Chapter 72
The Count’s Domain (2)
Count Staviana’s direct domain—the drawbridge leading into the city of Beldana—was crowded with countless processions.
An endless stream of people stretched on, one group following another.
Merchants, monks, pilgrims, mercenaries, migrants, travelers, adventurers, provincial nobles, and more. The line was filled with people from every class and walk of life.
Johan was one of them.
He had already been waiting several hours for his turn.
The sheer number of people meant that the inspections took quite a while.
Johan was nearly bored to death, but everyone else seemed accustomed to it and showed little reaction.
Entering Beldana had always been a complicated affair.
Johan yawned without realizing it.
Smiling, Ilea slipped her index finger into his open mouth.
Johan’s expression twisted slightly.
“Are you bored?”
“A little. No, actually, I’m bored to death.”
It was an utterly pointless waste of time.
“It’ll be our turn soon. Be patient a little longer.”
“Can’t we just show them the invitation and go in?”
Ilea pointed to the adjacent checkpoint.
There was no one waiting there.
Only the occasional lavish carriage arrived and passed through the inspection almost immediately.
That checkpoint was probably reserved for high-ranking officials and guests invited by the count.
Johan had the right to use it as well.
After all, he possessed an invitation from the count.
Johan shook his head.
“The count must not learn that we’ve arrived.”
If they used the adjacent checkpoint, word would undoubtedly be sent to the count that someone from the Myatro family had arrived.
Johan did not want that.
Ilea asked,
“Is there something you need to do without the count knowing?”
“That’s right. Which is why I need your help.”
Within the count’s domain, Ilea’s very presence was an immense asset.
With her by his side, many things could be handled with ease.
Ilea smiled.
“So it begins now.”
It was finally Johan’s turn to be inspected.
“I’m counting on you.”
A soldier clad in plate armor approached them.
“Present your travel permits.”
They only needed to present an identification plaque, a family seal, or an official travel permit.
Johan held out a blank sheet of white paper.
The soldier’s face twisted.
“Is this some kind of joke? There’s nothing written on it.”
Ilea spoke to him.
“Look more carefully. You’ll change your mind.”
At the same moment, her blue eyes flashed.
The soldier froze briefly, as if time itself had stopped.
A moment later, he opened his mouth.
“You may pass!”
Ilea glanced at Johan with a subtle smile in her eyes.
“Was that what you had in mind?”
Thanks to her, they could enter the city without revealing their identities.
Johan nodded.
“Well done. Keep doing that from now on.”
The two of them immediately entered the city of Beldana.
Those seeing Beldana for the first time were often overwhelmed by its grandeur.
Its sky-piercing spires seemed to warn people not to even dream of climbing them, while its intricately interconnected canals subtly imposed a sense of control and order.
Few cities in this era were as prosperous and systematically organized as Beldana.
Provincial bumpkins visiting the city invariably stared with their mouths hanging open in astonishment.
Johan and Ilea were different.
Neither of them was particularly impressed by Beldana.
In the world Johan had originally inhabited, cities like this appeared only in history books. Having lived in a far more advanced civilization, Beldana seemed like nothing more than a relic of the past to him.
Ilea’s perspective was not particularly different.
She possessed some of the previous witch’s memories.
Compared to the glorious ancient civilization of witches engraved in her mind, Beldana was insignificant.
Buildings erected through human labor alone could not impress her.
Johan and Ilea merely regretted the time they had wasted.
Johan said,
“Let’s get moving before it gets any later.”
“Where are we going?”
“To the Shadow of Death.”
The Shadow of Death was a shadow that encircled the entire city.
It was the darkness concealed beneath the splendor—a place burdened with sustaining the prosperity aboveground, where desire and corruption had accumulated layer upon layer.
All the evil excreted by wealth and power filled the Shadow of Death.
The filthier the Shadow of Death became, the brighter Beldana shone.
