Episode 257
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Days continued as she slept on the streets and spent nights on the rags of a shabby tavern. These were days that were hard to get used to for the young lady of a duke’s family who had grown up like a jewel, but Lize held on more tenaciously than expected.
“They’re all here, Lize.”
After passing through several free cities and fiefdoms and taking the river route that runs across the continent, Dale’s party was finally able to arrive in the County of Valyrina.
Aside from showing Lize the world, Dale has other things to do.
Here, I have heard whispers of blue elven exiles being kidnapped and used for slave trade, and I am investigating the truth. And if it turns out to be true, then whoever claims to be the king of this Valyrian land will pay the price.
Also, on this occasion, those who claim to be the monarchs of the continent will be known.
The Watchers of the Kings, as the Black Knight speaks of them, are not easy threats or anything like that, but the truth that they can never deceive or escape.
“You said you came here to investigate the secret trade in elves taking place in this country.”
“Yes.”
“Yeah, that’s good timing. There’s some good bait here.”
Sepia, who had heard the story from Dale earlier, continued speaking as if she had been waiting.
“Bait… … ”
“Those who are here are after the elves, and it just so happens that the elves are here.”
The elf wizard smiled as if to say there was nothing to worry about.
“What are you afraid of, Dale?”
“No, it’s nothing.”
Dale shook his head quietly. As she said, there was nothing to fear. Even if the entire country turned into an enemy, Dale had the power to protect those he had to protect.
“Let’s do it according to Sepia’s plan.”
After thinking about it, Dale nodded. Watching the conversation between the two, young Lize simply tilted her head as if she couldn’t understand.
* * *
“I’ve been waiting for you.”
Before taking immediate action, what was needed was information. And as soon as Dale entered the territory of the White Kingdom, a robed blue wizard appeared, waiting for him.
For a moment, Sepia’s expression hardened, but the agitation was only temporary.
“Our ruler of blue, our shadow lord.”
The ruler of the blue tower, a sorceress, bowed her head towards Dale.
“Everything is ready. Also, the Queen of Crystal is quite interested in this matter. I’m not sure yet, but it seems like there are more than a hundred Valais behind them.”
“What is behind this?”
“They are not easily revealed even by the blue spider web. It might be quicker for the Shadow Lord to see them himself.”
“… … .”
The ears that could be seen between the robes told her that she too was of the same species as Sepia.
A spiderweb that claims to be the eyes and ears of the Shadow Lords, listening to and reporting their whispers from all over the continent.
“Lize, from here on out, we have something to talk about amongst ourselves for a bit.”
“I want to listen too!”
Dale said, and Lize shook her head.
“I can’t stand to see the villains of this realm kidnapping innocent people!”
“… … Have you heard that far already?”
Dale shook his head with a bitter smile. He wanted to keep her safe and carry out Dale’s mission, but at the same time, he knew that the safest place for Lize was by Dale’s side.
“Why are you doing that?”
“well.”
Young Lize asked innocently, as if she really couldn’t understand. And Dale was equally clueless about that question.
“Because I have the power.”
“strength……?”
The act of willingly sacrificing others to fulfill one’s own desires. That of the Third Reich was ultimately the same as the nature of those in power.
As long as the strong and the weak do not disappear from this world, such foolishness will continue to repeat itself endlessly.
I thought to myself, could Dale really claim to be one of the Watchers of Kings and prevent the mistakes of the old empire from being repeated on this land?
Rather, wouldn’t ruling the Empire of Shadows with an overwhelming power that no one dares to resist be the most certain way to bring about the ‘ideal world’ he desires?
“… …Why are you doing that, Dale?”
“It’s nothing.”
Sepia called out to Dale, who was lost in thought, and Dale finally came to his senses. Dale smiled, trying to keep his composure.
“Lize, what you are about to see will be extremely cruel and horrifying.”
“… … Yes, brother.”
“These are not things you can just face with curiosity. You have to be prepared for them.”
After laughing, he opened his mouth seriously towards Lize. Lize also understood the meaning and nodded firmly.
“I remember the deeds you showed for the House of Saxony when you were younger than me.”
“… … .”
“Because every night before going to bed, my mother and father would tell me about my brother’s exploits.”
Longing for Dale, and furthermore, to shoulder the duty as a successor to Saxony.
“And I, too, am the younger sister of my proud older brother.”
“okay.”
Just as Dale had proven himself to be his father’s son, Lize was no different. Seeing that, Dale smiled quietly.
“Then can you promise me one thing?”
“Is it a promise?”
“Never leave my side.”
“Okay, brother!”
Lize smiled brightly and nodded. Dale didn’t hesitate when he saw her.
