Chapter 189 : An Unexpected Prize
Chapter 189: An Unexpected Prize
With the fall of Apophis Durek, the rebel forces quickly collapsed.
The Snake Knight Order, which had joined Durek's rebellion, declared its surrender, and all surviving knights were taken into custody.
The Crimson Comet was currently guarding the surrendered knights.
In the end, deciding what to do with them would be the Lord of Haken's responsibility.
“How... How could this happen?”
The problem, however, was that the Lord of Haken himself was in terrible condition.
At a glance, it was obvious that Durek's betrayal had dealt him a tremendous shock.
The blow had been so severe that he no longer seemed capable of thinking rationally.
‘Seriously... what a ridiculous man.’
After hearing the story, I learned that it had been the Lord of Haken who had taken in the orphaned Durek when he was a homeless child wandering the streets and made him his attendant.
Afterward, he had supported Durek continuously, and when Durek grew into a capable knight, he had celebrated it as though it were his own achievement.
Even afterward, the Lord of Haken's trust in Durek remained incredibly deep.
Just how deep?
Deep enough that he had willingly stepped aside and given up the woman he once loved.
The woman, said to be the most beautiful in Haken, had eventually become Durek's first wife.
‘They say the human heart is impossible to understand.’
No matter how much I thought about it, I couldn't understand why Durek had betrayed the Lord of Haken.
From the Lord of Haken's perspective, he had treated Durek exceptionally well.
Durek kept ranting about hypocrisy and bloodlines before he died...
But honestly, I couldn't sympathize with him in the slightest.
And above all...
The most chilling part was how he'd hidden those dark ambitions for decades.
He had even committed adultery with the wife of his own lord.
Could a human being really do something like that?
-Just as I thought. First impressions are scientific. The snake harbored a snake's heart.
‘Forget first impressions. Isn't that man just insane?’
Not everyone with a snake-like face secretly carried venom and malicious intent.
At this point, it was probably more accurate to conclude that Durek himself had simply been abnormal.
The world was vast.
And it contained just as many strange people.
“The rebellion failed, but it wasn't entirely without results.”
Durek's rebellion had certainly failed.
But it had left a fatal wound in the Lord of Haken's heart.
The pain of being betrayed by someone he trusted wouldn't heal easily.
Looking at him...
He was actually a surprisingly soft-hearted man.
Especially toward the people he trusted.
Just look at him now.
He still hadn't recovered from the shock.
“Then I'll head out.”
“Alright. Contact me as soon as you arrive.”
“Yes. I will.”
As a result, Irene departed to restore order in Haken Castle.
Ordinarily, that responsibility belonged to the Lord of Haken.
But with him in such a state, Irene had no choice but to step in.
Trying to contact Haken without knowing its exact situation felt too risky.
Someone needed to go personally and stabilize the situation.
And the only person capable of doing that was Irene.
Her Flame Horse was an extraordinary steed that possessed unbelievable speed, so it wouldn't take her long to reach Haken.
By now, she'd probably already arrived.
Together with the Dog Tribe warriors waiting nearby, she'd likely be storming Haken Castle and securing the inside.
“By the way... why haven't I heard from Raysha yet?”
Suppressing the rebellion in Haken had been my job alongside Irene.
I had sent Raysha to New Level.
The recent movements there had simply been too strange.
Deron Level.
Their Masters.
Nothing about them made sense.
Judging from how things had unfolded in Haken, I figured at most one Imperial Master would be added to the equation.
If that was all, Irene and I could handle it ourselves.
So I redirected Raysha to New Level.
Coincidentally, New Level's subjugation force had also decided to camp near Mount Rot for the night.
That made sending Raysha over there much less burdensome.
Someone like her could run from there to here in no time.
“Bear!”
“Oh, you're back. What in the... Hm?”
Just as I was anxiously waiting for Raysha's return...
She finally came back.
Together with her personal guard.
Carrying one strange box...
And one bundle of baggage.
A little earlier...
While Iron was observing the Haken camp...
Raysha and her personal guard quietly approached New Level's encampment.
Their mission was to spy on New Level.
More specifically...
To determine whether anything unfortunate happened to Deron Level, the Lord of New Level.
Sneaking close to New Level's camp was incredibly simple.
Over the past three days, the Ape Tribe had expanded their tunnels nonstop.
One of those tunnels now extended close to New Level's camp.
All they had to do was quietly infiltrate the area.
An easy mission.
Raysha intended to confirm Deron Level's condition and immediately return.
“What is this?”
But unexpectedly...
The moment she arrived and looked around...
Stealth immediately became meaningless.
The camp was in complete chaos.
-The Imperial Army!
-Everyone, grab your weapons! It's an ambush!
An unidentified group had launched a surprise attack.
The resting soldiers had all rushed outside with weapons drawn, turning the entire camp into a battlefield.
Raysha had no idea what was happening.
“Chief. This is our chance.”
“I don't know what's going on, but it's advantageous for us, isn't it?”
“Let's just do what we came here to do.”
“Yeah... You're right.”
The ones who snapped the bewildered Raysha back to reality were the members of her personal guard.
Whoever New Level was fighting had nothing to do with them.
They urged her to focus on their own mission.
Raysha couldn't disagree.
She hurried toward Deron Level's tent.
“Isn't the male inside here their leader?”
“I think so.”
