Edbert, who had headed to the village, returned faster than expected and handed me the antidote.

After drinking the antidote and treating the bite wounds with a potion, my two ankles became perfectly fine as if they had never been bitten.

Fortunately, the weather had cooled down a bit as we went, so we were able to arrive at the ruins without much trouble.

I gazed absentmindedly at the ruins showing off their elegant appearance bathed in the sunset light and said:

“So this is the tomb. The burial place of an ancient king.”

“Pretty fancy for a tomb, isn’t it?”

As Edbert said, the tomb was quite luxurious.

Contrary to my expectation that it would simply be stones piled up like a tower, it was in the form of a castle.

An elegant and splendid castle that wouldn’t seem strange even if a noble were living there right now.

Seeing me surprised at the tomb that didn’t look like a tomb, Edbert explained:

“It used to be a place open to tourists. As you can see, it’s well preserved. But—”

“You mean it became difficult to open because it was taken over by monsters?”

“That’s right.”

Edbert nodded and continued speaking.

“A monster of unknown origin appeared and took over the king’s tomb, acting like a king. It hid there waiting, and when someone came, it attacked and devoured them, then stole their appearance.”

“Ah…”

“Many people tried to hunt it down. Expensive mercenaries, famous knights, even slaves from Gritplus’ underground arena challenged it… But no one was able to hunt it. That’s all I know.”

Thanks to Edbert’s story, I learned two pieces of information.

That the monster is quite powerful.

And that it devours humans and then steals their appearance.

They were quite important pieces of information.

However, this alone wasn’t enough.

I looked straight at Edbert and asked:

“Is that really all you have to tell me?”

“Huh?”

“You said before that I must defeat this monster alone this time. I’d like to hear the reason for that too. Is the monster particularly vulnerable to cold?”

“No, that’s not it…”

He scratched his cheek awkwardly and then asked me:

“Do you want to hear it now? Why I singled you out to request the monster’s elimination, rather than Martin?”

“Yes, I want to hear it. Please tell me everything about the monster. The more information I have, the easier it will be to eliminate it.”

“Is that so…? Well, I was originally planning to tell you after everything was over, to avoid unnecessarily complicating your feelings… But since you want to know, I guess I have no choice. I’ll just tell you now.”

Edbert, who had been stalling despite saying he would tell me, finally opened his mouth with difficulty.

“I told you before that the monster takes on the appearance of a woman, right?”

“You did say that before.”

“The truth is, right now… it’s taking on the appearance of my lover.”

“…Pardon?”

As soon as I understood the meaning of his words, a chilling shiver ran down my spine.

“Wait, didn’t you say it’s a monster that steals the appearance of beings it hunts and devours? So you mean—”

“That’s right. That thing devoured my lover. Then stole her appearance.”

“…”

Heaving a bitter sigh, Edbert finally revealed the story he had kept hidden from me.

“Until about a year ago, she was alive and well. My lover. Not just alive—we were happy. We even made childish wishes like wanting this moment to last forever.”

Edbert smiled briefly, but soon his mouth filled with bitter sorrow again.

“But a chronic problem that has troubled countless lovers since ancient times also troubled us. That is, the difference in social status.”

“Was your partner not of noble birth?”

“Not even a commoner. She was a slave from the arena. In Gritplus, slave trading is carried out secretly. It’s an evil practice that has continued from the distant past, so it’s not easy to eradicate.”

“Ah…”

“Anyway, because she was of slave origin, the elders of my family weren’t very welcoming of our love. They tried to secretly send my lover abroad at least five times without my knowledge. Do you know what they ended up doing in the end?”

I thought about it for a moment, then shook my head.

“…I don’t know.”

“They made a very vile proposal to my lovely lover. They proposed to grant her commoner status if she eliminated the monster that was devouring people in the king’s tomb here.”

For a moment, a shadow of anger fell over Edbert’s face, which had never even frowned until now.

“Camilla… my lovely lover wanted to become a status more suitable for me, even if just a little. So she gladly came here to eliminate the monster… but she never returned to my side.”

“…”

“When I found out the truth and came here, it was already too late. I was barely able to retrieve that sword you’re wearing and return.”

I thought the sword might have a story behind it, but it turned out to have an even heavier tale than I expected.

As I fiddled with the sword’s hilt, Edbert continued speaking.

“That’s why I specifically entrusted this request to you. Camilla greatly admired you, who was renowned in the North, when she was alive.”

“Me…”

“Yes, I thought if someone like you, whom she admired so much, directly eliminated that monster that stole Camilla’s appearance and is mocking her, wouldn’t that be the best comfort for my lover?”

Having finished speaking, Edbert gave me a sheepish smile.

“I’m sorry. This story probably isn’t very helpful for eliminating the monster. I’m worried you might feel uncomfortable about striking down the monster after hearing my story.”

“It’s alright. Even though it’s wearing the appearance of someone precious to you, in the end it’s still a monster. I won’t hesitate or be careless.”

I looked straight at Edbert with as sincere a gaze as I could muster and emphasized again.

“I will do my utmost in this hunt. If that can be of any comfort.”

What must it have felt like to go alone to eliminate a monster in order to become someone more worthy of one’s lover?

And after being defeated by that monster, how must it have felt to end up becoming its prey?

How terrifying and sorrowful it must have been.

One’s innate status isn’t something they can choose, yet to receive such contempt and suffering because of something they didn’t choose—

If I could ease that sorrow even a little, I wanted to do so gladly.

I will strike down the monster that killed Camilla using Camilla’s sword—as I made this resolution, Edbert looked at me with a gentle smile.

“I can see why Camilla admired you so much. Truly, I’m glad you came here.”

“Thank you. Shall we go in now? The monsters will likely become more active when the sun sets completely, so let’s hurry inside.”

“Let’s do that.”

Edbert took the lead and entered the tomb’s entrance.

Perhaps because I was shouldering a mission for the deceased, my steps felt particularly heavy.

As we all entered the tomb interior together, we also got a general idea about the monster’s location from Edbert.

He said the creature was in the ‘King’s Audience Chamber’ located in the deepest part of this ruin.

It was a large space with a single throne placed in it, and the monster apparently mainly stayed there, as if waiting for people to enter.

So we just needed to find that place, but a problem arose.

“Should we turn right here? It’s been so long since I’ve been here, I can’t remember well.”

Edbert, who had been guiding us, muttered this in front of a corridor that split into two paths.

The tomb’s internal structure was quite complex, and it had been too long since he last visited, making it difficult for him to find the way.

After pondering for a while, he turned to us with an embarrassed face and said:

“You two wait here for a moment. I’ll go take a quick look down the left path and come back.”

“You’re going to check by yourself?”

When the captain asked worriedly, Edbert nodded as if it was fine.

“The monster rarely leaves the King’s Audience Chamber anyway, so it’s alright. Even if I walk around, I won’t run into it.”

“Hmm…”

“I’ll be right back, just wait a bit.”

Before we could stop him further, he immediately headed down the left path, leaving the captain and me alone.

Taking advantage of the quiet moment, I casually said to the captain:

“It might seem out of the blue in this situation, but can I ask you for one favor?”

“A favor? What is it?”

He asked, looking at me with an expression that suggested he would grant any request.

To him, I made a request that might be a bit difficult to accept.

“If I end up in mortal danger while eliminating the monster later… I’d like you to just watch.”

His expression, which had been relaxed, instantly contorted.

“…What are you saying?”