VIP Chapter 312: The Starting Point
Hysterm Family.
The moment Will and Shuna left—
Unexpectedly, looking at the empty basement after the steam had dissipated, and with not a trace of Will’s scent on her nose, Iaar, holding the axe in her hand, actually felt…
Not so “angry” anymore.
Even…
She lowered her head, looking at her shadow, elongated by the light behind her, cast on the ground of the still steaming Underground Sauna. Her wolf ears, at the very top, seemed to disappear into the darkness of the doorframe.
She almost felt a little… relieved?
Why?
“Did he leave with Shuna?”
“As I thought, the scent of an ‘outsider’ I smelled in the manor’s garden was hers.”
“He left with… a bad woman of unknown origin, Young Master.”
Was it because…
If he really left with someone as dangerous as Shuna, would the Young Master realize one day that he still couldn’t leave her?
Or was it because…
She calmed down…?
She looked at the axe in her hand, still stained with the blood of a wild boar she had slain today. The steam in the room had finally dissipated. This basement, damp and covered in moss, now resembled the place where she had trained her heat resistance every morning.
There was once a time when, perhaps the Young Master had been too reckless and set the temperature too high. After she walked out, her whole body was red, and it took about half an hour for it to subside. Although she herself didn’t think it was a big deal, the Young Master anxiously poured a basin of cold water on her head to cool her down.
The current Iaar…
Iaar, who once found it difficult to describe her state of mind with “metaphors,” could now describe it. It was like the cold water from back then, poured on her in the present, years later.
She felt much calmer—as if she had finally stopped herself before doing something too impulsive.
The unquenchable anxiety and the tamed instinctive impulses were suppressed.
“Young Master…”
She put down the axe.
She walked up the basement stairs step by step, listening to the sound of her footsteps on the wooden stairs…
When she came to her senses, she found herself sitting in Will’s room.
She was at Will’s desk, where he always wrote. On the desk lay the thick History of Magic book he hadn’t finished.
The moonlight outside the window was exceptionally cold.
“So, looking out from here, this is what the Back Garden looks like.”
“…Young Master, did you also watch Iaar here every afternoon?”
“It seems to be a… very peaceful scene.”
She looked out and could see…
The two of them, the small snowman they had built on the white snow of the garden. Its shadow was also elongated by the moonlight.
Iaar sat there, watching the scenery outside the window change from night to day…
As if realizing it belatedly, she finally raised her head.
“As expected…”
“Iaar… still misses you very much…”
“I can’t leave you.”
“I eagerly await your need for me…”
“Young Master.”
She wondered where Will had gone.
The home he had always lived in was now dilapidated and covered in blizzard. His house in the Capital, where he had always lived, was also a place he couldn’t return to because Treya was there…
Then there was only…
Nov.
The place where their “adventure” began, and the place where they parted.
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“Your Majesty, the Remnants of the Prince’s soldiers belonging to the former Fourth Princess and Fifth Prince have been cleared. Some have fled to the snow mountains, but besides a Dungeon and the Adventurer’s Guild, there are no other troops there.”
“Good news from the Capital. While you pretended not to be in charge of the Capital’s affairs, the ministers and nobles associated with them have all been dealt with.”
“If there are no accidents, you can return to the Royal Palace to continue handling state affairs.”
At the fortress in Helkicin, in the far north, the rebellion that was bound to occur after Eugenie’s death was quelled by Treya, who rushed there, in just one week.
She leaned back in her chair, wrapped in a thick coat. The fox fur on it brushed against her cold face. Her purple eyes were calm, and she listened to the report without a ripple.
This was, after all, within her expectations—no, within Will’s expectations. Will had actually reminded her more than once that Eugenie’s existence was a hidden danger. Of course, she had listened.
“No need…”
Treya sat in her chair, pondering for a moment.
“The atmosphere in the Capital will be exceptionally chilling due to the purges after I leave. If I return now, it will be like adding a thicker layer of ice to a lake that has only a thin layer frozen. Those who are too tightly strung will rebel again.”
“Y-You are right.”
Treya felt somewhat tired.
Even with all the power of Zero Demon City inherited, her mental state was deteriorating under such continuous exertion.
Moreover, this place was too far from the “headquarters” of Zero Demon City in the true Royal Palace. She could feel the power diminishing considerably during transmission.
However…
This decision…
Was also told to her by Will.
He had said that if she truly wanted to change the current situation of the Entak Empire, she would have to deal with the old era nobles and royalty. But…
—”If you are too eager for quick success, it will backfire. It’s best to make them fear you subtly, but they won’t dare to resist you because of some small favors…”
So, where was he now?
The “wedding” to have him complete the demon ritual and become part of Zero Demon City was interrupted when he was taken away by a crazy woman.
But the problem now was that she couldn’t “make a big show” of using all her forces to search for Will. If she did, the entire country would know that the Will, who was extremely important to her, was missing, and he would become a target for various factions.
Already being targeted by that maid, that witch, and Shuna, who had escaped from her Dungeon a few days ago, was troublesome enough.
If there were “other forces,” it would be even worse.
If she had spies like the Adventurer’s Guild, who were more “common” and active everywhere, perhaps she wouldn’t have to use the regular forces with such trouble.
It was a pity that…
If the Royal Family had realized the meaning of Dungeons and the Adventurer’s Guild earlier, perhaps they wouldn’t have reached this point.
“So, your plan is…”
“Is there a person, that maid, where was the last place she was observed?”
The reason for asking about the maid, not the escaped Shuna.
It was simple. The last person she saw who took Will away was Iaar.
“At… at the former old residence of Hysterm.”
“The next destination will be there. We will announce to the outside that Will misses his old home, and I am taking him back.”
“No… there’s a problem now.”
“What?”
“According to the guards on the road, she seems to have set off for… Nov.”
“…Set off, to go there.”
“Then what’s the reason this time?”
“Will… wants to go to the starting point of his adventurer dream… and my starting point, to reminisce.”
