Chapter 203
“Tsk.”
Well, it’s rare for those at the top to pay attention to the pain of those below.
If the guards themselves didn’t even take the report seriously, there was no way it had properly reached the higher-ups.
“Should I move Kaina Cheyen?”
Or maybe even one of the Three Dukes? With their power, it would be more than enough to bring this into the public eye.
“Why do you need the power of others?”
“Hm?”
“Just one word from you would be enough.”
“…Me?”
Ben stared at Seres in disbelief as she talked about borrowing someone else’s influence to publicize the incident.
Why would she need anyone else’s power in the first place?
Does she not know what position she’s in right now?
She was the owner of a Tamer relic, the one who resolved both the recent epidemic and the fake saint incident—right now, the most talked-about figure among the people.
And that’s not all.
Her connections were ridiculous.
She treated Grand Duke Persia—someone others couldn’t even approach—as if he were her own hands and feet, and even Cheyen, the uncontrollable Tower Master, followed her words without question.
There were even widespread rumors that the Three Dukes who protected the Empire treated her like a daughter.
Lately, even the Crown Prince has been coming and going from her shop.
Seres, the young lady of Baron Drow’s family.
There was no one left in the Empire who could ignore her words.
“Hmmm… would it really work if I said something?”
“……”
…It seemed that she alone was unaware of the true power of her connections.
Tap tap tap!
Ben, who had been staring at Seres in mild disbelief, quickly hid himself when he heard small footsteps coming up the stairs.
Bang!
“Sister!”
It was Yulia. Seeing the child panting heavily as if she’d run the whole way, Seres handed her a glass of water from the table.
She was weak to begin with—why did she always run around like this?
“Hah! Sister, something terrible happened!”
After drinking the entire glass as Seres instructed, Yulia blurted out urgently.
“Jailo disappeared!”
“Jailo?”
Wasn’t that the kid Yulia had mentioned before? The one whose orphanage sister had gone missing… Now Jailo himself was gone too?
“When?”
“He didn’t come to the academy today, so I went to the orphanage.”
“And they said he went somewhere else after class again?”
“……”
Yulia, who had gotten into huge trouble last time because of the incident with the teleportation spellbook, rolled her eyes.
She had promised never to go anywhere without permission again…
“I—I went with Colin.”
“……”
“…Next time, I’ll definitely tell you before I go.”
Under Seres’s silent gaze, Yulia’s eyes drooped sadly.
“So, Jailo wasn’t at the orphanage?”
Deciding to scold her properly later, Seres returned to the main issue.
“Yeah! They said there’s been no word since yesterday! He definitely left together with everyone after class… What if something happened to Jailo?”
As Yulia’s face crumpled, Seres gently patted her head and immediately called out.
“Kkamang.”
[Bu?]
Kkamang, who had slipped out of Yulia’s shadow as soon as they returned home, turned toward Seres at her call.
He was munching on a cookie from the table, crumbs smeared all around his mouth.
“Find Jailo.”
[Bu?]
“Jailo. You’ve seen him before, right?”
One of Kkamang’s abilities—he couldn’t search for someone he’d never seen, but if he’d encountered them even once, he could track them through shadows no matter where they were.
[Buoo……]
He’d seen him, yes… Kkamang glanced back and forth between the many cookies still on the table and Seres.
Don’t make me go before I finish these…
His eyes screamed the message.
“If you find Jailo, I’ll give you a whole cake. All to yourself.”
[Pu!]
At the words a whole cake, Kkamang jumped to his feet as if he’d never hesitated at all.
“Put this around your neck.”
[Bu?]
“So I can track where you go.”
Seres fastened a tracking necklace around Kkamang’s neck—an item Cheyen had previously made for Yulia.
[Pu!]
Letting out a loud cry as if to say I’m off, Kkamang slipped straight into Seres’s shadow.
“Just wait a little.”
Unless Jailo was trapped in the Ice Tree Forest, Kkamang would find his location quickly.
“Okay!”
Only then did Yulia’s anxious expression ease slightly into a faint smile. Seres gently patted her head once more.
* * *
“……”
“……”
The mercenaries stood there, mouths agape, completely stunned by the scene before them.
“Whew. Looks like this one’s no good even for fertilizer.”
At Duke Norea’s calm remark, the sound of dry swallowing finally echoed from all around.
What did I just see?
A monster…
The ground itself had risen from both sides and crushed the monster whole. Once… twice… three times… The relentless attacks from the earth continued until the monster finally stopped moving.
…Was that a sandwich?
…A monster sandwich.
Seeing the gigantic monster crushed between slabs of earth, the mercenaries couldn’t help but stare blankly.
So… monsters could be killed like that too.
At first, he had sliced it apart with his sword. Yes—literally sliced it. Arms severed, even two heads chopped off.
But with its incredible regenerative ability, it regrew arms and legs, picked up its heads, and reattached them.
That was when Duke Norea lifted the surrounding ground itself.
And thus, the monster sandwich was born.
Who was it that said…
That Duke Norea was nothing more than a mediator between the other two Dukes?
He wondered what those people would say if they saw this now.
Press. Poke.
“Isn’t this practically S-rank?”
Duke Norea tilted his head as he poked the crushed monster with his sword.
“Why did something like this appear in a C-rank area? The Black Forest has completely gone mad.”
Judging by this creature alone, an S-rank classification wouldn’t be strange at all.
He’d never seen a monster with such overwhelming regeneration—or one that endured his attacks for so long.
“So this was the boss…”
As the grotesque giant monster died, the black trees were disappearing. Meaning, this thing had been the boss.
An S-rank boss appearing in a C-rank Black Forest.
“Don’t tell me the other Black Forests too…?”
For the first time, the smile vanished completely from Duke Norea’s face.
* * *
“……”
A long sigh escaped from Prince Alex as he stared out the window, lost in thought.
Suddenly—
He stood up and headed for the door.
Swoosh.
“Where are you going?”
Someone appeared silently in front of him—it was Jutel.
“Do I need to report my every move to you?”
“No, but…”
Despite Prince Alex’s sharp tone, Jutel only smiled faintly.
“I was worried you might be planning to inform others about that place.”
“……”
At those words, Prince Alex’s brow twisted sharply. He glared at Jutel for a moment, then tried to walk past him again.
Swoosh.
But Jutel stepped in front of him once more.
“Move.”
“Are you really planning to tell others?”
“…You saw it too.”
“I did. A monster Lord Beilkes put great effort into creating. Ah—wasn’t it called a ‘chimera’? A masterpiece made by selecting only the strongest parts of various monsters.”
“Not that!”
Prince Alex’s voice rose sharply.
“The children.”
“……”
What Beilkes created didn’t matter to him. He had no intention of getting involved.
The problem was… the one ingredient used for that monster.
Ingredient…
Yes. Beilkes had called it an ingredient.
“The children…”
The final ingredient needed to complete and operate that monster was the souls of children.
Not just one or two—but countless children’s souls.
That day, after showing the chimera, Beilkes took him to another location.
There, countless children were imprisoned.
“Children gathered from all over the country. Once enough have been collected, we plan to generate a Black Forest here. The souls of the children who die that way will be used as fuel to operate the monster I showed you earlier.”
“……”
