

The axe-wielding bandit leader smirked foolishly and began approaching us. But it was right at that moment when a shadow suddenly leaped out from the trees and pounced on him.

Sharp fangs gleamed coldly under the moonlight.

I saw a torso with gaping holes of rotting flesh and black fur that grew in unkempt patches. It was a monster with the appearance of a half-man and half-beast.

“Uwaaaahk?!”

The monster bit down on the bandit leader’s throat. The poor man’s neck got ripped apart as blood sprayed in all directions.

It didn’t stop there; the monster then grabbed the leader’s body with its two hands before tearing it into several pieces, then threw them away.

Bits of torn flesh and intestines scattered everywhere in a rain of blood.