Isaac paused for a fraction of a second, then seamlessly resumed his stride, continuing in the same direction as if nothing were amiss. ‘This is a bit troublesome,’ he thought.

Somehow, he had wandered into a secluded alleyway. Although the sun was still up, pedestrians had thinned out once he left the market streets behind. And along this deserted path, he could hear the sound of unfamiliar footsteps trailing him.

Two, no, three of them. They weren’t even trying to hide their presence—neither their footsteps nor the sharp hostility that practically pricked his skin.….. Who could it be?

He tried to think of anyone in Heilen who might harbor enough malice to stalk him, but nothing came to mind.

Let’s see. He could probably manage two, but three is going to be a bit tight.

Isaac tapped the back of his neck. Though he couldn’t help but sigh because his lower body was still aching, he was at least glad to have plenty of stamina.

Massaging the back of his neck, Isaac tilted his head left and right to stretch. Then, with his very next step, he bolted into a side alley.

As if on cue, the footsteps behind him instantly grew frantic. “CHASE HIM!” a low, harsh shout echoed from around the corner.

The neatly gridded alleys had rather long blocks. Isaac began to run, keeping the block to his side, and the three men charged after him.

A quick glance back revealed unfamiliar faces. At the very least, they weren’t people who held a personal grudge against Isaac…… though their eyes were brimming with an intense, burning hostility for total strangers.

As he raced down one side of the block, Isaac could tell they were fast on their feet and likely decent fighters. Taking on all three at once was out of the question. Fortunately, however, they didn’t seem particularly bright. Or perhaps they had simply underestimated him.

As Isaac rounded the corner of the block, the men exchanged quick glances. Soon, one of them veered off into a side alley—clearly intending to flank Isaac and trap him in the middle. This was exactly what Isaac had hoped they would do.

“Thanks…..!”

Isaac muttered under his breath and slowed his pace slightly. The moment he judged that the footsteps of the man flanking him had drifted far enough away, he spun around. The remaining two men were charging straight at him. Startled by Isaac’s sudden turnabout, they faltered for a fraction of a second, but they immediately bared their teeth and lunged. “Got you, you bastard…..!”

It would take the flanking man at least a minute to clear the block and make his way back here. That was more than enough time to deal with the two in front of him—if not to knock them out completely, then at least to leave them in no condition to give chase.

Once he shakes these two off, he’ll let the last one catch up, drag him somewhere far away, and beat the truth out of him. Why is this man chasing him?

Quick to calculate, Isaac dodged a wild swing, grabbed the attacker’s forearm, and threw his entire body weight downward. The man let out a startled “Huh?” as he was caught off guard, and immediately afterward,

*Crack.* The sound of a shoulder dislocating was instantly followed by a bloodcurdling scream.

“Sorry. My absolute favorite specialty is striking first before the opponent can prepare. I had no choice since I’m fighting two of you.”

“It’s not life-threatening, so don’t hold too much of a grudge, alright?” Isaac added. He ducked to avoid a punch from the second man, who was lunging at him with wide, furious eyes, shouting, “YOU SON OF A BITCH….!” Isaac considered grabbing him, but the man had clearly learned from his partner’s swift defeat; he was tense, warily watching Isaac’s every movement. This wouldn’t do.

But if Isaac couldn’t handle one unharmed man and one with a useless arm, he wouldn’t have survived his rough life up to this point anyway. Unless, of course, these men were monsters like his prince.

“Sorry,” Isaac said shortly once more. As the man threw a punch, Isaac slipped inside his guard and drove a fist straight into his solar plexus. Feigning an uppercut to draw the guard up before striking another exposed vital spot was one of Isaac’s favorite tricks.

“It’s not exactly playing fair, but I’d say it’s still better than three guys ganging up on one,” Isaac muttered to himself as if making an excuse. He followed up immediately with a devastating uppercut to the chin of the groaning, doubled-over man. The fist connected perfectly. The blow would have rattled the man’s brain.

