Chapter 12: Sociopath

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Yohan opened his eyes to the sound of a tray being struck.

The morning sunlight brightened the inside of the tent.

Finally, the day has come.

Today is the day to move for the long-awaited exploration of the dungeon, as well as the day to pass through the first gate to be with Francia.

And it’s also a day when the crown prince is very likely to pull some tricks.

The preparation is perfect.

Let’s go.

Yohan got up from the makeshift bed and stepped outside the tent.

Knights and soldiers were checking their weapons, while cooks were preparing food.

“Oh, you’re up?”

As Yohan emerged from the tent and looked around, he heard the familiar voice of a man next to him.

“Deputy Chief. Did you sleep well?”

It was Terses Galectico, the deputy chief of the Second Officer.

He was drenched in sweat, as if he had been up early doing some stretching.

“I’m the same as always. Just another day for me. How about you, Yohan? Did you sleep well?”

“I didn’t have any trouble sleeping either.”

Terses seemed pleased with the response, laughing heartily and patting Yohan’s back with his large hand.

“Haha! You have a strong heart for someone who doesn’t act like a wizard!”

“I’m not one to get too nervous about such things.”

Yohan smiled awkwardly.

“Hmm.”

Noticing that Yohan’s expression had hardened and wouldn’t relax, Terses explained to reassure him.

“You don’t need to worry too much. The southern part of the East is safer than it looks. It’s smaller than other dungeons, and the level of the monsters is low.”

The southern dungeon, rumored to be the simplest and weakest among the three dungeons in the Empire’s East, hardly has any grade-one monsters, let alone grade-one beasts.

As long as one stays alert, they should be able to return safely.

Terses, who explained this, grinned.

“That concludes my explanation. What do you think? Not much to it, right?”

“Indeed. I can afford to relax a bit more.”

The reason Yohan had a stiff expression, however, was not due to fear of the dungeon but rather because he was uncertain of what kind of tricks the crown prince might play.

“Thank you for your concern.”

Yohan smiled lightly and bowed his head slightly.

“Haha! Of course, I have to help our new special wizard. There are few wizards who can reach that level.”

Terses turned on his heel and waved his hand lightly.

“Then let’s meet again when we depart. Enjoy your breakfast.”

“Yes. Have a good meal.”

With that, he left, and Yohan squinted his eyes.

The deputy chief has a really nice personality.

He was said to be the second son of Galectico.

A man with a personality uncharacteristic of a noble and a warm nature that looks out for others.

But why don’t I remember you?

A sudden doubt arose.

He wasn’t confident in remembering the details of the work but felt he had a good grasp of the characters.

However, he had never heard the name Terses Galectico.

For someone like that, he can’t just be a mere extra.

Was it because the original work was a dark story with no dreams or hopes that good characters didn’t receive attention? If not…

Forget it.

There’s nothing to gain from thinking about a character named Terses right now.

Yohan’s thoughts didn’t linger for long.

It wasn’t important at the moment.

Let’s go have breakfast.

Today would be a busy day.

He needed to fill his stomach.

After breakfast and when the knights and soldiers had finished their preparations, the officers from each unit stepped forward to form a formation.

Among them were both the First and Second Officers.

There was no difference just because it was Francia’s unit.

“May I ask your name?”

A man asked Francia.

She turned her head in the direction of the voice and looked at him.

With his jet-black hair and languid purple eyes, he was an incredibly handsome man who seemed unbelievable as a warrior.

Cassis Renokhonan.

He was the eldest son of the Renokhonan Ducal House and the best swordsman in the Empire—a battlefield demon.

If he were an ordinary woman, she might have been entranced by his appearance and immediately succumbed, but Francia knew him too well.

“I have no name to share with you.”

Despite her sharp attitude, Cassis’s expression didn’t change.

“I am Cassis Renokhonan, a young duke of the Renokhonan Ducal House. If you have no name to share with me, then you can simply tell me yours.”

“I don’t know why you’re wary of me, but I assure you I’m not a dangerous person, so please don’t worry.”

Francia’s eyebrows furrowed at his words.

Not dangerous, huh?

She desperately held back an urge to scoff.

“Oh, is that so? I understand.”

She gave a vague reply and turned her head away from him.

