Chapter 57

Chapter 57: Kidnapping

The regular meeting of the Grand Council had come to an end.
People began to disperse again, just as they had gathered.
As befitted the movement of those with the rank of Grand Duke or higher, a massive army was concentrated in the central region.
In that state, they also held a military parade, displaying and inspecting their national power before the other party.
In that sense, Escolleia was far from such splendor.
They were a city of knowledge, free from diplomatic conflicts.
Preferring practical and efficient travel, they rode in a mana-driven carriage.
— Can’t we switch to a horse-drawn carriage as well?
Director Bernard complained to the mage acting as the driver.
— Again with that?
— Every time I come to the Grand Council, I think the same thing. As the director of a city, huh? I should maintain a bit of my dignity.
— Come now, don’t use the word “dignity.” You are not a mercenary who has rolled on rough ground, so a mature, potbellied man using that word looks pathetic.
— Besides, where in a chicken-coop-shaped city would you raise horses? The space needed to raise just one could house 100 more scholars, so receiving complaints about it is a given.
— Even so, I am the director in name, so my spirit should be maintained…
— Do you want to see a reprimand fly and chaos ensue? I know luxury is important in the noble world, but those who understand that do not become scholars.
— I also want to ride in a carriage, but, sigh…
— If you keep whining like that, should I resign? Should I go home on the dot?
— Sigh… alright, I was wrong. Let’s go, okay, let’s go.
In reality, it is no different from a feudal lord, nothing at all.
The director’s position is completely useless when a mage threatens him.
«If we are talking about efficiency, it would be nice if we could charge mana without a mage…»
Bernard grumbled to himself.
«Right, how nice would it be if we could just inject mana and make it move?»
Using a few gears and levers…
If only we could operate it, that would be perfect.
Bernard sketched his idea in his notebook.
The carriage, which had been moving without shaking, suddenly stopped.
— What is happening?
— It seems someone is blocking the road. Judging by their appearance, they look like bandits.
Bandits who block roads and collect tolls exist everywhere.
— Should I take care of them? We have nothing else to do anyway.
The mage made a throat-slitting gesture and smirked.
— Let us avoid unnecessary bloodshed. Just give them some money.
— Why give them money?
— They are just trying to make a living, aren’t they? Give them a moderate amount and send them back.
— That is why they always look down on you…
— What did you say?
— Nothing. I will be right back.
The mage took a few handfuls of silver coins and stepped out of the carriage.
Director Bernard watched with a displeased expression at those words.
The mage, holding the silver coins, threw them to the ground from a distance and made a gesture of “eat this and let us pass.”
Then, a sharp flash of light erupted from the mage’s torso.
— Huh?
And the mage’s upper body slid down along a diagonal beam of light.
What was visible where the upper body had been was a beggar smiling maliciously.
And a sword.
— A-ah, wha-what the hell!
The director screamed in horror.
The mage in the driver’s seat prepared magic instead of reacting shamefully.
It was his turn to prove why he received 50 gold coins a day as a guard.
But it was in vain; an object flew at an incredible speed.
Crash!
A dagger pierced the window and impaled his throat.
— Th-this, guh, guh-ack…!
The mage’s incantation failed.
The drawn magic circle dispersed in the air and vanished.
In an instant, two Fourth-Circle mages were eliminated.
The director froze as he watched the beggar approach.
He felt it instinctively.
That running away would only make him die faster.
The man who had dealt with two Fourth-Circle mages in an instant opened the door.
And sat on the opposite side.
He smiled maliciously.
— A pleasure to meet you, director of Escolleia.
— Wh-who are you?
— You do not need to know who I am. Let us talk about you.
The man continued the conversation unilaterally.
The director nodded, frozen.
— You are the one who proposed at this Grand Council that signs of the Black Dragon Godwin’s resurrection were showing, right?
— That is true, but… why?
— What were you thinking when you did that?
— I did it for the safety of the continent…
— Even though it could put you in danger?
— I could be wrong. But even so, I felt I had to say it…
— Aah!
The mysterious man cut off Director Bernard’s words and pointed a knife at his throat.
— Let us not waste time on useless talk. Dragging it out only harms you.
