CHAPTER 40………………………………………………..
“So far, there’s no problem.”
This was the area where the residents of the manor often went for walks.
Although the surroundings felt quite ominous, nothing unusual caught the eye.
But as soon as Irene went further inside, a problem immediately arose.
- Huuu…
A crying sound came from somewhere.
- Help me, okay? Please. Help me. You can do that, right?
And from behind, someone’s pleading voice could be heard.
- This ritual failed too.
There was also a muttering from someone, doing something so terrible that Irene didn’t even want to guess.
There was no immediate threat, but just hearing it was enough to make her feel like she was losing her mind.
The voices were not only loud but also seemed to occur all at once.
Irene, who had tightly shut her eyes, began to recite her oath out of habit.
“I vow to become a knight worthy of my sword…”
It was the oath she had sworn when she first received her knighthood.
Even after several years, she could still recall it vividly.
- Hahaha.
A laughing voice was heard from somewhere.
The rustling bushes suddenly stopped, and then the sound came again from closer by.
“…To never retreat from honor is not shameful to my soul…”
She felt a gaze from behind.
It was persistent, following her every move without missing a single action.
She could sense the clear malice in that gaze without even turning around.
- If it were me, I wouldn’t go any further in there.
A strange voice entered her mind.
It didn’t sound human, mixed heavily with metallic tones.
“…I will always despise injustice and strive to be the brightest light before the truth.”
Even reciting all the contents of the oath in a trembling voice, it was difficult to compose herself.
Irene, who had paused briefly, began reciting the oath she took when joining the Royal Knights.
“I know it is my duty to protect the safety of all.”
She wanted to turn around and run immediately.
Her muttering now was more like an internal explanation to herself about why she couldn’t do that.
“There is no falsehood before the oath, it is not shameful to my soul, and I will regard my comrades’ honor as my own.”
The last line held the greatest meaning for Irene.
A knight’s actions often influenced the other knights.
‘The faster rumors spread, the more true that is.’
If one knight fled in front of the enemy, people would begin to doubt the others as well.
Even if they knew it was a different person, they were still all “knights.”
So Irene could never abandon her duty.
‘Even Jaen could be affected.’
Aside from that, it was a betrayal of her knightly oath.
Finally, having recited all her oaths, Irene was able to stop walking.
Once she reminded herself of her duty, her fear subsided somewhat.
‘Well, I’m still a little uneasy, though.’
She could not completely deny the clear fear she felt.
But the thought of someone suffering due to her negligence was scarier.
No matter the situation, thinking that way allowed her to focus her mind quickly.
‘I’ve never gone this deep before.’
It had happened because she kept walking straight ahead.
But this position was appropriate for gauging the forest.
Irene let out a light sigh and began to draw up her aura.
‘Isn’t it too much?’
Even before she properly used it, she sensed beings resisting her aura.
‘So my aura isn’t that holy after all.’
She had heard it was close to divine power, but that was only “for an aura,” so to speak.
‘There’s no reason for such a strong reaction.’
The forest was severely corrupted.
‘The strongest reaction… ah, it’s over here.’
There was a spot with an especially strong resistance to her aura.
It was so conspicuous that it was easy to find.
Irene hurried forward and fell silent at the sight before her.
‘What the…?’
A gravestone stood where she had never seen one before.
Its location was so random that she briefly doubted her eyes.
But that wasn’t the only problem.
“Who on earth…?”
The graveyard showed signs of being violently disturbed.
It didn’t look like the work of animals—and anyway, no animals lived in this forest.
Irene muttered to herself unconsciously as she stared at the gravestone.
Even from a distance, she could clearly sense the presence of dark magic.
‘Someone used it recently. And succeeded.’
It was predictable, but seeing it with her own eyes felt different.
It was more shocking than witnessing a demon summoning.
‘This isn’t ordinary dark magic.’
Usually, when people think of “dark magic,” they imagine “demon summoning.”
Almost no one used dark magic of this age anymore.
Yet it had succeeded…
‘There must still be a dark magician, and someone has come into contact with them.’
A dark magician rarely left such strong traces.
It was more likely the remains of someone who had learned it poorly and hadn’t erased the traces.
‘No other traces.’
The remaining traces were so strong they had covered everything else.
‘I should report this first.’
She roughly understood why someone would use dark magic in this forest.
Even if caught, they could claim it was an old trace.
Moreover, few people would come this deep into the forest.
‘And hardly anyone knows I’m here.’
She thought she would need to go back to the capital at least once.
Even thinking about the trouble she’d have to report caused her a headache…
‘But they aren’t the type to struggle with handling it.’
Of course, Yujire would handle it, and Laseil wouldn’t care much either.
They would say, “You’re innocent, so why be intimidated?”
‘I was smitten by that… no, no.’
Irene hurriedly stopped herself from wandering into another line of thought.
Leaving it unchecked could make things much worse, so she needed to return quickly.
‘If the traces of dark magic are this strong, it will probably affect the territory too.’
She only realized this almost after arriving near the capital.
‘…Will Lord Jaen handle it?’
But she felt confident that Laseil could manage it somehow.
And in fact, that was correct.
At the same time Irene was lost in worry, a completely unrelated conversation was happening at the manor.
“Didn’t you say you couldn’t find a partner?”
“I didn’t expect that either.”
It was a gathering to celebrate the successful completion of the ball.
It was also a chance to relax after the tension of the event.
More accurately, it was a gathering created by the rather bored Yujire.
“Lately, you haven’t had time to chat, right?”
Or perhaps it was just a place Yujire made to have a little more fun.
Either way, no one present had a reason to refuse.
“No wonder you tried to dump everything on me!”
First was Luzea… who would have proposed if Yujire hadn’t.
“Where did you register? Did you receive any jewelry?”
Elian accepted blindly, avoiding paperwork.
“I received a ring.”
Laseil also just wanted to rest for a while.
That’s why the four of them were half-lying in a room, chatting.
“Only a ring?”
Hearing this, Yujire muttered, clearly displeased.
“Only? You shouldn’t be rude.”
To register for the ball, one normally had to bring at least a set of jewelry.
A necklace, earrings, and bracelet would be required to even be considered.
At least for someone under Duke Lesean, this was their right to demand.
‘Well… it must have been hard to get.’
There was only one place in the territory that sold jewelry.
Logically, she understood that, but it didn’t prevent her from feeling annoyed.
“I received the rest of the jewelry later.”
Laseil added this while half-dozing.
