Chapter 228
Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 228
Chapter Title: The Puppet Commander
As Sienna and Milos stepped out the door, a series of screams erupted from outside the private chamber.
Loan and Werner headed to the dressing room without delay.
Werner activated a device inside the wardrobe and said,
“Going back through the corridor will take much longer than using the secret passage. The path to the castle was long, but the inside of the castle is also vast.”
The floor and wall spun around, revealing an intermediate area.
This intermediate area was a shortcut connecting the three locations.
After a quick glance at Loan's expression, Werner immediately placed his hand on the wall leading to the Grand Hall.
There was no need to check the reception room.
Just like before, the floor spun with a low whirring sound.
And as soon as they entered the new space, Loan’s eyes met someone else’s.
A woman, forced into a high-end dress that didn't fit her. The moment she saw the two of them and started to open her mouth.
Werner’s sword pierced her heart.
The woman died without a scream. She had been sitting on the toilet.
Werner said to Loan in a hushed voice,
“The secret passage to the Grand Hall is in the washroom. This is a space only for Her Grace’s use, how dare she…”
Though it was for the Duchess's exclusive use, the space was quite large.
The dead woman was a member of Ferver. It seemed she had stolen and worn the Duchess's clothes.
Loan checked the area outside the washroom.
It looked like a corridor, and a few people were passing by. Their movements weren't urgent. Their mana was also ordinary.
Werner, who had his ear to the door, seemed to have sensed a similar presence.
-From now on, I will use mental messages. I'm not as skilled as you, Lord Loan, but it should be fine at close range with just the two of us.
-Yes.
-I don't know the identities of those passing by outside, but there is an inner corridor that circles the Grand Hall. Usually, servants or royal guards use it.
-Should we break through immediately?
Werner shook his head at Loan’s question.
-I want to secure Her Grace's safety first. It will take time for Lady Sienna to reach the corridor, so let's approach as stealthily as possible.
He understood the sentiment.
Having come this far so cautiously, they couldn't afford to mess it up now.
But they couldn't hide forever either.
Loan chose the right moment to open the door and pull the passersby inside one by one.
Though they wore servant caps, they were not ordinary citizens of Versa. A single look at their filthy skin and clothes told him they were members of Ferver.
They were dressed in multiple layers of nobles' clothing, with several scarves and mufflers wrapped around their necks. They had even added accessories, trying to look fancy.
After silently dispatching them, Loan and Werner took their clothes and blended into the crowd of passersby.
Everyone looked similar, so they didn't stand out. Wrapping the mufflers a bit higher to cover their mouths made it difficult to recognize each other even when looking directly.
As they stood there blankly, a voice hurried them along.
“Hey, you two, move it.”
The people acting as servants were divided into two groups.
Those dragging corpses out of the Grand Hall, and those entering empty-handed.
Loan and Werner discreetly followed the empty-handed group.
And the moment they stepped into the Grand Hall.
Loan let out a silent gasp.
The Grand Hall was as vast and magnificent as its name suggested, but it wasn't just its scale that surprised Loan.
He was horrified to see that a large portion of the hall was filled with prisoners.
People who worked or lived in Versa Castle, or who appeared to be citizens from within the castle walls, were hanging upside down near the center of the Grand Hall.
Their numbers were so great they couldn't be estimated at a glance.
Each of them had a large number written on their chest, and all had signs of bleeding from their ears.
Ropes were tied around their ankles, and judging by how their heads were at the knee-level of the people passing by, they were hanging quite low.
To reach the Duchess's dais at the end of the Grand Hall, one had to pass through this cluster of prisoners.
It was, in itself, a formidable barrier.
Loan and Werner pretended to check the prisoners' condition as they moved as close as possible to the dais.
A place that could only be reached by climbing a high set of stairs.
Three chairs were placed there.
In the center, on the most magnificent chair, sat a woman who appeared to be the Duchess of Versa. To her right was a young prince. To her left sat an old man, and standing close beside him was a familiar face.
Loan and Werner moved close enough to clearly hear their voices.
The old man was speaking.
“Your Grace. It seems the intruders in the castle walls are the traitors, just as expected. It appears the report was true.”
“…”
“Who would have ever imagined it? That Werner would try to harm Your Grace and the young prince to seize this position.”
“…”
“If Commissioner Claude hadn't escaped from the jaws of death to warn us, we would have been in grave danger, truly.”
The old man turned his head from the Duchess to look at the man standing beside him.
“Don't mention it. Who could have known that man, Werner, would conspire with the Albre family to plot such a wicked deed? And with the Union, no less.”
“It is a shocking affair. The Union, leading the charge in usurping another nation's power. I know it must be hard to believe, but you must remain strong at times like these, Your Grace.”
The two were talking one-sidedly, and the content was sickening to hear.
The one referred to as Commissioner Claude was indeed the demon Marbas. He stood beside the old man, wearing his usual sly expression.
It seemed that after the fiend had fled, he had fabricated a story that Werner was attempting a rebellion.
It was an absurd accusation. In reality, Werner was more worried about the safety of the Duchess and the young prince than anyone.
That was why he had braved the danger to return.
Loan glanced at Werner.
His eyes were a mixture of complex emotions. Joy and anger were contained within them.
Though she hadn't responded, it was likely because he had confirmed with his own eyes that the Duchess was alive.
Loan sent a mental message to Werner.
-Fortunately, they both seem to be alright. Though I don't know if they've been brainwashed. But who is that old man beside them?
