That's impossible...... Norn couldn't have died! She wouldn't have allowed that to happen, so it wouldn't happen!

But she froze there, screaming in her head, but she couldn't make a sound, and she didn't even dare to make sure the elf was still breathing.

A hand tapped her on the shoulder. She spun around sharply, a sharp knife popping out of her sleeve, but stopped for a split second before stabbing into the other's body.

"It's me! it's me!" Thornhorn raised his hand in a panic, "What the hell happened? I don't remember ...... at all."

His eyes widened in surprise as his gaze fell on Norvi's, and he walked around Tess and crouched down on the other side of Norvi, reaching for the elf's neck, which was unusually fragile due to the loss of blood.

Tess instinctively tried to raise her knife and stab herself, but she finally controlled herself. Thornonne's fingers lingered on Novi's neck for so long that she nearly suffocated.

“...... He's alive. Thornoen said, apparently relieved as well.

Tess closed her eyes and almost collapsed on top of the elf. But she finally regained her composure.

"What the hell is this?" Thornon stared at the strange severed head in the elf's hand, and suddenly jumped to his feet—the grayish-white, sleek headless corpse lying behind him.

"He killed it...... What kind of monster is this?" he muttered to himself, "Why don't I remember anything......"

Moans rang out in the darkness, and Thornon raised his weapon alertly, but it was only the sound of people on the ground waking up one after another.

"Falbo!" called to Thornone, his companion, who had just woken up. "Look how many people are still alive!"

None of that is of Tess concerned right now. She carefully rested Norvi's head on her shoulder, annoyed at what she had just been—she was Tess Shepard, not some weak little girl...... It wasn't anymore many years ago!

She groped around Norvi's waist. Elves will always carry something necessary with them. And she needed a potion to stop the bleeding......

"Look where he's hurt!" Tess, yelling at Thorne, her hands still shaking.

Thornon quickly crouched down and picked up the torch that Tess had thrown aside, but he had only found a few scratches on his arm and a wound in his abdomen—a very small wound, but from where almost all the blood had gushed, and it had not stopped.

Tess turned pale. She knew what kind of weapon could inflict a wound like that. She could probably guess what was going on.

If she could, she would love to give herself a treat. But now is not the time to blame yourself.

She silently tended to the elf's wounds, refusing all help, carefully testing his breath from time to time. The breath was light and weak. But it never stopped.

Mochi cautiously approached her, and it was a while before he climbed onto her shoulder, and lay there quietly.

She must have done something bad to it, and it had forgiven her.

She knew that Norway would forgive her, too, and he wouldn't even blame her at all.

Tears rolled down her cheeks and were quickly wiped away by her.

She almost jumped up when there was a squeak on the door: "Don't open that door!"

She'd seen the door a long time ago, but who knew what monster was hiding inside, and if anything else came out, she'd definitely leave these idiots behind and drag Norway away. Or just throw a knife at a guy and make breakfast for the monster!

"I am...... Touch it casually......" Thornon snorted, not wanting to admit that he was taken aback by the petite red-haired woman's murderous tone.

But no more monsters came out of the door, and Thornoen had the audacity to push it open. I poked the torch in and took a photo.

"This room...... There really are people living here. He said in amazement.

Tess glared at him with a gloomy face.

“...... There's a bed in there, maybe we should get the elves in for a break. Thornoen said to her in a tone that almost seemed flattering.

Tess thought for a moment and nodded reluctantly. Norway should have just lost a lot of blood and he really needed a good rest.

The foul stench coming from the next room was drowned out by a strong smell. It was a vegetal smell, but it wasn't bitter - at least it was much better than rotten meat.

The air is not dull. There are no other deeper doors in this inhabited room, but there should be somewhere to ventilate. Tess didn't know if there was any secret outlet. But she couldn't care about that anymore.

There were two beds in the room—that was to her surprise, she thought the necromancers hiding in such a place were all alone.

Thornoen helped Tess settle Norway into a bed. Then he asked Falbo to bring in the others - five weak, half-dead fellows, all of whom had disappeared here, one of whom was Falbo's brother.

"Thank you, really. The young man came to Tess with red eyes and thanked him, "I will do anything for you!

