Chapter 93: 053. Imperial Prince is Going to the Academy -1 (Part One)
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One month had passed by after the Red Devil abduction case drew to a conclusion.
Despite the hours being late evening, people were still crowding Humite’s streets.
Numerous travellers and adventurers were busy heading to their destinations while children still awake even now and out on a stroll with their families made sure not to let go of the hands of their parents.
A Necromancer named Beshum managed to infiltrate Humite successfully, and while walking on the streets to search for the survivors of this district, he pulled the hood of his robe up to hide his face.
It was then, a child suddenly yelled out.
“It’s the grandpa Santa!”
Beshum flinched in surprise and turned his head to take a look.
There it was, perched up on top of a chimney belonging to a residential house; a creature with a portly physique wearing a blue-coloured costume was squatting up there and scanning the area.
Beshum’s eyes opened wide as he stared at this strange existence.
‘…A Red Devil?!’
Although its attire was different, that thing was no doubt a Red Devil, a familiar created for the purpose of information gathering, assassination, or even to abduct sacrificial offerings meant to recharge demonic energy.
The children shouted out happily while pointing at such an existence.
“It’s Santa!”
“It’s Santa the grandpa!”
The soldiers on patrol were clearly on guard against the ‘Blue’ Devil, but for some reason, they didn’t try to subjugate the undead and simply stood around observing it.
As for the fiefdom’s subjects, they seemed to be rather unsure of the existence referred to as Santa and hurriedly shielded their children. However, a portion of them actually placed their hands together and began offering a prayer towards the undead.
Such a sight came across deeply disturbing to Beshum.
If the Red Devil was the symbol of fear, then the Blue Devil seemed like the symbol of blessing.
Before he reached the city, he heard some rumours floating around that said the ‘Blue Santas’ carrying out the mission of an ‘angel’ were guarding the city’s streets.
Some of the stories sounded like fairy tales – they returned the kidnapped children, and even left behind gifts of wealth to some households suffering from financial hardship as well.
Thanks to these events, the Blue Devils were quickly being regarded as the ‘fairies of good fortune’ in Humite.
It was right then, the ‘Blue Santa’ turned its head.
…And its gaze met with Beshum’s.
The Blue Santa tilted its head this way and that.
Once it discovered a suspicious person, it shared its vision with its ‘master’ and activated [Mind’s Eye]. The name of the Necromancer and the pertinent information regarding him were transmitted through the eyes of the ‘Santa’.
The Blue Devil AKA Santa, grinned afterwards. Then, its lips began moving slightly.
-Found one.
“…!”
Beshum hurriedly entered a nearby alleyway.
He broke into an urgent dash. After breathlessly running for a little while, he took a look behind him.
No one was pursuing him.
What about that existence called the Blue Santa, though?
He cautiously scanned his surroundings but it wasn’t there either.
Did he manage to lose the creature?
While panting heavily from the shortness of breath, Beshum pulled out a map. It displayed the location of another hideout where the survivors should be hiding at.
He needed to join up with them and hear the exact details of what had transpired in this city.
Beshum continued moving and eventually ended up in a dark alleyway with no traces of people. He pounded on an unmarked steel door.
“To leave the wasteland behind and regain the verdant forest.”
He said the password, and a short while later, the peep hole opened up for confirmation. A Necromancer wearing a robe cautiously raised his voice.
“D-did anyone follow you here?”
The man’s voice sounded dry and cracked, yet it was also trembling noticeably. Just from that, Beshum could already guess how much the survivors were shivering away in fear.
“No need to worry. It’s safe.”
The steel door opened up quickly. The Necromancer behind it, looking quite clearly frightened, gestured urgently towards Beshum, telling him to quickly enter.
Beshum patted him on the shoulder, hoping to calm this man’s fear at least a little bit. “Guide me, please. I’d like to hear about what’s been going on here.”
The Necromancer nodded and closed the door shut.
Beshum stepped into the house, and the Necromancer guided him to the underground hideout.
While walking forward, he spotted more Necromancers squatting by the floor of the narrow passageway. Their faces were covered in dirt, and their eyes lacked vitality. Even their expressions were filled with fear.
These people were Necromancers who regularly sacrificed youth and lifespan for power. Yet… just from their outer appearances alone, you might mistakenly think that they were refugees fleeing from a conflict zone.
Another steel door opened and gave him access to the area where the Humite district’s surviving Necromancers, those occupying some position of influence within the organisation, were staying.
Once inside, Beshum took off his robe.
His deeply wrinkled face sent a little nod as a greeting to the other Necromancers present.
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“Did… did the Black Order send you here?”
“W-what’s going to happen to us?”
“What about the rescue party? Is a rescue party coming to save us?”
