Seal Release (1)

Heikel Republic.

Capital city Heines.

In the former royal palace with a white base and jade-colored roof, now the Senate Speaker’s residence.

Senate Speaker Burgo sighed deeply.

‘Lost contact, huh.’

He was well aware of Silver Wings’ disloyalty.

Those bastards were always investigating Burgo’s weaknesses behind his back.

He deliberately didn’t show it.

Silver Wings couldn’t access truly sensitive information anyway.

And revealing that he knew would only result in a cornered Silver Wings rebelling.

“It’s not… betrayal, right?”

But their families are still in the republic.

Even the coldest-blooded person becomes docile when a knife is held to their parents’ or spouse and children’s necks.

Knowing this, Burgo assessed the possibility of Silver Wings’ betrayal as low.

“Then the only remaining possibility is that they were annihilated.”

All Silver Wings members and the recently created tactical weapons made by grinding countless souls were deployed.

“That’s impossible.”

He couldn’t believe that so many personnel were decimated by just one person, Count Kaidel.

Didn’t he see it with his own eyes at the demonstration?

The monster easily subdued three paladins.

The Senate Speaker gathered the remaining intelligence network to collect information on the Etrion Kingdom.

After all,

For the Heikel Republic, surrounded by potential enemy states on three sides,

Information on Sergafilt, Cragent, and the Holy Spirit Realm was the top priority.

Thus, information on the distant Etrion, which they had little to do with, was relatively weak.

The next day.

Burgo had no choice but to accept a shocking report.

“A hero who defeated demon worshippers appeared in Serdin, and this is very reliable information?”

He slammed the desk, saying it was nonsense, but.

He immediately agreed after reading the next page.

-Drove out Baron Roan, who controlled the underworld of the free city, in just one day.

-Contributed to the arrest of Councilor Enfield, the head of Serdin City Council and a black magician.

-The closest confidant of the current Mayor of Serdin.

-Has connections with the Sharian Count family, second only to the royal family in power in Etrion, and a large mana stone vein was discovered in the fief transferred from them.

-Single-handedly eliminated 3 monster colonies and the demon worshipper Targan from the mana stone vein.

-Directly prevented a demon summoning ritual in the royal capital and defeated two more demon worshippers.

-The Etrion royal family has become his strong backing. According to secret rumors, the king has marked him as a potential son-in-law for his beloved youngest princess.

-Presumed to have subjugated the reclusive bridge of the citizen faction, that nasty Count Kaidel, under his command.

When he confirmed the desperate annotation that said “Despite mobilizing over 300 Silver Wings members and test subjects, it is understood that the target suffered no damage at all,”

The number one contributor who put him in the Senate Speaker’s seat.

His reliable instinct shouted loudly.

“We’re doomed.”

This is really dangerous.

“You idiots! You should have checked where that old man had crawled off to first!”

Of course, all of this is Silver Wings’ responsibility.

These so-called special forces neglected to investigate the opponent connected to Count Kaidel, and as a result, didn’t the republic turn a formidable person into an enemy?

It certainly wasn’t because Burgo himself had repeatedly urged to send Kaidel’s head to Heines as soon as possible.

Anyway, that’s how it was.

“Now that things have gone awry like this…”

He pressed a button installed under the desk.

Then, a woman with light blonde hair burst through the door and entered the speaker’s office.

“You called?”

“I need to go meet Peniola. Please prepare the carriage.”

“Understood.”

“Ah, and!”

Burgo added as he put on his hat.

“Rogi, tell that woman it’s time to fulfill her duty.”

The experienced Senate Speaker decided to prepare for both compromise and confrontation.

“Ughekk!”

“S-Sorry!”

“If you’re… sorry… let go first!”

It’s a rare sight to see Hwaryon angry.

And to be choked by Elyssia to the point of gagging.

Ethan, who had momentarily set aside his wish for the birth of an awesome physical saint, thought rationally.

