Chapter 52: Chapter 52

In truth, even the Count did not know exactly what was happening in the capital right now.

It was not as if he had planted informants there; he had merely heard rumors bit by bit from peddlers, pilgrims, and mercenaries traveling between Shedil City and Hasra.

“Writing a letter to my son is also an option, but even at the fastest, a round trip takes a full twenty days. With the city gates closed, the chances of news being delivered aren’t high, either.”

In truth, even setting that aside, the Count had no particular desire to contact his son.

If he were to see the rascal sneaking back after learning the danger had subsided, his fist might fly out first.

Shan said he would think about it a bit more for now, then left the reception room and immediately conveyed this fact to Roden.

“The capital is closed off?”

“Could it be the princes’ doing?”

“Most likely. It’s hard to think of any other reason.”

Cheryn had also forewarned that the atmosphere between the two was far too hostile, and that something was bound to happen while the nobles left en masse as the subjugation force.

Unless they had truly pulled something off, there was no other reason for the capital to be suddenly closed off.

“Phew…”

As his father, Callion, remained in the capital, Roden’s expression turned grave.

Of course, since he was the guildmaster of a merchant guild, the chances of something happening to him were not terribly high, but still…

“Shall we head back for now? As fast as possible.”

“You just woke up. Will you be alright? Resting a bit more…”

“I told you I’m completely fine.”

Roden looked at Shan shrugging his shoulders with worried eyes, then soon let out a deep sigh.

“Alright, fine. Let’s go right away. Packing won’t take long.”

True to his word, Roden finished preparations for their return in an instant.

Among the spoils secured this time, those that were excessively bulky and of low value were sold off for cash even at a slight loss, and a portion of the funds was used to purchase food needed for the journey.

After completing all preparations quickly, Shan informed Lug that he would return to the capital first.

“If you wish, I will leave a few men here for you. It will surely be inconvenient if you travel with only your squire…”

“Eh? No, not at all! It’s fine! We always traveled just the two of us anyway!”

Lug waved his hands, saying that was absolutely unnecessary.

Shan did not bring up the suspicious situation in the capital to him.

If he learned that something bad might have happened to his master, Prince Elvin, this rigid, lanky knight might stubbornly insist on coming along with an unhealed body.

After passing along the message, Shan finally notified the Count that he intended to head straight back to the capital.

Clicking his tongue, the old bear asked.

“Will you really be alright?”

“Yes. Thank you for your concern, but I must head back.”

“If that is your decision, there is nothing to be done. Please be careful. Even a hero invincible before spears and swords has no way to stand against despicable poison and surprise attacks.”

Advising him not to be swallowed by the darkness of the capital, a deep shadow was cast across the Count’s face.

Shan suddenly wondered if he, too, had experienced something similar in his youth.

“I will keep that in mind.”

On his way out after taking his leave, Shan realized that everyone visible on the street was paying attention to him.

One of the people watching quietly called out bravely.

“Thank you so much!”

“We survived thanks to you!”

“Shan of the Green Eyes! Slayer of the Ogre and Cockatrice!”

“The Heartbreaker!”

In Shedil City, Shan was already a half-legendary existence.

A self-made explorer who started as an unknown Altoan boy and achieved the tremendous feat of hunting a cockatrice from the Demonic Realm.

Now, added to that was the achievement of becoming the first Altoan knight, as well as the grand feat of a knight who subjugated a powerful ogre that threatened the city.

Although this city was not his hometown, the people of Shedil City felt pride in the fact that the footprints of a boy destined to become a legend were left in their city.

The Altoans living here harbored dreams of wanting to become like that someday.

Shan felt something welling up from deep within his chest at the envious gazes of the people directed toward him.

*

Departing Shedil City, Shan’s party first headed southeast of the city.

Between the gorges there, a small cave existed.

While the mercenaries kept watch over the surroundings, Roden used his signature monstrous strength to pull out a boulder blocking the entrance, revealing a wooden chest inside.

What was inside the chest were several magic devices obtained during their past exploration of the Alto ruins.

“Are they intact?”

“Hmm… good. Fortunately, there are no signs of it being tampered with. Let’s load it onto the horse like this.”

Since it was uncertain when they would return to Shedil City again, it was necessary to take them along this opportunity.

After loading the securely locked chest onto the packhorse, Shan declared to the Altoan mercenaries.

“I am leaving first due to urgent business. Follow Roden’s command well so that you can return without issues.”

