Chapter 76
“Aaargh!”
The moment of contemplation was brief. As the knights yanked the swords from the backs of his hands, a guttural scream tore through the air.
“He—he’s bleeding too much! Bandages! Wrap them, quickly!”
The pain of the blades being pulled out was far worse than when they had been driven in.
Duke of Pose wailed like an infant, throwing a desperate tantrum, but the knights paid him no mind.
Instead—
“Duke Calips has collapsed. Move him at once!”
“Yes, sir!”
Blood was thicker than water, it seemed. They were only concerned with the safety of their own kingdom’s noble.
‘Am I really being arrested like this? Am I going to be exposed just like this?’
Had King Arzen truly betrayed him?
If that were the case—if the King intended to pin every crime on him and make a public spectacle of the atrocities the House of Pose had committed until now…
‘How many spies in total… No, the monster berserk incidents in the first place…’
As he finished the mental tally, his face turned deathly pale.
Being arrested in the Frozen Kingdom wasn’t the only problem. If this became public knowledge, not only the Frozen Kingdom but even Doctia would turn its back on him.
It was only natural. What was the end for a spy who failed their mission?
Nothing but a quiet death that no one would ever know about.
But what if the master of those spies failed?
A death known to the whole world. A death of absolute ignominy.
“Aaaaagh! If you’re going to arrest me, arrest King Arzen too! King Arzen is a primary culprit in the monster berserk incidents!”
As he screamed like a madman, the faces of the nobles he had seen at the Frozen Kingdom’s banquet flashed through his mind.
Those who had believed him to be a good man—their expressions were twisting in an instant.
He couldn’t let this happen. The House of Pose could not fall like this. Even if he had to die, the next generation had to carry on the family name!
“A-Arzen actually keeps monsters in the castle! He’s a lunatic who raises monsters illegally!”
He thrashed about, losing his mind and forgetting his pain, but—
“Sigh. Just knock him out for now.”
“Yes, sir.”
With a sigh, a knight struck the back of his neck.
Gack.
The Duke of Pose’s eyes rolled back, and he was dragged away toward the Frozen Palace.
A few hours before the Duke of Pose’s arrest, at the Frozen Palace.
‘Something is wrong.’
Calips, who had rushed out during his conversation with Grace to monitor the movements of the monsters now scattered throughout the palace, furrowed his brow.
Monsters that were rarely seen even in the urban areas of the North had appeared in the Center. That was strange enough, but their behavior was even more suspicious.
Monsters were, by nature, beastly creatures that devoured any living thing they saw.
Yet, those Giant Orcs were merely defending against the knights’ attacks rather than striking back. Their movements seemed purposeful, as if they were determinedly walking toward a specific destination.
Thump, thump! The ground shook under the footsteps of the orcs, each standing over three meters tall.
As far as Calips knew, there was only one explanation for this. It was by Kyle’s command…
“Aisha is in danger.”
Right then, a white head suddenly popped up in front of him. Kyle had appeared at the perfect moment.
Having returned to his human form, his mouth was still stained with patches of blood he hadn’t managed to wipe away.
“Where is Aisha?”
“I don’t know. That’s why I ordered those orcs to find her. Some woman fed me a strange potion.”
‘A potion.’
The answer was hidden in Kyle’s blunt words. As expected, it was the work of the House of Pose.
“First…”
The problem was that he had to explain the situation to this boy. Could he even understand?
‘Damn it.’
Feeling overwhelmed, Calips wiped his weary face with his palm. But there wasn’t even a moment to spare. In this situation, Kyle was the only one who could follow his orders and move effectively.
Calips bent his knees to bring himself level with the boy. He met Kyle’s round purple eyes, which were staring back at him blankly.
‘I need to hide his eye color first.’
“Drink this.”
“This? Yuck. Isn’t this that potion the woman gave me?”
“No. If you drink this, you can save Aisha.”
“Really?”
“Yes. We don’t have time, so drink it fast—”
Snatch—
Before Calips could even finish his sentence, Kyle grabbed the potion and gulped it down with his eyes squeezed shut.
His expression made it clear the taste was foul, but he finished every drop. That was how much he wanted to find Aisha.
