Chapter 92

TLN: The chapter title will be explained in a TLN further down.

『Vandalieu has reached level 100 in Insect User!』

『You have Job-changed to Tree Caster!』

『You have acquired the Plant Binding Technique skill!』

『The Farming skill has been combined with the Plant Binding Technique skill!』

『The levels of the Rapid Healing, Superhuman Strength, Plant Binding Technique and Thread Refining skills have increased!』

Name: Vandalieu Race: Dhampir (Dark Elf) Age: 7 years old Title:[Ghoul King],[Eclipse King],[Second Coming of the Demon King],[Guardian of the Cultivation Villages],[Taboo Name] Job: Tree Caster Level: 0 Job history: Death-Attribute Mage, Golem Transmuter, Undead Tamer, Soul Breaker, Venom Fist User, Insect User Attributes: Vitality: 644 Mana: 446,023,946 Strength: 239 Agility: 273 Stamina: 374 Intelligence: 903 Passive skills: Superhuman Strength: Level 5 (LEVEL UP!) Rapid Healing: Level 7 (LEVEL UP!) Death-Attribute Magic: Level 7 Status Effect Resistance: Level 7 Magic Resistance: Level 4 Dark Vision Death-Attribute Charm: Level 9 (LEVEL UP!) Chant Revocation: Level 4 Strengthen Followers: Level 10 (LEVEL UP!) Automatic Mana Recovery: Level 6 Strengthen Subordinates: Level 5 (LEVEL UP!) Venom Secretion (Claws, Fangs, Tongue): Level 4 Enhanced Agility: Level 2 Body Expansion (Tongue): Level 4 Strengthened Attack Power while Unarmed: Small Enhanced Physical Ability (Hair, Claws, Tongue, Fangs): Level 3 (LEVEL UP!) Thread Refining: Level 2 (NEW!) Active skills: Bloodwork: Level 2 Surpass Limits: Level 6 Golem Transmutation: Level 7 No-Attribute Magic: Level 5 Mana Control: Level 5 Spirit Form: Level 7 Carpentry: Level 6 (LEVEL UP!) Engineering: Level 4 Cooking: Level 5 (LEVEL UP!) Alchemy: Level 4 Unarmed Fighting Technique: Level 5 Soul Break: Level 6 Multi-Cast: Level 5 Long-distance Control: Level 7 Surgery: Level 3 Parallel Thought Processing: Level 5 Materialization: Level 4 Coordination: Level 4 (LEVEL UP!) High-speed Thought Processing: Level 3 Commanding: Level 3 (LEVEL UP!) Farming: Level 3 → Plant Binding Technique: Level 3 (COMBINED!) Clothing: Level 2 → Thread-reeling: Level 3 (COMBINED!) Javelin Technique: Level 4 (LEVEL UP!) Scream: Level 3 Dead Spirit Magic: Level 3 (LEVEL UP!) Insect Binding Technique: Level 3 (LEVEL UP!) Blacksmithing: Level 1 (NEW!) Unique skills: God Slayer: Level 4 Grotesque Mind: Level 4 Mental Encroachment: Level 4 (LEVEL UP!) Labyrinth Construction: Level 5 (LEVEL UP!) Curses Experience gained in previous life not carried over Cannot learn existing jobs Unable to gain experience independently

There were no new Jobs this time.

A short while after finishing his Job-change, Vandalieu returned from the Immortal Ent forest.

"Mom, everyone, I've become a plant-binding-type* man," Vandalieu announced.

TLN*: This is 装植系男子/soushoku-kei danshi. It's a play on the term 草食系男子 which is read in the same way. According to a Japanese dictionary site, it's translated as, "young men who are not competitive as in the traditional male stereotype, including in the avid pursuit of money and sex, and who may also be kind, cooperative and family-oriented." Vandalieu's version just means plant-binding-type man.

"Really? That's amazing, Vandalieu," said Darcia, praising Vandalieu no matter what he did despite not understanding his joke.