Just then, a new man approached her.

“Princess Ferbache, where are you off to? You need to hold your position.”

It was Fedelian.

Her entire face contorted in response.

“I am not Princess Ferbache but the Special Wizard Ferbache. Please address me correctly.”

“Here you go again with the formalities. It’s not like it matters between us, is it?”

Fedelian tilted his head slightly and raised an eyebrow.

A sigh escaped Francia’s lips.

“By the way, young duke Renokhonan. Or should I call you battlefield demon Cassis? I didn’t expect you to take an interest in Princess Ferbache. What are you thinking?”

Cassis gazed at Fedelian without a change in expression.

His purple eyes flickered.

“… It’s none of your concern, Your Highness.”

“Is that so? To me, it seems like you’ve fallen for Princess Ferbache at first sight.”

“Princess Ferbache is indeed very beautiful. A battlefield demon shouldn’t even dare to covet her.”

Fedelian spoke playfully, but there was a strange edge to his words.

“Is that so.”

Cassis simply brushed it off, indifferent.

Francia, caught in between and eavesdropping on their conversation, felt a wave of nausea and thought of Yohan.

‘I miss Yohan.

That damn crown prince had formed the unit with ulterior motives, and Cassis Renokhonan was showing interest in her as expected.’

Unable to avoid their gazes, she chose to confront them head-on, but the stress from it was almost indescribable.

But you won’t be able to wield me as you wish.

A lot would change.

This time, she had Yohan, who loved her.

Helping him unconditionally was her role.

Francia was confident they could navigate through the challenges together.

Several hours after the dungeon exploration mission began, Terses, who had been leading at the front, frowned.

“This is strange.”

Feeling Terses’s heightened sense of caution, Yohan asked, “What do you mean?”

“There are too few monsters in sight.”

“Oh.”

Indeed, Yohan thought it was strange too.

We’re getting closer to the dungeon, but the number of monsters is decreasing.

It was an unusual sight.

Of course, it couldn’t be ruled out that the magic practitioners, realizing that an officer had arrived, had led them towards another unit.

Or is this a trick of the crown prince?

Although he hadn’t read the work all the way through, there was one thing he remembered clearly:

The male protagonist in this work was utterly insane, and the authors were equally deranged.

If the crown prince was the best among those insane characters, he could definitely be in collusion with the magic practitioners.

If only I had evidence, I could drag him down from his position right away.

That guy was meticulous, so he probably wouldn’t have left behind any evidence.

“Everyone, halt!”

At that moment, Terses raised his sword high and shouted.

They had already arrived at the front of the dungeon.

“This is strange. We’ve reached the front of the dungeon, yet there are no monsters at all. This has never happened…”

Terses, who always showed a carefree demeanor, now narrowed his eyes and looked around.

He too seemed to feel a strange sense of unease.

“Is the dungeon closed?”

“That shouldn’t happen.”

“Something seems to be going strangely…”

Other knights and soldiers couldn’t hide their unease either.

“We’ll turn the entire army around! We’re going back to the forward base!”

The moment Terses said that,

Swoosh!

Thud!

A stone, about the size of a person’s head, shot through Terses’s abdomen.

“Cough…!”

In an instant, half of Terses’s abdomen was blown away as he fell from his horse, spewing blood.

Thud.

“What the…!”

“D-Deputy Chief!”

The knights and officers fell into chaos.

Yohan was no exception.

“What on earth is happening…?”

“Deputy Chief!”

Yohan shook his head, trying to maintain his composure as he dismounted and looked at the fallen Terses.

His eyes were dim.

He was on the verge of death.

“R-run…”

Just as he finished speaking, a sharp sound pierced the air.

Boom!

This time, a rock the size of a human head slammed into the ground, sending a storm of dust flying into the air.

“Ugh, ahhh!”

“It’s a special-grade monster!”

“A monstrous beast! Everyone, take cover!”

“Damn it, this is insane!”

Hearing the words “special-grade monster,” Yohan turned his head in the direction the rock had come from.

A monstrous beast with the head of a deer and a humanoid body was looking at him and grinning.

It was about 3 meters tall.

It didn’t appear to be a full-grown specimen, as it was smaller than what was known.

