kscans

Chapter 13 - The Sealed Tower and the Imprisoned Lady

"Nope, still not here."

I'd searched every corner of the lord's mansion and turned every living human into an undead, but there was still no sign of anyone who looked like the lord or his family.

"They're not in the town, either. Where could they have run off to?"

I thought they might have fled to the Church first, but apparently, the only bodies found in the ruins were those of priests and ordinary citizens.

"Uuuuh."

Just then, Ichigo-kun gestured to me that he had found something.

"Oh, did you find the lord's family?"

But Ichigo-kun shook his head, indicating that wasn't it. Confused, I followed him to a tower located at the far edge of the lord's estate.

"I didn't even know there was a tower here."

But there was something strange about it. It was tall, but not tall enough. It was shorter than the lord's mansion, so it didn't seem to be a watchtower, and it was too far from the main house to be a warehouse. In fact, a line of tall trees had been planted between the mansion and the tower, making it seem almost completely isolated.

"Could the lord's family be hiding in here?"

If so, they would surely have elite guards stationed. To be safe, I sent in some undead to scout ahead. However, as the undead approached the tower, they stopped just short, seemingly confused.

"What's wrong?"

They wouldn't move any closer, as if they didn't want to enter the tower.

"Hmm, do you feel some kind of magic? It doesn't feel like an attack spell, though."

Looking closely, I could sense a hazy magical energy enveloping the tower. It was just a faint mist, really. Maybe the undead were averse to it? I couldn't feel anything myself, though.

Well, no choice. I'll have to go in. Leaving the lord's family on the loose could be trouble, especially if they managed to call for help.

I tried the tower door, but it met with a solid thunk and wouldn't open.

"Huh? Is it locked? Well, whatever."

With a sharp crack, I ripped the door, frame and all, right out of the wall. Such a flimsy lock is useless against a Vampire.

And so, I stepped inside the tower. The interior was even more filled with the hazy mist, making it incredibly difficult to see.

"Ugh, this is annoying."

I focused my magic, imagining myself blowing the mist away, like blowing steam off a hot drink. With a soft whoosh, the haze dissipated.

"There, that's better."

Now that it was clear, the undead seemed to be fine and followed me into the tower.

"Alright, time to explore the tower!"

Or so I thought, but the inside was just a single staircase, and I reached the room at the very top in no time. There were no guards on the stairs or in front of the door. Were they waiting for me on the other side? The door was locked again, so I broke it down with force. Ichigo-kun gestured that he would go first and stepped inside. When he wasn't immediately attacked, the other undead guards followed, and I entered last.

To my surprise, the room was mostly empty. Well, there was a bed, a table, and a single chair, so it was a room, albeit a very sparse one. And...

"My, what brings you here so late at night? It's a bit early for breakfast, isn't it? Or have you finally decided to kill me?"

There, sitting on the bed, was a young girl. She turned toward us but didn't look at my face as she spoke. Huh, she's not surprised to see undead. This girl's got guts. Wait a minute... her bangs are incredibly long. So long they completely cover her eyes. A real-life mekakure-kko? Can she even see through that? Isn't that bad for her eyes?

Still, this girl was far too calm. Was she unaware of the disaster that had befallen the town? This place was isolated from the rest of the grounds, and the trees surrounding the tower might have muffled the sound.

"I'm looking for the lord's family. Have you seen them?"

My question seemed to surprise the girl.

"A girl? You're not here to kill me?"

She keeps talking about being killed. What a grim girl.

"I only just learned of your existence upon entering this room. The ones I'm looking for are the lord's family."

The girl looked at me suspiciously, yet she kept her face carefully averted, as if she didn't want me to see it. Could she have been hidden here by the lord's family for some reason? Was she mistaking us for pursuers?

"What do you want with them?"

I needed information, so her suspicion was a problem, but it didn't seem like she knew where they were anyway, so I figured it didn't matter.

"I've come to dispose of the lord's family. I'm taking control of this town."

"What? Dispose? Control? What are you talking about?"

The girl's head moved as her gaze darted around, as if searching for us. Hmm, what's with her behavior? It's almost like she can't see us...

"Ah, of course."

I quickly used my magic to create a small ball of light. The room was bathed in a soft glow.

"Ah...! W-White... so beautiful... Kyaaaaaaaaah!?"

Startled by the sudden light, the girl looked up at me for a moment before letting out another scream.

"C-Corpses! U-Undead!?"

Yes, that's right.

"Yes, we're the ones who destroyed this town. All that's left is the lord's family. If you tell me where they are, I might just let you live."

I'm not lying this time. She's all alone, and someone might be after her, so life would be on hard mode, but I think giving her a chance in exchange for information is fair.

"This town... you did this...? What about the knights? The Church?"

"Wiped them out. The entire town is under our control. All that's left is the lord and his family. Do you know where they are?"

"Really...?"

The girl's breathing grew shallow, and her body began to tremble. Sorry, kid, but I'm a monster now. I live by a monster's code of ethics. Besides, I don't have any fond memories of humans.

