As he handed over the sword that had been stuck in the corpse to his adjutant, the subordinates who had been waiting with bated breath finally began to move.

“What’s this, is it the young master?”

“If you’re going to run away, at least go somewhere proper. Why choose the demon realm? Are you determined to drive us crazy?”

The Schwartz Duchy, known as the shield of the North. The search party dispatched from the duchy, which possessed a knightly order rivaling that of the imperial family, was a group of notorious ruffians well-known in the North.

“What does it matter? Thanks to that, the captain is also relieving his pent-up stress.”

The leader of these madmen. The commander of the Duberg Knights. Rodrick Schwartz.

Known as the Black Reaper, he had set out to find his younger brother, the heir to the family.

[Brother, wait. I’ll find a way to break the curse! Don’t look for me until then.]

Rodrick’s face crumpled mercilessly due to his younger brother who had disappeared, leaving only a single letter.

If he catches him, he’ll lock him up in the tower and make him work until he receives the title of duke.

Setting aside the raging blood curse, the monsters that appeared at random to soothe his twisted mood were good prey.

Thanks to this, his subordinates followed him comfortably, enjoying the spoils without having to get their hands bloody. Not that they were inferior to his skills.

This small elite group, volunteering as an assault team and performing special operations, surpassed even the elite imperial groups in their martial prowess.

“Hey, rookie.”

A young man who couldn’t fit in among them stood trembling with an awkward posture. His youthful face, seemingly just come of age, looked dazed.

“Yes? Yes! Please speak!”

The young man, now fully alert, hurriedly approached them.

“Are you scared?”

“N-No, I’m not!”

Seeing the dazed young man, one of the subordinates clicked his tongue.

“Why do they always send these bastards to us for initiation?”

“If he’s going to be this scared at this level, he’s not needed in the Schwartz. All the weak ones have been eliminated, and only this guy is left.”

“This batch is a failure.”

“Isn’t it a pass if he doesn’t wet himself at the sight of our captain?”

Amidst the snickering conversation, the young man broke out in a cold sweat.

Rodrick Schwartz, whom he had only heard rumors about, had handed over the successor position to his younger brother despite being the eldest son of the Schwartz ducal family.

The reason was said to be to wander the battlefields, driven mad by blood.

Are the rumors true? The young man swallowed dryly, feeling a chill as he glanced at Rodrick.

Without wearing even light armor or a breastplate, he was in light clothing with only a heavy uniform jacket draped over his shoulders. This nonchalance was by no means recklessness.

He was a man whose very existence exuded an unapproachable aura.

It’s terrifyingly scary. They were a group more frightening than ferocious monsters. Wanting to escape from here, the young man’s face crumpled.

I sincerely want to go home. Why am I even here?

“We’re moving.”

At the low voice that couldn’t be refused, the group began to move.

Caw— As if understanding his order, a crow began to fly in the direction it had come from.

***

“Stop.”

In front of the majestic old castle, the search party was at a loss for words.

“My goodness.”

“What is that?”

After traversing the winding forest path and entering deep into the demon realm, there stood a solitary, proud castle.

It would be suspicious enough to find a small hut in the demon realm, let alone a massive castle.

“Is this for real?”

Whew— One of the subordinates whistled as he looked up at the castle.

“Does a witch live here or something?”

“It’s incredible.”

The young man who had been struggling to keep up opened his mouth wide as he looked up at the castle, which was as large as a ducal annex.

The building, of unknown age, had no outer walls or ramparts, just the main castle standing alone.

A castle standing alone in the black forest. Though the building itself wasn’t a monster, an ominous aura sent chills down their spines.

“Maybe the young master wasn’t running away but was kidnapped by a witch?”

“This bastard has been going on about witches since earlier.”

“Think about it logically. It doesn’t make sense for a castle to be in a place like this. The current level of magicians couldn’t have set up something like this.”

“Witches can’t exist. This level of grand magic is something only the imperial family could use.”

“That’s impossible.”

There’s no way the imperial power could reach the demon realm.

The cowards in the capital are busy dumping dirty and hard work on the North. Those high and mighty people wouldn’t come all the way here.

They looked around with torches, but couldn’t find an entrance.

There was no visible door in the solidly built stone walls. At this rate, they might have to camp outside without being able to enter.

“Hey, crow. Is this really the right place?”

Caw—

“How are we supposed to get in when there’s nothing visible? There’s no door, and all those high windows are blocked too. Who threw the jewel anyway?”

Caw!

“Ouch! That hurts!”

The ill-tempered crow pecked at the subordinate’s head, expressing its displeasure.

“Haha, even the crow is disrespecting this bastard.”

Ignoring the subordinates’ useless chatter, Rodrick, who had been running his hand over the stones of the castle wall, furrowed his brow.

Thump. Thump. Without warning, his heart began to beat ominously.

‘Kill them. Kill them all.’ As his blood began to surge at the vile temptation like a demon’s whisper, Rodrick gritted his teeth.

He thought he’d be fine for a while after seeing the blood of monsters. But this damn curse still seemed unsatisfied, greedily craving for blood.