Without the Shadow of Death, the Beldana of today could not exist.
Ilea looked down at the ground beneath the city.
“The Shadow of Death... Judging by the name, I suppose it’s somewhere below us.”
She could feel the seething malice underground brushing against her skin.
As a witch, she could sense it.
Johan nodded.
“First, we need to find an entrance. Can you do it?”
There were only a few entrances leading to the Shadow of Death throughout this vast city.
He could eventually find one by searching through his memories of the original story, but that would be a waste of time.
Ilea said,
“Just follow me. I think I’ve already found one.”
She slipped away from the crowd and began heading somewhere.
Johan immediately followed her.
A distinctly different scene unfolded on the outskirts of Beldana, far removed from its extravagant center.
Shabbily dressed people wandered among weathered stone buildings.
Their faces were filled with helplessness and melancholy.
Each of them seemed burdened by a grim story of their own.
Debt, gambling, drugs, crime, epidemics, and more. Whatever their reasons, they had all been driven out of the city center.
Their gazes followed Johan and Ilea like tails.
Desire, jealousy, and wariness clung to those sticky stares.
Ilea smiled.
“I feel as though we’ve become prey.”
Johan and Ilea were dressed far too well for a slum like this.
To anyone looking at them, they appeared to be provincial nobles who had only recently arrived in the city.
They probably looked as though they had lost their way and were wandering around aimlessly.
In other words, they were perfect targets.
They were wealthy nobles who knew nothing of the world, wandering through the slums without even bringing guards. If they were attacked and killed here, it could practically be considered death by natural causes.
Johan clicked his tongue.
“If possible, I’d like to arrive quietly without anything happening.”
“You’re in luck. Nothing happened at all.”
Ilea abruptly stopped before a narrow alley.
“Is this the entrance?”
“Yes. It should lead to the Shadow of Death.”
The alley’s interior was uneven and winding, resembling the inside of a serpent’s belly.
There was no one around.
Only an unpleasant stench occasionally drifted out from within.
This was one of the entrances leading to the Shadow of Death.
“Let’s go inside.”
No sooner had Johan finished speaking than an old woman approached them from behind.
“Young people, that isn’t a road. You should turn back.”
Ilea gave her a gentle smile.
“You’re a kindhearted person. We appreciate the thought.”
A witch could sense malice.
There was no wickedness coming from the old woman.
The old woman was genuinely concerned about Johan and Ilea.
Johan took a silver coin from his pocket.
“This is to repay your kindness.”
The old woman accepted the silver coin, looking utterly bewildered.
“Th-This is far too much...”
She had received an amount equivalent to an entire month’s living expenses.
Before anyone could see it, the old woman quickly hid the silver coin inside her clothes.
By the time she raised her head again, Johan and Ilea were already entering the alley.
The old woman made the sign of the cross as she watched them.
“Saint Margiel, please grant those young lambs your protection.”
The atmosphere changed the moment they entered the alley.
First of all, it was far too quiet. They couldn’t sense another person anywhere.
The stench grew stronger, and a chilly cold seeped into their skin.
The sound of the wind seemed to carry faint screams.
Was it merely his imagination?
Feeling an inexplicable chill run through him, Johan glanced at Ilea.
She looked perfectly relaxed. There was even a faint smile on her face.
“I can feel someone watching us.”
Johan turned his head away again.
“I didn’t mean you, Johan.”
There was clearly no one in the alley, yet he had the strange sensation that someone was observing them.
His spine tingled.
Johan slowly swept his gaze around the area.
“Are they watching us through the windows?”
Every building along the alley had windows, but the thick layer of dust covering them made it impossible to see through the glass.
“It seems so.”
The entrance to the Shadow of Death was a den of thugs, drug dealers, and vagrants.
They occasionally preyed upon outsiders who had lost their way.
That was because they could earn a great deal of money by kidnapping people and taking them deeper underground.
