Chapter 90
“Late, aren’t we?”
Flora had fallen asleep, and after confirming that Basilian had returned to his own tent, Benio set off for the tent where the meeting was being held. As a result, he was inevitably the last to arrive among those gathered.
“Sorry for being late. I had some matters to attend to.”
“That’s alright. Coming from the farthest away, you must have had a lot on your mind. By the way, you didn’t come with your father, did you?”
Benio nodded without the slightest change in expression to the question from the Duke of Belasia, who sat at the head of the table.
“Yes.”
“…Is that all?”
“Do you have more questions?”
The sharp look in his eyes, which seemed to warn against any trouble, prompted a middle-aged woman in a white hat sitting next to him to speak out.
“Lucifer, Viscount! What kind of tone is that?”
“What do you mean?”
“The way you spoke just now, your gaze! Such behavior is not befitting a duke!”
The woman, dressed in a flat white hat and a matching white uniform, was one of the officials from the Execution Office.
Despite the subtle tone of disregard for Lucifer, Benio responded calmly, just as he had moments ago.
“Is that so? If the Duke felt that way, I apologize.”
The Duke of Belasia lifted the corners of his lips at the gaze piercing him.
“Haha, it’s fine. I’ve never thought you were insolent. It seems this young one is just sensitive because of the gravity of the incident.”
Although she had never called him insolent, Belasia laughed as he spoke. His gaze carried the condescending look of someone viewing something trivial.
Nearby, soft laughter broke out at the subtle hint that Benio could do nothing about it.
Yet Benio nodded calmly, showing no change in expression.
“Yes, he does seem sensitive.”
“What?”
“Even as an Executioner, to speak to the heir of one of the empire’s four ducal families in such a way… I thought perhaps you had sold your manners to a demon. But if it’s just sensitivity, I can understand.”
Given the seriousness of the matter, his quiet comment brought a hush over the room.
‘Did Lucifer just talk back?’
‘Lucifer, of all people?’
‘How dare he speak so freely to Duke Belasia?’
Just as the other nobles, full of anger, were about to scold the insolent Benio,
“You speak too harshly, Viscount.”
“I don’t know what you mean by harsh.”
“…You wouldn’t be equating Lucifer of the Duke family, the betrayer of humanity, with an Executioner standing against demons for mankind, would you?”
“Not at all.”
The Executioner, expecting denial, muttered with a small smile when the correct answer came.
“Given his current prestige, wouldn’t it be more prideful to be part of the Lucifer Duke family than an Executioner?”
But with his next words, not only her but everyone watching with smiles saw their expressions crack.
“To gather such a large force just to defeat a single demon, and yet you didn’t request help from Lucifer?”
“Request help? This is a rightful moment of judgment, and Lucifer is here to prove his innocence, isn’t he?”
As if anticipating the reply, Benio naturally cut off any objections in advance.
“Call it proving innocence, calling someone a traitor, or a shameful hero — it doesn’t matter. But the truth remains: that Lucifer of the North killed the demon, achieving what you could not.”
Amid the chilling silence that felt like cold water being poured, laughter suddenly erupted.
“Yes! Viscount Lucifer is right! The Execution Office couldn’t manage it, but the North — no, Atanas — did! So as his son, he has every reason to be proud.”
Nodding in understanding with a gentle expression, he lowered his voice and asked subtly,
“So it’s alright to expect results from this hunt too?”
“That depends on everyone’s actions. Lucifer is not an Executioner, so he will simply prove his innocence, as is his way.”
“Very well, that answer suffices. Now, you may stop.”
The Duke of Belasia sat the blushing Executioner back down.
“There’s no time for this. I understand your frustration over the demons, but you must not vent on others.”
The Executioner bit her lip, nodded, and replied,
“Forgive me, Viscount. I overreacted.”
“I understand. The sudden increase in missing children is enough to make anyone anxious.”
Those gathered in the meeting nodded at Benio’s words.
“I heard the disappearances have steadily increased over several years.”
“Were all the missing children taken from the Demon Forest?”
“Those first missing children disappeared while playing near the Demon Forest, but after that, it wasn’t always the case.”
Benio slowly read from the report before him.
As mentioned, the phenomenon of children suddenly disappearing had been happening gradually over the years. At first, the number was too small to notice, but suddenly the number of missing children began to surge.
Parents, assuming accidents in the Demon Forest, forbade their children from going near it, and the disappearances seemed to decrease.
Yet one day, children quietly sleeping at home began to vanish one by one.
At last, suspicious parents and villagers reported to their respective territories, and it was discovered that such incidents were spreading across the western lands — this was a month ago.
“Only a demon could commit such evil!”
Count Tassen, who reported the largest number of victims, shouted in anger.
“They would have stolen the souls of innocent children and torn their fragile bodies apart! Otherwise, the bodies of the missing children would have been found!”
Everyone nodded at the logical reasoning.
“Has any criminal recently released or escaped, who committed heinous crimes like child abduction or murder?”
At Benio’s sharp question, the Duke of Belasia answered.
“I’ve checked thoroughly. None.”
Belasia’s territory was known for strict punishment even for minor crimes.
Regardless of a criminal’s rank or power, serious offenders were never released; they were executed before any chance of escape, making this a non-issue.
“So now we intend to eliminate all sources of evil in the West: the demons. As adults, though we couldn’t protect them, we must at least hold funerals for the children who died.”
This time, Benio nodded without further questioning.
“We will spend a week sending mercenaries into the Demon Forest to deal with the monsters within. It would be good if the Viscount leads them. You’re familiar with mercenaries, aren’t you?”
“Yes, I will.”
Such an order — to handle dangerous and miscellaneous tasks and pave the way — was expected.
Although some might consider associating with mercenaries beneath him, he remained calm and nodded.
‘Flora is there; I just need to complete the procedure to prove innocence and return quickly.’
Flora’s presence must not be discovered in the process.
Although he would act diligently due to concern for the children, he would not go beyond the assigned tasks.
Once the path was cleared, knights and Executioners from the western noble families would be deployed for the second phase. With these instructions, the meeting ended.
Benio immediately rose, bowed, and left the meeting tent.
Worried about Flora waiting in the tent, his pace quickened naturally.
“These Lucifers are really peculiar and interesting.”
Watching Benio leave, the Duke of Belasia laughed, and others muttered about their peculiarity.
After the chatter of complaints, all left the tent, leaving Belasia alone, his smile fading.
He ordered his secret knight hidden in the darkness,
“Search thoroughly for anything being hidden. Report immediately if you find a weakness.”
“Understood.”
The secret knight, shrouded in darkness, followed Benio and began observing near Lucifer’s tent.
Or rather, he tried to.
“Hey, mister. What are you doing here?”
If it weren’t for the pink-haired girl approaching, sensing his presence in the shadows.
“You followed my brother? Trying to see if he’s hiding treasure? That won’t do.”
‘Brother?’
Whatever the girl was, since she had discovered his identity, he could not be spared. Just as he reached to attack, the knight’s hand froze in midair, and ice engulfed his body.
Flora grinned as she watched the knight trapped in ice.
“Whether a teddy bear or a grizzly bear, he’s my brother. He said he’d protect me, so I should protect him too, shouldn’t I?”
‘Wait, could it be that this child is…’
Alas, the man’s thought never continued.
Soon, his frozen body shattered into pieces.
“This is self-defense, you know.”
The last sound heard was a chilling laugh, unlike that of a young girl.
