Episode 398

In a room in the Golden Palace, the Golden Lord heard the report from her subordinate and slowly tilted her head. She asked, "Is it a message from the punishment building?"

"That's right."

"What are the contents?"

"I'm not sure since the communication was poor..." The subordinate looked at his lord for a moment before saying cautiously, "It seemed to be news that a demon had appeared and overpowered the punishment building."

The Golden Lord didn't look surprised or flustered. There was no evidence, but she had expected that the Dark Church would act soon.

The subordinate said, "As long as you give the order, I will immediately dispatch troops to the punishment building."

The Golden Lord replied, "No. Just leave it alone."

"Huh?"

The Golden Lord said nothing.

"Ah, I'm sorry." The subordinate realized his lord's tendency to not repeat things twice and bowed his head in apology.

The Golden Lord slowly plucked a grape and rolled it in her mouth. The subordinate waited until she spoke again. "The commotion will subside tomorrow anyway. There is no need to make a fuss for nothing."

"But wouldn't that put the people in the punishment building in danger?"

The one who spoke wasn't the subordinate currently prostrating himself, but another subordinate standing behind the Golden Lord.

The Golden Lord said, "There are only around twenty guards working in the punishment building. The rest are all prisoners. Most of them are heinous criminals and it wouldn't be strange if they were executed right away."

"Even if it is just twenty people, we should save them if we can..."

"Besides, the working conditions of the punishment building should include hazard pay, right? This is why they were paid more than the other guards."

"But..."

"Or do you want to say that I have spent money on useless things?"

The subordinate's face turned pale and he fell silent.

The Golden Lord's most defining point was that she judged everything in the world by money and tolerated no objections to such decisions. To question her, one had to present sound reasoning as well as an alternative plan with equal or greater value. There was nothing more meaningless than appealing to this person using morality or ethics.

She continued, "If you are done with what you have to say, everyone should step back. I have a big event tomorrow. I want to rest a bit more today."

The subordinate struggled to swallow the words in his mouth before saying, "I understand."

Once her subordinates withdrew, the Golden Lord quietly drank alone.

Ludwig, who had been eavesdropping on their conversation, clicked his tongue. He had always known the imperial archdukes were all eccentrics, but he had to say that the Golden Lord didn't seem quite sane either. It felt like she had been possessed by the magic of gold.

In any case, the information was too important to ignore. Ludwig once again headed straight for Delac. However, he couldn't find the latter in the office where he usually stayed.

Where did he go? The puzzled Ludwig hesitated for a moment before heading to the basement.

Sure enough, he found Delac there. Then Ludwig tilted his head when he saw the prison cell. The bars had been cleanly severed as if sliced by a sword and the handcuffs were empty. The one who should've been imprisoned there was nowhere to be seen.

He asked, "Where did that witch go?"

Delac replied, "I missed her."

"You missed her... You?" Ludwig's voice was filled with disbelief, while Delac remained silent.

Ludwig watched the other person for a moment before finally murmuring, "Ah, you let her go on purpose. Certainly, there is no other way to dig deeper. Still, you are really amazing. I could never properly track those who use black magic like this—"

"What is your purpose for being here?"

"Mm." Ludwig scratched his head. "I overheard the conversation between the Golden Lord and her subordinates. It seems that an incident broke out at the punishment building."

He quickly summarized and explained the main points. A serious incident had occurred in the punishment building and it was now extremely dangerous. Most importantly...

"That is where your youngest son is infiltrating right now."

Delac said nothing. Ludwig asked, "What are you going to do?"

"Of course..." Delac trailed off. The words that had risen to his mouth scattered like mist.

Instead of trying to gather the scattered mist again, he turned to Ludwig Badniker, the son who had perhaps fought alongside him for the longest. He asked, "What would the Iron-Blooded Lord have done in a moment like this?"

Ludwig was taken aback by this rare and almost human question from his father, something he had never received in his life. He only managed to maintain his composure thanks to his characteristic thick skin.

Of course, he didn't forget to look at Delac's face before answering, wondering, What happened?

There was no readable expression on Delac's face. It was the same face that Ludwig knew, trusted, and followed. At the very least, it was impossible to find any inconsistency there. That was why he concluded that this question had to be a test as usual.

Ludwig thought for a moment before quickly replying, "If a demon had truly been summoned, the Iron-Blooded Lord's sword would naturally be aimed there. That is what he has always done."

"Then can I go right now?" Delac asked in an unusually quick tone.

Ludwig nearly burst out laughing. It was such an obvious trap. He might've been deceived if it had been ten years ago. He replied, "No. That would be the worst action and it could very well mean falling into the enemy's trap. You must absolutely not move hastily now."

Delac listened silently as Ludwig continued, "We don't know anything about the labor camp. The church had already inserted most of its core forces deep into the labor camp and is planning the demon king's descent. Nothing is more deadly on the battlefield than an information gap. So in the current situation, your presence is the only advantage we have."

Ludwig skipped to the conclusion while speaking, but in truth, he had already mentioned this earlier. They couldn't move hastily now. That was the judgment the Iron-Blooded Lord had to make now.

Delac said with a nod, "I see."

Ludwig saw that and asked cautiously, "Did I pass?"

"Pass?"

"Huh?"

"Ah." Delac said slowly, "Yes."

"How wonderful. Thank you."

"So even if I don't take the initiative myself, you can go and take a look at the situation, right?"

"That is exactly what I was going to suggest. I will be back shortly."

The moment Delac nodded, Ludwig disappeared. Left alone, Delac stood there for a moment, staring blankly. He looked at the iron bars he had cut and the prison cell beyond them. Strangely, the damp and dark place seemed comfortable.

He entered through the bars as if enchanted. He set foot directly in a place that could no longer perform the function of a prison. Even he didn't know what the meaning of the action was. He leaned his back against the wall of the prison and stared up at the ceiling.

