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225. Competition
“Honorable Castellan Mithrael!”
“Hm?”
As the banquet was well underway.
An urgent call for the castellan thrilled by Millions’ surprise gift sounded.
Every noble directed their attention to the interruption.
The one to burst through the door with haste was a member of the castellan’s elite knights.
The elite knights of the castellan were on a completely different level than that of the nobles.
A simple way to explain it would be that the knight captains of the nobles were slightly weaker than a member of the castellan’s knights.
The castellan’s elite knights were truly made up of the strongest fighters.
The knight in question got down on one knee and looked at the ground while addressing the castellan.
“Honorable castellan. It’s a disaster.”
“How dare a mere knight barge into a banquet. What’s the commotion?”
What could possibly be a big enough of an issue for a member of the knights charged with guarding the perimeter to barge into the banquet without a word?
Even if this was an elite knight member that could not be easily messed with, there still was the matter of social class differences.
Mithrael showed the displeasure on his face without holding anything back.
After all, this kind of behavior was definitely considered rude in front of a large gathering of nobles.
This was also the same for the nobles.
However, what the knight member had to say was enough to make them forget their ire.
Instead, shock and fear would take its place.
It especially shocked Millions’, who had curried a great amount of favor with the castellan via a surprise gift.
“It has been reported that Demon has ambushed the residencies of the nobles and caused a massive amount of damage.”
“What? Demon?”
“Yes! According to the testimonials of the survivors, the witnesses were absolutely positive.”
With the name of Demon being mentioned, the castellan’s eyes now rested on Millions’.
The marquis chided the messenger knight with a rattled expression.
“You insolent knight! What are you saying! Demon?”
“I was informed that Demon has slaughtered not only the gathering of slaves set to participate in the festival, but all the knights and guards of each of the nobles.”
“The Demon you speak of… It can’t be that you’re referring to the king of the festival?”
“That’s correct, Marquis Millions. I am positive that it’s your slave, Demon.”
“That can’t be…”
The chaotic banquet was now filled with the whispers of nobles.
Millions was now busy putting on a forced smile and seeing how Castellan Mithrael would react.
That only lasted for a bit though.
“Actually, my knight captain had tried to contact me using Soul Messenger a moment ago. I declined it due to the banquet taking precedence, but I wonder if it was to deliver me the news of Demon’s sudden ambush…”
“It is also the same with me.”
“Huh? I also have a message request pending from Soul Messenger. It also was sent by my knight captain.”
The reality that Millions wanted to deny was now slowly being confirmed bit by bit.
Having been unable to foresee that his slave Demon would do something like this, cold sweat dripped down the marquis’ forehead.
However, since it wasn’t confirmed in person, there still was a chance this wasn’t 100% accurate.
The castellan spoke with a frown.
“Marquis Millions.”
“Yes… Honorable castellan.”
“What is the meaning of this?”
“I am unsure of it as well. It is true that Demon is my slave. However, even as I was leaving the estate in order to participate in the banquet…”
“If what that messenger says is true, then you are aware that this isn’t some trivial incident? What will you do?”
“I am sure that something fishy is definitely going on. There is no way that Demon would do something like that.”
“Hm…”
“I shall confirm it myself.”
Millions hastily tried to contact Demon through Soul Messenger.
Since Demon had contributed the most to increasing his fame, he had thought of Demon as a comrade rather than a slave.
After all, even though Demon was arrogant at times, the slave never crossed the line and even played dead when commanded to do so.
Millions waited anxiously for Demon to accept the message request.
It didn’t take long for Demon’s voice to come through.
“Marquis Millions. What is the issue?”
“Whew…”
Demon’s voice was the same as usual, and the Soul Messenger request wasn’t avoided either.
It wasn’t often that he communicated with Demon, but since there was no difference in tone from the usual, Millions relaxed.
He now believed that what the knight messenger had said wasn’t true.
Now calm, the marquis took in a deep breath and spoke.
“Demon. I’m currently attending the banquet. I trust you’re aware of this?”
“Of course. I heard of it from the knight members.”
“I see. But I’ve heard of a strange report while in the middle of livening up the banquet.”
“What is it?”
“The messenger has told us that you have ambushed the residencies of the nobles and were butchering both the slaves that were to be used in the festival and the knights guarding them. It’s quite the absurd report. I feel as though someone did this in order to try sabotaging me.”
“Who did you hear this from?”
“I’ve heard it from the castellan’s elite knight. Said that it was the eyewitness account of a survivor.”
“…”
“Of course it can’t be true, but wouldn’t it be right to confirm it so that the castellan and the nobles wouldn’t worry? I want to hear your answer. Now, where are you?”
“I see. Looks like the one that got lucky and survived had spread the word.”
“What? This isn’t the time for jokes. Demon, tell me the truth.”
Millions, who was chiding Demon with a lowered voice, felt as though he was going back and forth between Heaven and Hell in front of the castellan.
After all, his attempt to try denying the allegations while everyone’s focus was on him had now backfired into only proving the accusations.
