Chapter 25

Seed of Division (1)

Clang—!

"Kyaak?! "
"D-Duchess, please calm down…!"

Early morning.
At the same time the day's schedule began, chaos erupted throughout the Paul Wyvern Ducal House estate.

"Let go of me! How dare they kill my knight and still walk out of this territory alive?! "
"M-My lady! Please…!"

Anyone witnessing this scene—
and anyone who knew Helian—
would never have believed their eyes.

"Stop Her Grace! Quickly!"
"Let go of me! I'll kill every last one of them! Aaaagh—!"

Her hair completely disheveled, a slender sword clutched in one hand, Helian swung it around like a madwoman as though her mortal enemy stood before her.

"Aaagh?! "
"M-Mari!"
"A maid's been cut by the blade! Someone, hurry…!"
"Shut up—!"

Blood splattered across the central staircase decorated with luxurious silk and satin.

"Klein…! Klein, you bastard…!"
"You were looking for me?"

Helian's face, red enough to burst at any moment, instantly turned pale.

"K-Klein…!"
"Please step back, Young Master. Her Grace is currently…!"

The servants, terrified out of their minds, spoke to me in trembling voices.
I understood completely.
In a situation where bloodshed could break out at any second, the very person at the center of the controversy had just appeared at the estate.

"You…!"

Just as expected, unable to contain her fury, Helian stormed toward me.

"You—how dare you kill my knight…!"
"Your knight? I have no idea what you're talking about, Aunt."
"What did you say?!"

Helian raised her sword at me.

"I'll kill you here and now—!"

A sword path so simple it bordered on stupidity.
There was no need to even predict it.
I immediately knocked aside Helian's descending blade.

Clang—!

"Aagh?!"

The force of my strike threw Helian off balance, and she collapsed to the floor.

"What kind of disgraceful behavior is this?!"

I deliberately raised my voice.
Loud enough for everyone in the estate to hear.

"If you were once a member of Leinrant, then conduct yourself with the dignity befitting the name, Duchess Helian!"

The insignificant second son of the main family had knocked down and scolded the ruler of a branch family.
Without even using the highest honorific of "Your Grace."

"T-That…!"
"Young Master Klein just spoke to the Duchess like that…?"

Voices of shock rang out everywhere.
Servants, butlers, couriers.
Anyone would do.
As long as rumors spread through the territory and became gossip among the nobility.

'The best way to deal with nobles is with noble methods.'

That was what I was thinking to myself while glancing around at everyone.

"A-Aah…!"

As if she had finally processed what she'd just heard, Helian looked at me and tried to say something.

"You… how dare you…!"
"Aunt."

Right before she could continue, I grabbed her shoulder and pulled her closer.

"Do you truly believe the only Leinrant backed by the Empire is you alone?"

The moment I whispered that, Helian's eyes widened.

"W-What…?"

Her eyes opened wide at my words.
It was an obvious trick anyone could infer with a little thought.
But right now—
at this very moment, after losing her knight to some unknown force—
mere bluffing alone was enough.

"Why do you think I refused your sweet offer?"

"…!"

With a mocking voice, I shook Helian once more.
Sowing discord into the cracks created by loss and distrust.
And when mixed with the voice of the dead carrying resentment, it started sounding almost like the truth itself.

"The Order isolated the site where Sanchez disappeared. They say traces of necromancy were everywhere."

The Banshee I had sent had been eavesdropping on Helian's residence all day long.
What I was saying was exactly what she herself had been informed of at dawn.
To fabricate a lie, you mix in truth.

"And which group currently researches necromancy the most deeply on the continent?"

"…!"

Of course, Helian wouldn't simply believe me.
I was an enemy.
And not just any enemy, but someone from the main family.
Blindly trusting my words would be absurd.

'That's why all I need is the tiniest crack. Just a sliver of doubt.'

The shock of Sanchez's death would keep striking at that microscopic fissure again and again.
And the more it was disturbed, the larger her suspicion would grow.
And to drive the final wedge into that suspicion…

"K-Klein Leinrant—!"

