“It’s Nick,” Zich blurted out to Lyla with no explanation at all. Yet, Lyla immediately understood what Zich’s careless declaration meant.
“As we expected.”
“Yes, just as we thought.” Nick had been their number one suspect for having a hand in corrupting Til, so this wasn’t surprising news.
“If that’s really the case, doesn’t that mean he placed his own daughter in danger? What a bastard!” Lyla heaved in anger. However, Zich thought the opposite.
“His plan might have been to take his daughter away from imminent danger. The kidnappers said they were told not to harm the children—of course, he mentioned it in a roundabout way about using them for future purposes and so on.” The two kidnappers had raised their swords at the children when their identities were revealed, and they would’ve probably done more if the situation turned worse. However, it was unlikely that Nick would’ve predicted that far.
‘Perhaps, Nick might have twisted those two guys’ heads off if he saw them raising their sword at his child.’ Zich added, “Anyways, I let that guy know that his plan succeeded. I’m sure that something’ll happen now whether it is instigated by Glen Zenard or Nick or not. I am just going to wait from now on. Well, I don’t think I will have to wait that long.”
As Zich predicted, a couple of days later, they got the news that Glen had returned.
* * *
Glen’s return signified that the mastermind’s schemes were progressing to the next stage. Thus, Zich carefully tracked Glen’s and Nick’s movements but thought he wouldn’t get much out of it.
‘If Glen’s aim is fame, then he will act first no matter what it is.’
Zich’s guess soon became true. Glen requested to see him, saying that he had something important to tell Zich. Seeing that their meeting place was at the city hall, Glen had requested to rent out the marketplace, and he had invited many others besides Zich.
‘Is this a stage for him to boast about his achievements?’ Zich wondered. If that was the case, those Glen had invited were probably cast members, existing for the purpose of proclaiming and cheering for Glen’s greatness.
‘Won’t I at least be one of the central characters on this stage though?’ It hurt Zich’s pride a bit to think about his role on Glen’s stage. ‘Before the regression, at least I had a main role as the antagonist.’ Previously, Zich had arduously fulfilled his role as the greatest obstacle against the main characters’ path. Yet, that all happened before the regression, and Zich had no intention of being a puppet hanging by Glen’s threads this time either.
‘I will act out the role you’ve given to me for now,’ Zich simply thought, knowing that there would be no need to keep his pretense for much longer. After all, the invisible thread that Glen had used before the regression to move all his dolls in an elaborate dance no longer existed. Perhaps, Glen would be pleased to see the dolls on his stage move on their own will and crush the stage they were on.
‘It doesn’t matter even if he isn’t pleased.’ No matter what anyone said, Zich would do as he pleased, and his eyes shone ominously at the thought.
* * *
Zich leisurely walked to the city hall since there was still some time left before the meeting. The people wandering around Zich murmured when they saw him, not in a poor light, but more in an admirable light than anything else. News of Zich’s greatness had already spread across the city, and everyone knew his name.
‘How awkward.’ Although Zich was used to frightened and hateful gazes, he couldn’t seem to get used to eyes looking up at him with admiration and affection. This was something he needed to overcome to walk the path of a hero, but Zich wasn’t sure if there would ever come a time when he would get used to these gazes.
Clack! Zich turned his head at the sound of horses clomping next to him.
“Hello, Mr. Zich.” Riding on a horse, Til approached Zich’s side.
“Hmpf!” Til jumped down the horse skillfully. The horse wavered momentarily, but it soon calmed down when Til stroked its face. He grabbed the horse’s reins and stuck close to Zich’s side.
“Hello, Mr. Til.”
“Are you also going to the city hall, Mr. Zich?”
“Yes. Mr. Zenard called me. Is it the same for you too?”
“Yes, it’s the same.”
“If he even called the captain of Wolf’s Canine, Mr. Zenard must have discovered something big,” Zich said. ‘Although he probably prepped everything himself.’ The more Zich thought about it, the more ridiculous the whole situation seemed to be. However, Til didn’t know anything, so he couldn’t help but think deeply of the matter.
“I wonder what Mr. Zenard found. I hope it’s something that can overturn our current situation.”
“Well, I’m sure it is a good finding. Perhaps, the monster invasion became less frequent these days because of this finding.” Zich explained. ‘I’m sure of it since that’s the only way his fame would rise.’
Yet, Til was completely clueless to Zich’s thoughts, and he laughed in agreement. “I really hope so. I will be able to see the children once this whole situation gets resolved.”
“You said that you were sending them to a nearby city, right? Did they arrive safely?” Zich asked, pretending not to know what really happened.
“No, I told them they don’t need to contact me. I just told them to get a lodging and wait until I contact them first.”
“Wouldn’t it be better to at least get a message that they had arrived at their destination safely?”
“With the monster attacks going on here, it would probably be hard for them to find someone who would be willing willingly come to this city to pass on a simple message. I also can’t really ask my guys to come since it’s dangerous for them to divide and move in small numbers when the children need to be protected.”
