The Dungeon Monsters Keep Offering Sacrifices

Chapter 105: Civil War in the Sael Kingdom (2)

The dungeon monsters keep offering sacrifices – 105

EP.105 Civil War in the Sael Kingdom (2)

“The streets are empty.”

Two people were walking down the street.

But despite the clear sunlight announcing the beginning of the day, the streets were quiet.

At this time, it should have been filled with people busy with their livelihoods, but it was difficult to find such a sight.

Even the small shops surrounded by old stone walls on the outskirts were mostly closed.

Though few, there were occasional merchants who had opened their doors.

“Even the faces of those who have opened their doors don’t look good.”

The atmosphere was heavy to anyone’s eyes.

Despite reading the heavy atmosphere, the two cautiously moved forward.

The one who had just spoken had a sword at their waist, along with leather armor.

Next to them, someone had their face concealed by a hood and veil, making it impossible to see their face.

However, the one with the sword continued to speak to the person next to them.

No, it was more like a report than a simple conversation.

At a glance, they looked like an ordinary adventuring party. But their destination was not the Adventurers Guild.

It was a matter of course, in a way.

“What should we do, Princess?”

They were not adventurers but rather the princess and her escort knight of the Sael Kingdom.

“… .”

Lenon, the princess’s escort knight, spoke, but Princess Elena remained silent.

Then she closed her eyes for a moment.

Yes, certainly, not long ago, the streets were lively and vibrant.

Being of noble birth, she occasionally walked the streets, remembering the scenery she had seen before.

Antique shops were filled with items that held various stories, and the sight of a blacksmith honing weapons with flames in a blazing furnace looked like a dance.

The sight of a wandering artist painting his picture by the roadside was undoubtedly a happy one.

But the current scenery was unfamiliar.

The expressions of the people were uniformly anxious and uneasy.

It felt as if there was no future.

As Princess Elena and her escort knight Lenon paused to look around.

Someone appeared.

A figure wrapped in a dark cloak.

His eyes were as cold as ice.

As he appeared, the air around him seemed to freeze, and people began to stir.

Someone shook violently, showing signs of distress in their pants.

It would have been a simple sight, but the figure began to brandish a whip in his hand.

“… .”

Princess Elena clenched her fists as she watched the scene.

And the desperate cries reached her ears.

“Please, spare me! Save me!”

“I don’t know anything! Please, forgive me!”

Those being whipped pleaded for their innocence with desperate voices and tear-filled eyes, but the man wielding the whip showed no sign of stopping.

“Princess, please give the order! I will handle it right away!”

Lenon, who was beside her, called out to Princess Elena at the cruel scene.

As her escort knight, he intended to do his best to resolve the current situation if only given the command.

But Princess Elena shook her head.

“We will not do anything.”

“But, Princess…!”

Before Lenon could say anything in response to Princess Elena’s words, she raised her hand to stop him.

“He’s an inquisitor of the White Order. It would only cause trouble for you, Lenon.”

The identity of the man whipping others was an inquisitor of the White Order.

Princess Elena couldn’t directly intervene while witnessing the persecution of the people.

If she were to give the order to stop the man, what then?

In the short term, perhaps, but fundamentally, it would not solve the problem.

In such a situation, Princess Elena felt her helplessness.

There were several reasons that led to the current situation.

First and foremost, it was the coercion of the White Order.

‘They planned this from the beginning.’

The claim of the White Order that Princess Elena had heard was simple.

‘Priests and holy knights in the Sael Kingdom have been disappearing, so we will investigate on our own?’

However, their claim was truly absurd.

‘Disappearances in the Sael Kingdom?’

Such a thing had never happened.

Perhaps disappearances had occurred near the Sael Kingdom’s mountains?

Or was there an accident, and they were trying to blame the Sael Kingdom for it?

Princess Elena’s speculation seemed quite plausible.

After all, it was information unknown to herself and even to her father, the king.

In short, the claim of the White Order was an easily refutable story.

But the situation did not unfold so smoothly.

‘Another obstacle in our path.’

There were unexpected complications.

Namely, the nobles.

They were a force within the Sael Kingdom who sympathized more with the White Order’s claim than anyone else.

They hadn’t necessarily sympathized with the White Order’s claim from the beginning.

But the nobles who desired the weakening of royal authority saw the current situation as an opportunity.

Of course, Princess Elena hadn’t been idle.

She had spoken to her father and requested assistance from nobles not aligned with the nobility.

But none of these efforts improved the situation.

In the end, she realized.

She needed her own strength.

As the frustrating situation persisted, she ultimately resorted to forbidden means.

That was the summoning of a demon.

‘Lady Celia…’

And thus, she summoned a being named Celia.

She was truly a powerful being.

Utilizing her power, she incited unrest among the nobles.

Controlling the Count who led the nobles, she caused chaos, but that was all.

The nobles appointed another leader and still desired the weakening of royal authority.

Initially, she attempted to persuade the nobles by mentioning development rights in the mountains, but it didn’t work.

Eventually, with the nobles’ support, the envoy of the White Order infiltrated the Sael Kingdom and had been causing outrageous acts ever since.

Of course, their actions were merely tantrums.

Obtaining support from the nobles was fine, but the White Order’s investigation was faltering.

It was natural.

Since there had never been disappearances of priests and holy knights in the Sael Kingdom from the beginning.

If evidence emerged, that would be even stranger.

Yet, the White Order continued its rigorous investigation.

And eventually, their wrath extended to the common people.

As someone who couldn’t bear to witness the White Order’s actions, she wanted to rectify the current situation.