“Yes!”

“Understood!”

In truth, carrying many expensive items meant that for safety’s sake, it was right for Shan to accompany them as the leader.

If a mutiny were to occur, Roden, who had a phobia of bladed weapons, would be murdered without even being able to resist.

However, with the situation in the capital unknown, Shan needed to move even a little faster riding Arwin.

Even so, Roden judged that since he had shown overwhelming ability and standing while generously displaying benevolence, a mutiny was unlikely to happen under normal circumstances.

Above all, if circumstances really worsened, he could reveal his identity and utilize the Brotherhood members mixed among the mercenaries.

Entrusting leadership to Roden and parting from the group, Shan rode Arwin and dashed at a speed that literally felt like flying.

Moving only along the fastest routes without passing from village to village meant he had to camp outdoors almost every day.

Fortunately, he was not attacked by dangerous enemies during the night.

Powerful monsters nearby had joined the pack lord and been subjugated, while insignificant ones were stomped to death on the spot by Arwin’s hooves when she woke up from a nap.

When running hard and Arwin grew tired, walking leisurely, Shan pulled out the spear mounted on his saddle, polished it, and calmed his anxious heart.

“Phew…”

The condition of Heartbreaker, which had been struck down by the ogre’s fist and driven into its arm, was literally a mess.

Not only was the shaft broken into several pieces, but the spearhead was also blunted to the point where its shape was hard to recognize.

However, thanks to the restoration magic Princess Cheryn had cast using the troll’s mana stone as a medium, it was now recovering quite a bit.

Though the joint area of the spear shaft was still a bit weak, it was attached reasonably well, and the spearhead had also regained its former sharpness.

‘I hope there won’t be a need to use it, though.’

But judging by the news being passed down, it seemed likely a situation to use it would arise under normal circumstances.

As he gradually drew closer to the capital, the information obtained from travelers he crossed paths with also provided certainty.

“Rebellion…”

“I don’t know well, but I heard that the First Prince and the Second Prince are calling each other traitors.”

The one explaining to Shan introduced himself as a refugee who had recently fled from Hasra.

According to his words, the capital was a complete lawless zone.

Was it to the extent that one could not walk the streets carrying valuable items because the guards had vanished?

Every time he heard such stories, his anxious feelings grew larger, causing Shan to urge Arwin on for no reason.

Thanks to that, on the third day after starting the forced march, Shan was able to reach the middle of a plain from which Hasra could be seen in the distance.

‘Going in like this… would be dangerous.’

He wanted to gather more information nearby first, but perhaps because it was so chaotic, there was no one roaming near the capital.

Grabbing just anyone to ask was also quite a burdensome matter.

While pondering over this, Shan realized there was a group approaching him from afar and narrowed his eyes.

Gripping the gradually recovering spear tightly for a moment, the crest on the flag raised above the opponent’s army was somehow familiar.

Contemplating for a moment where he had seen that, Shan realized its identity was a certain knight who had fought alongside him in the subjugation force.

Perhaps because he had rendered quite a large contribution on the right wing, he had bid on one of the ogre’s testicles.

“Oh, Sir Shan! I heard you lost consciousness, but to think you are already back, glad to see you! By the way, where did you leave your squire and mercenaries to come alone?”

Removing the visor of his helmet, a middle-aged knight asked with a delighted expression.

Whether he had fought a battle until recently, his armor was blood-stained bright red.

“Sir Urakel… was it. Did you happen to fight a battle?”

“Just until recently, I fought against the army of the traitor Conrad. If you intend to enter the capital, refrain from doing so. Currently, Hasra City has been occupied by him.”

Calling him the traitor Conrad was a truly blatant choice of words.

It meant the two princes had cast off even their final pretense and decided to hostilize each other.

“Are you saying Prince Conrad has occupied the capital?”

“That is right. Prince Elvin fought bravely against the traitor, but recently pressed by disadvantage, he fled to the south together with His Majesty the King.”

He, too, had returned to the capital unaware of this fact, only to be chased by Conrad’s army and suffer a setback, and was now warning knights returning to the capital knowing nothing like Shan.

“Right now, that bastard Conrad is indiscriminately capturing and hanging those among the heroes returning from the ogre subjugation who belong to Prince Elvin’s faction. I almost met the same fate and barely survived…”

Originally, Conrad was notorious for his ruthless and unforgiving nature.

