Elqueeness [EN]: Chapter 320

320.

As I readily nodded, the child’s anxious face brightened. I stroked his head again before turning away. As I followed the path back, the maid waiting at the door bowed her head. Butler Ruben was nowhere to be seen. Noticing my puzzled look, the maid immediately explained.

“The butler had to leave ahead of you. He asked me to apologize to you. I will escort you to the front gate.”

“Ah, I can go alone…”

“No, the mansion is quite large, and you might get lost.”

No matter how large it is, I can just use spatial teleportation. I wanted to say there was no need, but it didn’t seem like something a guest visiting for the first time would say. Reluctantly, I followed the maid along the path.

“But to leave so suddenly, did something urgent come up?”

“I’m sorry. According to the mansion’s internal regulations, I am not allowed to disclose any events that occur within the mansion to outsiders.”

“Ah, I see.”

Well, if you don’t tell me, I’ll just find out myself. It wasn’t a particularly difficult task, so I wasn’t offended. An event within the mansion meant it was nearby anyway. I quietly closed my mouth and walked on, subtly focusing my senses. Just by lightly being aware of my surroundings, I could clearly perceive the situation in every corner.

The butler was in front of the stables at the back of the mansion. He was with a few people who appeared to be servants, and they all had stiff expressions. The way they were facing each other, asking and answering, looked like an interrogation.

“Any witnesses?”

“No, sir. I heard a scream and rushed over, but it was already…”

“I see… Report it to the guard. Be careful not to let rumors spread.”

“Yes, sir.”

The conversation, as much as their stiff expressions, was very somber. The reason for the serious atmosphere was immediately apparent. Something was covered with a long cloth in one corner. Even if I couldn’t see the protruding arm or hair, I could tell at a glance that it was a person.

‘…Did someone die?’

Indeed, it was something that would make the butler rush away, postponing escorting a guest. Moreover, the circumstances suggested it wasn’t an accident but a murder. The cloth covering the body was stained with red blood. There was no way so much blood could be present without being stabbed multiple times.

“Damn it. So it finally happened…”

One of the servants wiped away tears with his forearm. As the emotion he had been holding back was released, others followed suit and began to cry. Only the butler silently stared at the body with a mournful expression.

It was a sorrowful scene of mourning a murdered colleague. It wasn’t something to watch, but I kept my eyes on the situation. I felt a strange sense of unease from the servant’s words a moment ago. He said ‘finally’ not ‘by chance’. It was as if he had already predicted this incident would happen.

“The rumors were true, Ruben. You saw Nei’s body, right? It’s exactly as they said.”

“Doesn’t that mean Rolan is in danger too?”

“Don’t talk nonsense. Nothing has been confirmed yet.”

“But Nei is dead! How can we see Nei’s death at this time as a coincidence? You know better than anyone that he wasn’t the type to hold grudges!”

“Ugh.”

The following conversation was even stranger. It seemed that the identity of the dead person was more of a problem than the fact that a murder had occurred. I didn’t know the details, but it was clear that there was something I didn’t know about.

“E, Erina.”

Then, a faint voice reached my ear. It wasn’t from the butler’s situation across the way, but from where I was. I quickly retracted my expanded vision and looked straight ahead. A maid was standing unsteadily in the hallway, peeking out. She was a cute girl with blonde hair and blue eyes. The maid who was leading me stopped in surprise.

“Rolan.”

The name was familiar to me. 레이 [Rei] had mentioned it once, and it had also appeared in the servants’ conversation a moment ago. Meeting the girl whose name I only knew made me feel like I was meeting a celebrity. However, Rolan’s face was frozen with fear. The maid called Erina looked flustered and glanced at me.

“What a rude thing to do, Rolan. As you can see, I’m escorting a guest. If you have something to say, tell me later…”

“Oh, what do I do? Nei is dead.”

“…!”

Erina calmly cautioned her, but Rolan couldn’t wait. Erina, who had been wearing a stern expression, gasped at the words that were spat out. As if that honest reaction was a signal that it was okay to cry, Rolan began to shed tears.

