Ibis slipped quietly into the mansion through a window.
She was an adventurer, and at the same time, someone who obeyed the orders of Kyle, the head of the Guild Alliance.
She was far from an ordinary adventurer, but her skills, at least, were beyond question.
Thanks to her ability to produce a powerful poison from her own body, she had risen all the way to platinum rank.
On top of that, with the Alliance Head backing her, her promotion to diamond rank was not far off.
In truth, the order Kyle had given Ibis was simple.
Investigate Ralph, the man everyone was talking about.
He had even laid out the detailed condition that she was to withdraw if circumstances proved unfavorable.
After all, even the Adventurer Guild Alliance could not interfere in the internal affairs of another nation.
But Ibis had secretly infiltrated Ralph’s mansion to investigate a little more deeply than Kyle’s orders required.
Her record mattered, of course, but more than anything, one question had sparked her curiosity.
‘For what purpose did he spread those rumors?’
At first, she had dismissed them as nothing more than rumors about a nouveau riche fool.
She had assumed he had suddenly come into money and hurriedly hired mercenaries.
But that was not it.
The figures outside the mansion, whom she had thought were mercenaries, were in truth nothing more than scarecrows made from empty suits of armor.
Why had those scarecrows been set up?
And where had the rumors come from?
Ibis was curious.
‘I should have noticed sooner.’
Hadn’t Shey flown around all day in the form of a crow to observe the mansion’s movements?
Shey had clearly said there had been no movement from the mercenaries.
The fact that she had brushed it off as nothing at the time had led to the current situation.
Still, perhaps it was fortunate she had realized it now.
Ibis took Shey and Faren with her and searched the inside of the mansion.
She did not sense any particular danger.
If things went wrong, she could call for help from Herod, their comrade waiting outside.
“From now on, we search quietly. If you’re discovered or something feels wrong, signal immediately.”
At Ibis’s quiet command, Shey and Faren nodded.
They each split up and examined every corner of the mansion.
How many minutes had passed?
Those who had scattered returned one by one.
All of their expressions were strange.
“Captain, something’s odd.”
The first to speak was Shey.
“No matter which room I went into, dust was piled up everywhere. The bookshelves, even the curtains, were covered in cobwebs.”
Shey reported exactly what she had seen.
No matter which room she entered, it was filled with dust.
Furniture, decorations, even the bookshelves were covered in a layer of dust, as if they had not been maintained for a very long time.
As if no one lived there.
“Captain, we didn’t really walk into a trap, did we?”
Shey’s voice trembled with anxiety.
If the rumors were true, then there was no way someone would buy a mansion and leave it neglected like this.
The situation inside the mansion was strange enough, and then there were the scarecrow mercenaries outside.
An ominous feeling that they had fallen into a trap circled in her mind.
Ibis gently patted Shey on the shoulder and reassured her.
“It’s all right, Shey. We’ve always succeeded, haven’t we?”
Ibis showed the composure of a leader.
In truth, the time they had spent together had not been short.
In the course of carrying out many missions, they had certainly faced plenty of dangerous situations.
Compared to those, it was still ambiguous to say they had fallen into a trap now.
This was just an ordinary empty mansion.
While soothing Shey, Ibis turned her head toward Faren.
Faren understood Ibis’s look and spoke of what he had sensed.
“It is certainly strange. I cannot feel any vitality from the mansion at all.”
Faren was an elf.
Unlike humans, he could exercise keen senses.
Using that sensitivity, he had examined the energy of the mansion, but he could find no trace of anything.
There was no sign of people; it felt as though time itself had stopped.
“Most of all, the children are uneasy.”
The spirits Faren commanded had fallen silent, as though frightened of something.
Even for him, an elf, this was the first time he had seen such a reaction, and it left him flustered.
“Wait….”
Faren, who had been checking on the spirits, suddenly covered his nose and groaned.
“Faren, what is it!”
