Chapter 19
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 19
Chapter Title: Baby Fenrir
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After the sudden interruption of the hunting festival and the Fenrir's appearance, the incident was transferred to the imperial palace.
The Emperor, who had only intended to attend the opening and closing ceremonies of the hunting festival, couldn't hide his bewilderment at the abruptly delivered news.
Not only had a mythical beast called a Fenrir suddenly appeared in the forest managed by the imperial family for hundreds of years, but demonic energy-enhanced monsters had also emerged, injuring numerous participants.
Some had even come close to death.
Like being struck out of nowhere while standing still, the Emperor quickly began taking measures.
He dispatched an investigation team of mages to the site and assigned priests to the seriously injured nobles to ensure complete healing without scars, including holy water.
And he summoned all the individuals essentially at the center of the incident to the imperial palace.
"So, Marquis, is that little wolf the legendary Fenrir we've only heard about in stories?"
...
"...That's—"
"Nng... kiiing... hek, hek..."
Lick—
The puppy-sized baby wolf nestled in Yujin's arms licked his cheek.
"..."
"Hrm. It seems you'll have to raise that Fenrir, Marquis. Congratulations."
"...Yes, Your Majesty."
His cheek became slick in an instant.
...It had been years since such humiliation, not since childhood.
Back then, maids had once doused his head with water. It was truly mortifying.
Now, those maids had all been punished and thrown in prison. Yujin had dealt with them the moment he seized control of the family.
Thus, this baby wolf—no, baby Fenrir—that had gifted him this not-quite-humiliation was gazing up at Yujin with its characteristic sparkling blue eyes.
Hm.
It was cute.
...Was this why everyone raised dogs?
"Hehe. It's quite adorable."
"Indeed."
"It looks very cute to me as well."
Lucia, Irene, and the Emperor, watching it, all wore pleased smiles.
Yujin, however, couldn't hide his astonishment.
...Cute is cute, but.
Why was everyone so nonchalant about a Fenrir in his arms in the imperial palace...?
Could a magical beast normally enter the palace? Yujin racked his brain, but no matter how he thought about it, no magical beast had ever entered the imperial palace in imperial history.
Hm.
...
Congratulations, baby Fenrir.
You're the first magical beast to set foot in the palace alive. You might even go down in history as the only one to meet the Emperor and survive.
You've made your mark in history in more ways than one.
Did this baby Fenrir, now gazing up at Yujin alone with bright, sparkling eyes, even know that? Yujin suppressed a sigh.
He was holding back because his boss was present. For real.
"Nng!"
...You know?
"Kiiing!"
...I see.
Then do you also know that I'm the one who killed your mother?
"Nng nng!"
...You know?
You know, yet you're still snuggled up in my arms?
...Does that make sense?
"Nng! Hek hek..."
...I can't understand it.
As he silently conversed with the Fenrir through their eyes, Lucia interjected.
"Pfft, Yujin. Were you just communicating with that Fenrir through eye contact?"
"...Yeah, something like that."
Lucia called Yujin by name even in the Emperor's presence. Yujin, meanwhile, was watching the Emperor's reaction and using formal speech.
"Hoo... Marquis. It seems you and my daughter have grown quite close."
The Emperor chuckled as if it were a good thing. At that moment, Irene, who had been silently staring only at Yujin without reacting to the Emperor's gaze, caught his attention.
"The Lady Arkabella as well?"
Irene's and the Emperor's eyes met briefly.
"Yes, Your Majesty."
A strange silence suddenly hung in the air.
A prospective father-in-law positioning his daughter next to the prospective son-in-law, and another family's child eyeing that same prospective son-in-law.
"..."
"..."
"..."
Just as a suffocating battle of glares was about to begin, the Emperor spoke.
"Marquis, let's discuss your connections to my daughter and the Lady Arkabella another time. That's not the priority now."
As the Emperor shifted to serious matters, he made a proposal—or rather, an announcement.
The atmosphere grew heavy in an instant.
This was where it really began.
They needed to determine the cause of this incident: whether it was mere negligence in management or something done with clear intent by someone.
Yujin instinctively realized that how the imperial family and empire responded to this event hinged on this conversation.
"Where should we start..."
The Emperor murmured quietly.
Soon, his red eyes, so like Lucia's, turned to Yujin.
"First, allow me to express my gratitude to you, Marquis. Thanks to you immediately hunting the Fenrir on-site, there were no fatalities. I formally thank you for saving the nobles who participated there—and the Crown Prince's life."