Sure enough, the man staggered back, his vision spinning. Seeing this, the first man, still clutching his dislocated shoulder, tried to mount another attack, but his movements were already sluggish.

Just then, the sound of footsteps rounding the block echoed nearby. Perfect, Isaac thought, taking a step back. Now all he had to do was lure the third man away, isolate him, and interrogate him as planned. ——Or so he thought, until……

“……—.”

The man who rounded the corner froze at the sight before him. His face contorted as he quickly assessed the situation, and he drew his sword. Isaac’s eyes locked onto the tassel hanging from the hilt—specifically, the emblem attached to it.

He’s one of Roberni’s men.

He might not be a direct subordinate, but carrying that emblem meant he was an official member of Roberni’s faction.

Roberni’s reach extended not just to the capital, but across the entire kingdom. It wasn’t surprising that they had a presence here in Heilen, but why were they targeting him?

“Isaac Rafaud, you bastard!”

But he had no time to ponder. The man lunged at him, brandishing his blade. Realizing they knew his name and that this was no case of mistaken identity, Isaac knew he couldn’t afford to waste another second.

With his back to the two men blocking the path behind him, Isaac charged directly toward the armed man rushing at him from the front. Damn, he’s faster than I thought. Judging by the way he gripped his hilt and carved through the air, the man’s swordsmanship was highly competent. He couldn’t block this barehanded. His only option was to dodge and run…… But it wasn’t going to be easy.

Isaac clicked his tongue. Whipping off his outer shirt, he waited until the gap between them closed to a mere five paces, then threw the fabric right over the man’s face. Simultaneously, he kicked off the ground and bolted past.

Isaac had intended to slip past while the man’s vision was obscured, but his opponent was sharper than calculated. Instead of brushing the shirt away, the man slashed straight through it, and that single sweep of his blade caught Isaac.

In that split second, Isaac had to make a choice. Duck and retreat, or take the cut and press forward. His decision was—

……to sacrifice his shoulder.

“……—.”

Blood sprayed.

The blade bit deeply, carving from the top of his shoulder down to his upper arm. Isaac gritted his teeth and pushed his legs to their absolute limit. Having finally cleared the shredded shirt from his face, the man sprinted after him, swinging his sword once more, but the cold steel only grazed Isaac’s back before whistling harmlessly through empty air.

From behind, the man let out a curse-filled roar, but Isaac didn’t look back. The footsteps of his frantic pursuer gradually grew faint, and after weaving through several sharp turns in the alleys, the sounds vanished entirely.

His arm felt as if it were on fire. He could feel blood gushing heavily from the deep gash. 「MEOW!」 the cats cried, having caught up and run alongside him at some point. They urged him to stop so they could lick the wound clean.

“No, in a minute.”

Isaac whispered in a low voice, keeping his pace steady.
Roberni’s faction was targeting him. If so, those three might not be the only ones looking to attack him at this very moment. More of them could spring out from the next alley, or the one after that. With no real grasp of these winding streets, Isaac was at a severe disadvantage. It was far safer to head back to the detached palace as quickly as possible.

Isaac clutched his bleeding shoulder and ran toward the detached palace without pause.
As he ran, his mind raced. Why are Roberni’s people targeting me?

Even searching through his memories, he couldn’t find a single clue. He had never even spoken to anyone from Roberni’s faction. At most, he had occasionally watched them pass from a distance; he had absolutely no connection to them. The only time he had even been in close proximity to them recently was back in the capital, when he was with the prince——.

“He’s here!”

It was then.

Having finally reached the detached palace, Isaac slowed his steps as he saw the gatekeeper, who cried out the moment he spotted him. It was a familiar face, a guard he had gotten to know during his stay here. Just earlier, they had shared a few lighthearted jokes and smiles when Isaac left. Yet now, the guard’s face was pale and frantic.

