Chapter 166: Betrayal upon Betrayal upon Betrayal (2)

As night deepened.

The Moratz delegation had returned without issue. The lords remained completely silent.

There was something unsettling about the atmosphere surrounding the Black Crescent Moon.

Harlan Mineta sat in his office, unable to shake off the uneasy feeling that lingered.

“Everything is going according to plan… and yet…”

His worries would not cease.

Soon after, he sprang from his seat.

“I need to confirm it myself!”

Leaving his office, he ordered a carriage to be prepared.

His destination was the Black Crescent Moon’s Mineta Branch.

It did not take long before he arrived in front of a tavern called the Blue Sunset.

Around him, his escort knights formed a perimeter.

As Harlan Mineta stepped inside, Kerom, the second-in-command of the Mineta Branch, hurriedly approached him.

“…Your Majesty, what brings you all the way here? You could have summoned us directly.”

“Where is Charoen?”

“He stepped out for a short while… on another matter.”

“Where exactly did he go?”

“I am not certain myself.”

“Bring him here.”

“That… would be difficult right now.”

At that defiant answer, Harlan Mineta’s brow furrowed deeply.

“Do you wish to die?”

It looked as if a sword might be drawn at any moment.

Yet Kerom did not back down.

“My apologies. But I truly do not know where Lord Charoen went.”

“Is that supposed to be an answer?”

Kerom was Charoen’s right-hand man.

There was no way he wouldn’t know about his superior’s movements.

Harlan Mineta, who knew that well, found it impossible to believe.

“I’m telling the truth. He left without saying anything to me.”

In an instant, Harlan Mineta’s hand shot out, seizing Kerom by the throat.

“Gah!”

“Have my recent leniency made me seem a fool to you?”

“Kh—! N-no, Your Majesty!”

Dangling from his grip, Kerom’s face turned crimson.

“Guh—!”

“Before I snap your neck, you had better bring Charoen here.”

The members of the Black Crescent Moon standing nearby exchanged uneasy glances.

Even so, there was no way they would know something the branch’s second-in-command didn’t.

They were all simply confused.

Time passed in silence.

“Still not thinking of bringing Charoen?”

As Harlan loosened his grip slightly, Kerom struggled to speak.

“I… I really d-don’t know!”

“You keep spouting nonsense.”

Kerom’s face, which had regained a bit of color, turned red once again.

A bit more pressure, and his neck might truly snap.

“What is going on here!”

A sudden shout—Charoen’s voice.

Harlan Mineta’s head whipped toward the entrance.

“Your Majesty! What are you doing!”

“So you finally show yourself, Charoen.”

“Why are you doing this to Kerom!”

The situation was so abrupt that Charoen couldn’t immediately grasp it.

But to save his subordinate, he couldn’t attack King Harlan Mineta.

He quickly approached, waiting for the king to release his hand.

“Where have you been?”

“Please, let go of him first.”

“You’ve grown quite bold lately. Daring to make demands of me.”

Perhaps it was the frustration and unease that had been piling up finally bursting forth.

Madness glimmered in Harlan Mineta’s eyes.

“…My apologies, Your Majesty.”

“Speak. You haven’t been visiting lately… What’s the reason? You disappear, and no one knows your whereabouts.”

“That’s…”

“If you don’t answer properly, who knows what my hand might do next.”

Harlan Mineta tightened his grip on Kerom’s neck once more.

Crack.

“Ghh—!”

At his subordinate’s pained groan, Charoen hurriedly spoke up.

“ I was searching for the whereabouts of the missing nobles.”

“The nobles? Weren’t they never found within the royal capital?”

“That’s why I went to check the suitable hiding places outside the outer walls and just returned.”

At that response, Harlan Mineta’s expression grew colder.

“Did I not issue a royal decree forbidding anyone from leaving the outer city?”

Except for the envoy from the Moratz Kingdom, no one had been allowed to enter or leave Mineta Royal Capital.

He had broken the direct order of the King of Mineta.

“The Moratz envoys are aware of the current state of our kingdom. Even if their visit ended well, we must remain cautious, must we not?”

“So you’re saying you left the castle without permission for that reason?”

“…If Your Majesty wishes to punish me, I will accept it.”

Charoen’s gaze turned solemn.

Soon after, Harlan Mineta’s madness seemed to subside.

“You didn’t go alone, did you?”

“I went with my subordinates.”

“Then how is it that this fellow didn’t even know your whereabouts?”

With that question, Harlan Mineta threw Kerom against the wall.

Thud—!

“Ugh!”

Kerom groaned in pain as he hit the wall, then quickly stood up.

Charoen’s expression showed a faint hint of relief.

“As Your Majesty knows, I had to leave in defiance of the royal decree. Of course, I could have informed Kerom, but since I moved the moment I received the report, I had no time to deliver the message.”

“A report?”

“There was information that someone had gone out toward the west.”

“What do you mean by that?”

The castle gates were under strict guard, and after the change of throne, all weakened areas of the walls had been repaired—there were no hidden passages or cracks remaining.

