Omniscient First-Person’s Viewpoint

Chapter 418

The prime suspect in the Elder murder case: Lir Nightingale.

She became Ruskinia’s Yeiling over ten years ago. Around the same time, her mother, Lily, became an Ein. It was said that both mother and daughter underwent Ruskinia’s "experiments" to reach their respective statuses.

Later, Lily attempted to flee the Duchy with a group of citizens but was executed. The citizens who escaped with her were subjected to the pressing machine.

…Pressing machine?

I flipped through the documents, but there was no explanation. It must be such common knowledge in the Mist Duchy that no one bothered to define it. I ignored the ominous implication of the term and continued reading.

The first few pages contained only objective facts. The later ones mixed in subjective opinions and testimonies.

That meant I could skim from here on. Subjective accounts could be verified later—I had something far more reliable than written statements.

My mind-reading was several times more accurate.

"Father, what do you think of your new stepmother? Do you like her?"

"She’s better than a self-proclaimed daughter who keeps trying to sell me off."

Hilde had an uncanny knack for appearing just when she sensed something interesting. She peeked over my shoulder, hovering like an eager spectator.

"Aww, come on, Father~. It’s a good deal! A little effort, and you get two whole countries for free!"

"If I could literally eat those countries, I’d be more interested. But since I can’t, it’s not all that tempting."

"You say that, but do you really think you’ll be able to find the Demon God without a nation’s help?"

"I’d like to say I’ve managed well enough so far, but…"

I had to admit, she had a point.

Even just getting close to the Abyss had been a life-threatening ordeal. If things had gone wrong, I would’ve died, or my entire plan would’ve collapsed.

The same was true for the Golden Mirror of the Allied Nations and the Lightning Thief of Claudia. Traveling alone across this treacherous land, reaching the Demon God’s core, and escaping intact—it was impossible. I had only survived thanks to Tyr and the regressor.

"Any future encounters with the Demon God will be even harder to approach alone. I’ll consider it."

"Hehe, I’ll be waiting~!"

"Don’t get too excited. I don’t know why you’re expecting so much from me when I haven’t actually done anything yet."

"Because you’re the King of Humans, duh?"

"That title’s outdated. The King of Humans was dethroned in Year One. I’m just a regular human now."

I had once been the King of Humans, but that title had been stripped from me. My body had been torn apart, my strength stolen.

I might not have been that same person, but if the King of Humans had truly established an era of peace, he wouldn’t have been betrayed. If he had ruled as he had in Year One, humanity would have fragmented into chaos.

Yet Hilde seemed more confident in me than I was.

"But Father, as the King of Humans, you can become any kind of human, can’t you?"

…Did she know about my mind-reading?

I checked her thoughts, but thankfully, she didn’t.

She was just brimming with blind faith in me.

"For a perfect nation, Yuel had to shape every human like bricks, each one uniform and precise. But you, Father, don’t need to do that, do you? Whether it’s a great hero or a street thug, you don’t care, right? You’re the only one who can unite such a chaotic mix of humans!"

"What’s with that crazy gleam in your eyes…?"

"Don’t pretend you don’t get it! Just the fact that you managed to put Shei and Tyrkanzyaka in the same space is already an achievement worthy of legends!"

That wasn’t my doing. They had gotten along just fine in previous regressions—at least, from what I had heard.

"To return to the Warlord Nation, I need to investigate this murder case first. The sooner we uncover the truth, the faster the trial ends. Hilde, you ran the intelligence department in the Warlord Nation, right? Do you have any leads?"

"What I know is the same as what you know, Father~. You know where my information comes from~."

Hilde snatched the files from my hands, flipping through the dozens of pages at a rapid pace.

"The Warlord Nation has an established intelligence system, so we could gather independent information to a degree. But outside the nation, we had to rely on ‘power’ to acquire intel. And the Mist Duchy isn’t the kind of place you can brute-force information out of."

"That’s funny, considering the Warlord Nation did manage to shove Tyrkanzyaka into Tantalus."

"She was sleeping outside the Duchy! Even Yuel wouldn’t have been comfortable with a land of darkness creeping into the borders."

As expected of someone who had once been the head of intelligence, Hilde’s ability to analyze and process information was impressive.

