Chapter 265

Chapter 58. All-Out Attack (5)

11.

After parting ways with Crown Prince Chartang, D’muehl felt an inexplicable itch at the back of his head.

It was like someone was watching him. Just as he was about to turn around reflexively, a warning echoed in his mind.

“Don’t look back. Just keep walking.”

“There are guys tracking you from behind.”

Those were the minions of Rakus.

With the minions’ exceptional eyesight and monitoring skills, D’muehl couldn’t hide his momentary embarrassment.

It was understandable, though.

They were in the imperial castle, just a stone’s throw away from the residence of the Crown Prince, Chartang.

“But… who could possibly be following me in a place like this?”

Yet, there was no reason for the minions to lie.

So, D’muehl forced himself to appear calm and continued to walk straight ahead. But once again, whispers hit his ears.

“There are about ten of them.”

“They’re all Expert knights.”

“They’re wearing the same attire as those who guarded the garden when you had tea with the Crown Prince.”

Expert knights.

And if they were the ones who guarded Chartang’s garden, there could be only one candidate.

“…The Royal Guard!”

The knights who had served to protect the royal family for generations, now a special order under Saxen Yul Orden, Chartang’s knight.

“So that means…”

If the Royal Guard was tailing him, it implied that Saxen had given the order.

If it had been Chartang’s order, Saxen himself would have been the one doing the following, not the Royal Guard.

Through this, D’muehl began to grasp why Saxen might have issued such an order.

“Are they on guard against me?”

Well, of course they would be, unless they were idiots.

Ever since D’muehl’s appearance, Chartang had shown many changes.

Thus, not only Saxen but also Sir Gorfant and Sir Lapis looked at D’muehl with suspicion.

“As expected, masters are really sharp.”

They all had excellent instincts.

But since there was no concrete evidence, it seemed they preferred to follow him, hoping to find something credible.

“But that’s fine now.”

Once Chartang made his wish to Rakus and it was finally fulfilled, Chartang would become Rakus’s second apostle.

Thinking that made D’muehl feel more at ease.

Thus, forgetting about the pursuit of the Royal Guard, he moved along casually.

How much time had passed?

Finally, just as he was about to exit the imperial castle completely, the whispers of the minions reached him again.

“The presence of the pursuers is gone.”

“You can relax now.”

With that quiet whisper came silence from the minions. That meant the threat had dissipated, and D’muehl let out a sigh.

A sigh of relief.

As he stepped out of the imperial castle and into the southern district alleyways, a doll made of clay suddenly shot up from his shoulder.

“Good work, apostle of mine.”

Lord of the Abyss, Rakus.

Through the mouth of the clay doll, Rakus whispered, then turned his gaze toward the direction of the castle with a satisfied smile.

“Thanks to your efforts, my second apostle will be born soon. And once that happens…”

“The empire will belong to my Lord.”

All apostles must obey their lord’s command. Hence, if Chartang became an apostle, Rakus would reign above the Emperor.

“But there is something hard to understand.”

“Hmm? What is it?”

“The Crown Prince’s ambition.”

By collaborating with Rakus’s plan, D’muehl had learned quite a bit about Chartang’s ambitions.

The man destined to be the next emperor.

Chartang’s wish wasn’t to conquer the southern cultists or dominate the continent. It was merely to completely possess one woman.

“Fertisha Eve Al Rubens.”

The princess the imperial family had long kept hidden.

Recalling her, D’muehl’s expression instantly turned sour.

“No matter how much the bloodline may be mixed, she is still blood-related. How could one see such a being as a romantic interest?”

To be honest, it was disgusting.

Perhaps it was because he was a father with a daughter that made it even worse.

On the other hand, as D’muehl made a disgusted face, Rakus burst into amused laughter.

“Hehe, you’re mistaken.”

“Huh? What do you mean?”

“The seventh star, Half-Human Half-Spirit, doesn’t have royal blood flowing through her. It’s merely a product of coincidence.”

A creature born from the desire of a sickly emperor, an experimental subject. And coincidentally mixed with a newborn spirit.

That was Fertisha’s true identity.

“So technically, she was destined to be the current emperor’s concubine, not the Crown Prince.”

“Hmm, I see. That makes sense.”

If there was no blood relation, then no matter how she was raised as a princess, she wouldn’t be any different from an outsider.