"No, wait, Van. What does soushoku-kei mean?" asked Basdia, giving him a perplexed look.

"They're a type of person that was growing in number in the world I used to live in," Vandalieu replied.

Considering the men called "soushoku-kei danshi" on Earth, Vandalieu was more of a "nikushoku-kei*", however.

TLN*: The opposite of 草食系男子/soushoku-kei - Jisho's definition is: "man's man; man aggressively pursuing sex and riches"

"Actually, with the Plant Binding Technique skill I gained after my Job-change, I've been able to do things like this," said Vandalieu.

And then a Monster Plant popped out of his head.

"I see, so it is a plant version of the Insect Binding skill," said Zadiris, commenting on the skill while ignoring Vandalieu's joke. "But will the insects and plants not consume each other?"

"That never happened in the Monster Plant fields or the Immortal Ent forest, so I wouldn't think so," said Vandalieu.

"Hmm, I see."

Another plant's roots appeared right before Zadiris's eyes.

"Boy, this... appears to be a very ordinary plant," she said.

"Yes, it is a very ordinary plant," said Vandalieu. "My Farming skill combined with the Plant Binding Technique skill, so I've become able to cultivate plants inside my body as a result."

"... Are they not acting as parasites to you?" Zadiris asked.

"Uwah, look, Onee-san, Bocchan's head is full of flowers!" Rita exclaimed.

"Rita! If you say it that way, it makes it sound like Bocchan is a useless person, doesn't it?" Saria exclaimed indignantly. "There are other ways to say it, aren't there! Like saying that it's wonderful and spring-like!"

"Umm, you two, I know that you don't mean anything bad, but I think there's another way to say it, isn't there?" said Darcia.

It seemed that the phrases "head full of flowers" and "spring-like" didn't have particularly good meanings in Lambda, either.

TLN: "Head full of flowers" is something like "airheaded." Not sure about the "spring-like" one.

"It's fine," said Vandalieu. "They just use up a little of my Vitality."

"Vandalieu-sama, unlike your Mana, your Vitality isn't very high, is it? You must be careful with it and not be wasteful with it," said Eleanora, as if teaching him how to use his pocket money.

"Okay," said Vandalieu. "But I'm raising plants that have medicinal compounds, so there's no need to worry. For example..."

A white mushroom sprouted from Vandalieu's head.

"If I'm not mistaken, that's a mushroom that can be used for Potions, isn't it?" said Kachia. "If I recall, it has healing properties even if you eat it as it is... But it's a bit... It looks more and more like they're parasitizing you."

It was a convenient mushroom, but it didn't seem to be very popular with Kachia and the others.

"This is training for my skill as well, so go ahead and take some," said Vandalieu, offering the the mushroom to everyone as a present. He produced more mushrooms from his head, plucked them, cut them into even pieces with his claws, used his Thread Refining skill to produce thread from his mouth and bundled the mushroom pieces together.

Incidentally, he had recently become able to produce thread from his mouth (or, more accurately, from the tip of his tongue) and his fingertips. Perhaps for this reason, his Thread-reeling skill included the Sewing skill. He could make fabrics more freely than before, so it was very convenient.

Vandalieu could also quite freely control the properties of the thread produced by Thread Refining, so he was planning to use it to make swimsuits.

He could produce threads with adhesive properties, threads that could cut flesh and bone on contact or transparent thread, but for now, he was using it to make clothing.

"Wow, thank you," said Rita. She, Kachia and Eleanora, the ones who used to be humans, were happy with the mushrooms.

"... Hmm? Does this have some medicinal effects?" asked Zadiris.

"Van... These aren't very tasty," said Basdia.

The pure Ghouls, perhaps because they had no custom of giving flowers as gifts, seemed perplexed.

Munch, munch, munch. Rapiéçage was eating them. Pauvina and Jadal saw her and ate them as well.

"Ugh, they're so bitter," said Pauvina. It seemed that her memories of human society were somewhere very far away now.