‘Wasn’t Elyssia originally not this kind of character?’

Recalling how terrible and forced her end was, Ethan shook his head.

If she had been this strong, she wouldn’t have succumbed when the paladins forcibly poured poison into her mouth.

She would have beaten them up and escaped.

‘Surely there’s nothing wrong with her body?’

As far as Ethan knew, and as far as the children knew,

Elyssia’s strength wasn’t this powerful.

Just in case, he dug up the ‘docile mandrake’ that Levi had planted and held it up to Elyssia, but.

-Snore…

It was sleeping peacefully, just like when it was underground.

‘It’s not a curse.’

Then what kind of side effect could it be?

It was utterly incomprehensible.

“Well, isn’t it good if it’s good?”

“I… guess so?”

Julius snickered as he reported that Elyssia had even thrown Sir Rashid with a shoulder throw, and

Ethan gave a hollow laugh.

[The World Tree’s root conveys its opinion that there doesn’t seem to be any major abnormality.]

‘If you say so, it must really be true.’

But there’s no such thing as kindness without cost in this world,

And there’s no effect without a cause.

‘It’s good, but let’s keep watching for a bit longer.’

Thinking this,

He was about to return to his room, leaving the children playing well,

When he saw a familiar silhouette running from the end of the corridor.

“Eng.”

In an instant, she approached and hugged him tightly.

“Ethan-nim. I’m back.”

“Levi?”

Levi, who had left home, had returned.

Ethan took Levi to his room.

Although it was late, he had something to ask.

“I was surprised when you suddenly disappeared.”

“I’m sorry. There was an urgent call from my hometown.”

“You mean the forest? Is it safe?”

“Of course.”

Of course, Ethan was worried about the Forbidden Forest itself, where mysterious deaths frequently occurred, but.

‘To think you’d worry about your servant. How thoughtful.’

Levi interpreted it a bit differently.

Since it was Ethan who broke the curse of servitude,

She thought he was concerned that her hometown might find out about it.

But even if they did find out,

“There’s nothing that can harm me.”

She had the ability to dispose of them all.

“Is that so? That’s good then.”

‘Are the villagers in the forest not affected?’

Thanks to this, misunderstandings were steadily accumulating between them.

“Was there any trouble in the village?”

“No, there was a small misunderstanding, but I resolved it well.”

‘Well, the period was too long to say it was just a brief departure.’

It had been several months since he had brought her along, almost seducing her with a skill close to hypnotic brainwashing.

Anyone would be worried if an underage girl was following a complete stranger.

“I won’t need to return to my hometown for a while. I explained everything well to Grandfather.”

“Is your grandfather not ill or anything?”

It was just casual concern, but

Levi again misinterpreted it strangely.

‘Is he perhaps saying that Grandfather is in the way?’

So should she make him sick or

Intentionally let him die of illness.

Levi was oddly misconstruing Ethan’s words.

“He’s fine now, but he’s old, so no one knows when he might fall ill.”

Levi’s eyes and tone were a bit fierce, but

He let it pass since she said there was no trouble for now.

They talked about various other things like that, and

Levi’s hometown village in the Forbidden Forest felt very much like a hidden stage.

“There’s a concealment veil around the village. It’s rare for outsiders to discover and enter.”

‘Ah, so that’s the setting. Like a minority group living carefully hidden in a remote area.’

Instead, Ethan guessed they would be beings with magic or technology slightly more advanced than the outside, safe from the forest’s threats.

It was a common cliché after all.

He wanted to ask more, but

Because deep darkness had settled in Levi’s eyes,

“Are you tired? Let’s rest for today and talk again tomorrow.”

“Thank you for your consideration, Ethan-nim.”

He sent Levi away.

No, to be precise, he was about to send her away.

“!”

Levi pounced on Ethan with her eyes wide open, and

-Crash!

Until the moment right after, when one side of the wall was completely blown away.

“Wow~!”

“It’s pretty!”

“The fabric is so soft too!”

