“What do you an!?”
Pope Orban IV shouted.
This was an extrely rare sight, considering he never raised his voice no matter how angry he got.
It showed just how serious the current situation was.
“Lord Elrond has disappeared!”
Cardinal Elrond.
The man who was the Pope’s most trusted confidant and had succeeded in carrying out nurous great works.
In his younger days, he was certainly brilliant.
But perhaps due to age, he began showing signs of losing his sharpness at so point.
Recently, Elrond had made several major mistakes in succession.
Finally, the Pope secretly ordered.
‘Confiscate Lord Elrond’s assets and execute all mbers of his family.’
Remove Cardinal Elrond.
He and his entire family would be thoroughly crushed.
Of course, they weren’t handling this recklessly.
On the surface, the established scenario was that Cardinal Elrond would be executed for being caught committing treason.
The evidence had been perfectly fabricated, so all that remained was implentation.
But suddenly Elrond disappeared.
“How could this possibly happen? He should have been under 24-hour surveillance?”
“I’m sorry… All I can say is that he suddenly vanished.”
Kiaran, the man reporting, was at his wit’s end.
He belonged to the hunting dogs who handled the Holy Empire Gatren’s dirty work.
His strength is nearly at the hero level, and his subordinates are all exceptionally skilled as well.
‘Soone strong enough to be a knight commander in any decent territory was monitoring him 24/7. Breaking through that surveillance and escaping should have been impossible…’
Cardinal Elrond had literally vanished.
Those who were watching felt like they had been bewitched by a ghost.
“Haa… This has beco troubleso.”
“I’m sorry.”
All Kiaran could do was bow his head.
That was the only way to possibly reduce his punishnt in the na of penance.
The Pope pressed his forehead and opened his eyes sharply.
“What happened to Lord Elrond’s family? His relatives?”
“They’re all still there. Only Elrond himself disappeared.”
“For now, proceed as planned – expose the incident, excommunicate him, and execute them. Lord Elrond fled when his treason was discovered. Understood?”
“Yes.”
The Pope suddenly seed to rember sothing and asked.
“Ah, what about the informant that Cardinal Elrond supposedly planted in the Demon King’s Army? Did you establish a clear connection?”
“About that… We couldn’t figure out what kind of communication network existed. It seems he communicated solely with Elrond himself, but the thod…”
“So that was a failure too.”
Kiaran bowed his head deeply once again.
Pope Orban IV looked at him with a displeased expression.
After staring at Kiaran for a long while, he spoke.
“Let ask one last thing. I trust this has been properly handled.”
For a mont, Orban IV’s eyes glead coldly.
“How is the disposal of the Grotesque Eater progressing?”
The Grotesque Eater.
A specter of the past that had suddenly beco everyone’s concern and worry.
Kiaran responded calmly to the ntion of disposing of her, without surprise.
“It’s going smoothly. Everything you instructed is proceeding without issue.”
“This matter is of different importance than previous ones. Failure is absolutely not an option.”
“I’ll keep that in mind.”
This wasn’t just lip service.
Kiaran truly believed it.
That this operation, at least, would absolutely not fail.
***
Gardrak Castle.
Inside an office marked ‘3rd Corps Commander’, Hemis was communicating with soone.
“So, to summarize, it’s like this.”
Hemis tapped the table with her finger as she continued speaking.
“Create a diversion with an all-out attack. And I take care of that bearded guy during the chaos, right?”
-Yes. We’ll track Basel Scott of the Drason Empire’s location in real ti and let you know.
Basel Scott.
The man Hemis called ‘bearded guy’ was one of the Drason Empire’s legends.
“You managed to find his location quite well. Usually, these so-called legends just act high and mighty while hiding away.”
-It took quite so effort to track him down.
“Anyway, I understand. I like this order – it’s been a while since I got one I enjoyed.”
Hemis grinned.
The Demon King Tegrad, who had given orders to her, a Corps Commander, replied in an indifferent voice.
