Kaniel drooped and went back inside the tent. Then the inside of the tent, which hadn’t been visible earlier in his confusion, came into view.
A table and chair that hadn’t been there last night were placed there, and on top of them were a bowl of stew and one large piece of bread. There was also a small note.
[Eat and take your medicine.]
Pills were placed on top of the note.
Kaniel smiled as if he had no choice and began dipping the bread in the stew and eating it. He seemed to have recovered, but since he was told to take the medicine, he had to take it.
Being worried about feels good, he thought as he ate a little stew. Kaniel suddenly felt something creepy yet chilly and looked back toward the direction where the manor house was.
His feeling was strangely off for no reason.
“…I hope nothing’s wrong.”
***
While Kaniel was having his meal, Taeyon was leading the knights with the lord toward the manor house.
“As we discussed in advance, we’ll divide the knights into two groups. While one group faces the monsters, the remaining group will search for the beast.”
“Fortunately, there aren’t many places to hide in the manor house.”
Because every room had windows, most of the interior of the manor house could be observed from the outside. Last night, the lord had sent several knights with good eyesight to check if the beast was visible anywhere.
Unfortunately, the beast wasn’t visible, which meant it was hiding somewhere out of sight.
The places where that was possible were locations covered by thick curtains. Only about three party halls, the portrait corridor, and the library.
“I’ll take the lead when catching the beast.”
“Will you be alright? Your back should be hurting soon.”
“Young Master! No matter how much you’ve grown up, you can’t disrespect me. I’ll have you know I was once ranked number one in beast subjugation.”
Oblyad Castle had a custom where knights on subjugation patrol recorded and competed over how many beasts and monsters they had dealt with.
Taeyon chuckled at the lord who was tapping his heart with his fist, showing off his vigor.
“I’m joking, Uncle.”
“Of course. Ahem.”
The knights following behind smiled warmly at the sight of the two who seemed close.
As they approached the manor house, monsters gradually began to appear. A monkey monster that had risen with a threatening growl approached, swaying its long arms back and forth. Among the knights, a deer beastkin who used twin swords ran out first.
The monster’s arm stretched out, aiming for the knight’s nape, but the knight lowered his body sharply and kicked off the ground powerfully with his forward foot, launching his body forward. The stepping motion based on the deer beastkin’s characteristically powerful leg strength shot the knight’s body forward.
The chest of the monkey monster, which had stumbled back in surprise, split in an X-shape. Splurt, blood spurted. Still unaware of its own death, the monkey monster’s foreleg that swung again wobbled weakly and drooped without even reaching the knight’s chest.
The monkey monster sprawled on the ground twitched and struggled to move its body, but the hand it barely managed to lift was soon trampled under the knight’s foot.
“Hahahaha!”
The knight who burst into laughter raised his sword high and struck it down hard. The monkey, its heart pierced, died with wide-open eyes.
The knight pulled up the corners of his mouth pleasantly, shook off the blood on his sword onto the ground, and turned to rush at other monsters. But it was already too late. His seniors had already just finished cutting off the heads of the six monsters nearby.
“Tsk, unnecessarily flashy.”
“The slowest one is also the loudest.”
“Look at him not even cutting off the head when the beast might have made a nest.”
“No. Isn’t this kindness to confirm whether a nest was really made? He’s trying to check if it regenerates or not.”
Of course, there was no such high-level intention. The deer knight’s face turned bright red and he shrank. He had a habit of getting excited during every battle and was teased by his seniors every time.
“I’m sorry….”
“Well. It doesn’t seem to be regenerating. Young Master, Lord. It seems the nest isn’t completed yet.”
At that report, the lord’s face brightened considerably. If the nest had been completed while they’d bought half a day’s time, it would have been really troublesome.
“That’s fortunate. The subjugation won’t be that difficult.”
The first group of knights they’d decided on ran out first to face the monsters. The monsters that had been spotted sporadically had become close to a hundred in number once they reached the manor house.
Fortunately, there were no giant monsters, but instead most of the monsters were carnivorous animals. Monsters in the form of carnivorous animals had more elements advantageous for combat, making them trickier to deal with than monsters in the form of herbivorous animals.
