Chapter 8 (Part 5)

Erzen was caught in a dilemma over whether it was right to receive payment for the anticlimactic end to the territorial war. There were no knights from Fedeurus challenging him, which made him feel melancholic.

He had a desire to fight strong people. Eventually, led by this desire, Erzen said to Anthus,

“Yan, how about crossing swords after a long time?”

“I must hurry back and embrace my lovely Lia.”

Anthus’ sappy remark was enough to freeze those around him. Erzen, too, grimaced and asked Anthus with a disgusted face,

“What?”

“If you want to spar with me, get permission from my Lia first. My body is no longer just my own.”

Erzen wore a tired expression. Ultimately, Erzen crossed swords with Greta and Greni, the captains of the Rockbellion family knights.

However, what Erzen truly wanted was a duel with Anthus. But as soon as the negotiation for the territorial war ended, Anthus went straight into the room where Yuliana was.

Erzen carefully polished his sword, waiting for Anthus to come out. He was excited at the thought of crossing swords with Anthus after getting permission from Yuliana.

But neither Yuliana nor Anthus showed any intention of coming out of the room all day.

“Didn’t they hold the territorial war on purpose? To play lovey-dovey in the room with his fiancée? Why aren’t they coming out of the room at all!”

Because of the sulking Erzen, Anton stayed outside, and Maid Luda stayed by Erzen’s side.

“Mr. Erzen… Please calm down.”

“Miss Luda! Aren’t you worried about the Young Lady you serve? That Yan fellow is like a beast who knows no bounds…!”

“But the Duke isn’t someone who would force the young lady if she didn’t like it. He’s always so mindful of her. He even told me directly that he lives holding onto her hand.”

“My father… lived holding onto my mother’s hand too. I also plan to live like that when I get married.”

Blushing, Erzen said, looking at Luda, who was smiling at him.

“By any chance… do you have any plans to marry, Miss Luda?”

“If I meet a good person, I would like to. But I don’t want to leave the Young Lady’s side… I hope to meet someone who would accept and understand that.”

“I see.”

When Erzen met Luda’s gaze, he felt an inexplicable shyness and averted his eyes.

“By any chance, what is your ideal type, Miss Luda?”

Blushing, Erzen asked, and Luda smiled as if finding him cute.

“Mr. Erzen, your face looks just like a tomato.”

Erzen adjusted his posture and looked at Luda.

“A tomato?”

“Yes. A cute, round tomato.”

Erzen squeezed his eyes shut. His whole body felt embarrassed by Luda’s words. For someone to call him cute and adorable like a tomato despite his rugged appearance… He felt his heart pounding intensely.

Luda chuckled and approached Erzen, gently touching his cheek.

“My favorite food is tomatoes, Mr. Erzen.”

From that day on, Erzen went around declaring that he would become a tomato. Anton looked at Erzen with pity.

And the day when Sword Master Erzen joined as the first captain of the Rockbellion knights is a story for a slightly distant future.

* * *

Cloud looked displeasedly at Anthus, who was smiling brightly in Cloud’s private drawing-room. While Cloud was buried in paperwork day and night without even time to play with Monica, someone else had gone on a trip under the guise of a territorial war with his fiancée.

“Did you enjoy your trip? Your face looks bright.”

Anthus smiled even more brightly and replied to Cloud in a tone suggesting not to misunderstand.

“Oh, Your Majesty, when did you arrive?”

“I’ve been here since a while ago.”

“I was so lost in thoughts of my fiancée that I didn’t realize Your Majesty had arrived. Please forgive my rudeness.”

“You look like you’re dying of happiness.”

“I just want to hold the wedding ceremony quickly and go on a honeymoon.”

“Don’t tease me.”

“I didn’t mean to tease.”

Cloud had been too busy lately to spend time with Monica.

When he finally got to be alone with her after a long time, he tried to pull the ‘just holding hands and sleeping’ card but was denied. While he was yearning for Monica to the point of digging a hole in the ground, Anthus was blooming with happiness like a beautifully blossomed flower, making Cloud jealous.

“Do you not remember, Your Majesty, a few years ago, when you showed me several romance plays with Empress Monica? Did you forget how you didn’t care about me watching beside you?”

“The story of Moca and me was an intense romance. If it had been published as a book, it would have been an incredibly popular beautiful love story.”

Cloud smiled, twitching the corners of his mouth. Anthus looked at Cloud with a cold gaze.

“It was truly a dangerous and thrilling love back then.”

Anthus remembers clearly. To protect Cloud, who couldn’t handle a sword, Monica wielded one in his stead.

She, being an elite assassin from a competent family, naturally handled a sword well. And Cloud, whenever Monica wielded a sword, would panic, saying it was dangerous. Monica avoided Cloud, who was being overly dramatic, and Cloud chased her. They were an incredibly clingy couple.

“Your Majesty, you didn’t call me to listen to your intense love story, did you?”

“That’s right.”

“I’ve heard some of the story. A new type of monster appeared in the capital during the territorial war.”

