After the Riot
The riot that followed the explosion of bombs by underworld organizations in the northeastern district of the kingdom quickly spiraled into chaos. The disturbance was so massive that even the Mercenary Guild at the center of the street got caught up in it. There was no hiding news like this, and it shot straight to the king of the Shardena Kingdom, Arad Ring Shardena.
“What…?! Deploy battalion-sized forces immediately!!”
As expected, upon hearing the report, King Arad gave the order without a moment’s hesitation to send in battalion-level troops stationed within the kingdom. Just in case the riot in the northeast was a diversion, he also positioned remaining forces across other districts. In the northeastern area, he selected soldiers who had been resting—excluding those guarding the palace—mobilized them at battalion strength, and even committed part of the Shardena Knight Order. It was an excessive amount of manpower for calming a single street, but Arad was determined to quell the disturbance as quickly as possible, even if it meant using this much force.
As a result, it took roughly ten minutes for all the soldiers and knights to depart. Though he had made the fastest possible decision, Arad couldn’t help but feel anxious about those ten minutes.
“Goddess… please protect the citizens of our kingdom…”
He worried that in those ten minutes, massive civilian casualties might have occurred, or that the underworld organization had already finished their business and fled. These natural fears gnawed at him, so even after the troops had left, Arad kept anxiously gulping down water to soothe his burning throat.
Contrary to those worries, however, not even three minutes after the troops had departed, a new report arrived at Arad’s office. And it was one he had never expected.
Incoming Communication from Field Commander
Beep———
“What? What do you mean… Report properly!”
“Hmm?”
The aide, who had been listening to the field commander’s report through the communication orb, raised his voice. At the sudden increase in volume, King Arad—who had been anxiously waiting—naturally turned his gaze toward him.
“Huh…? Is that true? No, how on earth…”
The aide kept letting out sounds of confusion, as if he couldn’t understand the report he was receiving. After another ten or so seconds of the report, the aide finally seemed to have heard everything. He ended the communication and turned his head toward Arad.
“Um… Your Majesty.”
“Yes, speak at once! What exactly is going on?!”
What kind of situation could possibly elicit such an expression and reaction? Arad pressed for an answer as he stepped closer to the aide. The aide, looking somewhat dazed, replied to the king’s question.
“The situation… has been completely resolved, they say.”
“What? What on earth does that mean? Who exactly resolved that riot?”
It had only been thirteen minutes since the bombs exploded and the riot began. Who could possibly have wrapped up the entire situation in just thirteen minutes? According to the previous report, there were at least several dozen organization members involved, using gunpowder in a brawl that should have been difficult to suppress. How could everything be settled in thirteen minutes?
“Did the Mercenary Guild step in?”
“No, it wasn’t the Mercenary Guild. According to them, when the guild members came out, the situation had already ended.”
“Then who the hell…!”
“Well… if what I heard is correct, it seems Sir Kael and Lady Luina… resolved the situation.”
The answer left him momentarily speechless. Perhaps because he never expected those names to come up here, Arad unconsciously asked the aide again.
“Who? Did I mishear you just now?”
“It is indeed the Sir Kael and Lady Luina that Your Majesty knows.”
“…Why are those two even in the kingdom?”
“From what I understand, they entered the kingdom this morning along with Knight Commander Zenle, who was returning on official business.”
It was truly a coincidence that felt like a prank from the gods. In other words, Kael and Luina had arrived in the kingdom that morning, the underworld organizations had caused this incident on the very same day, and by sheer chance, their paths had overlapped, allowing the situation to be resolved so easily.
At that miraculous coincidence that felt as if the goddess had granted his wish, Arad let out a deep breath he had been holding and leaned on the table.
“Haaah… It’s heavenly luck. Truly heavenly luck.”
The term “heavenly luck” fit the situation better than any other words. According to the additional details from the aide, although there were around several dozen casualties, thanks to Luina’s swift cleanup, the damage that could have reached hundreds was dramatically reduced. Moreover, Kael had captured two key figures deeply connected to the incident and handed them over to the soldiers.
Hearing the report, Arad pictured the faces of Kael and Luina that still remained vivid in his mind and broke into a warm smile.
“In that case, I should praise them for this and see their faces after so long.”
“I will immediately convey an audience time to Sir Kael and Lady Luina.”
At Arad’s words, the aide bowed, saying he would relay the message right away. As Arad nodded in approval, a sudden thought occurred to him, and he added another question.
“Now that I think about it, didn’t those two have a child?”
“Yes, I believe they adopted a daughter. Her name was probably… Elia.”
“This is a good opportunity to see their daughter as well. I wanted to see her face at the wedding, but they held it so secretly.”
“I will make sure to convey that as well.”