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A few days later, an elf with the appearance of a shabby outcast was walking through the darkness of the city.
It wasn’t difficult to read the movements of the human trafficking organization that the sorceress had told me about in advance.
The outcasts of elven society are on their way to the continent, but they are kidnapped at the last moment before they encounter the mountain assassins.
The only places that met that criteria were a very small area in the northern part of the continent, in the county of Valais, and the place Sepia was walking around was the back alley of that city.
The sorceress had previously spread false information that there would be an exile in the Land of Crystal, and Sepia is moving according to that information.
You can’t fool a spider’s web of eyes and ears across the continent, not even the most secretive kidnapping organization.
The kidnappers appeared as if they were playing on Dale’s palm, but Sepia did not resist and simply accepted their capture.
Sepia, who had fallen unconscious, disappeared into the darkness of the city, and at the same time, a shadow followed them.
He was the king of shadows.
* * *
“It’s a moonfish, brother!”
A city within the County of Valais. The underground hideout of a criminal organization that was carrying out the so-called elf trafficking. Right there, a man raised his voice.
And they were never just kidnappers. Their bodies were pickled in aura even at first glance.
He once served in the Knights of the Iron Cross, said to be the most powerful organization in the Empire, but after the Empire fell, he quickly found himself in the back alleys of the city.
Those who were there literally were the ruins of a fallen empire.
“This is no ordinary product. Outsiders will pay a high price for it.”
One man smiled bitterly as he looked at Sepia, who had a beauty that was exceptional even among elves.
“Outsider?”
At the same time, a voice was heard. Without even a sound.
“who……!”
The subordinates who were supposed to guard the entrance to the hideout collapsed like puppets whose strings had been cut.
“Who does that refer to?”
A robed man appeared between their fallen corpses. At the same time, a frightened girl was standing next to him. It was a truly incongruous combination.
“You… … !”
The man waved his arms again. At the same time, the circle engraved on his heart accelerated, and darkness raced across the ground.
The primordial darkness and tentacles that could not be escaped began to swirl around the hideout.
But the easy-to-understand massacre did not occur.
As the saying goes, there was a being there watching over the king’s watchers.
‘It’s not easy to take into consideration the overall usage rate.’
Dale waved his arms absentmindedly, smiling bitterly inside. The swirling tentacles of the Shuv bound their limbs, and the darkness began to stir menacingly.
“I ask you again, you remnants of the Empire, made up of knights of the Iron Cross. To whom did you intend to hand over this prize?”
“S, no way… … !”
The expression of one knight was frozen in the face of the engulfing darkness. There was no certainty. I had never seen his face up close.
At least no soldier on the battlefield that day saw that man’s face and survived.
But in that vast battlefield, no matter how far away they were, there was no one who did not feel ‘that darkness’.
That’s the darkness right there.
The darkness spread by the continent’s greatest black magician and the continent’s greatest monster.
It is unknown why he is in such a remote place. The empire has collapsed, and the monarch of the most powerful kingdom on earth has come here without even saying a word.
But there was no way I wouldn’t recognize its existence. I clearly remember the hell of shadows that monster unleashed that day.
Even after the war ended, I remember my comrades who were unable to escape from that nightmare and went crazy. Those here were no exception. Every day, the fear of that darkness remained as a trauma, and they continued to struggle in nightmares.
And the nightmare was there.
“Tch, tch, pitch-black ball… … .”
He muttered weakly, and the will to fight disappeared as soon as he said the name.
Those in the hideout were either helplessly spitting or collapsing on the spot. Those who were caught in the tentacles’ bonds were just laughing like crazy people, recalling the nightmare of that day.
“You can decide on two things.”
In that place filled with fear and madness, the pitch-black gong continued speaking calmly.
“One, telling the truth in such pain that you almost beg for death.”
Without a moment’s hesitation.
“Two, telling the truth on the condition of a painless death.”
It was a binary choice, neither of which could be said to be pleasant.
“We, we don’t know their true identities either!”
“Really? Then I guess there’s nothing I can do.”
“I just know that they are not from this land!”
The man continued. At those words, Dale swallowed quietly.
“… … So you called them outsiders?”
“Yes! And they treated the humans of this continent as ‘commodities’! And among them, they were especially interested in the elves! In exchange for bringing them, they paid with rare goods not found on this continent!”
“… … .”
The truth behind the ‘unknown blue background’ that the sorceress had told us about was finally revealed.
Just as the drowned Barbarossa had successfully sailed to the Eastern Continent, they were no exception.
Moreover, these beings were never friendly neighbors.
“… … !”
Almost simultaneously, a massive explosion occurred, engulfing the entire area.
