Edge Forys (2)

Around the time Lost headed toward the Ryan Barony, the King of Darkness Belial, who had been moving as Wallace Hope, emerged from the alley.

“Hmm…”

“Is there a problem?”

“Well… is it a problem? Maybe not.”

Beside him was an unidentified man wearing a deeply pulled hood.

“I don’t particularly want to have adventures in Forys’s territory…”

Edge Forys, like Wallace Hope, is a considerable power holder.

However, he tends to be generous to those who aren’t enemies.

But what if a heresy inquisitor gets killed in his territory?

His attitude toward half-demons, which had been one of indifference until now, would change to extermination.

What could be more foolish than turning someone who is neither enemy nor ally into an enemy? What makes Edge Forys troublesome isn’t that he’s a grand mage.

It’s because he’s a ‘duke’ of the Empire.

Even if handled as discreetly as possible, Wallace Hope couldn’t avoid being considered a suspect.

How many people would be capable of targeting a duke, or even be able to do so?

“Though not as much as provoking Edge Forys, carelessly messing with the Pantheon Temple’s special task force isn’t a good choice either.”

“……”

The man quietly waited for Wallace Hope’s next words, as if indicating he wouldn’t interfere.

At that, Wallace Hope finally turned his head toward the man.

His face bore a grotesque smile that would make anyone shudder.

“I need to see that fellow one more time. Bring him to me alive, don’t kill him. Mez.”

“Yes!”

The moment Wallace Hope’s permission was given, the man called Mez nodded calmly and moved.

“Well now, I hope that one proves useful.”

One of the Seven Blades, symbols personally selected by Belial and infused with demonic energy.

An opportunity had come to verify the abilities of the half-demon he had made the ‘Blade of Binding’.

“It would be nice to see today… Though that might be impossible.”

Wallace Hope shook his head at the ominous mana energy he felt from afar. Edge Forys was already in the direction the man had headed.

It seemed both he and Mez would need to be careful for a while.

*     *     *

Before interrogating Lost whom he had captured, Edge Forys first pushed him into the underground prison.

The interrogation would proceed slowly.

Though the process wouldn’t be harsh, life in the underground prison would surely feel quite lonely.

Thinking that made Edge Forys’s expression, which had been unpleasant, lighten somewhat.

“Duke Forys. Please release Lost.”

“Denied.”

“Lost only revealed who the criminal was.”

“But in that process, he caused trouble in my territory. Because he passed that information to that damned foolish orc prince instead of me or the guard.”

“I am not foolish.”

Titan pouted his lips in protest at Edge Forys’s rebuke.

He wasn’t in a good mood. That was because the old man before him had stopped him from having a chance to fight Allen Wise.

Children and the elderly must be protected.

That was what remained of Titan’s conscience. That’s why he couldn’t express his anger directly and could only pout his lips while grumbling like this.

“Then why is Titan, who committed the act, here?”

“Are you suggesting I throw foreign royalty into an underground prison?”

“I wouldn’t mind though?”

“Just shut your mouth!”

“The old man is quite energetic.”

Edge Forys grabbed his nape and squeezed his eyes shut at Titan’s shameless misconduct.

That one is royalty.

No matter how closed off the orc kingdom might be, beating him here would become an international incident.

As a duke of the Empire, he must not commit such an unsavory act.

“My lord, isn’t this treatment a bit harsh regardless?”

Unable to watch any longer, Allen Wise, the hunter’s guild master, intervened.

Even in his thinking, it seemed too harsh for Lost to be imprisoned while the two actual perpetrators were here like this.

Though he was angry about the incident Titan caused, Allen had no intention of reproaching him since the reason was to punish evil.

Hunters tend to be rough people. Among such hunters, how many would maintain proper conduct?

The position of guild master exists to protect such people.

“Earlier you were angry that he fought in the hunting grounds, saying he was making a show in civilian areas, and now you speak well?”

“M-My lord!”

“Quiet! What’s wrong with imprisoning someone whose identity is unclear!”

Linea showed her family seal. As for Titan, Edge Forys knew him because he was already acquainted with Craig.

But Lost was different. He didn’t even have that basic identification.

Though priests might prove themselves by showing holy power, it’s more problematic to demand trust in someone who even uses an alias.

Edge Forys is a person of power. Naturally, he knows things others don’t.

Not all clergy are purely devout and clean.

After all, aren’t heresy inquisitors famous as the Pantheon Temple’s unofficial task force?

“B-But there might be reasons for using an alias.”

“Did he lose his name after encountering the <Dreamer>? So what? What does that matter? What’s important isn’t the name but actions.”

There are many people who must use aliases like Lost.

Because that’s what trials are.

But that doesn’t matter anymore.

“What could it be? Hmm? Surprisingly, quite a lot comes out when you dig into people. Even homeless people who’ve lost their names lying on the street show family relations when you investigate!”

Of course, being a duke means hearing things you’d rather not know.

The greater the impact, the more so.

And Edge Forys didn’t disregard the power of information.

It was Edge Forys himself who permitted the information guild Shade to establish itself in Forys duchy.

The appearance of an orc was certainly a matter of great impact. Much information came about Titan and those with him at the time.

But there was nothing about Lost. Lost his name? Yes, that could be. But among those who had contact with the <Dreamer>, there was no one matching Lost’s description.

“That one’s trail was first discovered at that inn in the village where he met Prince Titan. There’s nothing before that. As if he dropped from the sky!”

