STM 187

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁣⁣⁣⁠⁣⁣⁠⁠⁣⁠⁠⁠⁠⁣⁣⁣⁣⁠⁠⁣⁠⁣⁣ ⁣⁠⁣⁣⁠⁠⁠⁠⁣⁠⁣⁠⁠⁣⁠⁣⁠⁣⁠⁣⁣⁣⁠⁣⁣⁣⁠⁠⁣⁣⁣⁠‘Squeeeek!’

With a blood-curdling scream ringing in his head, the monster before him lunged at Tairok. The distance was so close that it looked like Tairok’s body would be instantly torn in two by its sharp claws.

But in the blink of an eye, Tairok jumped into the air, dodging the attack. As he swung his hand, moisture from the air gathered at his fingertips and transformed into a water arrow.

Whoosh!

Accompanied by a gust of wind, the water arrow pierced the monster’s body. But perhaps its core remained intact, for the monster, despite the hole in its body, charged at Tairok once more.

Then, a barrage of water arrows rained down on the monster. In an instant, the monster turned into something reminiscent of a leaf skeleton, and staggered to the ground.

Thud.

The sound of the monster falling echoed, but Tairok, unconcerned with the outcome, slowly looked around. He had been focused on eliminating the monsters heading toward the castle, but he couldn’t keep doing that forever. As long as the rift remained open, monsters would keep swarming.

He had to seal the rift where they were emerging. But where is it? Fortunately, there was a clue. There was a word Hoiga had said just before he was about to reveal what he knew while imprisoned. Volcano.

Tairok recalled that one of Montaine’s ancient legends was related to a sudden eruption of lava. The location wasn’t exact, but that was fine. He had a very clear direction to follow. Tairok began running toward the direction the monsters were coming from.

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The portal set up in Montaine Castle was designed for surprise attacks, so even if the passage opened, it would only remain open for a short time. In other words, only a small number of people could pass through. Furthermore, I had been told that after returning from the surprise attack, the artifact within the portal would shatter to prevent the enemies from using it.

As expected, when I returned to the warehouse, the gem inside the artifact was cracked in half. Since I’d just gone and smashed the castle gate out of meddling, I had to get to a safe place quickly.

But even though I’d run until I was gasping for breath, I couldn’t bring myself to reach out. I only had one chance to return. What about Tairok, who wasn’t here? What about the trapped divine beast?

“Um, is there a problem…?”

I turned my head at Nuchir’s worried voice. Behind me were four people. Two of them were patients. Hoiga, who was unconscious despite first aid, and the neighbor’s son, who had barely regained consciousness but couldn’t speak properly.

I had ended up bringing the mother and son along because treating him on the spur of the moment had led to a connection. The son had vomited up the worms, and fortunately his condition had improved noticeably, but he still couldn’t walk properly. Moving with two sick people wasn’t easy.

Yet, in their attempt to flee from the monsters, everyone had trusted me alone and followed me. That was why Nuchir, who was now carrying Hoiga on his back, and the mother supporting her son were both looking at me with desperate eyes.

“No.”

I shook my head, but Nuchir, as if he could read my mind, asked cautiously.

“Shouldn’t we wait for the rest of the group before we go?”

“No. If we do that, we’ll be late…”

“Ugh.”

I heard a groan then the neighbor’s son collapsed to the ground. Even though we’d gotten rid of the worms that had been tormenting him, he’d just woken up after lying down for a long time, so walking was too much for him.

“I’m, I’m sorry.”

He quickly apologized and struggled to get back up. Right, I needed to open the portal quickly and send them to a safe place. Just as I was about to turn away, I heard Nuchir’s regretful muttering.

“If he was a guard of Grand Duke Montaine, he must have been a pretty skilled knight. How did he end up falling victim to black magic?”

Huh? The Grand Duke’s guard? Just in case, I asked the neighbor’s son.

“Was Grand Duke Montaine the one who made you eat those horrible worms ?”

He flinched. The son shook his head slightly with a pale face. It was a disappointing answer, but the fear in his eyes led me to another conclusion.

“Or maybe Grand Duke Montaine didn’t feed it to you himself, but she gave the order?”

“H-how did you…?”

As soon as I heard his answer, it felt like a bolt of lightning had struck my mind. What if this man knew something important?

“The Grand Duke must have had a reason for making you eat it. What did you see? Grand Duke Montaine’s secret?”

He shook his head again.

“No. I don’t know why I was captured and made to eat that either.”

I knelt down in front of him and placed my hand on his shoulder.

“No, you do know. Where did you go before you were captured? Try to remember what you did. You must have gone somewhere you don’t usually go, or done something you don’t normally do.”

His eyes widened in confusion, but I couldn’t give him time to think calmly.

