The Southern Noble Meeting - 2: The Monster's Revelation
The training grounds, normally reserved for the knights' drills, had been prepared for the occasion. At its center stood a massive iron cage, and inside it was a single dog. Surrounding the cage, fully armed knights waited in heavy armor, ready for any contingency.
“Experimenting on animals?” The faint note of disappointment in Count Tot’s voice—was that just my imagination?
Even death row prisoners couldn’t be used for human experimentation. The mere fact that it had been done once already created problems. No matter how minor the issue might be, I couldn’t allow them to find fault with me over something like this. After all, justification was like a ring—you could hang it on a nose or an ear depending on how you spun it.
I shrugged at his words.
“For the record, the experiments themselves were conducted exactly twice.”
“Only twice? That seems far too few.”
“The quantity of the substance itself is limited. Once this test is complete, only a trace amount will remain. I’ve decided to send what’s left to the capital.”
Count Tot’s eyebrows twitched at that.
“Is there any need to send it to the capital, Lord Muller?”
A drug that could shift the entire tide of war. A substance that created monsters capable of nullifying magic. Perhaps one that could even grant magical power to those born without it. And possibly—maybe even increase the magic reserves of those who already possessed it. I could understand his reluctance to hand something with such potential over to the capital.
But.
“There is no place more reliable than the capital.”
“Hmm.”
The reason I was handing it over was simple: the capital wanted it, and I had no reason to refuse. More importantly, the only place with the proper foundation to research this substance was the capital. Neither Count Tot’s house nor any of the other families had anything comparable. Among all the research facilities of this kind, none could produce results as reliably as those in the capital with its superior equipment. Both Franz and Muller were still at a rudimentary stage—simply researching the concepts I had provided was already stretching their capabilities. Other territories were likely at a similar level. If anywhere came close, it would be Grand Duke Kroches… but the Gran region had no connection to me at all. I couldn’t entrust something like this to a place where neither trust nor credibility had been established.
And above all else—
“The amount of the substance we acquired to begin with was small. Even if I send it now, I cannot guarantee any meaningful results will emerge.”
I wasn’t sure how competent this world’s scholars truly were, but the volume itself was limited. Roughly half of that small quantity had already been used in testing. Even if it reached the capital’s laboratories, I doubted it would be enough for proper experimentation and analysis.
That was why I was sending it. In the end, the nobles and royalty needed to witness it with their own eyes to truly grasp the gravity of the situation.
“Hmm. Are you certain?”
I chuckled at Grand Duke Kroches’ seemingly casual remark.
“Haha. Would you believe me if I said I wasn’t?”
“Fair enough. Haha.”
You could never take a noble’s words at one hundred percent face value. Right now, they were likely doubting whether the information in the documents I had explained and distributed was accurate. That was precisely why I was showing them the monster in the flesh—to make it real.
“Right then. Let’s begin.”
At my gesture, one of the knights stepped forward.
“Whine… yelp! Kiiing!”
Sensing the unease, the dog began to whimper and pace restlessly inside the cage. The knight beside it bound the animal’s movements with magic power and forced its mouth open.
“Kiiing!”
While the dog was held in place by the knight’s magic, another knight carefully administered the substance into its gaping maw.
“As noted in the documents, the drug is effective on animals as well.”
Following my explanation, the dog inside the cage suddenly collapsed with a thud and began to twitch violently.
“The time required for transformation into a monster ranges from approximately one to two minutes. The animals tested were dogs, pigs, and cows. There were slight variations among them, but the maximum time was two minutes—with the pig.”
Twitch… twitch…!
Once the time I mentioned had passed, the dog began to convulse and slowly swell. Yet its size only grew to that of a large breed at most.
“As you can see, it did not exceed the size of a dog, though it does become larger than its original frame. When administered to pigs or cows, they similarly grew somewhat larger than their natural forms.”
It twitched and warped into a grotesque mass of flesh. The sight was not much different from what I had witnessed before.
“There are differences in size, as you see now, but they all transform into these flesh-like lumps. And as you can observe, fragments of the original organs remain scattered between the masses. We have not yet identified any common traits among the remaining organs.”
Though swollen like a lump of meat, the creature still sprouted the dog’s claws and nails. Patches of its original fur remained visible, along with traces of a tail.
“The magic-nullifying property shows subtle variations depending on the animal, but the effects are largely similar. It was strongest when the base subject was the first human I observed. The precise details are recorded in the documents distributed earlier.”
The knights were currently emitting their magic power to demonstrate the nullifying effect. Sounds of admiration rose from the nobles who were witnessing the phenomenon firsthand.
