Book 1: Chapter 101: Murderous Missive and Eruptive Entrance

Book 1: Chapter 101: Murderous Missive and Eruptive Entrance

Gilbert stood violently, knocking his chair off its legs as he gripped the missive an employee had delivered to his desk not 5-minutes ago.

He controlled his emotions and made sure to double-check what he had just read in case he had made some sort of mistake in his reading.

'To all fair and noble citizens of the great kingdom of Milindo, on this fair solstice of the moon of the sacred Primal Life does His Royal Majesty Ralph Heidron, king and honourable lord of the lands, do declare that the demihuman foxkin known as Lone Immortus will be publicly executed on the 43rd Sun of the current moon, 2-days from now at dawn.

The treacherous fiend shall be beheaded at Arstol Square. Both the royal guard and the Church of the Primals will work in unison to guarantee Lone Immortus' departure from this realm.

He is charged with the crime of the murder of over 40 demihuman children who were brought to him during his incarceration pending an investigation into his murder of the royal hero, Daisuke Tamiko, in an attempt to ease his mind and let him know that we, as a people, did not blame him for what he did during his unfortunately timed awakening.

All we sought was his cooperation until the timely arrival of his trial. We now know that trying to speak with him through his own kind was a terrible mistake.

We know not why he brutally ended the lives of so many children but he will not be forgiven by us. Only the Primals may take mercy on his soul now.

The bodies of the deceased demihuman children have been placed on display in the Holy Mausoleum of Ranton for all those who can stomach seeing how the vicious prisoner killed the children in what was clearly a brutal and merciless attack.

This is an official missive from the Royal Palace of His Royal Majesty King Ralph Heidron, ruler and lord of the Kingdom of Milindo.'

Gilbert's fists shook with rage. He tore up the parchment and yelled, "That bastard! How dare he frame Lone like this! Is his brain not working?! Grand Guildmaster Sarah will never forgive Milindo if Lone's life is ended! I'll make fucking sure of that!"

He stormed out of his office and made for the Holy Mausoleum of Ranton. First, he would see the bodies of the children. He needed to know if that missive held even a speck of truth in it.

'I bet those bastards killed off a handful of slaves to use as martyrs,' Gilbert concluded.

Unsurprisingly to him, the structure that stood next to the central church of the Holy City of Ranton was full to bursting with outraged citizens.

Gilbert didn't mind them and pushed past the crowd. His stats were heavily magic and intellect focused but he was a dragonkin so he had been born with enough aptitude in Strength to push everyone aside with ease.

The sound of sobbing entered Gilbert's ears as he neared the area of the mausoleum that was being used to display the demihuman children bodies.The debut release of this chapter happened at Ñøv€l-B1n.

"I'm sorry, Koo'al... I'm so, so sorry..." a man with a striking set of wings on his back said as he held who seemed to be his crying wife in his arms.

The both of them were draped in rags and standing next to them acting like some sort of caring and just individual was a familiar face to Gilbert - Margrave Algor.

"It is such a shame," the nobleman said to his slaves. "To think the animal would so grotesquely murder your precious daughter... Thankfully, we can all rest easy knowing that little threat will no longer be present in our kingdom soon, yes?"

Gilbert watched as the male Silver Birdkin clenched his fists in rage but his anger didn't seem to be pointed at Lone, curiously enough. "... Yes, Master."

Similar scenes were playing out all around the guildmaster with many nobles expressing their 'heartfelt' sympathies for their slaves.

'It's clear to see that not one fellow demihuman here holds Lone accountable... But looking at the corpses...' Gilbert approached one said corpse and inspected it closely.

"'G-Grimsley?" Lone asked in utter bewilderment as he glanced down as best as his metal collar would allow him to. "... How?"

Pulling himself up out of the hole he'd clearly dug himself, Grimsley grinned without answering. He leaned down into the opening and pulled up Shana who was holding a pickaxe that was easily the same size as her. On her back was a torch that helped illuminate the small and now-crowded cell.

