Chapter 44

At that same time.

Near the end of the world.

A knight rubbed his eyes as the swirling snow made it difficult to see.

“A talking monster? Something like that exists?”

The Kreutz family sent knights to patrol beyond the end of the world once every day.

And that was when the topic came up again—the talking monster someone claimed to have discovered earlier.

“I’m telling you, I really heard it!”

“Yeah. If it had been a false report, we’d have been in serious trouble. That’s why we came back out here.”

Because of the fellow knight who insisted on reporting such ridiculous nonsense, he had ended up trudging through this snowy wasteland all over again.

This was the habitat of the Alosini.

These creatures resembled four-legged beasts and were as large as lions, but because they did not travel in packs, they were manageable opponents.

Sweat began forming inside the leather glove gripping his sword.

It was around the time the Alosini usually appeared.

“If there really is a talking monster like you said, maybe we should try talking to it.”

That was when it happened.

Beyond the curtain of snow obstructing their vision, a massive figure began prowling around.

An Alosini.

The knights exchanged glances and quietly spread out in a fan formation as they approached it.

“Khyaaak!”

The Alosini, which had been wandering around normally, suddenly twisted violently after being struck by something.

It looked like a small syringe had been embedded in its body.

But where had it come from?

One startled knight quickly looked around.

Someone who had fired the needle leapt down the cliffside at high speed.

Judging from the silhouette, it was not one of the Kreutz knights.

But that was not the real problem.

KAAAAAAH—!

With a scream sharp enough to pierce their eardrums, the Alosini suddenly lunged at the knights.

A short while later.

Calypse pulled a syringe from the damp fur of the Alosini, now soaked with blood.

“...It appears to be the same madness enhancer that was discovered during the previous heir selection trial.”

At the knight’s report, he recalled Aisha’s words.

‘I know what this is. This is a madness enhancer manufactured by the Pose family.’

A drug created by the Pose family.

Don’t tell me those bastards....

He had long known that the Pose family conducted various experiments using the power of poison.

But those experiments had been intended for warfare between kingdoms, not for killing monsters.

And even those plans had ultimately collapsed because of the monsters.

Once the Kreutz family raised the ice barrier and saved humanity from the monsters, the Kingdom of Doctia had unofficially ceased its wars.

Which meant the idea of developing drugs specifically for monsters was something he had never even imagined.

Calypse frowned deeply and rose from his seat.

“What is happening with Marquis Lilith?”

“We are attempting to force answers out of him through interrogation, but he refuses to speak to the end.”

“Increase the intensity. Dunk his face into boiling water. If that still doesn’t work, rip out his fingernails. Just don’t kill him to the point he can’t talk.”

“Understood.”

What exactly was the Pose family trying to accomplish?

What benefit was there in driving monsters into madness?

That was when it happened.

“An Alosini!”

The surrounding knights shouted warnings and immediately took combat stances.

Calypse also casually walked forward and drew his sword from its sheath.

Thunk—!

From the front.

Thunk.

No, from behind them.

“Kiyaaaah!”

The Alosini that had suddenly been struck by something began unleashing deafening roars as they collapsed.

“Th-they’ve been injected with madness enhancers!”

“Everyone stay focused and defend yourselves!”

“But there’s not just one or two Alosini!”

Horrifying roars began echoing around them in a cruel harmony.

What exactly are you trying to do, Duke Pose?

Calypse’s gaze narrowed coldly over the sword he had drawn.

***

At that same time.

In the garden of the royal consort’s palace in the Frozen Kingdom.

Hmm.

I glanced toward the terrace not far away.

They were still huddled around the tea table, talking nonstop for over an hour about something apparently serious.

Especially Knox, who was stroking his chin with a dark expression.

Something definitely seemed wrong.

What’s going on?

They probably decided the topic was too dangerous for a child like me to hear and sent me away.

“Baby. What do you think is happening? Should we secretly eavesdrop?”

At my words, the baby, who had been rolling around in the grass, tilted its head.

“Nyoh—?”