So she requested from Celia, whom she had summoned and contracted with, but the instructions that came down were singular.

“Wait quietly.”

‘How long do I have to wait!’

It was a reasonable request, but various instructions, big and small, had been given so far.

If she was ordered to prohibit entry into the Silent Mountains, she prohibited it, and mysterious knights were secretly placed in noble mansions by her.

But there were no further instructions.

It was simply a command to wait quietly.

She obediently followed that instruction.

As a princess, there was nothing she could do alone, so it was an inevitable choice.

Yes, there must be a reason for being told to wait quietly.

She consoled herself in that way.

She was just a human.

Despite her status as a princess, she was nothing but a weak human.

‘In a way, even my father is a weak human.’

It was lamentable that even her father, who ruled the Sael Kingdom, couldn’t do anything against the Order.

“…Let’s go back.”

Princess Elena spoke in a weak voice.

For now, all she could do was watch as the people suffered.

Lenon also turned at her command.

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***

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An alarm rang on her smartphone after a long time.

“What’s this?”

– A special mission has arisen! –

It was a special mission.

As usual, I immediately checked the contents of the mission.

– The Wanderings of Princess Elena. –

– Princess Elena of the Sael Kingdom is lamenting the current situation. Please assign a mentor to her. –

– Reward: Significant increase in Princess Elena’s loyalty. –

“What’s this?”

It was a mission related to Princess Elena after a long time.

But ‘wanderings’? Does Princess Elena have a reason to wander?

As someone who doesn’t know her inner thoughts, I had no way of knowing.

Still, I seemed to know one thing.

“Must be something like Noblesse Oblige.”

The status of a princess is surely not light, so the princess must have her own concerns.

Come to think of it, the first special mission related to Princess Elena came to mind.

“At that time, she was clearly someone who wanted a contract with a demon.”

At that time, Celia was dispatched for the special mission.

In the end, memories of successfully completing the special mission came to mind.

And now, this mission was also related to Princess Elena.

“Well, this one seems straightforward.”

It would be a waste of time to ponder over who to send on this mission.

Princess Elena and Celia are already acquainted.

Ultimately, Celia was the most suitable mentor for the mentor mentioned in the special mission.

“I hope you handle this one well too.”

If it’s Celia, she will surely listen well to Princess Elena’s grievances.

“This mission will be resolved easily too.”

I immediately dispatched Celia for the task at hand.

====

***

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Princess Elena, returning from a short outing, entered her room.

And as usual, she waited quietly.

Since she didn’t know when Celia’s instructions would come, waiting in her room was part of Princess Elena’s routine.

Thanks to that, various rumors circulated about her, but it didn’t matter to her right now.

“……”

While waiting endlessly, she felt an unfamiliar presence behind her.

Princess Elena quickly turned around.

There was a black shadow there.

It was not her own shadow but another entity, like a living being.

It was none other than Celia’s envoy.

“You’ve finally arrived.”

Princess Elena kneeled and received the paper handed by the shadow.

She quickly checked the contents.

“Finally…!”

Now, let’s move on to the next plan in earnest.

The time spent preparing and waiting had been long.

Princess Elena’s eyes widened with the thought that she could finally do something.

But on the other hand, there were indeed worries.

Would it fail?

No.

She didn’t doubt that the plan prepared by the powerful demon would fail.

Rather, she was overflowing with confidence that it would succeed.

However, Princess Elena felt something lacking now.

“What could it be?”

Was it the anxiety that even if this plan succeeded, the Sael Kingdom wouldn’t change much?

Thinking like that, she felt more anxious and worried than hopeful for success.

“What should I do now?”

Frustrated, she muttered to herself.

And then, someone responded to her soliloquy after a while.

“Why hesitate?”

It was the being summoned and contracted by Princess Elena.

It was Celia.

“Isn’t it too simple? You just need to restore the kingdom to its former glory yourself.”

Princess Elena lowered her head at Celia’s words.

“Me, personally…?”

She couldn’t understand what Celia’s words meant.

Was a mere princess supposed to restore an entire kingdom?

If she had the power of a demon, it might not be impossible, but that wasn’t what Celia meant.

The real meaning was to ascend to the position where she could rule the kingdom.

But there was already a king in place.

Even if she were to surpass her father and ascend to the throne herself, what would the people think?

Even if her father were to abdicate in her favor, the nobles would oppose it vehemently, and the current state of the kingdom was not favorable.

“Why hesitate?”

But the whisper of the demon persisted.

“Wasn’t that Princess Elena’s intention? It’s not good to deviate too much from the simplest path.”

That’s right.

The current kingdom was too weak.

The weakness of the kingdom meant the weakness of the reigning king’s power.

Ultimately, it meant that Princess Elena’s own father was incompetent.

As much as she didn’t want to admit it, it was an undeniable fact.

“I’ll help you. You haven’t forgotten your promise to serve the great one, have you?”

The great one…

Princess Elena nodded.

“Yes. I remembered…!”

Come to think of it, what was she hesitating about?

What mattered now was to restore the kingdom to its former glory.

Only then would there be an opportunity to serve the great one that Celia spoke of.

That was the condition of the contract with Celia.

“Why did I forget that fact…?”

It was strange.

As soon as she remembered that simple fact, the frustration in Princess Elena’s heart disappeared.

Her mind was engulfed in the sweet words of the demon.

Even if it was a swamp from which she could never escape again, it didn’t matter.

For her, as a princess, and as a queen, her goals were clear.

Those who stood in the way of her goals should be removed.

The dungeon monsters keep offering sacrifices.

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