Beshum could only frown at what these Necromancers were saying.
How could these Necromancers that dealt with death be this gutless…? Besides all that, a rescue party?
“Rescue? What are you talking about? There is no such thing. I merely came here to acquire information, that’s all.”
“Information?!”
“Oh, no! Does that mean we aren’t going to escape from this hell?!”
The surrounding Necromancers began trembling even more now.
What was going on here? Why were they acting like this?
“What’s gotten into you all? Could it be that the Heresy Inquisitors are here?”
When Beshum asked them, the Necromancers shook their heads in response.
“Heresy Inquisitors, they… Yes, you’re right. They did come. Less than a week ago as a matter of fact. But before all that, there’s a monster here! And that monster is still madly searching for us even now!”
One of the Necromancers answering Beshum shivered uncontrollably while hugging his head.
A monster?
Wait, could it be that Oscal of the Golden Cross had personally stepped up?
Beshum asked another question. “Do you know anything about this… person?”
“That person, he’s the devil.” The eyes of the Necromancer were shaking in fear. He stared at Beshum and stuttered out the rest of his reply, “N-no, the truth is, h-he’s a devil-like angel!”
“…What are you even talking about?”
“Since we wanted to be sure, we employed every method at our disposal to gather information.” The Necromancer brought out several documents before spreading them on a nearby table’s surface. “However, we still don’t know anything about that creature. B-but! We went through a lot of difficulty and learned about several rumours, and by analysing them, we were able to come to a conclusion.”
“Rumours? Conclusion?”
Beshum tilted his head.
The Necromancer, however, was nodding his head. As a strand of cold sweat trickled down his face, he gravely continued on with his explanation. “The event when Vampires were suddenly murdered in the capital city of the Theocratic Empire, and then, the lycanthropes being hunted down. Those had been the omens of the things to come!”
Beshum clamped his mouth shut.
He also had heard about those stories.
And thanks to those events, some people began spreading the rumours of the Theocratic Empire acquiring a ‘brand new power’ for themselves recently.
But… wasn’t that simply a baseless rumour?
The Necromancer stared at Beshum. “And that’s how we came to our conclusion. The slaughterer of the Vampires, the butcher of the Lycanthropes, all of those things were perpetrated by that monster! We concluded that they were the handiwork of the ‘angel’ currently being ‘developed’ by the Theocratic Empire!”
“…And what kind of a conspiracy theory is this now?”
Beshum couldn’t contain his chuckles anymore.
He initially thought that the other party was cracking a joke to lighten up the mood, but too bad, he could see that they were still clearly frightened out of their minds.
“I’m not joking! Yes, it’s nothing more than a conjecture at this point, but we’re extremely certain of it!” The Necromancer insisted while spittle flew out of his mouth. “Besides, we have a definite proof too! According to the testimonies of the children roaming the streets, they say an ‘angel’ helped them!”
This Necromancer must’ve really lost his mind. Did dementia get the better of him after messing around with Necromancy too ardently?
However, Beshum decided to humour them for the time being. He let out a hollow chuckle and asked another question, “Alright, fine. Let’s say there really is such an angel. Are you telling me that it’s the same type of creature as the Blue Devil?”
“N-no. The Red Devil is nothing more than some nickname attached to the undead in order to sow the seeds of fear. However, the ‘angel’ is different. The Theocratic Empire really has summoned this creatu…?!”
The Necromancer suddenly flinched and stared at Beshum.
A lone strand of sweat travelled down his cheek.
“Hang on a minute. How do you know about the Blue Devil?”
“Rumours were floating around even before I came here. And also, I saw one as soon as entering Humite as well. Although it seemed to have noticed me, I managed to lose it. You don’t have to wor…”
“You! You stupid son of a b*tch!”
The Necromancer screamed out.
He must’ve lost what little rationale he had left, judging from how he suddenly began pointing and glaring murderously at Beshum.
“Dammit! What the hell were you thinking?! If you were being followed, you shouldn’t have come here!”
“What are you saying?”
Beshum turned his head.
The fear spread around to the rest of the Necromancers like a plague and they seemed to have lost their rationale as well, judging from all the screams coming out of their mouths.
What was this? Why were they acting like this?!
The Necromancers hurriedly began packing away their important documents.
“W-we need to get out of here! Get ready! We’ll disperse as soon as we leave this place. That creature is coming! That thing will soon come here!”
The Necromancer began tearing out his hair. Actual hair strands came loose as his eyes turned bloodshot.
“What are you even…”
Beshum reached out and grabbed him by the shoulder, but the Necromancer simply screamed out in terror.
“That creature…! The angel is coming!”
It was then – accompanied by a loud explosion, the whole hideout was powerfully shaken around.