The Villain Changed the Ending

059 Baby Rhinoceros

****[Oscar, the main character] ****

I am a duke, but I am also a soldier trained by steppe warriors since childhood.

My body reacted to the sound of the horn before thinking with my brain.

Immediately, I picked up the pants next to the bed and tucked in the long shirt I was wearing as my pajamas.

As soon as the captain of the escort heard the sound of the horn, he immediately turned to my back and guarded my back.

You don’t have to keep your back in an empty room, but the escort captain sometimes behaves strangely.

I heard footsteps in the hallway, and someone knocked on the door.

“come in.”

After giving permission, the soldier opened the door and came in.

“Duke, the monsters attacked. It’s not accurate, but there are about 10 of them. They seem to be quite large.”

Did you follow the smell and the screams?

The rhinoceros beasts don’t come close to people very often, and humans don’t hunt them, so I don’t know much about them.

But I’ve seen rhinos in small herds like a family a few times.

I don’t know why the dead rhino was left alone, but originally it must have been the same group as the raiders this time.

‘Is it an animal with deep affection?’

They are probably affectionate animals, risking their lives to save their comrades captured by humans, and following the same group for a long distance by relying on screams and smells.

It might be better than a man who even abandons his own offspring.

‘It would be best if I could free the demons trapped here.’

They’re docile by nature, so if you find a mate, there’s a good chance they’ll just walk away.

This time, I wanted to send the raiding group back without killing it as much as possible.

It’s not just because I feel sorry for rhinos.

The rhino witch is the best way to suppress the locust witch, and it is not a problem limited to one territory.

Once the number of locusts increases and forms a swarm, you don’t know where they will go.

Because of that, most nobles make it a rule not to kill rhinos.

‘Looking at the official’s attitude, it seems like it was the lord’s fault, but I don’t think he’ll try to let go.’

I recalled the lord’s face I had seen before and let out a small sigh.

He was a person who seemed to have a lot of greed.

I don’t know why I’m holding on to the Witchbeast, but I probably won’t let go easily.

Even the king cannot intervene in the affairs of other territories.

It was the same with the Duke.

This estate is clearly owned by another nobleman.

I can’t do it my way.

I don’t know if I’m directly harmed because of these, but I couldn’t force something before that.

‘Well, even so, it’s not like there’s no way to apply pressure.’

I sighed and went outside.

There were about a hundred magic soldiers waiting outside.

The rest seem to be near the Witchbeast.

The escort soldiers came to my side and surrounded me like a human wall.

“Where is the Witchbeast?”

When I asked, the magician opened his mouth.

“When I saw it, it was still far from the walls. I don’t know after that, because I came this way as soon as I checked the numbers, but I’ll be entering the city soon. They didn’t refuse our help, but the soldiers here said they would deal with them first. They don’t seem to want our involvement.”

While I was listening to the magician, a soldier came riding a horse from the side of the castle gate.

You seem a little perplexed.

The soldier jumped off his horse and hurriedly said,

“It’s a big deal, Duke. To find out how good they are, I mixed with the city soldiers and used a magic arrow.”

The soldier gulped, rubbing his palms on his pants, probably sweating.

“It didn’t work. Their skin is too hard. They can’t pierce the skin. It doesn’t even scratch. I don’t think it’ll be difficult to defeat them without using bombs. No, I don’t know if I can use bombs. Their skin is very tough. yo. this.”

He didn’t seem to think that there would be a magic beast that his magic arrows couldn’t work through.

Being too flustered, the one who saw it rather calmed down.

‘But it sure is surprising.’

He knew that the skin of a rhinoceros was hard and strong, but he never thought that magic arrows could not even hurt him.

‘There are ten of them.’

really got into trouble

I don’t think the soldiers in this city will ever match a rhinoceros, and eventually we will.

However, if the magic arrows didn’t work, there weren’t many ways we could use them.

If you can’t use magic arrows, you have to use bombs, but it’s difficult to use bombs in the city.

If a house catches on fire by mistake and spreads, not only will people die, but their future will also be destroyed.

Besides, if you can’t catch it in one blow and the rhino runs rampant while injured, the damage will be even greater.

They are the ones who even break down the castle gates.

If there were not one or two, but ten, most buildings in the city would be destroyed.

My face became serious by itself.

Even if it is someone else’s territory or someone else’s city, people’s lives and futures depend on it.

We would love to help if we could, but we are really helpless in this situation.

There is a limit to my use of magical threats, and I don’t think it will work on them.

Threat can kill people or weak creatures such as grasshoppers at once, but the bigger the body and the stronger the magic, the less effective it is.

Originally, the threat itself was not intended to kill the opponent.

That’s literally hitting the opponent with anger or murderous intent, and the grasshopper demons and humans just die because they’re weak.

