Chapter 105
* * *
Now that I’d captured the King, the question was how to use him.
‘Since I’ve gone through the trouble of catching him, it feels like a waste to just squeeze him for information and be done with it.’
What would be the best move?
I tapped my fingers rhythmically against the balcony railing, my mind racing.
Looking out over the hotel, I saw monsters moving frantically below.
They’d been like that for a while now. They were huddled together, devouring something with a primal ferocity. I narrowed my eyes.
Just what were they eating…?
“Give it up already, Princess.”
Elliot’s weak voice drifted from behind me.
I turned around, leaning my back against the railing to look at him. Come to think of it, no matter how much of a tyrant he was in this camp, wouldn’t someone come looking for him if he was silent for this long?
I had taken measures to ensure the door wouldn’t open easily, but still…
I strode over to Elliot. Startled, he pressed his upper body firmly against the back of his chair.
“W-what is it?”
“Don’t be so scared. I’m not going to kill you.”
Elliot shut his mouth at my words. The current situation seemed utterly humiliating for him.
I picked him up, chair and all, and set him down on the balcony. I did the same with the other two.
The railing was right behind their backs. If they struggled and slipped, they’d fall straight down. It was the perfect setup for holding hostages.
“P-please, just spare our lives…”
“Please let us live. I beg you…”
Philip and Valen trembled as they pleaded. They had a lot of nerve, considering they were the ones who had actually shot at me, even if it was on Elliot’s orders.
“Begging for your lives won’t do you any good.”
“A-are we going into the water?”
…Why on earth would we be looking at the water here?
Watching Philip babble nonsense out of sheer terror—as if he expected me to waterboard him—I shook my head in disbelief.
It wasn’t until Elliot shot them a murderous look that they finally fell silent. It seemed Philip and Valen were still more afraid of Elliot than anything else.
Ignoring them, I carefully reviewed Elliot’s notebook again.
According to the information Elliot had let slip and the notes in the book, the first floor of the hotel contained the laundry room, lobby, and kitchen, while the second and third floors were occupied by camp members.
The fourth floor was reportedly where important supplies like food, daily necessities, and weapons were stored.
‘Of course it’s the fourth floor.’
I had planned to take some spoils back to Happy House, but the fourth floor was too far. Moving supplies all the way down to the laundry room on the first floor would be a significant hassle.
‘It’ll be hard for just Eden and me to move it all.’
With that thought, I meticulously transcribed all the information I’d gathered from Elliot and the other two men into my own notebook.
Elliot’s notebook also contained information about plants growing on the mountain behind Brunel and animals that could be hunted.
Silently scanning the notes, I showed a specific section to Philip.
“Hey, Brunel expert. Is this everything you can get from the mountain behind Brunel?”
As I spoke, I gave the leg of his chair a sharp kick as if to intimidate him. I was mimicking the way Eden interrogated criminals.
“Y-yes, yes! That’s everything!”
Seeing Philip nod with a terrified face, it seemed the tactic was working.
The Kintne survival camp had grown slightly in size—they said they’d found and brought in more survivors while scouting Kintne—and now numbered about forty people.
It seemed Elliot’s plan was to take over Brunel first, then follow the river flowing behind the mountain to conquer the southern part of the Empire.
He planned to use drugs aggressively to bring the southern Grayden under his thumb.
Especially in a world as chaotic and desperate as this, the temptation of drugs would be hard to resist. People would succumb easily.
Regardless, after hearing that the road was blocked at Westmore, Elliot had judged that the south would be easier to conquer than the north, including the capital.
‘Come to think of it, I never considered going south either.’
In truth, I had no reason to go to the south. The main stage of the novel was the capital, and all the secrets were hidden there.
‘And besides, I was planning to just stay holed up in Happy House…!’
But the moment I discovered that secret underground passage in Happy House, that plan went out the window. What can you do?
I sighed and tucked the notebook and fountain pen into my belt bag.
As I buckled the bag shut and looked up, I saw the men quickly avert their eyes as they met mine. All except one: Elliot. He glared at me intently, then smirked when our eyes met.
“Why don’t you stop stalling, Princess? I gave orders that no one was to come up here without my permission, but if there’s no word for this long, someone is bound to check.”
