“Why on earth…”
Henrik felt like he was dying.
Ever since he had been abducted, he had been tortured without pause.
His face, swollen red, was stained with blood, and his once-intelligent eyes had lost their strength.
Wounds could be seen through the tears in his clothes.
“Ugh…”
It hurt so terribly.
For the head butler who had served Count Beerton for many years, it was pain he had never experienced before.
Even if he wanted to scream from the agony, he could not.
That cruel ogre had grabbed him by the head and kept waterboarding him. When the water torture ended, it beat his entire body with its stupidly huge fists.
As that pain repeated, it became difficult to breathe.
His breaths came out endlessly, irregular and ragged.
He had screamed so much that his voice had gone completely hoarse.
‘How much time has passed?’
It felt like quite a long time had gone by, but he could not know for certain.
More than anything, why did he have to go through something like this?
Henrik could not understand.
Still, there was one thing he did know. If he was tortured any more here, he would truly be in danger.
Thinking that he might really die at this rate, Henrik squeezed out even the strength he did not have and opened his mouth.
“Please… please spare me…! I’m going to die!”
Perhaps that desperate cry, wrung out with the last of his strength, got through.
The ogre, which had been moving its body, came to a stop.
“What do, Left. Human. Must not die.”
The head attached to the ogre’s right side, “Right,” said with an uneasy expression.
The manager had clearly ordered them to torment the human. She had not told them to kill him.
“Do not worry, Right. I ask. The manager.”
“Oh! Trust you, Left!”
Leaving those words behind, the ogre left.
When the one who had been torturing him disappeared, Henrik let out a sigh of relief.
‘I can rest, if only for a moment.’
Beside where the ogre had been, there was a water spirit in the form of a massive lump of water, but it did not seem to pose much of a problem.
In fact, throughout the entire torture, the water spirit had remained still.
Henrik took one deep breath and closed his eyes. Doing so eased his mind, if only slightly.
Once his mind settled, he began seriously thinking about the ones who had done this to him.
‘What in the world are those things?’
He could set aside the woman who had disguised herself as a maid, but a place with an ogre and even a water spirit?
‘This is absolutely not some ordinary dungeon.’
Henrik had served under Count Beerton for many years.
Even if he did not know everything about monsters and dungeons, he possessed a fair amount of knowledge.
The dungeons he knew were never like this.
‘Dungeon monsters kidnapping someone?’
He knew very well that something like this was by no means ordinary.
If monsters could freely act in such a way, the Kingdom of Seil would have long since been destroyed by them.
‘Above all, the inside of the dungeon is far too clean.’
At first, he had thought it was simply a dungeon in the form of a cave. But on closer inspection, there were slight differences.
The cave walls were not rugged, but smooth and flat.
They looked as if someone had artificially polished and shaped them.
‘A high-grade dungeon…?’
A high-grade dungeon.
It was the worst-case scenario he had not wanted to consider.
Most of all, even now, had the monster not left him alone and gone elsewhere?
‘That must mean I won’t be able to escape even if I get out of here.’
Thinking that, Henrik glanced at the water spirit.
The water spirit still stood guard without the slightest movement.
Even if he tried to run right now, would that spirit not simply stay still?
However, Henrik slowly shook his head.
‘No. Running from here is a bad move. In any case, with my body in this condition, I can’t escape.’
He did not know how large this dungeon was, and most of all, his physical condition was poor because of the torture.
If he tried to run for no reason and was caught, he might truly die then.
Still, after organizing his thoughts, he could be certain of one thing.
‘There is someone behind this.’
Otherwise, there would be no reason to kidnap him, who was merely a head butler.
Even if he was a head butler, from a noble’s perspective, he was nothing more than a simple part.
If they were after ransom, they would have kidnapped a noble lady, not a butler.
‘Is it a conflict between nobles? No, that is absolutely not it.’
Small-scale wars over territory occasionally occurred between nobles. But they were, to the end, honorable battles waged by mobilizing troops.
In battles between nobles, justification and honor were important.
