The Extra Wants To Live

Carl wrote to Curtis Levin for that.

It was already widely known within the empire that Carl had been cured of his illness with the help of Nero. But Curtis still had not been cured.

Of course, how could Curtis of Levin, a knightly family in the southern part of the empire, set foot on the land of Balturan to rescue that precious thing?

Nero was barely able to save him by using his authority as a prince and the power of Count Beria.

And Curtis didn't even know yet that his illness was the same as Carl's. Because the depth of the disease was so different, the symptoms also appeared differently, so they were known as different diseases.

As the next two years passed, Curtis would also notice that his condition was gradually worsening. So much so that the original Adrian could see Curtis and think of the dead Carl.

"But Curtis Levin doesn't seem to have a very good temper," Camilla advised in a cautious voice.

She didn't know how Carl knew Curtis, but she wasn't sure if he tried to pull him in knowing his fiery temper.

Camilla saw Curtis as a man with a short temper, who was easily excited and short-sighted. Carl was someone who always maintained perfect control over himself while having cool-headed and meticulous people under him.

Camilla had no choice but to advise him, knowing that Carl was using Curtis not just for a cause but as a tool to be used in the future.

"Everything can be used in its own way. There is no need to worry," Carl said blandly.

He was a commander of firm character who drew his own conclusions and acted on them, but that did not mean he closed his ears and ignored advice.

Didn't he ask Catherine endlessly and learn from her when he was lacking himself?

"Well then, that's good."

Camilla said nothing more.

Instead, she patted the back of Carl's hand and told him to hurry up and compliment him like he had just done.

It wasn't like she was begging for praise, but rather it was more of a playful gesture, like poking the cheek of a child whose mouth was shut tightly.

Carl just furrowed his eyebrows and glared at the meadow.

Camilla's actions quickly became bolder.

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It took less than ten seconds for her to gently grab Carl's hand, interlock her fingers, and gently rub the back of his hand.

Carl didn't move an inch.

"… … ."

But the moment Carl roughly shook his hand away, Camilla had no choice but to quickly hide herself in the shadows.

Because the flag of the Laurel Brigade was hanging on the back of the messenger who was riding his horse and galloping madly from afar.

Carl could sense that something was wrong. He felt like something difficult was going to happen. No, he must have already woken up, so he must have run so quickly.

"Get ready."

Carl strode up onto his horse and gave orders to his soldiers. The smell of blood seemed to be mixed with the humid wind.

***

Upon hearing the news delivered by Billford, the Laurel unit, including Carl, hurriedly moved towards the Gilin Barondom.

It was two days after receiving the letter that Carl arrived at the campsite near the Forest of Gilin, four days after Billford had killed the giant monster. The messenger wasted a day of precious time because he couldn't find out exactly where Carl was.

"Your Highness!"

As soon as Carl entered the camp and dismounted his horse, a soldier hurriedly ran up and called him.

Carl followed him straight into the command barracks.

"Your Majesty Carl."

"Billford."

Billford, who was looking at the map, immediately bowed his head to Carl and greeted him.

His face was a little pale and stiff.

"dismissal."

"Sir Dilin."

Another man in the command barracks, Dilin, the commander of the 4th Troop of the Laurel Unit, looked at Carl with a faintly distorted face. Perhaps because he had come running in a hurry, Dilin brown beard and rough face were a little messy.

"Time is running out, so let's get to the point."

"Yes. Please come this way."

At Carl's words, Billford led him to the back of the barracks. Dilin came along, his wrinkled face showing a look of worry. The crude tent erected behind the command barracks was quite large.

The surrounding area was guarded tightly by soldiers, and everyone had cloths wrapped around their noses and mouths to prevent the smell of blood and rotting corpses coming from inside the tent. It couldn't be helped because it was a humid and hot summer.

The soldiers opened the tent entrance, and bright light poured in.

"Umm… … ."

Carl, who had gone inside, stepped aside a little to let in more light and looked at it carefully in the darkness.

This creature was 3 meters tall when it was standing hunched over. That thing was lying on the floor; its length from head to tail was well over 5 meters.

The half-severed arm and the deep wound on its neck were rotting with blood, reeking, and already teeming with all sorts of insects.

Without changing his expression, Carl walked briskly towards the corpse, grabbed the hanging head, and examined it from side to side.

As he approached, the bugs fled in surprise, but surprisingly, they moved in unison in one direction to get away from Carl. Silence flowed through the tent, which had been noisy with the sound of flying insects.

"Tell me more about it."

Billford opened his mouth at a word as he examined the rotten eyes and powerful jaws of Carl's monster.

"It was found in a deep swamp area inside the forest. However, it seems that it can also be active on land. When the fish it feeds on ran out, it seems to have gone around the swamp to hunt and eat animals and humans."

"How was it like fighting?"

"It's a threat. The scales are so hard that you'd need a siege weapon to kill it without mana."

Billford showed Carl his broken sword.

Carl glanced at it, then lifted the monster's head to examine its severed neck.

The neck was also covered with dense scales that were harder than steel.

Furthermore, there were scales on the chest and abdomen, and there were no scales only from the lower abdomen to the middle of the underside of the tail. Scales grew to protect the body when it got up on two feet to fight.

Looking at the limbs and finger joints there, it seemed possible that it could fight and move while crawling on all fours, but its structure was advantageous for bipedal walking.

Although the shoulders were streamlined and turned backwards to better suit swimming, they were still clearly bipedal and well-suited for using 'tools.'

It was not a mutation that occurred by chance. It was a creature that had evolved to live on both land and water in relatively shallow terrain.

"Strength and speed?"

"There's no need to talk about strength. Even a master would have a hard time engaging in a frontal power struggle. Its speed is relatively fast for its size, but it's fast enough for even a regular knight to react."

"If you take off your armor and step on dry land, is that right?"

"… Yes. It would be impossible to even fight them if you weren't a mana user."

Even if you were a mana user, you would normally not be able to fight alone.

Catching them with a net hook wasn't much help because they were so strong.

Since it was Billford, he was easily killed. If it had been another knight, he would have suffered great damage and barely killed it even with help, or the subjugation might have failed altogether.

"We have urgently dispatched troops from Gilin to patrol the forest area and thoroughly monitor both the upstream and downstream areas of the river."

Dilin spoke in a voice that was full of impatience. Rivers were inseparable from humans. Naturally, all the castles and villages of Gilin Territory were located along the river.

What if even one of these monsters were to travel down the river?

Then, it would destroy the villages it saw along the way and enjoy a feast.

Just one monster could literally bring down almost the entire town in the territory. This was why monsters that could travel on rivers were more fearsome than medium-sized monsters like trolls that only traveled on land.

"Did you spread the news to the neighboring estates?"

"Yes, we are sending troops to monitor the river and track their traces."

It was a blessing in disguise.

This was where Carl's creation of the Laurel Union shined.

In the past, they wouldn't have cooperated regardless of whether a monster appeared or not, and it would have been impossible to spread the news this quickly.

While the nobles were exchanging letters and saying things like, "I'm great," "You're great," the entire village might have been destroyed.

"There will be no further support."

"Yes, unfortunately."

He spoke as if he had chewed over what Billford wrote. No matter how small, a river was a river. It was not a task for one or two soldiers to carefully monitor a long river that crossed several territories.