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Chapter 319

“First. I’ll step aside for a moment. I’ll contact you separately, miss.”

The investigators shivered as if they felt the chill in the air and the tense atmosphere, then stepped back to give space.

Even if this was the mortuary, artifacts only slowed decay — it wasn’t some extraordinary place.

After the investigators left, I walked slowly forward and picked up one of the glass shards lodged in her clothing.

The bottle fragment was smeared with blood and some unknown liquid.

People… they go so easily.

A strange thought occurred to me.

Why did she die now?

If what she learned from me about soul rituals was a prophecy, then she shouldn’t be dead yet.

What on earth does this mean?

Slowly, I reached out toward her.

And then I decided.

“This won’t do. There’s no soul remaining.”

“Is there… no way?”

“I don’t know. If the soul had lingered nearby I could heal the body and try something, but some time has passed since her death.”

Farell Berli’s case was lucky.

“Even if there had been traces of the soul somewhere else before she died, that would help, but that’s only possible with something like a lich.”

“The soul-splitting ritual?”

“No one would use an ability that doesn’t help in battle. And judging from the wounds, she resisted. She wouldn’t have had the time to use something like that against an overwhelmingly strong enemy.”

Luna could restore the corpse’s condition, but a soul that has left the body is beyond healing.

Then I noticed something odd.

“The antidotes….”

Even through the altered voice of the head of the Watch, I felt a powerful suppression of emotion.

“It’s all broken. That was everything.”

If the Hydra had withdrawn its venom, the poison that had spread to other holdings would be resolved — but in this state, the people of Berner’s territory can’t be saved.

“You could make more,”

Someone said.

“Isn’t that easy?”

Is that so easy, though?

But.

One thing was missing.

“Wait. Why is it gone?”

“What are you talking about?”

“There was one concentrated vial she kept for herself. Meryl Dyne’s case was especially severe, so I gave her a slightly stronger concentrate.”

She was supposed to drink it after the Hydra was defeated.

Her body looks as if the poison’s activity has stopped, but if that vial had been here we could have diluted it and mass-produced a solution.

It’s gone.

“The one who killed her must have taken it.”

When she tried to move, I grabbed her arm.

“Hey. Take this person to Cascadia.”

“What?”

“Luna will restore the corpse’s condition.”

She’s dead, but I don’t want her left in such a horrific state.

“More than that. If you make a scene here I’ll be bothered. I’ll find the culprit, so you go.”

I didn’t know what condition the leader behind the black robe and mask was in.

But at least it was clear the leader was extremely furious.

She took a strange artifact out of a pouch, placed it over Meryl’s chest, and mana threads extended and wrapped the body.

Then she lifted the corpse and vanished as if scattering.

“Is the briefing over?”

“What happened?”

“When the servants of the countship came because of the sudden commotion, she was already dead, they say.”

“The culprit…?”

“The Moon Watchers… isn’t it?”

“No. It’s not the Moon Watchers. They don’t handle things so clumsily.”

“You seem to know them well.”

“I’ve had a lot to do with those people.”

Originally, this operation involved the Moon Watchers.

But a Watch member killing another Watch member?

There might be internal strife, but this is different.

“Lord… the antidote…”

“All of what I made was destroyed. It seems she died trying to protect the antidote.”

“Who would do such a thing…?”

“For now, Marquis Veolas is the most likely suspect.”

“What about the possibility someone attacked our holding and staged this?”

“That’s probably not likely.”

If that had been the case, the Moon Watchers would have noticed first.

“Where is he now?”

“He left the manor and is staying at an empty villa on the outskirts of the territory.”

“I’ll go and overturn him.”

She grabbed my arm in alarm at my words.

“W-wait!”

She tried to stop me.

“Leave it to me. Marquis Veolas is still a noble of the imperial high council. If you pick a fight with him it could turn into a diplomatic incident for the Bata Kingdom….”

Her body trembled as she spoke.

“Meryl Dyne.”

“……”

“I wasn’t particularly close to her. In fact, there was once a time I tried to kill her.”

“L-Lord.”

“But. I don’t feel good about this.”

I don’t know why.

It just felt like I had to.

“Then….”

“And there will probably be people who move even if I don’t step in.”

“If we’re not careful, it could turn into a problem not only for the Bata Kingdom but for Cascadia as well….”

“That’s fine. They’ve already spread the rumor.”

“Rumor…?”

“Yes. That the Moon Watchers are here. That these people met the Moon Watchers.”