He had already inquired with the church. Based on the holy magic Lost showed, he asked both that church and the Pantheon Temple.

He asked if there was a priest using the alias Lost and received answers saying there wasn’t. Of course, the Pantheon Temple might be trying to hide his existence.

But against Edge Forys? To say they must hide his identity even while making such a dangerous gamble?

It doesn’t add up.

If he was someone who could die without consequence, they could have confirmed his existence.

Conversely, if he was someone who needed protection, they should have tried to persuade him somehow.

But it was neither. They literally don’t know the person called Lost.

Thud!

The duke of Forys struck down hard with the staff he had leaned against his chair.

“No one knows that name and no one knows where he came from. Yet he knew about Shade, possessed skilled swordsmanship, and could handle holy magic from numerous lineages? And on top of that, he designed this whole situation?”

Using an alias.

Yes, he might have lost his name after encountering the <Dreamer>.

But losing one’s name also means nothing was left to lose.

Usually such people are idiots. Even if not, it takes time to accumulate new knowledge and memories.

But Lost is barely in his early twenties even with the most generous estimate.

“Such a being suddenly appears, and you’re saying don’t be suspicious?”

“You’re hung up on pointless matters, old man. Is that important?”

“Of course it’s not important to me, a 7th circle mage. Because I can kill him whatever tricks he might try.”

An ominous presence filled the room. At that presence, Linea froze as if unable to breathe, and Allen Wise, the hunter’s guild master, lowered his head and waited for the storm to pass.

“But to me as the lord of Forys territory, it’s a matter that takes priority over everything else!”

Crack!

Finally, under the force of mana Edge Forys was releasing, the teacup on the table cracked.

“So answer me, your response might change how I deal with that one.”

Between the broken teacup pieces, tea dripped down like blood.

It looked as if foreshadowing what would happen to someone.

“Who is he?”

*     *     *

Belial will try to kill me.

He’s not foolish enough to completely take his eyes off me just because one suspicion was resolved.

Once he considers my existence even slightly bothersome, he’ll try to deal with me in some way.

Even if he doesn’t kill me immediately, there are many ways to disguise it as an accident.

And Edge Forys will be suspicious of me. As he has done several times, even Shade couldn’t fully grasp information about me.

Such a person designed this incident and pulled strings from behind.

He would know that even my later joining was merely bait to divert attention based on that.

That’s why he said he would interrogate me. Saying that, he threw me into this cold underground prison.

Thanks to that, I could temporarily escape from Belial’s magical beast.

“Kyahaha. It’s been a while since we had a newcomer.”

“Ah, there was a senior. Pleased to meet you. I’m Lost.”

“Hello! Hello! I’m Bella. What brought you here?”

“I talked back to a grumpy old man and ended up like this.”

In the next cell was a being with strange hair who was making noisy shouts.

She is a life sentence prisoner. Though one who can leave anytime.

“Senior, may I ask one thing?”

“What is it? Ah! If you’re asking about dinner, it comes around 6. Though it’s hard to have any sense of time in a place without a speck of light! Kyahaha!”

“When will you be in contact with the <Wanderer>?”

“……”

Trials refer to beings or places that humans must someday overcome.

But that doesn’t mean all trials hate humans.

Rather, there are trials that hold goodwill, and trials that interact with humans.

One of those is the <Wanderer>.

Edge Forys interacts with the <Wanderer>. That’s also why he threw me in this underground prison despite saying he would interrogate me.

“We still have time before night, shall we chat for a bit?”

“Hey, what’s this? You already know?”

The woman in the next cell sighed as if bored.

This woman is Edge Forys’s collaborator for interrogating me.

“Hey, do you like nightmares?”

“Well, I don’t particularly like them.”

“I like them. People who have nightmares taste bitter.”

“That’s a sensation I wouldn’t understand as a human.”

Her identity is a Nightmare.

She’s a type of ghost that enters dreams and turns them into nightmares.

And entering dreams corresponds in some ways to entering humans’ deep psychology.

She’ll surely try to dig up information about me that way.

Of course, it doesn’t matter.

I can just protect important memories using holy magic.

Since I already know my opponent, dealing with it is simple.

“Ah! Right. So what brings you to our home? Planning to move in?”

“No, that’s not it…”

“That’s too bad.”

The <Wanderer>, Necropolis.

It literally refers to a country of the dead wandering the world.

That group composed of undead and ghosts has already become a country.

Just their wandering brings harm to the surroundings.

Because corpses affected by that energy become undead.

It would be truly disastrous if they wandered near a cemetery.

Fortunately, since the <Wanderer> isn’t hostile to humans, they move carefully along their routes.

“I have someone who needs to move in.”

“Eek, we don’t do that kind of thing? Are you misunderstanding something? We don’t do contract killing like that. We’re all good undead!”

“It’s a dark mage.”

“Aha?”

What means would Belial use to deal with me? I had to consider that first, and ridiculously enough, I could find the answer nearby.

Before my regression, Titan was killed.

That created the opportunity for Craig to come out to the world.

And the description of the culprit from Craig’s mouth pointed to one of Belial’s elites, the ‘Blade of Binding’.

The ‘Blade of Binding’ Mez is a dark mage.

And dark mages refer to those who forcibly raise corpses and control them by stealing their will.

“If you like us that much, we should make you a comrade.”

Mez is the mortal enemy of the free-willed undead living in the <Wanderer> Necropolis.

With this, I had a way to deal with the assassin Belial would send.