Chapter 19
Zak and the Elite Knights finally returned to the Royal City of Monotiz.
The journey back felt far quieter than when they had departed.
There was no victory.
No result worth celebrating.
They had failed to find the girl who was the target of their mission.
As soon as they arrived at the knight headquarters, Zak immediately gave orders.
"Potions alone won't be enough for injuries that severe."
"Call the royal healers."
The injured knights were quickly taken to the treatment room.
Zak then turned toward his subordinates.
"You handle everything here."
"I will report directly to His Majesty."
Meanwhile, Yorn paid no attention whatsoever to the atmosphere around him.
He stood in a corner while checking his inventory.
"Hm?"
His eyes widened slightly.
"Hyena Ear?"
He immediately opened the item's information.
A few seconds later, a wide grin appeared on his face.
"An Epic item!"
"Wow... not bad."
Written before him was:
2x Desert Hyena Ear [Epic]
Yorn chuckled.
"Luck is definitely on my side."
"Yorn."
Zak's voice immediately interrupted his excitement.
"Huh? What now?"
"We need to report everything that happened in that village to His Majesty."
Yorn let out a long sigh.
"Aah... I'm busy."
"You can do the report yourself."
Zak rubbed his temples.
"If I go alone, they won't believe me."
"Especially that advisor."
Yorn sighed once more.
"Haaaah..."
Reluctantly, he put his Epic item back into his Item Box.
"Fine... fine..."
Not long afterward, the two arrived at the throne room.
King Rosev sat upon his throne.
Beside him stood the royal advisor, Fazer.
Zak and Yorn knelt.
"Your Majesty."
Zak opened his report.
"I would like to report the results of the mission to eliminate that girl."
Rosev nodded.
"Proceed."
Zak took a breath.
"We were unable to find the girl."
One of Rosev's eyebrows rose slightly.
"What?"
"Not only that."
Zak continued.
"Something very strange happened in Werenty Village."
"The entire village population disappeared."
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"Disappeared?" Fazer repeated.
Zak nodded.
"Yes."
"As if they vanished at the exact same moment."
Rosev fell silent.
Meanwhile, Fazer looked confused.
Zak continued his explanation.
"And when we arrived at the girl's house..."
"Something even stranger happened."
"We were suddenly attacked by a monster."
"A monster?"
Fazer immediately exclaimed.
"Monsters rarely appear in Werenty Village, don't they?"
Rosev turned toward him.
"Fazer."
The advisor immediately realized his mistake.
He quickly knelt.
"My apologies, Your Majesty."
Rosev nodded slightly.
"Continue."
Zak spoke once more.
"The monster that attacked us was no ordinary monster."
"A Magic Monster."
"Its name was Desert Hyena."
The room instantly fell silent.
"Desert Hyena?" Fazer repeated.
"That monster is usually only found in desert regions."
"The desert lies far west of the kingdom."
"Werenty Village is in the east."
"How could such a monster appear there?"
Zak shook his head.
"That's exactly what we thought."
"Which is why we pursued and killed it."
"Yorn."
Yorn nodded.
He opened his Item Box.
Several monster materials immediately appeared before them.
Desert Hyena Ears.
Fangs.
Claws.
And several other monster materials.
Rosev examined the items.
The evidence was enough to convince him that Zak's report was genuine.
Then a thought crossed his mind.
"I understand."
Zak and Fazer immediately looked at him.
"Your Majesty?"
Rosev leaned back in his chair.
"There are two races capable of performing magic like this."
"The first is the Flugel."
"One of the highest races."
"The second is the Nymph."
"One of the middle races."
Zak and Yorn exchanged glances.
They still didn't understand.
Seeing their expressions, Rosev began explaining.
"The villagers disappearing."
"And the sudden appearance of the Desert Hyena."
"It closely resembles a Scroll of Move."
"Only on a far greater magical scale."
Zak's eyes widened slightly.
Slowly, he began to understand what the king meant.
"So..."
"The villagers were relocated."
"And the monster appeared in their place."
Rosev nodded.
"Correct."
Yorn finally understood as well.
"Huh..."
"That does make sense."
Even though it still sounded impossible.
Fazer then asked,
"Then, Your Majesty."
"What should we do?"
Rosev remained silent for several moments.
Then he answered heavily.
"If the culprit is a Flugel..."
"We can do nothing."
