The Male Leads Were Stolen By The Extra [EN]: Chapter 107

<107>

Inside the office of the Moonlight Knights Commander of the Imperial Palace.

“Commander, this seems more serious than we thought. The number of missing people is increasing to the point where it’s hard to ignore,” Count Rudd, the vice-commander of the Moonlight Knights, reported to his superior, expressing his concerns about the current situation.

Ian frowned deeply upon hearing the report.

Rather than being troubled by the documents and information presented, he had been in a foul mood since yesterday. His mood had been spiraling downward ever since Celonia snatched the Hunting Festival victory from him.

He was like a ticking time bomb, ready to explode if anyone so much as breathed on him.

“The number of people identified as missing is already over twenty,” Count Rudd said, placing a document on Ian’s desk.

“There are definitely more missing people. However, they are mostly orphans or extremely poor people without identification, so they haven’t been officially accounted for. If we include their disappearances, the number of confirmed missing people could be two to three times higher.”

Ian read through the document Count Rudd presented with a sharp gaze.

The conclusion stated that if all the unaccounted missing people were included, the total number of missing people would be around 40 to 60.

Reports of missing people had been coming in from the village patrol stations for some time.

However, the numbers were insignificant, and since people went missing every year, every month, and every day, it was naturally ignored.

But recently, reports of increasing missing people began to pour in from multiple village patrol stations, not just one.

The missing people were mostly orphans and the poor without families.

Since these were insignificant human resources and trivial matters that the Emperor wouldn’t bother with, Ian, as the commander of the Imperial Knights, received the reports first.

The Imperial Knights were in charge of the Empire’s security.

Ian had been receiving reports for some time and was generally aware of the situation, but he had dismissed it. It was too insignificant to care about.

As reports piled up like a snowball, he belatedly checked properly and found that the number of missing people within a short period was too high.

It couldn’t be seen as just the usual disappearances. It was as if it was due to some unspoken incident.

“Obvious. Human trafficking.”

Ian easily reached a conclusion, his face etched with annoyance.

Since slave traders were still rampant, the reason for the mass disappearance of people without identification was obvious.

“That’s right. Human trafficking cannot be ruled out. However, it could be another incident, so it would be wise to investigate.”

“Investigate the Veil Kingdom first. They might be kidnapping our Imperial citizens. I will report to His Majesty the Emperor.”

“Yes, I understand.”

Count Rudd bowed.

At that moment, the outside became noisy, and with thumping footsteps, the door to the commander’s office burst open.

The middle-aged man who dared to open the door without the commander’s permission stormed in, radiating anger, and strode towards Ian, leading a large dog.

“You pathetic fool!”

A very angry voice rebuked Ian.

After a moment of surprise, Ian slowly rose from his seat.

“Father.”

“To have your victory stolen by some woman! How can you call yourself the head of the Cherbil family!”

Jeremy Cherbil, Ian’s father and the former Duke, had just arrived from the territory.

Upon hearing that the winner of the Hunting Festival was the Vestian princess, not his son, he was outraged and came to the commander’s office.

“For the commander of the Imperial Knights to have his victory stolen by a princess at the Hunting Festival. Are you tarnishing the family name!”

The dignity of the former Duke was forgotten due to the anger that had risen to the top of his head.

“…….”

Ian’s tightly closed lips trembled as he looked at his father, who was ranting.

He, too, had been suppressing his anger because of that incident, and his father had touched a nerve.

“If I had known this would happen, I wouldn’t have put you in the position of head of the family. You recklessly broke off the engagement with the princess and dared to bring in some ridiculous daughter of the Bennet baronial family! The Cherbil family marrying into such an absurd family. How can this be allowed!”

The constant criticism that had continued since the breakup with Celonia came out of Jeremy’s mouth again today without fail.

And in the end, it was enough to completely provoke Ian.

“Father.”

“You are ruining our family……!”

“Shut your mouth.”

Ian stared straight into his father’s eyes with a face colder than frost. No, he looked down condescendingly at his father, who had grown smaller with age.

The anger bubbling in his chest had turned into a desire to twist the neck of the father standing before him.

“W, what did you just say!”

“I said shut your mouth.”

Ian drew his sword without hesitation and pointed it at Jeremy’s neck.

“Heok……!”

Count Rudd, who had been standing awkwardly, unable to leave, was so surprised that he gasped. He was witnessing a scene that bordered on patricide firsthand.

“Y, you…… how dare you threaten your father…….”

Jeremy’s face turned pale as he faced something he could not even imagine. His body, smaller than in his youth, trembled at the clearly felt difference in power.

“Woof! Woof, woof!”

At that moment, the loyal dog standing next to Jeremy began to bark fiercely.

It was Charles, the hunting dog that Jeremy Cherbil cherished. Charles went everywhere with Jeremy and was so large and fierce that people nearby felt threatened.

Now, Charles recognized Ian but, seeing him threatening his owner, Jeremy, he bared his teeth.

However, the dog’s barking only irritated Ian.

Ian frowned as if he hated the sound and swung the sword he was pointing at his father downwards.

Everything happened in an instant.

Charles’s body fell to the floor without even making a whimper.

Ian, as if relieved that it was finally quiet, looked at Charles’s blood dripping from the sword with indifferent, even apathetic eyes.

“…….”

“…….”

Jeremy and Count Rudd were so shocked that they froze, as if they couldn’t believe what they had seen.

“If you come here again for something like this, it won’t end like this then.”