All of Gwen’s clothes were delivered to the mansion.

The children, wondering what it was, followed the servants carrying the luggage, and

Finally, they drooled at the sight of the gorgeous clothes neatly arranged in one corner of Gwen’s room.

“Would you like to try them on if it’s okay?”

“Is that alright?”

“Yeah, honestly it’s too much for one person to wear alone.”

And Gwen, feeling somehow guilty towards Ethan for monopolizing all of it herself.

So, using the break before bedtime, the children’s fashion show began.

“Isn’t this pretty?”

“It suits you well.”

Hwaryon in a pitch-black dress exuded a different aura, and

“Why is the structure of this outfit like this?”

“Ah, that…”

Ponya in a bunny girl costume complained that the clothes kept slipping off.

When Gwen wore it, she felt like dying of embarrassment, but Ponya seemed to have a different complaint.

They also had fun trying on western-style jackets and long skirts on Borka,

And putting Kenny in a maid outfit.

If Ethan had seen it, he would have grinned, saying the characters were automatically coordinating after he bought the clothes.

But,

“Elyssia. Are you okay?”

“Hm? Y-Yeah.”

Only Elyssia wasn’t participating and was crouched down.

“You’re not sick, are you?”

“No, it’s not that…”

Elyssia answered with a worried face.

“I can’t gauge how strong I am right now. I might tear the clothes.”

The clothes Ethan bought.

There was no child here who didn’t know their value.

So she had to be more careful.

“It’s okay, it’s okay. I’ll help you put them on.”

“Hw-Hwaryon?”

Hwaryon giggled and clung to Elyssia.

‘Revenge for all those times!’

With the intention of teasing her a bit to get back at her this time, she yanked off Elyssia’s white priestess robe.

“Kyaa!”

“Don’t you get tired of always wearing that white priestess robe?”

“You always wear that outfit too.”

“Th-This! It’s because it’s the first clothes Ethan-nim bought for me!”

Anyway, the fact remained that they were both one-outfit ladies.

“A-Anyway! Let’s try on some different clothes this time.”

She put a pitch-black long dress on her.

Compared to the priestess robe that didn’t show body curves well, this one revealed Elyssia’s slender figure nicely.

Borka, who was munching on cookies.

Kenny, who was reading a book in a maid outfit.

Gwen, who had returned to men’s clothes as usual, saying it was more comfortable.

They all praised her in unison.

“It suits you well.”

“G-Guys?”

Elyssia, who hadn’t been complimented much on her appearance yet, covered her face with both hands in embarrassment.

At that moment, Hwaryon shouted.

“No! It’s still not enough!”

“What’s not enough?”

“That!”

“The necklace?”

The golden cross necklace that Elyssia always wears.

The argument was that it was too big and clunky to match.

“If she just takes that off, it would be perfect.”

“Hmm, that makes sense.”

“I think so too. It’s too big to match well.”

“The necklace is off-limits. I was told to always wear it.”

“By whom?”

“The priest.”

Elyssia murmured softly while touching the necklace.

“He told me to always wear it.”

“Can’t you take it off just for a moment?”

“Umm?”

“You took it off when bathing last time, right? Nothing happened, did it?”

“That’s… true?”

Elyssia was gradually being disarmed by Hwaryon’s persuasion.

Finally, the persuasion worked.

“Alright.”

Elyssia took off the necklace and

Stood in front of the full-length mirror.

And then,

“What’s this, wearing such a pretty dress for a change?”

A completely different voice was heard.

“!!!”

The children were startled and quickly backed away.

Then,

Elyssia, no, the being that wasn’t Elyssia, turned around slightly and said,

“Hello? It’s the first time greeting you directly. Nice to meet you.”

“You… what are you?”

The snow-white hair had turned pitch black.

The clear blue eyes had changed to deep red.

She grinned.

“I’m not going to tell you.”

Simultaneously,

Dense evil energy erupted from her body.