Something had gone wrong with the Empire’s seals, and two High Demons known only to Cadel had emerged from the cracks in the seals. That this was happening in the center of the Empire, the heart of the seal, was a sign that something was wrong with the outer seals as well.

If they didn’t act quickly, it was only a matter of time before another High Demon escaped into the human world and went on a rampage. This was important. Not a single minute could be wasted.

“Commander is not the kind of person who will die that easily. He must be hiding somewhere.”

There was an eagerness in Modeleine’s eyes that bordered on obsession. He was a man of discernment. A man who had taken the reins of the Knight Order in the wake of a disastrous commander and upheld the pride of the Holy Knight Order.

Cadel didn’t think he was oblivious to the gravity of the situation, so he didn’t bother to criticize or poke fun at Modeleine’s complacency, just nodded in silence.

“Do you have any other information that might help with the search?”

“The only thing I can think of is that he must be terribly exhausted……. It would have been easy to find him if he’d shone a beam of light, but he didn’t.”

“We’ll keep that in mind. We’ll be searching the Mytheran Mountains, and you Twilight Knight Order will be searching the banks of the Setzen River.”

“……Thank you, Sir Cadel.”

“Let’s say we receive your gratitude after we find Sir Garuel.”

Cadel patted him on the shoulder encouragingly, then turned back to his subordinates.

There were quite a few knights in the Twilight Knight Order who were well acquainted with them thanks to their meeting in Baskin Village. Cadel called out his subordinates who were digging up general information from the Twilight Knight Order and gathered them in a separate place.

“It looks like the search is not making any progress, Leader. It seems like they’re hiding something, but I wonder what’s to be gained from hiding it.”

“Commander, if they won’t cooperate, what’s the point of helping? I’ll let them search until they get tired and only help them down the mountain. It must be difficult for Commander too.”

His subordinates seemed to sense something was amiss with their passivity. Without pause, Cadel told them what he had heard from Modeleine.

Van and Lumen’s expressions quickly became serious at the shocking information, but not Lydon’s. Cadel pulled aside Lydon, who had a somber expression on his face as if he didn’t care what happened.

Lydon was pulled exaggeratedly despite Cadel’s weak grip, and he tried to press his lips to Cadel’s with a smile, but Cadel’s hand pushed Lydon’s chin away without hesitation. Lydon’s head snapped back, a look of resignation on his face.

“You’re not even letting me kiss you, darling? That’s not fair.”

“You’re acting like I let you do it one day. Forget it, Lydon. You may have noticed, but from Sir Garuel—”

“Yeah, he smells.”

Lydon replied simply, before Cadel could finish, and gently squeezed the hand that was still pressed against his chin.

“By smell you mean…….”

“Aren’t you talking about the demon smell? I was nervous from the first time I saw him, but it was a weak smell. It made me feel uncomfortable in more ways than one that I tried to secretly kill him. At this point, I wish he could just die on his own! Haha!”

After spitting out such murderous words, Lydon kissed Cadel’s clasped palm affectionately, then brought his cheek to rub against Cadel’s. It was a loving gesture that made it clear what he wanted.

The angelic-looking being was damned cute when it came to being petulant and cuddly, and Cadel spat out a giggle and withdrew his grasping hand. Then he gave Lydon a light slap on the flat of his forehead.

“Don’t sound so ominous. So you can track that demon smell?”

“Hmm, I’m not sure? There’s a demon smell here and there, and the demon smell coming from him isn’t that strong.”

“I mean, you can try, right?”

“If Cadel wants.”

“Okay, then do it. Don’t tell Sir Garuel that he smells like a demon.”

Fortunately, the smell was coming from the direction of the Mytheran Mountains, not the Setzen River. Cadel and his subordinates began a full-scale search for Garuel.

* * *

“You’ve been through a lot, Van.”

“What. It feels like I’m walking with a feather on my shoulder.”

“……Where do you find such heavy feathers?”

“Behind me?”

The rugged terrain of the Mytheran Mountains wasn’t just hard on the missing Garuel. After climbing the mountain curiously at first, Cadel was panting after less than ten minutes.

Van was the first to offer a piggyback ride, and Cadel didn’t think long since he realized how comfortable Van’s back was. He even made the excuse that if he was exhausted he would not be able to show his strength at a critical time.