Vandalieu produced sweet fruit for Pauvina and Jadal to eat. Darcia seemed to have entered parenting mode.

"Vandalieu, I'm happy, but when you're giving presents to girls, you need to think about what they would like," she said.

"Yes, Mom," said Vandalieu.

"You can't think of it as too troublesome," Darcia continued. "Your father used to say that thinking about things like this was the enjoyable part of courting girls."

"... Mom, what kind of things was Dad doing?" Vandalieu asked.

"If I recall... He was apparently seducing girls in bars in order to gather information. Getting along well with the prostitutes, things like that. Come to think of it, you're the same, Vandalieu."

Darcia smiled as her words gave glimpses the wrongdoings of Valen, Vandalieu's father. As to be expected of the former dog of a Pure-breed Vampire.

"Well, I gave dresses and tuxedos to Braga and the other Black Goblins for their weddings, and I baked them cakes as well," said Vandalieu.

Wedding parties were only held for the wealthy people of Lambda, but one had been thrown for the wedding ceremonies of the Black Goblins.

This was the debut of the wedding dresses and tuxedoes made of honey silk as well as a cake decorated with cream made from goat milk. Everyone had loved it.

The dresses were particularly popular with the people from the First Cultivation Village; many of them had sparkling eyes and said they wanted to wear them as well. Even for the Ghouls, whose fashion sense was quite different from that of humans, the frills and laces were fresh ideas. They gave their opinions to Vandalieu, telling him that they were beautiful, though they did wish that they revealed more skin.

"Kid, make one for this girl as well!" Borkus requested.

"You foolish Oyaji! I don't have anyone to marry!" Gopher told him.

"Then a tuxedo for my grandson!"

"He doesn't have someone to marry, either!"

This was the exchange between Borkus and Gopher, a father and his daughter, who were also communicating physically with dull sounds of them hitting each other.

Doing as he was told, Vandalieu had tried to measure Gopher's size, only to be rejected. But he and everyone else interpreted that as embarrassment.

A grown woman would certainly feel reluctant to wear a dress with all kinds of frills and laces. When Vandalieu had made them for Marie and the other wives of the Black Goblins, things had gone better than he had expected so he got carried away and perhaps added too many.

The cake had cream and butter made from goat's milk, which had a problematic smell, but it was well-received by everyone.

According to a documentary on goat farming that Vandalieu had seen on Earth, he remembered that goat's milk simply absorbed smells from its surroundings easily, so it would not smell bad if machines were used to squeeze it from the goats quickly. With this in mind, he had thought of squeezing the milk from the goats in a sterilized room while continuously casting Deodorization, so the goat's milk didn't smell.

In fact, he had added large quantities of a sweet flavoring made from vanilla beans that he had found in the Eclipse King's Orchard.

Dessert was covered by the Cemetery Bees' honey and sugar created from a plant-type monster from the Eclipse King's Orchard that offered a maple-syrup-like sap.

Perhaps it was a far more luxurious cake than one made from normal cow milk and sugar.

"Ah, but you mustn't lose your mind over women; your father used to say that you shouldn't fall for women, but make them fall for you," said Darcia. "Well, he did fall for me properly, though."

"... I wish Dad would have acted more normally and said more normal things," said Vandalieu.

It was probably a good story. Probably...

Although Vandalieu's internal image of his father had now tilted in a strange direction and sunk a little.

"Well, leaving that aside... I'm going to the Seventh Cultivation Village tomorrow so I'm going to make preparations now. I have to make use of the opportunity they created for me," said Vandalieu.

"You are going welcoming more new citizens to Talosheim, aren't you? This is truly auspicious, Your Majesty," said Princess Levia with a gentle smile.

As snow started falling, the ordinary lifestyles of the villagers, who were eating fried Gobu-Gobu for breakfast, were broken by the sudden visit of the Knights' Order.