That was the reason why, despite being the First Prince, he received evaluations of lacking popular support and competed with Elvin.

But even so, clicking his tongue, the middle-aged knight said he had not expected him to act this outrageously atrocious.

“Besides, isn’t Sir Shan an Altoan? Needless to say, the traitor Conrad will try to send you straight to the gallows the moment you enter, no matter what pretext he fabricates.”

“Do you happen to know what became of Princess Cheryn?”

“That wi… no, I do not know well about the Princess either. Honestly, I did not directly see the situation inside the capital either, but only heard about it. Rather, I did not expect that to be the first thing you would ask about.”

Shan did not answer the gaze that seemed to ask whether he really was in that kind of relationship with Princess Cheryn as rumors suggested.

Scratching his head in puzzlement, the knight shouted.

“At any rate, come with me to Prince Elvin! With your valor, even that demonic Marquis Abel would be no match for you! I will firmly inform the Prince of how outstanding a warrior you are!”

This seemed to be the reason why Sir Urakel held onto Shan and prattled on.

Drawing a knight powerful enough to render great contributions in the ogre subjugation into their faction.

Loitering around here instead of joining the Prince in the first place might also have been to catch Shan when he returned.

After a moment of thought, Shan shook his head, betraying his expectations.

“I am thankful for your words, but I must enter the capital for now. Because I have to confirm whether my squire’s family is safe.”

When he answered that he had returned this quickly alone because of that, Sir Urakel creased his bearded face.

“It will be dangerous.”

Sir Urakel persistently persuaded him not to do so and to go with him, but soon, realizing there was no leeway to persuade Shan at all, he let out a sigh.

“Be careful. Losing a knight like you is a loss to the kingdom.”

Shan quietly looked at Sir Urakel’s army turning back as he said so.

Loaded on the wagons they possessed were various supplies clearly presumed to belong to civilians.

The blood stained on that armor was surely not from Conrad’s army, but from plundering passing merchants.

After Sir Urakel’s army departed, Shan pondered how to enter the city.

Naturally, if he just entered like this, he would immediately be captured by Conrad’s army and lose his head.

Even if Conrad had lost power while fighting Elvin, if he controlled Hasra, he would be commanding at least a dozen knights and hundreds of troops, so there was no chance of victory fighting such a force.

In that case, he had to infiltrate secretly, but to do so, bringing Arwin along was impossible.

This Mount Horais warhorse emitting a metallic luster from its body would steal everyone’s attention just by existing.

Metal armor was also very likely to be a hindrance while moving covertly.

After careful consideration, Shan decided to move by literally setting everything down.

As it was just about time for the sun to set, he did not have to wait very long until the dark night.

Stripping off his weapons and armor to store them in the saddlebag, Shan stroked Arwin and muttered several times.

“Arwin, I’ll be back soon, so rest near here by yourself. Come when I call you. Got it?”

Leaving an ordinary horse in the middle of the Pendia wilderness was merely offering a delicious meal to monsters, but Arwin was a ferocious and powerful beast even among Mount Horais warhorses, which were monster crossbreeds.

On top of that, since he shared a special bond with him, Shan believed he would surely respond when he returned later.

At this, Arwin whinnied and answered by rubbing her metal-covered head against Shan’s chest.

“Right, wait just a little.”

After promising Arwin once more, Shan walked toward Hasra City with a lighter body.

As there had been all kinds of commotion, every single house outside the city walls was tightly locked.

Staring blankly at the city gate tightly closed past curfew, Shan lightly loosened his fingers and immediately scaled the wall.

Placing his body weight on small uneven protrusions where not even a single finger joint could fully fit… a truly life-risking feat.

Of course, that was the story for ordinary people; to Shan, a wall of this height was merely at the level of crossing over as post-meal exercise.

Scaling the wall in an instant, Shan checked the guards stationed here and there, then closed his eyes and passed between them.

On a dark night without a single point of light, those whose eyes were accustomed to torches failed to notice Shan moving in the dark.

Entering the city through the wall stairs without being caught by anyone, Shan let out a small sigh at the scenery of the capital unfolding before his eyes.

He could see that a significant number of the buildings visible everywhere were scorched by fire or had their doors wrecked messily.

The ground was full of uncleared trash, and walls built by stacking junk high to defend against attacks were erected everywhere.

Traces that truly showed this place had reminiscently been a battlefield until recently.

