“Well, we were… disposing of some trash.”

The knight who had volunteered to come with Pierre from the Riley family answered. Was his name Sloan?

“Trash?”

When I asked again, Pierre cleared his throat and nudged Sloan’s arm. As Sloan flinched and shut his mouth, Pierre spoke up this time.

“I think this friend misspoke, it wasn’t trash…”

Trash? I thought I saw something red for a moment.

“I think I saw something red, what exactly were you throwing away?”

Pierre coughed awkwardly with a guilty look on his face.

“It wasn’t red…”

“Were you perhaps trying to take water from the Red Spring?”

“Of course not. What would we do with that?”

“They had wine in those containers. They were secretly disposing of it because the luggage was too heavy.”

Gale interjected smoothly. Pierre brightened up and chimed in.

“Gale is right. We were actually throwing away wine. It was the last of our wine.”

“If it was heavy, you could have asked others to carry it. You threw away wine you brought all this way?”

As I approached with a suspicious look, the two simultaneously tossed the containers they were holding into the Red Spring. The transparent containers floated briefly on the water before disappearing.

“Ah, well, you can throw things away if they’re heavy. Why are you making such a fuss? It was extra wine our family brought separately…”

“Pierre, just apologize.”

Sloan put his arm around Pierre’s shoulder with a good-natured smile.

They’ve been exchanging glances and watching their words since earlier, it seems like they’re trying to hide something…

What am I missing?

“I’m sorry for throwing away the wine. Happy now?”

“We apologize, Lady Rosebelia. We were trying to carry Gale’s luggage, but our load was too heavy.”

I looked back and forth between the two who were readily apologizing.

If they really threw away wine, why did they have to dispose of it in the Red Spring?

Was it necessary to throw away the containers too?

It was a situation I couldn’t quite understand, but with no evidence left, I couldn’t press them further.

“Gale, I just need to carry these bundles down, right?”

Sloan, who had been watching me closely, shouldered Gale’s luggage.

“That’ll be too much for the two of you. Leave one behind.”

“It’s fine, we should do this. Pierre, what are you doing? Let’s go quickly.”

As Sloan and Pierre headed down carrying Gale’s luggage, I approached Gale. I planned to ask him again if what they threw away was really wine as we descended the hill.

“Let’s head down.”

“Alright… Aah!”

Quickly examining the ground, I saw mud only around Gale.

It must have been normal ground until just now?

“Could it be a Mudman?”

At that moment, Gale’s legs were sucked into the mud.

“H-help me!”

At Gale’s scream, I saw Pierre and Sloan, who were heading down the hill, pause for a moment. They briefly glanced in our direction before making a run for it.

“And they said it was only natural for members of the same subjugation team to help each other, yet they run away like that.”

“Sir Pierre! Sir Sloan!”

Gale, who had been calling their names at the top of his lungs, frowned in disbelief.

“They wouldn’t be of help anyway. So don’t move.”

Mudmen were monsters that seeped into the ground pretending to be mud, then suddenly attacked people. They were monsters that dragged people under the mud and suffocated them.

They weren’t difficult to kill, but finding their weakness was tricky.

You had to find the spot where the Mudman first seeped in, could it be that?

“There! I think the Mudman’s weak point is there!”

It seemed Gale had spotted it too. I plunged my sword deep into an area that was relatively lighter in color compared to the mud that had half-swallowed Gale’s body.

“Try to move your body.”

“It feels like its grip has weakened compared to before.”

“You need to get out now!”

I stuck my sword into the bare ground and extended my hand to Gale. He grabbed me with all his might and gradually emerged from the mud. Gale, having barely escaped the Mudman, spoke while catching his breath.

“That was a close call.”

With Mudmen, the key was how quickly you could dispose of them. They pulled you in relatively slowly up to your legs and waist, but then suddenly swallowed you up to your head in an instant.

“Are you alright?”

“I’m fine. I saw them hesitate when they heard my voice, but they still left.”

Gale glared down the hill with an indignant look.

“Those two wouldn’t have been much help anyway. They couldn’t have found the Mudman’s weak point like you, a monster researcher.”