"Ah was ah min'r afore ah even considered joinin' the smithin' caste. Now, less talk, mer escapin', aye?" Grimsley asked rhetorically before he began to closely inspect Lone's shackles with those steamforged glasses of his.

"B-But I'm going to be released soon... Gilbert promised me..." Lone stuttered out, still trying his best to wrap his head around what was going on. "If I escape now and get caught I'll be killed."

This was all just so much of a break in his normal routine that he was struggling to process it all in just a few simple seconds.

"Shana, ye explain. Ah've gotta figure oot what kinda metal this is an' see if it's enchant'd or naw. Need tae ken if ah can break the chains or if ah need tae pop 'em clean off the walls an' bring the whole fookin' thing wae us," Grimsley said dismissively.

"Uh, right..." Shana was honestly extremely taken aback by Lone's current condition.

As a former slave, she had been through a lot of horrific stuff that would give most children nightmares but Lone looked like... 'He looks like he's died a million times over...'

She reached into her trouser's front-left pocket and pulled out the missive that was being spread across all of Ranton only early this morning. "Here. It's, uh, dark so it might be hard to read but basically the king, uh, the crown? They accused you of killing over 40 demi kids and they're going to execute you tomorrow. It's technically already tomorrow since we just passed the 24th bell of yesterday."

Grimsley tapped the side of his glasses as he frowned. "Nae steel, 'at's fae sure, tae sturdy... Nae the right colour fae alterion... What the fook is this metal?... Shana, keep an eye on the hallway would ya, aye? I get 'at Lone's in ah right state but e's got 'at creepy 'ealin' skill of 'is. 'E'll be fine. Ye need tae holl'r like a newborn bein' slapp'd across the arse if ya seeing fookin' anything."

"Yes, Uncle Grim," Shana answered before she smiled awkwardly at Lone then turned around and plastered her face to the cell's bars so as to best look out of them.

Lone felt a strong sense of rage overcome him. "Those... Those bastards..."

"Ah ken, aye? Arselick'rs 'ave ye lock'd up tight'r than a nun in Saint Felice's Sanctuary - nice place that sanctuary - an' they 'ave the gall tae pretend ye went an' murder'd dozens an' dozens of weauns? Fookin' cheek," Grimsley grumbled as he stroked his beard, still trying to figure out what kind of metal Lone was being imprisoned with.

"... I did kill them," Lone admitted.

"What?!" Shana turned in surprise. "Y-You did?!"

"Eyes on the fookin' hallway, Shana! And if ye'r gonna yell, yell with ye'r inside voice like ah am," Grimsley ordered.

Grimacing at the harsh words Shana did as she was told. "Yes, Uncle Grim."

"... Why'd ye dae it, Laddie?" Grimsley asked as he changed the lens of his steamforged glasses. "Ah cannae see ya killin' weauns withoot ah reason. Ya said ye were ah teach'r once if ah recall. Nae teach'r ah ken would ever kill ah child. Mind ye, all the teach'rs ah've ever known we're dwarves, nae foxkin."

"... Sir Ardus... He's in charge of torturing me. Or maybe just checking my condition but he has a... torturing hobby? Fetish? Anyway, he decided to torture demihuman kids in front of me, all slaves, in an attempt to break me. I ended their lives before he could have his way... It was the best thing I could have done all things considered," Lone said as he tried his best to put on a smile. "I'd rather not see children get cut up, beaten, slaughtered and maybe even raped in front of me if I can avoid it."

"Fakest grin ah've ever seen in ma life, laddie. Fookin' 'uman countries are rott'n tae the core, ah tell ya. It'll take mer than an arm an' a leg tae get me tae trust one ever again. After Shana and what's happenin' tae ye... Fookin' cunts are lucky ah dinnae just employ a kill on sight ethos," Grimsley grumbled.

He leaned back and grabbed his pickaxe before he cracked his back. "Looks like ardartian tae me, nae two ways aboot it. Stuff seals MP like somethin' fierce but ah few Strength applied swings should snap these chains an' shackles right oof. Clench yer teeth, Laddie. It's dark so gae us ah pass if ah end up smashing yer wrists in, aye?"