Taking in the surrounding sights, Shan moved while avoiding the night watchmen roaming about.

Here, his past experience of kidnapping Brotherhood executives proved to be of great help.

Had he moved for about ten minutes like that?

When the familiar main gate finally came into view, Shan stopped his steps.

‘This is…’

Just like the other buildings seen along the way, the main gate of Weaver Mansion was half-collapsed.

Traces of scorch marks and signs of being smashed with clubs were visible around it, and the garden glimpsed inside was also a mess as if stepped on by many muddy feet.

Seeing this, Shan rushed inside without even being able to think about moving carefully.

Then, the person hiding and waiting inside the main gate sensed a presence, popped out with a whoosh, and brandished a club.

“You filthy robber bastards… urgh!”

The man swinging the club with momentum to shatter a head gasped in terror as his opponent snatched it with bare hands.

Shortly after, realizing that his opponent’s eyes were glowing green, he hurriedly let go of the club and shouted.

“Young Master!?”

Looking now, the man’s identity was the stable master of the Weaver family.

Handing back the snatched club, Shan asked.

“What on earth happened here?”

“P-Pardon my rudeness.”

“It’s fine. You did it without knowing. More importantly, where is Sir?”

At Shan’s question, the stable master’s face darkened.

Just looking at that expression was enough to know that a not-so-good event had occurred.

“Master is inside. Um, by any chance, is the eldest young master…?”

“He’s returning. I came first because I heard something happened in the capital.”

Shan muttered lamentingly that seeing this state, it seemed he should have returned even faster.

Callion, whom he found a moment later, did not welcome Shan with hearty laughter as usual.

Looking down at him lying in bed with a pale face and bandages wrapped around his head, the stable master muttered apologetically.

“He was attacked by the robber bastards who barged into the house a few days ago. At that time, Mr. Daset and Old Man Gol lost their lives.”

Mr. Daset and Old Man Gol were the chef and the gardener, respectively.

At the story that people he knew had lost their lives, Shan’s face froze cold.

“Who were they?”

“We don’t even know who they were. The situation was so chaotic.”

On exactly the third day after Shan and Roden departed for the ogre subjugation, though the detailed reason was unknown, the two princes Conrad and Elvin clashed with their armies.

After that, the capital fell into complete anarchy.

Even the guards divided into factions according to their commanders to fight, and thugs from the slums took advantage of the security vacuum to raid rich people’s mansions.

Weaver Mansion was also swept up in such chaos and ended up in this state.

A significant number of the servants died or fled, and the valuable items in the house were also plundered.

It was thanks to loyal servants risking their lives to protect it that even this much was preserved; among other nearby merchants, it was said there were places where entire families were slaughtered and even the pillar roots of the house were completely cleaned out.

“Haa…”

He could realize anew the reason why Roden had wanted to succeed as a knight.

No matter how much money a merchant had, the moment the protection of the country and law slackened even slightly, it ended up like this.

Only those holding actual strength could weather all kinds of storms.

In fact, it was said the robbers did not even dare to think about plundering noble mansions.

Because those places were guarded by well-armed private soldiers and knights.

“Did you call a priest?”

“Since there were so many injured people, it was difficult to call one. Word has it the Prince is controlling the priests…”

Still, he said he had received treatment a few times through personal connections.

It was just that because he was so old, he could not recover quickly.

At any rate, to properly treat Callion, it seemed he would have to somehow leave the capital and show him to a priest of greater skill.

He would have to ponder that method gradually, but…

After a brief moment of thought, Shan’s mind reached the whereabouts of Princess Cheryn.

“Do you happen to know what became of Princess Cheryn?”

“I am sorry. We do not know about such things well.”

At Shan’s question, the stable master bowed his head with an apologetic expression.

Indeed, how could mere merchant servants come across news regarding the inside of the royal palace?

It would be great if she were alive, but for now, he could not even think of a way to contact her.

Could she be staying at Count of Palles’s villa?

While pondering whether he should head over there, Shan realized a strange movement was occurring on one side of the garden.

‘This is…?’

In one corner of the pitch-black garden, dozens of spiders were gathering in a swarm.

Considering the nature of creatures that usually did not even group together in threes or fours, it was an extraordinarily bizarre phenomenon.

While quietly watching what on earth was happening for a brief moment, Shan realized the gathered spiders were arranged in the shape of letters.

“Save me, Cheryn…?”