His madness, spread throughout the world, was a curse passed down through generations in his family.

The murderous urge eating away at him was becoming increasingly uncontrollable.

Rodrick roughly ran his hand through his hair. He was reaching his limit.

A time bomb with barely a hair’s breadth of a fuse left. It wasn’t difficult to sense his own end.

‘It won’t be long now.’

His brother needs to succeed as duke soon.

No, even sooner, his brother needs to have a child. To escape this accursed curse.

“Daren.”

Unlike the subordinates chattering frivolously, the adjutant who stood by his side bowed his head politely.

“Yes, Commander.”

“The paralyzing herb. Ugh.”

In an instant, blood vessels throughout his body expanded, and killing intent was released. At the surging magical power, the subordinates all drew their swords.

Rodrick’s blue eyes, as he staggered, began to turn bloodshot.

Emergency situation. Whenever and wherever Rodrick lost control of his body, they had to face him. Even at the cost of their own lives.

That was also the true mission of the search party. To serve him and be able to kill him at any time.

As they all suddenly turned serious from their playful demeanor, the bewildered new recruit could only blink, unable to even draw his weapon.

“Captain!”

“Get a hold of yourself, sir!”

The corners of Rodrick’s expressionless mouth curved up coldly. His eyes fixed on the new recruit.

Just as he was about to pounce on the weakest prey.

A massive magic circle appeared beneath Rodrick’s feet, and he vanished without a trace.

Silence fell among those who had been preparing for the imminent crisis.

No one dared to move. Among those who couldn’t even blink, one opened his mouth.

“Huh, a kid?”

Where their captain had disappeared, a small child was crouching with his head bowed low.

“The, the captain turned into a kid!”

Whack— A gauntleted hand struck the man’s head.

“You idiot. The hair color is completely different.”

“Is it a monster?”

“It doesn’t seem to have any aura though.”

“Everyone, sheathe your swords.”

At the vice-captain Daren’s words, everyone put away their drawn swords.

“Little one?”

The child who had been crouching suddenly raised his head.

Unusually bright red eyes were on the verge of tears. The large men began to panic.

“Who are you!”

Hup. Noel covered his mouth with his small hand. His tongue felt heavy and his speech slurred.

Looking down at his body, it seemed to have shrunk even more. Sob. Maybe he used too much magic.

If Diana finds out his body has shrunk, she might find it strange. What if she rejects such a weird child, saying it’s unpleasant?

“Little one. Where did you pop out from?”

Sniff. As tears welled up, the men stepped back.

“He, he’s crying!”

“I, I can’t handle children!”

“Who, who’s married here! Someone take care of the kid.”

“Little one. Are you alright?”

Amidst the chaos created by the grown men, a gentle voice was heard.

“You’re not hurt anywhere, are you?”

As the vice-captain spoke kindly with an expressionless face, the subordinates all twisted their faces strangely.

“Elder sister is inside.”

“Elder sister?”

“Only I came out.”

“Did your elder sister send this by any chance?”

Seeing the jewel he had thrown, Noel nodded his head vigorously.

Yes. That’s right. Daren stroked the child’s gray hair as if impressed.

“Wow, creepy. Never seen the vice-captain like this before.”

Ignoring the murmuring of his subordinates, Daren focused on the child.

“Is only your elder sister inside? Or was there no one else? Like a man with light sky-blue hair and blue eyes?”

The child shook his head.

“Only elder sister and me were there.”

“How did you get out here?”

“There was a flash of magic and I came out. I have to go save elder sister!”

It seemed that a trap magic that had been set up activated, switching the positions of Rodrick and the child.

It was something that occasionally happened on battlefields using ancient artifacts.

Daren, who had been kneeling on one knee to match the child’s eye level, stood up with a sigh.

“For now, standby here. Set up the tents. We wait until the commander comes out.”

Right now, rather than worrying about the disappeared Rodrick, he was more concerned about this child’s sister.

Rodrick, who would have lost his reason by now, would be more threatening than any monster.

If the child’s sister came out as a corpse, how should he explain it to this child? The vice-captain’s face darkened.

The identity of this child could be investigated after Rodrick comes out.

***

A few hours before the search party arrived at the castle.

Today’s goal was the entrance hall on the west side. The only place they hadn’t been to yet.

As the size of the castle was immeasurably large, the areas they could roam around were limited.

Moreover, it was always dark inside the castle, so there was a limit to wandering around relying on candlelight.

For a while, they had been looking for an escape route near the east entrance, but all entrances were tightly sealed, so now they were heading west.

First, they planned to look for more escape routes and also search for the cursed object.

They couldn’t wait any longer, not knowing when the crow would bring its master.

Even if it brought someone right away, they couldn’t wait any longer.

She was on borrowed time, after all. She had to move while she still had the strength to do so.

“Noel.”

“Yes?”

“Don’t you hear something?”

A gentle music box sound could be heard. As the music box sound was heard, mist began to form in the wide corridor.

Is this really mist? It seems like some kind of trap magic has been activated again.

“I hope it’s not another ghost popping out.”

As if responding to her words, the candle flame in the candlestick she was holding suddenly went out.