How The Sub-Male Lead’s Stepmother Teaches Love – Chapter 281

Author: Chewyy

The loud and noisy sound of the bell ringing on the castle wall is a warning to evacuate in case of an emergency.

The people of the capital, who had almost forgotten that fact, were puzzled by the loud ringing of the bell, and then belatedly remembered its meaning and panicked.

“Is that it? It means the capital is under attack and we should evacuate, right?”

“Maybe someone made a mistake or misread something?”

“If it was a mistake, wouldn’t it have stopped by now? It’s been ringing for over ten minutes already…”

“D-Don’t tell me monsters are attacking again?”

The people of the capital still remember the monster attack that occurred last winter. It left a deep trauma on those who had once enjoyed peace.

The capital, located in the heart of the empire and not even on the border, is unlikely to be attacked.

Even if something did happen, surely the moat and the fortress walls would prevent easy intrusion…

All those assumptions had been shattered.

“What should I do? Should I go home?”

“Isn’t your house practically next to the eastern wall? What if it collapses?”

“Then where should I go?”

An air of anxiety and unease spread through the crowd.

Fortunately, the Red Lion Knights appeared before people could panic.

“Listen up, everyone. A horde of monsters is approaching the walls.”

“Mo–Monster?”

“It’s okay. The knights and wizards are already on their way to the wall, so there’s no need to worry. The monsters will be subdued soon.”

The knights relayed the facts in calm, composed tones, which helped the people regain some sense of stability.

“Sir, what should we do then?”

“Residents living between Lots 25 and 35 on the eastern side of the capital, near the Silver Line, please evacuate temporarily to the plaza to avoid getting caught in any potential fighting.”

“All others, please return home and remain inside with your doors locked.”

“Wait at home, huh? What if a monster climbs over the walls and destroys our house?”

“That’s unlikely, but if the monsters breach the wall, the bell will ring again. If you’re not in the Lot 25–35 range, you’re far enough from the eastern wall, so even if you evacuate then, it won’t be too late.”

“I-I understand, but still…”

“If too many people move at once, that’s even more dangerous. Please, trust us.”

People moved steadily according to the knights’ instructions, but their faces were filled with anxiety.

As he comforted them, Alexander clicked his tongue inwardly.

‘Damn it, if only the Knights had been dispatched yesterday.’

If the Knights had been dispatched in time, the battle with the monsters would have been in the forest to the east, not in front of the capital’s walls.

Of course, it was more advantageous to fight from a high point atop the wall than in a dense forest, but at least in the forest, civilians wouldn’t be caught in the crossfire.

“Sir Alex, I’m just telling you in advance.…”

“Damn it, seriously…”

Sounds of battle began to erupt beyond the eastern wall—dull crashes, massive explosions, the roars of monsters, and the screams of people.

To calm the crowd, Alexander straightened his posture and shouted with force:

“Everyone, please look ahead carefully as you move! If you have small children, carry them or hold them on your back so they don’t get swept away by the crowd!”

Perhaps it was the anxiety of not knowing when a monster might climb over the walls that made people move quickly.

Even in the midst of all this, the streets were a scene of chaos:

People pulling horses or carriages to carry their luggage, people fighting against the crowds to find their family members who had fallen into the chaos, and people falling while running away.

“Everyone! Please keep order—!”

“Alex!”

Violette approached Alexander, who was shouting on the roof of the building so that his voice could reach as many people as possible.

“Violet?”

While Alexander was guiding people from the eastern wall, Violette had headed to the capital plaza.

By now, there must have been quite a crowd in the capital plaza, and her returning here against the crowds meant that something was wrong.

“What’s wrong?”

“There are too many people in the plaza. It’s out of control. We can’t send these people into the plaza now.”

“What? Why?”

No matter how many people were evacuating, it was in the capital’s plaza.

It was possible to accommodate as many people as there were living near the eastern wall, if Alexander’s calculations were correct.

“Not only the people living in the east, but also other people are moving towards the plaza.”

Just hearing those words made it clear. Alexander covered his face with his hands.

‘They didn’t listen to the instructions to stay home.’

Probably not all of them.

However, many people thought the walls wouldn’t be able to hold off the monsters. Or they feared monsters would attack from other directions as well.

“Damn it. And now it’s too late to find another evacuation place to hide.…”

That was when.