It wasn’t a weapon in the first place.

It would be possible if it was to manipulate the cells and kill them one by one, but in order to do so, it would have to touch the opponent’s body.

cannot be used in this case.

It got really difficult.

Even so, of course, this is my territory, not my people.

‘I wonder if this is a farce.’

I let out a small sigh.

After patting the bewildered magician on the shoulder to calm him down, I spoke to everyone.

“We’re going to watch until we call for help here. Don’t rush into intervening, just be vigilant for now.”

Most of the people who died when the demons first attacked were probably trampled on or run over while blocking the road.

Perhaps the lord pushed the soldiers forcibly in order to catch the beast.

The purpose of the rhino that attacked this time is to rescue my comrades, so it’s fine as long as I don’t block them.

“Yes, I understand.”

The magician answered right away and ran towards the gate again.

There is already an uproar everywhere.

All the people who were asleep jumped out, and I saw people running away screaming as if a nightmare from a while ago had resurrected.

The noise spread, and the screams of the animals that echoed thinly through the night sky could no longer be heard. It’s hard to guess where it is.

I called the civil servant who had arranged the lodging here.

The civil servant hurriedly runs.

Even in such an emergency, the civil servant did not panic and remained calm.

Rather, it seems to have a fearless and bold personality than the magic soldier who was reckless just a moment ago. There was no fear in the face.

Well, is that natural?

The civil servants who accompany me to and from the capital change from time to time, and I do not appoint them.

The entourage was chosen by the chief aides.

There are many criteria for choosing the civil servants to accompany me during my travels.

I heard that in order to minimize the burden and people of travel, you should be a talented person who can handle many things in many ways rather than being competent in one thing.

You must be a person who can ride and run for many days, and you must be able to judge calmly even in an emergency.

Being loyal is fundamental.

Since he was chosen based on such detailed criteria, he would not be taken aback by this level of commotion.

When the civil servant stood in front of me, I asked in a low voice.

“Was there a place where the building was particularly damaged?”

The civil servant immediately realized what I meant and lowered his head.

“Yes, it seems that the Witchbeast did not roam the entire city, but rather headed in a certain direction. Following the destruction of the building, the last one was a small building next to the lord’s office.”

So, the civil servant said he chose my lodgings far away from the road.

The escort brought the horse.

I jumped on horseback.

“Let’s go there. I’ll see what the hell caught me and endangered me.”

The civil servant, realizing my intentions, grinned.

“If it’s in that name, I can intervene. If it’s a sudden accident, I can’t hold you accountable, but if you intentionally hide something and put the duke in danger, it’s the other side’s fault.”

yes.

In this world, the powerful have an absolute advantage.

It was the same for the nobles, not the commoners.

It is not for nothing that a nose ring when worn on the nose and an earring when worn on the ear were coined.

As I ran, the escorts and magicians rushed around me, wrapping themselves back and forth.

*

As we approached Yeongjugwan, the appearance of the building came into view at a glance.

Is all the money earned in luxury lodgings poured into Yeongju Hall?

Although it is small, it is quite flashy.

“That building.”

The place the civil servant pointed out was a warehouse located some distance away from the yeongjugwan.

Perhaps it was originally used as a grain warehouse.

It looks simple, but it appears to be a fairly solid building.

However, part of the thick, hard wall had been dented and broken.

It is not drilled all the way to the inside.

However, it was so badly damaged that I wondered if the wall would have been pierced if I had done a little more.

What looks black, shimmering in the torchlight, is probably bloodstains.

It seems that the rhino kept bumping into it.

There were several people in front of the warehouse, including the official who greeted us during the day.

What stood out among them was a young man in a fancy dress.

He must be the lord’s son

Seeing how people treat him, he must be the heir of the lord.

I was someone I had never seen before.

Seeing as he never greeted me, it’s probably either that he’s not a normal successor, or that he’s not able to present himself in front of people because of his bad behavior.

As I approached, the city official’s face grew visibly pale.

“Go, Duke!”

The official hurriedly ran over and stood between me and the warehouse as if he was getting in the way.

When I glanced at it, the face of the colorfully dressed young man was also blue.

He seemed terrified for some reason.

‘It’s strange.’

It doesn’t seem to be a simple witchcraft problem.

The official bent over and said.

“Hey, it’s dangerous here. Duke. Hurry up and get out of your way… That’s right. You’d better go to the outskirts of the city. You’ll be safe there. No, it’s safe.”

I looked down at the official from the horse and opened my mouth.

“Yes, this city is in danger right now. But it seems that the danger was intentional. Wasn’t it an intentional attempt to lure me into a trap?”

After a few quibbles, the face of a young man far away turned white in an instant.

White enough to know even in the dark.

The young man hurriedly ran over and fell to the ground.