A voice from beside us interrupted my thoughts.

'Perfect timing. He crawled out right on cue.'

I looked at the man rushing toward me with a panicked expression and thought to myself.

Hector Ross Paul Wyvern.
The final pillar emotionally supporting Helian.

And the last chess piece for my plan.

"Before I return to the main house, let me give you one piece of advice, Aunt Helian."

Right before Hector reached me,
I looked into her eyes filled with anxiety and whispered one final thing.

"You'd better keep a close eye on Hector."
"…!"

After adding those words, I stood up.
A moment later, Hector finally arrived and pointed furiously at me.

"Y-You! Why did you come here?!"

Perhaps the sensation of having a blade at his throat still lingered in his mind, because even while shouting at me, he was visibly shrinking back.

"Well, this works out nicely."

Looking at him, I spoke calmly.

"I've finished every event I was invited to, so I'm returning to the main house."
"R-Returning…?"
"That's right. Take good care of Aunt Helian."

I said it with a smile, then turned around and walked out of the estate.

Outside, Laia Ren Paul Wyvern's carriage was already waiting for me.

"You really think Helian will move exactly the way we want just because of a bluff like that?"
"No. I don't."

As I climbed into the carriage, I answered the sulky voice that greeted me.

Laia Ren Paul Wyvern.
Whether it meant she trusted me or simply no longer cared if she got caught, she had already dropped the noble-lady act.

"Then why bother…?"
"The more sources of anxiety there are, the more likely people are to make mistakes. And…"

I checked the backpack Arin had prepared beforehand and continued,

"No matter how they respond, Hector dies."

At those words, Laia's expression stiffened even further.
She stared at my face for a moment before finally sighing.

"You say you're going to kill someone far too casually."
"…Someone, huh."

At Laia's grave expression, a scoff escaped my lips on its own.

"What's so funny?"
"Should those things even be treated as people?"

When I said that while looking at Helian's retreat growing distant behind us, Laia Ren Paul Wyvern spoke to me.

"They may be fighting over the succession, but even so, there are lines that must never be crossed as a knight."
"As a knight."

Dunkel, Berkel, even Laia standing before me.
All of them constantly spoke of that title, "knight," and the weight it carried.
As someone who had survived by using every possible means necessary, I could never truly understand it.

'Looks like this needs some explaining.'

Even if I didn't understand them, I belonged to a knightly house now.
To persuade another knight, I needed at least some degree of justification.

"When knights go out on missions, they talk pretty casually about killing monsters, don't they?"
"Huh?"

Laia looked puzzled by my sudden question, but after a moment, she nodded.

"Then what if that monster was a good monster that saved dozens of lives?"

At that, Laia's expression became even stranger.

"Do monsters like that even exist?"
"Let's just say one does. Would you kill it?"

Laia thought about it for a moment before shaking her head.

"No. I don't think I could."

Hearing that, I nodded and asked again.

"Then what would you do to a human who killed dozens of people?"

A murderer responsible for dozens of deaths.
The moment I framed it that way, her answer came much faster.

"They should be killed."

A firm response.
I nodded and continued.

"So just now, did you decide whether to kill something based on whether it was human or not?"
"…No."

As the exchange continued, Laia seemed to finally understand what I was trying to say.

"So the standard for a being's value should be based not on race or birth, but on its actions…?"

"You catch on quickly."

The moment I said that, Laia frowned deeply.

"In other words, to you, the nobles of Helian's faction and monsters are…"
"The same kind of vermin."

After saying that, I smiled at Laia.

"You don't need to feel guilty about burning thousands of mosquitoes, right?"

After hearing that, Laia fell silent for quite a while, lost in thought.

"My lady. We've arrived."

By the time our discussion came to an end,
the carriage carrying us had reached its destination, and the door opened.

"You'll hear from me within four days at the latest. Then…"
"I know. I'll keep my promise."

