Chapter 326 – 326. The Duke’s First Confusion (8)

– One –

[Wake up… Wake up…]

Startle.
Burrrr

A loud voice rings in someone’s ears.

He trembles

Wiggle, wiggle.
Shake, chin.

I try to flinch, but the way to escape is far away.

It’s because you’ve put yourself in bondage.

But his body was not bound alone.

He and his comrades were tying each other’s waists and limbs together with ropes.

Fearing that they might go missing, they used each other’s weight as the last line of deterrence.

It looked foolish, but it was desperate for them.

“Hey… What’s going on…?”

The man who volunteered to be bound with him wakes up and carefully asks him questions.

However, the traces of a good night’s sleep are not dark.

He reacts instantly as if he had never been asleep.

Even they were all wearing combat uniforms and sleeping.

“Hee-eok, hee-eok, hee-eok, hee-eok…!”

“Hey?”

However, the second lieutenant, who heard the grotesque voice, could not easily answer.

Realizing the seriousness of the situation, the one who immediately woke up, the captain, is very tense.

“Everyone,”

The moment the captain tried to wake everyone up,

Tup.

“…?”

“Shhh…”

The ensign grabs the captain’s arm.

His complexion was pale blue, reminiscent of his corpse.

He slaughters and desperately dries the captain.

“Why…?”

“Ears, ears, ghosts, hee, stimulation, hee, not, hee-eok, hee-eok…!”

“…”

He was terribly frightened, even causing symptoms of hyperventilation.

The captain understood his fear.

The Imperial Army is always strong.

However, the strength of the Imperial Army is limited when the opponent is a human or monster.

This is because the manual for the soldiers of the Imperial Army is only limited to dealing with realistic beings.

Therefore, if the opponent becomes a supernatural or surreal being, the strength of the Imperial Army will inevitably become a faded splendor.

“Ensign.”

The captain speaks to the second lieutenant in a low voice but with a serious face.

The fear he felt was not shallow, and his tone seemed to tremble slightly.

“Respond calmly and calmly. Are you sure you heard the ghost’s voice?”

However, it is always emphasized in the manual for soldiers of the Imperial Army that, even if faced with an unexpected enemy, it is not to panic and to respond with extenuating circumstances.

The captain also follows it, and soothes the ensign’s fears.

Try to clarify the situation.

“Hee-eok, hee-eok, hee-eok, hee-eok…”

Perhaps because of such efforts, the sound of the second lieutenant’s rapid breathing gradually subsides.

The trembling of his eyes also subsided, and the focus gradually became clearer.

“Wow, I’m sure, I heard you, Captain. A strange voice, like a woman’s or a child’s voice, called me to wake up, wake up.”

Gulp.
Klopp.

They both swallow.

Was it because the two of them had a conversation while holding their breath?

Fellow officers bound with them still do not wake up.

“However…”

After a while, the captain opens his mouth.

His voice was shaking more distinctly.

The captain desperately shook his head, but could not come up with an appropriate solution within the scope of the manual he had learned.

So he tried to calm his so-called by saying anything.

Perhaps the act of talking itself might have been an attempt to soothe his anxiety.

“I didn’t hear it at all… But why did only you hear that voice…?”

“Hee, heehee…!”

Rattling.

However, due to the wrong topic selection, it only caused the opposite effect.

The second lieutenant and captain fell into panic at the same time.

They struggle, trying to untie the strings entwined in each other’s bodies.

As they tremble,

Parrrr!
Swoop.
Jiik, Jiik!

The string flutters here and there, or is pulled tight.

Tok, tok.
Dump.

Someone’s body shakes.

Seeing that, the second lieutenant’s face turned white.

As he stopped struggling,

“Dae, captain…”

“What, what, what…?”

In a trembling voice, he calls the captain.

Even the voice of the captain who answered was trembling.

“This is strange… It’s strange!”

“What, what… Heck!”

The ensign raises his voice to the fullest with anxiety.

And the captain also realizes what the sense of difference the lieutenant felt.

They were making a fuss and struggling, but none of those who were bound with them, their fellow officers, woke up.

The uproar between the two of them was so loud that it was hard to believe that his fellow officers were not awake from a deep sleep.

“This, this, these bastards, why, why…?”

“Rise up! Rise up!”

Shake, shake
Fluff, fluff.

Denying the implications of reality, they hurriedly shake their fellow officers.

Carefully turn them over.

Woo woo woo.
Sigh…

“Haaaaagh!”

Hehe…!”

Fellow officers lay down with their eyes closed, biting into crab foam.

Just as the ensign was about to have a seizure,

Tup!

“Geez, calm down! Bird, survival, survival check!”