-I’m glad you like it.
“But it’s strange. You’re suddenly taking such an aggressive approach.”
-Didn’t you cause so trouble? Since things have co to this, I plan to push forward properly. We can’t keep going back and forth forever.
“That’s a good idea. I’m happy to see you returning to the Demon King I used to know. Ohohoho!”
Hemis laughed in her characteristic high pitch.
As if she was truly happy about the Demon King’s return.
-Then let’s end the communication here.
“Wait a mont.”
Suddenly, Hemis’s laughing voice changed, dropping to a low tone.
“Don’t you have anything else to say to ?”
-What do you an?
The Demon King asked in a puzzled voice.
Hemis’s lips twisted slightly.
“I just thought you might give so words of encouragent. It’s been a while since I received a formal order.”
-I see. Co back safely.
“Yes. Next ti I’ll visit you with Basel Scott’s head.”
-Looking forward to it.
With that, the communication ended.
The communication crystal darkened.
Hemis stared blankly at it for a while.
“Lady Hemis.”
A middle-aged man’s voice ca from beside her.
Hemis turned to look at the man who had spoken.
Surprisingly, he had the appearance of Cardinal Elrond, whom the Pope was so desperately searching for.
“What do you plan to do?”
Cardinal Elrond asked.
Hemis kept her lips tightly sealed without answering.
She tilts her head back and looks at the ceiling.
Her long, glossy black hair falls behind her slender, snow-white neck.
“…”
Hemis remained motionless in that position for a long while.
There was sohow a lonely atmosphere.
It was different from her usual self who would always tease with her bewitching voice.
“Well…”
Finally, Hemis opened her mouth.
“I guess it’s ti for to leave too.”
“…”
“Frisch. Thank you for your hard work.”
“No, it was an honor to serve under your command, Lady Hemis.”
At that mont, the man called Frisch – Cardinal Elrond – began to transform.
*rustle*
As Cardinal Elrond’s skin peeled away, what was revealed was a demon with a tall stature and sharp features.
“May I make one last request?”
“Please command , anything.”
Hemis pulled out two docunts from the drawer.
“Please deliver these to Reidrun and Motem. I could tell them directly but… I think this would be easier.”
“Understood.”
“And about Choi Hyun-seok…”
Hemis paused for a mont as if contemplating sothing.
“Keep an eye on Choi Hyun-seok. I’m not asking you to do anything specific. Just… How he grows from now on. And if he dies, how he dies. I’d like you to confirm these things.”
“… May I ask the reason?”
Frisch couldn’t help but ask.
His lord, Hemis, was not one to show such interest in re humans.
Until now, while playing the role of Cardinal Elrond and causing incidents centered around Choi Hyun-seok, Frisch had thought it was all just for his lord’s entertainnt.
“The reason? Well… I wonder why.”
Hemis tapped her lips with her snow-white finger.
“Just curious? Who knows. Maybe I’m getting old and developing sothing called attachnt.”
“Such words…”
“I’m joking. Ohohoho!”
Hemis laughed for a while, finding sothing highly amusing.
A mont later.
Finally calming down, Hemis continued.
“Anyway, will you do it?”
“Understood.”
“Good! Shall we get moving then?”
Hemis stood up.
Her face wore the usual deep smile.
***
In the night when everyone was asleep.
Rachel, who had woken up, frowned deeply.
“Snore… Puhoo… Snore…!”
Bobo was sleeping while snoring.
The snoring was so loud it seed to make the tent shake.
“Aaargh! I can’t sleep because it’s so noisy!”
Rachel stomped her feet as she approached Bobo.
“Be quiet…! Let sleep!”
Rachel delivered a kick to Bobo’s nose bridge without hesitation!
Although it was a decisive strike, the result was rather unsatisfactory.
*thud*
Far from waking up, Bobo continued snoring and dozing.
“Ouch! I think my foot hurts more.”
“Snore, puhoo!”
“This mutt really…!”
