A Cruel Beast’s Leash - Chapter 24.1

“What about the knights?” Irvan asked.

Miller’s eyes switched from the monters to Ivan frightfully. “… they didn’t follow.”

“Oh. They thought something would happen. What a slick move.”

Irvan snorted, at a loss for words. Then he shifted his gaze to Emma, to the hand clinging to the edge of the his shirt in fear and quietly said, “Emma, go inside now and wait there until this is all taken care of.”

“Yes…” Emma nodded and quickly scampered away. If she stayed any longer, she would only be a hindrace. As soon as she was gone, Irvan took the sword from the wall, pulled it out from its sheath, and bolted off towards the monsters like a deadly arrow about to pierce its target.

The door slammed shut. The last thing Emma saw was the striking, silver sword brilliantly reflecting the sunlight. Then, there came the familiar silence that seemed to cut her off from the world.

In the same cabin were Miller, the servants, and the handmaidens. Everyone remained silent, waiting with bated breaths.

Amidst their nervous silence, only a long bout of restlessness passed.

Emma wandered near the front door, as if trying to control her anxiety. But her nerves getting the better of her, she looked outside through the door viewer. Even with a limited view, she could see Irvan’s body clearly, as if he were the centerpiece of the scene unfurling before her.

In the midst of chaos, his long, silver sword cut the fearsome werewolves in quick, decisive strokes. All that was left in his sword’s wale, were bodies gruesomely sliced in half. It was literally a one-sided slaughter. As Irvan held his bloodstained sword, it looked like a messenger of death had descended upon the lands.

Emma felt the chills in her spine worsen as she watched this side of Irvan.  Now that she had seen it firsthand, Emma understood how the other people felt around her. Now it felt like the butler Miller, who had trembled so much in front of Irvan a while ago, now became her.

Going against Irvan was like gambling for your life.

After slicing the beasts with smooth, practiced movements, Irvan stopped to catch his breath. Despite looking like a human weapon made solely for slaughter, his jarring skills aroused extreme fear and awe.

“Everyone out now,” he said, casually flicking the blood from the silver sword unto the ground.

Emma opened the door and walked out as if in a daze. He had taken care of everything  outside as he had said before. Although, it was a gory mess. Blood dripped from the ones who’d suffered injuries from the monsters, a cart and a carriage were so damaged they were now unrecognizable. The ground looked as if it was washed with buckets of blood, werewolf carcasses and human body parts were scattered in the liquid.

“Tsk.” Irvan glanced around with still eyes at the macabre sight. He then spoke loudly,  “We may not be able to stay here longer. If we do, we’ll become a laughingstock to the passing werewolves.”

***

The carriage rattled along the uneven road. After a long ride with only twisting trees and the sounds of nature accompanying them, the they finally arrived at the city. Bustling with life, their carriage headed somewhere downtown, towards a gray-white fortress magnificently poking out from an equally majestic wall.

At first glance, it was not a single building, but a castle where several buildings were situated together. The spires of the castle raised high against the sky. It looked antique and regal against the busy city. From the scale of it alone, Emma deduced there would be a considerable amount of noble estates inside.

‘That would be Van Wert family… if not Edner.’

There were two noble families neighboring the Perrigan mountains.

The Muns’ family estate was built at the corner of the Perrigans, but Emma had heard that it was small in size because it had been a baron estate for generations. A mere baron’s castle could never be as old and dignified as the one before her. If it were the baron’s castle, then he must have conquered and and divided King’s Island and achieved power. That unlikely, hence this castle couldn’t have belonged to him.

Excluding Baron Muns from the candidate list, what remained was the Margrave’s* family.

*Margrave is originally a medieval title for the military commander assigned to maintain the defence of one of the border area.

‘Where is it?’ Emma tried measuring the area while looking at the scenery of the city passing by through the carriage window.

But somehow it looked like Count Van Wert’s estate. Because unlike Van Wert’s, Count Edner’s estate neighbored the border, so he recently traded with the noisy neighboring countries due to disputes over succesors to the throne and civil wars. Rumors were widespread that the entire city was up in arms. And that King’s Island would soon be bought by the enormous gold flowing from abroad.

But even though the city looked busy, it still felt somewhat restrained and quiet. The main area of a city where the carriage entered should be bustling with life, but that lively energy was nowhere to be seen.

Age-old buildings and shops lined up in rows showing off their profound charm as neatly dressed pedestrians passed on the sidewalk; there was never a shortage of stylish people dressed up to their fullest, showing off their immense wealth and prestige.

“Where is this place?” Emma asked curiously.