The first strike aimed for the wing.
With a slicing sound, the left wing separated from the body. Thwack, with a dull sound, the wing like black cloth fell. Beyond the cleanly severed grotesque cross-section, the wyvern’s neck was revealed.
The undead wyvern seemed unable to even feel pain. As if not knowing what had happened, while the monster sluggishly flinched, Benedict leaped once more.
The second strike headed for the exposed wyvern’s neck.
I couldn’t even see exactly what had happened. The wyvern’s crushed head fell rolling down and simultaneously Benedict landed far away. His ceremonial cloak settled down a bit later.
Like a huge tent collapsing, the wyvern toppled over sideways diagonally.
“We… we got it…”
Mikhail muttered.
With just two sword strikes, the undead wyvern was neutralized.
Everyone who had been dazed soon let out excited cheers. I inadvertently embraced Mikhail whose face had turned bright red with excitement.
“Th-this is,”
Cold water was suddenly poured over us.
“We will lodge a formal protest!”
It was the Iota delegation that had retreated to the corner. Supported by an aide, the Iota Foreign Minister shouted.
“Is this how the Empire greets all its guests?”
The anger they were generating seemed plausible, so if I hadn’t known the circumstances that would be revealed just before the outbreak of war between the two nations five years later, I too would not have suspected the Iotans.
While Marquis Heisilt was placating the Iotans, the Regent Duke, who was the Empire’s representative, said nothing. In any case, this seemed to be the end of the sudden incident that occurred at the great mansion, so I breathed a sigh of relief.
Just then I saw the Regent Duke sneaking behind the Iotans.
“It’s not over yet!”
At one noble’s cry, everyone’s gaze turned outside the window.
Between the rain-soaked oak forest, black shadows could be glimpsed here and there. Something was walking, something was crawling, something was flying like the wyvern, approaching.
They were undead monsters with rotting flesh soaked wet from the rain.
“My lady…! Right now in the garden…!”
The door burst open and an old man in heavy armor who appeared to be the count family’s knight commander entered the hall. The old man’s eyes widened at the sight of the interior.
Lady Quina said.
“Sir Middleton, from now on follow His Highness the Prince’s orders.”
“Understood!”
Benedict was still standing beside the undead wyvern.
Gazing only forward, he silently unfastened his shoulder ornament. The long bronze cloak fell to the floor. Stepping on glass shards and the wyvern’s blood, he walked out into the rain.
This now, this was not that incident from the past.
This incident before my eyes could not have caused only that level of repercussion.
Armed knights followed after Benedict. The already ruined carpet was trampled roughly, leaving only distorted stains. Suddenly feeling suffocated, I swallowed a big breath.
He’ll be safe.
He had been safe in the past.
“To this floor!”
Benedict’s voice, assessing the situation, could be heard. In a voice clearly audible even inside, he commanded again.
“To this floor! Miss Sana!”
Miss Sana, who had drawn her sword and grasped it in a reverse grip, came running.
“Follow me!”
She, who seemed like she would never raise her voice in her lifetime, shouted powerfully. People began to run following the knight who leapt up the stairs as if flying in one breath. I too followed behind with Mikhail.
Just as the front group had almost all climbed up, something black burst out from around the corner.
“Keep going!”
Miss Sana, who had leapt up, cut it down in one stroke. The bisected black bird fell to the floor.
“Where is the largest room!”
Miss Sana shouted while continuously swinging her sword. Another black mass fell.
“The drawing room! To the left, it’s the deepest room!”
“We, we can’t go! Already, there are monsters!”
And before those words even finished, monsters resembling large crows flew in.
Miss Sana, who had rushed to the very front like the wind in an instant, immediately formed hand seals while closing her eyes. Wind arose around her, and the crow monsters that had been flying at us fiercely suddenly fell making fluttering sounds as if blocked by hard glass windows.
On one side of the corridor where black feathers were scattering, I could see a small window was broken.
“Keep going!”
Miss Sana, who had quickly formed the release seal, rushed in first. The long, slender silver sword flashed, and the necks of the birds that were flapping and getting up flew off.
Caaaaw—
“More are coming!”
Through the broken window, the same monsters flew in once again.
The corridor was chaotic, mixed with people’s screams and the cawing cries of the crow monsters. Miss Sana told them to run again, but the people were paralyzed with fear. They couldn’t muster the courage to rush under the monsters flying in while dripping rotting flesh.
Just then, an arrow of light flew from somewhere and pierced through the flock of crows. I could see a man in mage robes forming hand seals near the stairs.
“Inside! Get inside the drawing room!”
