Kawit
"You've made a tremendous mistake."
Hernandez—now properly addressed as the king—glared at Bagan with bulging eyes. Bagan, for his part, didn't even acknowledge him. Yet someone else took keen interest in the words he'd uttered earlier while slaughtering those men.
"You said... Natalie, didn't you!"
It was Valleon, standing to the right of the criminals. Having been the one who looked after Natalie back in the count's household, his reaction was only natural.
"You know Natalie?"
Interrupting in the audience chamber without the king's permission was rather rude, but Valleon answered Bagan's question anyway. His expression turned bitter, as though the words were difficult to speak.
"She was the first slave our family ever accepted. But I couldn't disappoint young Reina, so I treated her like one of our own."
Hearing this, Bagan's fierce scowl remained fixed as he shot back, "So you were Reina's father. For your information, the one who vanished was the same for her."
"What!"
Valleon was rendered speechless by Bagan's bombshell. The heavy silence stretched on until the sound of the door opening shattered it once more.
Knock, knock, knock!
"This is Paul, acting guildmaster of Dawn's Wolf from the Seiros Kingdom Adventurer Guild Union! I request an audience with His Majesty!"
Unlike Bagan, this man knew to observe proper etiquette instead of barging in. Hernandez looked satisfied as he fulfilled his role.
"Enter!"
The moment permission was granted, Paul burst through the door in clear haste. His face, after racing all the way here, radiated the same urgency.
"What is the matter?"
The king asked the man who had practically sprinted in, now kneeling with his head bowed.
"I apologize for the abrupt visit. The reason for my intrusion is that Sir Bagan, who arrived earlier and initiated these events, is also an adventurer from Seiros. Furthermore, though these four are now dead, he and Sir Vidion eliminated the two demons they had summoned. Therefore, I humbly beg you to forgive any rudeness on his part."
Paul spoke on Bagan's behalf with impeccable etiquette and measured emphasis, clearly experienced in royal audiences. Bagan wasn't certain, but it seemed Gion had filled him in on the details and instructed him to step in during troublesome situations.
"So that's what occurred."
Hernandez was startled by the sudden revelation, staring into empty space as if weighing his thoughts. Soon, however, his gaze fell on the four corpses.
"Duke Davens, hang portions of these men's bodies before the royal castle and announce this incident publicly!"
It was a sharp, irritated command from a clearly furious Hernandez. Duke Davens, upon receiving the order, spoke as if seeking reconsideration.
"But Your Majesty! Such an act will only breed chaos."
"The kingdom is already mired in confusion. Revealing the truth is the proper course. Better to know and be unsettled than to stumble in ignorance."
Duke Davens nodded in agreement with the king's judgment and was about to affirm the command.
"I shall obey..."
"That cannot be permitted."
Bagan cut in first, refusing to allow it. Though it was the king's decree, Duke Davens found himself at a loss for words.
"Who are you to obstruct my command? I recognize that you have rendered extraordinary service in this affair. Nevertheless, this is the land of Sogg. It is the owner's prerogative to act as he sees fit! Why do you raise objections!"
His words were refined and flawless, showing respect for Bagan, yet they had no effect. Something far more important than ownership of the land was at stake.
"I have formed a contract with the Spirit King of Condemnation. I possess justification to pass judgment on those who have committed unforgivable sins. Therefore, I care nothing for whose territory this is, nor does it concern me. Moreover, the condemnation is not yet complete."
"Not complete? Are they not lying there dead, their blood gone cold!"
Bagan wore a weary expression, as if dealing with someone utterly ignorant.
"True condemnation drags forth the soul. We have no time to waste, so let's finish this quickly."
With those words, Bagan asked Sally to lend her power. The power of condemnation had indeed activated when he killed them earlier, but it hadn't burned their souls. Sally had noted that the two princes were essentially victims, yet they had still betrayed their own blood. If murder was the gravest sin, then killing one's family was an even greater abomination. What mercy could be shown to those who had come so close? Nidus and Hesse, moreover, had been the primary instigators. Their disposition required no further debate.
Whoosh!
Flames of condemnation ignited in Bagan's palm. He amplified them using spirit power and Release, then unleashed the energy. The fire roared ever fiercer. He directed the embers toward the four men, bound and slumped forward.
Crackle! Crackle!
The vigorous sound of wood burning in a bonfire filled the air as everything connected to them was purged. The blood on the floor, the ropes that had bound them, their swords, and even the armor they wore—all of it vanished as though it had never existed. Gradually the flames died down. Not even a scorch mark remained.
"Impossible!"
Hernandez could only stare in disbelief. But his astonishment ended there. Bagan had something far more pressing on his mind.
"Paul, you said Reina and Natalie were heading for the royal castle, correct?"
"I have no excuse."
Bagan had learned the news from Paul. As soon as the darkness lifted, Paul had raced straight to the castle. He'd entrusted the adventurers to the orcs of Howling Rock and moved immediately to aid Reina and Natalie. Along the way, he had encountered Bagan with Vidion. When Bagan asked the lone Paul where Natalie was, the man had replied with a helpless look that they had gone to the royal castle. Bagan had been furious. He had specifically asked the adventurer guild to look after Natalie. Yet not only had they failed to keep the group together, they had sent her into what might be the heart of enemy territory. He wanted to hold Paul accountable on the spot, but first he expanded his senses to search for her mana.
