Chapter 488: Familiarity

“Wh-what... is this...”

The Rat King stared blankly at the shadow that was steadily growing larger, his expression terrified.

That was Wood.

The Wood who had originally been on the verge of death slowly rose from the ground amid cries of pain and despair.

His already tall frame suddenly swelled by a full size, tearing apart his clothes. The muscles exposed outside were like coiled pythons.

At the same time, sharp bone spurs pierced through his skin, bloodily extending from his back and joints. Dense black body hair stood up like steel needles, flashing with a cold light.

As for the hands that had been scraping across the ground until they were a bloody mess, they had already become savage giant claws, easily leaving deep gouges in the floor.

“I... raaah—”

Rationality quickly drained from Wood’s blood-red eyes. Very soon he could no longer pronounce complete words; only bloodthirsty instinct remained. Foul drool flowed from the corner of his mouth and dripped onto the floor, where it sizzled and corroded like a potent acid.

In just the blink of an eye, Wood had gone from a human to a complete and utter monster.

Yet he was not the only one who turned into a monster.

Wood’s first roar was like some kind of command. Those subordinates of his who had just surrendered suddenly all fell to their knees together, and changes similar to Wood’s—though somewhat weaker in degree—also began to occur on them.

This was also why Muen did not strike immediately. At the very first moment the mutation began, he understood that this was not a problem that could be solved by casually hacking off one or two heads.

“This is... beastification?”

Muen pressed down the brim of his top hat. He did not show the same fear as the Rat King, but the eyes hidden in the shadow of the brim grew steadily darker.

Whether it was Wood or his subordinates, their current appearance was very similar to the beastified state of people who possessed certain ** bloodlines.

For example, his former lackey and now friend, Eamon—he could transform into a werewolf under certain circumstances or external stimuli.

And the hyenas that once chased him through the Forest of Dead Doom—that had also been «N.o.v.e.l.i.g.h.t» a kind of beastification.

However, Wood’s current beastification gave Muen a different feeling.

It was as if something that should not exist had been added into this transformation, making it even more terrifying and hideous.

“This is the gift you sent me?” Muen looked at the voice-transmission stone.

“Yes, quite nice, isn’t it? Enjoy it properly, Bruce... ‘sir.’ I wish you a delightful day.”

Old Ghost let out a mocking laugh and disconnected the transmission stone.

The beeping of the disconnect echoed on the rooftop, mixed with the low, pained roars nearby, making the scene especially chilling.

“Heh, this gift really does show how much heart he put into it.”

Muen curled his lips, but there was no smile on his face.

“L-Lord Bruce, what do we do now?”

The Rat King finally snapped out of his stupor and hurried over in a fluster.

Even though he had been struggling in the Lower District for a long time, he had absolutely no experience dealing with this kind of monster.

So he could only pin his hopes on the mysterious Mr. Bruce, whose depths he still could not see.

“What do we do? Let me think...”

Muen surveyed their surroundings. During the Rat King’s earlier assault, many of Wood’s subordinates had already died, but in this building there were still at least dozens of people who belonged to Wood.

They had all turned into those monsters.

This caused their strength to skyrocket. The Rat King’s men who had originally been able to suppress them easily were suddenly plunged into bitter combat.

From deep in the building, faintly, there were already shrill screams drifting out.

“Retreat.”

Muen spoke suddenly.

“Eh?”

The Rat King froze.

“Retreat?”

He turned his head and looked around.

The noon sunlight scattered rippling light across the distant Gurein River. Following that riverbank back with his gaze, he could see busy figures still moving through the streets and alleys.

This was the most densely populated area of the Lower District. Otherwise this tavern could never have been called a den of gold-dissipation. The earlier battle and commotion had not attracted any outside attention only because the powerful magic formation and the something Mr. Bruce had set up sealed everything off.

But if these monsters broke into the district...

“What? Are you worried about those ordinary residents?”

While the Rat King’s mind was wandering, he suddenly realized that Muen was watching him with a half-smile.

“No, Mr. Bruce.”

The Rat King bowed his head.

“I just meant that if we simply retreat like this, in outsiders’ eyes it will undoubtedly look like you immediately knuckled under to Old Ghost. It will seem like fear. That would be... very bad for your reputation...”

“Relax. I have no intention of knuckling under to that megalomaniac. What I mean is, ‘you all’ retreat.”

“We?”

The Rat King’s eyes suddenly went wide.

“Don’t tell me you...”

“Of course. Since it’s a gift from Old Ghost to me, I naturally have to enjoy it alone to be worthy of his respect, right?”

Muen smiled and patted the Rat King on the shoulder.

“Go. Your men won’t hold out much longer.”

“...”

The Rat King stared seriously into Muen’s eyes. This was the first time he had dared to look at him this “disrespectfully,” but even at such close range, he still could not see what hid behind those lake-deep pupils.

Yet there was still a power in his words that compelled unconditional trust.

“I understand.”

The Rat King bowed and then began giving orders to his own subordinates.

“Everyone, retreat. Seal off the surroundings, move!”

Once the command was given, the Rat King led all his men in skillfully disengaging from those monsters and withdrawing in an orderly fashion.

The Rat King did not dawdle either. He simply leapt straight off the rooftop. At this height, with the help of his magic armor, it wasn’t enough to pose any real threat to him.

“Raaah...”

Not far away, the monster that Wood had become had been pacing back and forth. It seemed to be searching for Muen’s weakness, yet also seemed afraid of something and did not dare attack. Noticing the fleeing Rat King and his men, the monster immediately let out a roar, its blood-red eyes locking onto the direction the Rat King had vanished.

