Azadin freed himself from the corpse of the wererat. The terrible, blood-freezing power of cold continued to affect him even after the wererat had died, chilling him to the bone.
"That's an incredible amount of mana. Be careful. It'd be best if everyone put on winter clothing."
Scott warned them.
"W-Winter clothing? In this summer heat?"
Brock asked in shock. Everyone had come in light gear, anticipating they would be fighting in armor.
"There's no helping it. Just wrap yourselves in blankets or something."
Azadin's party took out their blankets, tied them with their cloaks, and secured them tightly as makeshift cold-weather gear.
"So, in the end, this whole mess started because your wife and mistress fought. What a disaster this is."
"I-I sincerely apologize."
Brock, despite his higher status than Brand, couldn't utter a single retort under his scolding.
Just then, an eerie sound echoed from beyond the mist.
***
A young woman emerged from the fog. With brown hair tinged with a reddish hue, she stepped forward, piercing through the dense mist.
"Lord Brock."
"…Franc!"
Brock recognized her and was visibly shaken. The woman gazed at him with eyes gleaming as if intoxicated.
"You came for me. I knew it. I knew you'd come to me instead of that woman."
At that moment, Brand stepped forward and shouted.
"Hey there, young lady!"
"...."
"We already know that you've become a follower of the Spider Queen Arthra! So don't bother trying to deceive us. Just be honest and speak plainly!"
As Brand bellowed, those watching couldn't help but chuckle.
"He's blunt."
"Well, skipping unnecessary formalities is actually quite nice."
Ishmael remarked as he nocked an arrow onto his bow.
"You came to hunt me down, didn't you? Brock?!"
"Franc, I…"
"It was that woman who turned me into this! She's also the one who turned this Sinop Fortress into what it is now. You said it yourself—marriage is just a chain that binds you!"
"...."
"That's just sweet talk to deceive a girl young enough to be your daughter. Listen, miss, you're not the one bound by the chains of marriage, so get a grip. Whether it's a man or a woman, most of the things they whisper to their lovers outside of marriage are just empty lies."
Brand said, casting a scornful glance at Brock.
"Uh, S-Sir Brand, aren't you scared?"
Brand was a scribe, not a knight, yet Guillaumevalt referred to him as 'Sir.' It was because, despite the unmistakable aura of malevolence radiating from the woman before them, Brand was treating her as casually as if she were a housewife from the neighborhood.
"It doesn't matter. I act with righteousness. What do I have to fear when I can face the heavens with a clear conscience?"
"It's not shame that keeps people cautious."
It's fear.
"Brock, choose me. Stop fighting that woman. Let's just run away together, somewhere far where no one will ever find us."
'Impressive.'
Azadin ignored Brand's interference and felt a strange sense of respect for the woman who was calling out to Brock. To be this stubborn to the end—her obsession must run deep.
"Franc, I…"
Brock was in agony. As Brand had said, he had whispered meaningless sweet nothings at the bedside of a young girl too naive to understand.
Even though he had no intention of breaking his marriage, he had told her that his wife was an evil woman who trapped and tormented him and that she, Franc, was his one true love. If only he weren't bound by his responsibilities as a noble and a knight, he would have already divorced and lived out his true love with her—but, tragically, he had to fulfill his duties.
With these kinds of honeyed words, he had deceived women, and this one had taken it all as truth. She clung to his words, even in this horrific situation, believing them completely, even though Brock himself had long since lost track of all the lies he had spun.
"I suppose I'll have to erase the noise around us. It's always been like this. Sir Brock could never hear the true voice of his heart because of his obligations and status."
"Franc! That's not it! I was just a coward!"
Brock protested, but his lover vanished into the mist.
Then, strands of webbing shot out from the fog, aiming straight for Brand.
-Ping!
But Ishmael, waiting behind them, swiftly shot an arrow, intercepting the spider silk midair.
"I was actually going to put an arrow through that woman's skull, but… I got too caught up in the drama."
Ishmael grumbled as he pulled out another arrow and nocked it onto his bow.
"Yeah. You guys be careful too."
"Of the spiderwebs?"
"No, you're from Aragasa. You wouldn't get caught in something like that. I mean, don't fall for a cheating bastard's nonsense."
Azadin added as he gestured toward Brand.
"Understood!"
Brand pushed his wheelchair forward, the wooden spear mounted on it ready for action.
"Follow him!"
"H-Hey, wait!"
Brock was bewildered at how ruthlessly Azadin's group was treating his lover as an enemy, but at that moment, the mist began to clear.
"Ah!?"
Inside the village of Sinop Fortress, on the second and third floors of the wooden buildings, thick spiderwebs filled the space. Bound within them were the corpses of wererats and Nagas, their bodies drained dry and shriveled.
And between the bell tower and the fortress walls, atop a frozen web of ice, stood a massive spider.
The upper half of the spider was that of a woman—none other than Franc, the woman they had just spoken to. Her eyes, filled with madness, fixated on Brock.
"Sir Brock! I will free you from the shackles of duty that bind you. I will eliminate them all!"
"That's going to be difficult."
Azadin scoffed and signaled to Zebeck. Zebeck pulled out a rusted mace and threw it.