The sound of a sinister laughter was heard over the messenger spell.
“Kuhu. Kuhahahaha! Millions.”
“…”
“You took in someone that you shouldn’t have. You’ve dug your own grave.”
“What?”
“I was planning to give the nobles a surprise present upon their return, but it seems that plan is no longer possible.”
“You little…”
“Are you upset? You want to catch me and tear me apart? Do come. Come find your little loyal pup.”
“Demon!”
Millions let out a yell and raged.
His reaction was observed by all those present.
With this, it was confirmed.
Millions’ slave, Demon, had murdered the slaves, knights, and guards.
Ending the messenger spell, Millions looked around.
It felt as though everyone was mocking and sneering at him.
He turned last to see how the castellan was reacting.
“Millions…”
“Honorable castellan! It is my mistake. I shall make up for the damage that was caused.”
“…”
“Please give me a chance. I shall compensate two fold monetarily for the lives of the slaves and knights lost. Please allow me to catch and execute this slave before all to see.”
“Hm… What does everyone else think?”
The castellan’s eyes shifted over to the nobles.
However, he wasn’t really asking for their opinions.
Since he believed that Millions’ was someone of use, the look in his eyes was that of forcing the nobles to agree with him.
It was so obvious that anyone could tell at a glance.
The hesitant nobles reluctantly muttered one by one.
“T-That sounds good.”
“Well, I could always get more slaves….”
“There are more than enough knight applicants. As long as you are able to repay me back…”
“Y-Yeah. It’s true that Marquis Millions had worked hard to revamp the Festival of Blood…”
“I believe that should be.”
“I also agree.”
The nobles were agreeing, but unlike what they were saying, their expressions were filled with disappointment.
After all, they wanted to execute Millions on the spot if they could, since he was receiving the full interest of the castellan.
With that settled, the castellan addressed everyone in the banquet.
“It seems that today’s banquet will end with this. I shall give Marquis Millions a chance. I shall also be giving everyone a chance as well.”
“Thank you. I won’t disappoint you again.”
“First, compensation for all nobles affected. Second, dealing with the slave Demon.”
“Yes!”
“Lastly, I will be putting a bounty on Demon.”
“Honorable castellan! Please allow me to kill Demon with my own hands!”
“Millions. Don’t you think that there should be compensation for something that cannot be repaid with money? And this is the first incident in decades. Don’t you think this will turn out to be something amusing?”
“But…”
“I shall give the one who takes down Demon an increase in status.”
“I understand.”
With a powerful, short and concise reply, Millions immediately left to find Demon.
With that, the other nobles started to turn in order to return back to their estates.
It was then. Castellan Mithrael continued when everyone had thought he had finished.
“All those with the title of marquis may return.”
“Huh? Then what about the rest of us…”
“What is the reasoning behind putting up a reward of increasing our ranking and then sending only the marquises away?”
“Isn’t there a wild beast called Demon hiding within Larkenta? If Demon had absorbed all the powers of the slaves and knights, then that slave is now strong enough to overpower you all. Until all of the marquises including Millions had caught Demon, it won’t be safe outside.”
“That’s…”
“Even so, we’re not ones to be done in by a mere slave.”
“Is that so? Those with the confidence are free to do so. However, do not forget that those who do so are solely to blame for the outcome.”
“…”
“…”
Around 20 marquises immediately returned to their estates at once.
It was to check the damages they received and to request for the appropriate compensations.
It was also to kill Demon in order to obtain the bounty.
However, the counts were unable to do so.
They were hesitating from what the castellan said.
While it was true that combat strength was divided according to their ranks of barons, viscounts, counts, and marquises, it was true that they just stayed still.
While their rankings were low, there were some with a lot of power.
Some of them actually grew a lot stronger since obtaining their ranks.
However, those that didn’t couldn’t even consider leaving the castle.
As the castellan had said, there was a wild beast hiding outside the castle walls.
Out of the 100 counts, roughly 60 returned back their estates, and 40 remained at the castle.
Of course, not all 60 of the counts that left had enough strength to defeat Demon.
If repayment for the damages was the only thing to gain, they would’ve stayed at the castle.
There was nothing more important than staying alive.
However, they were blinded by the promise of political power.
Even if they were overstepping their bounds, they were trying to defeat Demon in order to raise their rankings.
With this, a huge problem had arisen in Min-Cheol’s plan that he had thought up of.
The plan was to quietly defeat the counts, then the marquises, and finally the castellan.
However, with Demon’s attack, the number of counts that could be attacked were cut in half, and those who should’ve been unaware were now armed to the teeth and readying for battle.
Not only that, but 20 marquises that were difficult to deal with were now hunting down Demon with great speeds.
While the target wasn’t Min-Cheol, it was only a matter of time for him to become a target as well if he was planning on doing similar things that Demon was doing.
Considering the current situation only, it meant that the showdown could be concluded even before returning back to the celestial plane.
After leaving the castle, Millions moved quickly with fury boiling in his eyes.
“Demon…”
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