Miss Sana shouted while blocking as many monsters as possible. With so many of them, even she seemed to have difficulty fighting while protecting us. People roughly pushed each other and ran down the corridor.
Supporting Mikhail whose legs had lost strength, I looked back.
Miss Sana was swinging her sword again, and with each swing of her thin sword, black heads were bisected. Thinking it would be okay, I grabbed Mikhail’s nape. I almost lifted my brother up and ran. At the end of the corridor, we tumbled together through the door gap that was trying to close.
“Close the door quickly!”
Miss Sana and several nobles were still left outside, but at the sound of crows following, the heavy door hurriedly closed.
Thud, thud, the sound of crows hitting could be heard beyond the mahogany door. Everyone just held their breath and listened to that sound, frozen like stone sculptures.
Soon everything became quiet.
The nobles were still blocking the door tightly with tense faces. Pressed right against the door, I could see white fingertips drained of blood.
Just then, knock knock, the sound of knocking on the door was heard.
People exchanged glances.
“May we open the door?”
“No.”
The Regent Duke, who had mixed in at some point, stepped forward.
He had a poor complexion and was dripping large beads of sweat.
“Don’t open it. There may still be remaining monsters.”
“But people were left outside. Among them, the female knight protected us.”
“If the door won’t open, they’ll find another room on their own.”
The Regent Duke said nonchalantly while wiping his forehead.
The people whose faces were distorted with anxiety couldn’t make the right decision at all. When I glanced at Mikhail, he was straightening his collar and tidying his disheveled appearance beside me.
“If I’d known it would be like this, I should have brought Sir Lifros… Joachim. Joachim?”
Leaving Mikhail behind, I stepped forward and spoke.
“This drawing room also has plenty of windows. What if monsters like just now break the windows and attack?”
I looked straight at the unreasonable Regent Duke.
“We need fighting strength.”
I said that because if I talked about human decency, he would probably not open the door even more. Fortunately, Mikhail, who had followed wondering what was going on, agreed in a loud voice, and other nobles also lent their support.
‘Please open the door! It’s safe outside!’
Just in time, a calm voice informing of the situation was heard from outside. At the voice that even revealed their family and name, the Regent Duke reluctantly stepped back.
“We’ve dealt with most of what got into the second floor.”
Miss Sana said as she entered.
On her shoulder was the male mage I had seen earlier. She explained briefly.
“He’s only fainted.”
Fortunately, there were no seriously injured. The nobles who had fallen behind and remained with her still had pale blue faces.
“A few are still wandering around, so it would be better to keep the door closed.”
Miss Sana did what had to be done without any emotion. She acted as if the not-short time when the door wouldn’t open hadn’t existed. The nobles who had followed the Regent Duke in arguing not to open the door looked embarrassed.
“If it weren’t for the knight, we would have really been in trouble.”
The nobles who came in with her expressed their gratitude, and most of those in the drawing room gave thanks. I too conveyed words of thanks, but Miss Sana returned that thanks to her lord Benedict in her characteristic manner of speech.
“Look there! That seems to be the source of this incident!”
Someone pointed outside the window.
I went there with Mikhail. People pressed closely against the terrace window to assess the situation.
In the middle of the blackly spread oak forest, a clearing could be seen. Though it was a forest wide enough to be used as hunting grounds, I could tell at a glance where they were pointing. In a place off to the right from the clearing, monsters were endlessly surging up like a dark spring from the deeply sunken black earth as if a huge wound had been made.
“Wh-what on earth is that?”
Just when everyone was watching in terror, someone shouted angrily.
“I know!”
It was a gaunt middle-aged noble.
“There’s a path leading down to the mansion’s underground there! It’s all the Quina family’s fault! Everyone who should know, knows what’s going on in this underground!”
People’s heads moved to one side. It was the side where Lady Celtic Quina was.
Despite the focused attention, she kept her chin pulled in straight. Everyone looked bewildered at this whole situation, then as if released from paralysis, began to get angry. Other people who knew the rumors criticized the Quina family together.
“I know that wyvern that appeared first! When it was alive, that thing was one of the monsters with the highest stakes at this gambling den!”
The thin man was still making strong claims.
Lady Quina, who had been just watching, finally opened her mouth.
“Yes, and so.”
Everyone focused on her seemingly cold lips.
“That’s why my brother couldn’t come out. My brother is currently in prison on charges of bringing monsters into the system.”
The people who had first raised suspicions asked in confusion.
“Wh-when?”
“This morning. I apologize for not informing you in advance of my family’s ugliness that should rightfully have been announced, when there was an important conference.”
