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“Nice to meet you, my name is Hector.”

At the mansion, Henry was introducing Hector to Ten. Ten reached out and shook Hector’s hand.

“Thank you for coming all this way. My name is Ten.”

“I’ve heard a lot about you. It seems you’re an irreplaceable asset to the merchant company.”

“Haha, did Lord Henry really say that?”

“Of course, he praised you a lot, which is why I have high expectations of you now.”

When Ten had first seen Hector, he was surprised to see that Henry had brought a child with him. The Korun that Hector was using as a host body was only 160 centimeters tall. In addition, Hector’s face had been modified by Henry’s Cosmesis, and he’d requested to look like a young boy. However, Ten felt that the hand he was shaking had the heaviness unique to an adult man.

‘I almost offended him.’

Hector had a great impression of Ten even before meeting him, which made Ten even more careful not to ruin it. This would help their relationship in the future.

“Um, I haven’t had a meal yet because I journeyed a long distance without stopping… If you don’t mind, could we eat first?” said Hector.

“Ah, of course! I will get someone to prepare a meal right away. Unfortunately, our chef doesn’t know Shahatra food very well. Would it be okay to prepare a meal imperial style?”

“Of course. Isn’t there a saying that if you go to the empire, you should follow the ways of the empire?”

“That’s very open-minded. I will prepare the meal right away.”

After Ten left to prepare the meal, Henry smiled and said to Hector, “You’re so used to lying now. Were you always this good at lying?”

“What?”

“You haven’t eaten, huh? Then what was that pile of skewers I saw earlier?”

“Tsk tsk, this is why you awakened your Aura so late. Those were just skewers, not an actual meal. Do I really have to explain all of this to you?”

Hector clucked his tongue at Henry. How could he not know the difference between skewers and a meal?

Henry laughed and nodded.

“I see. I think I was mistaken.”

“Right. Take this opportunity to learn that the snacks you buy outside don’t count as a meal.”

“No, what I mean is that the reason you died back then wasn’t me, but the lack of food.”

“Hey, stop it…”

Henry no longer treated his master formally now that he had perfectly mastered Hector’s swordsmanship as well as awakened his Aura. Besides, Hector was the only person who knew Henry’s real identity, so Henry was more comfortable around him.

“Anyway, I traveled this far because you asked me to, but what do I have to do next?” asked Hector.

“Just keep doing it. That’s it.”

“What?”

“Today, you were the one who came here to meet Ten, but from now on, Ten will be the one going in and out of Shahatra instead of me. Your duty is to take care of Ten and escort him so that he can safely return to Vivaldi after completing the trade.”

“Do I really need to escort him? He’s only trading things like silks and spices, right?”

“I regret that I didn\'t have you there when I was talking about business.”

“Okay, okay, stop teasing.”

“Okay. It’s fine for now, but as time goes, there will definitely be people who will covet Shahatra\'s goods. They have been released on the market already, so rumors will spread quickly.”

“Wouldn’t it be better to ask Herarion for escorts?”

“To you, Herarion may only look like a disciple, but he is still the king of a nation. I have to be more than grateful that he agreed to trade with me. If I ask him to do anything beyond that, do you think he will continue to have the dignity of a king?”

“Is that right?”

“And it’s a trade that I organized anyway, so it’s much better to make sure I have people I can trust. I feel more comfortable this way.”

“That just sounds like you don’t trust Herarion.”

“Even though we’re close, this is still just an alliance.”

Aside from the alliance, the two trusted each other. Nevertheless, Henry insisted on doing it this way to have full confidence in the process.

“But don’t worry too much, because I will give you a Teleportation scroll. You’re responsible for security, but more importantly, you’re responsible for turning Herarion into La’s Sword.”

“You said earlier that he was an untrustworthy person, and now you’re telling me to train him… Wizards are amoral on the inside after all.”

“I told you, this is just an alliance. After all, you have nothing to do besides eating and drinking, right?”

“Just… never mind.”

Henry was joking, but he wasn’t wrong either.

Without Henry and Herarion, Hector would never have come back to life, and even if he had the luck to do so without them, he wouldn’t be able to enjoy a splendid foodie life like he was now.

But just then…

“Young Master! We’re in trouble!” That was how the mansion’s servants addressed Henry.

The owner of the mansion used to be Ten, but they all knew that Henry treated Ten like a servant, so they just decided to call Henry “Young Master.”

A soldier who had been guarding the entrance ran in, arranging his helmet back on his head and rattled off an urgent message.

“Y-young Master! A soldier just carried Sir Von back here, he looks half dead!”

‘What?”

Henry was shocked. Enkelmann’s Guardian was back and dying?

“What are you waiting for? Hurry and bring the priests!”

Shaken, Henry shouted for help.

* * *

Pzzt!

A warm light filled the healing room full of high-ranking priests whom Henry had paid with expensive offerings.