"I am Pablo Marton, the man who leads the Red Wolf Knights' Order in the name of Duke Hartner!" a voice shouted. "Inhabitants of the Seventh Cultivation Village, come out at once!"

The Red Wolf Knights' Order was one of the three great Knights' Orders that protected the Hartner Duchy. The village chief, the Oyaji of the jack-of-all-trades store and Kasim's party all hastily ran outside to see what was happening.

In the plaza, there were the young men who had been acting as the village's gatekeepers, who were now cowering, as well as a large number of fully-armed Knights.

Dozens of knights with metal armor under their surcoats, armed with shields, longswords and spears... Nearly one hundred of them. The villagers were overwhelmed by their presence.

"W-we humbly welcome you in this snowy season. We apologize for not being able to come out and greet you. What business did you have on this day?" asked the village chief, surprised and wondering what on earth this was about.

"I have come to collect taxes in the name of Lord Lucas, the next duke of the Hartner Duchy! Each person must offer a hundred thousand Baums, right this instant!" Pablo demanded, a nervous look on his face.

The villagers were shocked by the amount he was requesting.

"A-a hundred thousand Baums?! There is no way we would have such an amount!"

"And what do you mean, right this instant?! We were promised that we would be exempt from taxes for five years!"

A hundred thousand Baums was an amount of money that even many noble families didn't have. Of course, it was certainly an amount that the people of the cultivation village couldn't make even if they worked frantically for an entire year.

Even Kasim and his party, who had become D-class adventurers, couldn't earn this much in a year.

Such a tax was being demanded not of each household, but each individual. It was absurd.

"What are you thinking? Even if we sell our houses and fields, it's impossible! You know that much, right?!" Fester shouted.

The nervous-looking Pablo opened his mouth to reply. "The five-year exemption from taxes that Lord Belton established has been invalidated," he said.

Those who couldn't pay poll taxes were taken away as debt slaves.

Seeing the knights' attendants preparing ropes behind Pablo, the faces of the villagers grew pale. Even though debt slaves were treated reasonably well, there was no difference in the fact that they were bought and sold between owners. Families would be torn apart and, depending on the owner, they could meet fates worse than death.

And if they were not sold, they would be treated like criminal slaves and sent to places where they would be worked to death. The slave-run mine was no more, but there were other final destinations for unsold slaves.

"That is nothing more than tyranny!" Lina cried.

"That's right, that's right! Even Alda teaches that you should watch your limits!" Kasim shouted.

Everyone grew angry, but Pablo and his men responded by drawing their swords and pointing them at the villagers.

"Your name was Lina, wasn't it? You have been charged with embezzlement and fraud!" Pablo declared. "Until the investigation is completed, your qualification as an Adventurers' Guild employee is void. There is also a suspicion that the three adventurers known as Kasim, Zeno and Fester are accomplices in the Guild employee's fraud. Your qualifications as adventurers are void as well! We have permission to deliver your punishment on the spot if you make any attempt to escape!"

"No way!" Lina cried, almost screaming.

"F-fraud?! There's a limit to how far you can go with false accusations!" Fester shouted in rage.

"Calm down! They'll cut us down on the spot!" said Kasim trying to calm them down.

A middle-aged man protected by a knight on either side approached them.

"Hand over your employee badge and your Guild Cards."

The administrative official accompanying the Knights' Order confiscated the identification items of the distraught Lina and frustrated adventurers.

Pablo seemed nervous again as he looked at the villagers, who were now wearing expressions of resignation.

This is strange... Things are going too well.

Lucas had expected Pablo to force the village to reveal its hidden military force after being cornered for these absurd reasons.

The Red Wolf Knights' Order had gained total control over the people, and that was the end of it. Lucas had expected the behind-the-scenes negotiation with the Adventurers' Guild to be the one thing that would take time, but the Guild Master of the Adventurers' Guild headquarters, who had been taking bribes from Lord Belton, quickly changed to Lord Lucas's side.

However, there were no signs of any armed forces, despite Pablo and his men having thought that the ones who had killed Karcan and his men would be hiding in this village.