“They said they would protect me… I guess they were trying to protect the spring water, not me.”

“Pardon?”

By spring water, he must mean the water from the ‘Red Spring’.

Is there any reason for the knights from the Riley family to protect the spring water that monster researchers usually took for research purposes?

“…You said your name was Lady Rosebelia, right?”

“Yes, that’s correct.”

Gale approached me, shaking off the sticky mud, and whispered.

“Be careful of the Riley family.”

“What do you mean?”

“That’s all I can tell you.”

*

‘Be careful of the Riley family.’

My mind was already complicated, and now I wondered what he meant by saying that to me.

I let out a long sigh and alternated between lying on my side and on my back. After tossing and turning, I might have fallen asleep for a moment.

‘How long do you plan to avoid a direct confrontation?’

‘I’m merely following the king’s orders.’

It was Ian and Rosebelia’s voices.

But why were they so blurry?

Even trying to focus my eyes didn’t change anything. It wasn’t pitch black like darkness, but nothing was coming into view properly.

This was different from the dreams I’d had before. It felt like something opaque was blocking my view.

‘I will annihilate your family.’

‘If you’re talking about House Winters, it has nothing to do with me. I left that family long ago.’

Annihilate House Winters?

A chill ran down my spine. So this dream was showing a situation where Rosebelia, who had fled to the Kingdom of Lenoir and become the Captain of the Knights, was confronting Ian, the Emperor of the Fonnes Empire, on the battlefield.

‘Is that really so?’

‘Yes. So do as you please, Your Majesty.’

‘You don’t care what happens? The ones you cherish…’

The voices that had been coming through sporadically were cut off.

‘Do you wish to die so badly?’

Rosebelia’s voice, which came after a long pause, was colder than before. As if their swords had finally clashed, a loud clanging sound rang out.

Startled awake by that sound, I gasped for breath.

Even though I had woken from the dream, my mind was hazy as if covered in a thick fog. I couldn’t see what Ian and Rosebelia looked like, and only parts of their conversation had come through.

The only thing that was excessively vivid was the sound of swords clashing.

Why did I have such a dream? Is there something Fortuna is trying to tell me through this dream?

Surely it doesn’t mean that if I distance myself from Ian, this situation will eventually repeat itself?

“It’s not like I wanted to distance myself.”

He disappeared as soon as the curse manifested, and even now he rarely shows himself to the subjugation team or me, so how could I…

Wait a minute?

For a split second, a thought flashed through my mind. I poked my head out of the tent and observed the night watch.

It seemed a round of patrol had just finished, as they were all gathered around the campfire. I quietly slipped out of the tent and hid behind a rock.

Unlike yesterday, after sneaking out of the camp, I didn’t stay in one place but moved around exploring the surroundings. I had only one goal.

To encounter a monster.

I knew from yesterday’s situation that Ian wouldn’t intervene. Since it was certain that Ian had been the one disposing of monsters so far, he would at least appear in front of a monster.

“There should be at least one around.”

Suddenly, the ground began to rumble. I caught a glimpse of a massive figure.

Soon, red eyes glowing ominously in the darkness appeared. It was a Werebear.

“Will you still not show up?”

My low mutter was carried away by the wind.

I couldn’t properly witness the situation in the dream, that is, what happened in the original story, but I could be sure of at least one thing.

That the Rosebelia and Ian in the original story are different from us.

That even if the curse has manifested, you’re not the same Ian from the original story.

If you didn’t care about the subjugation team, you wouldn’t have followed us here and disposed of the monsters.

I was mentally prepared. I might not know why Ian is hiding, but I believed that at least some of the Ian I knew remained.

With that belief alone, I stood still without drawing my sword from its scabbard.

If you’re around here, you’re probably watching me from somewhere.

If this is the only way I can face you…

I stood still, directly facing the red eyes that shone clearly even in the darkness.

Just as the Werebear, baring its sharp teeth, was about to lunge at me.

“What are you doing!”

Someone suddenly appeared as if dropping from the sky and blocked my path. As a familiar silhouette was revealed under the bright moonlight, I found myself holding my breath.

“Step back, senior.”

It was Ian.