I didn’t need to do anything.

They’d chosen the worst path.

* * *

“Damn it. I can’t make sense of any of this!”

The poison had spread.

In hindsight it was obvious.

It made no sense to bring in an outsider to solve things at Berner’s territory when they had already asked the imperial court for support.

The arrangement was inconsistent.

So this really was about the antidote… and yet the rookie made it, Veolas couldn’t figure out the structure even though he’d worked in medicine for decades.

“Sorry.”

“Damn it. We should have secured more of those antidotes.”

The problem was that most of the antidotes had been broken during the retrieval.

“Damn. I worry whether this will even work as an antidote.”

Compared to the huge bottles, the broken vials were the size of a finger’s three segments. With those small vials, it was questionable whether a single person could properly detoxify anyone.

“Still, they look highly concentrated; using them among ourselves might be okay. There’s nothing we can do. Let’s give up any political advantage.”

The plan to pressure them for asking for help over such a small matter was scrapped.

“So then?”

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“We’ll leave Berner’s territory and go. In the report we’ll say we did our best but ultimately failed.”

Even if the medical department’s reputation would take a hit, what could be said when a Hydra had burst forth.

“All right, prepare to return. This needs to be studied over and over….”

KWA-AANG!!!!

At that moment.

An enormous thunderous noise reverberated, shaking the entire villa.

“W-what is happening!!”

Startled, he leapt up and shouted.

Kashiv drew his sword and ran outside instead of answering.

He looked out the window and froze.

Different colored magic circles were sprouting in the sky above the villa like mushrooms. Over those circles, a massive magic circle the size to cover the entire villa manifested.

At the same time.

A giant curtain spread around, thick as fog, so the outside was completely obscured.

What would happen if one stepped outside?

A chilling sensation ran through him.

At that same moment.

About twenty figures appearing from the mist, wearing identical robes, revealed themselves.

“That… that emblem!”

His eyes widened in disbelief.

Of course—he knew the emblem on their robes.

They were the continent’s lawless group.

Even the imperial intelligence department couldn’t guess their identities easily.

Mad killers.

The Moon Watchers!

They stood around the villa at regular intervals, silently staring.

W-why are they here?!

While he wondered at their presence, they glided forward as if dispersing.

There was no need to ponder their objective.

“Stop them… stop them! Stop those mad killers!!”

He shouted.

The villa’s guards all grabbed weapons and hurried to the entrance.

A shadow in a black robe, who hadn’t vanished and walked forward calmly, drew a sword.

A flash, and the soldiers fell, spraying blood.

They hadn’t even seen the sword swing.

One instant of light, and they were all dead.

Faced with such overwhelming power, Marquis Veolas froze.

Against these madmen, being a marquis meant nothing.

These people were the sort who could even assassinate imperial royals without ties.

His face drained of color.

“Ka… Kashiv… Kashiv! Stop them!!”

His shout echoed hollowly.

* * *

The Watch’s intelligence was beyond imagination.

They found the real culprit in just thirty minutes.

As expected, the culprit was Marquis Veolas.

It was Kashiv, Veolas’s sword master, who killed Meryl Dyne.

Meryl Dyne appears to have been well-liked within the Watch.

Though they didn’t speak, when the leader summoned them, they suppressed their anger and gathered at the leader’s command.

Having entrusted Meryl’s body to Luna, the leader of the Watch spoke in a calm voice.

“Today… forget everything that happened here.”

Thuk!

At her short word, every Watch member present snapped to attention.

No detailed briefing was given.

“Marquis Veolas. And his guard, the sword master Kashiv. They were not our original targets. However, given what they’ve done, our course of action remains the same. Any objections, raise your hand now.”

No one raised a hand.

“Then we begin operations. Don’t let a single rat escape.”

The Watch members moved in unison.

To punish Marquis Veolas for trying to slaughter many people for political gain.

Suppressing her cold wrath, the leader began to move.

“You needn’t intervene.”

“By whose permission? If someone steals another’s property they must pay. And Meryl Dyne was someone I had entrusted a task to. If I do nothing, that would be disrespectful to the dead.”

The large villa was quickly surrounded, and a special magical barrier was set up to seal it from the outside.

“I’m going that way.”

There is a secret passage in this villa for safety.

I know roughly where it is; if the Watch breaks in from the front I’ll block that passage.

I’ll leave the other bothersome things to them.

I only have to do my part.

I teleported to a prearranged coordinate, then twisted open a small hidden door tucked between rocks.

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