AEIRSMLAG Chapter 030

A middle-aged man with a few fine lines on his face and black hair twisted the corners of his mouth into a smirk as he fiddled with an ornament hanging by his ear.

It was a translator magic tool, famously expensive among magical devices.

─No sign of movement?

He was also wearing a bracelet-type magic tool that erased his presence.

Unaware of this, the beastmen were extremely cautious, fooled by their own senses into thinking that the man who had approached alone was an exceptional master, even surpassing Ludwin.

To the beastmen, who relied on their keen senses, an opponent who could hide their presence was always a top-level threat.

“Who is you?!”

Though his Imperial speech was awkward, the hostility in his tone was clearly conveyed.

The man, who had been looking down at them from a slightly higher position, frowned in displeasure.

“Vulgar creatures.”

At his quietly muttered insult, the beastmen’s wariness deepened. Then, as if one of them had realized something, the largest among them widened his eyes in surprise.

─He looks like Ludwin?

─What?

The beastmen began to stir at his words. If his face resembled Ludwin’s, couldn’t it only mean they were related by blood?

They were now confused about how to deal with this man who had just insulted them.

“Hmm.”

The man’s, Duke Rivolte’s, eyes narrowed.

From what he overheard, it seemed they were targeting Ludwin.

He heard Ludwin’s recent whereabouts were unknown. Did he get attacked by them?

‘It would have been better if he were dead.’

His son, with his unusually strong bad luck, seemed to still be alive.

He couldn’t believe how shocked he was when he saw that article prominently featured in the newspaper. The large dog in the photograph was unmistakably his son, Ludwin.

‘The Count of Dilucia.’

For some reason, his son had sought refuge with that particular family.

‘That house is a bit strange.’

Though the Dilucia family had a long history, it was nothing special, merely producing textiles for sale, and it had been a poor household.

Yet, around ten years ago, the family suddenly began to stand out and had now become one of the central powers in the empire, thanks to its immense financial resources and remarkable talents.

Rumor had it that the lady of the house was so extraordinary that she led all the family’s businesses to their current prominence, but Duke Rivolte dismissed it as nonsense.

‘The Count must be using that woman as a shield to protect his successor.’

Recently, the Count’s son had begun taking an active role, leading the duke to believe that his assumption was correct.

In any case, as long as Ludwin was under the protection of that family, he couldn’t touch him.

Everyone knew that the crown prince and his wife showed favor toward the Dilucia family.

The moment he acted, the crown prince’s attention would be on him. As Duke Rivolte secretly supported the second prince for various reasons, it wasn’t a good choice.

So, this was an opportunity.

A chance for the half-breed monster to be dealt with by a full-fledged monster.

In a moment of rising excitement, his grey eyes, unlike Ludwin’s, gleamed with a sinister grin.

‘This is perfect. I can achieve my goal without dirtying my hands.’

There had never been any bond of fatherly affection between them.

The child he had fathered was a beast.

His dying wife had embraced that beast covered in black fur more preciously than anything else.

In that moment, Duke Rivolte felt an intense revulsion toward the child, even though it was his own blood.

No, it was all the more horrifying because it was his own blood.

A beast born with the noble bloodline of House Rivolte. There was no greater shame to the family.

‘I should have dealt with it back then…’

By the time he decided to kill it, his wife had already taken steps to hide the child. It wasn’t until the child was five years old that he learned it was in the black tower within the estate.

The first time he accidentally encountered the child with black hair who had escaped the tower, it looked exactly like him. Anyone could see it was his child.

Unfortunately, a branch family member witnessed it, forcing him to acknowledge the child’s existence.

But what on earth happened in that black tower where the child was confined under the pretext of education?

Although he had never taught the child anything, by the time it walked out of the tower on its own at the age of thirteen, it was already beyond his control.

Possessing knowledge and swordsmanship no one had taught it.

Displaying manners no one had instructed it in.

The once-weak monster child emerged from the tower as a fully-fledged monster, revealing itself before him.

After that, he made several hasty attempts to eliminate it, but they all failed. On the contrary, the bastard only mocked him each time.

If the beastmen killed it, he would become the tragic father who had lost his ‘son’ and could then raise a child from the branch family to his liking.

‘Not a bad outcome.’

Having quickly made up his mind, the duke looked down at them.

“Are there only four of you?”

The translator magic tool by his ear shimmered.

When the beastmen heard their own language coming from his mouth, they widened their eyes in surprise.

