kscans

Chapter 112 - A Brief Respite

The party soon came to an end.

I had enjoyed the meal thoroughly, but Tina had been bombarded with questions from all sorts of people and had barely eaten. There were even some who had tried to propose marriage. However, Tina rejected them all.

I had intended to step in, but Tina stopped me with a silent gaze.

She didn't want to cause any unnecessary trouble, I gathered. It seemed I had made the right choice in asking the waiter to pack some food to go.

After it was over, we were about to head to the inn we had booked during our morning stroll when a soldier approached us.

"Shinsuke-sama, Tina-sama. The General has arranged for you to stay at the castle tonight. I will show you the way."

At these words, Tina and I exchanged glances and nodded.

To refuse now would be to tarnish the General's reputation, and we wanted to maintain a good relationship. The guest room we were shown to was magnificent. The paintings and furnishings on the walls were clearly high-end items. The bed, desk, and chairs were all exquisitely crafted. It was a room designed to satisfy any visitor, but if I were to put it in my own words, it was unsettling.

It was too luxurious, to the point where I hesitated to even use it.

It was the same when I stayed at the castle in the Kingdom; I just couldn't get used to it. But Tina used it as if it were nothing. She was clearly accustomed to it. She had mentioned in the past that she had been summoned to the castle in the Kingdom quite often.

Resigning myself, I decided to relax on the sofa.

Just then, there was a knock on the door, and after I gave the signal, a voice said.

"Excuse me. I have brought the food you requested earlier."

And he brought in three dishes on a cart.

Seeing them, I said to Tina.

"You didn't get to eat at the party because you were being questioned, right? I had this ordered. Was it unnecessary?"

To my question, Tina replied.

"No, thank you. I was quite hungry, so I'm grateful."

She thanked me with a smile.

I said.

"Don't worry about it. It's my way of thanking you for dealing with them in my place."

I replied somewhat bluntly. Just as Tina was about to start eating, she said.

"By the way, a knight said something strange at that party. He said, 'I want to support this country together with a beautiful person like you.' I thought it was a bit odd, but maybe it was just my imagination?"

I thought about her words for a moment.

As a pickup line, it wasn't that strange, but the scale was too grand. It was as if he was trying to use Tina, who had just gained recognition, to secure a position for himself, as if the number of people supporting the country had decreased.

That's how it sounded to me.

I didn't want to get involved in important state affairs.

I just wanted to do my job as a hunter. I told Tina, "Don't worry about it," and decided to rest.


In the General's office.

General Goltor was sorting through documents.

Most of them were proposals for the reconstruction of the town. They varied in type, but many of them involved collecting more taxes. Reconstruction required money, he understood that. But collecting taxes indiscriminately would only make the people's lives more difficult.

The nobles were only thinking about themselves and their money. But that couldn't be helped. When Lady Grine became empress, the nobles who surrounded her were all people who only had money on their minds. With Lady Grine gone, their insolent attitude towards Lady Yorune, the acting regent, was becoming noticeable.

They would say things like, 'I only follow Lady Grine, I will not follow a regent,' or 'Lady Grine is just away for a little while.'

Even if you told them that Lady Grine had turned into a monster and died, no one would believe it.

Because a person turning into a monster was an impossible thing.

However, there was an item in the laws of this country that stated if someone went missing and their survival was not confirmed for seven days, they would be declared dead. There were no exceptions.

If the absence of the emperor continued for a long time, chaos would ensue. That was something he wanted to avoid at all costs.

Of course, Lady Yorune knew this as well. That was why I had urged the princess to be coronated.

Or perhaps, the princess herself had not yet accepted it.

The death of her younger sister.

No matter how much they were at odds, they were family, connected by blood. She probably wanted to believe she was still alive.

Just then, there was a knock on the door, and a knight entered the room.

"Excuse me for the late hour. A report from the border base has arrived."

He said, submitting several sheets of paper.

The General said.

"Thank you. Has anything changed?"

To this question, the knight replied.

"No, sir. There has been no movement from the monsters. Several soldiers have witnessed them watching from a distance, perhaps wary of the few Edgesons we have deployed on the border. Also, the food and supplies we sent to the capital are running low. We have been hunting nearby monsters to secure some, but we are requesting permission to receive supplies from the neighboring villages. What should we do?"

To this question, the General replied.

"It can't be helped. Instruct them to be careful not to take too much."

He gave his permission. The knight saluted.

As the General looked over the documents, he saw a certain item.

"Hmm? The Centaur's corpse and sword are missing? What does this mean?"

To this report, the knight replied.

"Yes, sir. The details are unknown, but the Centaur's corpse, which was left in the morgue, suddenly disappeared. Also, the sword that was being stored in the armory has also disappeared. However, the armor it was wearing was left behind. When we questioned the soldiers, no one had witnessed anything. It's unnatural that no one saw anything, given its size. However, the Minotaur's arm was still there."

He heard the report.

Indeed, the General had also seen the corpse, and it was larger than an adult. To transport it would be absolutely impossible without a cart. Of course, if such a thing were used within the base, everyone would remember it.

Although they had transported food and supplies, they had brought them from a warehouse located on the capital side, outside the base. The morgue was near the battlefield. It was in the opposite direction and would definitely have been noticed.

He had a bad feeling about this, but the only use for the corpse would be to strip it for materials.

But the Centaur had no parts that could be used as materials.

The Minotaur's arm was still more useful.

He thought for a while, but couldn't come up with an answer.

The General said.

"Contact the base. Tell them to tighten security."

To this instruction, the knight saluted in acknowledgment and left.

Alone now, the General looked up at the night sky and thought. The incidents that had occurred so far.

The assassination of the former emperor. The appearance of the high-level monster at the front-line base. The incident with Lady Grine.

It had been a whirlwind of a few days. To dismiss all of this as coincidence was too unnatural. Come to think of it, he had heard that Lady Grine's personal maid, who was in the castle, was missing.

No one had seen her since Lady Grine disappeared.

But the strange thing was that no one could remember who that maid was. They couldn't recall her physical features, and some weren't even sure if she had really existed.

The General had only met her a few times, so he couldn't be sure.

He had met her, but he couldn't remember her. In such cases, one tried not to stare at the other person, especially if they had a scar or something they didn't want to be seen. But that maid was different. Or so it seemed.

An incomprehensible feeling dominated him. Had something been done to him?

The General thought deeply about it, but then stopped. Thinking about it any further would get him nowhere. Besides, if he carelessly meddled, he could be eliminated by someone.

He had no intention of being easily killed, but he wanted to avoid being taken out of the picture in this chaotic situation.

The General returned to his work.


In Princess Yorune's room.

The princess was alone, looking up at the night sky.

Her sister's death. Following her father's death, she had lost another family member.

She put on a brave face in front of everyone, but inside, she was at her limit. Even for royalty, born to a destiny of ruling, she was still only human. She was still too immature to endure the death of a loved one.

At a time like this, it would be reassuring to have the Chancellor, but he had left the castle when Grine was coronated as the new empress.

'I serve only His Majesty Dion. Now that a new emperor has been decided, I am no longer needed.'

He had left with those words.

Honestly, it was a considerable blow. There was no one other than the General who could support the Empire as he did. But this was no time to be wallowing in grief.

According to the princess's information network, delegations from various countries were scheduled to arrive soon.

She didn't know if they would arrive at the same time or separately, but she had to prepare for their reception.

Depending on the situation, she might be able to receive aid at this meeting.

With that faint hope, Princess Yorune headed for bed.