It’s a special-grade.

Regardless, it was a special-grade monster.

One capable of wiping out a significant portion of a battalion and one that the nation regarded with extreme caution.

It was easy to deduce why a special-grade monster was in the smallest dungeon in the south.

Fedelian, you crazy bastard.

Did he intend to kill even the colleagues of the Second Officer? This reminded him once again of his sociopathic nature.

Yohan lowered his body and began to think.

Stay calm.

I can think about Deputy Chief Terses later.

Right now, I need to save the people here.

He didn’t know how the special-grade monster was led this way, but one thing was certain: the root cause of the current situation was the crown prince.

If so, then it was his responsibility to deal with this.

Yohan stood up and shouted.

“Everyone, pay attention! I am taking command from now on! Turn the direction of the horses and retreat!”

“Yes, yes!”

“Turn the horses around!”

“Retreat!”

The soldiers and knights, who had lost their control due to the sudden death of their deputy chief, regained their senses and turned their horses.

Swoosh!

But the rocks were still flying.

Yohan raised his magic to its peak and whispered quietly.

“Ra Entus, Telekinesis.”

Whirrrrr!

The gathered magic from his hands began to spin violently in a spiral.

The rocks that were flying in the air suddenly stopped.

Telekinesis.

“I will face it! Everyone, focus on retreating!”

At that moment Yohan shouted,

Thud, thud, thud—!

The ground began to tremble.

Sensing something was off, Yohan looked back.

Hundreds of monstrous beasts, easily surpassing their numbers, were charging toward this place.

“Oh my god.”

“We’re all going to die…”

“I was going to propose after this mission…!”

Yohan bit his lip.

Is he planning to wipe out the unit coming from the south?

He hadn’t expected that they would be wiped out just to take care of him.

He knew he would pull some petty tricks, but he never thought he would escalate it to this level.

Yohan looked at the special-grade monster in front of him.

It was grinning mockingly, as if to ridicule humanity.

“Looks like it was born not long ago, yet it’s already acting like this.”

Snap! Yohan snapped his fingers and raised two orbs in the air.

“Everyone, spread out! I will create a path!”

The soldiers and knights were in a complete panic, but they were also seasoned veterans who had undergone extensive training.

Even in their disoriented state, they heeded Yohan’s commands.

“Spread out!”

“Spread out!”

Like the parting of the Red Sea, the soldiers split wide open, and Yohan extended his hand to stabilize the direction, glaring with his eyes wide.

“Primary magic.”

A sphere of absorption that spins in a continuous spiral from a single center.

And a sphere of emission that releases magic power, creating intense waves in the surrounding space.

The two entities rotated around each other in perfect synchronization.

Whirrrrr!!

The absorption sphere spun continuously, drawing in the magic power present in the air.

The emission sphere, now infused with magic power, released a formidable energy, generating a fierce wind.

They moved like cogwheels, perfectly meshing and repeating the processes of absorption and emission.

“Spiral Breakthrough.”

Boom! Boom! Boom!

The enormous swirling emission sphere surged forward, tearing apart the space around it.

The following absorption sphere expanded the center of the spiral.

It surged forward at high speed, grinding down the monstrous beasts that stood in its way.

The power was as if it could tear the sky apart.

“Kyaaa!”

The repetition of the emission and absorption of magic.

The ground, which had been swept away by the Spiral Breakthrough, bore marks as if a gigantic worm had passed through.

The monstrous beasts blocking the retreat were ground away in the whirlpool of magic, leaving no trace behind.

“Haah, haah…!”

The sudden, immense drain of magic caused Yohan to gasp for breath.

He clutched his abdomen tightly and shouted.

“Phew, the path is clear…! Retreat!”

No one had the time to be surprised by the power of the primary magic Yohan had unleashed.

“Retreat!”

“Maintain formation!”

“The special-grade magician has cleared the way!”

As knights and soldiers alike dealt with the remaining monster remnants and started to retreat, one of the colleagues from the Second Officer’s team reached out with trembling hands.

“Special Magician Harssen! Hurry and get on!”

“I’m fine.”

“W-What do you mean?”

Yohan walked forward, gathering his magic.

“I’ll hold back the special-grade monster.”