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121. Childhood Friend – Hunting Grounds

Winter passed, and spring was gone as well.

The capital of the Orun Kingdom, Nevis, was beautifully arranged as preparations reached their peak for the successor award ceremony called ‘Akine’.

The main street running through the center of Nevis was spotless, not a tiny pebble in sight, eagerly awaiting the arrival of Prince Aton de Lognum, while colorful banners hanging from nearby buildings danced in the ‘Dulnok Breeze’ blowing in from the sea, creating a magnificent scene.

Moreover, every household received a small subsidy, allowing the poor boys and girls who should’ve been wearing ragged clothes to don simple yet neat outfits.

The beggars were thriving. Each time such a national event occurred, they were the first to be treated (or cleared away), so they were enjoying a paradise filled with substantial food, eating and sleeping in their hideouts.

In addition, the Cross Church sent 150 Holy Knights and high priests to bless the Prince’s Akine, filling Nevis with excitement over the splendid event anticipated for tomorrow, so much so that citizens were clinking their cups together late into the evening.

And there was a young lady who was filled with anticipation different from theirs. No, rather, a young lady who had been inflated with such anticipation.

“Wha, what? Palace is dead?”

Hirie Gaidan asked in shock. She was about to get married soon.

After winter passed, she urged him to fulfill the promise they made last time. Then she heard from ‘that guest’ that the Duke Tertan’s House had given their approval.

The guest named Reb had indeed paid her properly for ‘borrowing’ the necklace from her on the day they first met.

– “Lend me that necklace. Then I will personally contact the Duke to secure your marriage.”

At first, he asked for the necklace.

However, she firmly replied, “I absolutely cannot give this.”

He seemed a bit angry as he glared at her, but ultimately retreated, realizing he had no other choice.

Lending it seemed acceptable.

There was no questioning why he needed it and how he would secure the Duke’s permission.

What mattered was that she promised to return the necklace on the day she would leave to get married.

– “But since I’m lending it, I will add one more condition. Swear your loyalty to me.”

Swear loyalty to a young lady?

Surely, there was no joke funnier than this.

Her laughter erupted, her face flushing bright red at how ridiculous his serious demeanor was.

But he didn’t retract his joke. Hirie found it amusing and lightly swore.

“Alright then. I, Hirie Gaidan, will pledge my loyalty to you until I marry Prince Palace. Is that enough?”

He looked satisfied. Thus, the necklace was handed over.

Before the oath, lending it didn’t sit well with her, but after taking the oath, it felt different.

She believed that the necklace would definitely return to her, and the promise of marrying Palace would be fulfilled as well.

That is how she could wait for so long, dreaming of her marriage to Palace.

But, Palace is dead? That too, last year? Unbelievable.

Hirie Gaidan shot sharp glares at the handmaidens in front of her.

“Don’t say such nonsense. Palace Tertan is dead? How unpleasant! I have never heard such a thing.”

“I, it’s true. When we left Bosspo….”

They were the two handmaidens who had been taken to Bosspo.

Hirie had left them in Bosspo, utterly exhausted, and hurried back to Nevis.

“We really heard that. But about marriage… Grand Officer Wilter said you would be heartbroken and urged us to return quickly.”

“…That can’t be.”

Hirie Gaidan shot up.

She was about to call the knights to punish the lying handmaidens. However,

“But the people in the mansion seem a bit strange too. It’s odd that a guest is using Havni Gaidan’s room, so I asked, and they all said that such a person came as a guest… How could that be? What kind of room is that?”

At that, Hirie regained her senses. Her mind cleared up.

‘…Right. He was using that room. Why didn’t I notice this? That’s not a space to host guests…’

The east side of the mansion was reserved for her, her father, her mother, and her deceased younger sister. It was absolutely not a place for outsiders.

Anxiety crept over her. Once suspicion began, the oddities seemed endless.

‘Why did my father respect that person? And I? Why on earth did I believe the words of someone who isn’t even of noble birth?’

Something was wrong.

Thinking back, the handmaidens seemed to prioritize his words for quite some time.

It was strange that she had never thought of this before, but what about the butler? The knights? Their behavior, solely following her father’s orders, was inexplicable.

“…I need to go check. I’ll be going to the church, so prepare for me.”

Everything felt suspicious.

She thought it was vital to first confirm whether the handmaidens’ words were true, so she sat in front of her vanity.

Preparing her outfit for the church and fixing her makeup haphazardly, she suddenly trembled with fear as she felt the handmaidens’ movements.

For the first time, the ‘peacefully decorated home’ felt terrifying.