Von was in critical condition.

Not only was he wounded all over, he had dozens of broken bones and torn muscles, inflammations, symptoms of poisoning, and burns. Above all, he had lost too much blood.

“It’s a miracle that he made it all the way here alive.”

According to the soldier who had carried Von, a traveler had found Von along the way to Vivaldi. He had carried Von on his back all the way to the city, where the soldier recognized Von and brought him to Ten’s mansion.

If Henry hadn’t called in the high-ranking priests, Von would have died right away. The treatment lasted for a long time. The high-ranking priests took turns healing Von before filling a bathtub with the highest-quality healing potions and soaking Von in it.

Henry had no choice but to trust the priests, believe in Von’s strong will to live, and wait.

Half the day passed.

“Oh, dear god…!”

Priest Peter put his hands together and prayed to God in relief. After half a day of treatment, Von’s face finally looked a little more alive.

“Keep going! Until Von is fully recovered! I will give as many offerings as needed!”

As he waited outside, Henry urged the priests to do their best.

There was hope even though Von’s wounds were so severe that Henry couldn\'t touch them. The only thing he could do was pray.

The priests started the treatment again and after a while, Von was finally able to open his eyes slightly.

“Hen...ry…”

“Von!”

Although he regained consciousness, Von’s lips were dry as straw.

Henry held Von’s hand and waited for him to continue.

“Arthus… That bastard…”

Von was too weak to continue, but Henry had heard Von’s words clearly.

“Arthus? Why is he…?”

Henry had a deep sense of foreboding.

* * *

It was dark.

Enjoying a good drink alone under the moonlight was one of Arthus’ few hobbies.

Arthus really liked the moon, because he felt a sense of belonging looking at the yellow moon hanging in the pitch-black sky.

On nights like this when the moon was beautiful, Arthus would drink alone while looking at the moonlight.

Gurgle.

He poured himself a drink.

Arthus mainly enjoyed drinking wine, especially red wine which went well with meat.

Arthus poured the wine himself without the aid of a servant. He picked up the glass, which glistened in the moonlight, and savored the wine’s aroma.

“Hmm.”

It had a nice smell, but he couldn’t drink it anymore. He called out Dracan’s name in a low voice.

“Sir Dracan.”

“Yes, Duke.”

Dracan Rotique appeared out of the darkness at Arthus’ call.

“The moonlight is so beautiful tonight, isn’t it?”

“...Yes.”

Gulp.

Dracan was nervous, because Duke Arthus never called him without a reason. However, no matter how much Dracan thought about it, he hadn’t done anything wrong, which was why he was even more nervous.

A guilty conscience needed no accuser, but those with frightening superiors were nervous for no reason.

Soon, Arthus got to the point.

“Mordred is dead.”

“W-what? Mordred?”

“Yes, just moments ago too. But it’s so strange. How many people in this empire can hold their own against my kin Mordred, let alone defeat him?”

It was a question with many implications: simple curiosity or perhaps he was suspicious of Dracan and interrogating him.

Dracan stayed silent, because he wasn’t sure what would happen if he said unnecessary things.

But just then…

“D-duke! Argh!”

Arthus stared at Dracan, and his eyes changed once again like those of a beast.

His eyes looked like the yellow moon in the night sky, and as Dracan made eye contact with Arthus, he felt a tingling, suffocating pain.

Dracan slowly rose into the air as Arthus lifted him into the air with just his eyes.

“Hmm.”

Arthus didn’t speak. Instead, he only stared at Dracan, who was in agony, with those eerie eyes.

Finally, after a while, Arthus’ eyes returned to their human appearance.

Thud!

Dracan fell to the ground.

“Mordred died while he was chasing Benedict. Sir Dracan, Mordred’s body was reconstructed as a stronger Chimera, right?” said Arthus.

“That’s right, cough!”

“That’s very strange. According to you, Mordred is a higher-level being than humans. There is no way that he would die like this, right?”

“T-that’s right!”

Dracan’s throat hurt like it was being ripped apart, but he had to answer Arthus no matter what.

Arthus frowned slightly and said, “A Chimera that hasn’t obtained the power of Janus cannot become a perfect being.”

Arthus let out a sigh.

“To think that Benedict and even Mordred ended up like this… I wasn’t planning to use this now, but I guess I have to.”

Unexpected things had happened one after another. Arthus was feeling suspicious and had to think of how to counter whatever was coming at him, but he wasn’t going to defer that responsibility to Dracan.

It wasn’t that he was afraid of delegating responsibility, but he couldn\'t trust Dracan any longer, so he had to do things on his own.

Zing!

Arthus’ eyes changed to those of a beast once again, but they turned a red color, making them look even more eerie.

At the same moment, in the bedchamber of the Shahatra palace, the eyes of Selene Khan, who was sleeping next to Herarion, also turned red.