CH 77

The clone serving as a servant was created for the purpose of gathering information, while the clone serving as a slave was created to protect the other slaves.

“I knew that Clara Penso would take out her stress by abusing the slaves, so I took the beatings in place of the other slaves. What you saw earlier was one of those scenes.”

“So you were the one getting beaten…”

Milo had volunteered to sacrifice himself to protect the helpless slaves. Even though he couldn’t feel the pain as a clone, the memories of being abused were fully transmitted to his main body.

“Did something happen with Lady Hestia? Earlier, I mistook you for someone sent by Hestia, not a thief.”

“Nothing has happened yet, but I thought Lady Hestia might keep an eye on me.”

Milo explained that he infiltrated Penso to monitor Lord Penso, who had broken his promise with Hestia and failed to provide slaves.

However, Milo, who held a grudge against Hestia, couldn’t just stand by and watch as the slaves acquired by the lord ended up in her hands. He secretly aided the slaves in escaping whenever Lord Penso acquired new ones.

“From Lady Hestia’s perspective, she provided someone to infiltrate and even gave instructions, but with no news whatsoever, she couldn’t just stay idle. Another observer will be infiltrated.”

Milo lowered his head and apologized.

“I apologize for daring to point a sword at you, milady.”

“Oh, no, it’s fine.”

I understood Milo’s actions. It was only natural for someone who might be an assassin to have a weapon at the ready.

“By the way, you mentioned that your main body is captured by Gliw-gon?”

“Gliw-gon noticed that I had revenge plans, so he captured my main body. He’s probably in the Lurat Mountains.”

“Lurat Mountains…”

Jed spoke up.

“It’s an area where demons appear and Gliw-gon’s habitat.”

In front of the Lurat Mountains, there was the Lurat Beach. So, when I went on a train trip to Lurat Beach, was that when I met Milo? Then, the Milo I met at that time was the main body, not a clone?

Gliw-gon must have kidnapped Milo, and they must have been together all this time.

Wait, back then, Milo clearly…

I reminisced about the encounter with Milo five years ago.

At the time, Milo denied being Milo. Which means…

He had planned his revenge long before.

After hearing the news of his mother’s passing, Milo devised a plan for revenge. Kill Gliw-gon and even Hestia, then return home.

The eleven-year-old Milo I met had pretended not to be Milo in order to carry out that plan.

But in the end, he was captured by Gliwgon, making revenge difficult unless someone helped him.

“So Milo is in the Lurat Mountains? I’ll go rescue Milo.”

I bravely expressed my intention to rescue Milo, but Jed stopped me.

“No way. The opponent is an S-class demon. Besides, you still don’t have any magical power.”

“We’re official guardians now, so we’ll receive magical power soon. As soon as we receive it, I’ll go to rescue him. Will you come with me?”

“…”

Understanding his silence as a yes, I spoke to Milo.

“Milo, just wait a little longer. I’ll receive magical power soon. As soon as I receive it, I’ll prioritize rescuing you.”

Perhaps sensing the approaching knights on patrol, Milo seemed like he wanted to dissuade me but failed as they heard the sound and started coming towards us.

“Someone’s coming. I’ll go check. Let’s go, Jed.”

Leaving Milo behind, I crossed over the wall with Jed.

* * *

Two days later, those who planned to overthrow Penso’s gathered in Nine.

The first to arrive, Diego, was sitting alone with his arms folded in his reception room. Surprisingly, his left leg was trembling.

‘I’ve gone mad.’

Diego regretted his actions of spilling whiskey on May, as he sobered up. His smiling face, showing favor towards Jed while under the influence of alcohol, reminded him of his father’s mocking attitude towards him for liking men. Unknowingly, he ended up doing something regrettable.

May’s resentful voice kept echoing in his ears.

‘Why do you hate me so much?’

‘What did I do wrong to deserve this situation?’

He didn’t dislike May. He liked him. And there was no reason for May to go through such a situation.

He simply disliked himself for becoming a subject of ridicule. He knew very well that venting his anger on May, who was strict with him, was a crazy act.

It was 100% his fault, so he had to apologize to May. However, when it came time to apologize, he felt pathetic.

‘What does it matter if someone like May Flotina resents me or not?’

After all, he was a man, and his father’s opposition would be severe. Moreover, he liked Jed instead of him…

The more he thought about it, the more the reason to apologize disappeared.

‘Apologize? Look at me.’

As he imagined May smiling at Jed, his judgment became distorted, and he came to a childish conclusion.

* * *

I arrived at Nine with Jed.

As soon as we entered the reception room, seeing Diego’s face reminded me of the incident with the spilled whiskey, and I felt a surge of anger, but I restrained myself. There would be no need to get involved with Diego as long as we rescued Milo.

