Bab 104: [Chapter 104] The Monster Seen by Karl Sydney
Under the starry night sky.
The northern tower where managers and noble criminals were imprisoned was desolate, like an empty wasteland. Neris approached the soldier guarding the entrance of the tower and spoke.
"I've come to see a criminal."
Although Neris didn't know the soldier, he seemed to recognize her immediately. He calmly and politely bowed.
"Which criminal are you looking for?"
He didn't ask for details or permission. If such questions were asked, she had planned to use Jewel Inside, but this made things easier. With a light smile, Neris mentioned a name.
"Karl Sydney."
"Yes, I'll escort you. Arch!"
At the soldier's respectful call, another soldier came out from inside the tower.
"Lead the way."
The soldier courteously gestured inside to Neris. Intrigued by their skilled movements, Neris took her first step.
The northern tower had a beautiful white exterior wall like other parts of the castle, but passing through the door on the first floor felt eerily desolate. After passing through two sturdy iron doors, a narrow circular staircase appeared. The soldier gestured towards the top of the stairs.
Faint sounds like moans could be heard from above.
"You need to go up here. I apologize for the inconvenience, Your Grace."
The soldier said politely. Neris nodded.
Without hesitation, she lightly ascended the deliberately narrow and steep stairs made to prevent prisoner escapes. The oppressive feeling that a prison usually gave to ordinary people seemed to have no effect on her. The soldier watching her light footsteps recalled the grace in her eyes.
Each floor of the northern tower was blocked by iron doors that could only be opened from the staircase side. After a long walk, when she opened the iron door marked with the number 4, a corridor made of solid bricks emerged.
On both sides of the corridor and at the end, there were doors with small windows at the height of a person's face and only a palm's width.
"Cell 41."
The soldier approached the door on the left side from Neris's perspective. He raised the torch and brought it closer to the small window.
A small, dark, and dirty room. The space inside the window illuminated by the torch looked like that.
A figure slowly moved in the dimly lit, shabby room supported by a single small candle.
The once young and cheerful face of Karl Sydney looked haggard and forlorn. His bright eyes, now sharp and distorted, met Neris's.
Neris gestured to the soldier.
"I have some private matters to discuss, so please step out for a moment."
"I apologize, but leaving a prisoner alone for a visit violates our regulations."
The soldier spoke as firmly as he had shown skill so far. Neris smiled and met the soldier's eyes.
"If it's for security reasons, you can just take three steps back. You won't be handing or receiving anything, and with three steps, you can confirm that much. I just hope you focus on my words."
The soldier's eyes briefly glazed over as he met Neris's gaze. He understood. If it was just three steps back, it wouldn't clearly violate the regulations, so what harm could it do...
The soldier unknowingly stepped back. Neris made sure the torch was in his hand to prepare for any unforeseen circumstances.
Karl, who was watching their actions, bluntly asked, "Do we have anything left to say between us?"
"If I have something left to say, then yes."
Resentment and wariness flickered in Karl's eyes.
As expected, Neris slowly met his gaze and whispered in a voice low enough not to be heard by the soldier.
"You have to answer the questions. After all, you have nothing left, and the only way to survive is to cooperate."
What? Karl's eyes, which were about to retort sharply, suddenly clouded. He reconsidered his situation once again.
A manager working under the great Duke. A proud name. The current Duke, Cledwyn Maindland, had allowed more discretion to the managers than any Duke recorded in history.
But Karl couldn't be satisfied with that. Because he was of noble birth. The statement that the managers had great discretion ultimately meant that the discretion of the subordinate lords under the Duke's rule diminished, didn't it?
The tyrant dared to try to control the venerable Maindland with his own hands.
The Duke's seat, passed down through the bloodline, could be occupied by a fool at any time, and each time that happened, it was the subordinate lords and the elders who had joined forces who had protected this land. Now all the elders were dead.
Abandoning such loyalty and lavishing attention on nobodies of humble origins was the Duke's mistake. He didn't even like favoring a knight of peasant origin, Aidan.
And now, bringing that detestable little girl from the south to occupy a ridiculous position like an advisor was unacceptable. She needed to be taught a lesson.
In the process, there might have been some damage to certain territories... but that was a misstep. They should have seen it as a stepping stone for a greater cause.
With that kind of thought process, Karl tried to trap Neris. He gathered his colleagues with his unique eloquence. And when he thought he was on the brink of success.
She captured them like someone who had anticipated everything.
Karl still couldn't believe it. If he succeeded, if he only succeeded in this matter, he thought he could press down the Duke's arrogant nose and make him understand the value of nobility.
The fools sitting at their desks in the castle could never defeat the long-standing lords of each territory and the commoners who followed them. So, if they wanted the central commands to be properly conveyed throughout the land, they had to cater to the whims of the nobles.
But all of that was ruined because of that monstrous woman.
'...Monster.'
The word echoed countless times in Karl's mind. His hand began to tremble with fear. His heart raced madly.
Yes, this woman was a monster. If he didn't listen to her, he didn't know what would happen next. Maybe he would die...!
In reality, Neris hadn't said a single word like that, but in Karl's mind, every detail was being interpreted more and more negatively. The conflict he was experiencing turned into fear rapidly consuming him from his toes.
Finally, with wide eyes and a pleading tone, he said, "I'll answer anything, anything. Please spare me...!"