The captain catches him.

However, his hand was also not able to catch the galpi.

No, I was shaking like crazy.

Purrrr.

They face each other

After taking a deep breath, slowly look down.

Each of them stretches out his hand to the one closest to him.

Reach one hand over the carotid artery and the other toward the tip of the nose.

The moment he tried to check the survival of his colleagues while swallowing dry saliva,

Shashak.

“…!”

A whitish figure appears and then disappears from behind the captain’s back.

Oh so so so.

Seeing that, goosebumps sprouted all over the lieutenant’s body.

Only after the goosebumps rise, his head deciphers its meaning.

His face is pale

“Oh, oh my god…!”

I grabbed my startled chest and let out a suppressed moan.

“Kkeok, kkeok…!”

Parr.

With his eyes wide open, the second lieutenant points his finger at the captain’s back.

His fingertips tremble.

“What, what? What’s behind me?! Answer me!”

The captain, unable to look back, urged the second lieutenant.

It’s not like anyone’s choking him, but the second lieutenant has severe respiratory problems.

“Blood, blood…! Black, ears, ghosts…!”

“Blood…? Ghost…?”

The captain asked back with a dazed but frightened face.

He rolls his eyes in all directions, squinting, without turning his head.

But nothing is visible to him.

I don’t even feel the presence of others.

All I could feel was that he and the second lieutenant were breathing heavily.

“Uh, where are the ghosts?!”

The captain’s voice is colored with urgency.

The second lieutenant cries silently with bloodshot eyes.

However, in a state where he couldn’t even breathe properly, he couldn’t even make his cry properly, let alone answer.

Whack, Whack!

The ensign turns his head in all directions.

Left, right, back, ceiling, front, floor.

I frantically looked around the inside of the not-so-wide barracks.

But it didn’t sound like trying to find someone.

He was so terrified that he was shaking his head desperately, unaware that his saliva was dripping.

“Sara, kkeok, disappear! Kkeuk, disappear…!”

“Now, you…? Also, on earth, to whom, to whom, can I speak?”

“Disappear!”

The ensign screams and buries his head.

Where he buried his head, his fellow officers were strewn about.

However, within the so-called

“Quaaaaagh!”

Screaming and jumping up and down

His face was earthy and dead.

“Why, why but ?!”

“Poem, poetry, corpse…!”

He felt a chill in his fellow officer’s body that was impossible for a living being.

He couldn’t stand the fear,

“Keuk, kkeukreuk…!”

Dump.
Woo woo woo.

He collapsed clutching at his heart.

“Goddess, my God…!”

The captain trembles.

He intuitively figured out how his comrades had lost consciousness like that.

Fear creeps in

In order not to be dragged away by an unknown being, he begins to regret madly that he had bound his body tightly with his own hands.

Just then,

[Hee hee…]

[Hee hee…]

[Hee hee…]

[Hee hee…]

“Aaaaagh!”

Strange voices came from all directions, no, from all directions.

The sound that comes from everywhere at the same time makes it clear that the one who emits it has no intention of hiding its presence.

However, since sounding in all directions at the same time is no different from diffuse reflection of sound, the position of the being that emits the voice becomes more ambiguous.

“Disappear! Disappear!”

The captain screams.

He, too, shakes his head.

Why the lieutenant frantically looked around, the captain realized everything only then.

When he is crying out,

Shashak.

“Sigh…!”

A blurry presence suddenly flashes in his retinas.

It was the figure of a pale young woman covered in her own blood.

[Hee hee… !]

“Please…!”

The captain closes his eyes tightly.

Please, I hope with a sincere heart that Goe In-young leaves him alone and leaves without anything happening.

Shashak.

[You also…]

But it was a completely futile wind.

It was because Goe In-young was fully aware of him.

Shasha shak!

“Huh…!”

A woman’s face covered in blood appears in front of the lieutenant’s nose.

The indigo-colored eyes contrasted sharply with the blood-colored eyes, further amplifying the terrifying feeling he felt.

[Should I kill you… ?]

“Quaaaaagh!”

Hey hey hey
Squeeze.
Dump.

The captain is incontinent and passes out.

Where everyone fell asleep,

Shasha shak.
Fault.

“Hi~♬”

A woman covered in blood smiles alone.

Soon she

Shasha shak.
Slither.

There, he completely disappeared.

Four dead bodies and two officers who had lost their minds were entangled together.

Inside the barracks, where everything was stagnant, only silence flowed.

– 2 –

“Hee hee~♬ I can go now~♬”

“Uh, um… Estrus. What the hell did you do yesterday? What the hell did you do walking around the barracks while I was outside, making the Imperial Army so agitated in just one day?”