Moreover, despite thorough searches until now, not once had they found any trace of what Charoen was describing.

“There was a tunnel leading underground in the slums.”

“A tunnel?”

“It was used by those illegally trading monster materials. I have already placed our men in control of the place.”

“Did you find any trace of the nobles? If you caused such a commotion and found nothing, you’d better be prepared for the consequences.”

The madness that had settled began to resurface again.

He looked ready to draw his sword at any moment.

Charoen spoke with a faint smirk.

“We found a piece of cloth believed to belong to Duke Dominus Flomen’s garments.”

Charoen held out the cloth.

It was a fragment of fine black fabric, covered in dirt and dust.

“Are you sure it’s his?”

“The material matches exactly with what the Duke was last seen wearing.”

“And what else did you find? You didn’t actually locate the Duke himself?”

“We found the tracks of several carriages heading west. They didn’t look old.”

“Truly?”

“My guess is that the Duke left the trace deliberately—to lead us to him. That’s all I was able to confirm.”

“Then why didn’t you pursue further!”

Just moments ago, he had been enraged about disobedience to royal orders—now his anger shifted again.

Caught off guard, Charoen hesitated for a moment before answering.

“I thought I should first report back to the palace. And even if we pursued the missing nobles, we don’t know what might be waiting there.”

“…It could be a trap.”

“Exactly. I plan to form a small pursuit unit with mobility and skill.”

“Indeed… If we chased them openly, Duke Dominus and the others might be put in danger.”

They were central nobles of the Mineta Kingdom—many of them civil officials essential to the kingdom’s finances and diplomacy.

“Do you have enough people to track them?”

“I plan to gather personnel from the royal palace annex and from our Black Crescent Moon.”

“Hm… I will accompany you.”

“…Your Majesty will go in person?”

“I must see for myself who these bastards are. Once I catch them, I’ll tear them apart limb from limb!”

The nobles’ abduction had been a severe blow.

And to make matters worse, the Moratz envoys had already caught wind of it.

For the proud Harlan Mineta, facing them day after day was agony.

“Your Majesty cannot leave the capital in such a state.”

“The major affairs have been mostly settled. And if we delay, we might lose their trail. If it’s a trap—then all the better.”

If their true target was the King’s life…

Then the mastermind behind the kidnapping was likely the faction of the former King.

They would use Princess Deborah’s legitimacy as a pretext to replace the throne.

However, Harlan Mineta had already slaughtered most of the former King’s followers.

Those who survived would be few indeed.

“We can handle this ourselves.”

“…Are you expecting me to answer you twice?”

“N-no, Your Majesty. I only worried about leaving the palace unguarded. And it’s not easy to move large forces in the current situation.”

“Deborah has already departed for Moratz—what is there to worry about? Ah, though the priest and the Holy Knight Commander might be a problem.”

Two of the key figures of the Bachenan Holy Kingdom.

And shutting down the temple had already consumed considerable manpower.

Just as Charoen said, any large movement of troops now could spark unnecessary trouble.

“Ruteo Candir.”

“Yes, Your Majesty. Your orders?”

“Gather those in the annex and summon them to the slums immediately. You will protect both the royal capital and the Holy Kingdom’s people.”

“I am not only the Royal Knight Commander, but also Your Majesty’s personal guard. How can I let you go alone?”

“There’s no helping it. And no matter how great a Swordmaster you are, you’re still not my equal, are you?”

Arrogance or confidence—perhaps both.

Yet Harlan Mineta wasn’t wrong.

In terms of aura, they were equals, but in the depth of swordsmanship, Harlan Mineta still surpassed him.

Ruteo Candir knew that well, which made it difficult to argue further.

“Then at least take some troops. I cannot allow Your Majesty to depart alone.”

“Hmm… Fine, I’ll bring twenty senior knights with me. The rest will stay with the Black Crescent Moon.”

Thirteen nobles had been kidnapped.

No small group could have taken that many.

They estimated at least twenty abductors—possibly more.

“I’ll send the men staying in the annex with you.”

“Move quickly.”

Ruteo Candir immediately stepped outside, detached a horse from a carriage, and mounted it.

.

.

.

In a corner of the outer city lay the slums.

Around them stood houses made of wooden planks—so dilapidated that one could hardly tell if anyone lived there at all.

It was one of the most run-down areas of Mineta Royal Capital.

Harlan Mineta had never imagined there would be an underground passage in such a place.

“Where is it?”

Charoen stepped forward to guide him.

“This way.”

“What a filthy place.”

He spoke as though these people weren’t even his own subjects.

They stopped before a house that looked ready to collapse at any moment.

“Here?”

Inside, there was nothing remarkable at first glance.

As soon as Charoen entered, he walked toward a corner of the living room.

A shelf concealed the entrance to the underground passage.

When he pushed the shelf aside, a large hole gaped open in the wall behind it.

“Did you capture those who used this tunnel?”

“They’ve already been dealt with.”

“Well done.”

A faint smile spread across Harlan Mineta’s lips.

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