She skimmed the reports in moments, then turned to me.

"From what I see, Lir Nightingale is the most suspicious. If this were the Warlord Nation, we’d have arrested her immediately. Is there even a need to investigate further?"

"That’s exactly the problem. That’s what doesn’t sit right with me."

"You’re such a contrarian~. No wonder they call you a barbarian."

With a thwack, Hilde shut the files and grinned.

"So, Father, who do you suspect most?"

"Obviously, this vampire is deeply involved in Ruskinia’s death. There’s no denying that. However—"

I had read her mind.

I knew she wasn’t the culprit.

And yet, all the evidence was piling up against her. It was unnatural.

Which meant…

Someone had set her up.

"Do you really think she did all of this alone?"

I dropped the question, and Hilde caught it with a knowing smile.

"You’re saying there’s someone behind this~?"

"It’s a reasonable theory, don’t you think?"

"More than that, I find your guts unreasonable. You’re planning to hunt for the mastermind of an Elder’s murder? In the Mist Duchy? If someone not only killed an Elder but framed a Yeiling for it, they’d have to be another Elder, at the very least. That means they’d also be a lunatic bold enough to lie to the Progenitor’s face."

"Yeah. They’d have to be completely insane."

But so what?

I flashed a grin.

"Doesn’t that make you curious?"

"Hoooh~."

Hilde, clearly itching to dig deeper, absentmindedly tapped at the documents, humming to herself.

Despite her playful nature, she had once handled the darkest and deepest intelligence within the Warlord Nation. She believed in facts over circumstantial evidence. And while Lir seemed guilty by association, it was practically impossible for a mere Yeiling to kill an Elder. Even if Lir was a genius who had pushed the boundaries of bloodcraft beyond their limits, the gap in power was too vast.

She was already hooked.

"Let’s start by questioning the nearest Elder."

"We’re going to investigate Elders? You must have a death wish, Father~."

"People always need more lives, just like they always need more money."

And so, our small investigation team—consisting of me and Hilde—set off to find an Elder.

The Mist Duchy bordered the sea.

One side of the nation was the ocean; the other, a mountain range. The humid air constantly birthed the mist that gave the duchy its name. It wasn’t exactly hospitable land. The mountains housed tigers, and the sea teemed with Abyssal Beasts. The tigers, growing bored of hunting sheep, occasionally took humans as their next meal, while Abyssal Beasts stretching their limbs could stir up storms that battered the coastline.

Mountains and seas were lands of great bounty, but their guardians were too strong. Survival was a constant battle. And even if one tried to farm the small available land, the ever-present mist created yet another obstacle.

That’s why vampires were able to establish a nation here, and why humans accepted their rule. The vampires, with their strength, pried open nature’s vaults and gifted its treasures to mankind.

Thanks to them, the duchy’s humans gained meadows and tidal flats. The tidal flats, especially, were the Duchy’s greatest resource, as the sea constantly brought in debris and lost treasures.

About an hour east of Castle Full Moon, a vast muddy expanse stretched out. Saltwater had seeped into the soil, scattering washed-up shells and seaweed across the landscape. Hundreds of humans toiled with baskets and rakes, busily gathering clams and kelp.

Digging into the ground? No need. In the tidal flats, money simply lay on the surface, waiting to be picked up. It was an economic miracle—you earned simply by collecting.

And the one overseeing this vast stretch of land was—

"The tide’s coming in soon! Move faster, you lazy oafs!!"

—Kabilla.

It was rare for an Elder to work personally. She was a noble and ruler of the Mist Duchy. The moment she arrived at Castle Full Moon, she had made her way here, overseeing the laborers with a perpetually irritated expression.

She had her arms crossed, scolding a human as if disciplining an unruly child.

"Are you picking this up for me? This is your food, you idiots! Pick it up with some dedication! At this rate, even the shellfish will grow legs and run away from you!"

"Lady Kabilla, there’s still two hours until the tide comes in…"

"Two hours?! That’s nothing! If you blink, half this place will be underwater!"

"That’s vampire time, Lady Kabilla…"

The bearded man struggled to deal with Kabilla’s intensity. At first glance, it seemed like an arrogant noblewoman throwing a tantrum during an impromptu inspection.