“No, no. I heard there were more than just a few of you who snuck into the country, so there must be quite a few more.”

He twisted his lips into a grin.

The imperial order secretly delivered to each territory was as follows:

‘Unidentified beastmen have invaded the empire and are causing harm. Capture them immediately upon discovery. If this is not possible, they are to be executed.’

With this order, troops, including imperial knights, were dispatched across the empire under the guise of routine inspections.

The reason he was here was also to support the border defense by passing through the Dilucia and Baron territories on his way to Drew.

These beastmen were likely stuck here because they couldn’t pass through the suddenly tightened security.

“You’re quite injured, huh?”

He found this amusing and chuckled.

At that sneer, filled with malice, the beastmen felt a chill run down their spines.

“Well, in that case, you’re not of much use. I’ll have to find others.”

He muttered this so quietly that even the beastmen couldn’t hear him, then raised his hand towards the rear.

At his gesture, dozens of imperial knights, who had also been hiding their presence with magic tools, suddenly appeared behind him.

─Enemies!

Sensing the threat, the beastmen growled and took up defensive positions.

Just as the tension reached its peak, Duke Rivolte suddenly put on a pitiful expression.

“Oh dear, capturing them in a forest like this would be too difficult for humans. It’s really unfortunate, but there’s nothing we can do.”

He spoke in a tone that seemed as if he were acting, awkward and insincere.

Then, with a sinister smile, he lowered his palm toward the ground.

“Kill them all.”

 

***

 

Five days had passed since the decision to attend the hunting competition with Ludwin.

In the meantime, I had been so busy packing, preparing gifts, and handing over the flower shop that the days flew by.

And finally, today was the day to leave for the hunting competition in the Marquis of Leon’s territory.

“Tyria, be careful.”

My father had already repeated the same words several times, unable to hide his concern about me going alone.

“Don’t worry. It’s not my first time going to a hunting competition.”

“It’s not that I don’t trust you. But it’s the Leon territory, after all. It would have been better if we could send Tibon with you.”

He had said I would do well, but now that the time had come, he seemed to be filled with all sorts of worries.

I understood his reaction, especially since I had been seriously injured in the Leon territory five years ago.

“Tibon is very busy these days. Besides, he said he’d come to Leon once he’s finished.”

“Right, that fellow is close friends with the Marquis of Leon’s son.”

Tibon was currently in a territory not far from the Marquis territory.

Still, my father couldn’t stop worrying, mumbling to himself.

“Thinking about what happened at the last hunting competition… No, perhaps I should send a letter to Marquis Leon, declining your participation…”

“Father…”

At this rate, I wouldn’t be able to leave until evening, so I quickly hugged him and, while he was still dazed, swiftly climbed into the carriage.

“I’ll be back.”

“Tyria, please take care of yourself!”

“Yes, yes. You stay healthy too, Father!”

I waved goodbye to my father as I left the Dilucia estate.

The carriage sped through the town and out of the territory.

As I enjoyed the spring scenery outside the window, Lena spoke to me.

“Thank goodness we could use the biggest carriage. If we had a small one for short distances, Lu wouldn’t have fit.”

Lena looked at Ludwin, who was just as absorbed in the scenery as I was, his head resting on the windowsill.

As she said, Ludwin, who was taking up half of the carriage, seemed to enjoy the view, his tail gently sweeping the floor.

Because of this, Airi had no place to sit and was riding next to the coachman.

“But why are you bringing this one along?”

Lena pointed to the small iron cage next to her, inside a white rabbit was curled up.

Loren, who still hadn’t returned to his human form after nearly a week, had been moved to a small cage for transport.

The maids fed him soft weeds, but he seemed unsatisfied, ticking at me whenever he saw me.

I spoke loud enough for Loren to hear.

“Rabbits can die of loneliness, you know? Father will be leaving soon, too, so it would be too sad to leave him alone in that room.”

Loren, seeming to find my casual lie absurd, straightened up and stomped his back legs in the cage. His weak attempt at intimidation made me chuckle.

“If you behave during the hunting competition, I’ll replace the weeds with celery.”

As I coaxed him like a pet rabbit, he suddenly trembled all over, then let out a rough snort and turned his back on me, curling up again.

“What a rude rabbit.”

But fortunately, Loren hadn’t gone through frequent transformations like Ludwin.

For now, he was locked in a magically enchanted cage that could change its size according to its contents.

I wanted to interrogate Loren as soon as possible to get information about the beastmen.

‘Should I try petting Loren too?’