The aide bowed once more at Arad’s words. As the aide began sending communications through the orb to various places, Arad watched him leave and felt a long-absent surge of anticipation at the thought of seeing the two again after so long—and their child as well.
“It’s been eight years. I can finally catch up properly.”
A meeting with Kael after a full eight years. Thinking of the man to whom he owed so much over the long years, Arad returned to his seat with genuine excitement, preparing the rewards he would give them when they met soon.
Lahman, the city known as the entrance to the underworld.
It had once belonged to a noble territory, but long before the Human-Demon War, a riot instigated by someone led to the lord governing Lahman being murdered. His body was scattered across the city, turning Lahman into a lawless haven for outlaws. From that point on, countless criminals from across the continent began gathering in Lahman, and this was when the underworld first came into existence.
A place where criminals harboring malice incomparable to ordinary people gathered—the underworld. As if every evil in the world had converged there, unspeakable horrors that no human should commit took place within the city of Lahman.
The combined strength of those gathered criminals, though they were beasts in human form, was a force that could not be ignored. As a result, it became a city that no one dared touch recklessly. Anyone who did so carelessly would be swallowed by malice, leaving not even a proper corpse, their souls tormented endlessly as vengeful spirits.
Thus, even to this day, Lahman remained the chilling entrance to the underworld, where a knife could be planted in one’s throat at any moment. In one of the city’s many underground spaces, a man who had been sitting there slowly lifted his head.
──Swish.
“Ah, I see.”
A man with blue hair and dark blue eyes—anyone would call him a handsome young man—lifted his head and let out a sigh. At the sound, a woman who had been handling paperwork in the underground space approached him.
“What is it, Leader?”
The man’s identity was none other than the leader and strategist of Worst, the villain organization destined to grow uncontrollably in the future. Chain Ilyar. He looked at the woman who approached him—Neila, an executive of Worst—and spoke in a low voice.
“It seems Benjamin and Sherda have been taken out. Their mana has been sealed. The plan in the kingdom appears to have failed.”
He had emphasized caution because it was an important operation, yet it had still failed. Though his face remained calm, an unmistakable cold fury showed through Chain’s expressionless features. Seeing this, Neila swallowed dryly and bowed her head slightly as her communication orb rang at just the right moment. She took it out.
“Ah, a report has just come in regarding what you mentioned, Leader. It seems they sent one final communication before dying to the pursuing knights of the Knight Order.”
“Is that so? Fortunately, one of the observers we planted must have sent the information. Could you read the contents for me?”
“Yes. According to what is written…”
Neila lightly skipped over the beginning of the report, which was filled with screams and curses begging for their lives, and read the main body.
“The riot was carried out successfully, but two minutes after it began, Kael and Luina intervened…? The organization members were annihilated by Luina in three minutes… and the executives Benjamin and Sherda had their legs severed by Kael… before being handed over to the Knight Order… Huh?”
As she continued reading, Neila’s previously calm voice gradually turned into one of confusion. The content was simply too difficult to comprehend easily. And Chain’s reaction upon hearing Neila’s report was not much different—only slightly less pronounced.
“Ha… Why are the names of the war heroes suddenly appearing? This is hard to understand.”
“Leader, what should we do about this…”
There was no way to know why those two names had come up in this riot. Since no reason seemed adequate, the only explanation that made sense was pure coincidence. If that were truly the case, Chain thought he must have been incredibly unlucky this time. He answered Neila.
“I originally planned to go rescue Benjamin and Sherda… but now there’s no choice. We have to abandon them.”
“What? But those two have the Demon Regeneration Factor…!”
At Neila’s objection, Chain’s gaze turned toward her. It was a cold, utterly freezing stare. As if it would not tolerate any contradiction to his opinion, the expressionless look made Neila quickly shut her mouth and bow deeply.
“I-I’m sorry, Leader. I spoke out of turn…”
“…In any case, the Demon Regeneration Factor planted in them was only a prototype. Besides, without the research data I compiled, even if the kingdom notices it, they won’t be able to learn anything more. And.”
Chain paused for a moment, lost in thought. More precisely, he was thinking about a certain man he had seen during the past Human-Demon War. The image of a man who seemed like the protagonist of the world, who knew no such word as defeat and had cut down countless demons, rose and faded in Chain’s mind.
“And above all, as long as Kael is in the kingdom, even the slightest mistake could cause Worst itself to collapse. So no matter how regrettable it is, we have no choice but to give up an arm.”
We cannot offer our own necks, after all.
Having added that, Chain turned his eyes back to the newspaper he had been looking at. Or, more accurately, to the revised plans for the future.
“It looks like… things are about to get interesting.”
A challenge against a wall so high it hurt one’s neck just to look up at it. Anticipation for the path that would unfold before him brought a smile to the corner of Chain’s lips.
“We may get to see each other again sooner than expected.”