"You overpraise me, Your Majesty."
Yujin bowed his head.
To him, it was only natural.
He could kill the Fenrir, so he did. That was his honest sentiment. Of course, political calculations were involved as well.
As the Crown Prince was imperial family, he had a duty as an imperial subject to save him.
"The Crown Prince and the leader of the noble faction, Grand Duke Calderon, are resting in the palace. They suffered some broken bones from the Fenrir, but no other damage."
"That's fortunate."
Of course, it wasn't his true feeling.
He had hoped for worse injuries, actually. Especially for the Crown Prince—losing something precious would have been ideal.
'Then we could have easily replaced him under the pretext of inability to produce an heir... What a shame.'
As the male lead of a romance fantasy, he had good luck, it seemed.
Unfortunately so.
"I immediately dispatched an investigation team of mages. They will investigate the cause of this incident. And we must uncover why demonic energy was detected in the Fenrir and the other beasts... Do you have any leads?"
The Emperor wasn't asking only Yujin.
The question was also directed at the high-ranking mage who had been with him, as well as Lucia and Irene.
"...Cultists, perhaps, Your Majesty?"
After a moment of silence, Irene spoke.
"Cultists... That's the only possibility I can think of as well."
Cultists.
Long ago, demons had descended upon this continent.
Humanity fiercely resisted and fought against the demons who sought to kill and rule them. The war lasted decades, nearly a century.
And the victors were, naturally, humanity.
The main forces of victory included superhumans like Sword Masters and Archmages, as well as the Church wielding divine power.
Afterward, the demons returned to the demon realm and vanished completely... but the madmen who worshipped and welcomed those demons were the cultists.
More precisely, the group called Pandemonium.
"The key question is why Pandemonium got involved here..."
The Emperor rubbed his eyes.
"No way to know the reason."
His gaze fell on the baby Fenrir sleeping in Yujin's arms.
"We can infer it was because of the Fenrir, but that leads to why the Fenrir was in the forest in the first place—a rabbit hole."
"..."
"..."
"..."
Yujin, Lucia, and Irene all fell silent.
There was nothing particular to say. As everyone was about to sink into thought, Irene spoke up.
"Your Majesty. Regardless of why the Fenrir was there, couldn't we assume Pandemonium was aiming for chaos in the empire?"
"...I agree with Irene, Your Majesty."
Lucia backed her up.
"We don't know their true goal, but their primary aim could be seen as sowing disorder in the empire? After all, Pandemonium is a group bent on overthrowing humanity and summoning demons."
That was right.
Pandemonium was a gathering of demon worshippers.
As such, they were lunatics united to summon demons and create a new world order, viewing the empire and all continental nations as targets for elimination.
Especially the Holy Kingdom.
As the cradle of faith, it was a symbol of hatred for demon worshippers.
"...Sigh."
The Emperor sighed.
"The Princess and Lady Arkabella are correct. With only fragmentary information, we have no choice but to go with that line of reasoning."
This incident was utterly unexpected.
Who would have thought such a problem would erupt in a place managed by the imperial family for centuries?
"The noble faction, led by Grand Duke Calderon, must be thrilled. This can be seen as imperial negligence..."
"Tch. What a hassle."
The Emperor clicked his tongue at Lucia's words.
His head was already throbbing. He had enough headaches from his foolish heir, and now the noble faction would rampage too.
"The Holy Kingdom might even try to intervene."
The Holy Kingdom...
Possibly.
Pandemonium terrified them the most, so they might force their way in.
Would the Cardinal of the Capital Diocese move? Or would someone come directly from the Holy Kingdom?
The conversation continued a bit longer, and the Emperor decided to end the meeting.
The involved parties—Yujin's group—didn't know much more anyway.
As everyone prepared to rise, Yujin, who had been silent throughout, finally spoke.
"...Your Majesty."
All eyes focused on his sudden remark.
"In fact, I sensed another person's mana from the Fenrir."
"...Hm?"
The Emperor, Lucia, and Irene's expressions turned puzzled. Undeterred, he continued.
"It was so faint that even my senses barely caught it, but distinctly mixed with the demonic energy was someone else's mana in the Fenrir."
The Emperor's eyes grew cold at his words. He trusted Yujin wouldn't lie.
"...Do you know whose mana it was?"
"I've sensed it before, so I have a guess."
The Emperor, Lucia, and Irene all fixed their gazes on Yujin's lips.
And
"The owner of the mana was—"
"...!!!!!"