LIGHTNOVELWORLD Chapter 66
I didn’t see it because I fell asleep in the carriage yesterday, but late at night When we crossed the bridge and came near Cloud Castle, we were greeted by dozens of torches.
Knights and soldiers, including Marquis Cloud, were searching the surroundings, leaving only the bare minimum of troops defending the castle.
“So……. the large flying monster that appeared in the sky yesterday afternoon kidnapped the Marquis’ daughter?”
“yes. I can’t be sure just by hearing the explanation but judging from the testimonies of those who said they suddenly became invisible, it seems that it was Mirror Bat who kidnapped her.”
‘He didn’t want to make it obvious in front of us, who are guests, but I could tell that the atmosphere in the castle was very tense because of just one passing maid.’
So instead of calling people or walking around the castle for no reason, Leonhard spent his time stuck in the guest room given to him.
Ethan, who collected information while wandering around the castle, briefly explained what had happened yesterday, saying he had heard from the maid.
“She was skating on a lake near the castle with her friends. The maids and escorts were there, but they said they couldn’t even use their hands.”
“Because the monster became invisible?”
“Before that, they say, it snatched her up and flew into the sky. Unfortunately, there were no wizards in the group, and the knights didn’t have bows. Even if they had, they wouldn’t have been able to shoot her because she was caught.”
It was not known where the monster had gone. That’s why the cloud castle turned upside down.
If the opponent was a human, they would try to negotiate a ransom. I hate to say it, but…. Since the opponent was a monster, the marquis’ daughter was probably no longer of this world.
I clenched my hands tightly and trembled in fear.
“That…A monster called Mirror Bat. Are they a monster that suddenly catches people?”
“In winter like this, they often attack private houses in search of food. Even so… In the case of Cloud Young Lady, I can only say that she was unlucky. I can’t believe a monster appeared when she went outside of the castle.”
“Hmm. No, it’s strange.”
Catherine, deep in thought, clutching her chin with her thumb and forefinger, shook her head.
She let out a few more grunts before turning to Sage.
“Do you have a book of Monsters?”
“Ah, yes.”
He stuffed the cookies He was holding in each hand into a bite, dusted the cookie powder from his hands on the floor, rummaged through the magic bag on her belt, and pulled out a thick book.
‘The number “342” written on the cover was the first to stand out. The last time I heard was ‘338’, but it seemed to have been revised.’
“Mirror Bat, Mirror Bat…I found it.”
Since that was the only book we had, Sage read the article about the Mirror Bat for everyone to hear.
“Mirror Bat. Intermediate monster. A newborn monster is about the size of an adult’s fist, but when it becomes an adult, its body grows to the size of a full-grown warhorse. It is characterized by changing its body color by assimilating to its surroundings like a chameleon. The magic stone is embedded in the center of the forehead, but it is classified as intermediate because of the ability to quickly run away with invisible magic at the moment of crisis. The staple food is the sap of fruits and trees. Because of this, it is found in dungeons in forests or similar environments.…”
“Look at this! Mirror Bat doesn’t eat meat!”
“surely….I’ve never heard of a mirror bat attacking a private house.”
“Besides, isn’t there a forest dungeon around here? Where the hell did that mirror bat come from?”
“Did someone manipulate and bring it…?”
“Haha, no way.”
The faces of my escorts, who burst into laughter at the point of nonsense, soon turned serious.
“If it’s really a human doing….”
“Could it be that the barbarian people came down here?”
“To do that, you have to go through the Hiyela Gate or cross the Hiyela Mountains. It’s nonsense.”
“Why not? Catherine did it, so there is no way that other barbarians can’t.”
At that, the room fell silent. I looked at my escorts, each with a serious expression on their faces, and opened my mouth to speak.
“Do the barbarians control the monsters?”
It was Leona who nodded.
“Yes, it is.”
“That’s why if the dungeon near Hiyella’s gateway explodes, it will be a mess. They drive all the monsters pouring in from there to the Hiyela Gate.”
“Sage.”
Sage, who had been talking exaggeratedly by adding hand gestures to Ethan’s glare at him telling him to stop talking nonsense, looked away.
I’m not exactly intimidated by stories like that, but I’m a little worried about something else, so I open my mouth cautiously.
“Then…what about the black wizard? Once upon a time, I heard somewhere that a black wizard controls a monster.”
“A black wizard? Well, I’ve never heard of it.”
Leona shook her head and looked at Ethan, and Ethan shook his head as well. The same goes for Catherine.
Finally, their eyes turned to Sage, the wizard, but Sage also shook his head the same way.
