Chapter 157: A Common Enemy, An Enemy Within (14)

Rayleigh remained silent, but his eyes were clearly wavering. With that expression, it was almost as if he had been convinced.

"Think about it. If I were one of those who orchestrated the marquis's death... would I have spared you?" I asked.

Rayleigh furrowed his brows slightly and stared at me without a word. "What's with that outfit? Are you really with the inspectors?"

"Of course not. I obtained it to get closer to the Imperial Palace. They killed the marquis and disguised it as a suicide. I want to know the truth behind his death."

I said whatever I could to persuade him, but strangely enough, I felt like it was working.

"So? Did you find anything out?"

I shook my head. Pretending to know would only get me in trouble if he pressed for further details.

I replied, "Not much. I'm just wasting time. I'm desperate. Help me."

Rayleigh narrowed his eyes. "I lost to you, but death is still death... being used is even worse. I need to confirm one more thing."

Rayleigh tossed me one of his twin swords. "Catch."

He threw it handle-first for an easy grip.

"What am I supposed to do with this?"

"Show me his swordsmanship again. Then I'll believe you. Earlier, I couldn't be sure because you were using a greatsword."

Show it again, huh...?

Something crossed my mind. From level six onward, my Swordsmanship skill was all absorbed through the marquis. When the marquis subdued me, he moved so simply that I hadn't noticed. Nevertheless, it seemed Rayleigh could sense that I moved like the marquis.

"Alright."

I swung the sword and focused on showing the fundamentals. I didn't even have to try to mimic the marquis. When I stole glances at Rayleigh, I could see growing certainty in his expression.

After about three minutes of demonstration, Rayleigh nodded as if satisfied.

"You definitely learned from him. And to think you've even mastered magic on top of that... Truly impressive. I never imagined His Excellency had a relative like you."

"You were impressive too. If we'd only fought with swords, I might've lost."

"

Hmph.

You don't need to say that."

Ding!

[Masquerade: 1 minute remaining.]

Rayleigh looked at me with pity as I hurriedly put my helmet back on.

"Being chased from all sides, huh? You've got it rough too."

His expression had softened considerably. Despite finding his assumption amusing, I didn't bother to correct him.

Instead, I smoothly changed the subject. "That coffin from earlier seemed empty. Do you happen to know where the real body is?"

It was a probing question.

But surprisingly, Rayleigh nodded. "I have a guess."

"How...?"

Rayleigh smirked as he looked at me. "I found out by accident."

He said the marquis had been acting strangely for a while.

"When was that?"

I calculated the time he mentioned. It was about two weeks after the emperor's assassination and Isabelle's death.

That must've been when I was training deep in the cave.

I remembered the last day of those two weeks. I had sat with my back against the wall, gripping a jet-black dagger tightly—ready to kill myself without hesitation if the marquis found me. I had waited several more days in a restless state, but the marquis never came. I never heard his footsteps, no matter how much I ran around or shouted. I had sensed that I had narrowly escaped a life-or-death crisis.

He must've seen Isabelle's body and turned his blade elsewhere.

"After that, he stopped showing up at the training grounds and never came looking for me again. I got worried and started tailing him discreetly," said Rayleigh.

"Is that even possible?!"

I couldn't imagine someone tailing the marquis, but Rayleigh simply shrugged.

"Well, I was caught pretty quickly. He got pretty mad, but he looked at me anxiously, so I couldn't bring myself to stop. I just kept my distance."

"And then he suddenly disappeared. I guess you know where he went?"

The scroll I had seen in Daliac stated the marquis had been killed while attempting a rebellion.

"The palace?" I surmised.

"Of course."

Rayleigh nodded and explained how he had been lurking nearby and following suspicious people. That very morning, he said he had spotted a suspicious group.

"They didn't catch me, but they were hard to follow. They were carrying a coffin. I figured out the location—it looked like some sort of livestock facility outside the city. They'll probably grind him up and turn him into feed for chicken or pigs."

Crack!

I clenched my fists tightly. If the marquis got ground up into feed, I wouldn't be able to absorb his essence. All my efforts in contacting Rayleigh would have been for nothing.

"You're truly angry. Sorry for doubting you," Rayleigh said.

Just then, another ding echoed in my head. Rayleigh's Affection had increased by two.

He really is the type to follow his own assumptions.

Well, not that it was a bad thing for me.

"Doesn't matter. Then let's go, where's the body?"

"Sorry, but give me an hour."

Tap.

Rayleigh knocked on his blue armor, bearing the roaring lion emblem.

"I'll be back after taking this off."

"...What?"

Fwoosh!

He vanished before I could stop him. He moved far more stealthily and quickly than when he'd been trying to lure me earlier.

If he had ambushed me while cloaked...

A chill ran down my spine. I had thrown him off with magic once, but there had been plenty of moments where things could've gone wrong. Regardless, I had no choice but to wait for him. Rayleigh was probably the only one who knew where the marquis's body was.

***

Two hours passed. The sky had begun to dim.

"Hey."

It was Rayleigh's voice. When I turned around, he was sitting on a stone wall, dressed in jet-black civilian clothing, watching me.

"I handed in my resignation to the vice-captain. I'm no longer one of the Blue Lions. Whatever I do from now on has nothing to do with the knights."

Rayleigh had casually thrown away his position in the Empire's most prestigious knight order.

"Why are you just standing there like that? Let me ask you one thing before we go."

"What is it?"

"Are you ready to die?"

Of course not.

I still have to attend Rena's inauguration ceremony.

