Chapter 57: Abduction

The regular meeting of the Grand Council had ended.

People began to disperse just as they had gathered.

As befitted figures of ducal rank or higher, enormous armies gathered in the central area.

In that state, it also served as a kind of military parade to display and evaluate national power.

In that sense, Escolea was far from such ostentation.

They were a city of knowledge, free from diplomatic conflicts.

They preferred practical and efficient movement, so they used magical carriages powered by the magic of mages.

“Couldn’t we switch to normal carriages?”

Rector Bernard complained to the mage acting as the driver.

“Not this again?”

“Every time I come to the Grand Council, I think about it. As the rector of a city, you know? One should maintain some style.”

“Ah, don’t talk about style. You’re not a mercenary who’s rolled around in the mud. If a pot-bellied lord uses those words, it just looks ridiculous.”

“Besides, in a city as cramped as a chicken coop, where are we supposed to raise horses? Even one would take up space for a hundred more scholars, they’d surely criticize us.”

“Even so, I’m the rector, they should respect me a little…”

“Do you want an audit to come and cause a scandal? In the noble world, luxury matters, but those who understand that don’t become scholars.”

“I want to ride in a carriage too… sigh…”

“If you keep complaining, I quit. I’m going home right now.”

“Ah… fine, fine, it’s my fault. Let’s go, let’s go.”

It seemed like the subordinate was the one in charge.

That the rector had no choice but to yield to a mage threatening him.

‘If we’re going to talk about efficiency, I wish we could load magic without needing mages…’

Bernard muttered to himself.

‘Yes, if we could just inject mana and move it… it would be perfect.’

Some gears, levers.

If it were only about operating it, it would be ideal.

While thinking that, he began sketching in his notebook.

The carriage, which had been moving smoothly, suddenly stopped.

“What’s wrong?”

“It seems someone is blocking the road. From the looks of it, they must be bandits.”

Bandits who block roads to collect tolls exist everywhere.

“Should I eliminate them? It’s not like we have anything else to do.”

The mage smiled while making a throat-slitting gesture.

“Let’s avoid unnecessary bloodshed. Give them some money.”

“Give them money?”

“Everyone is trying to make a living. Give them something and let them go.”

“That’s why they always underestimate us…”

“What did you say?”

“Nothing, I’ll be right back.”

The mage took some silver coins and got off the carriage.

Bernard watched with displeasure.

The mage tossed the coins onto the ground from a distance, signaling them to take them and let them pass.

Then—

A sharp flash cut through his body.

“Huh?”

And his upper half slid down along the line of the cut.

Where his torso had been, there was now a beggar smiling grotesquely.

And a sword.

“W-what… what is this?!”

The rector screamed in horror.

The mage in the seat prepared a spell instead of panicking.

It was time to prove why he earned 50 gold coins a day.

But something flew toward him at great speed.

Crash!

A knife pierced through the window and stabbed into his neck.

“Ghk…!”

The spell failed.

The magic circle vanished into the air.

In an instant, two 4th-circle mages were eliminated.

The rector, paralyzed, watched as the beggar approached.

He understood instinctively.

Running would only make him die faster.

The man who had killed the two mages opened the door and sat in front of him.

He smiled maliciously.

“Nice to meet you, rector of Escolea.”

“W-who are you?”

“You don’t need to know who I am. Let’s talk about you.”

The man continued without giving him a choice.

The rector nodded stiffly.

“You’re the one who proposed at the Grand Council that there are signs of the return of the black dragon Godwin, right?”

“That’s right…”

“What were you thinking when you did that?”

“For the safety of the continent…”

“Even knowing you might be putting yourself in danger?”

“I might be wrong. But even so, I had to say it…”

“Ah.”

The man interrupted him and pointed a knife at his neck.

“Let’s cut the nonsense. If you drag this out, only you will suffer.”

The blood of the two mages dripped from the knife.

