Chapter 150: Wave of Corpses(4)

Phield’s eyes lit up. He instinctively glanced at the map, but the moment he did, his initial delight vanished. His brows immediately furrowed.

He looked back and forth between the minimap and the two people before him, then rubbed his eyes in confusion.

"Why is it a red exclamation mark? That means they’re hostile to me... strange. When did I ever offend them?"

After the two of them cleanly wiped out large numbers of corrupted corpses, the corpse tide attacking the Nightfall Domain completely collapsed.

Mountains of bodies piled together, and streams of filthy blood gathered between them. The dark purple gore flowed like a small creek.

"Hello, we’re adventurers. We mean no harm."

The handsome young man planted his greatsword into the pile of corpses. His resolute face broke into a bright, sunny smile.

"When we saw corrupted corpses attacking you, we couldn’t help stepping in. Humans should help each other."

"Thank you very much."

Phield nodded with a smile, but before he could say anything else, Ashina tugged at the corner of his clothes.

She blinked at him, then cautiously leaned closer and quickly told him all the information Violet had revealed.

"Oh? They actually have human subordinates... Then the appearance of these two is a bit too coincidental."

Ashina’s crimson eyes glimmered with a bloody light.

"Just to be safe, I’ll go kill them."

"No rush."

Phield thought for a moment. Suddenly remembering something, he looked at Ashina’s damp hair and felt a pang of concern.

"You rest first. I have other arrangements."

Outside the manor, the two visitors had grown increasingly anxious as Phield still hadn’t opened the gate.

"Please open the gate. We’d like to buy some food."

"Hm, that’s a small matter."

Phield leapt onto the wall.

"Throw the money in, and I’ll throw the food out."

The two exchanged glances, both seeing the same bewilderment in each other’s eyes.

"Is he really this timid? After all the trouble we went through."

The mage shook his head with a bitter smile, then shouted with a tone that carried a hint of anger and grievance.

"We’d like to come in and rest for a few days. My lord, for the sake of our shared humanity, please let us enter."

"That’s not impossible," Phield replied calmly. "But I can’t be sure whether you’re good people or not. Go straight from here and you’ll reach Starnight City, which is full of monsters. Bring me the heads of two hundred ordinary corrupted corpses and ten first-tier corrupted corpses. If you do that, I’ll let you in immediately."

"Don’t try to deceive me. I only want freshly killed corpses."

Phield pulled out a handkerchief and wiped the sticky blood from his hands, then began cleaning the longsword at his waist.

He was certain of one thing.

The hostility the two felt toward him had never changed.

"Damn it! That bastard is a devil who devours people without even spitting out the bones."

The handsome young man nearly coughed up blood in anger. Several times he almost drew his sword and charged forward, but when he saw the powerful bows and crossbows in the soldiers’ hands, he immediately gave up.

He was only a first-tier warrior. A few crossbow bolts would punch bloody holes straight through him.

"Calm down, Lay."

The mage looked at Lay grinding his teeth and suddenly burst out laughing.

"Most nobles are like this. If he had easily let us in, that would’ve been strange."

"But the master’s mission—"

"Shh!"

The mage’s spine went cold with fear.

"Don’t mention any key words. She placed a restriction on us. If we say certain words, our brains will go bang—explode like rotten watermelons."

The mage clenched and spread his fingers repeatedly, demonstrating what an explosion looked like.

"Fine... but if we really start killing corrupted corpses, what if she gets angry? Mr. Quida."

"She won’t."

The mage wiped the cold sweat from his forehead and straightened himself with the support of his staff. He tried to make his voice sound louder as he shouted toward Phield on the wall.

"We’ll do it. Just don’t forget to keep your promise."

Phield spread his hands.

"Of course. My nickname is the Number One Truly Kind Man of the North."

The two men had no choice but to leave and hunt corrupted corpses.

Watching their backs disappear into the distance, Phield rubbed his nose.

"Posting quests actually feels pretty interesting. I just played the role of a game NPC."

"Should I kill them when they come back?"

Ashina’s wolf ears twitched.

"No need. I plan to squeeze the last bit of value out of them. But I do have another important task for you. I’ll explain it later."

Phield turned his attention toward the army.

"Ben."

"I’m here, my lord."

Ben immediately ran over.

"Arrange soldiers to patrol here. The rest will take turns resting. Call Tate and organize the villagers to burn all the corpses outside the manor. The smell is disgusting—it makes me want to vomit."

"Yes!"

Ben promptly went off to carry out the order.

Night fell, but the territory remained brightly lit. Pine torches were set up everywhere, their flames driving away the villagers’ fear.

"Little sister, you seem a bit different from before."

Jane rubbed her dirty chin and examined her younger sister carefully.

She used a long wooden stick to loosen the burning pile of firewood, while above the flames a pot of steaming wheat porridge simmered, diced cured meat mixed inside.

"Puff puff puff—"

Clara puffed her cheeks and blew air into the fire.

"I discovered something really interesting. When you blow into the fire, it burns stronger."

Clara gave her sister a gentle smile, then asked in confusion, "Different? What’s different? I did grow a little taller, but I’m still not as tall as you."

"I know what it is."

Jane looked her sister up and down. Right now, she was completely different from her usual timid self.

She snapped her fingers.

"You get especially excited whenever there’s a war. Haven’t you noticed?"

"Oh~ that’s because there’s good food."

Clara scratched her head and stuck out her tongue shyly.

"We can’t eat meat normally. Only during battles do we get some. If only I could join the army—I’d get good food every day. And... I really want to repay Lord Phield."

"You mustn’t think like that."

Her sister knocked her on the head without mercy and lowered her voice.

"Nobles are all bad people. Their armies are even worse! Everything right now is just a lie. Once they’re done using us, life will only get worse."

"O... okay."

Clara covered her head as tears welled up in her eyes.

"Hey! What are you two little brats doing? Is the porridge ready yet?"

A middle-aged woman wearing an apron hurried over.

"Don’t slack off. The men are building wooden fortifications. If they don’t get dinner, they won’t have the strength to work."

"The lord said the corpse tide won’t come in just one wave. We need stronger defenses."

The woman put her hands on her hips angrily.

"Curse those damned corrupted corpses."

"Auntie, the porridge is ready."

The two girls answered immediately.

"Good job, children. I’ll give you both a little extra later."

The woman pinched their cheeks affectionately, then carefully used a wooden stick to pour the porridge from the pot into a large food bucket.

"I’ll go deliver the food first. Don’t run around."