“There’s some strange smell….”
Ibis looked puzzled at the sight.
At Faren’s words, she sniffed the air around them, but nothing seemed out of the ordinary.
There was a stale, moldy smell from having been left unattended for so long, but it was not enough to make someone cover their nose like Faren.
“…….”
Then there was only one cause.
It meant it was a smell only Faren, as an elf, could detect.
“Ugh…! We have to get out right now!”
Faren’s face turned pale.
“It’s the smell of d-death! The entire mansion is covered in death! We must leave quickly!”
Ibis and Shey were bewildered by Faren’s sudden behavior.
The smell of death?
What did that mean?
It did not take long for them to understand Faren’s words.
Clank— clank— clank—
A moment later, an unpleasant metallic sound struck through the mansion’s corridor.
And the beings that appeared at the same time were—
“What are those?! Weren’t they empty suits of armor?”
In Ibis’s field of vision were the mercenaries she had seen outside the mansion.
The things she had clearly thought were scarecrows made from empty suits of armor were moving.
They slowly advanced, forming a siege around Ibis’s party.
“Prepare for battle!”
At Ibis’s order, Faren nocked an arrow to his bowstring.
‘A mistake.’
Ibis narrowed her eyes as she stared at the mercenaries.
‘To think they would set a trap so openly.’
Ibis reproached herself for not checking more thoroughly.
Then she quietly said to Shey and Faren,
“Our priority is to subdue them as needed and get out of the mansion.”
Causing more commotion here would do them no good.
Their priority was to escape the mansion as quickly as possible.
As soon as they got out, they had to join Herod, who was waiting outside.
‘If I’d known this would happen, I would’ve just kept watch!’
Regretting that she had not simply followed orders, she focused strength into her hand.
Then a round green sphere formed above her palm.
It was the ability that had raised Ibis to platinum rank: poison generation.
Without hesitation, she launched the compressed spherical poison.
Boom!
The poison Ibis fired burst apart, producing a green mist.
It was a powerful poison, so it should have been able to incapacitate mere mercenaries in an instant.
No matter how armored they were, they would not be able to block poison.
Ibis planned to escape while the mercenaries were thrown into confusion.
Soon, the mist cleared.
“……!”
However, the situation that unfolded was different from what she had expected.
All of the mercenaries were perfectly fine.
“H-how is this….”
“Ibis! Pull yourself together!”
In place of the stunned Ibis, Faren fired an arrow this time.
The arrow he shot struck a mercenary’s helmet.
Even though it hit, Faren had no choice but to be shocked.
“Why… it definitely struck the head…!”
Even with an arrow lodged in its helmet, the mercenary moved as if nothing had happened.
If anything, as though the embedded arrow was bothersome, it took off the helmet and threw it aside.
“!”
And everyone saw it.
The identity of the mercenary revealed beneath the helmet was not human.
Inside the helmet was not a person’s head, but a skull.
“A skeleton…?”
At the same time, the rest of the mercenaries all removed their helmets as well.
Everyone here was not a person, but a skeleton.
“Captain, this is really dangerous!”
At Shey’s shout, Ibis finally came back to her senses.
She now knew the truth of why her poison had not worked.
Since they were undead, not people, it was only natural.
Clack— clack— clackclack—
The skeletons moved their jaws at the same time.
Their jaws collided, and the sound of bone rang out.
Clack! Clack! Clack!
Even skeletons not armed in armor began to swarm in.
“It was planned from the beginning.”
Having grasped the entire situation, Ibis bit her lip.
Someone had deliberately released monsters into the mansion.
If so, how?
This place was not some remote border region of the Sale Kingdom, but the capital where the queen resided.
In a place with security this strict, monsters had been—
‘Don’t tell me, the royal family…!’
Ibis had unexpectedly reached the truth.
‘Yes, it was strange from the start.’
The way the rumors spread had been far too contrived.
And they could hide this many monsters in a mansion in the royal capital?