Neris smiled slyly.
"Sure. Even after the success, you probably didn't think you'd live well here, and where did you plan to go if you succeeded? Who told you to do this?"
Before 5 minutes had passed, Neris was descending the spiral staircase with the soldier again. In her mind, the name of the mastermind who dared to tarnish the Duke's reputation by starving the people of this land to death repeated over and over.
Hudis Tifian.
Cledwyn's grandfather.
It seemed that fate would have him face him soon.
❖ ❖ ❖
"Sydney seems to have lost his mind."
Neris pretended not to hear Talfryn's words. However, Talfryn didn't back down and sharply said, seemingly unassuming.
"Trembling and even mentioning the name of the girl he lived with when he was five years old. Even in a confession, you shouldn't spill everything like that. The others all seem fine, but once they open their mouths, they spill everything."
"Isn't that good?"
Cledwyn, reading the report brought by Neris, cut in sharply.
He couldn't be unaware of the fact that Karl Sydney was now supposed to answer any 'question' after Neris visited the prison. No, he knew it well, so perhaps Talfryn's surprise was for that reason.
Neris pretended not to hear the conversation between the two men.
Cledwyn, sitting casually in a white shirt and black pants on a chair for the desk, was so tall and had long arms and legs that his legs protruded forward no matter which chair he sat in. Perhaps that was why his body seemed to be pushed back further than what was typically associated with sitting at a desk.
'Yet he still looks elegant.'
Despite being so nonchalant, there was a sense of dignity in whatever he did. Neris knew that such an atmosphere couldn't be acquired through effort.
She herself had made a special effort to appear dignified in her previous life, but she didn't feel she could exude grace no matter how she sat or stood like this man.
For some reason, she felt mischievous. She suppressed that feeling and waited for Cledwyn to finish reading the report.
Having quickly read the report on the post-disaster recovery measures for Pechernon, he looked up at Neris in front of him and smiled slyly.
"You handled it well. Excellent."
Somewhere, a sound of air escaping was heard. Neris tilted her head, but since Cledwyn didn't pay attention to the sound, she decided to just forget about it, thinking she might have misheard.
"Thank you."
"Is everything okay with you?"
"You asked me the same thing this morning. I'm doing fine, as always."
"Shall we have dinner with Lady Trude again tonight?"
"Again today?"
Since Cledwyn's first day, they had almost been having dinner together every day, mostly with Neris's mother included.
With her mother present, uncomfortable topics didn't come up, but Neris wasn't sure if this was normal. However, she was starting to get used to it.
Cledwyn made a face like a wet dog in response to her question. Beside him, Talfryn made a silent gagging gesture.
"Don't you like it?"
"I don't dislike it, but you must be busy."
"I'm not busy at all."
"You seem to be training every morning."
"Are you lacking sleep in the early morning because of the training noise? Sorry. I'll be more careful from now on."
Once again, a sound like air escaping was heard. Is there a draft in this well-made room? Neris tilted her head once again.
"It's necessary training, so you shouldn't worry about that. And I usually wake up early."
"Is it because you have a lot of work? Wouldn't it be better to reduce it?"
In truth, Neris had a bit more work to do. But everyone working in this castle had a bit more work. Based on Neris's previous life, even the lowest-ranking managers in this castle seemed to show about twice the productivity of mid-level managers working in the prince's palace.
But having a lot of work wasn't a bad thing. It was rewarding, and especially because she felt she had to repay the generous salary by doing her mother's share of work as well.
So Neris shook her head.
"No, you entrusted me with a responsible position, so I want to do as much as I can."
"Hmm."
This time, it wasn't Cledwyn who spoke. Talfryn interjected between the two.
"Did you hear that? That's the attitude of a manager. It's different from someone who leisurely eats dinner while there's an important meeting going on."
"If it's about survival, can't we spare some time for dinner?"
A perfect smile appeared on Cledwyn's face in response to the retort. Talfryn chuckled happily.
"What should we do? Should we prepare for the harvest festival to survive, or should we prepare to die? It's confusing, isn't it? Isn't it the same every year?"
"The harvest festival?"
Since there was no issue more important than sustenance for the people, each region on the continent had a unique culture of commemorating the year's harvest and giving thanks to the gods.
From the nuances, it seemed that Maindland held quite a grand harvest festival. But wasn't it still summer?
As Neris tilted her head, Cledwyn explained with a smile.
"Our summer ends quickly, and the autumn harvest also finishes early. So the harvest festival starts earlier compared to the south. And people gather from all over the duchy for a two-week grand festival, so we need to start now."
Two weeks... that meant it would take a long time to prepare.
"It will be a lot of fun. There will be night markets in the city, and a grand fireworks display every year. But this year, we're planning something special."
"What are you planning to do?"
"A tournament."
The term 'tournament' could mean a competition where winners continue to fight until a final champion is determined, but when used without additional context, it typically referred to a martial arts competition.
300 years ago, many knights showcased their martial skills through mounted jousting matches. However, nowadays, unless it was a special event specifically reviving ancient traditions, it wasn't a common event.
Cledwyn winked at Neris as he saw her tilting her head.
"It's an important event, so I hope you'll watch over it well, my advisor. I'm very... excited."
Status Power Mingguan
-- Peringkat
Power 
-- Power
stone