The blood of the two mages dripped from the dagger.
The director swallowed hard, desperately suppressing his trembling.
— So you were going to announce the monster appearance prediction device?
— H-how do you…?
— I have ears that listen. Everywhere.
The man smirked.
The only ones who knew that fact were a few scholars he trusted and his secretary.
And Ferda Valdrova.
— Ferda Valdrova!
The director shouted as if suddenly realizing.
— You… were you sent by Regent Ferda?
— Who knows. Does it look to you like that bastard sent me?
— Damn it! I should have known from the moment that young bastard made those eyes…!
Director Bernard shouted with indignation.
The man chuckled with a hiccup instead of answering.
— Our director is cuter than I thought. Not bad.
— What does that mean?
— What do you think?
He took out a syringe.
— This is what I mean.
The syringe’s massive needle was a weapon in itself.
But what the director feared was the black, sticky, tar-like liquid inside.
— What the hell is that inside?
— It is a vaccine.
— A vaccine?
— That’s right, a vaccine. A drug that will eliminate all the clusters of germs taking over this world.
The man placed his thumb on the plunger and readied the injection.
He plunged the syringe into himself.
Not into Director Bernard, but into himself.
— Ugh…!
The man groaned in pain.
But he was not dying.
It was a mutation, no, an evolution.
Over his covered skin, something resembling the injected tar emerged like grease and coated his skin.
The man’s form, having finished mutating, turned completely black.
Rather than a human, it was literally a mannequin made of soft material, a new chrysalis.
Red eyes tearing open from the inside, emitting light.
His mouth opened, revealing sharp beastly teeth menacingly.
— D-don’t tell me…
Synthesizing those elements, a word crossed the director’s mind.
— Demon…!
The man had turned into a demon.
— Uhahaha! Finally, His… His grace flows through this body as well!
The man stroked his own face, falling into ecstasy.
Like someone who had achieved their life’s goal, the man immersed in pleasure turned his gaze toward the director.
He felt death instinctively.
With the thought of wanting to survive somehow, he threw a question at him.
— How can a man of your skill… be a follower of demons?
Demon followers are those who have nothing left to lose.
They are even more terrible than devil followers.
— I was once a knight who knew honor.
The man let out a mocking laugh.
— But no matter how much honor you uphold, if you serve a king who falls for the words of a petty, cunning man, you collapse in an instant.
He was a fallen knight.
— So having nothing left to lose, I will destroy everything.
— If you become a demon… you cannot act normally in the human world, let alone on this Serdes Continent… You will become a lost soul that can go neither to heaven nor to hell. Knowing that, why…?
— That is your way of thinking.
The man raised his dagger and cut Director Bernard’s arm.
It was not a deep wound, but blood flowed steadily.
The man pressed the wound with his own hand.
Before the thought of “giving the disease and the cure” could even cross his mind, something astonishing occurred.
— Mother, Maroon…
His completely black body gradually turned flesh-colored.
It did not just change color like a human; some parts stretched, others shrank.
In the end, it transformed into a shape very familiar to Director Bernard.
It was Bernard, himself.
— How about it, Director? Do I look like you?
The man with Bernard’s face smiled.
A malicious smile that he had never shown in his life.
— What do you plan to do with my research?
— As expected of a director, does your brain work fast?
The man tapped his own head with the dagger.
— You know well, don’t you? You are making something called a monster appearance prediction device, so what demons have to do is obviously only one thing.
Ruin the research, make the prediction device as though it had never existed.
— D-do you think I will let that happen!
At the words that he would lose the research to which he had dedicated his life, Director Bernard belatedly found courage.
But the other Bernard on the opposite side moved nimbly and grabbed him by the throat.
Slowly and powerfully, he strangled him.
— Gah, guh-ack!
— Rest well. I will follow you to the world of the void as well.
Just as he was about to kill the real Director Bernard,
— Ambush!
A shout from the man on guard outside pierced the carriage.
The disguised Bernard turned his head, and outside, a battle was raging.
Mysterious men clashing with demon followers disguised as bandits.
Overwhelming more than twenty people were just two.
One with brown hair and another with blonde hair.