This would be impossible without the involvement of the royal family.
Then why, and for what purpose?
Ibis’s mind grew complicated.
If the royal family was involved, that meant there was a high possibility Queen Irena, who led the Sale Kingdom, was involved.
Queen Irena was the hero who had stopped the Seven-Star Calamity.
A person watched by the White Order was doing something like this?
“Ha, don’t tell me the calamity itself was fabricated.”
The calamity had certainly appeared.
She, too, had seen the stars falling from the sky at the time, so that much could only be true.
‘The calamity was real. Then what if, at that time….’
What if Queen Irena had not defeated the calamity back then, but had submitted to it?
No, what if the calamity itself had been planned from the start?
‘Damn it!’
The scattered pieces of the puzzle in her mind came together as one.
She arrived at the conclusion that Queen Irena was behind the major incidents that had occurred until now.
She had to inform someone of this at once.
“…Shey.”
Having finished her calculations, Ibis spoke in a low voice.
“You, at least, get out of here. Join Herod, then go straight to Kyle.”
The inside of the mansion was already filled with skeletons.
Judging by their aura, they were no ordinary skeletons.
‘They’re probably three-star-class Skeleton Knights.’
Aside from Shey, who was not a combatant, only the platinum-ranked Ibis and the gold-ranked Faren had to face them.
But there were far too many Skeleton Knights.
At a glance, there were more than she could count.
That was why Ibis made her choice.
She would buy time so that at least Shey, who could transform into an animal, could escape this place.
“Go to Kyle and tell him the whole truth. Tell him Queen Irena of the Sale Kingdom has made a pact with an evil god.”
There was a high probability that it was the truth.
If the truth was buried here, the Eldorad Continent would be finished.
So it was important that even one person escape the mansion and deliver the information to Kyle, the Alliance Head.
“Captain….”
Shey also understood the atmosphere now.
The captain was going to sacrifice herself for her.
“Shey! Stop dawdling and go!”
Ibis shouted once more.
There truly was no time left now.
The Skeleton Knights were still closing in.
“…All right. Captain, I’ll bring people back. Please stay alive.”
Shey nodded and chanted a spell.
Then, after transforming into a crow, she left the mansion through the window.
Once the crow’s figure disappeared, Ibis focused all her strength.
Faren likewise discarded his arrows and gripped his bow tightly. Since their opponents were undead, shooting arrows at them would be useless.
On top of that, the spirits were terrified and in no state to be of help.
“Faren. Endure. Endure no matter what!”
“Yes. Let us survive and have a drink together.”
A moment later, Ibis and Faren clashed with the Skeleton Knights.
* * *
Shey, transformed into a crow, was passing through the mansion’s garden.
Just as she was about to get out of this place quickly and join Herod—
‘Huh?’
Shey’s eyes caught sight of two adventurers walking through the mansion garden.
Judging by the direction of their steps, the mansion seemed to be their destination.
‘No….’
The mansion was currently a scene of utter chaos.
Shey lowered her flight altitude and headed toward the adventurers.
At the same time, she released her magic and returned to human form.
“You two there, stop.”
Shey looked at the two adventurers.
One man and one woman.
Judging from their attire, the woman appeared to be a mage.
The man had a slightly pale face, and he did not look particularly strong.
If they entered the mansion like this, they looked exactly like they would be easy prey for the Skeleton Knights.
Shey took a gold badge from her breast and showed it to them.
“This place is dangerous right now. Turn back.”
Despite Shey’s warning, the two adventurers stood still.
Then they exchanged some words with each other.
“Lady Dambi, it seems this is the rat Lady Celia mentioned.”
A rat?
And who was Celia supposed to be?
Shey wore a bewildered expression.
There was far too little time for her to understand the present situation.
Because before she could, the male adventurer’s hand pierced through Shey’s torso.
“Gah!”
At the man’s sudden attack, Shey vomited blood.