"The Flugel are among the ten strongest races in this world."
"And if the culprit is a Nymph..."
"We still can do nothing."
"Our kingdom lacks the power to oppose them. Our chance of victory is 0%."
Zak clenched his fists.
Yorn also looked displeased.
But they knew.
What Rosev said was the truth.
Even Rosev himself was unhappy.
The people of Werenty Village were citizens of Monotiz.
As king, he felt he had failed to protect them.
The room became silent once again.
A few moments later, Fazer spoke.
"Then..."
"What about the girl?"
"Did she disappear together with the villagers?"
Zak shook his head.
"I don't think so."
"It seems she left the village before the incident occurred."
Fazer fell silent.
Then his expression turned serious.
"If that's the case..."
"That girl is still somewhere within this kingdom."
The atmosphere grew tense again.
Fazer continued.
"Or perhaps..."
"She is already in the Royal City."
Yorn immediately frowned.
Meanwhile, Zak looked grim.
Fazer swallowed nervously.
"Will the incident from twelve years ago happen again?"
No one answered.
But a few seconds later, Rosev spoke.
"If that were the case..."
"There should already have been reports of attacks since yesterday."
"But there haven't been any."
"Instead..."
"The Royal City is actually quieter than usual."
Rosev looked at each of them.
"We don't know what's going on inside that girl's mind."
"We also don't know why she only killed two knights."
"When there were four others present."
"Correct?"
Zak nodded.
"Correct, Your Majesty."
Rosev continued.
"So far, there have been no reports of murder."
"No reports of violence."
"No reports of unrest."
"Even so..."
"Do not let your guard down."
His voice became heavier.
"We don't know who she is."
"We don't know what her goal is."
"And we don't know where she obtained such a powerful artifact."
Zak lowered his head.
"Yes, Your Majesty."
Meanwhile...
In another part of the Royal City.
Izumi and Berin had just arrived at an ice cream shop.
The moment she stepped inside, Izumi looked around.
Inside her head, she muttered.
Eh?
It's pretty ordinary.
She had imagined a place that was larger and more luxurious.
Berin pointed at a table.
"You sit here."
"I'll order."
Izumi nodded.
But before leaving, Berin asked,
"What flavor do you want?"
Izumi thought for a moment.
"Hmm..."
"Strawberry."
"Okay."
Berin walked toward the counter.
A few minutes later, she returned.
With a cheerful expression, she carried two bowls.
"The ice cream is here!"
Berin placed one bowl in front of Izumi.
Izumi stared at it excitedly.
"Waaah..."
But a few seconds later, her expression changed.
"...Eh?"
In front of her was nothing more than finely shaved ice.
A sweet red syrup had been poured over the top.
Izumi fell silent.
Berin, who was eating her own ice cream, looked over.
"What's wrong?"
Izumi pointed at the bowl.
"This..."
"Ice cream?"
"Yeah."
Berin nodded innocently.
Izumi fell silent again.
Five seconds.
Ten seconds.
Then...
Her patience exploded.
She stood up.
And walked toward the vendor.
"HEY!"
Everyone inside the shop immediately turned around.
Berin's eyes widened.
"R-Rumi?!"
"Are you serious?!"
Izumi pointed at the bowl.
"YOU CALL THIS ICE CREAM?!"
The vendor froze.
"THIS IS JUST SHAVED ICE WITH SWEETENER POURED ON TOP!"
"AND YOU CALL IT ICE CREAM?!"
The vendor had absolutely no idea what he had done wrong.
Panicking, Berin immediately dragged Izumi out of the shop.
"Rumiiiiii!"
"What are you doing?!"
They finally stopped outside.
Izumi still looked annoyed.
"Berin."
"Are you sure that's ice cream?"
Berin blinked in confusion.
"Eh?"
"Yeah."
"Ice cream has always been like that."
Izumi stared at her in disbelief.
"Since when?"
"It's always been like that."
Berin nodded innocently.
Then her expression became sad.
"Aaaah..."
"And here I was, buying it for you."
Her cheeks puffed out.
She looked genuinely disappointed.
Seeing that, guilt immediately struck Izumi.
"..."
For the first time since leaving the shop, she was speechless.
In the end, they decided to return to the inn.
And throughout the entire walk back...
Izumi kept apologizing to Berin.
Meanwhile, Berin continued walking with puffed cheeks because the ice cream she bought never got eaten.