RGS Vol 4 Part 23

A clear name flowed from his mouth. The pressure of the name ‘Abel’ seemed to tear through the air around the three of them. It made them think it would have been better if he had shouted or gotten angry. At least then, they could have lied on the floor and begged instead of being unable to move even a finger.

However, Karas’ dry voice didn’t reveal any emotions. Which made it even more terrifying. Asking about Abel’s whereabouts so casually, knowing that they were aware of his existence. On the surface, he seemed calm, but they all felt like walking on a tightrope over a cliff.

“Where is Abel?”

“…Your Majesty.”

“Abel. Tell me where he is.”

“Your Majesty, Lord Abel is…”

Ashler couldn’t continue his words and bit his lower lip hard. He ended up distorting his face, unable to meet Karas’ gaze. Karas slowly tilted his head to the side and muttered.

“Your father is still alive, right?”

As Ashler opened his eyes in surprise, an indifferent voice continued.

“If you can’t answer, then kill your father with your own hands.”

“!”

“Then next will be your brother.”

Ashler opened his mouth hastily, however, his stammering words were unlike his usual self.

“Your Majesty, Lord Abel woke up last night at the quarters and came to see Your Majesty, but…”

“He, he burned to death!”

The sudden shout made Ashler and Roster’s faces turn pale with shock.

Whish, whish.

They both quickly turned their heads to look at the Commander of the Royal Guards, who was the source of the voice. His face was also pale, but he seemed determined to speak as he turned to Karas.

“Lord Abel was mistaken for one of their Regas’ by someone from the King’s Heart and was captured. However, the King’s Heart, to keep the war profiteer in check gathered all the Regas’ in one place and burned them to death, to kill them all. H-*Huff*…”

The Commander of the Royal Guards suddenly began to tremble all over and stepped back as if he couldn’t breathe, even though no one had touched him. Karas had simply locked eyes with him, his gray eyes now like those of a snake.

“…Who died?”

⊹˚. ♡.𖥔 ݁ ˖ ⊹˚. ♡.𖥔 ݁ ˖

The scene of the fire still reeked of a smoky smell. Except for one place, the bodies had been cleared, and the area was gradually being cleaned up, but the ground was still covered with black soot. And in one spot, which Ashler had ordered not to be cleared, someone had been sitting in front of it since morning and wailing the whole time.

The person calling out the name of the Young Master with a completely exhausted voice was the butler. Beside him, Melmond only stared blankly at the sky with a vacant expression. Nani couldn’t bring himself to tell them that they had to leave, as he watched over them with a heart full of pity.

Soldiers nearby kept glancing over as if they found the situation strange. Though he had secretly brought the two here because they were so eager to come, Ashler hadn’t given his permission. But seeing them so overcome with grief, unable to move, he couldn’t bring himself to tell them to leave. Nani approached Melmond, who at least wasn’t crying, and spoke to him with difficulty.

“Sir Melmond, if we stay here too long, the other soldiers will find it strange. Fortunately, Norhox’s men left the camp early this morning, but we still need to be careful.”

“Be careful?”

Melmond weakly asked, then turned his gaze to Nani.

“There’s no meaning in being careful anymore, so what’s the point of being careful?”

“Sir Melmond.”

“Without Abel, I am just a useless existence. I’m just someone who stays at home and sells cheap medicine, trying to find an antidote. I couldn’t even find the antidote. The least I could do was protect Abel.”

Melmond’s toneless voice sounded strangely sadder than the butler’s crying. Just as Nani was about to offer some words of comfort, a presence was felt from behind along with Melmond’s whisper. Quickly standing up and turning around, they saw the emperor with a blank expression walking into the ruins. Nani, with a frightened face, bowed and recalled Melmond’s whisper from a moment ago.

‘How should I face him?’

However, this problem seemed like it could be postponed until later. Melmond burst into tears as soon as he saw Karas, the butler who fell to the ground and wailed uncontrollably, and the blackened corpse in front of them. Karas slowly shifted his gaze to the three of them and finally stopped at the end and stared down for a while.

Everyone’s gaze turned to Karas, waiting for his reaction as if even the wind had stopped. The heavy silence filled the void of time with darkness. After a moment, the world began to move again. The butler’s suppressed sobbing resumed, and Melmond’s vacant eyes returned. This was because Karas only turned his back and walked away from the corpse.