Van watched his step to make sure Cadel was as comfortable as possible on the climb. The warmth on his back felt so good, and Van couldn’t stop smiling despite the strenuous climb.

Lumen consciously turned his attention away from Van and Cadel and looked at Lydon flying ahead.

“Don’t go forward blindly just because you have wings, but go forward while carefully looking at your surroundings. Don’t forget that we are searching.”

“Ahaha! It’s been a while since I heard Lumen’s command tone, so I feel terrible! It’s too bad, but I’m a genius fairy with a great sense of smell, so I’m better at finding humans than Lumen.”

“You’re following Sir Garuel’s smell? I thought you were supposed to be able to smell demons. You’re like a sniffer dog.”

“Haha! What are you comparing me to? I guess you want to die!”

With that, Lydon transformed into the form of a tiny fairy, tugging at Lumen’s hair and kicking him in the cheek before flying away. Lumen glared after the fleeing Lydon and placed his hand on the hilt of his sword.

“Touch me one more time and I’ll cut your wings off.”

“That’s gonna make Cadel mad though?”

“I’ll cut it evenly on both sides. There will be no problem with the flight.”

“Ahaha! If you can do it, then do it!”

Lydon, who had been excitedly poking fun at Lumen, pouted his lips at Cadel’s admonishment to stay out of trouble and resumed his size.

“Lumen started the fight first.”

Like that, he flew through the mountains for a long time. At one point, after flying nonstop, Lydon stopped. He lifted his head and focused on his sense of smell for a moment, then looked back at Cadel.

“Cadel, this is the limit.”

What limit? Cadel, with a puzzled expression, got off Van’s back. As Cadel approached, Lydon tapped his nose and said.

“The smell spreads everywhere. He seems to be nearby, but it’s hard to pinpoint the direction.”

“Are you sure he’s nearby?”

“Yes, the smell is the strongest here.”

They would have to split up and search. Cadel gave Lumen, Van, and Lydon a direction to search, promising to send a signal when they found something.

“Van and Lumen will fire these flares, and Lydon will use Phantasm Speech. I’ll shoot a fireball.”

Cadel began to move westward. He trusted Lydon’s judgment that Garuel was nearby, and didn’t intend to go far.

‘He’s not really going to be found dead, is he?’

As he trudged along the uneven dirt path, Cadel fought to shake off the ominous images that were creeping into his mind. The conclusive evidence that the Twilight Knight Order had found was troubling, but Garuel’s demonic energy could regenerate any wound. Even if he had been grievously wounded, he could not have died so easily.

‘……It has to be.’

Before the issue of whether or not Cadel could get a healer, Garuel was someone who had helped Cadel a lot. He didn’t want to believe that someone like that had died in vain like this.

Unlike Lydon, Cadel could not smell the demon’s smell, nor was he as sensitive to its presence as Van or Lumen, so it was best to call Garuel’s name loudly while scanning the area.

“Sir Garuel! Can you hear me? Sir Garuel!”

He poked his head into the shade of trees, over bushes, alongside ramps, and down rabbit holes. The stamina he’d been able to stockpile thanks to Van was being used up at a rapid rate.

“Sir Garuel! If you can hear me, say something! You’re not really dead, are you?”

It must have been over 30 minutes and there was no sign of Garuel. No sign of his subordinates’ signals either. Halfway through, he heard Lydon’s Phantasm Speech, but it was just a one-sided complaint that Garuel was a pain in the *ss to find.

Cadel paused with a hand on his hip to catch his breath, though it didn’t feel like he’d walked that far. The terrain was rough and he was out of breath quickly.

“Just look for him. I won’t leave him alone.”

He was going to find Garuel in one piece and bash him over the head with his fist. The moment Cadel gathered his will and tried to resume the search.

“What are you going to do if you don’t leave me alone?”

A chuckling voice came from directly behind Cadel. Reflexively turning his head, he saw the culprit in front of him.

“Took you longer than I thought to find me.”

Garuel Monzasi.

He waved with a peaceful air as if he didn’t care that his men were burning up inside looking for him. His appearance was unblemished, and he smelled faintly of alcohol.

Glancing up and down at the sudden appearance of Garuel, Cadel dared to be confident.

‘This punk didn’t go missing, he actually ran away.’