Heretics and mages paid high prices for living humans.
Johan opened his mouth.
“Let’s ignore them. We didn’t come here to deal with thugs and drug addicts.”
“Then what did we come here for?”
“To obtain a weapon we can use against the count. We’ll probably have to descend to the deepest part of the Shadow of Death.”
Interest shimmered in Ilea’s eyes.
“The very bottom of the Shadow of Death... I’m already looking forward to it. I want to get there quickly.”
The farther they walked, the denser the malice became.
Even though they were still only near the entrance, concentrated wickedness was already surging upward.
To a witch, this was an exceptionally fascinating place.
Johan let out a low groan.
“That might prove difficult.”
Two men were sitting in a corner ahead of them.
They stared at Johan and Ilea with snickering smiles.
“Are you nobles who lost your way?”
“Tsk, tsk. How did you end up all the way down here?”
Johan and Ilea ignored them and walked past.
The two men rose from their seats.
“She’s fucking gorgeous up close. What is she, some kind of doll?”
“Let’s have some fun before we sell her.”
“Idiot. Our turn will never come.”
“I wouldn’t mind the man either.”
The snickering men followed Johan and Ilea.
Ilea smiled.
“I like how transparent they are.”
A whistle came from behind them.
“Hey, miss! You like it? You’re a feisty one!”
“I’m going first!”
“Turn around and let us see your face!”
“Is she really that pretty?”
“They say she’s almost too pretty to sell!”
The number of voices steadily increased.
More footsteps joined them as well.
A large crowd of thugs had probably gathered behind them.
Johan clicked his tongue.
“So much for arriving quietly.”
“Since it’s come to this, let’s gather all of them together and deal with them at once.”
“Let’s do that.”
It was more efficient to herd their prey together.
The two continued walking for quite some time.
Only after a considerable while did they finally stop.
They could go no farther.
Dozens of people stood ahead of them, blocking their path.
Johan turned around.
The way behind them was similarly packed with thugs.
They were completely surrounded.
At the front of the crowd, a massive man sitting alone in a chair opened his mouth.
“Strip.”
He stared at Johan and Ilea with a cruel smile.
The thugs shouted,
“Don’t you know what ‘strip’ means? Strip!”
“Take off your clothes, you bastards!”
“Everything, including your underwear!”
“Hurry the fuck up!”
They were visibly excited.
The massive man raised a hand, silencing his subordinates.
Then he spoke again.
“This is your last chance. Strip.”
Ilea looked at Johan.
“It seems like they’ve all gathered now, doesn’t it?”
“Probably.”
“I’ll begin.”
Just as mana began gathering in her hand, Johan grabbed Ilea’s arm and pushed it down.
“Wait. We should obtain what we can from this.”
He pointed toward the sky.
The sun was setting.
Realizing what he meant, Ilea nodded.
“Practical benefits are important.”
The massive man screamed hysterically,
“Strip!”
At that moment, the sun disappeared completely beneath the horizon.
Darkness descended.
Johan’s figure abruptly vanished.
The massive man shot to his feet, his eyes bulging.
“Where did he go?!”
He felt something touch his shoulder and immediately turned his head.
A pitch-black hand was resting upon it.
An eerie voice whispered into his ear.
“Sit down.”
An unfathomable force drove him back into his chair.
“B-Boss...?”
“B-Behind you!”
The expressions on his subordinates’ faces were strange.
They were terrified.
When the massive man tried to look behind him, the eerie voice came again.
“No, no. Don’t turn around. I’m about to begin a performance just for you.”
Ilea smiled and clapped her hands.
“I’m looking forward to it!”
Mapheltan’s red eyes flashed.
At the same moment, bizarre words in the demonic tongue spilled from his mouth.
『Kill one another from this moment onward.
(Z’thar Vek’tor Mhaal.)』
The Commandment burrowed into everyone’s minds.
The massive man’s eyes trembled violently.