The official looked at him in bewilderment, and suddenly he called out.

“Oh, no! We never meant to trap you. How could we have such a heart? It was just greed. Please forgive us.”

“Do, young master! What nonsense are you talking about!”

The official caught the young man belatedly and covered his mouth with his hand.

“…”

It seems that the young man named Bocchan misunderstood something.

Did he think he knew everything after seeing me come this far?

I just caught a ridiculous fault, but it’s like a thief went to the police station because his feet went numb.

‘I guess it’s because I’m such an idiot that I couldn’t bring it out in front of people.’

If I somehow denied it here, I might have been able to get past it without opening the warehouse door.

But before I could say anything more, this young man gave me a clue to open the warehouse myself.

Even in the case of my father, raising a good successor is really important.

There seems to be no need to answer any more questions.

I got off my horse and approached the shed.

“You’ll have to judge whether to forgive or not. Open the door.”

The servants in front of the warehouse lay face down with their hands on the floor in panic. The forehead almost touches the ground.

If you follow my words, you are afraid of the owner, and if you do not follow me, even your own owner is the opponent who bows down and prays.

It is difficult to follow or not to follow.

For them, that action was probably the right answer.

“Go, Duke, even for a high-ranking noble, this is too much. To the lord, at least after reporting it to the lord.”

The official could not stop me and followed me, begging me.

The young man still doesn’t seem to know what he did wrong.

I just kept messing around.

Several magicians around me got off their horses and approached the warehouse.

The official caught them and stopped them, but the magic bottle could not be stopped.

A magician grabbed him by the shoulder and pressed him to the floor, knocking him down.

With a thud, the official fell flat on the floor.

The official sighed as if he was a little sleepy.

I glanced at him and approached the warehouse.

The warehouse was locked with a padlock, with thick iron rods hanging across it.

The magic bottle holding down the official found a large key on his waist.

A rugged iron key, like those seen in old movies, went into the hole, and soon the iron rod came off.

The thick warehouse door opened with a squeaking sound.

A musty smell came out.

The smell of blood and the smell of feces seem to be mixed.

The escort soldiers entered the warehouse before me.

The faces of the escort soldiers who came out after a while were expressionless, but I could see something unpleasant on their faces after I had been with them for a long time.

Was the witch already dead?

Maybe it was too late.

“There is nothing dangerous inside.”

According to the escort soldier, this time I go inside the warehouse.

In the warehouse, several torches were attached to the walls to illuminate the interior.

The disgusting bloody smell grew stronger.

On the left side of the warehouse, against the wall, there were several carcasses of horned rabbits and fragmented bones.

There were several bowls near the bones, inside which were what looked like multicolored clay.

It seems that he was trying to make a magic bomb.

When dealing with the locust beasts, many of the nobles in the royal capital must have heard about it by word of mouth or from eyewitnesses.

The nobility of the spirit that this city belongs to was also in the royal capital.

Did he give orders to the lord of this city?

Perhaps it was the sole action of the lord here.

Since this is the road to the royal road, all sorts of rumors gather.

There was also the possibility that information could have been reached more quickly and accurately through rumors of the royal capital and spying by the servants of the inn.

The soldiers of our dukedom have also stayed there several times, so it would be possible if you looked closely and remembered the color and texture.

But how did he know that the monster’s bones were the material?

Maybe it was already rumored that the monster bones were handed over to me on a trading ship.

Did you guess that?

Not only them, but perhaps a significant number of nobles might try to find out the secret of the magic bomb.

But they can never make it.

The secret of magic bombs is not in the ingredients, but in the mixing ratio and magic power.

If it wasn’t for Mr. Sven, I wouldn’t have been able to make it either.

The spread of the information was somewhat assumed, and it is not surprising.

I looked away.

“…”

The disgusting smell was coming from inside, not from here.

On one side of the warehouse wall, there were piles of what appeared to be old things, scattered and pushed back in places as if something had bumped into them in passing.

Some were completely broken.

And there was blood everywhere.

It seems that the rhinoceros witch did not die outside, but came here by someone’s guidance and walked on her own.

It was probably just before he died.

They stumbled and bumped into each other… The traces left in the warehouse seem to show that.

Whoops… whoops…

A faint cry could be heard from inside the warehouse.

Hate feelings rise.

After breaking through the stuff and going inside, I saw a large rhino lying on the ground.

The rhino’s eyes were dug deep with something like a knife.

He must have put a knife there and tried to cut the skin.

But it didn’t go well, and the rhino lay in a miserable state, torn apart as if only the eye area had been eaten.

Probably what I did when I was alive.

Blood flowed from his eyes and the floor was wet.

Then, as if a small figure had dug into the belly of the big rhinoceros, it was crying.

It seems that what was caught was a baby rhinoceros.

“This….”

The cub was also badly injured.