In other words, they would not commit an act that abandoned such honor.
‘Could it be the royal family?’
The possibility seemed fairly high.
The current king had originally been from a collateral branch of the royal line with strong commoner blood, so he likely knew nothing of honor.
On top of that, the motive for committing such a deed fit as well.
Count Beerton, whom Henrik served, was the leader of the noble faction, and naturally, he had a poor relationship with the royal family.
‘Is the royal family trying to send a warning?’
Even for a king, touching a noble was a gamble.
That was why Henrik thought they might have kidnapped him, the head butler.
‘In that case, this place makes sense too.’
If it was the king of a nation, he could easily obtain a place like this.
And he must have secretly raised an ogre as well.
The woman he saw earlier was probably the result of mages using magic.
Henrik considered the possibility to be half and half.
The other half was a negative thought, because at present, an envoy from the White Order was visiting the Kingdom of Seil.
Raising monsters was strictly forbidden, so if the royal family did such a thing, the Order would be the first to mark them as heretics.
That was why he also felt skeptical, but in this world, there was no such thing as absolute certainty. If his guess truly was correct, Henrik had no intention of remaining still.
‘If I can survive this place…! I will inform His Excellency and the Order of everything!’
Moreover, the Order’s envoys and the count were maintaining a fairly close relationship.
The banquet he had been preparing until just before his abduction had also been for the purpose of interacting with the Order’s envoys.
It had been quite some time since the Order’s envoys arrived in the kingdom, but until now, there had been no meaningful exchange.
The chance for that exchange had finally come, only for this to happen.
‘Yes, I’m sure of it. This is definitely the royal family’s doing.’
Otherwise, there was no way to explain the current situation.
They must have done this to prevent Count Beerton from interacting with the Order.
Henrik had already concluded that it was indeed the royal family’s work.
Now he only had to return alive.
Step—step—
Just as he was deep in thought, footsteps could be heard.
‘…The torture is about to begin again.’
As the sound of footsteps drew closer, the fighting spirit he had felt a moment ago vanished.
Just thinking about having his face shoved into the spirit’s body again already brought a suffocating terror over him.
He gathered his trembling body and waited for the ogre, but the owner of the footsteps was someone unexpected.
“Uh, huh…?”
When Henrik saw that being, his eyes widened and his mouth fell open.
“Why…?”
The one approaching him was not the ogre. Nor was it the woman who had abducted him here.
It was a being clad in dazzling white armor.
“Why is a holy knight here…?”
So shocked that he forgot even his pain, Henrik raised himself up.
That being was clearly a holy knight.
The emblem engraved on the armor was unmistakably the emblem of the Order as well.
Since that emblem itself could not be used by anyone other than the Order, there was no doubt.
‘But why?’
If that was truly a holy knight, then what was this situation?
Henrik’s head grew complicated.
Judging by the atmosphere, this was absolutely not a holy knight who had come to rescue him.
On top of that, the holy knight was acting far too comfortably here, as if this place were his own home.
‘This is as if…’
He looked like someone who had been here from the beginning.
“Could it be the Order…?”
In that instant, an even worse assumption came to Henrik’s mind.
‘What if all of this was not the royal family’s scheme, but the Order’s?’
Leaving the shocked Henrik before him, the holy knight’s mouth slowly opened.
“May I guide you to the Great One?”
* * *
“Is it truly all right to let him go like this?”
The holy knight Eric.
More precisely, the banshee controlling the holy knight Eric spoke to Celia.
They had kidnapped one human and tortured him for a full day.
After the torture ended, all Eric had done was appear before the human and say a few words.
—If you swear an oath of silence to the Great One and keep your mouth shut, I shall spare you.
Upon hearing Eric’s words, the human had nodded like a madman.
He had been terrified, saying that he would never tell anyone.
That had been their final conversation with that human.
Chief Manager Celia released the human.
Of course, she did not simply let him go. She knocked him unconscious and sent him somewhere through the shadows.
“What if the human speaks about this incident?”
