Chapter 48
Chapter 48
Chapter 48
Anomaly in the Border Region (1)
After the 3rd Prince dashed out, only Rudian and Luciella remained in the room.
Gray lingered around Rudian a few times to see if there was anything more to eat, but when his interest waned, he disappeared saying he would go get some food.
'In the original work, he was never such a character.'
Cool and full of self-love, plus a fighting dog who detested others' help, a narcissist.
But now his appearance is nothing short of a crafty old fox.
'A crafty fox at fifteen years old, that's a bit scary too.'
Nevertheless, it's certainly not bad that Gray Bellatrix is approaching with goodwill.
He was a monster of magic acknowledged by all.
Along with Crux, he was a guaranteed jackpot who would achieve protagonist-level growth, too extraordinary to be described merely as a genius.
"......"
Well, putting aside Gray who had disappeared.
Rudian looked at Luciella, who had been quietly keeping her seat from the beginning until now.
The tea she had silently emptied from when the 3rd Prince appeared until he disappeared exceeded seven cups.
"Are you alright?"
Rudian couldn't help but ask.
"Haha, how could I be?"
Luciella laughed self-mockingly.
She had now crossed an irreversible river with the 3rd Prince.
Also, having seen the rock bottom of someone who was once her fiancé, even she couldn't proceed with matters in a normal state of mind.
"He likes modest and demure women, doesn't he?"
"Lady."
"I've been known as a wild child since I was young."
An aggressive and militant personality.
In the original work, she was a commander who led the front lines in battle against the demon race, and sometimes even charged into enemy lines with a sword in hand.
"But no matter how I tried to change, my innate temperament just wouldn't budge."
Born as the eldest daughter of the House of Delphione, a renowned family of swordsmanship, she grew up shouldering the family's legacy.
She was disqualified as what's commonly called a lady, but excluding that, she was an ideal talent lacking nothing in dignity, knowledge, and skill.
Her misfortune was solely that she wasn't the type of woman the 3rd Prince desired.
Rudian muttered from the opposite side of her gaze.
"The Emperor once said, hadn't the Lady been born 10 years earlier, he would have made her the 1st Prince's consort without hesitation."
"How... Did you know that?"
Those words were what Luciella had heard from the Emperor himself.
Only fewer than five people, including the parties involved, had heard the Emperor's words at that moment.
"Why are you so surprised now? Just accept it as is."
Behind Luciella's bewildered gaze, Rudian continued.
"Clinging too much to one man also diminishes the Lady's dignity."
"......"
"Well, if you really can't bear it, you can mentally triumph by convincing yourself this happened because Sitri Belstad seduced the 3rd Prince."
At Rudian's words, Luciella responded not with anger but with a hollow laugh.
"You're a bad person. Isn't it right to offer comfort at times like this?"
"Hmm, I've realized before, I'm not very talented at comforting others."
He had felt it when consoling Maria, but Rudian wasn't particularly good at soothing others.
He was skilled at negotiating or intimidating, though.
"So sulking like this isn't like you."
"Not like me..."
"Just slap that 3rd Prince once and be done with it. That's more like you."
"Kuk! Puhub!"
Luciella finally burst into laughter.
Though her laughter still lacked strength, it was fortunate that she seemed to have regained some energy.
***
The Iskar County bordering the Kingdom of Rohans had been enjoying peace recently without any particular anomalies.
The Kingdom of Rohans had infiltrated their special cavalry unit, the Cooper, but their leader Alec Hyuma was defeated by Rudian in Baran village, and the rest were completely crushed by Kaitel and Luciella.
Afterwards, they issued an apology statement in response to a formal protest from the Morian Empire and became quiet as a mouse, but beneath the surface, they still hadn't given up on scouting the border region.
"...It's here."
In the dark night.
A man dressed as a nobleman gritted his teeth while taking in the sight of Baran village visible in the distance.
"I've finally found it, that damned Alec's trace."
The man's name was Decarabia.
He was one of the highest-ranking demons under the Demon King Iblis who controlled the Kingdom of Rohans, and was a trusted subordinate directly dispatched by Iblis to the border region after Iblis's human servant, Alec Hyuma, was defeated.
"Though there's no trace of demonic energy left... The final gathering place of the human cavalry was definitely there."
In the middle realm, the very appearance of demonic energy was so rare that once it was spread, its traces tended to remain for quite a while.
Especially since his master Iblis had said that Alec Hyuma had perished after giving his all, he thought he would find the traces quickly.
But...
"To wander for a month! That damn Alec Hyuma! What kind of person defeated you?"
However, for some reason, the traces of demonic energy that should have been found quickly were not detected at all.
Decarabia, relying solely on traces of demonic energy without gathering any other information, had wasted time stirring up the border territory in vain.
Eventually, after wandering for a long time and barely picking up fragments of information by beating the survivors of Cooper, and after wasting a month, he was finally able to pick up the only clue: Baran village.
"Whatever, if I search that place, something should turn up."
Decarabia began leisurely approaching Baran village.
