The Male Leads Were Stolen By The Extra [EN]: Chapter 42

“Kyaaaa!”

“Ugh! W-what is this!”

The massive iron cage, revealed after the curtain disappeared, sent a ripple of shock through the crowd, and everyone stumbled backward.

“Hahaha! Don’t worry, everyone. There’s absolutely no escape. This is a monster captured directly from the North.”

Denroha boasted confidently.

“What?”

Startled by the noise, Celonia and Ian quickly turned their heads.

Inside the huge, square cage, a monster with terrifying fangs bared between the bars was growling.

Tan stared at the snarling monster, which looked ready to tear people’s throats out, with a strange expression.

The monster trapped inside the cage was a Garum, a wolf-like creature covered in long, black, glossy fur.

A Garum was a monster five times larger than an actual wolf and was often called the Death Dog because of its fur, which was as black as pitch from head to tail.

During monster subjugation, it was one of the more difficult monsters to deal with due to its swift movements, which belied its massive size. ‘But why is it here…?’

At that moment, Celonia remembered her conversation with Wicklander at the magic shop.

“Hehehe. There are quite a few people who collect rare items. Sometimes, there are people who capture and display monsters.”

“Capture and display monsters?”

“It’s to show off their power and wealth.”

‘So, there are people who deliberately capture monsters that you would never encounter unless you went into the monster forest, just to capture them,’ she thought. She never thought it would be real…

It would take a tremendous amount of manpower to capture a monster alive, and it would cost an enormous amount of manpower and money to bring the captured monster to the capital.

‘To try to show off one’s wealth and power in this way…’

‘Crazy, completely crazy.’

Celonia was appalled.

Having personally experienced monsters, she knew very well how dangerous and absurd this was.

“Hahaha! Don’t worry, everyone. You can’t get out of or break this specially made iron cage.”

Denroha’s voice, filled with tremendous confidence, reassured the people.

Those who had fled far from the cage, with faces as white as if a tsunami had struck, slowly began to gather again.

They were afraid, but the iron cage securely surrounded the monster, and it was a rare opportunity to see a monster right in front of them, something they would likely never see again in their lives.

“I-is that really a monster?”

“Yes. There’s no chance of anything happening, but in case of an emergency, the knights of the Denroha family are on standby, so everyone can enjoy the spectacle with peace of mind.”

At those words, everyone looked around.

Sure enough, the knights of the Denroha family were surrounding the cage, standing guard.

“Nenia, this is what you wanted to see so much.”

Marquis Denroha fearlessly brought his daughter, the star of the day, to the front of the cage.

“Wowww…”

Her eyes, filled with curiosity rather than fear, looked up at the Garum trapped in the cage.

“Krrr…”

The Garum glared at Nenia, circling inside the cage. Its fur was standing on end, and it seemed quite agitated. White foam was forming at the corners of the Garum’s black mouth.

Monsters that attack people should be killed, but how should one understand this act of capturing monsters and displaying them in front of people just for a moment of luxury?

Celonia couldn’t stand being in this place any longer.

“Let’s go.”

She grabbed Tan’s arm, who was standing still.

However, Tan stood rooted to the spot like a stone statue.

“Tan, let’s go.”

“Ha! You’re completely scared. I knew it. You relied on your appearance and acted tough, but look at you, frozen by just one monster.”

Ian openly mocked Tan, who was standing tall. It was clear that he was frozen with fear.

He scoffed at the words the young ladies had said earlier, that Tan looked as majestic as a god in mythology.

‘What good is being big? In the end, you’re useless.’

He had no skill or guts, so what audacity did he have to stand up to him?

‘So, he had to show him. Who he was trying to challenge.’

“Young lady, this one seems very frightened, so comfort him and take him away. I’m worried he might collapse on the way.”

Ian glanced at Tan, wore a victorious smile, and confidently headed towards Marquis Denroha.

“Celonia.”

