"Where are we going, sir?"
"Why are we going out of the territory? We need to secure the duchy first now that both the duke and duchess have passed away."
"That is right. We need to prioritize the safety of the young master."
The knights that Robert took with him to search for Mila kept bothering and bombarding him with questions that they had already asked multiple times, which Robert had already answered, but after explaining it to them, the knights automatically forgot what Robert explained and asked him again, as if they had never remembered what Robert had explained.
Robert feels exhausted and regrets bringing the knights with him. He decides to ignore the knights and just let him follow him.
The knights have no choice but to follow him anyway.
They all rode their horses and rushed to the nearby territory where Robert thought that Mila had her first stop on her escape.
Upon arrival in the town, Robert ordered the knights to search.
"Look for Mila and look for any possible clues that could lead to her."
"Mila? Duchess?"
"But she's dead, sir."
The knights looked at him with confusion.
Robert crumpled his face as he groaned.
He could not look for Mila alone because he had to search from town to town, but he could not fully order around his knights because of how Mila's death was affecting everyone's memory.
As Robert tried to think of a way to make up a story for his knights to start moving, he reluctantly stated, "I mean our cousin. She looked exactly like Mila, so go and search the whole area. She's needed to rebuild the duchy."
"Yes, Sir!"
The knights finally dispersed and searched the area while Robert went to the teleportation portal to check.
"Is there a lady with an eye patch who has come here and used the portal?" Robert asked.
"Is she a f-fugitive? Sir Knight?" The town's officer looked anxious the way he avoided Robert's eyes. It shows that the man had met Mila and had transacted with him.
Robert grabbed the man's shoulder and yelled, "Where did she go? Where did you send her?"
Robert wanted to hurry and find out where Mila had run off to, but the town's officer was more worried about his own security than giving Robert an accurate response. The town's officer cowered because of Robert's usual intimidating presence and shakenly said, "I have no connection with her, sir. Please spare me!"
"She's not a fugitive! How the hell do you not recognize the duchess of this kingdom?" Robert exclaimed. He grabbed the man's collar, causing the man to flail his feet in the air.
Mila Esclamado is well known as she was the only female knight who rose to the top before she became a duchess, and she became even more famous after she became the duchess because of her uniqueness, which is far different to the usual feminine and delicate ladies of the kingdom.
Mila's dark complexion and Amazonian beauty have become well known even in the neighboring country, which is why Robert finds it strange that the citizen and the knights don't find it strange even if he announces that he is looking for someone who looks like Mila because there is no other person who could match Mila.
"D-duchess? What are you saying, Sir Knight? Don't talk bad about the late duchess like that!"
Robert wanted to punch the town's officer to show his annoyance about his situation, but he forced himself to calm down as he changed his question.
"Never mind. Tell me where you sent her."
"The eye patch lady?"
"Yes!"
"S-She went to the Gurangan's teleportation portal, but I doubt you will find her there."
"What do you mean?"
Robert finally let go of the town's officer and looked at the counter near them. "Did she buy some teleportation scrolls too?"
"Yes sir, she took three teleportation scrolls and burned the rest."
"Then there is no way we could know what she took and where she went." Robert massaged his temple while thinking about where Mila would go. Even though they had been together since childhood, Robert still had a hard time thinking of Mila's way of thinking. Mila was so unpredictable. At this time, Robert wished for the duke's presence because only the duke could fully understand what was on Mila's mind.
Poof! Bam!
Robert sends his signal to the sky to notify his knights to gather again and concludes, "Mila's outside the kingdom."
He thought that the way Mila's desperate move to run away was only leading to her completely leaving the kingdom. And the reason Mila was fleeing was something Robert couldn't figure out, so he became even more determined to find her by asking her directly instead. "There is no use pondering the reason why when I can ask her directly." was what Robert thought.
Robert tapped the shoulder of the town's officer before leaving him behind without a word.
"Where are we going next, sir?"
"We didn't find any clue about what you are looking for, sir!"
"That's fine. Let's go to the former duchess's villa first." Robert said as he jumped up on his horse again. Robert could not leave Tope alone at the duchy without a guardian while he looked for Mila. He needed someone to keep Tope safe first before he could get out of the kingdom to follow behind Mila.
"Sir!"
A knight blocks his way with his horse, forcing him to stop.
"What's wrong?" he asked, but instantly he noticed the smell of blood. He was so lost in thought that he lost his focus on the track they were running to. The knight blocks his way to stop him and the group from running straight to a dangerous place that had a fishy and rusty smell wafting from where they were riding their horses.
Aside from the blood smell they could smell, there was nothing abnormal about the area they were in.
They were only a few meters away from the former duchess villa, and they could see the villa looking fine and peaceful, causing everyone to feel anxious.