Although due to the constraints of power in the middle realm, his actual strength was only slightly better than Alec Hyuma's, even so, annihilating a few villages was an easy task for him.
'Hmm, there doesn't seem to be anything unusual.'
Given that Alec Hyuma was defeated, Decarabia initially looked around the village cautiously, completely hiding his power.
'Just a bunch of low-level trash.'
The number of humans felt throughout the entire village reached nearly five hundred, but there wasn't a single knight-level warrior who had awakened to magic.
Decarabia was confident he could completely annihilate such a village without a single escapee within an hour at most.
'But there's something unsettling...'
Looking around various parts of the village, he noticed areas where damage had been clumsily repaired.
Traces of artificial destruction, not natural disasters.
'A battle definitely took place here. But...'
Decarabia muttered as if he couldn't understand.
"How can the village still be intact?"
The one who destroyed the main force of Cooper was the Sword Master of the Empire, Viscount Kaitel.
But separately, the one who killed Alec Hyuma was a completely different person.
This was a confirmed fact through investigation.
"Even if just one squad of that cavalry were deployed, a village like this would surely be reduced to ruins..."
Unlike typical demons, Decarabia could accurately measure and compare the magnitude of power possessed by humans.
Given the characteristic of demons who generally treat all below a certain level as insects unless they're considerably strong, this was a rare ability that could be called a talent.
According to Decarabia's judgment, there was definitely some backstory to why this village still maintained its form.
"If I force the strongest one here, I might learn something."
SWISH! RUSTLE!
Decarabia's figure dissolved into the darkness.
His senses calmly began moving to find the strongest being in this village.
The place where Decarabia finally arrived was...
"Huh! Who are you?"
"Hmm, is the village chief the strongest in the village?"
Until now, it was usually the oldest or the most cunning who assumed the role of village chief, but this was the first time for such a case.
"Well, it doesn't matter anyway."
"Gasp!"
Village chief Marco tried to assume a combat stance with a nearby butchering knife when the unidentified intruder appeared, but before he could even properly position himself, he was immediately subdued.
"Kuh! Kkuk!"
"Human, I have one question. I'd appreciate it if you answered obediently."
"Keuruk...!"
"What happened in this village? Was there someone who came to attack?"
"Keuruk! Keureureuk!"
"Don't want to answer? Do you want to die?"
"......"
"Oh, I see."
Decarabia realized that because he was gripping the nape of the neck, the other party was unable to respond.
"KHECK! HACK! HACK!"
"Good, now you should be able to answer properly."
The coughing Village chief looked at the opponent with an expression that said, 'What kind of bastard is this?'
But he didn't dare think of charging at the opponent.
The opponent was a skilled individual who had entered this place in the middle of the night and subdued him in an instant.
"What exactly do you want me to answer?"
"Humans are so troublesome with their dull hearing. I'll say it again, spill everything about what happened in this village recently, without omission."
Immediately, the village chief's expression hardened.
Though his attire looked like that of a nobleman, coming in the middle of the night and intimidating like this clearly indicated he wasn't from the Empire.
"Wh-what are you talking about? I don't know anything..."
"Are you taking me for a fool?!"
Decarabia's expression distorted grimly.
"KUH!"
This time, it wasn't Decarabia's hand but demonic energy that bloomed like mist, taking form and wrapping around the village chief's neck.
"It would be better to cooperate. Annihilating a mere village like this before dawn is nothing."
Decarabia, who specialized in stealth and infiltration, had a weakness in mental magic, but that deficiency was more than compensated for with torture.
POOK! POOK! POOK!
"ARGH!"
In an instant, something like round stakes burrowed into the village chief's shoulders and thighs.
Hearing the village chief's painful scream, Decarabia licked his lips and smiled with his eyes.
"We have plenty of time. Let's see how we can burn the night away."
'Oh, no!'
The village chief remembered that day clearly.
The muscular giant who was obviously an upper knight-level at a glance, and Rudian who faced that giant head-on.
Though they couldn't find the giant's corpse, Rudian survived, so the battle must have ended with Rudian's victory.
The person before him was surely sent from the Kingdom of Rohans to investigate the matter.
'I-I can't put Rudian in danger!'
Not only was there no possibility that the opponent would spare him if he confessed, but he also didn't want to harm Rudian, the village's benefactor and pride.
'Even if I die instead...!'
The village chief clenched his eyes shut.
Seeing that attitude with clear meaning, Decarabia's cheek twitched slightly.
"It seems a rougher measure is needed."
In an instant, dozens of large and small stakes formed from condensed demonic energy surrounded the village chief's entire body.
"If I'd known this would happen, I should have learned some mental magic... Well, I guess you'll confess when there are dozens of holes pierced through your body."
Feeling the eerie aura of demonic energy right beside him, the village chief realized this was the last moment of his life.
But then.
"village chief."
"...Huh?"
Decarabia sensed that someone was standing behind him.
'Wh-what?'
When he turned his gaze, a delicate woman with orange hair was watching the situation with a blank expression, having appeared out of nowhere.
Rebecca asked in a subdued voice.
"What is that?”