Ch.74EP.20 – After He Falls Asleep (2)

Lights remained on in the royal capital late into the night.

Soldiers continued to search the surroundings in groups, and even prestigious knight orders willingly assisted with the search without hesitation.

Though extremely rare, it was also understandable in a way.

A monster terror attack on the Royal Academy.

The attack had occurred today, and nobles who had sent their children to the academy were unable to contain their anger.

It was also a matter of pride.

How dare someone invade the academy, the royal capital where great nobles gathered-?

This was an insult to the honor of the royal family and to House Pendragon itself, a provocation against the blue-blooded nobles gathered under the Pendragon banner.

If this news reached neighboring countries, the kingdom’s reputation would be tarnished, so they had to identify the culprits before that happened.

“Search thoroughly, thoroughly!”

“Detain anyone suspicious! Be especially wary of mages!”

“Anyone who resists may be shot dead regardless of reason!”

Extreme orders were issued, and troops searched suspicious locations meticulously, like combing for lice.

Especially the extraterritorial slums of the royal capital.

It was a den of countless criminals, normally a hornet’s nest not worth disturbing, but now they didn’t hesitate to disturb even this hornet’s nest.

“R-run away!”

“I-I’ve done nothing wrong! I swear!”

“Clear away the corpse you’re hiding behind before you lie, you worthless scum!”

“Aaaaargh!!”

An unexpected criminal cleanup was underway.

It seemed like a rather positive butterfly effect.

The royal capital would likely remain bustling for a while, and criminals would have to keep their heads down.

-However, despite this indiscriminate search and brigade-sized forces in motion.

“W-we found it! The sacrifices used for the summoning!”

“…These madmen, what the hell were they doing?”

“The trail ends here, how is this even possible, damn-“

…Unfortunately, catching the “culprits” remained a distant goal.

Instead, they found traces of summoning magic.

The medium.

They discovered a massive amount of sacrifices that would have been used to summon ancient monsters including the Nol horde.

However, the perpetrators left no traces, and no evidence could be found.

Why?

None other than.

“…They killed them all.”

The building contained only over ten thousand human bones, with not a single piece of evidence to be found.

The only certainty was that the massive number of human bones were “living sacrifices” killed by the terrorists.

Sure enough.

“Th-this is insane. These bones, every single one would have been alive just yesterday.”

“What?”

“They performed the summoning based on the pain, desires, anger, and life force of living people. This place was likely a ‘human sacrifice factory’ created to generate countless grudges. And to summon a monster like the Demon King, they probably cultivated these grudges here for at least 3 years. …Whoever they are, they must be truly horrific individuals.”

“……”

An awkward silence fell.

According to the consulting mage’s explanation, this was no ordinary matter.

It meant that tens of thousands of people were gathered in a single building in the middle of the royal capital, steadily accumulating energy for a summoning.

For three whole years.

“Many will be heading to the guillotine…”

There would have been food distribution to feed tens of thousands for three years, and a large workforce moving to keep their existence hidden.

Yet no one knew about this?

This was blatantly mocking the royal capital, demonstrating the capital’s incompetence.

The soldiers who patrolled this area would likely not just be dismissed but dragged to torture chambers and then straight to the guillotine. Someone had to take responsibility for this.

Thinking about how far the responsibility would extend sent chills down spines, but it was also terrifyingly appalling.

How insane would someone have to be to carry out something like this?

This might not be just terrorists, but an organization harboring massive madness.

Gulp…

The knight couldn’t hide his fear, wondering what bloodshed would befall the royal capital in the future.

“—Incompetent fools, they still don’t understand anything.”

Meanwhile, a high priest observing all this leisurely couldn’t hide his contempt.

How could they be so pathetic?

“We’ve taken on their sins, yet they don’t even realize that? How ignorant, how ignorant.”

“…Wouldn’t it be more surprising if they did know, Captain?”

Another priest spoke as if reproaching his superior’s ridiculous statement.

“I might understand if there was even skin left, but how would they know these bones belonged to criminals who deserved to die? I wish I had such talent, haha.”

“Such an impertinent fellow! With enough devotion, one could discern that much!”

“That seems impossible…”

The two priests were having a casual conversation, sitting on the building’s roof observing people.

As if they were certain they wouldn’t be discovered despite the massive forces below.