Rachel, who had been glaring at Bobo, shifted her gaze to look at Choi Hyun-seok.
“How is the hero sleeping in this situation?”
Getting closer, she saw Choi Hyun-seok wearing earplugs.
“Mmm… Not there…!”
Seeing him sleep-talk, it seed he was having so kind of dream.
“Being assertive is good but this is too fast…!”
The content of his sleep talk was a bit peculiar.
No matter how you looked at it, it didn’t seem like he was having a dream befitting the title of hero.
Rachel looked down at Choi Hyun-seok with the most unimpressed expression she could manage.
“Sigh~ The future of the world looks dark. The only one to rely on is this Rachel.”
Rachel shook her head.
“Snore… Puhoo…!”
“Kyaaa! This is stressful!”
Just then, as she was shouting at the sound of snoring again.
Soone knocked on the barracks door.
Knock knock.
“Who could it be at this hour?”
Rachel flew to the door, fluttering her wings.
“Who is it?”
When she asked through the door, an answer ca.
“It’s Abelson.”
“Go away.”
Ignoring her, Abelson yanked the door open.
Rachel jumped in surprise and pushed the door back.
“Eek…! I said go away! Why are you opening the door!?”
“I just need to talk for a mont…”
“You’re planning to ambush the hero at night, aren’t you? Don’t think I don’t know!”
Rachel pushed the door with all her might, her face turning red.
Her strength must have been considerable, as even Abelson had to use force.
“This is no ti for gas.”
“No! I won’t let you sell out the hero to the witch…!”
“That’s not it! This is important!”
As they were pushing and pulling at the door.
“Move aside.”
A deep male voice was heard from behind.
Simultaneously, there was a loud bang, and the door flew open.
As a result, Rachel, who had been behind the door, went flying into the wall.
“Ow… Who on earth…”
When she looked up, she saw a muscular giant with red skin.
Upon seeing Reidrun, Rachel hastily put on a smile.
“Ahah… Hello, Lieutenant, no, Lord Reidrun. Haha…!”
She was a dedicated fairy who, like the hero, knew how to properly practice being strong against the strong and weak against the weak.
“Choi Hyun-seok is sleeping?.”
“Yes! Should I wake him up?”
Reidrun nodded.
Rachel quickly flew to Choi Hyun-seok.
“Ah, that spot is sensitive…”
Even amid the commotion, Choi Hyun-seok was still lost in delusions, talking nonsense.
Snap!
As Rachel cheerfully snapped her fingers, cold water poured down from mid-air.
“Aaaaagh! What the hell!?”
The first thing Choi Hyun-seok saw as he jumped up in surprise was Rachel grinning right in front of him.
He grabbed Rachel at the speed of light.
“You want to die? Huh!? Do you know what an important mont that was!”
The way he glared and shouted, it seed like he might use Plomot Level 3 to blow her head off right then and there.
Rachel calmly gestured with her chin to the side.
“Hero, over there.”
“Over there what… Greetings! Lord Reidrun!”
Choi Hyun-seok jumped up and bowed.
“Ah, Ms. Abelson is here too. Haha!”
His boisterous laugh while soaking wet didn’t make for a very good impression.
Especially since Reidrun and Abelson had already heard his sleep-talking.
Choi Hyun-seok cleared his throat unnecessarily and continued.
“Ahem, hem. It seems quite late. What brings you here?”
“Choi Hyun-seok. You must leave Gardrak Castle imdiately with the Holy Maiden.”
“What? Leave Gardrak Castle?”
Suddenly I was told to leave the castle in the middle of the night.
As Choi Hyun-seok wore a puzzled expression.
Reidrun shook his head.
“I misspoke. It’s not just Gardrak Castle.”
Reidrun’s voice grew lower.
“Leave the Demon King’s Army right now, Choi Hyun-seok.”
Hope you enjoyed the chapter! If you would like to support or read advanced chapters, you can do so by unlocking chapters.
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