D’muehl nodded his head.

As their conversation was wrapping up, Rakus brought up a new topic.

“By the way, D’muehl.”

“Yes, my Lord.”

“According to my minions, they said the tail sent to Arsen Academy has been discovered. Can you explain what happened?”

“Of course.”

Now that he mentioned it, D’muehl hadn’t explained this to Rakus yet. Remembering this, he immediately recounted what he had heard from Estelle.

How a cultist acting as a tail was caught during the process of delivering the Leaves of Draga, and how the imperial Information Agency had begun to move.

“What? The Information Agency is moving?”

“Yes. The Leaves of Draga are a designated super hazardous drug by the empire and were also the root cause of the past Western War.”

D’muehl added further explanation.

Once the story came to an end, Rakus’s face twisted in displeasure. As if the current situation didn’t sit well with him.

“So for the time being, we’ll have difficulty moving.”

“I think so too.”

“Tsk, it can’t be helped. We’ll have to lie low until their interest fades.”

Rakus clicked his tongue.

In response, D’muehl asked in confusion.

“You’re not planning to withdraw entirely?”

Given that the Information Agency had started investigating, distributing the Leaves of Draga would be difficult from now on.

So he thought Rakus would completely pull out, but it didn’t seem like that was the case since Rakus was set on continuing.

“Correct. It won’t be immediate, but once I dominate the Student Council, I will find a suitable moment to put it to use.”

“Put it to use?”

“For example, my minions may serve as limbs or else gather the star heroes from Arsen in one place.”

This was merely a simple example, but even that made D’muehl realize Rakus’s intention to seize the Student Council.

“I see. I understand now.”

Nodding silently, D’muehl’s brown eyes shone brightly.

“My Lord intends to become the true Abyss and eliminate the heroes in one fell swoop.”

“Correct.”

Rakus’s lips spread into a wide grin.

He seemed pleased with D’muehl’s analysis. Then Rakus added his own thoughts.

“Of course, the best scenario would be to take them out individually, but if it leads to another unpredicted variable like this time, that would be troublesome.”

A variable that didn’t exist before.

Barbarian warrior with red eyes.

Recalling the hero who had taken down four lords so far, Rakus’s eyes sparkled.

“So based on the ■■’s choice, once I become the true Abyss, I plan to gather all the seven heroes and that outsider in one spot and deal with them all at once.”

That was truly an all-out attack.

D’muehl’s phrase suited it perfectly.

After Rakus finished his response, he gazed toward the southern sky. The direction where Arsen Academy lay. Soon after, Rakus’s hushed voice continued.

“Then the blessings of the stars will vanish, and any starlight that can oppose me will disappear as well. At that point, this world will truly belong to me.”

Rakus’s true goal.

Dreaming of being the one true Abyss, Rakus let out a sinister chuckle. This continued until D’muehl reached the mansion.

12.

On the way back to the Academy.

Noa, who had climbed onto the carriage, briefly explained the current situation that Fertisha was facing to her companions.

After some time had passed.

As the story concluded, Delia and Ivella murmured with puzzled expressions.

“So… we have to return to the noble house?”

Only Ulan and Noa knew Fertisha’s true identity. To the others, she was still only Tisha Lapis.

So Noa had played it off, saying Fertisha was returning to the Lapis family, not the imperial castle, and Fertisha had replied with a gloomy face.

“Yes, and if I go back this time, there’s a high chance I won’t be able to return to the Academy.”

“What? Why?”

“My uncle is very overprotective.”

No matter how overprotective one is, isn’t that a bit much? Ivella looked at Fertisha with a bewildered expression, unable to comprehend it.

In contrast, Delia’s reaction was different.

“That’s definitely a serious problem.”

Delia nodded with a grave face.

She seemed to understand Fertisha’s situation.

It made sense. Delia had once been captured by her father during summer vacation and almost didn’t return to the Academy.

“And it’s quite troublesome too.”

“Huh? Troubling?”

“Isn’t it? If she can’t return to the Academy, then Ulan’s group will have to leave her behind for the desert.”

They had to face the eighth trial of the hero given to Noa, and more importantly, the chance to go to the desert would be only then.

“That’s true. It would definitely be troublesome.”

Noa also made a serious expression.

Then she looked back at Ulan, Ivella, and Delia as if asking for help.