And then—
“Can you feel it?”
I turned away from the monster and looked at the nobles. Grand Duke Kroches had stiffened. So had Marquis Greenuch, Count Tot, and Alina Earthrain. Even the foolish toad Count Voltron. Baron Larsen, who had been wearing a displeased expression, was no exception. Every noble present had gone rigid.
“You must all be entertaining various thoughts after hearing the news I delivered. Exaggerated rumors, useful tools, new weapons of war.”
Thud!
While the twitching mass of flesh rampaged against the iron bars in an attempt to break free, an unpleasant magical energy radiated from it—an artificial, repulsive power.
“Behold. That is our enemy.”
The grotesque monster slowly lifted its malformed body upright.
It died. Not because I had ordered it killed. As time passed, it gradually lost strength, began to gasp, and eventually expired. It possessed enough endurance for a single battle, but the duration was far too short to be practical in war. We still didn’t know how much of the substance could be produced, but dragging around large numbers of animals simply didn’t make economic sense. Using formed groups of animals as sacrificial attackers would cause some damage, but they wouldn’t pose a significant threat.
Using humans, on the other hand, raised even greater concerns. The tactic of sacrificing people in every conflict made it impossible to predict the death toll, and securing that many willing—or unwilling—subjects would be nearly impossible.
The report my subordinates and I had compiled, combined with the nobles’ direct experience of the monster moments earlier, led to a rather serious subsequent meeting. They seemed to understand that this was not something to be taken lightly. When examining the drug’s performance, side effects, and other data, it did not yet constitute a major threat. However, the fact that Purple had openly deployed it was the real problem.
They would begin to move soon. That conclusion had been reached.
The issue was what would come afterward.
“Hmph. At most it’s just Red Blood. You’re all reacting far too sensitively to their movements. And with monsters of merely that level? Our territory’s knights could clean them up without difficulty.”
Count Voltron’s reaction mirrored that of the late Marquis Kilias. Despite the presence of magic users among the commoner Red Blood faction, he criticized us for being overly frightened of mere resistance fighters, essentially calling us cowards.
“It looks like things will become quite entertaining from now on. Wouldn’t you agree?”
Count Tot and Grand Duke Kroches offered only smiles, revealing nothing of their inner thoughts. They fully understood the seriousness of the situation yet appeared to view it as an opportunity. I would need to keep a close eye on their future movements. It seemed certain they would act before this chaos subsided.
And then there was Marquis Greenuch, who had come from the capital.
“Here is your tea.”
“Thank you, Lord Muller.”
“Hehe. Please speak comfortably. You’re my grandfather’s acquaintance, and this is a private setting, is it not?”
“Acquaintance… In that man’s case, it seemed every noble around him was an enemy. Still, if you say it’s acceptable, then I shall do so.”
Marquis Greenuch smiled bitterly and lifted his cup.
“Hoo… My body finally feels at ease.”
“Haha. The meeting did drag on for quite a while.”
“No, it’s not that. Lately my body doesn’t feel like it used to. I really ought to retire.”
Retire. The marquis’s words brought his circumstances to mind. Marquis Greenuch had no children. There were not a few nobles in similar situations.
“The family bloodline…”
When I trailed off, the marquis let out a soft chuckle.
“It can’t be helped. I’ve already given up on that. I only feel sorry for my wife.”
His smile seemed genuinely at peace.
“Enough about my personal matters. Let’s discuss business.”
“As you wish.”
Marquis Greenuch closed his eyes for a moment, then regarded me steadily.
“The capital—more precisely, the palace—wishes to use you as the sword of the south.”
“Hahaha.”
How little must they think of me to utter such words? At my laughter, Marquis Greenuch shook his head as well.
“Truly… peace has lasted far too long.”
“Exactly as you say. I know nothing of war myself, but this has crossed the line. Does the capital wish to wage war against the south?”
“More accurately, they wish to keep Count Tot in check. Franz has had poor relations with them from the beginning, but without proper justification they will not act first. Boreng maintains friendly ties with both the south and the capital, however—”
“Count Tot is different?”
A laugh escaped me. In other words, they wanted Muller—in the southwest—to act as a check against Count Tot in the southernmost region.
“Why are you telling me this so honestly?”
“Because I don’t believe such tactics would work on you. With this recent incident as well, they seem to have concluded that you bowed your head to the palace merely for a title. But that is not how I see it.”
Marquis Greenuch looked directly into my eyes.
“Are you planning to start a war, Lord Muller?”
I smiled.
“Since they have bared their fangs at me, I will not stop until I have uprooted them completely, Marquis Greenuch.”