But it didn’t even manage to take a single step.

“Hey.”

The calm voice rang out like an ordinary, friendly greeting, but that simple sound made Wood, who had completely lost his reason after beastification, freeze in place, not daring to move.

Low, rumbling growls rolled in its throat as it turned its head and stared at Muen, its two sharp front claws scratching anxiously at the floor.

It paced back and forth again.

Like a wild beast that had encountered another wild beast—until the other side made a move, it absolutely did not dare act lightly.

“I have to say, it’s still dealing with monsters like you that feels familiar.”

Judging that the Rat King had probably withdrawn successfully and fully sealed off the building, Muen finally drew his pure white twin blades at a leisurely pace.

The moment the blades left their scabbards, they let out a rapid hum, as if expressing their dissatisfaction that Muen had been using other weapons all this time.

Muen gently soothed Elizabeth and turned his gaze on Wood in front of him, as well as the monsters that had lost their other targets and were now being drawn to the only living aura, slowly gathering toward him.

“Mr. Old Ghost’s gift is heavy, but he seems to have no idea... when it comes to fighting people, I’m not that familiar. But fighting monsters? I’m way too familiar with that. So familiar it’s practically like coming home.”

Muen suddenly tightened his grip on the hilts. His imposing presence swept outward, and on that deep, borrowed face, something that hadn’t appeared in a long time surfaced—a slightly excited feral grin.

“So, family, can you be a bit more enthusiastic, okay?”

......

......

“President, the intel you wanted is here.”

With a creak, the door opened. Veil wobbled into the room, hugging a stack of files taller than her head.

After finally managing to plop the documents down on the desk in front of Celicia, Veil immediately pulled a bitter face and started complaining:

“Phew, I’m exhausted. I didn’t expect it to be this heavy.”

“You need to work out.”

“But I’m a mage, you know. A mage only needs to study magic. Working out is something only heretics do.”

“You’re a mage, but that’s no excuse for already starting to get a little belly.”

“Ugh, President’s poisonous tongue... it hurts...”

Veil acted like she’d taken a heavy blow, bumping her little head against Celicia’s desk, then rolling it around on the desk out of boredom.

“Speaking of which, President, didn’t you already look over these missing-person cases in the Lower District a few months ago? Why are you having me dig them out again?”

“There are still some questionable points I need to confirm.”

Celicia didn’t even lift her head, still diligently bent over her work. File after file was flipped through at incredible speed. Occasionally she would pull out a sheet or two and sort them into another pile.

“You’ve been working all morning.”

“It’s only one morning. It’s fine.”

Perhaps remembering that she really hadn’t rested in quite a while, Celicia reached out for the coffee cup at her side.

But when her hand touched the light cup, she realized it was already completely empty.

“Veil, coffee.”

“Alright, alright... sigh, having a workaholic President is really my misfortune as a secretary.”

Veil heaved a long sigh and dragged herself off to pour coffee for Her Excellency the President.

“The usual?”

“No, double sugar this time.”

“Double?”

Veil jumped in fright.

“President, your normal sweetness level is already—”

Celicia rubbed her temples. “I need sugar. Less nonsense, hurry.”

“Oh.”

Veil quickly made Celicia a cup of double-sugar coffee. The coffee was so thick when stirred that it was hard to imagine how much sugar had been added.

Celicia took a light sip, and a trace of satisfaction appeared on her cool little face. Veil blinked as she watched, feeling that her President always looked a little bit cute in moments like this.

“By the way, President, are you working this hard now because you want to help that scumbag?”

Veil suddenly remembered something and asked offhand.

“...”

Celicia’s working posture stopped abruptly. She slowly raised her head and stared at Veil expressionlessly.

“What do you mean?”

Veil was so startled she immediately hunched her shoulders.

“N-no... um... it’s just that after Muen Campbell came by before, you suddenly started...”

“You think I work for his sake?”

“N-no... I... I...”

“Veil, are you so bored lately that you’ve started having these inexplicable thoughts? Seems I need to find something for you to do... how about losing that little belly within a month? Just run ten kilometers a day, it’ll be easy...”

“I was wrong, please forgive me, President!”

Veil prostrated herself respectfully on the floor, very sincerely admitting fault and apologizing.

Joking aside—for an ultimate shut-in like her, who would use magic even just to go for a walk if she could, running ten kilometers a day would be fatal.

“I am a princess of the Empire. I do not act specifically for anyone, nor will I truly lean toward any one side.”

Celicia finally withdrew her gaze.

“I act only for the Empire.”

“Mhm mhm, for the Empire!”

Veil nodded obediently.

Whether it was true or not, she would just treat it as true for now.

Celicia suddenly stood up.

“Eh-eh, President, where are you going? You’re not working anymore?”

“Bath.”

“At this time? Why?”

“I’m going out later.”

“Going out?”

Veil’s eyes went wide in shock.

“But aren’t you currently still... still under house arrest? If you go out and someone finds out...”

“I really can’t be found out, no.”

Celicia nodded, then said:

“But I have a professional mage-secretary, don’t I? A simple task like this should be a piece of cake for her.”

“Huh?”

Veil froze on the spot.

“Me?”

“Who else?”

Celicia walked straight toward the bathroom in the inner room.

“Do your best, mage lady. If we’re discovered, at worst Father will just scold me. But you...”

Celicia suddenly looked back, her expression still that same ice-cold mask without a ripple of emotion.

“...might lose your head.”

“...”

Celicia stepped into the bathroom.

Closed the door.

The sound of running water started.

Only after a long while did Veil finally react. She smacked herself in the face and wailed:

“Why did I have to run my mouth... uuu...”