The rector swallowed, trying to suppress his trembling.

“Weren’t you going to present a device to predict the appearance of demons?”

“H-how do you know that?”

“There are ears everywhere.”

The man smiled.

That secret was only known by a few trusted scholars, his assistant, and Perda Valdrova.

“Perda Valdrova!”

The rector suddenly shouted.

“Did he send you?”

“What do you think?”

“Damn it! I should have realized when I saw that look in someone so young…!”

The rector shouted furiously.

The man, instead of answering, let out a laugh.

“How adorable the rector is. I like you more than I thought.”

“What does that mean?”

“What else?”

He pulled out a syringe.

The enormous needle looked like a weapon.

But what was truly terrifying was the black, viscous liquid inside.

“What is that?”

“A vaccine.”

“A vaccine?”

“Yes. One that will eliminate all the bacteria that dominate this world.”

The man pressed the plunger.

And stabbed it into himself.

“Ugh…!”

He groaned in pain.

But he wasn’t dying.

It was a mutation.

No, an evolution.

A tar-like substance emerged from his skin, covering him like oil.

His body turned completely black.

More than human, he looked like a soft mannequin, like a new cocoon.

From within, red eyes shone as the surface broke.

When he opened his mouth, sharp, beast-like teeth showed menacingly.

“C-could it be…?”

As he put all the pieces together, a word flashed in the rector’s mind.

“Demon…!”

The man had become a demon.

“Hahaha! At last… at last the grace of that being runs through this body as well!”

The man caressed his face, immersed in ecstasy.

Like someone who had fulfilled his deepest desire, he reveled in the pleasure, and then turned his gaze toward the rector.

Instinctively, he felt death.

Desperate to survive, he threw a question at him.

“Why would someone with your ability… serve as a follower of demons?”

Followers of demons were people with nothing to lose.

Even more ruthless than demon worshippers.

“I too was once a knight who knew honor.”

The man let out a deranged laugh.

“But no matter how much you protect honor, if you serve a king who falls to the words of a miserable schemer, everything collapses in an instant.”

He was a fallen knight.

“So, since I have nothing left to lose, I intend to destroy everything.”

“If you become a demon… you won’t be able to live normally either in the human world or on the continent of Serdes… You will become a lost soul that can go neither to heaven nor to hell. Even so, why…?”

“That’s what you think.”

The man raised the knife and cut Rector Bernard’s arm.

It wasn’t a deep wound, but blood began to flow.

The man pressed the wound with his own hand.

It seemed absurd to think of “injure and then heal,” but something surprising happened.

“Mother… Marune…”

His black body began to take on a skin tone.

It wasn’t just a change in color.

Some parts grew, others shrank.

In the end, he took on a form completely familiar to the rector.

It was Bernard.

Himself.

“Well, rector? Do I look like you?”

The man, now with Bernard’s appearance, smiled.

A smile full of malice, unlike anything the real one had ever shown.

“What do you plan to do with my research?”

“Well, it seems you really are smart.”

The man tapped his head with the knife.

“You already know. If you’re developing a device to predict the appearance of monsters, what demons must do is obvious.”

Ruin the research.

Make sure the device never exists.

“D-don’t think I’ll let you!”

Faced with the possibility of losing his life’s work, Bernard gathered courage.

But the other “Bernard” moved quickly and grabbed him by the neck.

He squeezed slowly, firmly.

“Ghk…!”

“Rest in peace. I will follow you to the void as well.”

Just as he was about to kill him—

“Ambush!”

Someone’s shout from outside pierced through the carriage.

The fake Bernard turned his head.

Outside, there was already combat.

Strangers facing off against demon followers disguised as beggars.

More than twenty men were being overwhelmed by just two.

Brown hair and blonde hair.

Faced with the unexpected attack, the man released Bernard’s neck and asked.

“When did you assign an escort?”

“W-what escort…?”

The rector replied without understanding.