Seeing Isaac’s bewildered expression, the gatekeeper seemed flustered himself. Fumbling over his words, he quickly opened the gates. “P-Please, hurry inside. It seems the high lords have been looking for you.” His fellow guards awkwardly exchanged glances and stepped aside.

An uneasy sensation crept over him. It felt like a dark, looming premonition.

Under their strange, tense gazes as they stood back, Isaac clutched his shoulder and stepped through the gates of the detached palace. As he walked toward the main estate, he could feel eyes watching him from a distance—as if covertly monitoring him to ensure he didn’t try to flee elsewhere.

Isaac’s pace slowed, step by step. And when he finally reached the front of the main building, his feet ground to a complete halt at the sight of a crowd of people spilling out of the double doors.

At the very front of the crowd stood the prince. He strode forward with long, urgent steps, completely ignoring the people trailing behind him who were sweating profusely and muttering anxiously. Even his habitually expressionless face was dark with a fierce, dangerous aura. His expression was bone-chillingly cold, as if he might rip out the throat of anyone who dared make a single mistake beside him.

“Prince Kyan, there is no need for you to personally go out. If you would just wait……”
A man beside him was speaking warily, trying to read his mood. But the prince descended the steps without paying him any heed—until his gaze locked onto Isaac, who stood waiting in the courtyard. At that exact moment, the prince’s steps froze.

“……—.”

His face was so fierce it sent a shiver straight down Isaac’s spine. Isaac looked up at the prince in dazed confusion. Those terrifyingly cold, sharp eyes stared intently at Isaac—as if looking at something that had suddenly materialized out of nowhere.

The prince’s drilling gaze suddenly dropped to Isaac’s shoulder. The hand clutching his upper arm, as well as the arm hanging limply below, was completely drenched in blood. The moment he saw it, the prince’s jaw visibly clenched.

“ISAAC!”

Someone standing behind the prince cried out. Reflexively tearing his eyes away from the prince, Isaac looked toward the voice. It was a stranger. Though they might have passed each other once or twice in the palace, they were by no means close enough for the man to shout his name in a setting like this.

But the moment that shout rang out, every single eye in the courtyard swiveled toward Isaac. Finding himself the sudden center of attention, Isaac looked around in bewilderment.

The prince looked down with a freezing, rigid expression. Standing right beside him was a man Isaac recognized from the royal palace in the capital. An administrator highly trusted by the royal family, he was clad in the uniform of a royal messenger. He had likely brought some official decree from the capital.

Suddenly, Isaac remembered the forerunner messenger who had arrived just as he was leaving the detached palace earlier. He had left the palace thinking that some urgent and grave matter would soon be delivered.

It turned out this administrator was the very messenger who had delivered that grave matter, and he was staring at Isaac with wide, bulging eyes. Beside him, as if confirming Isaac’s identity, a scribe who seemed to have accompanied him as an assistant barked at the guards.

“WHAT ARE YOU DOING?! ARREST HIM AT ONCE!”

The scribe’s shout echoed loudly across the courtyard, and the surrounding guards rushed toward Isaac. Watching the guards charge at him, Isaac could only stand frozen in place.

He had no idea what was happening, nor how things had suddenly spun so wildly out of control.

Isaac merely looked around in utter shock as the first guard reached out and grabbed his arm. But in that exact instant——

Shhhk.

With a chilling, swift movement, the scribe’s head tumbled to the ground.

Blood geysered like a fountain from the headless torso. The people nearby screamed and scrambled backward. Shock and sheer panic erupted among the retreating crowd.

Amidst the chaos, the prince slowly flicked his sword to clear the blood, his expression utterly blank as he stared at Isaac. His gaze shifted to the guards holding Isaac, who turned pale as sheets, instantly released their grip, and stumbled back. Yet, still ringed by guards keeping a cautious step’s distance, Isaac looked up at the prince in absolute bewilderment.

“Why are you hurt?”

The prince asked. His eyes remained locked on Isaac’s arm, where blood was still dripping steadily.

