Chapter 43
<45화>
‘It’s probably about Lucas.’
The lords of the North had seen him with their own eyes.
News of Lucas would have already spread through Frozen Kingdom society, and the Duke of Pose, who was more interested in the Frozen Kingdom than anyone, wouldn’t have missed it.
‘Or is it about the Madness Amplifier?’
I recalled the monster that had shown such abnormal behavior.
That amplifier had definitely come from House Pose.
I didn’t know how Marquis Lillis had gotten his hands on it, but rumors of the monster’s strange symptoms must have spread as well, so the Duke would be aware.
Just as I was lost in thought…
“Squeak—!”
At the sound of the telegram mouse signaling it was finished, I opened my eyes and checked the floor.
The message the Duke of Pose sent me was neither about Lucas nor the Madness Amplifier.
[Why are you in the Queen’s Palace?]
The message was about me.
“…Grrr….”
“Baby?”
Right then, before I even had time to be shocked by the content of the telegram, the baby cat resting quietly in my arms let out a growl.
Something was strange. A bizarre sound, like smoke seeping from the depths of a cat’s belly, rose up as its nose wrinkled fiercely.
It was a chilling animalistic sound, enough to make one’s hair stand on end—unbelievable for a mere kitten.
Was it unhappy about something?
No. This was blatant hostility.
“What’s wrong with you all of a sudden… Baby!”
“Kyang!”
Before I could grab it, the baby cat lunged out of my arms and ran off somewhere.
What should I do?
After frantically rubbing out the message on the floor with my shoe, I looked back and forth between the distant May and the cat.
I felt bad for May, but…
“Baby!”
My own business came first.
At that same time.
A chilled silence hung over the tea room.
Knox pressed his fingers to his temples, his mind in a whirl.
‘…Something like this actually happens in reality?’
The story that had come out of the Queen’s mouth was more terrifying than most ghost stories.
Knox wasn’t the only one who thought so.
The three people present sat in silence, unable to speak.
Everyone seemed at a loss for what to say or how to say it.
‘Damn it.’
Letting out a long sigh, Knox wiped his face with his palm.
“Let’s try to organize this first. So, the cat following the Lady isn’t just a cat….”
Knox had a headache.
“It can communicate with humans and monsters at the same time…”
“A Majin.”
Grace summarized.
“Yes. You mean it’s a Majin.”
“Monsters instinctively distinguish between the weak and the strong because of their superior sense of smell. To a monster, a Majin is neither one of their own nor a different species.”
Grace, explaining without even pausing for breath, tapped a piece of paper with her pen.
“They see them as their leader.”
“…This is insane.”
At her words, Knox muttered to himself unconsciously.
A leader of monsters.
Just looking at the words, one might think of a pack leader of beasts like monkeys or wolves, but that was a grave mistake.
A leader from the End of the World, beyond the Ice Wall.
That meant the monsters, the objects of humanity’s terror, were capable of organization—and organization meant an army.
‘Monsters standing in formation, ready to attack.’
Suddenly, a chill ran down his spine.
Monsters beyond the massive Ice Wall planning the massacre of humanity and using tools?
The Crost Duchy had held out well until now, but that was largely thanks to the Ice Wall built with the Ice Ability.
But what if monsters capable of thought devised a way to destroy the Ice Wall?
After thinking it over, Knox asked.
“Why did no one know such a being existed?”
It wasn’t a common existence, so it was possible for the public not to know.
Most people outside the Crost Duchy didn’t even know what a monster looked like.
But Knox was very interested in monsters.
‘I should have seen it in a book.’
“Because they aren’t treated as monsters.”
At his words, Grace brought over a book.
Seeing the thick, cloth-bound volume, he looked up awkwardly.
“Isn’t this… the Bible of Rune?”
Rune was a religion created by old-fashioned mages to explain the existence of espers.
Anyone interested in magic would have heard of it at least once.
From the perspective of Knox, who served an esper directly, he hadn’t read it because the descriptions deifying espers were burdensome.
Grace tapped the cover and said.
“Yes. Majin appear in this scripture.”
“Pardon?”
“And in the Bible of Rune, Majin are also described as minor gods created by a god, similar to espers.”
“Are you saying that the fictional writings of mages have become reality?”
“No. It means the mages wrote the truth, not a novel. But even I never imagined I would actually see a Majin.”
Grace, who had brought the book, sat back down.
“The Bible of Rune says that Majin die in childhood, unable to adapt to the world.”
“…Then why?”
“Why else? Aisha must have saved it.”
In a way, history is made of such small clusters of coincidences.
For instance, compassion. Or love.
She let out a mocking laugh with a trace of bitterness.
“Majin take the form of beasts when they are young. To gain the energy to humanize, they choose a human to parasite off of for a month.”
That human was Aisha.
Grace actually didn’t mind that part.
No, actually, they should have been isolated to prevent the Majin’s humanization, but she had another reason for ordering Aisha to leave.
“The problem is, once a Majin desires humanization, they drink the blood of the humans around them—”
Rattle—!
It was then.
The chair Knox was sitting in fell backward with a loud crash.
Lady Maria, sitting next to him, widened her eyes.
It was because the blood had drained from the face of Knox, who had suddenly bolted upright over the overturned chair.
“…What did you just say? The blood of humans around them?”
He had lost his composure in a way that was unlike him. Grace shook her head and muttered.
“So you do know how to care for someone?”
“I’m not joking.”
“I know. That’s why I told you to separate them. It’s fine as long as you separate them within two weeks.”
“Two weeks.”
Knox, muttering blankly like a ghost, sat back down.
“…I see.”
Two weeks was plenty of time.
‘Now that I know the cat’s identity, I can just leave it behind when we head for the Duchy today.’
He could probably leave the cat with Grace.
Knock, knock. It was then.
The Masamo members looked up at the sudden sound of knocking.
The person behind the knock opened the door and entered without waiting for permission.
“I apologize, this is urgent. May the Sun of the World shine upon the Frozen Kingdom.”
A knight, showing respect to Grace, held out a paper to Knox.
“An emergency telegram has arrived.”
An emergency telegram?
Usually, it took over two weeks for a telegram to travel from the Crost Duchy to the Frozen Kingdom.
However, the fact that an emergency telegram had arrived meant it had just come through the portal.
‘A telegram so urgent it required that?’
Knox checked the message with an anxious heart.
[Part of the Ice Wall has collapsed. Monster intrusion. Keep Aisha in the Kingdom until further notice.]
“…….”
He couldn’t believe the content, even after reading it word by word.
In the history of the Frozen Kingdom, the Ice Wall had never collapsed.
It was unprecedented—no, it was truly a first.
“Why? What does it say?”
Worried by Knox’s lack of reaction, Grace snatched the telegram from his hand.
Right at that moment.
May, having run through the open door, reported while panting heavily.
“May the Sun of the World shine upon the Frozen Kingdom. Sir Knox, I am sorry. Lady Aisha has disappeared.”
“…….”
The eyes of the dazed Knox slowly widened.
It was one disaster after another.