“Or did you mention anything related to the Grand Duke to anyone? Since you can’t remember, it must not have been anything significant. But you were definitely taken away right after you said it.”

This time, it worked. His eyes widened for a moment, then he hesitated before speaking.

“The Grand Duke often rests in the lounge connected to her office. She came out of there that day too… I happened to notice something inside the door and mentioned it to the butler.”

“What was it?”

He hesitated again. It wasn’t because he couldn’t remember; it seemed he wasn’t sure if this was really the reason he had to suffer.

“It might be because of something trivial. What did you see?”

“There’s a large painting hanging on the lounge wall depicting a river of fire flowing around Montaine Castle. But part of the painting looked black… so I told the butler that there might be a stain on it. That evening, the butler confirmed that the painting was fine. That’s all. I’m sorry.”

He apologized, perhaps because of my stern expression. He probably assumed it was indeed nothing to worry about, but I was barely holding back the urge to shout with joy.

The black stain he saw might have been a trace of a disappearing portal. After all, Grand Duke Montaine would have needed a secret location to learn black magic.

It was highly likely that she had set up the entrance to that place in a private space she frequently used. And if it was such a secret place… she might have kept someone important there as well. Like Bilge, for instance.

“Let me just confirm one thing. Has Grand Duke Montaine often gone into the lounge to rest and not come out for a long time?”

“I’m not sure about that. But she did often stay up all night in her office.”

“Huh.”

I couldn’t help but laugh before standing up. Then, without hesitation, I opened the portal.

Crack.

With the sound of the gem inside the artifact shattering, the space swirled and the passageway opened. I quickly ushered the others inside first, then shouted toward the black ripples of the portal.

“Haas!!”

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Enya had always thought Haas asked too many ridiculous questions. He would ask the same thing over and over until she got annoyed. That was why a little scolding and swearing were essential when working with him.

She had to do it now, too. In this situation, where Haas was asking the same question for the umpteenth time. But every time the question came up, Enya just looked at the one person who could answer it. Because it really didn’t make any sense.

“You’re saying Grand Duke Montaine is a real dark mage?”

Haas’s whisper echoed through the dark, narrow secret passage. Even though there was no one around, they were infiltrating Montaine Castle, enemy territory, so they had to be careful not to even breathe loudly.

But neither Enya nor Nuchir, the man claiming to be their guide, scolded him; instead, they waited for the answer together. Only Lu was getting annoyed.

“Stop asking. Beyond this wall is the corridor leading to the office.”

“But she’s someone with the power of such a strong divine beast? And that’s not all. She’s the ruler of Montaine, and if she plays her cards right, she could even become the Emperor of Tubain. So why?”

“If you don’t believe me, go back.”

“That’s not what I meant…”

“I believe you, Lord Salvation.”

The man named Nuchir suddenly interjected. Haas glared at him, and Enya frowned as well. Though they’d only been together for a short time, one thing was clear about Nuchir.

He was a second Haas. The horror was doubled. Because of this, Haas was desperate not to fall behind in the competition for loyalty, but Lu raised his hand to stop him. Then his gaze shifted to the air.

He was currently observing the situation beyond a wall with the help of a spirit. It was something she had never heard of or seen before – a spirit helping a human keep watch – but according to Lu, it was a very kind spirit.

“The scout has moved. The hallway is clear.”

When Lu reported the situation, Nuchir’s eyes sparkled with pride, he claimed to be the spirit’s friend. Haas glared at his rival again, his jealousy plain to see.

Enya rolled her eyes inwardly at her colleague’s embarrassing behavior, then approached Lu when he motioned for her to come. He taught her a few hand signals to use instead of speaking while moving, then explained.

“As soon as we go through the secret door, we’ll be in the hallway. Grand Duke Montaine’s office is at the end of the hallway, so we have to move quickly if we don’t want to get caught. But even when we get there, the door will likely be locked, so we might lose some time. So, Haas, can you use the illusion spell we used back in Sarne’s cave?”

“Yes.”

“Then stay right behind me. Mr. Nuchir will follow behind you. Enya, you’ll take the rear and provide cover from the shadows. You know what to do, right?”

Since they fought battles as often as they ate, of course they knew. But how did Lu know that so well? Enya nodded, though she was surprised.

“You mean we shouldn’t stick too close, but follow while keeping our bodies hidden, right?”

“Right. Watch over us, and if an unexpected enemy suddenly appears, ambush them from behind.”

“But in that case, it’ll be hard to guard Lord Lu up close.”

“Forget about that objective.”

Forget it? She had stayed behind in the first place because of Tairok’s order to protect Lu. That was why she had rushed in alongside Lu when the portal opened and Lu called out to Haas. Enya asked in disbelief.

“Then what is my objective?”

“What else? It’s for all of us to survive.”