-The Scribe.
As he said this, the veins on Werner's forehead bulged prominently.
A man holding a high position was framing him and spewing nonsense as if to brainwash the Duchess; it was only natural for him to be enraged.
Loan furrowed his brow.
-For a Scribe, his magic power seems excessively strong.
-Is that so? That's strange. He's an old man who can barely lift a book.
-It's either someone like Claude or another person impersonating the Scribe.
Loan wondered if the man called the Scribe might be Kaid, the leader of Ferver.
Just then, a situation unfolded that might confirm his suspicion.
*CRASH?!*
Someone burst into the Grand Hall, shouting.
“Something must have happened to Commander Ramoro! The Union members are heading this way now!”
His face was obscured by the prisoners, but it was a very urgent report.
Marbas asked back in surprise.
“What, how! The moat is impassable, and the castle gates were never opened. Did they fly in through the sky?”
“If it's the Union, they must have used some method. Who knows. Maybe there's a secret passage here that we don't know about.”
Unlike the extremely flustered Marbas, the Scribe's voice was quite calm.
In fact, he even sounded a little pleased.
“If Ramoro was taken down, it won't be long for this place either.”
“That fiend named Loan is surely with them.”
The Scribe nodded at Marbas's words.
“Ah… the one who cornered you. But don't think about getting revenge. I hear he's quite intelligent. I'm interested, so leave him to me.”
“Understood.”
“Hmm… the Union…”
The Scribe gestured with his finger in Loan’s direction.
Loan and Werner felt a jolt, but it was someone else who responded to the Scribe's gesture.
A man who had also been watching the prisoners quickly approached the foot of the dais.
“Bring number 47. He should be quite ripe by now.”
The man who received the order then gestured, this time directly at Loan and Werner.
“You two. Go get him.”
It must have meant to bring prisoner number 47.
Loan and Werner went among the prisoners, searching for the one with that number.
As he did, Loan detected a very familiar mana signature a short distance ahead.
The closer he got, the more certain he was of who it was.
But he hadn't known he would have the number 47.
-Commander Vanjalis!
Loan’s mental message reached the welcome figure’s mind.
But Vanjalis, hanging upside down, showed no reaction.
Loan bent his knees, moved closer to the man's swollen face, and breathed the words directly into his ear.
“Commander. It’s Loan.”
He had to whisper softly, so there were limits, but even so, it was strange for an Expert of the Union, a peerless master, to be so unresponsive.
And then, Loan suddenly noticed something else strange.
He hadn't noticed it at a glance, but when he looked from a different angle, he saw something inside Vanjalis's ear.
‘What is this?’
Black mana was stuck fast to the area around his eardrum.
He checked the other prisoners and found they were all the same. The blood that had flowed from their ears was from that thing entering them.
Loan called out to Vanjalis with a mental message one more time, and when there was no response, he placed his palm over the man's ear.
He generated Convection between his palm and the ear, then fine-tuned the Convection in the Lazarus style.
Like threads of microfiber, the Convection flowed into Vanjalis’s ear and began to probe the area around the black mana adhered to the inner wall of his ear.
Each thread of Convection had to affect the contacted surface as if causing a qualitative change in the mana, requiring immense concentration.
And time.
“Hey! What are you doing!”
A voice hurrying Loan and Werner came from beyond the prisoners.
Werner pushed the hanging prisoners aside to create movement within the crowd and quickly replied.
“Ah, yes, yes! We found him. We found him.”
It seemed they couldn't stall any longer.
Just as Werner placed a hand on Loan’s shoulder to signal the situation.
Loan’s hand slowly moved away from Vanjalis’s ear.
A moment later, something wriggling was pulled out from inside the ear.
It looked like a black caterpillar.
A truly repulsive sight.
‘Does this bug control those it enters?’
After a moment of thought, Loan levitated the creature in the air and crushed it with the pressure of Convection.
Then he called to Vanjalis again, but.
“…”
Even with the bug removed, he didn't respond.
Looking at his condition, the black mana emitted from the bug remained, staining the inside of his ear and his entire head.
But he couldn't purify areas the mana couldn't reach, and he couldn't stall any longer.
Loan cut the rope tied to Vanjalis's ankle, just as the other servants had done.
As he and Werner carried him out from among the prisoners, the servant who had given the order reprimanded them with an impatient look.
“So slow! Bring him here, now!”
When they brought Vanjalis near the dais and set him on the floor, the servant untied his bonds.
Loan and Werner positioned themselves to the side of the dais, observing the enemies, but no one paid them any mind.
Finally, the Scribe spoke.
“Arise. My servant.”
As soon as the words were spoken, Vanjalis’s eyes snapped open.
He then stood up and faced the Scribe.
It was difficult to find any emotion in his eyes or expression.
The fiends had now devised a method of controlling their targets by inserting bugs directly into their heads.
The Scribe’s words continued.
“The Union is coming here to harm me. Teach those who might have once been your subordinates the meaning of their foolishness.”
Just then, familiar halos of light were seen entering the Grand Hall.
After instantly felling those who stood in their way, they paused for a moment upon seeing the prisoners.
But they soon moved swiftly through the gaps and revealed themselves in a spot where the dais was visible.
Vanjalis slowly turned his body toward them.
“Commander?”
“Commander!”
Yorgos and Milos shouted at the same time.
Vanjalis brought both hands to his chest.