“Hmph! I’m home! Goodbye!”
With those words, Iyefut Cape turned on her heel. Gone was the bubbly, youthful girl from moments before. Her steps turned light and graceful, her posture poised and elegant as she walked slowly toward the manor, slipping back into the refined demeanor she wore at social gatherings.
Watching Iyefut’s retreating figure, Sang couldn’t help but chuckle to himself. This girl switched between shut-in otaku and perfect lady with effortless ease.
But as his laughter faded, Sang’s sharp eyes caught something odd the next instant. Iyefut Cape wasn’t heading toward the manor’s front gate—or even the back door.
How exactly was she planning to get home?
“Something’s not right…”
Worry and curiosity got the better of him, and the boy trailed after her quietly. What he witnessed next left him utterly dumbfounded. The proud Duke’s Daughter was crawling through a dog hole to get back inside.
No wonder she’d acted so strangely earlier when he’d asked how she’d slipped past the Black Knight’s watchful eye to sneak out into the world. It was pure embarrassment.
This girl is adorable…
Bob and Nancy, the two kids, still believed Iyefut was a boy. Coming from the mountains, they saw nothing wrong with squeezing through a dog hole.
But Sang knew she was the Duke’s Daughter. In a playful mood, he let out a whistle to catch her attention. Iyefut froze mid-motion and whipped her head around, glaring at the blue-haired boy lounging against the wall nearby. Her cheeks burned red as she snapped, “Get lost! Don’t look at me!”
Sang grinned. “Can’t keep up the act, huh?”
Iyefut stomped her foot, on the verge of real anger. How could she let a Mad Rogue watch her crawl through a dog hole like this? If he wouldn’t leave, neither would she.
After a tense standoff, Sang finally backed off. As he waved goodbye, he called out, “See you later, Dog-Hole Yi Ye!”
“Mad Rogue!”
Sang had more pressing matters to attend to.
Next up, he needed to head to Bron Mountain. The mission was complete, and this wasn’t part of it, but Colin’s dying words nagged at him. He had to check it out.
…
They’d barely parted ways when Sang realized he was still holding Iyefut’s book. He’d planned to turn back and return it himself, but Bob and Nancy volunteered for the job.
Glancing at the sky—still bright—he nodded. “Alright, I’ve got one more place to go. Return the book and head straight back to the inn, got it?”
It was still daytime. A couple of ten-year-olds should be fine making their own way home, right?
Bob and Nancy were good kids. When they heard Teacher An had business to handle, they agreed without hesitation.
As the sun dipped toward the horizon and nightfall lingered just out of reach, another deceptively peaceful afternoon unfolded. Sang trekked alone to Bron Mountain in western Rita. Sure enough, a waterfall cascaded down the slope. He raised his Knight Sword—Dawn—and swung with all his might. In that fleeting instant, a mighty gust of sword wind cleaved the waterfall apart.
The space behind it was hollow!
Colin hadn’t lied. Something shady was hidden inside.
Without a second thought, Sang leaped in like Robin from Batman, plunging into the cave.
According to Liyou, Colin had been a researcher. He’d infiltrated the Montgomery Family posing as an experimenter—officially conducting tests for them, but truly operating as a spy.
The sight that greeted him proved Liyou hadn’t been lying. He couldn’t tell exactly what experiments Colin had run in life, but the place screamed chemical laboratory.
Crude and sealed tight, it reeked of potent chemicals…
Colin’s dying instruction had been to destroy everything here. But out of caution, Sang spent over an hour combing through every inch of the cave. His thorough search paid off: inside a hollow stone, he found a glass vessel containing a red crystal about the size of a baby’s fist. It radiated an ominous aura.
Sang felt like he’d seen this thing before.
His pupils contracted as Wolf King Gallo’s image flashed in his mind. It clicked. “This… this is the 【Philosopher’s Stone】!”
So this was the evil experiment Liyou had mentioned—the one Montgomery was running…
That said, Sang examined the 【Philosopher’s Stone】 in the glass vessel more closely. It seemed inferior to the one Wolf King Gallo had possessed, lacking in both quality and size.
“Artificially made?”
It was just a flawed prototype, but mass-produced? It could become a terrifying force. He wondered about the side effects.
After a moment’s hesitation, Sang followed orders and torched everything in the cave. He slipped out swiftly and emerged beyond the waterfall. Staring at the glass vessel in his hand, he wrestled with whether to destroy it too.
As Sang debated smashing the 【Philosopher’s Stone】, a group of uninvited guests surrounded him.
By rough count, twenty or thirty strong—all armed, battle-ready, their eyes glowing with Blood Eyes. No need to guess: Montgomery Family enforcers.
“Tch! Tracked, huh? Since when?!”
Even as he spoke, Sang pieced it together. No wonder the dungeon guards had been so lax when he’d snuck in—it was a trap. The Montgomery Family knew Colin was on his last legs, about to die without spilling any secrets. This was their final play: lure out the enemy before he croaked.
Come to think of it, was the banquet part of the plan too!?
The realization made Sang rub his forehead, a vein throbbing. He muttered, “This time… I got played for real…”
The lead Blood Race bellowed, “Hand over what you’ve got! Or else…”
“Stop, stop, stop!!! Geez… always with the long-winded speeches. Anyway… let’s just fight!”
Sang’s interruption caught the Blood Races off guard. They exchanged bewildered glances, their hatred for him inexplicably spiking.
What a vicious human—cutting off their grand opening line!
One key thing to understand: Sang was cautious, a bit selfish, and prized his life above all. When he skipped straight to “fight,” he’d already run a quick assessment of their strengths.
He held the advantage. No way he’d lose.
About fifteen minutes later, twilight had deepened. Outside the waterfall, Sang sat on the ground catching his breath. All around him lay the Blood Races, sprawled unconscious in disarray.
He’d thought it’d be a breeze. It took real effort after all.
Never overestimate yourself. Never underestimate the enemy.
At least he hadn’t sustained serious injuries.
“Even the might of the biggest slave trader can’t be taken lightly…”
As Sang rose to leave, one of the fallen Blood Races rasped mockingly through labored breaths, “Heh… ha… Good thing the Young Marquis planned for contingencies… Human, don’t think you can walk away with that thing. Hand it over, or we’ll kill your friend!”
Sang’s blood ran cold at the words. “Friend? What the hell are you talking about?”
“We’ve been tailing you all day… just in case. We grabbed your friend too…”
Sang’s mind jumped to Shika.
But before he could respond, the Blood Race cut in: “That bookish male friend of yours? Another team’s got him. He’s stashed in a warehouse at Rita’s slave market right now… If you don’t want him hurt—or sold off—bring that thing over immediately.”
Sang went blank.
“???”