“Aren’t you worried about the children?”
“I am proud of my subordinates. I handpicked guys that I trusted in terms of their skills, achievements, and loyalty. If monsters are attacking the next-door city, I might be worried, but I won’t be anxious just for the escorting of my child.” There was a strong sense of pride in Til’s words. Zich wondered how he would feel if he told him that two of his ‘trustworthy’ subordinates betrayed him and placed a sword at his son’s neck.
‘Nevertheless, this means he doesn’t know about the kidnapping.’ Zich was very pleased to know that Dalton was keeping his word and staying quiet. After this, they walked towards the city hall while conversing together.
* * *
The two were guided to a room inside the city hall. The room was a sizable room adorned with neat decorations that had the estate and city’s logos on them. They saw a large table in the middle with chairs surrounding it. This room was a meeting room, and several people were already sitting in their chairs. After a brief scan, Zich saw that most of them were people he saw in the previous meeting with the commander where they discussed future plans. They were all strong or important leaders of groups that made a significant impact in recent battles or were strong.
‘He really only gathered the strongest forces together.’ Zich clicked his tongue inside his mind but didn’t change his expression. Since there were no nameplates on the table, there didn’t seem to be assigned seats. Zich and Til sat down on empty seats. A couple of people initiated conversations with him, and Zich passed the time by conversing with them. Fortunately, the main star of this show didn’t plan on letting his co-actors wait too long.
The door burst open and the commander came in, and Glen followed from behind. Even though Glen looked the same as always, Zich felt as if he was desperately trying to keep his glee hidden.
‘He’s definitely doing that.’ Even though Zich also couldn’t detect anything different on Glen’s face, he was completely certain that Glen was acting to suppress his glee. As soon as the commander entered the room, people stood up.
“Ah, all of you should keep sitting down,” the commander said and headed towards the head of the table. Glen continued to follow him. The commander sat at the head of the table, and Glen sat right next to him.
“It seems like everyone has arrived.” After checking everyone’s faces, he said, “First of all, I would like to thank everyone for coming despite my sudden call.” Even though it was unusual for a noble like him to express his gratitude, the city was in such a dire state that he couldn’t be rude to skilled professionals. Moreover, since two Karuwiman Honorary Knights, Zich and Glen, were present, he couldn’t lose face either.
He continued, “Most of you here know that Mr. Zenard, who is next to me, went into the Denest Mountain Range with a special mission.”
People nodded; Glen Zenard going to the mountain range had been the only result of their last meeting. One impatient onlooker quickly asked, “Perhaps, did you find anything?”
Even though he could have felt annoyed that someone cut him off, the commander smiled instead. From what Zich knew, the commander’s personality was definitely on the generous side, but he was also not a simpleton to smile happily in response to rude behavior. ‘He must really be pleased with what Glen Zenard found out.’ Zich’s thoughts were right on the mark.
“Mr. Zenard will be the one to explain.”
When the commander looked at him, Glen stood up. “I’m Glen Zenard.” After a short introduction, he began his explanation. “Since we don’t have much time, I’ll cut to the chase. I found the root of the monster attacks.”
People were shocked. Some stood up with gleaming eyes and some people murmured to themselves, wondering if it was real. Even though they showed various reactions, most of the reactions expressed feelings of joy and delight.
The impatient person who spoke up previously asked again, “What is it?”
Glen raised both of his hands and tried to calm him down. “Now, now. Please don’t rush me. I’ll begin explaining everything.”
“Yeah, dude. You’ve been acting out too much.” A person who seemed like the impatient man’s acquaintance clutched his clothes and forcibly pushed him down back into his seat. The impatient man seemed to have also realized that he acted too impatiently and obediently stayed in his seat.
“First, please take a look at this.” Glen took out a magic box. Then, he began taking out something from the box, and those seeing a magic box for the first time were extremely surprised by how such a big item could come out of a small box. They were aware that such a box existed, but it was their first time seeing it in real life. On the other hand, those already familiar with magic boxes focused more on the item that Glen took out.
“What is that?”
“It looks like a…horn?”
“Or a fang of a large beast.”
“There seems to be something drawn on its surface?”
“Isn’t it a magic circle? Then, is it an artifact?”
People began murmuring amongst themselves after looking at the item that Glen took out. Zich also looked carefully at the item. Like people said, it looked like a horn or fang of an animal. The circular surface curved to the side and ended with a pointy tip while various patterns and drawings covered its surface. It looked like an artifact made by mages or decoration from certain tribes. Then, people started frowning and scrunched up their faces in displeasure after they initially looked at it with curiosity at first.
“There’s an extremely awful aura coming off from it.”
“You also feel that?”
“You too?”
Everyone seemed to feel something disgusting emanating from the object. A couple of people even pushed their chairs back and increased their distance from the object. There was something intensely abhorrent about it that made people want to move away.
Thus, people naturally asked, “What is that?”
Glen calmly identified the item. “This object is called the One-sided Pyramid of Lamentations.”