What if, upon contacting the Duke Tertan’s House, it turned out the handmaidens were indeed telling the truth? What should I do?

With a pale face, Hirie took a deep breath and stepped out of her room. But then,

“Where do you think you’re going?”

Hirie nearly fainted.

The cold figure of ‘that guest’ stood at the door. He seemed to have rushed back, breathing heavily as he looked at her with eyes full of ill intent.

*

“Open this door! Right now! How dare you… you’re all being deceived! Get a grip!”

A scuffle ensued. Outside the tightly locked door, a knight sighed.

“…It seems the young lady has finally caught on. I should have cautioned her when the handmaidens returned; it’s my fault.”

“What can be done with spilled water?”

Reb nonchalantly lied with a tone full of sympathy.

“I thought it best to conceal it until everything was over… But once you learn that what’s about to happen is to keep you from marrying the prince, you’ll only be more heartbroken. I’m sorry, but let’s just keep you inside until tomorrow.”

Reb was finishing preparations in the plaza. Hearing that the ‘master-servant relationship’ achievement had suddenly dropped to 1 shocked him, causing him to hurry back to the mansion.

Seeing the shared vision with Marquis Harvey Gaidan still intact, Reb instantly realized that the enchantment and loyalty oath he placed upon Hirie had been broken.

Fortunately, Hirie was still in the mansion. Reb locked her inside while she yelled, “Wh, who on earth are you?” “What did you do to my father?” “Wh, what’s your purpose!”

“Please, please open the door. I need to see my father. This can’t be my father’s will. You’re tricked! By that person!”

From inside, Hirie’s voice oscillated between pleading and anger.

However, the knights beside Reb merely felt pity; they did not open the door.

The Marquis had long since delegated full authority to Reb and left Nevis. As the Duke of the Orun Kingdom, he was leading the eastern armies to invade Nevis.

Reb was aware that the Marquis had come quite close through the narrow mountain paths. Until then, he had been moving quietly, and the moment he stepped out of the mountain, he would catch the king’s attention, and the army would be summoned immediately.

Or perhaps the king might already know. He might be delaying the army’s mobilization in light of tomorrow’s successor award ceremony…

But Reb was certain the Marquis wouldn’t be attacked under the pretext of being labeled a rebel.

Tomorrow, everything would be over.

He merely regretted that his plan to storm the Nevis Church tonight and kill the priests had been ruined.

That was because the Monastery Church had sent in a troop of Holy Knights.

Last month, they had patrolled the city under the pretense of celebrating ‘Akine,’ and it seemed they had picked up on something, frequently visiting the Gaidan household.

As a result, Reb’s activities had become restricted. He had previously been able to escape easily after committing murder by mesmerizing knights who responded to the screams.

If it were any ‘ordinary’ apostle, they would have struggled immensely, or their greed might have gotten them caught.

But Reb was no ordinary apostle, and fortunately, he had reached a state where he no longer needed offerings.

He didn’t know if such occurrences had been happening in previous episodes. After sending Lena off and traveling in his former scenario, he had not been in Nevis around this time.

In any case, finding himself in trouble, he commanded the Marquis to summon all of his knights and squires to the mansion.

Shortly, the mansion bustled with 23 knights and over 200 squires, and Reb enchanted them all.

It wasn’t hard to enchant them.

The difficulty in mesmerizing knights stemmed from the custom of being blessed with their sword during the knighting ceremony, but the knights of the Gaidan family had long since discarded the blessed swords, deeply empathizing with the Marquis’s tragedy as an unbeliever.

Was the only issue with the wedding ring? Even that, Reb solved by pouring in his divine power.

Thanks to the countless thugs and their families he had been feeding, he had more than enough divine power for that. If it were Prince Eric, no, any apostle that existed in this world couldn’t even dare to dream of the enormous divine power he possessed.

Reb’s efficiency in offering was incomparable with their meager efficiency measured in two or three decimal places.

Enchanting the squires was no different.

Squiring involved honing swordsmanship while being assigned to various family chores. Since they were not knights to begin with, there was no blessing throughout the sword.

Squires…

It was funny that he had to borrow even such small hands, but the more people he had to create turmoil during tomorrow’s successor award ceremony, the better.

“My heart is heavy. Then I shall be leaving. If possible… let’s meet again alive. Please take good care of the Marquis.”

A knight, having just heard Hirie’s pleas, backed away with a determined look. Reb calmly sent him off, saying, “May your honor be in your good fortune…”

In the past, he had acted smugly, giving orders to the Marquis, but now he needed to hold back.