“We need to find some way to remedy this. I hope we can pool everyone’s wisdom.”

“Ugh, even with wisdom pooled,…”

Nothing beneficial came to mind.

Maybe that’s why? Scratching her cheek, Ivella suggested the simplest solution.

“Why don’t we just ignore it and head to the desert?”

Right after her somewhat irresponsible comment.

Fertisha’s complexion went pale.

“N-No! If that happens, I’d never be able to step outside until the day I die!”

“Oh, come on. There’s no way it’s that serious.”

Ivella chuckled.

She thought Fertisha’s words were an exaggeration. In contrast, Noa mumbled with a completely serious expression devoid of laughter.

“No, it’s a possibility.”

“What? Really?”

Noa nodded silently toward the astonished Ivella. If it was the Chartang from the original story, she could definitely imagine him doing such a thing.

So if they disregarded Chartang’s words and headed to the desert, the fallout would be extraordinary. Hence, Ivella’s suggestion was promptly dismissed.

“How about explaining the situation properly?”

This time, it was Delia who offered a suggestion.

She figured that even if they returned to the noble house, if they eloquently explained their reasons for needing to come back to the Academy, it might work.

But this too was a lazy answer, as it stemmed from not knowing Chartang well.

“…If it were that simple, I wouldn’t have even asked for help in the first place.”

Fertisha shook her head with a dark expression. As all opinions were dismissed, Ivella suddenly turned to Ulan.

“Ulan, do you have any good ideas?”

Honestly, she didn’t expect much.

She only tried to strike up a conversation since he had been quiet until now. But at that moment, an unexpected answer came back.

“I do.”

“Huh? Y-You really do?”

“Yeah.”

“Seriously? What is it?”

Noa’s eyes sparkled with curiosity.

Not just her, even Delia and Fertisha looked hopeful at Ulan. Without hesitation, Ulan confidently stated.

“Kidnapping would resolve the issue.”

“…Huh?”

For a brief moment, silence filled the air.

Soon after, as Noa repeated in a dazed manner, Ulan patted Fertisha’s shoulder and answered.

“If we make it look like a third party did the kidnapping, we won’t have to worry about the aftermath.”

“No, that’s just…”

Ivella frowned, glancing over at the others as if searching for someone to agree with her opinion.

But an unexpected scene unfolded.

“Hmm, surprisingly, that’s not a bad idea.”

“Yeah, it’s not too shabby.”

“…What?”

Noa and Delia nodded in agreement with Ulan’s statement. This left Ivella dumbfounded, shouting in protest.

“A-Are you seriously agreeing with him?!”

“Of course. If we dress up like Abyss Worshippers and kidnap Tisha, that should work.”

“Right! And by the way, I didn’t expect Ulan to come up with such a brilliant plan.”

“Well, it’s thanks to my time at the Academy.”

Ulan beamed with pride.

Despite the fact that his idea of kidnapping Fertisha had nothing at all to do with attending the Academy, no one bothered to point that out.

“A-Are you really okay with this idea?”

“At the moment, I can’t come up with a better plan. So it’s a solid option.”

“I’m on board! It sounds like it could be fun!”

With Fertisha, the very subject of the kidnapping, consenting, there was no turning back for the decision.

Leaving a flustered Ivella behind.

The carriage carrying the companions soon arrived at Arsen Academy. After disembarking, everyone stretched their bodies with tired expressions.

“Just made it in the nick of time.”

“Yup, we need to get to class now.”

In the afternoon, they all had classes to attend.

Moreover, with finals approaching, Ulan’s group headed toward the Lion’s Chamber, where their classrooms were, while chatting among themselves.

But at that moment.

A familiar voice suddenly rang out.

“Are you returning from an outing?”

“…Huh?”

Ivella’s eyes widened slightly.

It was a voice she recognized.

However, since he should not be here, Ivella panicked for a moment. Turning her head, she was immediately taken aback.

“W-Why are you here…?”

The gaze of Ivella landed on a middle-aged man clad in a black coat. Sweeping his blonde hair back, he greeted her with a warm smile.

“It’s been a long time, Ivella.”

He was the master of the Rubens Empire, a knight who had defended the southern battle line for over a decade. And Ivella Elea’ad’s biological father.

It was none other than Istan El Deorg.

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