IMYL 18

Chapter 18

“You received word about the illegal warp created by the black mages of the Kingdom of Sebon, didn’t you?”

“W-What?”

Baron Hawin’s eyes darted nervously.

He had indeed received the message—but he had deliberately chosen not to inform his people.

[We will open an illegal warp for you. In exchange, provide us with people and wheat.]

In fact, he had already been secretly looking for orphans—children who wouldn’t be missed if they suddenly disappeared.

The time of true starvation was approaching.

“H-How do you know that…?”

“It’s already a rumor in the capital. The black mages created an illegal warp and are contacting various places for human trafficking. The Mage Tower has been on high alert from the start.”

The capital was where all information gathered.

Especially since the Mage Tower dispatched instructors to the Academy. It wasn’t strange that Brisa would know in advance.

“With the Mage Tower unable to monitor things right now, it’s obvious they would contact the central region first—places that struggle with self-sufficiency. But I wasn’t contacted. That’s probably because I carry the bloodline of Liente.”

The Kingdom of Liente had fallen because of Sebon.

From Sebon’s perspective, there was no reason to contact Brisa.

“But we need wheat too.”

Brisa calmly explained and then pointed to one of the knights—a female knight with short red hair, noticeably paler than the others.

“This one insulted my family. Rather than simply expelling her, I’d rather sell her to the black mages and at least get some wheat in return. However, I don’t know how to contact them.”

“Hmm.”

“What about selling these intruders as well? We’ll split the wheat fifty-fifty.”

The intruders’ eyes widened instantly.

Before their furious protests could erupt, Brisa made her proposal to Baron Hawin.

“Make your decision, Lord.”

She deliberately called him “Lord,” not “Uncle.” The decision was entirely his.

“That’s absurd!”

Baron Hawin shouted, eyes blazing, clenching his fists in genuine fury.

“Half? Our territory has far more people! You only have one! And we’re the ones opening the warp!”

He wasn’t objecting to selling his people.

The intruders stared at him in disbelief.

Was he truly going to sell them to black mages? Just because they had followed orders?

They pleaded desperately.

“M-My daughter? My lord! I’m her only guardian!”

“My elderly mother is at home! Without me, she can’t even move!”

“I have seven children…! Without me, they’ll starve to death!”

Baron Hawin ignored them completely and snapped at Brisa.

“Divide it by headcount! No concessions! You’re the desperate ones!”

At that moment, amid the chaos, one knight approached Brisa and whispered something.

She nodded slightly and said coolly:

“Then negotiate just one thing.”

“What is it?”

“There’s an old man outside the door eavesdropping on us.”

Outside, Baron Forman nearly fainted.

“If we leave him, word will spread through the territory. Sell him too. The wheat from him will be ours.”

At once, the knights rushed out and dragged in Baron Forman, who had been in disguise.

He had no chance to resist.

Strangely, just before entering the room, a knight stuck something onto his face.

“Change your voice. Say those are burn scars.”

Before he could respond, he was shoved inside.

Baron Hawin didn’t recognize him—he was dressed shabbily, hat pulled low, back bent.

While Forman stood there, flustered and unsure what to do—

“So about that illegal warp.”

Brisa spoke calmly.

“It connects to the western port of Delphoben, correct?”

…The West?

Baron Forman swallowed hard.

He knew Hawin had received an illegal warp proposal—but he hadn’t known the destination was a western port.

“No. It’s Delphoben Port.”

After answering Brisa, Hawin turned to Forman.

“Who are you?”

If he took that warp… he could go to the West?

Forman made a quick decision.

“T-There’s no food at home… I-I was going to steal some corn from the granary…”

The former informant put his all into the performance.

“A thief, huh.”

Experience honed by years in intelligence work paid off immediately.

“Bold old fool. Sell him.”

Having easily reached his conclusion, Hawin looked at Brisa and declared generously,

“You can take two shares. No more concessions.”

“Very well.”

Brisa replied evenly.

“Then let’s sell them now. We can do it immediately, can’t we? How do we contact the black mages?”

“…Follow me.”

Hawin took the lead.

Brisa followed.

Behind them, the gagged intruders, the knight Wendy, and Baron Forman were dragged along by the other knights.

‘If I can just reach the West! If my feet touch western soil!’

Forman’s heart pounded.

‘I can request emergency protection!’

Though only a baron, he was a close aide of Grand Duke Nozen—and Leopold’s maternal grandfather.

He possessed one of the rare emergency tracking incenses.

The moment he reached the West, he could secretly use it, and nearby western troops would come.

‘Delphoben? Black mages trafficking humans there?’

If Hilbury found out, he wouldn’t let this stand—but now, of all times, there was the monster wave…

‘Your Grace.’

Forman swallowed dryly.

‘I will return with critical information.’

The shock of hearing “the West” had momentarily frozen his mind, but once outside the baron’s estate, his thoughts began working again.

‘But…’

He finally grasped the situation.

‘Why did that knight hide my identity?’

Ahead of him, platinum-blonde hair shimmered under starlight.

The girl glanced around, then pulled her robe up to conceal her appearance.

Watching her back, Baron Forman felt a chill.

‘Just how far ahead is this young lady thinking?’

* * *

Near Delphoben Port in the West, on a hill.

The dark night was torn apart by flashes like a beast’s claws.

“Skreeeeech!”
“Graaawk!”
“Kieeeeeek!”

Green fluid splattered as monsters screamed.

A black-haired boy chased down the fleeing creatures.

“Lord Leopold, behind you!”

Before the knight could finish shouting, another flash split the air.

It was <Air Severance>, the inherited power passed down through the direct bloodline of the House of Nozen.

<Air Severance> sliced through the air itself, striking enemies across a wide area.

Against a monster wave, it was more powerful than an entire squad of knights.

“Kiaaaaah!”

Each time golden eyes flashed, monster corpses fell.

After annihilating the monsters near the hill in an instant, the boy finally exhaled tiredly.

Sitting on a rock, his features were striking—he had possessed exceptional looks since childhood.

Golden eyes swept over the corpses without emotion.

As always, the bodies and green fluid soon vanished back to another dimension.

The plants on the hill looked intact, but anything touched by the fluid would be inedible for about two weeks.

Even the smallest mushrooms would need two weeks before villagers could gather and eat them.

Still, it was fine. The West was fertile. No one starved there.

“How strange.”

His adjutant approached, shaking his head.

“I’ve never seen a monster wave last this long. And at this scale.”

“…The warp still isn’t working?”

“I heard from a nearby lord—the Mage Tower deliberately shut it down.”

With the warp disabled, Leopold’s knight order had lost contact with the outside.

They couldn’t even reach Grand Duke Nozen. So Leopold and his knights were surviving on their own.

Fortunately, the West was self-sufficient. Food wasn’t a concern.

And once they cleared monsters, roads reopened, and every village they reached rejoiced, crying, “We’re saved!”

But pushing all the way to the western edge meant news traveled slowly.

Without changing expression, Leopold asked:

“So the warp malfunction isn’t limited to the West? The Central, Eastern, and Southern regions as well?”