"Leave your horses. Let's quietly approach the villa "
Robert's group discreetly went inside the villa, but the more they went inside the former duchess' home, the stranger it got and the smell of blood got stronger, despite the quiet and clean surroundings.
As they slowly walk inside the mansion, their tensions and anxieties rise.
"It's strange. It's like the place has totally emptied." One knight commented in a hushed tone.
"Then where did the smell of blood come from?"
Robert had ten knights with him, and he ordered them not to wonder alone, and they walked inside the mansion in a group. They walked inside the halls without creating a sound and followed the strong smell of blood while they tightly clenched their hands around their sword.
"This is the dining room." Robert stated after the scent led them in front of a huge door, through which Robert knew that it was the dining area.
Robert checked the other side of the door without opening it by just using his aura. He didn't detect any living beings and lightly opened the door.
Creak
As the slow opening of the door with its eerie creaking began, the knights' eyes opened wide at the same time as the door.
"What on earth happened here?"
Robert asked as he froze in place. His eyes gaze on every corpse piled on the long dining table with the former duchess and former duke, who is on top of the peak of the mountain of corpses.
Robert's grip tightens as he trembles. He is thinking of Christopher after seeing the murdered former duke and duchess.
"Tope literally only has Mila now." He mumbled. He is more determined to look for Mila because Mila is the only remaining blood relative of Christopher.
The corpses were the villa's maids, butler, knights, helpers, and servants. The corpses were piled up on top of the strong dining table while the blood was flowing down to the floor, flooded with the malodorous liquid from the dead.
"How strange? How did they massacre this bunch of people while only keeping the dining area dirty?"
No one dared to enter the dining area as they looked inside and outside the door to compare the room's state. The hall they walked into doesn't even have a little bit of dirt.
Robert crouched down and checked the floor.
"The blood is not getting out of the dining area." Robert commented as he could clearly see a line between the dirty dining floor and the floor outside the door.
"Then maybe this is the work of a magician?" A knight commented, as he peered more inside the door, unintentionally making his first step onto the dirty floor.
"No! Step back!" Robert shouted, but it was too late.
BAM!
Seconds after the knight's boots touch the bloodied floor, its body flies up toward the pile of corpses and invincible swords pierce the knight's body, sending him to death.
The ten remaining people left at the door looked at their comrade's body with shock.
"L-let's leave this place, sir." One knight suggested while trembling, causing everyone to look at Robert at the same time.
Robert heaved a deep sigh after seeing the knights he had chosen cower too easily. He actually couldn't take the few skillful knights away from Tope because Tope needed more protection than him, but he could see how doomed the Esclamado would be in the future if they could no longer have skillful knights like they used to. The dragon's berserk was at fault for why they lacked excellent knights.
"No. seven men. Guard this door." While closing the door, Robert gave a firm instruction. The knights could not oppose him and just nodded their heads. Robert then closed his eyes and stomped his sword on the floor.
Bbbrrrrrrr
Along with the stomping of the floor, Robert's aura spread out of the mansion to check thoroughly if there was another person in the mansion other than them.
"Get ready." He warned his men as he could slightly feel the enemy.
"The roof. Follow me!" Robert shouted, and the two knights that were not assigned to guard the door ran behind him.
"Sir! Is the three of us enough?" the knight asked while they ran up stairs.
"We are enough." Robert bluntly responded. He could not focus on whatever the knights were worrying about because of the power he was sensing from the intruder on the roof.
"You two will defend. I alone will attack." Robert ordered.
Without fear, Robert charges toward the door through the roof. He gathered his aura around his sword and sliced the door for him to pass.
BOOM!
A loud explosion was made, not because of the door but of the sudden power that struck Robert the moment he passed the door.
Ugh!
Robert managed to use his sword and aura to shield himself from the explosive attack. He didn't wait for the place to settle, and he kicked his foot the moment it touched the roof. He springs back to the attacker and points his sword toward it.
"Who the hell are you!"
Robert shouted after his first attack didn't push through the opponent because of the other explosive attack sent at him. However, this time, Robert was much closer to the intruder as he could now see clearly what the intruder looked like.
Clang!
Robert's sword and the intruder's arms clash as if they were both swords.
"Y-you're not human?"
The intruder doesn't have any clothes on. Its body is in the shape of a human but without any hair or genitals. The color of his skin was full black and only his eyes were white. He looked like a human-size slim voodoo doll with a very flexible body and overflowing mana inside him.
Robert pulled back and all Robert could see of the intruder was danger. He surrounded his whole body with an aura and strengthened his body and armor. Robert's emerald eyes glowed, and the roof started to crumble with Robert's aura.
The peculiar looking intruder also surrounded himself with fire balls, waiting for Robert to attack.
While the two knights left at the corner watching their commander and the unknown being, they gulped their own saliva, and said, "Are they going to destroy this place?"