Chapter 15.1

Around noon, three squads joined the main force which was led by Jeff and Askan. Squadrons were divided and scattered to search large areas with efficiency and time in mind.

With their return, seniors of the subjugation army gathered in the central barracks. It was for a meeting that might be the very last.

‘The atmosphere is very strange.’

Jake, a deputy commander of the Imperial Knights of Templar, glanced at the faces sitting around the table. Baron, the commander-in-chief, wore a particularly sharp expression today.

He recalled the words that the Imperial Knights who remained at the headquarters had delivered. Word was that the knights witnessed Baron and Seira together when they went out to search the forest.

‘He said they were standing apart with a cold expression on his face.’

In particular, Baron’s expression was so scary. He thought it could’ve been a big fight beyond their usual bickering. Baron couldn’t contain his emotions which were clear as day. This was quite interesting as usually, the commander-in-chief didn’t bring his personal affairs out to public places.

On the other hand, Seira Askan was merely drinking tea in front of Jake with her usual calm attitude. She was an elegant figure that didn’t match the stark and dry surroundings.

Victor, the Knight Commander of Duke of Franto who inherited the title a few months earlier, was observing the same thing as Jake. He was also one of the three who led the squadrons, so he had little idea of what the situation was about.

The wizard Zion seemed irrelevant to the current atmosphere. All that was left was Count Aven Helford and representatives of the five marquis sitting next to Seira as master-class slayers.

‘Come to think of it, I don’t see Demon Glad.’

Instead, it was Nixon the Knight Commander of the Marquis Glad who attended the meeting on behalf of Damon. He had his head lowered, a dark and brooding expression obvious.

‘Is it because of the other side, not the Duchess Askan?’

Jake glanced at Seira once more and was deeply troubled.

He had another important task aside from leading his men in the subjugation war. And that was to report Seira Askan’s every move to the Emperor Calrad. Every single detail was never left out. Even the smallest things, like what she ate and wore, who she talked to, and what they talked about.

‘I need to know what is truly going on,’ he thought to himself.

Although Baron was the one who sent him to the squad, there weren’t enough eyes left in the main camp. If he left this one out thinking it wasn’t a big deal, then he’d surely get more than just an earful from Calrad.

He was determined to dig deeper into the issue if it truly concerned Seira Askan. While Jake shook his head, reports of the search proceeded.

“We found about twenty lower-class beasts and executed them near Keren territories in charge of Franto.”

“There were no magical beasts that ran to the Brick territory. The original area had little damage, so the defense line was stable.”

“The same for Telon. However, there were a few lower-class beasts that the armed forces killed, to which the bodies were all burned right away.”

Just as expected, the main unit had dealt with the largest number of beasts. There was also a middle-class beast, and the number of lower-class beasts that were eliminated was high. It was a natural result as Baron had been in-charge of everything with the three closest territories to the beast’s nest.

Anyway, it was fortunate that yesterday afternoon’s men were sent and searched again, and no more were found.

“I think we can end the search now,” Baron said, looking at every person sitting around the round table. “As of this hour, our mission is over. After the break, I will leave for the court early tomorrow morning.”

The mood lifted with the commander-in-chief’s announcement. Everyone was already tired of fighting the beasts. Subjugation wars usually lasted for as long as a year and as short as several months.

“Ugh, it’s finally over.”

Zion looked the most relieved. It was no ordinary thing for Zion to lead other wizards who were quite sensitive and had poor stamina.

“Then I’ll get ready to go home,” Seira muttered as she was about to stand up.

“You must go to the imperial palace!” Jake shouted urgently at Seira. All eyes turned to him, but he jumped up and repeatedly stressed it to her. “This time, you must come back together, Duchess Askan. His Majesty said that it is the price of a promise to meet him.”

What Jake meant was that to receive the price of Calrad’s promise, which was the three-year tax exemption, Seira must seek an audience with him.

Seira stared at Jake, whose face was full of desperation, and she soon nodded as she said, “I will.”

Her response contained nothing special in it. The moment she turned around, the black jacket that hung from Seira’s shoulder fell off, and Aven reached out to put it over her again.

“Thank you, Aven,” Seira told him.

Even throughout the empire, her rare purple eyes turned soft when she looked at her vassal. Aven gently arranged Seira’s slightly ruffled hair, and then took her papers off the table.

With everyone holding their breath, their eyes followed her steps out of the barracks. They were all fascinated by the overwhelming beauty of the 24-year-old, perfectly blooming pure-blooded Omega. It wasn’t until her figure completely left the barracks that the men found themselves breathing again.

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