“Then... why is nobody guarding this place?”
“That's true. It's strange.”
“How would we know what humans are thinking? Since nobody's guarding it, it'll be easy to check.”
The entire camp was in turmoil.
Yet no one guarded Deron Level's tent.
Anyone would find that suspicious.
Raysha tilted her head.
“Hah... Whatever. Let's just do what we were told.”
Lately, one major incident after another had kept happening.
Because of that, Raysha had barely had any opportunities to enjoy meat with Iron.
Especially now, after the Horn Rabbit Ranch had been destroyed.
Even she couldn't help feeling a sense of crisis.
She intended to complete this mission perfectly...
Then proudly ask for meat.
Whatever these humans were doing...
As long as she completed her assignment, that was enough.
Thinking that, she approached Deron Level's tent.
“Is that... the smell of blood?”
But this place also felt incredibly suspicious.
The scent drifting from inside the tent...
Was unmistakably blood.
Feeling something was wrong, she immediately rushed inside.
“W-What?”
“Wh-Who are you?!”
Inside Deron Level's tent...
Raysha found several suspiciously dressed men holding bloodstained swords.
And in the center of the tent...
A familiar man lay collapsed in a pool of blood.
Deron Level.
The very person Iron had ordered her to check on.
It was obvious these men had attacked him.
“Damn it! Get these bastards!”
Leaving the cleanup to her personal guard...
Raysha hurried toward Deron Level.
“So Bear said...”
Iron's instructions had been perfectly clear.
Approach Deron Level's tent and confirm that he was unharmed.
If it looked like someone was trying to attack him...
Rescue him.
She had believed it would be an easy mission.
After all...
There was no reason anyone should attack the leader of New Level.
She only had to verify he was safe.
But now...
Deron Level had already been attacked.
If he died here...
Her mission would fail.
And if the mission failed...
There would be no meat.
Especially during a time when meat was so precious.
No matter how shameless Raysha was...
She couldn't simply demand it.
That would hurt her pride too much.
“…No meat?”
Realizing the seriousness of the situation...
Raysha moved like lightning and immediately checked Deron Level's condition.
He was covered in wounds.
Fortunately...
He was still breathing.
And Raysha happened to possess a miraculous medicine that could save anyone as long as they weren't already dead.
Johnson Territory's specially made suppository potion.
In a situation like this...
There was no recovery method more effective.
“Hah... Done.”
After somehow saving Deron Level through such extreme treatment...
Raysha let out a deep sigh and looked around.
The person who needed saving had been saved.
Now she wanted to know what had actually happened.
Raysha might have been simple-minded...
But even she could tell this situation was strange.
The only people who could explain everything...
Were the attackers.
So she turned to interrogate them.
“…What? They're all dead?”
The mysterious intruders who had attacked Deron Level...
Were already lying dead.
“Chief... these guys were ridiculously weak.”
“We weren't trying to kill them...”
“We barely poked them and they just dropped dead.”
“This is really unfair.”
I suddenly felt a headache coming on.
No matter how you looked at it...
These people should have been captured alive.
Yet they'd managed to kill every single one.
And now they were insisting they'd done nothing wrong while blaming the dead instead.
“Ah... what do we do?”
“What else? The Lord probably wasn't expecting much from us anyway.”
“Exactly. Black Lions conducting interrogations? A smart Lord would never expect that.”
At first, Raysha had been completely flustered.
But after hearing them out...
She couldn't really argue.
Expecting her personal guard, who knew nothing about holding back, to capture enemies alive for questioning was asking far too much.
There was no way Iron didn't know that.
He was a reasonably rational male.
“Hah... Forget it. We saved him, so we're taking him with us.”
Furrowing her brow deeply...
Raysha made her decision.
The dead were already dead.
Might as well take the living one.
Iron had ordered her to rescue Deron Level.
But he had never given instructions about what to do with him afterward.
Judging from the situation...
If they left him here, he'd probably end up dying anyway.
After going through all that effort to save him...
Letting him die afterward would be pointless.
So taking him along seemed like the right choice.
Just as she prepared to leave with the unconscious man...
“What are you doing now?”
“Chief, look at this! This box looks incredibly valuable.”
“Don't you think there's treasure inside?”
“It won't open.”
Those scatterbrained Lion Tribe women had become completely distracted after discovering a strange box inside the tent.
“What? You're right. This really does look valuable.”
“See?”
And truthfully...
Raysha liked the box too.
It looked incredibly luxurious.
She couldn't stop staring at it.
Considering how difficult it was to open...
There had to be something precious inside.
Would Iron be happy if she brought it back?
“The Ape Tribe said that when you enter enemy territory, the first thing you should do is loot.”
“I heard the Demon Tribe is really good at looting.”
“Let's take this with us.”
“Looting... That's true.”
She had heard the Demon Tribe had carried off all kinds of interesting things from human territories.
Apparently there had been so many fascinating items that Iron had been delighted.
If the Demon Tribe could do it...
Why couldn't the Black Lions?
It was too late to rob the entire warehouse.
But taking one valuable-looking box...
That was completely doable.
After all...
One precious treasure was better than a pile of worthless junk.
“Alright. Carry it and follow me.”
“Yes, Chief!”
Thus...
Raysha left Deron Level's tent carrying one unconscious patient...
And one enormous box.
Completely convinced...
That she had accomplished her mission perfectly.