Tan, not paying attention to Ian, called her in a low voice, his eyes fixed on the Garum.

Celonia looked up at him, noticing his unusually serious tone.

With an unreadable expression, Tan was staring intently at the Garum.

“This sound. Can’t you hear it?”

“Pardon?”

Celonia, unable to understand Tan, who had been saying strange things since earlier, realized one thing she had forgotten.

The ruler of the monsters was none other than the Demon King.

The monsters rampaged because the Demon King had been resurrected, and they became quiet again because he had died.

‘Could it be…’

Afraid that he might have felt something, that he might have found even a small piece of memory, Celonia grabbed his arm with a trembling hand.

“Let’s go. Now!”

“…”

Celonia raised her voice, but Tan didn’t budge and was still looking at the Garum.

‘Is this sound really only audible to him?’

The Garum’s eyes, scanning the people gathered in front of it with fierce eyes, were easily readable.

His head throbbed.

Suddenly, a hazy memory flashed through his mind like a fog.

“Pathetic. I had some expectations, but how disappointing.”

“At that rate, you won’t even be able to cut off a strand of my hair by the end of the day, you slowpoke.”

A voice mocking someone was heard. It was Tan, his own voice.

Who was he mocking?

The memory was blurry, so the situation wasn’t clear.

Only the sound of his voice uttering those words was clearly remembered.

‘Is this a part of his past memories?’

Memories that hadn’t surfaced even once in over three months suddenly came to him, and Tan was very confused.

“Oh! Duke Cherville, what do you think? It’s the monster you saw during the subjugation, doesn’t seeing it again bring back memories of that glorious time?”

Meanwhile, Marquis Denroha, standing in the center of the garden, spread his arms wide to welcome Ian, who had approached the cage.

“It’s a Garum. I will stand guard in case of an emergency.”

“Hahaha. As expected, you’re reliable! You’re a savior!”

Marquis Denroha shouted loudly, and people’s attention turned to Ian.

Admiring eyes looked at Ian with trust.

Even the young ladies who had been glancing at Tan looked back at Ian.

‘As expected, this is the right thing.’

Far away, Celonia and the coward were still standing in the same place.

Ian’s shoulders rose with satisfaction.

“Everyone, come closer and take a look! There won’t be any danger. Duke Cherville will protect us all!”

Marquis Denroha went even further, calling people closer. He was confident that there would be no danger anyway.

It was an iron cage made with a lot of money invested in capturing the monster.

Thanks to that, he was able to show the captured monster to many people.

He was proud that no nobles had ever seen a monster of this size.

The monster that some count had captured before was only the size of a person and was terribly weak.

That small size caused a stir in the empire for a while.

Marquis Denroha knew that his daughter was very interested in monsters because she liked the saviors so much.

So, he tried to capture a monster that was incomparable to the monster that the count had brought.

And as a result, he succeeded.

Now, everyone will talk about the terrifying monster in the Denroha family.

He had done what even the Emperor had not been able to do.

Just as Denroha was indulging in his distorted desire for ostentation.

Thwack!

The Garum suddenly rammed its body against the iron cage, and a loud roar echoed.

“Aaaagh!”

“W-what is it?!”

The people who had gathered in front of the cage to watch were horrified and retreated.

“It’s just a temporary excitement, so it’s okay.”

Thwack! Thwack! Thwack! Thwack!

Denroha’s voice, which he had made to reassure the people, was swallowed up by the Garum, which was hitting its body repeatedly.

“…Wh-what.”

“…”

Everyone froze as they watched the Garum slamming its body into the iron cage without rest.

“Krrr…”

The Garum quickly regained its balance with its hind legs even when its body bounced back each time it collided. And it snarled fiercely and continued to rush towards the iron cage.

Thwack!

When the Garum rammed into it once more, the seemingly sturdy iron cage cracked with a creaking sound.

“W-we have to get out of here!”

Thwaaack!