Without giving him time to react, the demon followers were quickly eliminated.

Those pretending to be bandits were just fodder.

The two were highly skilled knights.

“This is troublesome.”

The man spoke with genuine concern.

Against two mages, a surprise attack was enough.

But against two knights at the same time, it was different.

He decided to use a tactic.

Distraction.

“Hey, you! Be careful!”

He opened the carriage door and ran out in desperation.

“Inside! There’s someone just like me! He wants to kill me!”

He ran as if terrified.

But at the same time, he firmly concealed a reversed knife in his arm.

The moment he was within range, he would attack.

“Quick, kill tha—ghk…!”

He didn’t get far before falling.

A knife was embedded in his ankle.

It was identical to the one carried by the brown-haired man.

“Aaagh! What is the meaning of this?!”

There was no answer.

The brown-haired one rushed toward him and delivered a brutal kick to his head.

Thud!

A dull sound, like bones breaking.

The fake Bernard’s body collapsed lifelessly.

The blond man widened his eyes in surprise.

“Sir Zeid! What are you doing to the rector?!”

The man called Zeid pointed at the fallen one.

“That’s not the rector.”

“What are you saying? It’s not even a magical transformation! With that blow you must have killed him—… huh?”

He stopped upon seeing the real Bernard coming out of the carriage.

“Why are there two…?”

“Ah… how innocent. You should improve your observation. Tie that guy up properly. I’ll bring the real one.”

“U-understood.”

Arwen tied up the impostor, while Zeid helped the real one out.

“Are you alright?”

“Yes… I’m fine. Are you… from the regent of Valdrova?”

“Sorry for the delay. I am Zeid Swallow, a knight in service to the Duchy of Valdrova.”

“The innocent friend here is the knight Arwen. We received orders from the regent to secretly watch over and protect the rector.”

“Subordinates of the regent…? Then why is someone who stabbed me in the back helping me?”

“Huh? I don’t know what misunderstanding you have, but for now we’ll take you to our regent.”

As he had been on the verge of losing consciousness, his head was spinning.

But Bernard had no other choice.

The mage who was supposed to drive the carriage was dead, so they could no longer move.

The road was long, and walking alone in that place was too dangerous.

Rector Bernard resigned himself.

“Alright. I’ll go with you.”

“Then first we’ll stop the bleeding.”

Zeid treated Bernard’s wound in a simple manner, and Arwen tied up the other Bernard and mounted him on a horse.

Thus they left the site of the incident and departed.

As they rode, Arwen couldn’t stop thinking about a question.

“Sir Zeid.”

“What is it?”

“How did you know which one was the fake?”

He had attacked without hesitation, which allowed him to take him by surprise.

But Arwen did not understand the reason for that certainty.

Zeid smiled slightly and replied.

“It didn’t shine.”

“…Huh? Shine?”

“The fake one couldn’t imitate the shine of the rector’s gleaming head.”

“……”

Arwen’s gaze subtly shifted past Zeid’s back.

Bernard’s head softly reflected the moonlight.

“Ah.”

It was absurd, but he didn’t know what to say.

***

After riding all night, they arrived at a place where a carriage was waiting for them.

There stood the carriage and the regent of Valdrova’s tent.

A young silver-haired maid welcomed them.

“This way.”

The maid slightly lifted the entrance of the tent, and Bernard entered.

Warmth, different from the cold and merciless wild ground, touched his skin.

The interior was several times larger than it appeared from outside.

It was so cozy and well-prepared that it didn’t even feel like being inside a tent.

‘Isn’t a dimensional space tent an incredible treasure?’

Even a simple dimensional pocket, made with fairy dust, was already a treasure.

But a tent of that kind was on another level.

Only an imperial-level king… or a dragon, could possess something like that.

He realized once again that he was the fiancé of a dragon.

“Welcome.”

A young man with gray hair and blue eyes.

Perda received him.