I grabbed my pendant. But the pendant, which supposedly activated in moments of crisis, didn't react at all. Its faint glow was still there—unchanged. If there was a problem, I figured it would warn me.

I shrugged and looked at Rayleigh.

"

Hmm...

I am already a Skeleton."

"

Hahahaha!

" Rayleigh threw his head back and laughed heartily.

Ding!

[Rayleigh's Affection increased by 4!]

A message appeared in midair. I had only stated the truth plainly, but it seemed he had taken it as some kind of pleasant joke.

He must really like this kind of banter...

I made a mental note to use that approach again if we ever met later, then followed the figure soaring up into the air.

***

We delved deep into the mountain outskirts of the Capital. The scenery grew increasingly bleak. The winter wind made the desolate path even more chilling, and the trees leaned as if they were sick. Small lights began appearing as we moved farther along the mountain trail.

𝙧𝙚𝙚𝔀𝒆𝓫𝓷𝙤𝓿𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝙤𝓶

"It looks similar to the one in the Capital," I remarked.

"Yeah. It's run by the Imperial Family. Magic lights in some mountain livestock pen? Doesn't make sense, right?" Rayleigh replied.

Large buildings and fenced areas came into view. Rayleigh paused for a moment as if to catch his breath.

"Time to start clearing them out."

I nodded. I activated my Detection skill as soon as we entered the mountain. I could sense the presence of enemies lurking in various spots. We had avoided all of them up to this point, but the area ahead was too heavily guarded to slip through unnoticed.

Gripping my sword tighter, I slowly crept toward the lights.

"But..." I hesitated for a moment. "What are all those bugs?"

Sssrrrk...

Something was rustling through the grass all around us. Rayleigh seemed to notice it as well. His face grew visibly tense.

Are they bugs? Snakes?

There weren't just dozens or hundreds; it easily numbered in the thousands.

[Frost Storm Lv. 1 is charging!]

Wuuuung...

Energy gathered at the tip of my greatsword. If they were coming for us, slicing them wouldn't be enough.

"Hold your breath, as long as you can," Rayleigh whispered urgently, dropping flat onto the ground.

Trusting his certainty, I canceled the spell.

[Canceling Frost Storm.]

Sssshhhh...

The rustling sound of thousands of snakes tearing through the underbrush drew closer and closer. It felt like the entire mountain was made of them.

Ssshhh!

The hissing mass crept up right behind us. They were only a hundred meters away, then fifty, then thirty.

Srrr....

At barely twenty meters away, the enormous swarm stopped in place and then slowly shifted direction, slithering down the mountain. Only after ten full minutes did Rayleigh finally exhale a long breath and straighten up.

"

Haaaa...

"

I looked at Rayleigh and asked, "What the hell was that?"

His reply was curt. "Snakes."

"You've got to be kidding me—"

Rayleigh cut me off. "You must've just arrived in the Capital, right?"

I nodded silently.

"Watch out for snakes."

"What kind of nonsense is that?"

"Statues, paintings, jewelry... tattoos. The real ones are worse. You'll eventually learn."

His words triggered a sudden memory.

"Are you talking about Necron?"

I recalled the Necron overseer who harvested Bloodstones from goblins. When I interrogated him about the organization's secrets, the black mark on his neck turned into a snake and bit him to death. The image of his face darkening and twisting as he died was still vivid in my mind.

Rayleigh, the man who had been a Blue Lion Knight just two hours ago, let out a husky chuckle.

"Well then, why'd you even ask when you already knew? Let's move."

Fwoosh!

I had more questions, but he had already leaped ahead.

I'll have to ask him next time.

Strangely enough, after the army of thousands of snakes swept through the mountain, the watchers and patrols seemed to follow right after them, heading down the slope. I didn't know what had happened, but it was clearly the perfect opportunity.

Sprint!

If the marquis's body were here, I'd find it no matter where it was hidden. I launched myself forward ahead of Rayleigh, charging toward the livestock pens.

BAM!

I smashed through the large doors and rushed inside.

"This is—!"

The scene inside the pens was grotesque. What they were raising wasn't chickens or pigs.

The ground was covered in strange-looking larvae, each about ten centimeters long. They had wide, flat maws capable of swallowing anything. Tiny limbs had just begun to sprout from their bodies. The bugs stomped the ground with their small feet and clutched human bodies with their stubby hands, chewing on them relentlessly.

Squelch...

Green slime dripped from their smooth mouths. Rows of teeth filled the inside.

Their limbs look human. Are they morphing into their prey?

Every pen I checked was the same. Their feed was human corpses. Tendons and limbs had been gnawed away, leaving only bones. In one corner, whitened remains rolled about.

"

Urgh!

"

Rayleigh had arrived after me, but he instantly ran back outside and vomited. Sir Rayleigh the Tracker was softer than he looked.

There was no time to waste.

This is it!

I spotted a storage building emitting a soft green glow.

Creak!

Leaving Rayleigh to retch, I tore the door open. A frigid air burst outward. Inside, dozens of people hung upside down, skewered through meat hooks. On the outermost edge, the marquis's corpse dangled—his heart and throat cleanly pierced. It was clearly a sword wound.

Someone took down a man that strong so cleanly?

But there was no time to hesitate. Whatever this place was used for, it was obviously not meant for the public's eyes.

Frost had started forming on my armor.

Swoosh...

I reached out toward the marquis's corpse in the middle of the cold storage room.

Essence Absorption.

Wuuuung...

Once again, a vivid green light slowly flowed into me.