Ch.391Troublemaker

It didn’t take me long to grasp the full picture of what was happening.

Why Panam had turned against the Empire, what they were relying on to do such a thing, what they were plotting.

Every time I pulled out one of the wrinkled fingers from his remaining arm, he readily gave me the answers I wanted.

Among them were pieces of information that would make Leopold want to tear his hair out.

“What were you counting on to pull this stunt… a Triple Alliance?”

King Danon nodded, convulsing like a baby animal in a state of panic after watching its mother die violently before its eyes.

“Huurk… hueeerk…!”

He’s going to die at this rate.

What a dramatic human. I only pulled out one arm and a few fingers. I haven’t even started proper torture yet.

I looked down at Danon with contempt while organizing my complicated thoughts.

Among the information I extracted from him, the most valuable was that there weren’t just two countries hostile to the Empire, but three.

The Triple Alliance.

Panam, Dane, and another country had united to pressure the Empire from multiple fronts.

I’m not sure how much of his words I could trust, but if true, it certainly explained why Panam had the audacity to challenge the Empire.

The final country that Leopold had failed to account for while only watching Panam and Dane. The name of the country that had secretly proposed and led the Triple Alliance was…

The Holy State of Elphirem.

—-

…This was an incredibly troublesome situation.

Panam, Dane, Elphirem. Every human nation except the Empire was hostile to it.

At a time when they should be joining forces to fend off the growing threat of other races and monsters.

Of course, the three countries’ objectives weren’t perfectly aligned.

Panam wanted to extract more wealth from the Empire, while Dane, surprisingly, wanted me either exiled from the Empire or eliminated.

They couldn’t stand seeing the Dane Killer thriving in the Empire, apparently.

Well, I understand their feelings, but…

‘Your karma is truly immense. You suffered enough with Knut, and now an entire country…’

[If you have complaints, then stop using the power of murder karma. It’s quite hypocritical to enjoy the convenience of the power while rejecting its consequences, isn’t it?]

Hersella seemed determined to be completely shameless, just laughing and telling me not to use it if I didn’t like it.

‘This isn’t funny. What are we going to do about this?’

[Well, I don’t know. Why not just kill them all?]

What an irresponsible murderer.

I wondered how Dane, which was constantly being plundered by the Ka’har, had the strength to plot something so bold. According to King Danon, they had acquired more than enough power.

Thousands of soldiers who could use magic, and hundreds of warriors who had mastered magic.

An impossible number.

Even the Empire didn’t possess that many magic battalions.

Unless they could only produce one or two fire arrows, proper battle mages weren’t such a common resource.

Perhaps because most mages preferred research positions in magic towers rather than dangerous combat roles.

In any case, it was clear that Dane could no longer be underestimated.

Thousands of mages would be more than enough to pressure the Empire.

But how was this even possible…?

Were they manufacturing mages in a factory?

Even Danon didn’t know this.

Secret envoys from Dane who visited Panam had demonstrated their magic use, but they hadn’t revealed the crucial activation principles.

Dane had said they would share the method after their alliance deepened, but I arrived before that could happen.

—-

The Holy State’s objective was also to remove someone from the Empire.

Unlike Dane, their target wasn’t me, but it wasn’t someone completely unrelated to me either.

They intended to eliminate the woman who had ascended to the false position of Archbishop, along with the baseless diocese she had created.

Well, calling it a baseless diocese wasn’t exactly wrong…

But still, to entice other kingdoms to threaten the Empire? The Holy State has completely lost its mind.

Are they that wary of Lacy?

I’m really glad I didn’t send Lacy ahead.

If she had gone to the Holy State alone, she might never have returned.

The Holy State’s methods were secretive and despicable.

They secretly supported Panam and Dane to pressure the Empire heavily, while subtly extending a helping hand to the struggling Empire.

They would offer to help the Empire with all their might, but in exchange, the Empire would have to dissolve the Archdiocese and recall Lacy.

If that happened, regardless of Leopold’s wishes, the Empire’s nobles would rush to pressure him to dissolve the Archdiocese under the guise of loyal counsel.

What a headache.

I don’t know how many cardinals approved of this scheme, but I really need to overturn this situation.

—-

“These screams…! Could it be His Majesty?!”

“That’s impossible, Lord Andrea and Lord Marcello are in the third floor chambers…!”

The footsteps echoing from the corridor began to draw closer as my interrogation of King Danon was coming to an end.

“Royal Guard, prepare for battle! We’re entering the chambers!”

They’re finally coming.

That took longer than expected. Did they think there would be no problem because two Masters were on guard?

How careless.

With that kind of mindset, no wonder they allowed such an easy infiltration.

Anyway, this meant my time for leisurely interrogation was over.

“Well, this is unfortunate. It seems your life’s extension has come to an end.”

