Chapter 24
I called out to Leira, who was sitting demurely beside me.
“Hey, Leira.”
“Hm? What is it, junior?”
“I need to see the lord right away… Do you know where he is at this hour?”
“The lord? My master?”
Leira stared at me with a puzzled expression. Please, don’t look at me like that. My heart is pounding like crazy wondering if I said something wrong.
After staring for a while, she finally shook her head and answered matter-of-factly.
“Master will be with the countess in the main corridor right about now.”
“The main corridor…”
“It used to be the lord’s reception hall. Though no one visits anymore… It’s now just one of those long, spacious rooms.”
It sounds like those medieval Western movie halls I’ve seen.
A lofty figure sits at the far end of an expansive corridor, with pillars lining the path. People kneel on the grand carpet in the center to pay their respects… That’s my mental image at least.
While being led by Leira, I recalled the castle’s scenery again.
“Hmm… Is there such a place…”
“It exists. Even a fortress designed for battle has certain standards, being a count’s castle and all.”
“Did we pass it when we came here? I don’t remember.”
“No, we came through the central route.”
I racked my brain, but I couldn’t recall seeing anything like that grand audience chamber.
A sudden chill ran down my spine as I stared at Leira.
“Could it be…!”
Was her question just a way to test me? Did she still suspect me?
I felt a sword at my throat. Swallowing hard, I carefully chose my words while eyeing her.
“Among the places we passed… there was the garbage dump, the morgue… and…”
There were large spaces. One filled with生活垃圾 scattered about, another rectangular room piled high with burned corpses.
Neither qualified as an audience chamber. In fact, both were quite terrifying.
As I counted them off on my fingers, Leira tilted her head in confusion.
“The morgue? We don’t have one here.”
” Eh?”
“Aha! So that was it. Understandable actually.”
As if realizing the disconnect in our conversation, Leira exclaimed. Nodding, she gave a slightly sad smile and pointed toward a door.
“Go to that ‘morgue.’ My master will be there.”
I finally understood.
The mistake wasn’t Leira’s but mine. The audience chamber she spoke of was the morgue I mentioned.
I was momentarily lost for words. Mechanically opening the door, I stepped out. Just before closing it, I managed to speak.
“Did you pile the bodies in the audience chamber?”
I didn’t look at her. I was afraid to, fearing she’d show the same expression from when she killed me twenty-one times.
But the heavy voice coming from behind was even more terrifying.
“No. Master did it himself.”
Indeed.
My steps toward the audience chamber became heavier.
“Do you need me to accompany you?”
“… No, I’m fine. I need to adapt.”
“If you say so…”
Leira asked worriedly. I waved my hands and hurriedly closed the door. Just before it shut, her soft voice reached me.
“Be careful, junior.”
The audience chamber, which I had called a morgue, was located at the center of the castle. My knight’s quarters were attached to the left tower, so I headed straight down the right corridor after leaving my room.
I glanced around as I walked. Cold winds whistled through broken windows. I rubbed my arms.
“Damn, it’s cold enough without being this creepy.”
The stone floor was cracked and crunched underfoot. The carpets were tattered rags. The paintings that must have been elegant once were now stained with blood and filth, giving off a horrific atmosphere. Chandeliers lay randomly scattered in the corridor’s corners.
“Here it is.”
At the end of the corridor that resembled a haunted house, the infamous audience chamber appeared. The long rectangular space was littered with bodies, just as I remembered.
Though Leira’s magical lantern made it brighter before, now the only light came from the occasional candles on the walls. The flickering shadows made it seem like the corpse piles could move at any moment.
“G… oh…”
Shit! They really ARE moving!
“KYAAAAH! Wh-what is this?! What is it?!!”
I jumped away terrified. The bodies were twitching their extremities. Scratchy voices escaped their charred mouths.
I felt dizzy and stumbled, pressing my forehead against the wall. Suddenly, a grave voice spoke.
“Who goes there?”
I involuntarily turned my head abruptly.
At the end of the piles of corpses, seated on a faded but still ornate chair, was someone. Salt-and-pepper hair, sternly lined face, deep unknowable black eyes. The man in his full black armor sat on the throne, looking at me.
‘That man…’
I instinctively realized who it was. The lord of the castle. Count Halsenberg.
I could sense the unique aura he emitted. Though I’m no martial arts master detecting auras, there was undeniably a commanding presence that even I could feel from this man.
I immediately bowed deeply in the most respectful manner I could muster.
“Uh, greetings Lord Count. Nice to meet you.”
“… So. What brings you to this crumbling, wretched castle, traveler?”