Though they still couldn’t compare to knights.
Taeyon, the lord, and one group of knights crossed between the knights and monsters engaged in fierce combat.
They entered the manor house following the path the knights had opened.
“Over there, we’ll go to the portrait corridor first, Young Master.”
But as they walked, the situation was a bit strange.
The monsters that had been spread all around the manor house weren’t visible at all once they actually entered the manor house.
Taeyon looked around with suspicious eyes and searched his memory for whether he’d seen a similar case in books or reports.
“I’ve never heard of monsters hiding when a beast makes a nest.”
“Neither have I. I don’t know what’s going on….”
The manor house, where not the slightest sign of presence could be felt, gave off an eerie atmosphere. Only the cold wind swirled around, leaving a whistling wind sound before moving away.
The broken furniture scattered here and there were probably items dropped during the evacuation. But though only a day had passed, it was dirty and messy as if several months had gone by.
“…Just in case, don’t let down your guard.”
Taeyon warned quietly. At the same time, the confused atmosphere among the knights settled and their gazes sharpened.
When they moved forward while guarding their surroundings and reached the corridor with portraits hung, the face of the lord who had been walking at the front distorted. He hadn’t thought nothing would happen to the manor house, but this was unexpected damage.
“What did this bastard do to our family portrait!”
The lord who ran to the family portrait growled and shouted angrily. The family portrait depicting the lord and his family was messed up terribly. It was amazing to the point of wondering how one could possibly make a painting this bad. The lord couldn’t hide his anger seeing the painting where paint crumbled off at the slightest touch of wind.
“Damn it, I won’t kill you easily, you beast bastard.”
The lord said, grinding his teeth.
While the lord was enraged before the crumbled painting, Taeyon was feeling ominous. He was certain he’d seen a scene similar to this before, but he couldn’t remember clearly.
That meant it must have happened at a scene where he hadn’t fought directly. Before becoming an adult, a case where he went to the scene but didn’t participate in combat….
“We’ll go to the party hall, Young Master.”
At the lord’s words, having forcibly calmed his excitement, Taeyon silently nodded.
The group passed through the corridor heading toward where the party hall was located. Breil’s first party hall was a lively space where spring balls were mainly held. The previous lord’s wife was a beastkin who believed that parties didn’t start in the party hall but in the corridor, so she would beautifully decorate from the corridor. Since it wasn’t spring now, it wouldn’t be as much as during party season, but as an important space in the manor house, at least the walls, curtains, and carpet maintenance should be perfectly done.
But strangely, the path to the party hall was rather shabby.
At the sight of curtains with rotted fabric, faded walls, and carpets punctured and worn here and there, the lord was momentarily at a loss for words.
He hadn’t come here since last spring, so he hadn’t known it was this messed up.
“This isn’t the time to say this, but I’m ashamed that the management is in this state.”
“……”
“I never thought the butler would manage the mansion this way.”
“No. I think….”
That’s when it happened.
“It’s the beast! The beast has appeared!”
A tiger beast with distinct black stripes pushed the door with its head and walked out of the party hall. The area around its eyes was dyed black, and its pupils were bright red. The diamond-shaped pupils were torn long vertically, then gradually grew larger.
The tiger beast crawled out with a swaggering gait and scratched the wall with its front paw as if sharpening its claws. It was a light movement, but the wall was gouged out by a handful.
“I’ll kill it!”
The one who stepped forward first this time was also the deer knight. The knight who could hardly control his excitement widened his eyes and took a big step on the ground using his leg strength like before.
But unlike before, he couldn’t rush forward this time. Because Taeyon grabbed his nape and flung him backward.
“Kheuk…!”
Because of that, the knight whose neck was choked by his clothes sat down on the floor clutching his throat and coughing.
“Y-Young Master?”
Taeyon ignored the voice calling him and swept his gaze in turn over the crumbled walls here and there, the carpet rotting black, the crumbled and torn curtains, and the black smoke subtly spreading at the beast’s feet.
He remembered.