“W-what are you—”
As Shey’s consciousness faded, she saw the man’s face.
Among his features, his sharp fangs stood out.
That was not human.
“V-vampire….”
That was Shay’s end.
As Shay’s body collapsed like a shed husk, the man withdrew his hand.
“Rils, take care of the remaining rats as well.”
“Understood, Lord Dambi.”
With that, the two of them headed toward the mansion.
The once-noisy mansion was once again wrapped in silence.
* * *
The early morning in the Seil Kingdom was as peaceful as ever.
If there was anything different from usual, it was that soldiers of the Seil Kingdom were stationed around a certain mansion.
Naturally, people gathered at the sight.
“Huh? What’s going on? Why are there so many soldiers?”
“Well, you see, I heard thieves broke into the mansion overnight.”
“Really? Good grief, trying to rob a mansion that big? They’ve got guts.”
“But isn’t that the place where the person from the rumors lives? Once word gets out that someone’s become rich, I suppose things like this happen.”
The story that thieves had broken into the mansion of the rumor’s protagonist spread in an instant.
The more the story spread, the more desire for treasure blazed in the hearts of adventurers.
Meanwhile, the soldiers were guarding the mansion while investigating the break-in.
And then, a woman wearing a robe walked toward the mansion.
A soldier raised his spear and blocked her path.
“I’m sorry. You cannot enter this place.”
But the woman took a token of the White Order from within her robes.
And it was no ordinary token of the Order—it belonged to an Inquisitor.
The soldier’s eyes widened in surprise.
“Ah, my apologies!”
An Inquisitor was someone with the authority to investigate regardless of national borders.
Of course, it had to be related to heretics for them to conduct an investigation, but that did not matter.
If they simply said they suspected it to be the work of heretics and were investigating, there was nothing anyone could say.
It made no sense for a mere soldier to stop such a person.
If he got caught in the crossfire, it would be a disaster, so the soldier quickly stepped aside.
“Thank you.”
Leaving behind those words of thanks, the woman walked through the mansion’s garden.
Before long, she stopped at a certain spot.
“…The smell of blood.”
There was nothing on the ground, but a faint scent of blood was rising from it.
The woman placed her hand on the ground.
Then a sacred energy bloomed from her palm.
“I can feel traces of a vampire.”
She closed her eyes and sensed the energy.
They were no ordinary traces of a vampire.
“As expected, this must be Baalcherit’s doing.”
Her identity was Jeremia El Esteban.
She was an Inquisitor of the White Order, one who moved with the single-minded determination to catch Baalcherit.
“The inn murder case, Lake Yenarian, and now even the royal capital.”
Jeremia retraced the path by which she had pursued Baalcherit.
It had begun with the inn murder case, where dozens of bandits had lost their lives.
All the bandits, including their leader, had died shriveled and withered—a case that was clearly the work of a vampire.
After that, at Lake Yenarian, she had discovered that someone suspected to be Baalcherit had passed through.
And now, it had led her here.
“Tch. As expected, it’s that filthy ability that uses blood.”
Jeremia clicked her tongue.
Above all, there was a strong scent of blood coming from inside the mansion.
“He subdued his opponents using blood.”
She could not know what had happened inside.
However, it was certain that something had been dealt with using blood.
A vampire who could freely manipulate blood.
If someone could handle blood to this degree, then it had to be Baalcherit.
Jeremia slowly looked over the mansion.
“One day, I will find you. And I will make you pay the price.”
Jeremia turned and left the mansion.
Only silence flowed through the mansion once more.
* * *
“Mm? Who is speaking of this body?”
Baalcherit, who was diligently planting man-eating tentacle plants outside the dungeon again today.
When his ear suddenly itched, he stopped the hands that had been busily moving.
“Well, it likely has nothing to do with this body.”
After all, the only ones searching for him would be the Demon Realm Trading Company.
Today, too, Baalcherit was at peace.