Lucas was put on a carriage by a man, claiming to be the king’s servant, who had suddenly appeared in the middle of his class. He was taken directly to the royal palace.
There, after receiving the report on the Stampede in the Avi territory, Lucas calmed His Majesty Alberto who wanted to go with him, borrowed the Knight Order instead, and hurriedly rushed for the Avi household.
It had been a full day after the devastation by the time Lucas and his team arrived.
The building, which was once a beautiful white ducal mansion surrounded by greenery, had turned into a huge ruin covered in demon beast claw marks and blood.
“…Lucas-sama…”
The Knight Commander called out to Lucas, who could only stand there, stunned.
“I know this is hard for you…but let’s find Edward and the others.”
Lucas nodded, biting his lip tightly.
He came to the mansion with a group of knights led by the Knight Commander, Kyle Odette. Kyle was a close friend of his father, and Lucas was familiar with him because of that.
Lucas paired up with Kyle, and the rest of the group went to check the territory.
“All of you, there might still be demon beasts left, so be very careful when searching!”
Under Kyle’s orders, each of them began to take action. Kyle instructed each of them to begin their search in pairs.
He stepped into the mansion with Kyle.
The scene Lucas saw there was hell…that was all that could be said.
The claw marks were so ruthless and brutal that anyone would have turned away. There were no survivors in the mansion which had been completely overrun by the demon beasts.
In the end, the demon beasts devoured the flesh of the corpses, and the bodies were cruelly eaten through the belly, with only the heads left. There were pieces of flesh scattered all around.
In this state, some of them might not even have a single piece of flesh left.
The entire mansion was covered in bodies, pieces of flesh, and blood, with the corpses of demon beasts everywhere. The smell of decay and blood made him want to throw up.
“Guh…”
The face of Lucas, who was holding his mouth, had gone beyond pale and he had turned white to the point where he could not feel any blood.
…It was too much.
What did they do to deserve this?
Among the victims were his sister’s personal maids and the servants who had been close to him.
“Marianna…”
Tears welled up in his eyes at the unfairness of the situation, and he felt an unbearable rage well up within.
He bit down on his lip as quickly as possible, blood seeping from his lips.
Father and mother…
Charlotte…where is she!?
He began running around the mansion with Kyle.
Strangely enough, although there were still demon beast corpses, they did not encounter a single living demon beast.
“Master Lucas!”
He turned to the direction of the voice and saw Kyle leaning out from his study, beckoning to him.
When Lucas entered the study, he found his parents, both deceased, and lined up on the floor.
“Father…Mother…”
He approached his parents and looked into their faces.
Strangely enough, both of their faces remained unharmed and clean.
However, the part of the body where Kyle’s jacket was hanging was…
“Master Lucas…you shouldn’t look…!”
Kyle shouted to stop him, but Lucas shook his head and rolled up the jacket.
“…!!”
Lucas clenched his teeth.
He had to do so, otherwise he would have collapsed crying out.
Their bodies were mangled from the chest down.
How could this have happened!?
What did his Father and Mother even do!?
Blood dripped from his clenched fists. Apparently, he had scratched them with his fingernails without realizing it.
Kyle tightly held onto Lucas, who was holding back his tears while standing down.
“…Ah…wa…”
That’s when the first sob escaped.
This was not the time to be crying.
He still had not found Charlotte yet, but…
Father…Mother…
Kyle didn’t say anything, but continued to hold Lucas until he calmed down.
Kyle himself was in pain over the death of his friend, but he was also thinking about Lucas, who was the same age as his own son.
“……?”
Lucas, who had cried for a while and calmed down a bit, wondered why there was an unusually large number of dead demon beasts in the study where the bodies of his father and mother were.
“Commander Kyle…why are there so many demon beast corpses in this room?”
“I think Master Edward…used some kind of royal secret art.”
Kyle replied to Lucas’ question.
“Secret arts?”
He had never heard of any secret arts from his father.
“Yes.”
Kyle nodded his head and told him about the secret arts.
“The power of the royal family to protect its people and destroy demon beasts in exchange for the life of the practitioner.”
“I believe that the two of them used their vast magic to eradicate the demon beasts that were harming the humans throughout the Avi territory.”
The more powerful the caster’s magic power was, the more effective it would be, but it also had the disadvantage of taking time to formulate the magic power, leaving them vulnerable to the enemy.
That’s why, in the worst case scenario, it was said that you would have to have someone act as a shield when using the royal magic.
Otherwise, the caster might be attacked while casting the magic and lose their life unnecessarily.
His mother was with his father because she was a sorceress who could cast barriers and share her magic with others.
His mother was both a duchess and a sorceress. She had retired when her children were born, though.
She probably died together with his father, helping him to the very end in order to save everyone in the territory.
The two of them were a loving couple.
He could feel the bond and love through their tightly clasped hands, and felt a little bit saved.
Wait, if the two of them had met their end in the study…
“…Master Lucas?”
He left Kyle, who looked at him curiously, and ran towards the bookshelf.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
T/N: ｡･ﾟﾟ*(>д<)*ﾟﾟ･｡
|♡| Table of Contents |♡| Support me! |♡|
KizunaTLs 