After committing such an outrageous act, Ian was threatening him instead.

“Y, you are now…….”

Jeremy raised his trembling head, looking at the pathetically dead Charles.

Was the man in front of him really his son? It was unbelievable because it was an action he had never seen before, but the face he was facing was definitely his son. Even the cloudy blue eyes.

“What are you doing? The former Duke is going to pass out, so escort him out.”

The knights, who had been anxiously standing in front of the commander’s office, unable to stop the former Duke’s reckless visit, hurriedly moved their bodies.

All of them had pale faces. They had clearly watched the commander’s actions.

The action clearly showed who was in the superior position of power. Jeremy Cherbil was already a setting sun, and Ian Cherbil was the real power holder.

“You not only insult me, your father, but also dare to defy me! How dare you……!”

Jeremy, unable to contain his anger at his son’s outrageous behavior, shouted, but he had no choice but to be dragged out of the commander’s office by the knights who were pushing him with force.

“Tsk. Clean that up too. Without a trace.”

Ian frowned in disgust as he looked at the sprawled corpse and turned his head. He showed no remorse for having cut it down himself, and he was ruthless and even cruel.

“Commander…….”

Count Rudd, who could not understand Ian’s actions at all, carefully spoke. It was so different from the commander he had seen so far.

However, at that voice, Ian suddenly flashed his half-open eyes and approached in an instant.

“What is that look in your eyes right now?”

Ian, with a look as if he had gone mad, brought his face close to Rudd’s face.

“W, what kind of look are you talking about…….”

Count Rudd flinched and calmly spoke at the terrifying blue eyes that suddenly came close to his nose.

“Are you also laughing at me for being pushed back by the princess at the Hunting Festival?”

“No. How dare I…….”

“That’s right. How dare you.”

Ian glared at Rudd from close range with fierce eyes as if he would chew him up and kill him at any moment.

At that moment, Rudd saw the madness overlaid on the blue eyes.

“No one can ignore me, the hero of the Empire. So I will kill all those who ignore me. Anyone.”

“…….”

Rudd swallowed hard in fear at the words he spat out like a final warning. Then he thought. The person in front of him was not the commander he knew. He was a completely different person.

* * *

Dawn.

“A sponsor…….”

Celonia, unable to sleep, leisurely passed by the nodding knights and walked alone in the garden.

At a time when everyone was asleep, she monopolized the bluish dawn sky and the vast garden where flowers could no longer be found.

Yesterday, Celonia met with Daniel, the Storm Guild Master, and learned about the source of the money that Grace’s family, the Bennet baronial family, was lavishly spending.

There was an anonymous sponsor secretly supporting the baronial family from behind.

But he hadn’t found out who he was.

‘I need to find out who the sponsor is.’

Celonia had told Daniel to investigate, focusing on people with that much wealth, based on the fact that the sponsorship amount was unusual when looking at the baronial family’s expenditures.

For now, it was clear that there was a sponsor, and the problem was the basement.

There was no particular gain regarding the suspicious basement of the Bennet baronial residence.

There were rumors about the basement of the baronial residence, but no one working in the house knew where the basement was.

‘There must be a basement…….’

There was no way rumors would continue to spread like this if there was no substance.

She had a strong feeling that finding out about the basement would unravel the clues. She strongly suspected that black magic might be being performed there.

If so, there must be a way to access the basement…….

“What should I do about Ian…….”

If Mac Ryan’s words were true, Ian had to be healed before the side effects progressed further.

“Agh……!”

It was one problem after another. Celonia, whose head was aching, roughly swept her hair back. There were so many things to find out and do.

‘I’m really not going to let it go.’

She gritted her teeth, thinking of Grace, the culprit of all this. She would definitely find out what that woman’s purpose was.

Celonia turned around, firmly determined in her heart.

She rubbed her arms with both hands as she felt a chill and headed towards the mansion. It was so cold that her nose was getting chilly from being outside for too long due to the increasingly cold weather.

“Huh……?”

At that moment, a person caught her eye far away as she was returning to the mansion.

But when she looked closely, something was strange. The person was looking around as if no one should see him.

With a suspicious appearance at first glance, Celonia instinctively lowered her posture and hid in the bushes.

‘What is it?’

With that question in mind, she slowly peeked out and watched the man’s actions.

‘Raymond?’

She could immediately recognize who the man was because he was in front of the mansion’s main building, which was not too far away.

It was Raymond, her father’s aide.

He was holding something in his arms and constantly looking around, acting very secretively.

Celonia lowered her head a little more to avoid being discovered while holding her breath. More than half of her vision was filled with bushes, but Raymond’s actions were still clearly visible.

Raymond looked around several times and, fortunately, didn’t spot her, then began to walk away quickly.

Of course, Celonia also followed Raymond, trying to remain as unseen as possible. She had to check what he was doing suspiciously, coming out in the middle of the night when everyone was asleep.

‘Where the heck are you going?’

Celonia’s question grew more and more as she secretly followed him. Raymond was passing the main building, crossing the annex, and continuing on for a long time.

After chasing him for quite a while, Raymond finally stopped.

At the same time, Celonia hid behind a large tree in case she was discovered.

‘Why here…….’

The place they arrived at was a place located far away from the mansion buildings, like a small backyard filled with dirt instead of grass.

There was a huge black object that looked like a stove, and black, acrid smoke was always rising from the chimney connected to the object.

It was an incinerator.