“...... Let's bring in a barrel of wine from the outside. "Tess said that the blood-draining elves would need that.

Falbor immediately ran out, and it wasn't long before he brought back a barrel of wine and a pile of presumably edible things, and distributed them to those who had been missing for days, and who were lucky enough not to starve to death or killed.

The others weren't so lucky—Falbo didn't dare to look closely, but the others were already detached, like the monster itself, their shriveled heads still stuck in their sticks as if they were showing off.

"Erov asked us how long we would stay. He whispered to Sonorn. In addition to carrying things in, the clever young man also found the mechanism to open the door, and ran out to say hello to his companions who were guarding outside in fear.

"Don't worry, I think everyone needs to rest for a while...... Let him go back and call a few men, we need to hold this place. Sonorn said.

Falbo nodded and ran out again.

Thornon lit all the candles he could find in the room, and even made a few more torches to brighten up the room. Even though it was his idea to stay here, he was a little uneasy about the usually weird room.

The room was very simply furnished, but well organized. With two beds, two chairs, and an iron pot hanging from the cold stove, Thornoen couldn't help but wonder what had been cooked in it, and then turned pale with his own imagination, and walked away silently. He's always been bold—but this is probably where the necromancer lived!

A basket on a square table was stuffed with some kind of sun-dried herb, giving off a pungent smell that permeated the room, and it was not known if it was of any other use than to deodorize. The other table against the wall was filled with cauldrons, medicine mills, all kinds of strange plants, ores, and animal bones and feathers, and so on, that Thornon didn't even want to touch.

There was a black leather-covered book in the drawer of the table, which Thornoen dragged out and tossed aside. He wasn't going to look at it, but Borena was always interested in this kind of thing.

A pile of yellowed letters tied up caught his attention. He opened one of them, a letter from a woman named Avri to her father, and it was very mundane, but it was just telling him what had happened in the family recently—for example, that her son had just learned to walk.

Thornon looked at the sentences full of happiness and joy, and then at the pile of strange things on the table, and thought of the monster outside and the pile of decomposing corpses, and a sense of absurdity rose in his heart.

He knew that necromancers were nothing more than humans—humans who had chosen to be in the company of demons. It's hard to imagine that they also used to have a normal life. Before they became necromancers, they may have had relatives and friends...... He didn't understand what made them give it all up.

He shook his head and threw the pile of letters onto the black book.

He was even more surprised to find a heraldic ring carefully stored in a delicate velvet-lined box. Ordinary people don't have such a thing.

"Is there really a necromancer living here?" he couldn't help but ask.

No one answered. Tess now cared for nothing but the elves in her arms, and the others knew nothing like him.

In the end, Falbo's brother replied to him weakly: "It's not going to be a good guy anyway." ”

- That's true.

Thornoen sighed and threw the ring on the letter. Borena could recognize which family the coat of arms belonged to, if he was awake.

The thought of this always weighs his heart. If Borena dies...... He didn't know what else they could do.

They stayed until it was dark and the elves' breathing became more steady and even. Before leaving, Thornoen endured his nausea and took the monster's head with him.

And the place where they hid was secretive, it might not be as comfortable as the necromancer's chamber - it was just a natural cavern in the forest, with the only advantage that there were many exits, and it was quite convenient when it was necessary to escape.

That's why Thornon is hell-bent on getting Deb and his soldiers out as quickly as possible. Staying in that dark, damp cave doesn't do the seriously injured any good.

“...... What's going on?" Seeing Norway being carried back, Ed and Naria cried out in almost unison.

Ed jumped up and rushed to the rudimentary stretcher, completely panicked: "Is he okay? How could he get hurt?

He scrambling to get the crystal ball out of the box around his neck - he still didn't know what to do with it, but if it didn't work at this point, he might as well throw it into the Vinez River!

"He's fine. Tess reached out and pressed against his chest, stopping him, "He's woken up once, he'll be fine." ”

She looked pale and tired, not much better than Norvi.

"Are you alright?" Narya hugged her worriedly.

"There's nothing to do when I see you, sweetheart!" Tess reluctantly pulled herself together and hugged Naria back.

Naria shook her head, not knowing what to say to this reckless girl.

(To be continued)