The baby’s eyes shimmered beautifully beneath the warm sunlight of the capital.

After drinking the eye-color transformation potion, it looked like an ordinary cat, but I knew better.

The baby’s eyes were absolutely not normal up close.

Not just the eyes, either.

It felt like I was looking at something with intelligence on the same level as mine.

Come to think of it, that really was strange.

The baby listened to me far too well.

A normal cat would sit on a table and knock things over.

Sit on a bed and knock things over.

Sit on a cat tower and knock things over... wouldn’t it?

That was when it happened.

“......?”

I suddenly felt an intense stare, as though someone were trying to bore a hole into the back of my head.

“Who’s there?”

I whipped my head around, but all I could see were beautiful flowers and trees.

But still—

Sparkle sparkle—

I definitely felt it.

Those are the same glitter beams I send out whenever I’m desperate...?

Drawn by the strangely familiar sparkles, I looked around.

“...Jjiik?”

Underneath the bench.

A rat poked its face out from between blooming rose stems, shooting desperate glitter beams at me.

It was a messenger rat.

“Gasp, little rat!”

I hurriedly scooped the baby into my arms.

“Baby. You mustn’t eat that little rat, okay?”

“Mya?”

The baby’s eyes narrowed into thin lines after suddenly getting trapped in my arms.

The baby stared at the terrified rat with complete disinterest before twitching its nose.

“Pteh—”

“...Did you just go pteh-ptheh?”

It looked like the baby was saying it would not eat the rat even if offered one.

Seriously, what a weird cat.

Anyway, this messenger rat would keep following me until it delivered its message.

It would be better to check it quickly and send it away instead of pretending not to notice.

“Little rat, shh.”

The moment I shushed it, the rat immediately hid its face behind the roses.

“Mai.”

“Yes, Lady Aisha.”

When I called out, Mai smiled and answered while chatting with one of the servants.

“I’m gonna play tag with the baby. Can we run around from heeere all the way toooo over there?”

“Over there” referred to the area inside the white fence surrounding the garden.

Mai rose slightly from her chair and measured the distance with her eyes.

She seemed to be deciding whether she could still keep watch over me while seated.

“It shouldn’t be dangerous, right?”

Mai asked one of the royal servants.

The servant burst into hearty laughter, as though the concern itself was ridiculous.

“This is all private property belonging to the royal consort’s palace. Royal knights are guarding the area, and the knights of the royal consort’s palace already know Lady Aisha is here. It’ll be safe.”

“Hmm. In that case...”

Mai nodded before warning me.

“Lady Aisha. Even so, you still need to be careful. Just in case, how about playing tag only once before coming back?”

I was only going to check the message and return anyway, so I nodded.

“Okaaay! We’ll only play once and come right back!”

With a little heave, I hugged the baby once more and lowered my gaze toward the rat, signaling with my head.

Little rat, follow me.

Jjik!

The rat saluted with a rice-grain-sized front paw—where had it even learned that?—before hurrying after me.

After walking along the beautiful garden path for a while, I finally crouched down.

“This should be far enough away that they won’t notice what I’m doing. Little rat, come out.”

“Jjiik... jjiik....”

The rat, whose front paws had been trembling while nervously watching the baby, cautiously approached me.

It looked painfully inexperienced.

“Little rat. This is your first time working as a messenger rat, isn’t it?”

Somehow, I felt bad for it.

Even last time, when it came while I was with Father, Knox noticed it and the poor thing got caught in the crossfire.

And today it was terrified all over again.

Feeling sympathetic, I decided to encourage it.

“I’ve already retired, but... I worked in that field for years, so I know this much. If you want to survive as a messenger rat, you can’t be afraid of cats.”

Maybe I sounded like an old nag, but advice was the only encouragement I could offer.

“The ground’s dirt, so you won’t need paper. Here, use this twig.”

The moment I placed the twig into the rat’s tiny front paws—

“Jjiik... jjiik....”

Taking my advice seriously, the rat scrunched up its pitiful little nose and began scribbling something down.