At this rate, things will end with the villagers all being tied up and dragged off. Is this not enough provocation? Maybe I should cut some people down... No, perhaps they're hiding in another cultivation village. I suppose getting that information out of them comes first, thought Pablo.

Some villagers were hanging their heads in defeat, thinking that they had no choice but to obediently become slaves, while others were desperately trying to think of a way out of the situation, but they couldn't come up with any answers. But before anything happened, a group of several people, who had calmly walked through the unmanned gate, appeared.

"Who are you... people?" Pablo had thought that the armed forces had finally arrived, but these people were what looked like five ordinary villagers. It was only after his question that he realized that the one standing at the front was a child who was less than ten years old.

"Vandalieu?! What are you doing here at a time like this!"

"Oi, that guy isn't a villager! He's just a passer-by!"

After noticing Vandalieu, Kasim and his friends hastily raised their voices so that he wouldn't get caught up in this mess. But it was one of the people behind Vandalieu who responded to their words.

"Everyone of the Seventh Cultivation Village, do you remember me?" asked this person. "Village chief-san, my father has always been in your care. Kasim, Zeno, Fester, I've talked to you before as well, haven't I?"

The villagers opened their eyes wide in shock at the sight of this young man, whose face had ordinary features that could be found anywhere.

"You're the son of the First Cultivation Village's chief, Sebas. You're Sebas!"

"There's no doubt about it; that's Sebas! But why is he here? After the First Cultivation Village was deserted, they were supposed to have gone to another land for cultivation."

"Why are you with Vandalieu?"

The young man's name was Sebas. He was the son of the First Cultivation's village chief. He had joined Vandalieu at the slave-run mine and become a citizen of Talosheim.

"Everyone, listen to me. The cultivation project is a complete lie. Everything is a conspiracy conducted by the Hartner family. We've been cheated. Nobody from the First Cultivation Village was sent to another land for cultivation. We were sent to the slave-run mine to the south! We're not cultivators, we've been abandoned!" he said to the villagers of the Seventh Cultivation Village, pointing at Pablo with a hateful expression on his face.

The villagers were astounded and looked from Sebas to Pablo.

Sebas was a friend that they knew. Pablo and his men, on the other hand, while seemingly being important knights, were making unreasonable demands and trying to turn the villagers into slaves. It was clear as to which story should be listened to.

"You're the son of the chief of the First Cultivation Village, and you were in the slave-run mine?!" Pablo repeated.

He and his men weren't trusted by the villagers, but this wasn't a problem at all.

The problem was that a young man, who was in the slave-run mine where all of the soldiers and slaves were supposed to have turned into Skeletons, was standing here.

"In other words, you are a runaway slave. I shall hear your explanation later. Give up quietly!"

With Pablo's words, swords and spears were pointed at Sebas. It seemed that they had already realized that this was no group of ordinary people.

The knights formed a semi-circular surround as they closed in. Seeing this, the villagers were wearing expressions of resignation once more.

Even if there was a conspiracy or whatever else, there was no changing their fates. This was something planned by the man who was about to become the most powerful person in the Hartner Duchy, and even the Adventurers' Guild had a hand in it. Complaints from people like them, who were refugees from another land, were futile.

At this rate, even bringing up the fact that the Church of Alda was exempt from tax would be pointless.

"Everyone, please listen to me," said Vandalieu, who had remained silent up until now. "We will defeat these knights. Completely independent of the desires of the people of this village, I will fight them and defeat them."

Hearing the young boy's flat-toned declaration, the knights snickered. They knew that they couldn't judge an enemy's ability by their appearance and age, but there was no way that they could be defeated by this small, thin boy who could almost be called a toddler and a group of unarmed villagers.

That was what they thought.

The people of the Seventh Cultivation Village seemed to agree; they all shouted at Vandalieu to stop his reckless behavior, but he ignored them and kept speaking.