Thud—!

“Whoa!”

The ground shook so much that buildings shook with a loud roar, and hundreds of people screamed in fear.

People in confusion ran in different directions, pushing and tripping over people next to them.

Alexander, who had almost fallen from the roof of the building, witnessed the scene belatedly and tried to calm the crowd.

But at that time.

“Alex, move!”

Violette’s urgent cry rang out just as a shadow fell over his head.

“Kreeek.”

The shriek was nothing like that of a human.

Chills ran down the back of his neck.

There was no time to think. Whether it was instinct or reflex, Alexander jumped straight down from the roof.

—Crash!

The building he had been standing on collapsed moments ago, sending flying debris of various sizes hitting Alexander in the back.

“Kyaaaah!”

“Arrgh!”

People’s screams scatter in all directions.

Just as he was about to think about protecting them, a large piece of brick hit the back of his head.

He didn’t even have time to groan—his vision went completely dark for a moment.

Violette caught his unguarded body and rolled with him to the ground.

“Alex, are you okay?”

“I’m fine… ugh, thanks.”

Alexander stood up, rubbing the back of his head with his hand.

Violette, who got up holding his hand, sighed as she looked at the giant locust that had landed on top of the collapsed building.

“A monster… How the hell did it break through the eastern wall?”

“It’s a m-monster! A monster’s here!”l”

“Damn it, run!”

People started to scatter in all directions in fear as they let out terrible screams.

Alexander didn’t stop them. A monster had appeared, and he needed to yell at them to get out of here.

Thankfully, several Red Lion Knights appeared, seemingly in pursuit of the monster.

“Sir Alex, are you alright?”

“I’m fine! Violet and I will handle this thing, so please help evacuate the people!”

“Understood!”

Leaving the other knights in charge of the people, Alexander decided to focus on the monster in front of him.

“Violet, do you know that monster?”

Violette nodded and answered,

“Poison Mantis,” as she drew her sword.

“See the green droplets dripping from its scythe-like forelimbs? Be careful, it’s acidic poison.”

“Acidic poison… Think it can damage our swords too?”

“It says if you clash swords more than ten times, it might break. I read that in the Monster Guide.”

“Okay. So, is there a difference between the information you read about Poison Mantis in the book and that monster?”

He did read the monster encyclopedia in a hurry, but he didn’t remember much.

Even during his time at the military academy, he had realized just how bad he was at memorization.

‘I hoped that if this incident ended safely, I would never have to encounter monsters again.’

“As for differences… watch out!”

Violette kicked him hard, sending Alexander flying sideways. The force sent her in the opposite direction.

Just then, a metal mass, about the size of a human head, slammed down right where Alexander had been standing.

If he had stood there, his head would have been cracked.

Alexander gasped, finally realizing that the very thing that destroyed the building earlier was that same metal lump.

“Where the hell did that mantis get a metal weapon like that?!”

“Tail!”

“What?”

“Look closely, that’s not a lump of iron, it’s the tip of a tail, It’s coming again!”

—Crash! Crash!

The tail hammered down relentlessly, shattering the tiled floor.

Alexander and Violet had no choice but to separate to avoid it.

Almost as if it had been waiting for that moment, the mantis’s two scythe-like forearms flew toward Violet, while its tail came down on Alexander.

—Tak!

“This Monster is such a fucking punk…!”

Even if it had two weapons, it only had one head—yet the Poison Mantis’s scythes and tail moved like separate entities, viciously targeting both of them.

“No, wait a minute.”

Alexander deflected the heavy tail with a swing of his sheathed sword, shaking off his aching hand as a belated realization struck him.

“That’s a locust. Why does it have a tail?”

“That’s what makes it different from the book.”

Seeing him knock the tail aside, Violet regained some composure.

Gripping her sword in one hand and the sheath in the other, she deftly deflected the Poison Mantis’s forearm strikes and widened the distance.

“That tail… It looks a lot like the one in the Hammer Scorpion illustration. Why would it have that?”

“Oh…! That must be it.”

“What?”

“Do you know its weak spot? Like where is the magic stone?”

As Alexander rolled to the side to avoid being hit, the tail hammer came flying down with a heavy crash, collapsing the wall of the building.

While Tail Hammer was buried in the rubble of the destroyed building, Alexander swung his sword and tried to cut off the tail.