He was quick to notice I was stalling. At any rate, I’d gathered most of the necessary information, so my job was done. All that was left was to wait for Eden.
‘And I need to keep an eye on those monsters.’
I opened my belt bag again and pulled out the opera binoculars I always carried for scouting. When I took them out, Elliot asked, “Where on earth did you get those?”
“I picked them up.”
I answered distractedly, my eyes glued to the binoculars.
“When we explore the underground passage, we don’t know what’s beyond the path. What if we get separated by an unexpected accident?”
When we first formed the scouting team, I had discussed with Eden how to prepare for contingencies.
In other words, we had pre-assigned roles for what each of us would do if we happened to get separated.
Recalling the conversation I’d had with Eden, I scanned the monsters through the binoculars and spotted messy piles of drug powder scattered among them.
‘But it’s likely not the Badon that’s making the monsters go crazy like that.’
I suspected there was another reason, so I watched the area with patience.
Just then, a glimpse of something like greenery appeared between the torn bags. However, it was quickly snatched up into the mouth of a lunging monster.
Mysterious greenery and monsters driven mad by it.
‘Could it be…!’
Is it the Elpinus herb?
The words ‘Jeremy’s Apothecary’ and ‘Badon’ were clearly written in the notebook I’d seen earlier. And Elliot had mentioned that the Kintne scouting team was supposed to bring back a supply of Badon today.
Jeremy’s Apothecary was the name of the only herb shop in Kintne.
‘Emmy said they handled Elpinus there too.’
If so, it was possible that the scouting party had gone to Jeremy’s for Badon and brought back other herbs as well—thinking that any herb from an apothecary would be useful.
Meanwhile, the monsters seemed to have finished eating all the Elpinus herb in the bags, as they began to disperse one by one.
Soon, they started sniffing around and gathering toward the hotel entrance, following a scent.
‘Did another group with the remaining Elpinus herb enter the hotel?’
I thought of the monsters that had gone into a frenzy in front of the Stone Gate at Happy House.
I wanted to check if they had dropped any herbs in front of the hotel entrance, but I couldn’t see the entrance from here.
It was then.
Tweet— Tweet—
The sound of a whistle drifted from somewhere. It wasn’t very far away. As soon as I heard it, I couldn’t hide my smile.
‘Finally. I’ve been waiting a long time.’
“What the? What crazy bastard is blowing a whistle here? Are they trying to provoke the monsters?!”
Elliot thrashed about, his face flushed with agitation.
Tweet—
This time, the sound was right nearby. It sounded like it was right in front of the door.
“I think it came from here.”
A moment later, the sound of several men murmuring could be heard outside the door. Despite saying no one would come to the fifth floor without El’s orders, they must have been desperate because of the whistling.
Tweet—
“Damn it! Where is it coming from? Find it, quickly! The monsters will swarm us!”
A commotion broke out outside. Then, someone rattled the doorknob.
“Only this door won’t open.”
Following those words, a heavy male voice called out along with the sound of pounding on the door.
“Lord El! Are you inside?”
“What are you asking for, you idiots! Get in here and save me!”
I let Elliot scream as much as he wanted. Look at him—his true colors come out the moment he’s cornered.
Thud! Bang! Crash!
As they attempted to break down the door, the faces of Elliot, Philip, and Valen brightened.
“See, Princess? I told you you wouldn’t get away.”
Elliot smiled snidely at me.
The heavy furniture, like the chest of drawers I’d piled in front of the door, had bought some time, but it couldn’t hold forever. Eventually, the door was ripped open, and armed men burst inside.
Startled by the scene in the room, they immediately took a defensive stance and leveled their rifles at me in unison.
“Drop the axe and surrender immediately. Do so, and we will spare your lives.”
The man who appeared to be the leader of the armed group warned me.
Spare my life? As if Elliot would allow that. I’m sure the moment he’s untied, he’ll try to slit my throat.
“No matter how strong our Princess is, it’ll be hard to dodge dozens of bullets. Don’t you think?”
Elliot sneered from the side.
“Yeah. And I’ve found out everything I needed to know, so you’re useless now. My goal was just to get information out of you.”
I spoke mockingly on purpose to get under Elliot’s skin. As expected, his face contorted in rage.
I looked at Elliot, then smiled at the men pointing their guns at me.
Because behind them, a familiar man had appeared.