"After I do this, please decide whether you will follow us back or not. Now then -"

"No, I'll decide now. I'm going with you guys!" said a voice, interrupting Vandalieu. It was Fester's voice.

He got back onto his feet from his kneeling position, picked up the sword that he had cast onto the ground along with its sheath, and pointed its tip at Pablo and his men.

Rather than stopping him, Kasim picked up his shield and Zeno picked up his weapon s they got to their feet as well.

"There's no helping it. I suppose we'll join you," said Kasim.

"Well, I suppose it's better than becoming a slave," said Zeno.

Fester blinked in confusion at the fact that his companions weren't stopping him, and then gave them a manly smile. "Sorry for making you accompany me all the time," he said.

"No, wait a second," Vandalieu said hastily. "Why are you doing this? You don't have to decide now, you can decide afterwards."

He thought that they should make a decision afterwards, but their minds were set.

"Vandalieu. After this, let's go on adventures together in the next world!" said Fester.

"No, no, no, we can do that in this world," said Vandalieu.

Fester turned to Lina. "Lina, try to find an opportunity to run. Sorry about this. Even though I promised to make you happy..."

"Fester... No, I'll come with you," said Lina. "I at least know how to defend myself. And then... let's be together on the other side."

Fester looked touched. "You..."

"Umm, if you're going to be together, won't you be together here?" said Vandalieu. "I'll make you a dress, a tuxedo, a cake or even curry."

"Shit, I can't let my daughter and my son-in-law die before me! I'm going to do this too!" shouted the Oyaji of the jack-of-all-trades store.

"Me too! Even if we're spared here, I have no idea what will become of my children! You saved my life before, so I'll use it for your sake now!" said the former stonemason Ivan, whose life Vandalieu had saved before.

The villagers continued standing up one after another, and even the Red Wolf Knights' Order felt a little flustered. But the one panicking the most was Vandalieu.

"So then, Your Majesty, what will we do?" asked one of the other people with Vandalieu.

"... Ah, there's no other choice," Vandalieu replied. "I'll support the villagers, and you guys go with the plan."

"Certainly."

"I suppose it was a mistake to think I could do the same thing as I did in the slave-run mine," Vandalieu said with a sigh.

"SILENCE!" Pablo roared before gathering his men and giving them orders. "Cut them all down! Capture that one called Sebas and the other few people over there, alive!"

Things had gone a little differently than he had expected, but he had set his sights on the man who seemed to know something. All there was left to do was to dispose of the others in the way.

Upon receiving the orders, the knights who had surrounded Sebas and the others moved first. As knights, they were experienced with real battles, and unlike the Equestrians led by Karcan, they were as capable as strong D-class adventurers; they had a solid chance of defeating Rank 4 monsters in one-on-one combat.

"Capture us alive? ... Go ahead and try!"

"Do you think you feeble knights can defeat us, when we have received the blessing of Eleanora-sama?!"

"I'll avenge my siblings who died in the slave-run mine!"

Sebas and his companions glared at the knights with shining crimson eyes as they bared their fangs and met them in combat.

Their movements were faster than those of beasts; their bodies were strong in the face of the knights' swords and spears, and their claws were sharp.

"Th-these guys aren't human?! They're Vampires!"

"That's impossible; it's still the middle of the afternoon!"

By the time the knights realized it, it was too late. They had already allowed Sebas and his companions to draw close.

When they were rescued from the slave-run mine, they had still been humans, but the next day, they had asked Eleanora to turn them into Subordinate Vampires.

After that, they acquired the Sunlight Resistance skill thanks to the effect of Vandalieu's Eclipse King Title, and now they obeyed Vandalieu.

But Subordinate Vampires had a base Rank of 3. These former villages had been Vampires for less than half a year; they wouldn't be a match for these numbers who outnumbered them nearly three to one. Even if they caught the knights by surprise, the knights would regain their formation before the Vampires would cut through.

However, the Vampires were citizens of Vandalieu's nation.

"Th-they're strong!"