Jed and I informed Diego about the conversation we had with the clone of Milo.

“So we have to go rescue Milo.”

“But we don’t have the power to defeat Gliw-gon.”

“We have to go after receiving magical power.”

“When will the guardians grant us magical power?”

Diego was right. The guardians had not revealed exactly when. But rescuing Milo was also urgent. When I thought about Milo, who could face unknown dangers, and the waiting Haind who was anxiously waiting for Milo.

While contemplating what to do…

Tap-tap. A maid knocked on the reception room door.

“Your Highness, a guest has arrived.”

Just as they say, if you mention a tiger, it comes. The door opened, and Iris and Cassius entered.

We quickly stood up from the sofa where we were sitting.

“Oh, Iris, Cassius?”

“Oh, everyone’s here?”

Jed and I made room for the guardians.

“What brings you here?”

“We came to hear Diego’s decision. It’s time, but he hasn’t said anything.”

Our gazes turned to Diego. As a member of the royal family, Diego could choose any knight order he wanted, but it seemed he was still hesitating.

Cassius asked Diego.

“Have you thought about where to go, Prince?”

“…”

Diego’s gaze fell on me. He seemed to be contemplating something, but I couldn’t tell what. Eventually, his lips opened.

“Iris, it’s you.”

His choice was unexpected. Cassius questioned him as if asking if he was serious.

“You mean, our older brother, Dion, in the Second Knight Order?”

Prince Diego had transferred from the Third Knight Order, which had dealt with the Gliw-gon incident, to the Second Knight Order. Therefore, most people, including the guardians, had guessed that Diego would choose the Second Knight Order.

“There’s no need for me to join the same order as my brother.”

Diego’s firm response made Cassius look at Iris.

“So the selection for the First Knight Order is over? You said you were going to choose eight people.”

“Four from the Arcus Tournament, three individually after that, and one here… That’s right. The selection is now complete.”

“Too bad, too bad. The talents we coveted were all taken by the First Knight Order.”

Leaving Cassius, I took the opportunity to ask Iris about the date for the bestowal of magical power.

“Iris, when will the bestowal of magical power take place?”

“Why? Do you have something that requires the use of magic?”

While I was contemplating whether I should speak up, Jed stepped forward and informed Diego about the truth of Milo’s abduction and the current situation.

“If that’s the case… I understand now why you asked about magical power instead of seeking help.”

When the Stacia Empire was established, the guardians designated separate areas for the demons to reside in, ensuring that the demons wouldn’t harm humans freely. That place became known as the Demon Infestation Zone.

The guardians confined all the demons to the Demon Infestation Zone. Most demons had intelligence equivalent to animals, so it was relatively easy to confine them. However, S-rank demons were an exception because they possessed enough intelligence to communicate with humans and did not comply.

“We reached an agreement with the S-rank demons. We can kill all of you if we want, but we won’t. Instead, we ask that you willingly stay in the Demon Infestation Zone.”

At least in the Demon Infestation Zone, the guardians were unable to attack the S-rank demons. Furthermore, they made a promise not to oppress their freedom.

I already knew this information from the lessons with Lady Yudith.

“However, we can grant you magical power.”

Originally, we planned to bestow magical power after the selection of the knights was complete, including Cassius. But would it be okay to grant it in advance? Iris added with a playful smile.

Iris’s silver aura enveloped Jed, Diego, and me.

A mysterious energy embraced my body. I felt my whole body filled with something. It was the magical power that I had only heard about before.

“Now that you can use magical power, your concerns are resolved.”

“That’s a relief. Go and rescue that child. I believe you can do it.”

I shouted energetically.

“Yes!”

* * *

“By saying we can do it… Did you mean that we have arranged the knights? That’s what you meant, right?”

The next day, when Jed, Diego, and I arrived at Lurat Mountain, the knights were already scattered throughout, hunting demons. They were all knights from the First and Second Knight Orders.

When I looked at the knights, they signaled me with a thumbs-up as if telling me not to worry. They seemed reliable, ready to help whenever we were in danger.

Well, going against Gliw-gon with just the three of us would be dangerous.

I was grateful that the knights were sent to Lurat Mountain.

Jed approached me and started a conversation.

“Do you know there’s a bounty on Gliw-gon?”

“A bounty?”

“The royal family put a bounty on it. They’ve been searching for Gliw-gon in connection to the Crown Prince’s incident, but even after ten years, they haven’t caught it yet. The bounty has kept increasing, and by now it’s probably around 200 million gold.”

“200 million gold…?”

“Yeah. Whether you kill it or capture it alive, it’s worth 200 million gold.”

200 million gold… That was enough to repay the value of me being raised by Persis and still have money left over.