The commanders who followed him looked at each other’s faces in confusion and hurriedly chased after Karas. They didn’t expect a violent reaction, however, to just look at the corpse briefly and turn away was unexpected. Moreover, his expression was no different from usual, even showing signs of boredom.

‘Does he not believe it?’

The suspicion Ashler had as he followed him changed when they arrived at his quarters. He picked up the document of the King’s Heart that had fallen next to the table and examined it again. His demeanor was the same as always, causing Roster and the Commander of the Royal Guards to exchange puzzled looks, while Ashler vaguely felt a strange sense of foreboding.

He recalled the child who had silently gone about his duty as if nothing had happened. The child who followed others’ words like a puppet with his eyes bandaged, but the only thing he refused was food. Food that the King’s Heart had drugged. The child who had closed his heart to everything and only reacted to the King’s Heart overlapped with the Karas in front of him.

What made this inexplicable feeling clear was the sudden flames on the table. The documents spread out on the table suddenly burst into flames and soared high as if it would burn the ceiling of the quarters. Startled, Roster and the Commander of the Royal Guards quickly approached and extinguished the fire, however, Ashler couldn’t take his eyes off Karas.

Karas, who was looking at the burning documents with narrowed eyes, caught a glimpse of Ashler. As their eyes met, Ashler’s heart sank and a slight chill passed through his body. The child who had been banished to exile 12 years ago and had just breathed like a living doll looked at him and gave him an order.

“Bring the war profiteer and Kin.”

⊹˚. ♡.𖥔 ݁ ˖ ⊹˚. ♡.𖥔 ݁ ˖

Kin confirmed that the target he was chasing had stopped at a small inn. He hid his horse in the forest and approached on foot to avoid being detected. It seemed that Norhox had driven everyone out of the inn as he entered, as rough complaints spilled from the mouths of the merchants passing by Kin.

“No, it’s too much to suddenly kick us out. We just wanted to have a meal.”

“At least we were lucky we only wanted to eat. What about that traveler who brought the man who was covered with all those injuries and had a swollen face? They got kicked out too.”

“Ah, right. That man. He must have suffered a lot, his appearance was beyond words.”

“He seemed to have just met the traveler by chance but he barely made it to the inn to rest. Poor things. We’re better off, after all.”

The voices of the two people moving away faintly continued. If it was certain that only Norhox’s group was the only one in the inn, the job would become easier. He intended to eliminate all of Norhox’s men. Kin placed his hand on his sword and glared at the distant inn with a fierce look.

Even if this method wasn’t the best, there was no other choice now. If he waited patiently like Ashler and the other commanders, they wouldn’t be able to eliminate the King’s Heart even in the next generation. In this case, it was better to eliminate at least one of them. Just cut off all of their heads. Then it will be over.

Kin lowered his body and hid among the bushes around the inn. Six or seven of Norhox’s soldiers were standing guard in the front and back. However, they were sitting on the ground, chatting carelessly, which seemed extremely lax. Since Norhox originally had a much larger number of soldiers, Kin inspected the back of the inn thoroughly.

Although there were noisy sounds coming from inside the inn, there couldn’t be that many soldiers inside, right?

However, looking from a distance, it seemed that there were fewer horses in the stable, so the rest might have gone somewhere else.

Norhox originally said he was going to bring a witness, so the rest might have really gone to bring one. Kin hid behind the back entrance of the building for a while and then moved forward to get closer. It was easier to approach the back of the inn, which was closer to the forest than the front which was an open space.

Especially, the three guards who had been drinking were sitting slumped against the wall, laughing and having a good time. Kin, trying not to make a sound, tightened his grip on his sword and took one step at a time. However, as he focused on the guards and approached near them, his body suddenly froze as he was about to take another step.

A chill ran down the back of his neck in an instant. His instincts, which had saved his life several times on the battlefield, warned him. It’s dangerous! Kin immediately stepped back. And when he took one step back and carefully inspected the ground, he saw something glistening. Amid the grass reaching up to his calves, he saw a sharp spearhead. Only then did Kin realize that traps had been set around the inn. And there was a voice confirming this realization.

“The Marquis was right. They are ignorant fools who only knows how to swing a sword, so they will chase after us without fear.”

With a voice from the forest, Norhox’s subordinate, who had been lying in ambush, revealed himself. Seemingly pleased that the bait had finally been taken after a long wait, the subordinate bared his teeth and laughed at Kin.

“Since we’re catching you anyway, it would be nice if you were a commander-level person.”