During the territorial war with the Fedeurus family, a new type of monster appeared in the capital. Fortunately, the wizards who were mass-producing flame scrolls at the request of the Rockbellion family provided the magic scrolls to the Imperial Knights, making it not too difficult to subdue the monster.

“Yes. There was a huge commotion while you were absent, Yan, having gone on a trip with your fiancée.”

“It wasn’t a trip; it was a territorial war.”

“So shameless… Tsk.”

Cloud clicked his tongue and told the chamberlain to call Wizard Matthew, who had participated in the battle.

“Thanks to the pre-made flame scrolls and Lord Phillip and Lady Frey, there were no significant casualties… But strange rumors are spreading among those who saw the monsters.”

“What rumors, Your Majesty?”

“Although the knights and imperial wizards defeated them, rumors are spreading that Pope Rybid subdued the monsters with holy power. That’s not the truth… I let the rumors spread to avoid causing confusion among the people, as the monsters are unaffected by holy power.”

“You did well.”

“The ones who truly struggled were the knights and wizards… but Pope Rybid is being hailed as a hero, which I don’t like.”

“I think a financial reward along with Your Majesty’s encouragement would be sufficient for those who worked hard.”

“But there’s still a lot to be done. Yan, you need to help.”

Knock, knock.

A knock was heard, and Wizard Matthew entered.

“Hello…”

“Skip the greetings and quickly explain yesterday’s events to the Duke.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

Matthew swallowed nervously, looking at Anthus, and began to speak.

“The incident occurred at noon when the sun was shining brightly. We received an unbelievable report that corpses were crawling up from the ground in the capital, and we rushed there with the knights.”

Matthew vividly remembered that day. No, it was an experience akin to hell that he would never forget in his life.

The capital turned into chaos as a new type of monster broke through the ground in the plaza. People screamed and fled, and there were those who were injured or killed by the new monsters.

Matthew and the wizards distributed the flame scrolls they had to the knights. Through the collaboration of knights and wizards, they gradually subdued the new monsters. However, the number of new monsters emerging from the ground continued to increase. Among the people fleeing for their lives, Matthew only stared at the monsters emerging from the ground.

The knights struggled to protect the people. However, the saliva of the new monsters corroded the armor and flesh of the knights, and the ground where the saliva landed turned black. They had only heard about the new monsters, but fighting them proved to be more dangerous than expected. 

There were about 40 to 50 new monsters… and the number kept increasing as they crawled up from the ground. Even with artifacts and scrolls to replenish magic power, they had to use Fireball of 3rd Circle or higher, and if buildings caught fire, they had to extinguish it with water magic.

“It was terrifying. Fortunately, Lady Frey and Lord Phillip arrived later and saved us. I really thought I was going to die.”

Frey wielded her sword and began cutting through the new monsters with sword energy, slicing off the attached flesh. Thanks to her, Matthew was able to burn the monsters with small fire magic without burning people or buildings, minimizing damage.

The appearance of the two brought hope as they continued to subdue the monsters. However… the number of monsters did not decrease at all. They kept emerging from the ground. Both those fighting the monsters and those fleeing, as well as the knights evacuating people, began to grow weary. It was then.

“Pope Rybid appeared and used the holy spell attack ‘Holy Sanctuary.’ Holy Sanctuary is one of the strongest holy attack spells that can heal the wounds of everyone within a 1 km radius chosen by the Pope and annihilate monsters.”

Matthew’s brow began to furrow.

“People cheered, seeing Pope Rybid appear and heal people… but I, along with other wizards, broke out in cold sweats seeing monsters unaffected by Holy Sanctuary.”

“Still, thanks to those who bravely stepped forward knowing that holy power was ineffective, major chaos was avoided.”

“Your Majesty is correct. If Pope Rybid hadn’t appeared… the new monsters would have entered the Imperial Palace.”

“So, I’m curious, Matthew. What kind of magic did you cast on Pope Rybid that made all the monsters disappear?”

Matthew recalled the events of that day when Cloud asked. He wiped the sweat from his forehead.

“Invisibility magic.”

“Invisibility magic? Invisibility magic is…”

“It’s a magic that erases a person’s presence. It’s a type of magic often used by assassins to erase their presence. As soon as I cast the invisibility spell on Pope Rybid, the new monsters disappeared. It was a tough decision to speak up. The new monsters were chasing Pope Rybid.”

“The monsters chasing Pope Rybid…”

“Matthew, if the invisibility magic is undone… Are you certain that the new monsters are appearing because of Rybid?”

“I’m not certain, but the fact that the new monsters chased him is true, and as soon as his presence was erased, the monsters disappeared. What I can say for sure is that the monsters’ target is the Pope.”

Anthus felt as though a puzzle was about to be completed, but he couldn’t figure out the last piece of the puzzle.

“What are you thinking so deeply about?”

Cloud asked, seeing Anthus, who was lost in thought while stroking his chin.

“I’ll tell you when my thoughts are organized.”

“Do that. I’m also perplexed. But we can’t just sit by idly…”

The wrinkles on Cloud’s brow deepened.