chsdbacks Chapter 107: Civil War in the Sael Kingdom (4)
Chapter 107: Civil War in the Sael Kingdom (4)
Chapter 107: Civil War in the Sael Kingdom (4)
The dungeon monsters keep offering sacrifices – 107
EP.107 Civil War in the Sael Kingdom (4)
“What on earth..”
Henrik was tasting death.
Since being kidnapped, he had been continuously tortured until now.
His swollen face was stained with blood, and his sharp eyes had lost their vigor.
Even his wounds were visible through the torn clothes.
“Ugh....”
It hurt so much.
As a butler who had served the Count Bearton for a long time, it was the first time he had experienced such pain.
It was so agonizing that he couldn’t help but want to scream, but he couldn’t make a sound.
The cruel ogre continued to hold his head and torture him relentlessly. After the torture, he ignorantly struck his whole body with his large fists.
As such pain repeated, breathing became difficult.
His breath came out irregularly without pause.
He had screamed so much that his voice had completely faded away.
‘How much time has passed.’
It seemed like quite a long time, but he couldn’t tell exactly.
More than anything, why did he have to go through this?
Henrik couldn’t understand.
But he knew one thing for sure. If he continued to be tortured here, it would be truly dangerous.
Thinking he might really die like this, Henrik gathered whatever strength he had left and opened his mouth.
“Please, please spare me...! I’ll die!”
Was it through this desperate cry, squeezing out his last strength?
The ogre, who had been moving his body, stood still.
“What should we do, Won. Humans. Can’t die.”
The head attached to the ogre’s right, ‘One’, spoke with an uneasy expression.
Surely, the instructions from the manager were to torment humans. She hadn’t said to kill.
“Don’t worry, I’ll ask One. I’ll speak to the manager.”
“Oh! I trust you!”
With that said, the ogre left.
With the tormentor gone, Henrik let out a sigh of relief.
‘At least I can rest for a moment.’
Next to the ogre, there was a water spirit in the form of a massive water mass, but it didn’t seem to be a big problem.
In fact, the water spirit remained still throughout the torture.
Henrik took a deep breath and closed his eyes. Somehow, he felt a bit more at ease.
As his mind settled, he began to think in earnest about the one who had made him like this.
‘What are they exactly.’
Even if the woman who had disguised herself as a maid made sense, the fact that there were even an ogre and a water spirit here.
‘It’s definitely not an ordinary dungeon.’
Henrik had served under the Count Bearton for a long time.
Although he didn’t know everything about monsters and dungeons, he had some knowledge.
The dungeons he knew were never like this.
‘Monsters in dungeons kidnapping people.’
He knew this was far from ordinary.
If monsters could freely behave like this, the Sael Kingdom would have already perished at the hands of monsters.
‘Above all, the inside of the dungeon is remarkably clean.’
At first, he thought it was just a dungeon with a cave-like appearance. But upon closer inspection, there were slight differences.
The cave walls were not rough but smooth and flat.
It seemed as if someone had artificially shaped them.
‘Is this a high-level dungeon...’
A high-level dungeon.
It was the worst-case scenario he didn’t want to think about.
Above all, even now, were the monsters not leaving their positions regarding him?
Even if I run from here, I won’t be able to escape.’
Henrik thought so and glanced at the water spirit.
The water spirit still remained motionless, guarding its position.
Even if he tried to ran now, would that spirit just stand still?
But Henrik slowly shook his head.
‘No. To escape from here is to get a negotiation. Besides, with my current condition, I can’t escape anyway.’
He didn’t know how big this dungeon was, and above all, his physical condition was not good due to torture.
If he were caught while trying to escape, he might really die then.
But having organized his thoughts, Henrik could be sure of one thing.
‘Someone is behind this.’
Otherwise, there wouldn’t be a reason to just kidnap a mere butler like himself.
Even though he was a butler, from the noble’s perspective, he was just a cog.
If they were after ransom, they would have kidnapped a noble’s offspring, not a butler.
‘Is it a feud among nobles? No, that’s absolutely not it.’
Occasionally, there were small-scale wars between nobles for territory. But they always fought honorable battles with deployed troops.
In battles among nobles, reason and honor were important.
They wouldn’t do something to tarnish that honor.
‘Could it be the royal family’s doing?’
The possibility seemed quite high.
The current king was originally from a lineage with strong commoner blood, so he might not care about honor.
And it aligned with their motives to do something like this.
The Count Bearton that Henrik served was the leader of the nobility faction, so naturally, relations with the royal family weren’t good.
‘Is it a warning from the royal family.’
No matter how much of a king he was, meddling with nobles was risky.
So, Henrik thought they might have kidnapped him, the butler, with that in mind.
‘In that case, this place makes sense too.’
If one were a king of a country, acquiring a place like this wouldn’t be difficult.
And secretly raising an ogre there would make sense too.
The woman he saw earlier was probably the result of wizards casting spells.
Henrik was fifty-fifty on the possibility.
The other half of him had negative thoughts, especially since the White Order’s delegation had recently visited the Sael Kingdom.
Rearing monsters was strictly prohibited, so if the royal family were involved in such matters, they would be marked as heretics by the White Order.