Though enchanted, the knights still pledged their loyalty to the Marquis.

Reb hadn’t received their oaths of loyalty.

Or rather, he should say he couldn’t?

Taking away a knight’s loyalty would be an unnecessary waste of divine power, and even if that weren’t the case, he could still move them through the Marquis, so he saw no reason to do so.

The knights believed they were tasked with assassinating the prince to throw the nation into chaos just before the Marquis raised a rebellion.

The Marquis believed the same…

When the Gaidan Marquis led the army, he firmly trusted Reb’s word that there would be a response from inside.

He had asked how they would respond, but Reb pressed, “Don’t worry, just trust me.”

The Marquis left with the knights.

Not knowing what would happen when he returned leading an army.

After lingering at the door for a moment, Reb considered killing Hirie, who was causing a ruckus inside, but… he turned toward the outside.

After all, she would die tomorrow, and killing her now might break the enchantment he had placed on the knights.

Although it was unnecessary, it was better to be sure.

Reb moved toward the plaza where the prince’s procession was scheduled. He walked around, placing his palm on the ground and walls of the plaza, a habit that continued until dawn.

Since learning through the Gaidan Marquis that ‘Akine’ would be held, he had been doing this every single day without fail.

[Trap Hunting]

From the castle walls and city gates surrounding Nevis to all the nooks and crannies of alleyways, not a single spot remained untouched by his hands. This plaza… was the place where he exerted a little more effort, akin to the castle gates.

As Reb walked around the dark plaza, he straightened his back.

It wasn’t that he needed a break. He merely felt the dawn breaking and looked up.

In truth, Reb hadn’t rested recently. He hadn’t eaten or slept, yet still, his body was functioning perfectly.

When he realized this, he couldn’t exactly recall.

Was it after he had massacred the merchant group, or was it after stealing the necklace from Hirie and wearing it around his neck…

Barbatos’s blessing was indeed so holy. And fortunately, I was that person’s ‘apostle.’

Soon, people began to gather in the plaza.

With more eyes on him, Reb moved to one side of the plaza.

Guards were spread out everywhere.

They were watching to see if anyone would create a commotion on such a fine day, but not a single bold individual appeared; instead, citizens were dancing to the joyful songs ringing out in the plaza or savoring the food provided for free at stalls.

All of it had been prepared by the royal family.

This was to alleviate the boredom of the citizens waiting for the prince’s procession and to instill a favorable perception of the kingdom’s heir.

“It’s the prince!”

At that moment, the castle’s main gate opened in the distance, capturing the citizens’ attention. Aton de Lognum, resplendently adorned, appeared. He must be on his way out after finishing the successor award ceremony inside.

Buzzing conversations announcing the birth of the rightful heir of the great Orun Kingdom rang out loudly with the help of magic, and the citizens’ cheers grew louder.

The cheers reached a peak when the twin princes boarded a carriage drawn by sixteen white horses, and Reb was laughing at all of it.

The princes waved regally.

The citizens shouted at the princes, “Please become the righteous king of the Orun Kingdom!” but it wouldn’t take long for their cheers to turn into horror.

“Counterattack!”

Knights and squires from the Gaidan family charged in, cutting down the guards. Disguised in ordinary clothes, they assaulted the princes, soon clashing with the guards escorting the procession. The plaza was filled with noise to a level that left one doubtful it could get any louder. Profanities flowed from all directions.

“Y-you wicked bastards!”

“What are you doing to the princes!”

Did the citizens not realize that those princes were garbage? Or perhaps they had been swept away in the festive atmosphere and the splendor of the procession, fueled by the recent gifts of free meals and clothing.

Such ignorant fools.

Slightly amused, Reb slowly walked. While the guards that obstructed the prince’s path were dazed, he stealthily emerged right into the center of the street.

After half a year.

From last winter until now, it was the day that bore the fruits of his labor. As everyone’s eyes fixated on the princes’ safety, Reb declared.

He stamped his foot on the ground with all his might.

“This land shall henceforth, and forever, belong to Lord Barbatos!”

At that, the street, the nearby stalls and buildings, and even the distant castle and fortress walls, everything embedded in the ground turned crimson in turn without regard to what they were.

[Barbatos’s Hunting Grounds]

A gigantic, truly colossal red trumpet pattern tore through the clouds in the sky. And from somewhere, the sacred sound of a trumpet rang out loudly.

It was the moment when Barbatos’s name was etched into history.

As the evil god who killed hundreds of thousands of humans in Nevis.