58

Inside Lonelybirch’s castle after sunset.

Hamel quietly slipped out of his room alone.

Hamel glanced once toward the banquet hall bustling with the welcome ceremony, then headed the other way.

He had declined the lord’s invitation, claiming fatigue.

It wouldn’t do to be seen by anyone right now.

Hamel walked slowly down the silent corridor.

His steps were light and quiet like a cat’s.

He moved through shaded shadows and froze still whenever someone passed.

That alone ensured no one noticed Hamel.

Hamel’s stealth was such that even seasoned hunters would be impressed.

Secrecy and concealment.

Through repeated training, Hamel had reached a state where he could erase all signs of his presence.

A skill learned to hunt demons, it had become second nature now.

‘First, I’ll check on the servants.’

What Hamel intended now was observation and information gathering through inquiry.

The importance of information couldn’t be stated enough.

No matter how powerful the enemy.

No matter the life-risking crisis.

With information, a way through could always be found.

─Clip, clip, clip

“…”

Hamel moved, accustomed to avoiding the guards’ eyes.

Unsurprisingly, compared to the area where the lord and guests stayed, the security here was severely lacking.

That was why Hamel had decided to gather information here.

‘My actions must not reach the lord’s ears, as much as possible.’

Even if the quality of information was lower, servants were sensitive to rumors.

Perhaps he could still glean something useful.

Arriving near the kitchen, Hamel began to observe with a hint of expectation.

Since Rupert’s welcome party was still in full swing, servants came and went from the kitchen repeatedly.

Food, drinks, even wine.

Platters and silver kettles of food kept heading nonstop to the banquet hall.

‘…Is there anything unusual?’

Hamel watched for a moment, then moved slowly along.

Then Hamel suddenly stopped, sensing something odd.

He returned to the kitchen and stood right at the door.

He slowly pressed his ear to the door.

“…”

It was strange.

And with good reason…

Because no voices could be heard from the kitchen.

Even when the door had opened earlier to carry food, it had been the same.

Inside, aside from the scrape of knives and the bubbling of boiling water, there was no sound.

As if only the mute remained.

─Clip, clip

At the sound of someone approaching, Hamel quickly moved away.

He continued to check on the servants.

From the stablemaster to the coachmen.

Maids and butlers alike.

Wherever or whatever they did, they didn’t utter a single word.

They mechanically performed their tasks with expressionless faces.

After some hesitation, Hamel appeared before a boy carrying a water jar.

Seeing the boy sense his presence, Hamel quietly greeted him.

“Good evening.”

“Ah, hello! How can I help you?”

The boy blinked politely as he answered while looking at Hamel.

Life returned to the boy’s face, which had been drained of color until a moment ago.

The unsettling change gave Hamel goosebumps along his arm.

So it was.

They smiled and spoke only in front of Rupert and other external guests.

That was the source of the dissonance Hamel had felt.

‘I was mistaken.’

He had thought only part of the lord’s castle was affected by Vinea.

But that wasn’t the case.

The people within the inner castle had already become Vinea’s puppets.

Hamel turned away coldly from the puzzled boy.

“…”

He almost patted the boy’s head without realizing it.

Out of pity.

But the boy in front of him was not someone to comfort.

The boy who deserved comfort had likely already died, consumed by Binea.

That fact chilled Hamel to the bone.

There was no way to save the boy.

But he could promise at least this one thing.

‘I will cut Vinea’s throat and avenge the grievances of those unjustly killed.’

He hadn’t gained much information from the servants.

All he learned was that the castle’s situation was worse than expected.

It seemed he would have to give up on gathering information through inquiry.

‘That’s troublesome.’

Hamel frowned as he was returning to his room.

“Eek!”

“…?”

Rounding the corridor corner, he startled a child who fell backward at the sight of him.

The child seemed to have been waiting there for someone.

“Are you all right?”

Moved by the child’s surprisingly realistic act, Hamel instinctively reached out his hand.

A familiar face.

Tristan Lonelybirch, son of Lord Edmure.

He was the boy who had brightened at the question of whether Hamel was the hero who had saved the Magic Tower.

“Ah… th-thank you!”

Tristan clumsily grabbed Hamel’s hand and pulled himself up.

Hamel clenched his teeth watching Tristan.

Wasn’t he almost like a living person?

But in the end this child too might be one of the demon’s with a pendant…

“…?”

Hamel paused and examined Tristan’s neck.

There was none.

There was no pendant on the boy’s neck.

“Why do you ask?”

Sensing his gaze, Tristan asked curiously, and Hamel asked cautiously.

“The pendant that should be on your neck is missing.”

“Ah!”

Tristan then noticed the pendant was gone and looked around the ground.

A pendant with its cord untied lay on the floor.

It seemed to have fallen when he had fallen.

Relieved, Tristan quickly picked it up and clasped it back around his neck.

“Phew, that was almost a disaster. Thank you. If I don’t wear this, my father scolds me.”

“…You mean the lord?”

“Yes. He said it’s important and I must never take it off.”

Hamel feigned calm as best he could and watched Tristan.

