Chapter 29
Chapter 29
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 29
Chapter Title: Exposure (2)
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“Ugh, urk! Uweeeck!”
Guillaume Blackwing tried to stop vomiting, but it was no use. The black magic power kept gushing out endlessly.
The more black magic power he expelled, the more his body shriveled up bit by bit. His black hair turned stark white.
It was the backlash from the black magic being dispelled.
“Urk, urgh…….”
Guillaume Blackwing had aged in an instant. He couldn’t even stand on his own two feet and collapsed to the ground.
The training grounds fell into dead silence. Everyone was shocked. Even the Duke stood frozen.
“B-Black magic power? Black magic power?”
“A-Am I seeing this right?”
Murmurs rose from all around. Everyone’s voices trembled faintly.
“W-What do we do about this?”
“H-How should I know? T-This is the first time in my life I’ve ever dealt with black magic.”
“This isn’t the time for us to be fighting among ourselves. We need to grasp the full situation first.”
There was only one person who could explain what was happening.
As if on cue, everyone’s gazes converged on a single point.
Chelsea Goldpixie shook her head frantically in panic.
“I-I don’t know! I h-have nothing to do with it!”
Chelsea said with a panicked expression. But no one believed her.
“Father! Please believe me! This has nothing to do with me!”
When she realized her retainers wouldn’t believe her, she cried out to the Duke this time.
“Father!”
Even at his daughter’s cry, the Duke simply stood there with his mouth covered.
“……Why are the soldiers just standing there.”
At last, the Duke broke the long silence and spoke.
“Imprison Lady Chelsea in the dungeons immediately.”
At his words, the soldiers stationed around the training grounds began to move.
“Ah, Father! Hear me out! I’m innocent! I really am!”
Seeing this, Chelsea Goldpixie screamed in despair. But the Duke’s orders did not change.
“W-What are you all doing! Can’t you protect me? Block the soldiers from coming!”
Chelsea shouted at the knights who served her.
The knights drew their weapons without a moment’s hesitation and yelled.
“If you come any closer, we’ll cut you down!”
“You’ll have to get through us first if you want to take Lady Chelsea!”
The soldiers hesitated at the knights’ murderous threats.
It was well-known that the Duke’s soldiers were elite, but they couldn’t possibly stand against knights.
“Lord Gaol.”
At that moment, the Duke spoke again.
“Assist the soldiers in capturing Chelsea Goldpixie. You may kill anyone who interferes.”
“I shall obey.”
With his response, Gaol Heinrich drew his sword. The sound of blade against scabbard echoed chillingly.
At the sight, the faces of the knights protecting Chelsea paled.
A high-class knight, one of only three in the Apple Kingdom.
There was no need to explain just how powerful such a being was.
“L-Lady Chelsea! We’ll hold them off here! Lady Chelsea, escape now!”
The knights gave up any thought of facing Gaol Heinrich.
Instead, they resolved to sacrifice their lives to let Chelsea Goldpixie flee.
“Lady Chelsea! You must move now!”
“O-Okay.”
Chelsea Goldpixie tried to flee as the knights urged.
But Gaol Heinrich swung his sword first.
A blue aura sliced across the training grounds. The aura spread wide in a circle, cutting through everyone present.
“Huh?”
“Wha?”
Confusion appeared on the retainers’ faces.
The aura had clearly brushed past their bodies, yet not a single one bore any wounds.
But not everyone emerged unscathed.
“…….”
“…….”
“…….”
The knights who had tried to protect Chelsea Goldpixie froze in place.
“W-Why is everyone like this? Why is it so quiet…….”
Feeling something off, Chelsea reached out toward the knights.
But before her fingertips could touch them, blood erupted from the knights’ bodies.
Like water skins bursting, massive amounts of blood gushed out all at once.
The knights’ bodies split in half and crumpled to the ground.
“……Kyaaaaaaaak!”
Covered in blood, Chelsea Goldpixie let out a piercing scream.
As if trying to wake from a nightmare, she tore at her hair with both hands.
He had spread his aura wide to slice only those who deserved death.
The retainers and soldiers gazed at Gaol Heinrich with faces full of awe at his divine swordsmanship.
“Soldiers, what are you waiting for? Bind Chelsea Goldpixie at once.”
At the Duke’s bellow, the soldiers finally snapped to attention. They surrounded Chelsea Goldpixie.
“Ah…… Aah…… Aaack!”
Chelsea Goldpixie let out a guttural wail as she frantically scanned her surroundings. She seemed to be searching for someone to help her.
Then, Chelsea Goldpixie’s eyes widened.
“L-Lord Ernst!”
She had spotted Ernst Horowitz standing among the retainers.
“P-Please help me! I-I’m begging you!”
Conflict flickered in Ernst Horowitz’s eyes at Chelsea’s cry.
“Please!”
Ernst Horowitz’s hesitation deepened at her plea.
Gaol Heinrich addressed Ernst.
“Lord Ernst, as a mid-class knight, you have greatly contributed to the Duke’s house. His Grace still holds you in high regard.”
Gaol Heinrich’s voice was calm. But the pressure he exuded was anything but.
“If you protect Lady Chelsea, I will execute you here and now.”
Immense killing intent enveloped Ernst Horowitz. In that moment, he saw an illusion.
