Chapter 203

“Tsk.”

Then again, it was rare for those at the top to pay much attention to the suffering of those beneath them. If the guards didn’t even take the report seriously, there was no way it had reached the higher-ups.

“Should I get Kainel or Cheion involved?”

Or perhaps the three dukes? With their influence, they could easily bring this matter to public attention.

“Why do you need anyone else?”

“Hm?”

“One word from you should be enough.”

“...Me?”

Ben stared at Ceres in disbelief. Why did she think she needed anyone else’s help?

Does she even realize who she is?

As the owner of the Tamer’s Relic and the one who had resolved both the epidemic and the fake saintess incident, she was currently the most talked-about person in the empire.

That’s not all.

Then there were her connections.

She treated Grand Duke Persia, whom others could barely even approach, like her own subordinate, while even the unpredictable Tower Master, Cheion, would do whatever she asked. Rumors even spread that the three dukes who protected the empire regarded her like a daughter.

And the Crown Prince has been visiting her shop recently.

Ceres Drow, the young lady of House Drow. There was no one in the empire who could ignore her anymore.

“Hmm. I wonder if saying something would really work.”

“......”

...Yet somehow, she seemed to be the only one who didn’t realize how much influence she had.

Tap tap tap!

Ben, who was still staring at Ceres in disbelief, quickly disappeared at the sound of small footsteps coming up the stairs.

Bang!

“Ceres!”

It was Julia. She must have run all the way there, because she was panting for breath. Ceres handed her the glass of water sitting on the table.

Why is someone as frail as her running around like this?

“Haa! Ceres, something terrible happened!”

After gulping down the water as Ceres had instructed, Julia hurriedly spoke again.

“Jailo is missing!”

“Jailo?”

Wasn’t that the boy Julia had mentioned before? The one whose older sister at the orphanage had gone missing... But now Jailo was missing too?

“When?”

“He didn’t come to the academy today, so I went to the orphanage to look for him.”

“So you went somewhere else after class again?”

“......”

Julia nervously shifted her eyes. She’d been thoroughly scolded over the teleportation scroll and had promised never to go anywhere without permission again...

“I... I went with Colin.”

“.....”

“...I’ll tell you next time before I go.”

Under Ceres’s silent gaze, Julia’s eyes fell.

“So, Jailo wasn’t at the orphanage?”

Ceres decided to deal with the scolding later and asked about Jailo again.

“Yeah! They said they haven’t heard from him since yesterday! We definitely went outside together after class yesterday... What if something happened to Jailo?”

Ceres gently patted Julia’s head, then immediately called for Sooty.

“Sooty.”

[Bbu?]

Sooty had slipped out of Julia’s shadow as soon as they returned home. At Ceres’s call, the little black dragon turned to her. Cookie crumbs covered the area around his mouth.

“Try to find Jailo.”

[Bu?]

“Yeah. You’ve seen Jailo before, right?”

One of Sooty’s abilities was that, while he couldn’t find someone he’d never seen, he could use their shadow to track them down no matter where they were if he’d seen them once.

[Buuu...]

So he had seen him before...

Sooty glanced between Ceres and the cookies still sitting on the table. His eyes practically begged, Can’t I finish my cookies before I go?

“If you find Jailo, I’ll give you a whole cake.”

[Bbu!]

The moment he heard “a whole cake,” Sooty jumped to his feet without another thought.

“Put this on.”

[Bu?]

“I need to know where you are.”

Ceres fastened a tracking necklace around Sooty’s neck. It was an item Cheion had made for Julia before.

[Bu!]

Sooty let out a loud cry as if to say he’d be back soon, then slipped into Ceres’s shadow.

“Wait just a little.”

Unless Jailo was trapped in the Forest of Ice Trees, Sooty would find him soon enough.

“Okay!”

Only then did Julia’s anxious expression ease, and a faint smile appeared on her face. Ceres gently stroked her hair again.

***

“......”

“......”

The mercenaries stood there with their mouths hanging open, utterly stunned by the scene before them.

“Phew. Looks like this one won’t make good fertilizer either.”

It was only after Duke Nora’s casual remark that the mercenaries did swallow nervously.

What did I just see?

A monster...

Massive chunks of earth rose from both sides and crushed the monster between them. Once... twice... three times... The attacks continued without end until the monster finally stopped moving.

...Is that a sandwich?

...A monster sandwich.

The mercenaries could only stare in shock at the enormous monster crushed between the earth. They had never imagined a monster could be killed like this.

At first, they had hacked at it with their swords. They really had. Its arms were severed, and even two of its heads had been cut off.

But then, its incredible regenerative power kicked in. New arms and legs grew back. It even picked up its severed heads and put them back on. So Duke Nora simply lifted the earth around it.

That was how the monster sandwich was born.

Who was it that said...

People used to say Duke Nora was nothing more than a mediocre figure who only mediated between the other two dukes. The mercenaries wondered what those people would say if they saw him now.

Press, press.

“Wouldn’t this thing be S-rank?”

Duke Nora tilted his head while prodding the monster with his sword.

“How did something like this end up in a C-rank zone? The Black Forest really is something else.”

Judging by this monster alone, an S-rank classification wouldn’t have been out of place. Nora had never seen a monster with such powerful regenerative abilities, let alone one that could withstand his attacks for so long.

“So this is the boss...”

As the grotesque giant died, the black trees began to disappear.

So this really was the boss. An S-rank boss in a C-rank Black Forest...

“What if the other Black Forests are the same...?”

For the first time, the smile disappeared from Duke Nora’s face.

***

“......”

Lost in thought, Prince Alex stood by the window before letting out a long sigh. He finally headed for the door.

“Where are you going?”

Jutel appeared in front of him.

“Do I have to tell you where I’m going?”

“Not at all.”

Jutel merely smiled at Alex’s sharp tone.

“I’m only asking because I’m worried you might be planning to tell someone else about that place.”

“.....”

Alex’s brow furrowed. After glaring at Jutel, he turned to leave.

Jutel stepped in front of him again.

“Move.”

“Are you really planning to tell someone?”

“...You saw it too.”

“I did. Lord Veilks’s monster, which he put so much effort into creating. Ah... That’s what they call a ‘Chimera,’ isn’t it? A creature made by taking the strongest parts of various monsters and putting them together.”

“Not that!”

Alex’s voice rose.

“The children.”

“......”

Whatever Veilks created was none of his concern. He had no intention of getting involved. The problem was... one particular ingredient used to make that monster.

An ingredient...

That’s what Veilks had called it.

“The children...”

The final ingredient needed to complete the monster and bring it to life was the souls of children. And not just one or two. It required the souls of countless children.

That day, after showing Alex the Chimera, Veilks had taken him somewhere else. There, many children were being held captive.

“These are children I’ve gathered from all over the empire. Once I have enough, I plan to create a Black Forest here. The souls of the children who die will be used to bring the monster I showed you earlier to life.”

“.....”