I approached King Danon while twirling the black iron dagger in my left hand.

It was time to bid him farewell. I needed to end his life before the Royal Guard arrived, or he might say unnecessary things.

“Hee, heeek…! I, I answered, answered everything! Please, just my life…!”

Clear terror etched itself on the old man’s face as he sensed his fate.

His face, covered in tears, snot, sweat, and saliva, was utterly hideous. The state of him below the waist was a hundred times more disgusting.

“Would you spare someone like yourself? Even after seeing this?”

I gestured slightly toward the woman lying next to him. A naked woman with dark brown hair and skin color similar to mine.

Whether she was a slave or a concubine, the fact that she resembled me was more than enough reason to give Danon a painful death.

“……!”

Even Danon himself seemed to know he had nothing to say, as he just trembled without answering.

But it’s strange that this woman hasn’t tried to get up despite all this chaos.

Two people have been dismembered, and right next to her, an old man is leaking fluids from every orifice.

Judging by her steady breathing and heartbeat, she wasn’t pretending to sleep.

Did they drug her or something…?

Well, that’s actually fortunate.

If she’s quietly sleeping, there’s no need to kill her.

So I just need to kill this man.

“It still pisses me off. Why does she have black hair?”

Clicking my tongue in disgust, I thrust the dagger down with a reverse grip.

– Squelch!

“Gyaaaaaaak!”

The sensation was like piercing and bursting a jelly ping-pong ball.

Danon convulsed and screamed as the dagger embedded itself in one of his eyes.

“Huh? I asked why she has black hair.”

With movements as fluid as water yet lightning-fast, I performed murderous plastic surgery on Danon.

I twisted the blade to grind out the entire eye socket, pulled out the other eye with my left hand, cut off his nose and lower jaw, and even tore off both ears.

“Oayk! Gweaak! Bruweeeek!”

King Danon wept bloody tears with an appearance like an undead monster, howling like a beast.

“Hurry! His Majesty is in danger!”

The knights’ voices drew closer.

It would take them about 15 seconds to burst in.

“You should be grateful for the Royal Guard’s loyalty. If they had been just 5 minutes later, I was planning to dismember you at my leisure…”

Unfortunately, there was no more time to play.

“Wuuh, wuuuuh!”

“What are you saying? Can’t even make proper last words?”

The black iron longsword sliced diagonally through Danon’s body.

The strike cut through his collarbone and emerged from his side.

His severed upper body slid down onto the bed.

It was the end of a perverted old man who had overreached.

—-

Immediately after killing Danon, I began altering the scene.

It was a necessary measure.

Two Masters killed without even putting up a fight, an assassin without a scratch.

This would narrow down the assassin’s identity considerably.

So, I needed to create at least the impression that I had won after a desperate battle.

I had about 8 seconds left, but that was enough.

I quickly swung my sword to mutilate Andrea and Marcello’s corpses, then slashed at various parts of my own armor.

As if I had fought a bloody battle where blood washed away blood.

Thanks to being drenched in my enemies’ blood, I didn’t need to cut myself in various places to simulate wounds and bleeding.

Of course, it would be suspicious if I didn’t have any wounds at all…

– Squelch!

I picked up Andrea’s longsword and stabbed my left shoulder.

“Ouch…”

Not life-threatening, but enough to make swinging my left arm difficult.

A searing pain like having a torch thrust into my shoulder washed over me.

I’ve long been accustomed to this level of pain… but that doesn’t make it welcome.

Being used to pain doesn’t mean it doesn’t hurt.

[…You’re making things difficult for yourself. If you don’t want your identity revealed, you could just kill everyone.]

‘That’s ridiculous. If everyone in the palace is massacred in one night, my identity would be revealed anyway.’

A palace massacre.

How many people capable of such a deed would have reason to target Panam?

That was 7 seconds.

And the next moment, with a loud crash, the bedroom door shattered as fully armored knights rushed in.

“Huhk! Y-Your Majesty…! His Majesty has been assassinated! An assassin!”

“This can’t be, Lord Marcello and Lord Andrea too!”

“How could both of them fall to a mere assassin! Impossible!”

The nightmarish carnage spread throughout the room.

The royal guards, beyond shock and seemingly in panic, pointed their weapons at me.

“How could anyone commit such a brutal act…! Reveal yourself! Who are you?!”

As if I would tell them.

Ignoring the guard’s accusatory gesture, I pointed my black iron longsword at him.

“…So you refuse to answer. You treasonous assassin…! Fine. Royal Guard, charge! We must capture him and uncover who’s behind this!”

The knights drew their weapons and surged toward me with battle cries.

Deceived by my appearance of being severely wounded, they probably thought they could capture me with their combined attack. Just as expected.

Now I just need to buy time without revealing my identity until Eleonora is rescued.

Not a difficult task at all.