Due to the influence of Strengthen Followers and Strengthen Subordinates, their Attribute Values had increased and they were as powerful as Rank 5 monsters. In addition, Vandalieu had already applied enchantments to them, and Dark Copper fibers had been weaved into their clothes, giving them extraordinary defense against bladed weapons. Even if the knights outnumbered the Vampires three to one, once their formation was broken, they wouldn't be able to defeat the Vampires.

"Damn it, take that child as a hostage and -" one of the knights began.

"That's impossible for you."

"Eh -"

The knight's head went flying.

Braga, who had been hiding and waiting for things to begin, moved like a shadow and decapitated the knight. With the effect of his unique skill, Human Slayer, he was able to use an attack effective for killing the human he targeted, and even gained a damage bonus.

If he took the average knight by surprise, decapitating him was as easy as harvesting an ear of rice.

And then he concealed himself like fog before the other knights spotted him.

"There was something here just now!"

"There are other enemies! Watch your backs!"

"Iron Rend, Embrace of the Flame Spirits."

"GYAAAAAH!"

As the knights watched their backs, Vandalieu killed them from the front.

The knights could not avoid being severely wounded by the frontal attacks of Vandalieu, who had the Superhuman Strength, Strengthened Attack Power while Invincible: Small, 身体強化(髪爪舌牙) = Enhanced Physical Ability (Hair, Claws, Tongue, Fangs) as well as a level 5 Unarmed Fighting Technique skill. He had already shown Kasim and the others his Dead Spirit Magic, so he was using that without holding back as well.

Some knights were turned into burnt corpses as Princess Levia embraced them, while others had their stomachs slashed open and convulsed on the ground to be finished by Pain Worms that crawled towards them.

Click-click-click!

Buzz-buzz-buzz!

The Lance Centipede Pete used his horn to pierce a knight's torso straight through his shield, while the Cemetery Bees' venomous stingers and powerful jaws turned other knights into masses of meat.

The villagers were fighting hard as well.

The moment the villagers decided that they would "follow Vandalieu," they had been acknowledged as Vandalieu's citizens. As a result, they received the benefits of Strengthen Followers due to the Eclipse King Title, causing a steep increase in their Attribute Values. They weren't quite as strong as the knights, but they were at least as strong as ordinary soldiers; if they decided to put everything into escaping, it would have been difficult for the knights, who were equipped with heavy weapons and armor, to give chase.

"Come on, important knight-sama, over here!"

"How can you be so pathetic for such a young person, you simpleton!"

The knights chased the villagers who were running around while provoking them. One of the knights stopped to fire an arrow, while another tried to attack with a martial skill.

"You lowly villagers, die by my arr - OOOOOH?!"

"Curse you, Fl - AAAAAAH!"

The ground beneath their feet, which had been turned into a Golem by Vandalieu, roared as it rose, causing the knights to fall into the hole it left behind.

And then the Golem returned to its original position on top of the knights, who had fallen two or three meters deep. After they were buried alive, Vandalieu sent monsters resembling earthworms and mole crickets after them, as well as the roots of plant-type monsters, before they suffocated to death so that they could become Experience Points.

"How dare you fire my daughter!" shouted the Oyaji of the jack-of-all-trades store.

He, Ivan and some others were throwing objects at the administrative official who was accompanying the knights. It was an extremely primitive method of attack, but their physical strength they had trained through daily work on the farms was increased even further by their increased Attribute Values. The rocks and hoes thrown by them wouldn't be a joke if they made a direct hit.

The administrative official gave a pathetic scream. He was nothing more than an ordinary craftsman. "Wait, I only did this because it was my job, because I was paid to!"

If a strong-willed government official had been dispatched, it was possible that he would have sided with the villagers, so this man had been selected after careful consideration. But now that was backfiring.

"Kuh, you coward!" shouted a knight. He and two others were now unable to move, as they were forced to stay where they were to protect this ordinary worker.