“Nei is really dead. What do I do, Erina? I guess the rumors were true.”

“Ro, Rolan. Calm down. Nei is dead? Does that mean there was an accident…”

“She said I’m next… That’s why everyone is avoiding me. I’m so scared…”

“What? 수 [Soo], that girl really…! There are things you shouldn’t say in this situation!”

Erina, who had been in a state of confusion, showed anger at those words and gritted her teeth. Rolan sobbed even louder, and this time Erina went to her and hugged her instead of scolding her. It seemed that both of them had completely forgotten about my presence behind them. “It’s okay. It’ll be okay.” As I quietly listened to the comforting words that were repeated like a pledge, my curiosity grew even more. The strange conversation from earlier, and the fact that Nei’s death was affecting Rolan, were clear, but it was difficult to grasp the situation with only fragmented information. Since I couldn’t just keep watching, I decided to ask directly to change the atmosphere.

“What are those rumors?”

“…!”

As expected, the two seemed to remember my presence only then. Their faces were filled with embarrassment as they turned around in surprise.

“I, I’m sorry. This is such a discourtesy…”

“No, it’s okay. It seems like the situation is quite serious. You seem very surprised, which is understandable. Rather than that, I’d like to know more about those rumors.”

“That’s…”

“Rumors are stories that are already spreading, right? I think it’s okay to know that much, even if I’m not involved.”

Erina, who had been wearing a complicated expression, sighed. It seemed that she had decided that there was no point in hiding it since everything was already known.

“It seems you haven’t been in the capital for very long if you don’t know those rumors. Bizarre murders have been occurring in the inner city for the past few days.”

“A serial killer?”

“Yes.”

Erina nodded and explained what she knew. It started with a tragedy in a certain store. It was a small restaurant with few customers, and when they heard a scream, they found the owner dead. The cause of death was a sword wound. There were traces of multiple stabs on the body. The victim was someone who often borrowed money and didn’t pay it back. Everyone thought it was a revenge killing over money. But just a few hours later, a second victim was found. This time, it was a girl doing odd jobs at a general store. Similarly, the cause of death was a sword wound. There were stab wounds in the same area as the first victim. The guards, judging it to be the work of the same perpetrator, expanded the search area, but a third victim appeared in less than a few minutes. More than five such incidents have occurred in succession.

“They generally only kill the intended target, but if they are with several people, they kill everyone at once. That’s why there have been no witnesses so far.”

“How do you know the perpetrator selects targets? From your explanation, it seems they don’t discriminate by gender or age.”

“It’s not accurate, but… I heard that the victims have one thing in common.”

“A common trait?”

“They all have blonde hair and blue eyes.”

“…!”

Ah, so that’s why they said Rolan was next. I looked back at the blonde girl standing hesitantly. Now that I think about it, the dead Nei also had blonde hair, though I couldn’t see it properly because she was covered with a cloth.

‘Blaster… or not.’

In the current situation, if there was a sudden serial killer, I thought there was only one likely culprit. However, the fact that they were targeting specific people bothered me. There was no way a sword that had lost its reason would have the intelligence to select targets. It would instinctively try to kill anything it saw while wandering around randomly.

“No. Maybe it still has some reason left.”

“Excuse me?”

“No, it’s nothing.”

I quickly smiled at the questioning gaze, and the two women’s expressions relaxed. But at that moment, a chilling sensation ran down my skin.

―Blonde… blue eyes.

“…!”

A monotonous and low voice was heard. It was as if it was ringing directly in my head. “Oh, crap!” Before my head could make a decision, I reflexively turned my body. No sooner had I quickly created a barrier of water than a heavy impact struck.

Crash! Kwaaaang!

“Kyaaak!”

The women screamed, terrified by the loud noise. Judging from the dull sound, it seemed they had been knocked away by the pressure wave from the explosion. I was worried about their condition, but I couldn’t turn around to look at them right now. Because the person I had to face was standing right in front of me. Duke Caribdis, wielding a pure white sword in one hand.

