Chapter 59: Debt Must Be Paid.

In another wing of the Černograd Fortress, Rolan changed into the attire of a Black Mercenary and a black cloak, took the Sword ’Lament of twilight’ and fastened it to his waist, then left the fortress in secret using an artefact he had obtained it with his father’s permission. He had travelled south a few days earlier to link it to the network of secret teleportation gates in the south-east, at one of the border castles.

In any case, he used the artefact and teleported directly to the designated area. He then mounted the son of Darkness — horse form- phantom monster variety , a creature of the element of darkness capable of cloaking its rider in darkness and concealing them completely from prying eyes.

He therefore used it as a mount to travel and crossed the wall until he reached the north of Selyr Forest via the land route along the banks of the River Selyra, coming close to the fiefdom of Count Karoyn. He arrived there at around two o’clock in the morning, close enough to see the border walls but far enough away not to be spotted by scouts and border guards

He then summoned all 2,529 of his tamed battle monsters within the forest—with the exception of the dragon and the horse he was riding—and ordered them to stir up the monsters in the Selyr Forest and Ruzhar Mount, then lead the wave of Monsters towards the County of Karoyn

Whilst observing the guards’ response and their activation of the alarm systems upon spotting some of his monsters, he sent a message to Ivar...

[it’s began]

He looked at his monsters with annoyance and sadness... He will have to stop at Snezhin Castle later to tame some more monsters with old Radmir’s help to make up for his losses from this night... and it would certainly take him a long time to rebuild his entire arsenal of monsters once more, especially given the lengthy mission his father had ordered him to undertake...

He was not so arrogant as to believe his monsters would survive the coming massacre; all the monsters he sent, apart from the stupid, treacherous void cat, were of the Grade IIII - Peak Rare rank

And to raze an entire county to the ground, even if he enlisted the help of nature’s monsters, his army of monsters would also be wiped out; and if not at the hands of Count Karoyn’s forces, Duke Kaedrov’s forces would certainly arrive to end the massacre and halt the monsters’ advance deep into his territories...

But, well... it’s somewhat deserved... He gazed coldly down at the Karoyn below; it was because of them that he had been branded with the shame of entangling his beloved Korvekar in a thorny political problem, and with that single mistake he had ruined his impeccable record, full of achievements and pride;

for that reason, he would never forgive them. No one knows how much shame and embarrassment had gripped his heart over the past month; he had not even been able to sleep peacefully since the incident, due to his guilty conscience, anger and sorrow... And that is precisely why his heart felt as hard as stone, filled with coldness at the thought of the extermination of thousands of wretched people behind those walls.

For the master’s guilt is also the flock’s guilt; Since time immemorial, the master and the flock have always shared the same fate.

Let them blame themselves for having accepted a conceited master who dared to conspire against Korvekar one day... He ordered the monsters to storm downwards in a frenzy... Such is the price for tampering with Korvekar.

May they be reduced to fire and ashes to wipe away his shame.

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Meanwhile, in the imperial capital, as soon as he received the message from Rolan, Ivar rose quietly from the sofa and took his sword, without a single soul realising he had slipped out of the royal residence until he reached the nobles’ quarter in the imperial capital,

Then, using his abilities, he slipped into Count Karoyn’s palace and into his bedroom without anyone even noticing; there he found the count and his wife sleeping peacefully, embracing each other lovingly.

He tapped his heel gently on the floor, and a dark swamp emerged from beneath his feet, engulfing the entire room as he used one of his abilities

[[ Sea of the Abyss: Dark Waters ]]

All sound, light and sensation in the room ceased. He walked quietly until he reached the bed; with the utmost gentleness, he lifted the Countess’s hand from her husband’s neck and placed it on his chest. Then, with the utmost gentleness, he took his sword and calmly plunged it into the Count’s neck, severing his head without the Count even realising it, let alone making a sound... Even if he had, the Sea of the Abyss would have swallowed it up...

He then lifted the severed head by its hair and left the room as though he had never been there at all...

Only after he had completely departed and all traces of his presence had vanished did the moonlight once more enter the room through the balcony doors, which stood wide open, and the spring breeze gently stirred the curtains...

The Countess felt something warm on her cheek; without opening her eyes, she moved her hand and it sank into something sticky and warm, so she opened her eyes in confusion and, in the moonlight, gazed absently at her husband’s neck and then at the pillow, where there was nothing where his head ought to be

"Huh?"...

She sat quietly on the bed; her duvet slipped away, revealing only her light white nightdress, yet she felt neither cold nor shy... She didn’t even realise what was happening

She tilted her head as she looked on, struggling to make sense of the situation, her mind freezing and ceasing to function entirely

She blinked several times, trying to make sense of what she was seeing, but she simply couldn’t take it in... She opened her mouth but couldn’t utter a word, and forgot to close it as she stared blankly in the moonlight, her beautiful face, her white nightdress and her delicate hand stained with a warm, sorrowful red...

"..."

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After leaving Count Karoyn’s palace, Ivar returned to the royal residence but headed straight for the First Prince’s palace.

He took out a special artefact he’d retrieved on his father’s orders specifically for this mission – an artefact of epic rank that neutralises all kinds of alarms and traps.

He used it to sneak straight into the First Prince’s bedroom; using the same ruse, he reached the First Prince’s bed, carefully placed Count Karoyn’s head on the bed, and then made the First Prince embrace it

As he moved to leave, he noticed a small bed in the suite; when he approached it and drew back the curtains, he found the First Prince’s three-year-old son asleep. He did not know why a three-year-old child was sleeping in his father’s room, but as he looked at the child, he remembered Alexander and felt a pang of unease in his chest...

After a moment’s thought, he sighed, then picked the child up from the bed and carried him carefully, taking care not to wake him... After all, children are not to blame for the problems of adults. If the child were to wake up to the commotion that would ensue, he would undoubtedly be deeply affected.

And despite everything that man had told him about the Nordkaiser... the child remained child, after all, just an innocent being.

So he took the child and left the First Prince’s palace, heading straight for the Emperor’s palace, completely unconcerned by the commotion that had erupted in the First Prince’s palace as soon as his abilities and the artefact had lost their effect

And since he did not have enough with him to sneak into the Emperor’s bedroom—especially given the commotion that had broken out in the First Prince’s palace—he slipped into the empty throne room and carefully placed the child on the throne, which looked like a cot to the child, then he carefully draped a quilt over the child before leaving to return to his own bedroom, where he slept the night through in peace and complete tranquillity, without a twinge of conscience.

In fact, he even felt proud of himself; he had treated the lady with kindness and had not disturbed her sleep whilst killing her husband... After all, it was her husband who was guilty, not her, and no one had been needlessly killed by his sword. He had sneaked in, killed the criminal cleanly, and left without disturbing anyone

And when he went to intimidate and warn the conspirator, he was also careful not to implicate the innocent; so he took care not to disturb any of the servants or guards. He even thought of the conspirator’s son and kept him away from anything that might cause him irreparable psychological trauma, just as had happened to his younger brother!

And so he slept with a clear conscience, even having some happy but somewhat strange dreams...

Strangely enough, he saw that short, red-haired maid girl whom his younger brother had sent to his service, and who had originally caught his attention because of Alexander’s interest in her and his decision to send her to him

In his dream, her head turned into that of a dragon, so Rolan tried to tame her, whilst Alexander wanted to cut off her head because he wanted to try dragon meat, and Roman kidnapped her because she was different and intriguing.

And so, like a nobleman, he rescued that unfortunate short girl from his savage brothers....

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