Therefore, he also had negative thoughts, but in the world, absolutes did not exist.
If his conjecture were indeed correct, Henrik wouldn’t just sit still.
Eric just needs to remain loyal and follow.
====
***
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“Haha, isn’t it splendid?”
Count Bearton said proudly, his expression beaming.
Indeed, the mansion exuded a luxurious atmosphere.
Colorful decorations sparkled, music filled the rooms, and laughter echoed throughout.
People danced to the music, indulged in sumptuous food, and enjoyed the festivities.
In preparation for any contingencies, knights were strategically stationed both inside and outside the mansion.
The party was proceeding without any issues, much to his satisfaction.
This party was crucial for Count Bearton.
Although it had been some time since the White Order’s envoy arrived in the Sael Kingdom, there had been no prior interaction.
While a simple gathering had been arranged before, this was the first formal meeting with the envoy.
The members of the envoy were not ordinary priests.
‘The High Priest leading the envoy.’
Not just any high-ranking priest.
Upon researching, the Count discovered he was a former Inquisitor, fiercely loyal to the Order.
‘I need to be cautious with my words.’
The Inquisitors of the Order were truly formidable.
If they opposed the Order’s will, they didn’t engage in dialogue but resorted to force first.
If suspected of heresy, an Inquisitor wouldn’t hesitate to wipe out an entire city.
His attention then shifted to the figure next to the priest.
‘The Commander of the Holy knight Order, Gerard.’
He was the one who commanded the Order’s holy knights.
In essence, the two figures before the Count were responsible for the Order’s military.
“Well, this grilled fish is absolutely delicious. It’s the finest catch from Lake Diat. Apparently, the supply has dwindled recently, making it quite rare. Hahaha!”
Count Bearton entertained the High Priest and Commander Gerard with great care.
His servants continued to serve exquisite dishes and fine wines.
Given the favorable situation, this level of investment was nothing.
The Order’s envoy had visited the kingdom to investigate the consecutive disappearances of priests and holy knights.
Despite extensive investigations, no leads had been found.
Perhaps the current gathering was arranged for this purpose.
‘Well, as one of the key figures in this kingdom, they can’t investigate without involving me. Hehe.’
Count Bearton chuckled to himself as he took a sip of wine.
The Order likely contacted him because their investigation didn’t go as planned.
And Count Bearton intended to use this opportunity to check the king’s power using the Order.
Actually, the current atmosphere in the Sael Kingdom wasn’t favorable.
With the Inquisitors persecuting the commoners every day, how could the mood be good?
Moreover, being a noble of the Sael Kingdom, Count Bearton knew that hosting a party like this amidst the internal tension wasn’t appropriate.
But he acted without hesitation.
Regardless of the royal atmosphere or the people’s grievances, he smiled contentedly.
‘As long as I handle this well, the kingdom will be in my hands without any need for caution.’
He just needed to continue as he had been doing.
In retrospect, he had been fortunate.
Initially, Count Bearton wasn’t the leader of the nobles.
The original leader of the nobles was Count Derek.
But suddenly, for some reason, he caused a commotion during a party by drawing his sword.
All of it happened because of Celia and Princess Elena. But he didn’t know that.
‘...Like a foolish child.’
Well, even if he thought that inwardly, it wasn’t such a bad situation for him.
Thanks to Count Derek’s commotion, Count Bearton became the leader of the nobles.
Although the nobles’ position wavered momentarily due to the incident, everything had returned to normal by now.
On the contrary, the royal family had been miserable since the arrival of the envoy from the Order.
‘Princess Elena spends most of her time locked in her room, and the king is nothing but a puppet.’
In the future, the Sael Kingdom would be controlled by the nobles.
And as the leader of the nobles, Count Bearton practically considered himself the king.
While harboring sinister thoughts inwardly, he managed his expression externally.
It was still smooth sailing.
However, since the envoy from the Order came to investigate the kingdom, saying the wrong thing here could lead to losing everything.
‘Let’s focus on the party for now.’
The important discussions would probably come after the party. For now, it was all about enjoying the atmosphere of the party.
Just as the Count was savoring his wine, someone approached him cautiously.
It was a servant.
“Count, Henrik, the head butler, requests an audience with you.”
“Henrik?”
Why would the head butler suddenly seek him out?
He had received reports that Henrik, the head butler, had disappeared suddenly.
He vanished while preparing for the party the day before, and now he suddenly shows up?
Though slightly uneasy, Count Bearton was curious why Henrik was seeking him out at this moment.
Henrik had served him faithfully for a long time.
‘The importance of the current situation can’t be underestimated.’
Count Bearton decided to momentarily leave his seat due to the unexpected situation.
“Haha, I have some urgent matters to attend to, so please excuse me for a moment. Please continue with your meal.”
“Of course.”
The High Priest responded nonchalantly to the Count’s words seeking permission.
The Count nodded and quickly left his seat.
...”
As the Count disappeared, the High Priest turned his head.
“Commander Gerard.”
The High Priest’s voice was very stern.
“Yes, Your Grace.”
“Isn’t it odd, Commander?”
The expression of the High Priest turned ominously serious.
He glanced at the knights of Count Bearton stationed around.
“There are things that shouldn’t be here.”