Yet Natalie's mana was nowhere in the royal castle. So he broadened his search across all of Davens. Unfortunately, he still couldn't detect her. Leaving behind a Paul who looked as if he'd committed a mortal sin, Bagan had rushed directly to the castle. As a result, he was now frantic to find Natalie. He simply could not accept that the pair said to be heading for the royal castle had vanished without a trace.
Then, as if something had occurred to him, Paul asked, "Your Majesty, if there was no soldier to open the castle gates, may I inquire how one might still reach this place?"
Hernandez pondered the question. Having no immediate answer, he considered the possibilities. But the reply came not from the king but from Duke Davens.
"I do not know why you ask, but if one did not come through the castle gate, two paths remain: scaling the walls or traveling via the underground waterway."
Since the duke had provided the response he sought, Paul nodded and continued.
"The two who disappeared are not the sort who could scale the castle walls. Therefore, only one possibility remains. They must have attempted to come through the underground waterway. If they are still lost somewhere within it...!"
Paul's reasoning stopped there. But in response to Paul's theory, Bagan said, "I already checked the entire length. I sensed nothing at all in the underground waterway."
"...Then where in the world..."
Paul clutched his hair with both hands in despair.
"One moment. Did you say you sensed nothing in the underground waterway?"
This time Hernandez picked up on the oddity in Bagan's statement and asked. Bagan nodded.
"I scanned all of Davens from the beginning and still felt nothing. My mana tracking is never wrong, so it's safe to say no one was in that waterway."
At Bagan's decisive words, Hernandez clapped his hands sharply and turned to Duke Davens.
"It's the underground prison! Elite soldiers from Davens rotate weekly to live there for constant surveillance! If you sensed nothing, the criminals must have seized the chaos to escape."
Having lived in the royal castle for years, Hernandez knew nearly everything about Davens. Hearing the king's words, Duke Davens grew grave as he recounted the prisoners' histories.
"It holds not only death row inmates but hordes of vicious criminals from the lawless zones. Regrettably, the two missing women..."
Duke Davens could not finish. The truth was simply too horrifying.
At that moment, someone murmured in a low voice to the duke, who hung his head in silence.
"One of them is my daughter."
Bagan had been about to pressure the duke with his own menacing aura, but Valleon's words made him hold back.
"However, I will not give up. Not until I see the truth with my own eyes. They are still only missing, are they not? What are you all doing? Why aren't the soldiers deployed for a search immediately!"
His desperation was such that he shouted in a room containing a marquis, a duke, and the king himself, casting noble rank aside.
"Understood. We will begin the search at once."
Duke Davens could not fathom the pain of losing a child, but if such a fate had befallen the man before him, it would be no different for himself. He immediately set about his duties.
As Duke Davens left the audience chamber, Hernandez added, "The soldiers may be unsettled by this string of events. Have them assess the overall situation as well."
"I shall obey."
With a light bow, Duke Davens departed. Bagan then asked one more question.
"King, you seem to know this city well. After exiting the underground waterway, how many locations can one reach?"
Bagan's desire to find the missing pair—no, to find Natalie—was stronger than anyone's. That was why he pressed so actively.
"Hmm. All the filth flows to one place, but one can emerge from the waterway at various points, rendering the question somewhat meaningless. If they were kidnapped rather than killed, however, there must be another motive. It would be wiser to investigate locations that fit such a purpose."
The reasonable suggestion seemed to spark an idea in Bagan. He turned without another word and strode from the audience chamber, kicking the door open without so much as a bow—as if to say he had no interest in royal etiquette.
In a secluded forest. What should have been a tranquil woodland was instead filled with a raucous group laughing and feasting on meat and drink. Some, ignoring the night's chill, had lit a bonfire and were dancing around it.
"Krr! If not for Lord Kawit, I'd have rotted away forever in that stinking prison!"
"Kyaha! I swore my loyalty to Lord Kawit the moment they threw me in that cell!"
Dancers swayed before the flickering flames, casting dizzy shadows that darted between the logs. Wine cups clashed merrily, adding to the revelry.
One name kept rising above the noise: Kawit.
The man himself lounged on a suitable log, savoring meat and wine. Unlike the others who devoured their food like savages, he had somehow procured a table and proper dishes.
A man approached him and slurred, "Lord Kawit! Where... where are we headed? Hic! Just a little farther and we'll reach the Tempo Kingdom!"
His words were thick with drink, but Kawit smiled at them.
"What crime do you suppose landed me in prison?"
"Huh? Hic! Out of nowhere? Well... murder?"
At the man's simple guess, Kawit paused mid-cut with his knife.
"Khhkh, they don't even bother with petty offenses like that."
He answered lightly, then raised the knife toward his own eye to tell his story.
"Wh-what are you doing?"
The man grew flustered by Kawit's next move.
"...This eye is cursed, you see. It lets me control anything I wish."
The knife wasn't particularly sharp, yet when he sliced beneath his eye, blood flowed more readily than expected.
Drip. Drip.
The blood ran down his cheek and into the half-drunk wine.
"You should treat that right away or you'll get sick!"
The man worried for Kawit, but Kawit simply downed the blood-mixed wine in one gulp and continued.
"I was captured for attempting to assassinate King Paheira. In the end, though, the assassination succeeded..."
As he spoke, the cut beneath his eye healed instantly, leaving only a vivid red orb.
Thud!
The man listening had grown too drunk to hear the final words. He collapsed, slamming his head onto Kawit's table.
"Hehe, not even listening."
Kawit resumed slicing his meat with the knife.