Tamed Monster - Chapter 132

As if he could read Kuinan’s thoughts, the chained monster weakly waved a hand toward the exit.

[Go.]

[Hm?]

[If I die here… so be it. The moment I escape, I’ll be discovered anyway. Go alone.]

Cough— hack—!

Monsters were not good by nature. Yet even beings like them could sometimes act as if they possessed selflessness—when it served their ultimate purpose. Revenge mattered more than life. Driven by hatred for the Emperor and for humans, this monster willingly sacrificed himself.

“Fine by me.”

Kuinan didn’t hesitate twice. He left the hidden chamber immediately.

The moment the door opened, cool air rushed in, washing through his chest like something cleansing. Even after abandoning a mortally wounded fellow monster, effectively letting him die, Kuinan felt no remorse whatsoever. He passed the still-cawing crows and headed back toward the main palace.

“Now then… time to retrieve Hector’s arm for real.”

At last, a method had occurred to him. How to swap Hector’s arm with the one he’d brought. His eyes flashed, and the corner of his mouth curled upward.

* * *

“Fire!”

Shortly after a soldier’s shout rang out, countless servants and guards rushed forward with buckets of water, desperately trying to extinguish the flames that had climbed the pillars of the imperial villa and were now raging skyward.

The villa, once inhabited by Rossa and several concubines, had been converted into the Emperor’s treasure storehouse after they were expelled from the palace. Among the many rare objects stored within was the severed arm of a leader monster, recently presented by Grand Duke Lancart.

That villa was now engulfed in flames.

It was unmistakably arson.

As they formed frantic lines, hauling water and dousing the inferno, the servants and guards thought grimly. Many would die for this. The culprit could not be identified at once; the Emperor would interrogate suspects and kill many in the process.

Only this building burned. The surrounding grounds and other palaces were untouched. The soldiers who had guarded the palace perimeter that night could not understand it. At the same time, they sensed the brutal future awaiting them and worked desperately, sweat pouring from their bodies.

From a distance, Lancart watched with a relaxed expression and smiled.

He had nearly been discovered by one of the dozen guards. But thanks to someone distracting the man with idle chatter at just the right moment, Kuinan had slipped in unnoticed and successfully replaced the severed arm.

The arm he had freshly cut from another monster’s corpse differed noticeably in size and appearance from Hector’s. The sharp-eyed Myers would likely detect the switch soon enough. Hector’s arm, that were mysteriously preserved, unchanged and unmarred by decay, now rested securely in Kuinan’s possession.

“Who lives or dies because of this… has nothing to do with me.”

Even after spotting a maid collapsed on the roof, sobbing with her body curled in fear, Kuinan looked merely bored. He lifted an eyebrow, twisted one corner of his mouth in a faint smile, watched the fire for a moment longer, then left.

Behind him, dozens of palace attendants continued battling the flames for more than half a day.

When the fire finally began to subside, the Emperor, who had spent the afternoon indulging a concubine and only belatedly arrived, surveyed the exhausted servants. Then he laughed hollowly.

“Ha… such useless creatures.”

After a single sigh, he stepped into the charred remains of the villa. Amid the acrid stench, he soon found what he was looking for.

The severed arm of a monster, once his prized treasure, now shriveled, blackened, oozing like poorly cooked meat.

Of all the offerings the Grand Duke had given him, it had been his favorite. Now it was nothing but ruined trash.

The Emperor’s face twisted more grotesquely than ever before.

“…I’ll kill them all.”

As he ground his teeth and cursed the unknown culprit, Kuinan, having finally opened the cage and perched a crow on the back of his hand, made a deliberate show of leisure before passing attendants. Just as he had told the Emperor, he spent the day simply ‘playing’ with the bird.

He remained there the entire day, appearing to build some inexplicable rapport with the crow. When news of the devastating fire reached him, he even paused briefly in front of the cage, just long enough for it to seem natural.

Thanks to that, rumors spread that he was still the same fool as ever. But not a single suspicion of arson touched him.

And so Kuinan returned safely to the castle by carriage, Hector’s severed arm hidden within his coat.

A few days later, he walked personally to the Golden River and handed the arm over to Hector, who had come out to meet him.