After receiving Laia's firm answer, I nodded and stepped down from the carriage.

A forest path thick with trees.
The perfect place to hide oneself.

"Well then, shall we get to work?"

With those words, I removed the pack from my back, draped myself in a robe, and put on a mask.

[Guide Klein calls upon the wandering soul. Answer me.]

As I stretched out my hand and chanted the spell, one of the wandering spirits in the forest answered my summons.

Srrrrr…!

A shape like pure white liquid.
But soon, it transformed into the form of a human etched into my memory, then bowed its head toward me.

On one side was the necromancer Pale, on the other was Hector.
A ghost that mimicked the forms of others to create confusion—
a doppelganger.

"Good. That's more or less everything prepared."

As I examined my newly created work, a Banshee emerged from the forest and whispered something into my ear.

"…Yeah. This is going to be even easier than I thought."

The smile on my lips deepened.
Only one thing remained now.
All I had to do was wait for the prey to bite the bait.

"Damn it, why did Mother send me to a place like this…"

After Klein left the territory,
Helian shut herself inside her study and refused to come out for quite some time.

Just as everyone was beginning to feel relieved that peace had finally returned,
Helian summoned Hector and appointed him commander of the garrison at the fortress city of Galond in the southwest.

"This is actually an opportunity, Young Master. The commander of Galond holds authority equal to a knight commander!"
"I-Is that so?"

On the road to Galond,
Hector had initially been confused by the sudden transfer, but after hearing his adjutant's words, he looked noticeably more cheerful.

'Yeah. Since things turned out this way anyway, I'll prove myself properly in Galond.'

Defeated by a mere good-for-nothing young master.
Sanchez missing.
His mother out of her mind.
Even so, Hector forced himself to regain his composure as he hurried toward Galond.

"H-Halt for a moment!"

While passing through the dark forest road,
the two knights at the front suddenly stopped the procession after spotting something.

"What is it? What happened?"
"Ah, Young Master. Look over there."

One of the knights escorting Hector pointed toward a spot in the forest.

"What… is that?"

A bizarre figure dressed in a black robe and mask.
The moment Hector saw it, his expression twisted.

"That's an Imperial necromancer."
"A necromancer? One of those the Empire trains…?"
"That's correct. It seems they've lost their way…"

As he spoke, the knight waved his hand.
If the man truly belonged to the Empire, then he was technically an ally of Helian's faction.
There was no reason not to help someone stranded in a forest like this.

"H-Hey… let's just go. This feels creepy."
"Young Master…"

Those who raised corpses to fight.
It was only natural for nobles like Hector to feel repulsed by them.

While the knights exchanged bitter smiles at Hector's reaction,
the necromancer, who had been silently observing the group, slowly stretched out a hand toward them.

"See? They're responding to us as well—!"

The knight trying to reassure Hector got no further.

Splurt—!

A sickening sound of flesh tearing apart.
At the same time, the knight's eyes widened.

"W-Why… why…?"

What burst through his chest was a massive spearhead.
Rust-covered, as though abandoned long ago.

"Uh… ah…?"

Hector still hadn't fully grasped the situation and stood frozen.

"Craaaagh…!"
"Kiiiii…!"
"Grrrrrrrr…!"

Alongside horrifying cries,
pairs of chilling lights began appearing one after another in the darkness.

Skeleton soldiers surrounded by black smoke.
The undead used by necromancers—
Skeletons.

"W-Wait a second!"
"What is the meaning of this?! Hey! We are—!"

Before the other knights could finish shouting—

Thudududuk—!

A rain of arrows flew in from somewhere, forcing the knights to hastily raise their mana.

"Damn it?! What the hell is this?!"
"The Empire's necromancers are attacking us! Everyone, prepare for battle!"

A dark forest where they couldn't even tell friend from foe, let alone properly identify their surroundings.
As the unseen necromancers and knights began fighting,
similar shouts echoed from elsewhere in the woods.

"Helian's knights have betrayed us! Everyone, summon the undead—!"