Eric was curious about the chief manager’s plan in releasing the human just like that.
It was not because he did not trust the chief manager.
The chief manager always produced remarkable results, and since she received the Great One’s favor, he was simply curious about her plan.
At Eric’s question, Celia merely smiled.
“Of course he will speak. About everything he experienced here.”
“Then wouldn’t it be even more reason not to release him?”
“That one human will create ripples in a calm river.”
Celia answered the question, but Eric did not understand. In any case, it did not matter much if he did not understand.
He only had to believe and follow.
“By the way, you have worked hard as well, Mr. Eric. You are continuing to keep in contact with Vice Captain Liana, yes?”
This time, Celia was the first to ask Eric a question.
“Yes, I am continuing to remain in contact with Vice Captain Liana.”
Vice Captain Liana.
She was the vice captain who led the holy knights of the White Order.
“Isn’t it truly amazing? To think you made the vice captain of the holy knights into one of our allies.”
Through his tremendous ability, the Great One had captured Vice Captain Liana.
By sending the skeleton black knight who served him—no, the skeleton holy knight, “Maru.”
“I never imagined Sir Maru would possess such an ability.”
Eric was amazed.
An undead monster could possess divine power, an attribute that was their polar opposite…
The being who had made that possible was the Great One.
Upon seeing Maru, a skeleton who harbored divine power, Vice Captain Liana had been greatly shocked.
And she called that sight a miracle, deciding to join “our” cause.
It was likely more accurate to say she had joined “Maru’s” cause rather than “ours,” but Maru was the hands and feet of the Great One.
In the end, Vice Captain Liana joining them was no different from her following the will of the Great One as well.
And that was not the end of His grace.
Chief Manager Celia had proposed it to Him, allowing Eric himself to possess divine power as well.
Thanks to that, he had become able to perfectly imitate a holy knight.
“Surely all of this is proceeding according to His will. Hehe.”
Celia nodded as if it were only natural.
Eric agreed with Celia’s words as well.
Indeed, to Him, even something like this was surely nothing.
He must be looking toward a far higher place than Eric could imagine.
Perhaps He possessed some plan they could not even dream of.
Eric only had to remain loyal and follow.
* * *
“Haha, what do you think? It is truly splendid, is it not?”
Count Beerton said with a proud expression.
Just as the count said, a splendid atmosphere filled the mansion.
Decorations of brilliant colors sparkled as they adorned the room, and it was filled with music and laughter.
People surrendered themselves to the music and danced, laughing and chatting around tables lavishly laden with luxurious food.
In preparation for any unforeseen events, knights had been densely stationed both inside and outside the mansion.
Since the banquet was proceeding without any issues, he was satisfied.
In truth, this banquet was an extremely important occasion for Count Beerton.
Although it had been quite some time since the envoys of the White Order arrived in the Kingdom of Seil, they had yet to hold any meaningful exchange.
Of course, they had arranged simple meetings, but this was the first time he was meeting with a true power who led the envoy delegation.
The members of the envoy delegation before him were not ordinary priests.
‘Priest Titan, who leads the envoy delegation.’
He was not simply a high-ranking priest.
When the count had separately investigated Titan, he had discovered information that the man was a former inquisitor.
As befitting a former inquisitor, he was said to oversee the Order’s inquisitors and to be loyal to the Order to his very bones.
‘I will have to be careful with every word I say.’
The Order’s inquisitors were truly terrifying beings.
They were the sort who, if one went against the will of the Order, acted with force before dialogue.
If someone was suspected of heresy, they would erase even an entire city without hesitation. Such beings were the Inquisitors.
Then his gaze shifted to the man beside the priest.
‘The commander of the Holy Knights, Gerard.’
It was Commander Gerard, who led the Order’s holy knights.
In short, the two people responsible for the Order’s military force were standing before the count.
“Now, now, this grilled fish is quite delicious as well. It is the finest fish caught from Lake Diyat. They say supplies have been scarce lately, so it has become quite the precious delicacy. Hahaha!”
