I Don’t Need the Grand Duke’s Regret - Chapter 69

“Isota, you say?”

A knight, who was resting before the next shift, looked puzzled. He directed a doubtful question to Ezio, who had delivered the order.

“Isn’t there some mistake? We haven’t found Lady Armilla yet, and now Isota? Are you saying we’re to hunt the beasts now?”

“…Lady Armilla’s bracelet was found in the Isota Canyon.”

The room fell silent at Ezio’s explanation, as if cold water had been poured over them. The faces of the knights, including the one who had asked the question, turned pale.

One of the knights managed to speak with a stunned expression.

“The, then Lady Armilla, by the beast…”

“Quiet! Do you want to die?”

Ezio silenced the knight while gearing up in his armor.

The knight was startled by Ezio’s warning and covered his own mouth. Mentioning Armilla’s death was a punishable offense. It was an unspoken rule in Renato.

“Damn it, everyone get up! We need to go now!”

Ezio urged the knights with a tense voice.

Ricardo had gone to Isota alone.

It was still before the morning shift had returned. The afternoon team needed time to prepare, before they could depart. But Ricardo had been reckless despite knowing this clearly.

The Grand Duke had ventured alone into a place teeming with beasts. They needed to hurry to reach him as soon as possible.

“There’s no time to chat. Move!”

Shocked by the unsettling news, the knights quickly geared up at Ezio’s urging. Accustomed to war, they swiftly donned their armor and weapons and left the barracks.

Leading the well-prepared knights, Ezio marched forward. He pulled the reins and headed towards Isota.

Praying that the Grand Duke wouldn’t lose his reason…

* * *

Stab.

The blue blade pierced through the tough hide. The sword precisely targets the heart and mercilessly gouges it out of the beast.

Ricardo slaughtered yet another beast with an expressionless face. The number of which he had lost count of.

‘This one isn’t it either.’

Ricardo kicked the dying beast away and withdrew his sword. He then flicked the sword, scattering the blood on the blade onto the ground, and moved forward with long strides.

Cloaked in black and wielding a blood-stained sword, he resembled a grim reaper.

Behind Ricardo lay a trail of beast carcasses. Yet, he wasn’t satisfied and continued to search for another target.

Somewhere here, there must be the leader beast.

The vile creature that feasted on Armilla.

Unlike ordinary beasts that prey on wild animals, the leader beast hunts humans. If Armilla had been devoured by the leader, opening up the beast’s belly might reveal her.

Her remains.

Arriving at the downstream part of the Isota Canyon, Ricardo slaughtered any beast in sight, luring out the leader.

As Ricardo indifferently observed the red blood on his sword, the ground trembled with a thud.

Ricardo calmly lifted his head.

“Growl…”

A creature several times the size of a man. The leader beast stood before Ricardo.

“Finally, you show yourself.”

Ricardo spoke unfazed and tightened his grip on the sword as the beast let out a threatening growl. The bone-chilling sound echoed through the canyon, enough to make any ordinary person flee in terror.

“Did you kill Armilla?”

Ricardo spoke calmly, adjusting the grip on his sword. He slightly crouched and turned his feet.

Adjusting the stance with a raised sword, he muttered under his breath before charging at the leader beast.

“Well, questioning a beast is pointless, isn’t it?”

With a self-mockery, Ricardo stepped on the ground.

He soared into the air, positioning his sword towards the beast’s eyes. The sword sliced through the air, and Ricardo landed on top of the beast.

His movements were precise.

Ricardo’s sword pierced the beast’s eye. He drove his sword deeper into the thrashing beast, maintaining his balance atop it.

After withdrawing his sword, he targeted the beast’s pupils, the space between the eyes, the ankles, and the heart in succession.

Ricardo relentlessly stabbed at the beast’s vital points until it drew its final breath.

Thud!

Finally, the giant body of the beast collapsed. Only then did Ricardo drop his sword that had struck relentlessly.

He jumped down from the beast’s body and stared at his blood-stained sword.

“Your Grace, are you alright?”

Ezio called out in haste, leading the knights.

He had come to check on Ricardo’s safety, but was at a loss for words at the sight spread out before him in the canyon.

Dozens of carcasses were strewn across the expansive canyon.

If the beasts had been human, Ricardo would have been dubbed a brutal murderer. The manner in which the beasts were slain was that cruel.

And the sheer number of them. It seemed it would take months just to clear the carcasses.

The knights following Ezio were equally shocked at the sight of the beast carcasses.

They were well aware of the Grand Duke’s exceptional swordsmanship, having been under his command in battlefields. The Grand Duke in war was indeed like the ruler of the dark night and icy sword.

But this, this was beyond human capacity.

To single-handedly annihilate a herd of beasts.

“Master…?”

Ezio, who was inspecting the cleanly struck carcasses only struck at its vital points, looked stunned.

Ricardo was dissecting the leader beast’s body…

“Master!”

Despite Ezio’s call, Ricardo paid no heed. He was slicing open the beast’s belly, rummaging through its entrails.

His beautiful face was splattered with red blood, and his black hair fluttered in the blizzard. His purple eyes while dissecting the dead beast, bore a hint of madness.

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