‘Good boy.’
Calips found himself roughly stroking the white head.
Soon, the effects of the medicine began to take hold in Kyle’s eyes. Calips gripped his shoulders and spoke.
“You have a good sense of smell, right? There are a lot of people in the castle, but you need to find Lucas. Can you do that?”
“Lucas?”
“Yes. Or find Knox.”
“Ugh. I hate Knox. He makes me wear weird monster pajamas.”
“But we have to find Aisha.”
“…!”
The boy’s eyes rounded again at the mention of her name.
“Okay. I got it. So what do I do?”
Contrary to his concerns, the Majin boy was a quick learner.
Nod, nod.
After nodding along to every word Calips said, Kyle immediately bolted toward the annex. Weaving through the nobles who were murmuring in fear, he spotted Knox in the distance.
“Knox!”
“…Kyle? Where is the Lady?”
Knox, who had turned his head at the sound of the voice, looked bewildered.
Kyle, having just burst through the crowd of tall adults, spoke without even catching his breath.
“Calips told me to tell you. Calips is going to Aisha now. And the plan proceeds as scheduled.”
“…What?”
“The plan proceeds as scheduled, so go to Grace and gather the knights. The location is where the monsters are walking.”
“Where the monsters are walking? Don’t tell me these monsters…”
“Yeah. I called them. I ordered them to save Aisha.”
Knox was momentarily speechless at the young Majin’s bright-eyed declaration.
Knox had observed Kyle for some time now. While his physical abilities were extraordinary, his linguistic and social skills were practically zero. To be honest, he had thought the boy was just a complete idiot.
“…Well done, for now. Go find Lucas and stay with him.”
‘He’s actually a bit impressive.’
Knox gave the white head a pat, just as Calips had done, and then sprinted toward Grace.
“Your Majesty, Your Majesty!”
And when Grace heard the full story…
“The Duke of Pose did what?! Is everything I’ve heard true?”
Without so much as a scream, she immediately summoned the Royal Knights in a state of shock. King Arzen, watching from her side, thought:
‘This is it.’
“How—how dare the Duke of Pose kidnap the Lady of Crost?! And even summon monsters?!”
Seizing the opportunity, the King shifted all the blame for his own complicity onto the Duke of Pose and ordered the knights to be sent there as quickly as possible.
Meanwhile.
Among the people who had been gathered in the annex for a long time without any explanation, a restless murmuring broke out.
“Wh-what is happening?”
“I don’t know. We followed Queen Grace’s lead and came this far, but…”
“We’re going to be okay, right? We aren’t going to die here, are we…?”
Soon, fear turned into anger and spread rapidly.
“Exactly who is the bastard that brought monsters into the royal banquet? When the culprit is found, I’ll have his head for this…”
“Marquis Tolly. No matter how urgent the situation, watch your tongue.”
“But Marquis Tolly is right. Anyone from the Frozen Kingdom knows how dangerous monsters are. Why are monsters that belong in the North appearing here?”
They were unaware that Aisha had been kidnapped. The monster berserk incidents had been reported to the public only as natural disasters of unknown origin. Thus, they assumed this was another sudden monster raid.
But then.
“Aaaaah!”
A young noblewoman shrieked from one side of the hall. Pale with terror, she screamed and pointed.
“Th-there’s a dead person over there!”
Someone was dead? Had the monsters made it inside?
The crowd surged like a wave, murmuring and backing away in panic.
“Ugh, aaagh!”
A man who had been pushed back into the hallway screamed as he fell backward.
“There—there’s a dead person here, too!”
“Over here as well!”
“Ah, aah! There’s one here too!”
The people who had been pushed out of the hall scrambled back inside, terrified. They were discovering corpses everywhere.
“This is insane… this banquet is…”
A noblewoman, muttering to herself in a scene reminiscent of a horror film, fainted on the spot.
Amidst the chaos, Grace stepped forward.
“Bring the bodies here at once!”
Quickly grasping the situation, Grace had the bodies moved to a single location. She soon noticed a strange commonality among them.
Every single one was frozen solid, and their necks bore teeth marks that appeared to be from a beast.
And—
“…We found a potion and a snake-shaped brooch.”