“I’ve never heard of magic that controls monsters. At least, as far as I know, there are only barbarians.”
“A few hundred years ago, there was a power to exert such power, but…It’s literally a long time ago.”
Huh? I’ve never heard that before.
“Aren’t there only five Powers?”
“There used to be a lot more than that, but as they were passed down through the bloodline, they became blurred and disconnected, and now there are only five families left.”
“I see…”
I didn’t know anything else, but I thought it was fortunate that there were no patterns to control monsters.
If I had that kind of power, where would I use it? It’s just a good way to scare people around me.
‘Then what is the group of black magicians in the novel story?’
They said they use something like a red magic stone to control monsters.… If they’re not barbarians, then who are they? Why don’t people know their existence? They had been hiding their identity until now, but they suddenly appeared holding the hands of the first Prince. For what purpose?
I’ve always believed that 1 plus 1 equals 2, but suddenly being told that it doesn’t makes my head hurt.
I carelessly stroked Ruby’s back, but Catherine suddenly knelt down in front of me and carefully looked up at my face.
“Nell, you don’t look good.”
“huh? Oh really…?”
I wonder if I was making such a serious expression. I was touching my cheek with my hand, but the escorts looked at me in a strange way.
“If you feel unwell, please tell me.”
“If anything is bothering you, just tell us, we’ll listen!”
“Oh, no… I’m really fine.”
However, looking at the faces of the escorts, I felt like I had to bring up something, so I thought about it and spit out the name that had been bothering me since earlier.
“Hmm…..the Marquis’ daughter, you said she was my age, right?”
A girl who’s only 19 years old has been kidnapped by a monster. How scared must she be by now?
If I had gone missing like that, I’m sure my family would have lost sleep worrying about me. It didn’t feel like anyone else’s business, which made me feel even worse.
I carefully opened my mouth to a thought that suddenly came to mind while recalling the atmosphere in the castle that had sunk into darkness.
“Can we send someone to the Anild Gate right now?”
“To the Anild gateway?”
“I heard from Robert. The Anild Gate is heavily inspected, so it takes at least a week to pass through the Anild Gate, especially for groups that frequently change personnel, such as the Merchant Corps or the Mercenary Corps.”
Leona lightly blinked as if she had understood my meaning after hearing only that point.
“Are you trying to hire mercenaries?”
“Yes. With my authority, can I speed up the inspection of the mercenaries I hired? I want to ask them to search for Cloud Young Lady.”
“Of course it is possible. The mercenary corps, which have frequent personnel changes, are often stranded for up to a month to pass through the Anild gateway. If you tell them to let the mercenary pass the checkpoint immediately, they will try to accept the request from the Marquess.”
“How many mercenaries do you plan to hire?”
“Hmm, I don’t know market prices well.”
I didn’t expect to use this so quickly. I took out the silver metal plate that Lily gave me from my bag.
“This is my personal account. Hire them all as much as you can with the money you took out of here.”
* * *
— Bang bang bang!“Sophie! Are you inside?”
Startled by the sound of a strong knock on the wooden door, she ran to the closet and let out a long sigh at the voice she heard. At that moment, cold sweat broke out on the inside of her palms.
Putting on the hood and wiping her hands on her robe, she went to the door, removed the closet blocking her way, and unlocked the lock.
“Why did you open the door so late while you were inside?….Sophie, it’s all right now.”
“I’ve been caught because I thought like that before. Don’t underestimate Baron Vincent. He’s a lot more persistent than you think.”
“You don’t even call him father anymore?”
“Do I look like it?”
‘I was so sick of it that I couldn’t express it all with the word ‘sick and tired’.’
If the concept of a previous life really exists, he and she must have been enemies.
“I’ve done enough. If that man hadn’t been so ridiculously greedy…. I would have sold it to him for whatever he wanted.”
“Why didn’t you just sell it? Count Howard is honestly fine.”
“That’s a problem. Because if I had married him, Baron Vincent would not get out of my life.”
Suddenly, Sophia’s mind recalled the three envelopes she had put in the drawer. She was in a hurry to leave the house, so she couldn’t get it.
It was a house she had lived her entire life, and Sophia found it funny and futile that the only remaining lingering feeling of the house was that letter.
But why did she put her lingering feelings on such a piece of paper? Her marriage to him is over, and he would have neatly given up on marrying her by now.
“What’s the matter with you? I told you not to knock on the door unless you have business.”
“Of course, I knocked because I have a business. It’s good news. We can finally cross Anild gate.”
* * *