Count Bearton put even more care into entertaining Priest Titan and Commander Gerard.
Even now, the butlers continued to carry in dishes made from expensive ingredients and fine wines.
The situation itself was flowing in a very favorable direction for him, so this much investment was nothing.
The Order’s delegation had visited the kingdom to investigate after priests and holy knights went missing one after another.
But despite conducting a large-scale investigation until now, they had found no clues whatsoever.
Perhaps that was also why this meeting had been arranged.
‘Yes, I am the true power in this kingdom. They wouldn’t dare investigate while leaving me out. Heh heh.’
Count Bearton took a sip of wine, harboring sinister thoughts inwardly.
The Order must have approached him, a count, because the investigation was not going as they wished.
And Count Bearton intended to use that Order to keep the king in check.
In truth, the current atmosphere in the Seil Kingdom was not good.
With the Inquisitors oppressing the people every other day, how could the atmosphere possibly be pleasant?
And because Count Bearton was a noble of the Seil Kingdom, considering the mood within the kingdom, it would have been right to avoid holding a banquet like this.
But Count Bearton acted without the slightest hesitation.
Regardless of the mood in the royal palace, regardless of whether the people’s resentment rang out, the count smiled cheerfully.
‘If I just get through this matter well, the kingdom will fall into my hands. There’s no need to mind anyone’s opinion.’
He only had to act as he had until now.
Strictly speaking, he had been lucky so far.
Count Bearton had not led the noble faction from the beginning.
The original head of the noble faction had been Count Derrick.
But for some reason, while holding a party, he had suddenly gone on a stabbing spree.
All of that had happened because of Celia and Princess Irena. But the current Count Bearton had no way of knowing that fact.
‘…What an idiot.’
Well, even if he thought that inwardly, it had not been a bad situation for him.
Thanks to Count Derrick’s knife rampage, had he not become the head of the noble faction?
Though the noble faction’s position had briefly wavered because of that incident, by now everything had returned to how it was before.
On the other hand, ever since the Order’s delegation had visited, every day had been hell for the royal family.
‘They say Princess Irena spends most of her time holed up in her room, and the king is nothing but a figurehead.’
From now on, the Seil Kingdom would be swayed by the noble faction.
And since the head of that noble faction was none other than the count himself, he was confident that it was practically the same as becoming king.
Count Bearton harbored sinister thoughts inwardly while managing his expression on the outside.
For now, everything was going smoothly.
However, the Order’s delegation had come to investigate the kingdom in name and fact, so one wrong word here could leave him with nothing to show for it.
‘For now, let’s focus on the banquet.’
The important conversations would likely come and go after the banquet ended. For now, all he had to do was immerse himself in the mood of the feast.
Just as the count was savoring his wine, someone cautiously approached him.
It was a butler.
“My lord, well, that is… Head Butler Henrik requests an audience with you.”
The butler spoke to Count Bearton in a low voice.
“Henrik?”
Why would the head butler be looking for him all of a sudden?
Before that, he had received a report that Head Butler Henrik had suddenly disappeared.
When he had arrived at the mansion with the Order’s delegation, Henrik had vanished.
He had heard that Henrik disappeared the previous day while preparing for the banquet, and now he was suddenly appearing?
While feeling a slight sense of displeasure, he also wondered why Henrik was seeking him out now.
Henrik was the head butler who had served him here for a long time.
‘He should know very well how important this occasion is.’
Faced with this unexpected situation, Count Bearton decided to leave his seat for a moment.
“Haha, something has come up, so I will step away briefly. I shall return shortly, so please continue your meal.”
“Do so.”
At the count’s request for understanding, Priest Titan answered indifferently.
The count lowered his head and quickly left his seat.
“……”
Once the count disappeared, Priest Titan turned his head.
“Commander Gerard.”
The priest’s voice was extremely stiff.
“Yes, Priest.”
“Does something not seem strange to you as well, Commander?”
Priest Titan’s expression changed frighteningly.
He looked at the knights of the count’s household stationed throughout the surroundings.
“Things that should not be here are here.”