The count, Halsenberg, replied in a relaxed tone that contrasted sharply with the oppressive atmosphere.
That was how my first meeting with Halsenberg began.
I stood frozen in place for a long time, locked in a staring contest with Halsenberg. He simply stared back at me silently without showing much reaction.
It wasn’t just the moving corpses or Halsenberg’s unexpected presence that left me frozen.
The corpse sitting demurely beside Halsenberg had caught my attention.
“A… ugh… ghra…”
The corpse made a distinctive scratching noise, its white eyes rolling around. Its once-beautiful features were now rotten and oozing pus. Bony hands stuck out from the end of the dress, twitching. Maggots wriggled over the red ruby pendant around her neck.
‘Wow.’
I belatedly noticed Halsenberg’s hand gently holding her withered fingers. I vaguely realized their relationship.
Noticing my gaze, Halsenberg turned his head. He explained somewhat awkwardly.
“My companion. Her name is Isabel. Isabel von Halsenberg.”
“Ahh yes… She… had remarkable beauty…”
“Enough of the pleasantries. What beauty is there in an undead who has rotted away?”
“…”
I was left speechless. I didn’t expect her to call herself a “rotting undead.” This person wasn’t mad from missing his deceased wife. I was nearly making assumptions that could get me killed.
Scratching the back of my head nervously, I saw Halsenberg release Isabel’s hand and stand up. With the heavy clink of armor, he took a step toward me.
“Well then, it’s been a long time since we’ve had a visitor. Halsenberg always welcomes travelers.”
“Ah yes… Thank you for your hospitality…”
“What do you think? How do you find our castle? I’d like to hear your honest opinion.”
“…”
Honestly, I couldn’t help but think “what kind of crazy place is this?” But I’ve never met anyone who asks for honesty but accepts actual honesty.
Let’s go with a strategy that combines realism and humor. I awkwardly smiled while pointing at the pile of corpses.
“So… are they decorations? Heh. Pretty good atmosphere going here.”
“Those are the villagers.”
“…”
“To be exact, they USED to be villagers. Now they’re monstrous undead. Hahaha.”
Damn! I stepped on a landmine.
While Halsenberg chuckled, I turned pale. My attempt to lighten the mood with a joke backfired completely.
Still chuckling, Halsenberg returned to his seat and stared at me again after sitting down.
“I see… We haven’t exchanged names yet.”
“Ah, I’m just a passerby… Anyhow, my name is Park Jeong-yong.”
“I’m the lord of this castle, Count Johann von Halsenberg. Just an empty title now, so call me however you like. Even informal speech is fine.”
“No, informal speech is…”
Halsenberg said this with his chin resting on his armrest, clearly not caring how he was addressed despite his stern appearance. He seemed to be a pretty laid-back guy given the state of his castle. Though considering the state of the castle, caring about honor and dignity would be laughable.
In any case, if he’s this kind of person, there’s still hope. I immediately presented my request.
“Lord Count, I’m sorry for asking so soon, but may I ask a favor?”
“A favor?”
Halsenberg raised an eyebrow. Even I thought it was a bit cheeky.
He initially looked a bit bewildered, then grinned. He seemed to enjoy encountering oddballs. Being here so long probably drove him crazy. Tsk.
“Quite the bold traveler. Very well, what is your favor?”
“Could you let me work here?”
“Ho ho ho… What an interesting request.”
Halsenberg laughed to himself for a while. I was serious on my end, but I imagine it must be amusing from his perspective. Suddenly asking for a job at a castle on the verge of collapse.
When Halsenberg finally stopped laughing, there was a hint of interest in his eyes.
“So, what work do you wish to do?”
“I want to deal with the monsters in the sewers.”
“Hmm. For that, you should find my faithful maid, Miss Leira…”
“I’ve already met her.”
Shaking my head to dismiss his suggestion made Halsenberg look a bit surprised, then he gave me a skeptical look as if he thought I was lying.
“That’s impossible. If you met her, there’s no way you’d still be alive. Unless…”
I stared wide-eyed at Halsenberg upon hearing that.
Now that I think about it, that’s right. There’s no way he wouldn’t know about what’s happening in the sewers beneath his own castle. Which means he knows everything about Leira’s adventurer slaughter.
What’s their relationship? What secret lies behind Leira’s adventurer killings? While my mind raced with questions, Halsenberg’s single sentence cleared everything up.
“You’re not an adventurer summoned from another world, are you?”
“… !!”
Busted.
Without doing anything suspicious, I was exposed.
Cold sweat poured from my body like a waterfall.