Everyone had an image of him that they expected. His allies, the Golden Lord and her subordinates, the elders of the family, Archmage Assad, his family, and even his enemies all expected a certain version of Delac: the Iron-Blooded Lord.

He was definitely the Iron-Blooded Lord, but at the same time, he wasn't. He had once been that person but could no longer be him. Why was that?

Strangely, despite being in the scorching south, Delac suddenly felt cold.

***

It was strangely chilly.

"It looks like there will be a lot of rain," Seren muttered as she looked up at the gloomy sky.

Of course, it did rain in the desert. It came to this place more often than people thought. However, the total annual rainfall was terrible.

Seren closed her eyes while thinking about the sound of raindrops. Then in her mind, the appearance of the empty bar started to change. The clatter of dishes, cheerful lighting, and the faint aroma of cheese filled the air. There was a melody that completed the scene; it was pleasant to listen to.

Her fingers twitched and she tapped on the dry table as if touching the keys. She knew that 'Seren' didn't like this kind of appearance. However, it was inevitable to become emotional when the sky was heavy.

"Is that the Turkish March? I also like that song."

Seren opened her eyes. The nostalgia for her hometown that had been lingering for a moment disappeared like a burned candle. Before she knew it, an uninvited guest had come to the empty store.

Dorothy G... No, Dorothy Maniter was here.

Seren said bluntly, "I haven't seen you lately."

"Ah. There were many incidents. I moved hastily and things became twisted. It is said that experience is the best teacher. This is exactly what they mean."

Seren wasn't familiar with the proverb from a country across the sea. She looked at Dorothy and thought that something had definitely happened. It was evident because the always neatly dressed woman was a bit messy today.

She replied, "Is that so?"

"You look depressed. Did something happen?"

"I wanted to be alone, but an oblivious uninvited guest barged in. On top of that, she keeps talking, which is really annoying."

"Ahaha." Dorothy grabbed her stomach and burst out laughing.

Seren asked her, "So what's the matter? I'm a bit busy, so I would appreciate it if you would talk quickly."

"I know. Are you going to spend some time in the labor camp?"

Seren said nothing as Dorothy continued, "It would be better not to go there. To be precise, it would be best to get out of the south as soon as possible."

"Is this a warning?

"No. It is some advice from a person from the same region as you."

From the same region, my ass. Even her race is different.

Seren frowned. Despite wanting to make contact with the Abanaham Witch Society, she had ended up giving far too much information to this troublesome woman.

Well, I didn't come away empty-handed.

She said, "Thank you for the advice. If I ever leave this place, I will remember your advice and be deeply grateful."

"I guess I didn't persuade you well enough. Then how about this? I found a way to go to another world."

Seren paused, and Dorothy wiped the smile from her face before asking, "Why don't you come with me?"

***

It was hard to stop the guards from entering Tantata's mouth. These people seemed to think that the world would end if they didn't feed Tantata, so they headed to the top floor without caring about any hardships or obstacles. There was no way to stop them because if they were forcibly tied up or confined, they would immediately take their own lives.

In any case, if we left the situation alone, even the sane ones could die.

I sat in the infirmary and said to Verita, "I think I'll have to fight tonight."

"Isn't it too early?"

"That is true. However, a massacre will happen if we don't get out of here as soon as possible."

Today was the last day of the break. Tomorrow would be the day when the lesser race subjugation force headed underground to fight the monster. If the Dark Pope or demon king were defeated before then, the lesser races wouldn't be wiped out.

In any case, the death of the lesser races would be meaningless if the demon king had already been summoned. It would only be more meaningless death.

Verita said cautiously, "If that is your opinion, Brother, I will follow it, but..."

"I know. We shouldn't be in a hurry."

We needed to learn more about Tantata. To do so, we needed time. But as time passed, I found it difficult to control my nervousness due to thinking about the guards crawling into the demon king's mouth one by one.

In any case, if Verita and I failed, everyone inside the punishment building would be slaughtered.

I wanted to see Gustav with my own eyes, but I'd concluded that doing so was too great a risk. For one thing, my soul was particularly mouthwatering food for the demon kings. Maybe Leone's camouflage could deceive the Dark Pope, but there was no guarantee it would work on a demon king.

In the end, the fact that the meeting with Tantata had to take place in the form of a battle didn't change.

In the end, I said, "I'll think about it a bit more until evening."

Verita answered, "I understand."

I left the infirmary and headed to the monitoring room. There were currently no guards inside. Most of the video functions were broken anyway, so they couldn't watch anything. Only the sound function still worked, so the prisoners' wails and nonsense murmurs occasionally rang out, creating an eerie atmosphere.

I'd recently learned that the closer one was to the top floor, the worse the madness was. That meant most of the adjacent prisoners had already died.

In any case, I sat down without hesitation in a place that every guard avoided and ate my meal. There was no other place on the first floor where I could be alone, and I thought I might as well see if I could find anything useful.

I opened a can of food and mechanically filled my stomach.

"Ah, ahh... Ahhhh? Hmm. Do you hear me?"

Suddenly, in the midst of the nonsense and cries of those who had lost their minds, an exceptionally clear voice spoke.

I immediately stopped eating and looked at one of the darkened screens. The video function was dead, but it was possible to know where the voice was coming from.

However, there was no need for that. I knew who this voice belonged to.

"You are there, aren't you, Luzard?"

The voice filled with laughter was one I had heard countless times during my previous shifts in the punishment building. It belonged to Nebellik, the young man who was a prisoner on the top floor.

"I have something to say to you. Can you come here for a moment? You won't lose anything."

For some reason, I felt like the invisible Nebellik was smiling.

"I will teach you how to attack the demon king."