"Eat this! Triple Thrust! TRIPLE THRUST! TRIPLE THRUUUST!"

"Stone Wall! Stone Shield! Cranial Strike!"

"Rapid Fire! Consecutive Fire!"

In terms of their Attribute Values, Kasim and his friends, the D-class adventurers, had become as strong as C-class adventurers.

They weren't powerful enough to overwhelm the knights, but they fought with spectacular coordination and had already defeated two of the knights.

"Please run and lead the knights away while you have their attention."

"Aim for that administrative official; throw anything you can find at him."

"Fall back for now and change places with Kasim."

These were the orders of Vandalieu, who had used Spirit Form Transformation and stretched his arms to string-like shapes to connect himself to every villager.

Using the vision from Lemures positioned all over the place, Vandalieu was constantly monitoring the situation. He followed up on the individual dangers detected by Danger Sense: Death, and used Rapid Healing to treat small injuries.

He was even casting his enchantments, Energy Absorption and Bloodshed Enhancement, and providing Mana to Kasim's party as well as Sebas and the other Vampires.

Just to be absolutely safe, he was giving the villagers the benefits of his Commanding and Coordination skills as well, so there were no ordinary villagers in this place anymore.

"W-what is this?!" shouted Pablo.

Barely a minute after he had given his men orders, they were in the inferior position. In fact, his subordinates were letting out their dying screams one after another as they were scattered.

In order to defeat the mysterious armed group that had defeated fifty of Karcan's men, Pablo had brought nearly one hundred men with him and each of them was at least as strong as Karcan himself. And yet, they were being slaughtered in a one-sided fashion.

The battlefield was an irrational place, but wasn't this a little too irrational?

"Those who aren't injured, step to the front and use your martial skills! Those who can use healing magic, treat the wounded! Don't engage the villagers; slay the monsters and the adventurers first!" Pablo shouted.

He was still the captain of the Knights' Order. He had seen that the ones who were defeating the knights were Sebas's group, Kasim's party and Vandalieu, so he was commanding his knights to stop attacking the villagers.

As he regained his composure, he looked for the mysterious child who, unbelievably, seemed to be the enemy commander.

But as the knights stepped forward to try and use their martial skills, an Ent suddenly appeared out of nowhere (or at least, that's what it looked like to Pablo) and attacked by swinging its branches that were full of apple-like fruits; several knights were hit directly by the fruits and sent flying away.

The ones who were trying to recite incantations for healing magic were surrounded in what looked like black fog that seemed to be interfering with their magic; they were unable to cast their spells.

And then Pablo heard groaning and viscous sloshing sounds.

He could see Stone Golems, Death Iron Golems and around thirty Skeletons who had entered the village from the forest.

They were the Golems that Vandalieu had stationed around the Seventh Cultivation Village; he had called them here now. The Skeletons were the Undead created from the skeletons of Karcan's subordinates who had been slain by the Golems.

"M... Make your own decisions on how to deal with the enemy!" Pablo shouted. He was essentially telling his men that there were no options left, and that he was now relying on every one of his men's individual efforts.

And then he joined the battle at the frontline as well, in this inferior position with no hope of turning things around.

Kasim and the others joining the battle was something that Vandalieu hadn't expected, but the biggest unexpected thing for Lord Lucas and Pablo was that they were desperately lacking in military power to deal with the problem on their own.

Job Explanation:

[Insect User]

A Job that can be acquired after successfully taming a certain number of insectoid monsters. One must have the trust of the tamed insectoid monsters.

This Job provides bonuses to Vitality, Strength and Stamina. It also provides bonuses to skills that cannot normally be obtained such as Insect Binding Technique, Parallel Thought Processing, Long-distance Control and Thread Refining.

These are all skills that alter the skill owner's mental state and make it difficult to maintain a normal level of sanity, so the Job grants the Mental Corruption skill and causes a gradual loss of sanity.

For those who possess different mental structures from ordinary people and those who have already lost their sanity, this is not a problem.