A stormy sea raging with tempests.
In the midst, he felt himself tossed about on weathered wooden planks.
“Ah…… Uh…… Urgh…….”
Overwhelmed by the despair and endless terror, Ernst Horowitz unwittingly dropped to his knees.
A posture of submission.
Chelsea Goldpixie’s face twisted in rage at his action.
“Lord Ernst? Lord Ernst! D-Don’t do this! Save me now! Right…… Aak! Ack!”
The soldiers grabbed Chelsea Goldpixie’s limbs and bound her.
“Ah, Father!”
Even as she was tied, Chelsea Goldpixie pleaded toward the Duke.
“P-Please listen to me! Th-Then you’ll know! You’ll know I’m innocent!”
The Duke spat a single word at her.
“Incompetent fool.”
Chelsea’s eyes widened as if they might pop out.
“Because of what you’ve done, our house nearly faced catastrophe.”
“Ah, Father…… I-I…….”
“Bringing you back was the greatest mistake of my life.”
Contempt dripped from the Duke’s words.
“N-No! That’s not true! I…….”
“I can’t bear to hear more. Soldiers, gag that thing.”
“Father! Fath…… Mmph! Mmph! Mmmph!”
The soldiers dragged Chelsea Goldpixie out of the training grounds.
Tears poured from Chelsea Goldpixie’s eyes.
At that moment, someone entered her line of sight.
Demian Haksen.
He was staring at her with a mocking sneer.
“Mmph! Mmmph! Mmph!”
Chelsea Goldpixie glared at Demian Haksen with murderous hatred.
The soldiers took her away.
Soon, Chelsea Goldpixie’s screams cut off abruptly.
* * *
“This has become a headache.”
The moment Chelsea Goldpixie vanished, the Duke sighed.
“To think we’d be entangled so deeply with black magic. If word of this gets out, the Church won’t stay silent.”
The Church’s obsession with heretics was infamous.
Even the Goldpixie Ducal House couldn’t completely rebuff the Church’s interference.
“Let’s set aside the troublesome matters for now and deal with the public first.”
With that, the Duke turned to Demian Haksen.
“Demian Haksen, what technique did you use to reduce Guillaume Blackwing to that state?”
“I’m not entirely sure myself. However, the Joy Sword I used is a technique that inflicts internal injuries. I suspect it shattered the black magic latent within Guillaume Blackwing’s body.”
The Duke’s face lit with interest at Demian’s explanation.
“A technique that inflicts internal injuries? Most unusual. Lord Gaol, didn’t you say last time you’d seen a knight using a similar technique on Demian Haksen?”
“Yes, that’s correct. But that knight only inflicted external wounds, not internal ones. Demian Haksen’s technique appears far superior.”
The Duke’s interest grew at Gaol’s praise.
“Even I, who knows little of swords, can tell it’s no ordinary swordsmanship. When did you learn such a technique?”
“I saw a knight using it once in the past and recreated it myself.”
“……You recreated a sword art like that on your own?”
The Duke asked in disbelief. Demian shrugged.
“I’m something of a genius.”
A brief silence fell. The Duke let out a short sigh.
“Having seen it with my own eyes, I have no choice but to believe.”
Demian hadn’t said it to boast.
The Duke had already completed a full investigation on him.
Fabricating some backstory about how he learned it might only invite suspicion.
Better to be seen as a genius than to arouse doubt.
Besides, strictly speaking, it wasn’t entirely a lie.
“Thanks to you, we’ve averted a massive crisis in advance. Your merit is beyond words.”
The Duke opened a subspace and retrieved a blue potion.
It was the mana crystal elixir offered as the prize for the duel’s victor.
“As promised, this is yours.”
Demian took the elixir from the Duke. It was heavier than expected.
Holding the vial in his hand made it feel vividly real.
The immense power contained within the elixir.
“This elixir is merely the duel’s reward and not compensation for this incident. So, name whatever you need.”
Demian pondered the Duke’s words.
Right now, he could demand anything from the Duke.
But having obtained the mana crystal elixir, Demian had no pressing needs.
In that case, it was better to leave it as a debt than to claim a reward now.
Debts only grew larger with time.
“This incident was mere coincidence. It’s not worth a reward.”
The Duke shook his head at Demian’s words.
“Coincidence or not, the fact remains that you saved the house.”
“As a knight of the Duke’s house, it was only my duty.”
Demian refused several times. In the end, even the Duke had to yield.
“If Lord Demian is so stubborn, I have no choice…… I’ll remember this debt separately. Whenever you need my aid, come find me.”
With that, the Duke summoned Gaol Heinrich.
“Lord Gaol Heinrich, I entrust you with command of the troops. Take the knights and soldiers and capture everyone connected to Chelsea Goldpixie.”
“Yes, Your Grace.”
“Especially the black mages who collaborated with Chelsea Goldpixie—not a single one must escape.”
Gaol Heinrich knelt on one knee at the Duke’s command.
“Retainers, hear this. You will fully cooperate with Lord Gaol Heinrich’s search. If any refuse…….”
The Duke’s eyes flashed with killing intent.
“I will deem them accomplices with Chelsea Goldpixie and eradicate their houses!”
The retainers shuddered involuntarily at the Duke’s fierce warning.