The reinforcements arrived at the imperial palace around midnight. Of course, among the reinforcements was the stern-looking Rescal, whose atmosphere was so intense that no one dared to speak.

“Here, there are faint but noticeable traces.”

Coincidentally, Decan returned to the dukedom around the same time. Although he briefly heard about the incident from the Shield of Eun during his return, the atmosphere in the dukedom was beyond his expectations.

Even if you had to cover your eyes and light a fire on the frozen ground, it wouldn’t be like this.

The reason for this was Rescal, who was holding Rasiliah’s hand with a frighteningly frozen face.

“I’ve never seen it before, but, uh, it seems to be some kind of magic circle.”

Decan rudely coughed in front of the emperor, constantly suffering from a dry throat. Even after the cough, his throat continued to itch.

“Among them, it might be a summoning circle.”

“So, are you saying that they were summoned through these circles using human bodies?”

Serben asked, poking the remains of the barely intact monster with the tip of his sword.

“Stop it. You might end up like me.”

Riyan casually lifted his stiff left hand. Serben recoiled with disgust. Then, by chance, he locked eyes with Rescal and froze like a frog facing a snake.

Decan sent a brief understanding look to Serben and answered, “It seems likely.”
Rescal walked towards the monster. While still firmly holding Rasiliah’s hand with one hand, he touched the monster wrapped in a cloak with the other hand.

“Oops, Your Majesty! You shouldn’t do that! There might still be curses lingering on it!”

Riyan quickly grabbed Rescal’s hand. However, after locking eyes with Rescal, for some reason, he hesitated and let go of his grip.

“Inferior demon… No, I said it couldn’t speak, so I guess I should call it a monster. It must be that type.”

Rescal spoke.

As it was his first words since arriving at the dukedom, everyone felt a bit unfamiliar.

It was a voice that felt like something was tightly compressed.

“Uh… then what should I say… Was it summoned from the demon realm?”

Decan asked, and Rescal didn’t waste words.

“Summon a wizard. Tell them to restore as much of the residual magic as possible.”

“Understood. But if it’s a ritual to summon a being from the demon realm, there’s a high chance the guild’s wizards won’t know anything.”

“Probably.”

“Well then…”

“You don’t know, so find out. From now on. If you don’t want to keep experiencing the same thing.”

“Ah,”

Decan, who realized late, nodded his head. Normally, he wouldn’t have acted so indifferently, but now he seemed overly tense.

“I will convey the order.”

Riyan interjected, hesitating.

“Is it too much to ask, Your Majesty, to consider letting go of it? It seems like there might be a curse.”

“Divine power reached it, didn’t it?”
Rescal interrupted Riyan’s words.

“…Yes. I mentioned the power of the curse.”

“Surprising.”

Snap!

The unexpected event happened next.

Suddenly, red claws grew from Rescal’s hand. The hard, ruby-like claws pierced through the body of the monster.

“Your… Majesty?”

Sssk.

The torn-apart monster turned into black smoke, just like when it was touched by the curse.

“It’s being annihilated. Not dying.”

“…Huh?”

“It was summoned, so that’s probably it. If you don’t annihilate it, it will continue to exist.”

“Ah… Ah, so killing it with a sword is not an option, and the curse worked. The curse doesn’t just take away a life but damages the existence itself.”

“Probably.”

The faces of the knights darkened.

“Finding a way to deal with it is a top priority. …No, why does that demon keep summoning new things? We just learned that it steals human consciousness, and now, what, summoning monsters? Moreover, things without a way to kill them.”

Riyan complained with a furrowed brow. Then, he looked at Rescal and fell silent.

Rescal’s expression wasn’t just dark; it was beyond the level that the word “dark” could describe. As Rescal squirmed uncomfortably, the air felt tense, as if it were being pulled tightly.

“W-Well, then, we’ll go out and recheck the summoning path.”

Riyan grabbed Serben’s hem with these words.

Decan quickly finished the greetings, sensing the atmosphere.

“Please take a moment to rest.”
In the duke’s study, the shadow knights silently withdrew, leaving only Rasiliah and Rescal.

“Sit down. For now.”

Rasiliah gestured for Rescal to take a seat.

Rescal just stared at himself with a rigid expression.

It was strange but not unusual. Since the moment they returned to the duke’s estate, he had been like this.

“It will hurt.”

“…What?”

“Your hand.”

Rasiliah sat down on the sofa first, indicating with a nod towards the transformed hand that still remained.

“…”

Rescal slowly looked at his own hand.

“Let go of this hand first. That way, I can touch it.”

“…”

“Come on.”

“…Ha.”

Rescal let out a breath.

He seemed like someone who had been holding his breath for a long time.