Which, to be fair, was accurate.

But the mere fact that a human dared to talk back to an Elder—a fearsome Elder at that—showed just how familiar Kabilla was with her human subjects.

She wasn’t just some loud, incompetent noble, either.

Her sharp gaze suddenly shifted toward the sea, narrowing in suspicion. The mist was thick—so dense that even the gentle curve of the shoreline was obscured. But within the blackened fog that mingled with the sea, a strange current pulsed.

Kabilla snapped a command.

"Chayci. Bring me the Screaming Monkey."

"Here, at once."

In the Mist Duchy, Ein referred to an Elder’s direct vassals—vampires of noble blood, numbering only a hundred or so. Depending on their strength, even the Warlord Nation’s generals and the Allied Nations’ Overseers would struggle against them.

But even an Ein was nothing more than an errand boy to an Elder.

The vampire called Chayci handed over a small wooden figurine, carved from monkey bones. Kabilla grabbed it without even looking.

Kabilla’s domain was blood-infused puppetry, a craft rooted in necromancy. She whispered into the figurine’s ear, weaving her will into the blood soaked into the bone.

"Now scream, little monkey. Scream as loud as you can and drive them all away."

The bone monkey twisted its jaw open into a wide, unnatural grin.

Then, in a voice that grated like bones scraping together, it screeched.

"EEEK—! RUN AWAY! RUN—!"

The shrill warning echoed across the tidal flats, piercing the ears of every human present.

Instantly, the workers abandoned their rakes and baskets, clutching what they could and sprinting toward higher ground. Footprints scattered across the mud as men, women, and children fled.

"A tidal wave’s coming—!"
"Get to safety—!"

The shoreline was still far away. Even the largest waves wouldn’t typically reach this far inland.

But this land was a tidal flat. And soon, its true nature revealed itself.

Beyond the mist, a colossal presence surged.

A wave—no, a tsunami—loomed in the distance, already past the coast, tearing across the land like an unstoppable force.

This wasn’t a natural disaster.

The Earthshaker, the Demon God of earthquakes and tsunamis, was innocent this time.

This was no act of nature.

This was the work of an Abyssal Beast.

Kabilla’s eyes sharpened.

"Chayci. Did you see it? Was it an Island Whale? A Cloud Ray?"

"My apologies, Lady Kabilla. I sent my familiars, but they were swept away by the storm. I humbly request that you do not forgive my incompetence."

"A storm? Then it’s the Cloud Ray. Of all things."

Kabilla clicked her tongue in irritation.

The Cloud Ray.

A legendary sea beast said to spread wisps of cloud from the tips of its wings. It had struck the ocean with such force that the resulting tidal wave now surged toward the land.

The fractured sea crashed down like shattered glass.

Sprays of saltwater rained down, carrying unconscious fish along with it.

A small child, unlucky enough to be struck by a falling fish, collapsed.

His parents, in the midst of fleeing, immediately turned back, tossing their baskets aside as they rushed to lift him onto their back.

But the wave was relentless, crashing toward them. If nothing was done, the entire family would be swallowed by the sea.

Kabilla let out an annoyed grunt.

With a sharp motion, she split open the back of her puppet and pulled out a needle—long and thick as a dagger.

Gripping it in both hands, she poured her bloodcraft into it and drove it into the ground.

The earth trembled.

A vast spinal column burst forth from the tidal flats, massive vertebrae stretching outward like the ribs of an ancient beast.

Kabilla murmured.

"Dragonbone Wall."

The tsunami met the wall of bones and shattered.

It didn’t block the wave entirely, but the impact diffused the water’s force.

Though the family was still drenched, the weakened current left them unharmed.

And as quickly as it had come, the sea began to recede, retreating back to its depths.

All that remained were the deep trenches carved into the mud, and the towering fossilized spine that had served as a breakwater.

The humans, still catching their breath, turned to stare at Kabilla in awe.

She, the Elder who had just saved their lives, met their gazes and—

"What are you standing around for?! There are still two hours left! I’ve been doing this for five hundred years! If you lazy livestock want to live, stop talking back and GET TO WORK!"

—stomped her feet and threw a tantrum.

The awe in the humans’ eyes instantly evaporated.