“Huh~? I didn’t do anything special~ I just applied the blood that came out when I buried the corpses~ I had a lot of fun playing peek-a-boo~♡”

“Oh my god…”

Octopoda and Urmama offer their condolences.

Urmama rode a basket made of plant stems, and they soared out of the darkness.

The destination, of course, was their residence.

– 3 –

“How many deaths?”

“73 people.”

“They all died of heart attacks? No trauma?”

“Yes that’s right…”

“…”

A brigadier general answers the warden’s question.

One person was asking a question and the other was answering it, but their expressions in the third person’s eyes were the same.

Their faces were tinged with deep disbelief.

“Is that realistically possible…?”

“I don’t know either…”

The brigadier blurs his horse’s tail.

The question was merely to express disbelief, and the warden did not seem to be genuinely curious about it.

“Are there any traces of magic or witchcraft being used?”

“Nothing at all. If fear or delirium-type magic or sorcery were used, there is no way that the wizard or shaman in the friendly camp would not have felt the wave of mana. As you know, magic or sorcery is cast from the spell chant the moment it is cast. Until then, isn’t it that easy to hide that unique mana wave?”

“That’s right… In order to completely cover it up, it takes quite a hassle…

Whoops, whoops.

He strokes the warden’s chin and mutters to himself.

A cold sweat forms on his nose.

If it wasn’t magic, witchcraft, or coincidence, the remaining answer pointed to only one.

“Are you really a ghost…”

“Right now, I can’t really rule out that possibility…”

Other officers present at the meeting also nodded.

It was not an easy case to solve, so their expressions were not very good.

“What do wizards and sorcerers say?”

“The person who handles ghosts is either spirit magic or black magic, so they said they couldn’t know for sure. However, as of now, no traces of magic or sorcery have been found, so it is judged to be the work of naturally occurring ghosts. “

“Okay…”

The warden grabs his head.

The fact that the most unexpected situation had occurred was gradually revealed, and he had a headache.

“Is there an exorcism priest in the priesthood who wants to join here…?”

“As the main focus is priests who specialize in healing and detoxification, it seems difficult to expect much. However, as more than 50,000 people have gathered, even if not as much as a professional exorcist priest, they can cast out ghosts and demons, or even achieve Buddhahood. Wouldn’t it be highly probable that there would be priests there?”

To the warden’s murmuring, one of the officers present in the meeting room answered.

At a plausible guess, the warden nodded.

“It may be different from speculation, so first of all, send a call to them and ask them exactly. If not, we’ll have to do it several times.”

“All right.”

“And resume the march as slowly as possible, without overdoing it. At a time when the morale of the soldiers is low and there are even vicious rumors going around like now, it will be out of control if a group desertion occurs while pushing the march unreasonably. Soldier So that they no longer tremble in anxiety, make up suitable excuses or gloss over, thoroughly crack down on the current issue. Did you understand?”

“Yes, General!”

When the meeting seems to be coming to an end, everyone stretches or rubs their backs.

The high-ranking officers and generals belonging to the command were also unable to sleep due to the uproar all night in the barracks.

Their faces show deep fatigue and concern and, to a lesser extent, mild fear.

“Anyway, it’s a big deal… If it’s a human opponent, whether it’s a top-class assassin or a veteran ranger, there will be some way to deal with it, but a ghost, won…”

“Does magic or magic work against souls? Have you heard anything from wizards or shamans?”

“They say it might work, but they said they can’t be sure because there’s no exact verification. Who prepares to fight against a spirit, especially a vengeful spirit with malice towards humans, while chanting spells? Physical force doesn’t work. You can’t defend it in the battle line, but if you don’t have an exorcist priest, wouldn’t you be busy running away from the ghosts?”

“Huh… That’s true… They stabbed the most vulnerable corner, so there’s no way to do it… The Imperial Army isn’t dealing with an overwhelming majority of enemies, and it’s frustrating that they can’t escape a struggle with only one ghost. There’s no way to do it.”

Everyone in the command barracks exchanges opinions of concern.

Watching them go through the meeting, Regal didn’t even comment the whole time.

Because Regal was just trying desperately to swallow the confusion swirling inside.

During the night, more than 70 officers died of panic-induced cardiac arrest, and many more remained paralyzed and restless.

For several hours, the Imperial forces were being manipulated, and despite being at the center of the incident and watching it in real time, even Pinot was unable to uncover the identity of the enemy.

No, I couldn’t even spot the enemy’s shadow.

‘Is the enemy a person with superior sensory system abilities than Pinot… ? If not, is the identity of the enemy truly a ghost? … ?’

As time passed, Regal’s confusion grew.