I offered her a silent smile, and her body went rigid as she accepted that this was reality.

"Ah, so I was... abandoned... So, this town is really..."

"Completely destroyed. It will never go back to the way it was."

"Even if the lord returns...?"

"He'll only find a town of rubble and corpses. Even if he could somehow deal with us, with no people to rule, the kingdom would probably punish him, and he'd lose his title."

I don't know much about the nobility in this world, but it stands to reason that a lord who abandoned his people to save his own skin would face a grim fate. Stories might have happy endings where a surviving descendant reclaims their homeland from an evil empire, but in reality, rebuilding a domain with zero population would be incredibly difficult.

"I see... So it is. Then that man will be ruined..."

The girl trembled. Wait, did she just say something odd?

"Ahahahahahahahahaha! He's going to be ruined! Ahahaha, ahahahahaha!!"

"Whoa!?"

I was startled as the girl suddenly burst into crazed laughter. Wait, wasn't she being sheltered by the lord's family? Or was I wrong?

"The man who locked me up in this place, who pretended I didn't exist, is going to be ruined! Ahahahahahaha!!"

The girl continued to laugh, cackling and roaring as if releasing every emotion she'd ever suppressed. Finally, out of breath and heaving, she calmed down.

"Um, what's your relationship with the lord?"

I was a little scared to ask, but even more curious.

"I am... Adolnel. Adolnel Fenesia. I am the daughter of the lord of this domain, Fenesia."

As it turned out, this girl was the lord's daughter. Adolnel then explained why she had been locked away in this place.

"I was born to be the heir of the Fenesia family. But I was a daughter born with a cursed mark."

"A cursed mark?"

Adolnel looked like a cute girl with long, black hair. Her skin was pale, but that was likely from being confined in this tower. The windows were small and set high up, so it didn't look like much light got in. Just as she said, it was probably to prevent her from escaping. At any rate, I couldn't see any cursed mark. Maybe she had a birthmark somewhere hidden?

"The Cursed Violet Eyes. These purple eyes are said to be a sign of cursed power, an ill omen."

Adolnel brushed her long bangs aside, revealing her eyes. Illuminated by the light, her irises sparkled like amethysts.

"They're beautiful..."

The words escaped my lips before I could stop them. They truly were beautiful eyes.

"Hehe, thank you, even if it's just flattery."

It wasn't flattery, though.

"But that man didn't think so. He despised me, calling me the owner of filthy eyes. I was his only heir, so I was raised as a noble, but he never once looked at me or even spoke to me. It was the same with my mother. The only people who spoke to me were my tutors and the maids when they had business with me. Everyone averted their eyes from me and would only say what was absolutely necessary."

Wow, that's horrible.

"Then, on the day my brother was born, I was locked away in this tower. That was the first time I ever heard that man's voice. 'Now that an heir has been born, you are no longer of any use. Stay here until you die. Be grateful we're not killing you,' he said."

I was speechless. Even monsters have more compassion than that.

"They even went so far as to put an escape-prevention curse on the tower. It seems they also set up a barrier to keep anyone who might try to use me from getting in. Only the maid who brought my meals could enter, using a special magic item. They were nothing if not thorough. They were probably keeping me as a spare in case something happened to my brother. Or maybe they just kept me alive to bear children for them."

Adolnel recounted this horrific story in a flat, detached tone. Her eyes reflected nothing but despair for the world.

"You want to know where that man fled, don't you?"

"Huh? Oh, yes."

"I once heard from a tutor that the lord's mansion has a secret passage for emergencies. Because of my situation, I was never told where it is, but it should be somewhere in the mansion."

I see, a hidden passage. A classic, to be sure.

"Thank you for telling me. Everyone, search the mansion grounds and find the hidden passage!"

At my command, the undead moved out. Now, that just left the matter of what to do with Adolnel.

"Alright, you're free to go."

She gave me important information. I'd even order my undead not to attack her. I could even have the "Wolf-chan"s secretly escort her to the next town. I won't make the same pitiful mistake I made with those adventurers.

"Go on, please."

I stepped aside to clear the path to the door. Adolnel got off the bed and started walking, but she stopped right in front of me.

"What's wrong? You're free to go. My target is the lord's family."

"Even though I have the lord's blood?"

"But they're not your family, are they?"

"...! ...No!"

In this world, there are people who, despite sharing blood, cannot be called family—or rather, should not be. For her, the lord was exactly that.

"I have a request. Him... that man... no, all of them—kill them! Make them suffer as I have suffered, those people who threw me away to live their happy lives!"

"Alright."

If it will bring you peace. I understood how she felt all too well. In my previous life, I too was subjected to the malice of my own family, though in a different way.

"And one more thing..."

Adolnel leaned against me. From between the strands of her hair, her violet eyes, seen up close, shimmered and trembled in the dim light. With that fantastical color in her eyes, she said:

"Kill me."