“Well, they’ll find out soon enough. That a large number of prisoners have gone missing from the prisons. …If they don’t realize even that much, perhaps we’re overestimating this kingdom.”

“They can’t be that incompetent. If they were, they would have collapsed long ago.”

“Hmm, is that really true?”

The lower priest seemed unconvinced.

A distrustful expression.

Normally, the high priest would have scolded him, but after briefly looking at his subordinate’s face, he remained silent.

After some silence had passed.

“Captain. We failed today after all.”

“Hmm.”

“The reprimand will probably be severe.”

“Indeed.”

“But if we keep moving forward step by step like this, won’t we eventually reach ‘salvation’ someday?”

“Of course.”

“Really? Then that’s fine, hehe!”

The lower priest knew that the captain he knew was not a man who told lies.

So his words would surely come true.

Therefore.

“That’s good enough. I’ll just believe in you, Captain.”

The priest conveyed his thoughts with a refreshing smile, and the next moment.

Crack-!

Space distorted.

The ‘mystery’ cast by the lower priest had been destroyed.

And intruders who had destroyed the mystery from outside surrounded them.

Whoosh!

Dozens of shadows appeared, demonstrating stealthy movement techniques.

Hwaak!

The aura they emitted created heat haze, which overlapped to form iron bars.

Materialized aura.

This proved that all fifty-plus individuals were powerful enough to be called champions of their domains.

These were experts who could easily serve as commanders or vice-commanders in any knight order of a major noble, and they had enough power to annihilate a margrave’s territory in half a day with strength to spare.

One might wonder who in the kingdom could raise so many powerful individuals, but the kingdom had two forces capable of nurturing such talent.

And the leader of one of those forces personally appeared.

“—19 years, I’ve been searching for you for a full 19 years.”

The one who appeared was a handsome young man.

Young.

But only in appearance, as his age had long passed sixty.

Inheriting the bloodline of the noble dragon, his youth and vigor remained undiminished, a swordsman who had never put down his sword in his 60 years of life.

At the same time, he was also one who rejected the dragon’s bloodline and inherited the guardianship of the sacred lake.

“-Duke Blake.”

The high priest murmured his name softly.

Blake de Vivian Galahad.

The current head of House Galahad, and the most excellent “suitable one” among all Galahad dukes in history.

The head responsible for one of the kingdom’s three great powers had personally appeared here.

“You didn’t show your face when your adopted daughter was in danger, but now you appear.”

“You must be incompetent. Well, that’s why you lost your woman so pathetically.”

Yet the two priests merely sneered despite the duke’s appearance.

No, they were mocking him.

A scene that made one wonder if they had any fear at all, despite being in a situation where they could die at any moment.

Woong!

The aura of the shadows grew fiercer.

Their statements, which dared to insult their master and the late lady, were enough to inflame the anger of the loyal shadows.

However, conversely.

“Yes, I am incompetent.”

The duke showed no emotional change.

Rather, he was excessively calm.

“I am an incompetent man who couldn’t protect my woman, a ruthless father forced by fate to test and doubt his own daughter. And though I’m nothing but a ‘vengeful ghost’ obsessed with revenge, who might go mad at any moment…!”

Crunch!

…Though his expression remained cold, the aura he emitted was anything but.

Rather, it was a terrifying killing intent capable of burning everything around him, melting even the building.

“I will discover the truth even if I have to stake everything I have.”

Crack, crack!

“……”

“…Kuhek.”

As if their earlier provocations had been a lie, they remained silent.

No, they couldn’t speak.

The oppressive force like a fire demon emitted by the duke was not just crushing them but tearing their flesh and breaking their bones.

This was just from his aura alone, and the two priests finally realized.

Their opponent….

“…So the rumors that he’s the most talented suitable one for the magic sword in history weren’t false.”

Was the strongest Galahad in history.

Woong!

The heat haze visible around the duke was stronger than the combined aura of over fifty people, and it continued to rise.

And at some point, a sword appeared in the duke’s hand.

A longsword with no decoration, only emitting a blue light.

But this sword was none other than.

“I have so many questions for you.”

A magic sword said to possess the power to destroy nations.

<Magic Sword Lancelot>.

The lake’s magic sword emitted an ominous glow.