Faced with the unexpected ambush, the man released the strangled throat and asked:
— You, when did you get an escort?
— Gah, gah, wh-what escort?
Director Bernard answered with a face of complete incomprehension.
Without even time to listen to such an answer, the demon followers were swiftly eliminated.
Those disguised as bandits were all mere trash, and two were skilled knights.
— This is troublesome.
The man genuinely worried.
If they were two mages, he could kill them instantly with a surprise attack before they cast, but facing two knights simultaneously was difficult.
The man decided to use his wits.
It was a distraction tactic.
— Hey, you all! Be careful!
He kicked the carriage door open and ran desperately.
— Inside! Inside there is a guy who looks exactly like me! He is trying to kill me!
The man ran like someone terrified.
On the other hand, he hid a dagger held in a reverse grip firmly against his forearm.
The moment he entered range, he prepared to strike by surprise with the hidden dagger.
— Quick, kill that guy over there, guh-ack…!
The man did not get far before collapsing.
A dagger was stuck in his ankle.
It was a dagger identical to the one in the brown-haired man’s hand.
— Kyaaak! What are you doing!?
No answer.
Instead, the brown-haired man ran swiftly and kicked the director’s head with all his might.
Thud!
A dizzying sound like bones breaking.
Director Bernard’s body went limp.
The blonde-haired man’s eyes widened as he shouted:
— Sir Jed! What are you doing to the director!?
The man named Jed gestured toward the fallen director and said:
— That is not the director.
— What nonsense!? It is not a magical disguise either! If you kick him that hard he is definitely dead… eh?
His fuss stopped when he spotted Director Bernard stepping out of the carriage late.
— Why are there two directors…?
— Hah, this naive country friend. Improve your observation skills a bit. First, tie this man securely. I will go bring the real one.
— Uh… understood.
Arwen tied up the fake, and Jed brought the real one out of the carriage and supported him.
— Are you alright?
— Ah, yes… I am fine. Are you from Regent Valdrova…?
— Introductions are late. I am Jed Swallow, a knight who swore fealty to the Grand Duchy of Valdrova. The naive friend here is Sir Arwen. We were secretly monitoring and guarding the director by order of the regent.
— Subordinate of the regent… then why is the person who stabbed me in the back helping me?
— Eh? I don’t know what misunderstanding there is, but for now, we will escort you to where our regent is.
Since he had been at death’s door, his head was dizzy.
But Bernard had no choice.
The mage who was supposed to drive the carriage was dead, so the carriage could not move.
The road is long, and walking alone around here is too dangerous.
Director Bernard resigned himself.
— Understood. I will follow you.
— Then let us stop the bleeding first.
Jed lightly treated Bernard’s wounds, and Arwen tied up the other Bernard and placed him on a horse.
They moved, leaving the scene of the incident as it was.
Even while riding, a question spun in Arwen’s mind.
— Sir Jed.
— What is it?
— How exactly did you recognize him?
Because he attacked without hesitation, he was able to hit the vital point.
But the reason he did not hesitate was something Arwen could not know.
Jed let out a chuckle and answered:
— No shine.
— …Pardon? Shine?
— That fake guy over there, it seems he could not replicate the director’s shiny bald head.
— …
Arwen’s eyes shifted subtly past Jed’s back.
Director Bernard’s head faintly reflected the moonlight.
— Ah.
It was absurd, but he could say nothing.
— —
After riding all night, they arrived at a place where a carriage was waiting.
There was Regent Valdrova’s carriage and tent.
A young silver-haired maid greeted them.
— This way.
The maid lifted the tent flap, and Bernard entered.
A warmth distinct from the wild, cold, and hard ground touched his skin.
An interior several times larger than its exterior appearance.
So cozy and well-kept that you would never think you were inside a tent.
«Subspace tent… isn’t that an incredible treasure?»
Even a single subspace pouch made with fairy dust as a medium is a treasure, but a tent is on a completely different level.
Only empire-level kings.
Or dragons can possess such a treasure.
He realized once again the fact that he was the spouse of a dragon.
— Welcome.
A young man with gray hair and blue eyes.
Ferda greeted him.