—Mace of Judgment!
As powerful white magic surged through the mace, the spider woman quickly shot out strands of webbing to catch the weapon.
But just then, Azadin fired an arrow. The arrow struck the mace's handle precisely, sending it soaring high into the air, avoiding the spider silk.
"T-That's impossible!"
"This kind of archery…"
Brock, who had dismissed Ishmael's earlier shot as mere luck, was now convinced.
"Herald Clan member!? No, but he's a holy knight…"
It was obvious that Zebeck was a holy knight. No, a holy knight capable of wielding such powerful white magic must be a rare talent even among holy knights. And yet, a holy knight and a herald's bloodline were joining forces?
"When the cause is noble, allies will gather."
Azadin said as he moved closer to Brock. Meanwhile, the Mace of Judgment, unleashed by Zebeck, came crashing down toward the spider woman. However, she wove a web in midair and slipped underneath it to evade the attack.
The Mace of Judgment exploded above, shattering the web and destroying the roof tiles of the fortress and the lightning rod atop the bell tower, causing them to collapse.
"Kyah!"
The spider woman screamed. However, she quickly maneuvered behind the bell tower to avoid further attacks.
"Useless!"
Midiam fired an arrow. The arrow tore through the air, curving mid-flight to chase after the spider woman hiding behind the bell tower.
"T-That's incredible!"
Brock was astonished. Not only was the arrow fired by such a young girl immensely powerful, but it also moved as if it were alive, freely changing direction. He had only heard rumors about how formidable the herald's bloodline was, but seeing it in action—this was the kind of skill that could truly be capable of killing the divine king and his nobles.
As the spider woman let out a wail from behind the bell tower, the ground around them began to sink, and small spiders started to emerge from beneath the earth. Small, but still the size of hunting dogs. Even if they weren't venomous, a bite from one would surely be fatal.
"Wait, hold on! Franc! Listen to me! This is all my fault!"
Brock pleaded desperately, but the spider woman showed no intention of listening.
"You're blinded by your duty as a vassal! If I can free you from that duty, from your knightly obligations, then you'll be able to think only of love."
Azadin clicked his tongue as he listened.
'Just what kind of nonsense did he spout to seduce a young girl?'
Most likely, he had told her that his marriage was miserable, that he couldn't divorce due to his responsibilities as a knight and a vassal, and that he had no choice but to stay with his wife despite loving Franc. It seemed he had convinced her of this to justify not remarrying her, despite continuing their relationship.
Just then, Scott muttered.
"Hey. That Naga woman is running away."
While Azadin's party was busy fighting the spiders, Shati was slipping away, darting between the buildings.
"Shh. Stay quiet."
Azadin had no intention of stopping her—he planned to track her.
Of course, he could have just asked Brock where the nearest trading firm or brothel was and found the Nagas' hideout that way, but wasn't it better to have Shati lead them there herself?
"Then we should deal with this spider woman quickly, right? Want me to take care of it?"
Scott asked.
"No. Don't go using necromancy in front of all these people."
"I can do more than just necromancy."
"Then use colorless magic instead of black mana. Just on the spiderlings, not her."
"What about the spider woman? You planning to let her live?"
"No. She doesn't seem to be in her right mind anymore. It's unfortunate, but there's no other choice."
Azadin said as he stepped forward, armed with both bow and sword. The spiders rushed toward him in unison, but—
—Thwack!
With a swift swing of his sword, Azadin severed the legs of the oncoming spiders. Then, he flicked his wrist, letting the bowstring coil around his upper arm, securing the bow to his body while freeing his hands. In the same fluid motion, he clenched his now-empty fist and drove it forward.
His punch pierced through the belly of a spider, and he lifted its lifeless body.
"Well then!"
Using the dead spider as a shield, Azadin blocked the incoming strands of spider silk.
-Splat!
The spider woman fired her web at Azadin and pulled, but instead of Azadin, she yanked her own spiderling toward her.
"Ah! No!"
The spider woman cried out in dismay, but the moment she caught the spiderling, the spider's lower half—the part corresponding to a human's pelvis—opened its jaws and began sucking the fluids out of the spiderling.
The young spider shriveled up instantly, its body drained dry. The speed of the action suggested that she wasn't even conscious of it—her instincts compelled her to sink her fangs into whatever her front legs caught.
"That's tragic. She's already become a beast."
Azadin muttered as he raised his bow once more, loosing arrow after arrow at Franc.
A powerful longbow required great strength to draw, yet Azadin fired shot after shot effortlessly while walking forward. And then, he picked up the severed leg of a spider, nocked it onto his bowstring, and launched it as well.
—Thud! Thud! Thud!
Arrows and severed legs struck the spider woman in rapid succession, making her scream in agony. As her blood splattered and coated her feet, she slipped from her web and plummeted.
The frozen webs shattered into pieces, crumbling like a melting icefall.
—Boom!
With a thunderous crash, the spider woman hit the ground.
"Why are you doing this?! I only wanted to save Sir Brock! Why are you stopping me?!"
She was already beyond reason, wailing like a child. Azadin let out a deep sigh as he watched.
"What the hell is this mess?"
For a foolish noble's affair, things had certainly escalated far too much.