Whoosh―

An untimely strong wind blew in the room where the windows couldn’t even be opened. There was no way I couldn’t know the meaning of his appearance here. As expected, he was the protagonist of the widespread rumors in the capital.

“…Ha. What the hell is that?”

A curse flowed out involuntarily at the sight of him standing as still as a painting. His hair, which was originally yellow, had been bleached so white that it was almost transparent. His purple eyes were the same. A cold wind was strongly felt from his entire body. Frankly speaking, he looked like a wind spirit rather than a person. It was clear that he was almost completely assimilated with Blaster.

He was tilting his head, looking down at his sword. He had an expression that seemed to wonder why his attack had been blocked. He didn’t seem to recognize the situation, let alone who I was in front of him.

“D, Duke?”

A confused voice was heard muttering from behind. Rolan, who had been sitting down, had a shocked expression. Even though he was wearing the color of the spirit, his basic physique and features were still the Duke’s. As a member of the household who was also the owner of this mansion, there was no way she wouldn’t recognize Caribdis’s appearance.

“The Duke… why…”

Erina also recognized him and trembled. The Duke, who had been staring at his sword until then, slowly raised his head. His unfocused, cloudy eyes stared at Rolan, filled with a chilling light.

“Blonde…”

A low voice flowed from his moving lips. Rolan and Erina’s faces turned even paler. As he took a step forward, the two women stopped breathing and froze. In an emergency, it was necessary to have the agility to quickly escape, but in this moment, it was fortunate that trying to run away would have stimulated him even more. But apart from that, Caribdis’s actions themselves were bewildering. To get to where Rolan was, he had to pass me first. He would have judged that he couldn’t win against me. In fact, I thought that as soon as his attack was blocked, he would back away and run away. But on the contrary, he not only had a nonchalant expression but even took a step towards me.

“Stop.”

I was so dumbfounded that he was walking over without fear that I warned him first. But he didn’t seem to understand at all. His gaze didn’t reach me. Even though I wasn’t revealing my energy, there was no way Blaster wouldn’t recognize anything to this extent. It meant that his consciousness was still closer to Caribdis. He was just trying to pass by, so I hurriedly grabbed his arm. Because of that, Caribdis made a puzzled expression again when his movement was forcibly stopped. His gaze, which had finally made proper contact, lingered on my face once, and then on my hair.

“Blue hair. Blue eyes. Not you…”

“What the hell are you…”

“The Emperor… blonde hair, blue eyes…”

“…!”

“He… must be killed…”

“What, you crazy bastard?”

Heat surged from within. I wondered why he was only targeting blonde hair and blue eyes, but it seemed that it was aimed at Isana. Should I just erase him instead of purifying him? A strong impulse was about to surge, but the following words prevented it from being carried out.

“The Emperor… must die… to end it.”

“Huh?”

“If he dies… my lord will return… to normal.”

“…I’m going crazy, really.”

I could only sigh in disbelief. I was angry, but I felt more disturbed because I knew what he was trying to do. This loyal servant must have wanted to believe in the Grand Duke until the very end. To the point where he thought that if only Isana died, all of this would end. Then he should have aimed at the target accurately, but he didn’t even remember who he was or where he was, so he just wandered around and murdered innocent people. It was a tragedy created by the madness of the rampaging Blaster and Caribdis’s remaining consciousness mixed together.

“It’s over there! I heard screams from over there!”

“…!”

Then, a number of footsteps were felt in the distance. It seemed that people who heard the noise were starting to gather. The air, which had been relaxed for a moment, tightened sharply, and my face immediately hardened. Until now, Caribdis had killed not only the target but also everyone who was with them. There was a high possibility that this commotion would stimulate Blaster’s madness.

As expected, a sharp chill began to settle in the Duke’s eyes, which had been relatively calm. It was as if a switch had been turned on in a stopped engine. The part I was holding onto tingled with the clearly rising murderous intent. The energy was soaring like a blade, raging as if it would cut down everything in all directions.