Seizing the moment while the pendant was off, Hamel quickly dabbed holy water onto his eye.

Since he wasn’t under the pendant’s influence now, he should be able to see its true form.

However.

“…”

Hamel’s expectation was wrong.

There was no trace of demonic energy whatsoever.

‘I don’t know why, but…’

Tristan was a real person.

Hamel continued his questioning as composedly as possible.

“That’s a pretty pendant. Did the lord give it to you?”

“Yes. About a month ago. He didn’t give it only to me—he handed them out to everyone. He said it was a mark that we are people of Lonelybirch.”

One thing became clear from that.

It was Lord Edmure himself who had first distributed the pendants to the people.

Hamel clenched his fist and asked.

“Did anyone dislike the pendant?”

“I don’t know. Why do you ask?”

Tristan repeated the question, finding Hamel’s question odd.

Hamel offered a faint smile in reply.

“I wear a pendant too… but I’ve heard in the north that men who wear ornaments are looked down upon.”

“Ah!”

When Hamel pulled his pendant out from under his clothes, the boy’s eyes sparkled.

After studying the pendant for a moment, the boy nodded and said:

“That’s right. I’ve heard it too. Ah, so that’s why!”

The boy clapped his hands as if he had just remembered something.

“Now that I think of it, Uncle Galahad hated pendants too.”

“Galahad…”

“He’s the estate’s knight commander. The priest shouldn’t show his pendant in front of him. Hehe.”

“Is that so.”

Tristan let out a small laugh, as if sharing a secret with Hamel.

There were many more questions to ask, but he sensed a servant approaching down the corridor.

Hamel patted the boy’s head and said:

“You’ve been a big help.”

“Oh, really? Then… could I ask a favor…?”

“Yes, tell me.”

At Hamel’s words, Tristan hesitated a moment and then asked cautiously.

“Later… could you tell me about the adventures you’ve had, Mr. Hamel?”

“…Anytime.”

Hamel forced a smile and nodded.

Tristan beamed and repeatedly thanked him.

Hamel wished him goodnight and slipped away before the servant arrived.

A few steps later, Hamel halted abruptly.

‘…It feels wrong.’

He had used an innocent boy.

Whatever the reason, it was an undeniable fact.

The information he gained from the boy would lead to harm befalling the boy’s loved ones.

Feeling slightly nauseous, Hamel slowly walked back to his room.

He needed rest.

The fortunate part was that there was still a long night ahead.

Hamel opened the door and entered listlessly.

─Thud

Something fell to the floor the moment the door opened.

It must have been stuck in the door gap.

Hamel picked it up.

A single sentence written on a square piece of parchment.

“I’ll see you after the contest. G.”

An initial G was stamped at the end.

‘They moved first, then.’

A surprisingly quick move.

Perhaps the situation was that urgent.

“…”

Hamel examined the note and tucked it into his chest.

This too had been unexpected.

But it wasn’t a bad thing.

It even made things a bit easier.

Amid the continuing luck, Hamel felt a strange unease.

It wasn’t an alarm from the realm of reason.

Rather, it was a signal from deep-rooted experience within his body.

‘This really won’t be easy.’

Feeling a deep fatigue, Hamel closed the door.

Thus the long first night in Lonelybirch finally ended.

─Ba-da-bam

The roar of brass instruments announced the start of the festival.

“Waaaaaa!”

The crowd’s explosive cheers filled the domain.

The whole territory was fired up with festival fervor.

“…I can’t believe this place is a city fallen to demons.”

Daniel muttered sourly.

Hamel nodded in agreement.

“Sociability has made humans strong, but it can also be a weakness.”

Among them, the true puppets of Vinea likely weren’t even a tenth.

Most were ordinary people.

Hamel had been steadily gathering information since early morning.

From that he heard some interesting things.

There had been quite a few disappearances in the estate recently.

However, it wasn’t a problem because those people returned apparently unharmed a few days later.

No matter the pendant’s illusion, could they really have noticed nothing odd?

‘Of course not.’

Yet they were enjoying the festival.

There was one reason.

‘Because no one raises suspicion.’

Far from suspicion, everyone embraced the festival and put aside doubt.

To others—

They turned away from worry and surrendered themselves to comfort.

It’s a phenomenon born from human empathy and social nature: not wanting to act differently from others.

“Is this not the first time something like this has happened?”

“…The circumstances differ, but I’ve seen similar things a few times.”

Demons exploit these weak parts of humans all too easily.

Hamel smelled metallic blood and madness beneath the crowd’s festival cheers.

“How are the preparations going?”

“Don’t worry. Before sunrise, the children and Lena went to prepare together.”

“Any tailing?”

“None. Probably because of the children. I don’t think anyone would tail us as long as we don’t leave the castle.”

Hamel felt relieved by Daniel’s answer.

Today, Lonelybirch’s estate would become a battlefield.

They already suspected Vinea’s identity to some extent, but they needed preparation to be certain.

For that, the children and Rena had to do their part well.

As Hamel lightly clasped his hands in prayer, it happened.

“Begin the contest.”

A trumpet call from Sir Edmure announcing the start of the contest echoed across the arena.