Tamed Monster - Chapter 68

“So cute.”

“How—how was it? Did you find anything?”

The fact that he returned safely and nonchalantly implied the answer. There were clearly no monsters lurking outside.

Still, Sylvia wanted a definitive answer and pressed her lips against his chest. Looking down at the cute figure, Lancart groaned.

“Should I tell the truth… or lie…”

Muttering to himself loudly enough for her to hear, he seemed intent on revealing a disturbing truth. Sylvia began to tremble.

Not a single insect sound had been heard outside until that moment, but as he finished speaking, an ominous noise began.

Sssshh—

Ssssh, sssllluurrr—

The guards on watch startled and drew their swords. Her husband calmly readjusted his grip on his sword.

Sylvia, clutching the dagger in her limp left hand, squeezed its handle hard. Pushing him away and stepping out of his arms, she pointed the dagger outside the tent.

“It’s an ambush—!”

“Monster attack! Over thirty of them! Knights, protect the Duke—!”

Two knights dashed to retrieve weapons specialized for fighting monsters, while the others hurriedly surrounded the Duke’s tent. Thirty monsters was a manageable number depending on their ranks.

Lancart gently stroked his wife’s hair, unfazed by the situation.

“Don’t panic. You won’t die.”

The phrase “you won’t” stirred something in Sylvia’s heart—almost like a romantic promise to protect her alone. But her husband’s gaze lacked any such affection.

Just as she began to ponder what it meant, a terrifying scream rang out.

“Kyeaaak—!”

The seemingly least intelligent monster charged like a wild boar. The knights shouted and drew their swords, while servants fired poison-coated arrows. One arrow grazed the monster’s skin; soon, it fell with a loud thud.

“……”

Both monsters and humans fell into a brief silence. The servants, inexperienced in battle and terrified of death, had fired their bows while holding back tears.

After accidentally killing a monster, their fighting spirit ignited. The long silence was broken.

“Uwaaaah!”

“Die, you filthy monster bastards…!”

Forgetful of fear, the servants charged wildly. Lancart deliberately did not control them. Knights tried to call them back by name but soon, the servants vanished into the fog.

The knights gritted their teeth and gathered protectively around the Duke and Duchess.

“We won’t be careless, my lord.”

“We will protect you, my lady. Don’t worry.”

The servants carried around twenty arrows total. They likely killed about five monsters. Thanks to Lancart’s efforts to keep them alert, they destroyed themselves.

Surely, Hector’s clone also hid somewhere in the fog.

“Of course, we must not be careless.”

For the first time, he spoke like a true lord. Though he didn’t mean to express concern for their lives, more than half the knights misunderstood his words.

Earlier, Lancart had gone alone to meet Hector, who had been calling to him with crow cries, and made a pact: to annihilate the humans.

‘The only witness I need is my wife.’

Unaware of the cruel monster their lord truly was, the knights’ eyes shone with anticipation.

Lancart had no intention of showing Sylvia the brutal slaughter of those knights. At the right moment, they would escape. After the narrow land beneath them turned to chaos.

“Hold me tight. Don’t swing your weapon.”

As he gave this strange warning twice and sent the knights out, hell broke loose. The knights’ dying screams pierced Sylvia’s eardrums.

Soon, she was dragged into darkness, deaf and blind, to a place where the torchlight couldn’t reach.

In about ten minutes, the hunt ended. It wasn’t thirty monsters, but one hidden among them—Hector—that sealed the fight quickly.