“Roberni’s……”

Startled into responding, Isaac caught himself and stopped mid-sentence, suddenly realizing how many eyes were watching. The corner of the prince’s tightly set mouth twitched.

Meanwhile, the administrator, who had been frozen white at the sight of the scribe’s severed head, seemed to snap back to reality upon hearing the name Roberni. He raised his head and glared at Isaac.

“Isaac Rafaud, by order of the Grand Duke, you are hereby arrested as the prime suspect in the assassination of Prince Kyan and will be extradited to the capital immediately. Any appeals or statements will be heard there. ——What are you doing?! Seize him at once!”

The administrator roared fiercely at the guards, who looked back and forth between the prince and the administrator before hesitantly reaching for Isaac once more. Isaac merely stared blankly at the administrator. Suspect in the assassination of Lord Leon. The weight of those words refused to sink in, and he could only repeat the phrase in his mind.

“Hands off.”

The prince spoke, his cold gaze resting on the dazed Isaac. The guards who had been tentatively holding Isaac flinched, dropped their hands, and looked warily at the administrator. The administrator clicked his tongue in vexation, then turned back to the prince with a grave expression. He cast a fleeting glance at Isaac before reaching his hand out to his assistant, taking the object his subordinate respectfully proffered.

It was a document, likely stamped with the Grand Duke’s official seal, and a sphere about the size of a fist. The dark, squishy-looking object was deeply familiar. He had seen it not long ago, during his attempt to scry the witch.

When the administrator placed the sphere on his palm, it dissolved like smoke after a moment and floated into the air. The dark, hazy mist expanded gradually until it grew larger than a person’s embrace, turning semi-transparent as it rippled. Then, an image began to form within it.

What appeared clearly now was the sight of Isaac and the prince.

The prince, shaking off a sword drenched in blood, and Isaac kneeling before him. Scattered all around them were lifeless corpses.

That is——the moment the prince slaughtered Roberni’s subordinates.

The smoke inside the sphere swirled once more, transitioning to another scene. This, too, showed Isaac and the prince. It was the night they had headed to an abandoned factory on the outskirts of the capital after receiving word that Roberni’s faction was gathering there.

Additionally, the sphere displayed more scenes of Roberni’s men dying gruesome deaths. Amidst those brutal demises stood the prince, and at times, Isaac right beside him.

“……—.”

Isaac watched blankly as the hazy smoke suddenly turned pitch-black, gradually shrinking back into that squishy, dark sphere before dropping back onto the administrator’s palm.

That is the record of the one who slaughtered Roberni’s faction.

The mysterious killer of Roberni’s men – the very culprit who had assassinated Lord Leon, the Grand Duke’s son – was contained within that recording.

Every soul in the courtyard fell dead silent. No one dared utter a word. Despite the crowd gathered in front of the detached palace, the courtyard was quiet as the grave.

Unspoken glances darted frantically through the crowd. They looked sidelong at the prince, at Isaac, at the administrator, and at one another. The administrator stared solely at Isaac with a solemn countenance, while the prince looked down at Isaac with an unreadable expression. As for Isaac……

“……”

Isaac was quick-witted. His judgment was sharp, and he possessed enough worldly wisdom to understand how things worked. Because of this, he grasped the situation almost instantly.

Everyone present, including the Grand Duke, who had issued the order to extradite Isaac as the prime suspect, undoubtedly knew who the real killer of Roberni’s men was. Although the recording did not explicitly show the prince slaying anyone or Lord Leon actually dying, anyone looking at the blood-stained sword, the prince drenched in blood as he cleared his blade, and Isaac standing by his side like an attendant would never truly believe Isaac was the culprit.

They all knew.

The Grand Duke, the administrator, the prince, Isaac, and everyone else.

Yet, no one possessed the power to formally brand the real killer of Roberni’s men as the ‘culprit’ and arrest him. The colossal political fallout was something even the grieving Grand Duke himself could not bear.

Who could possibly arrest the greatest hero of the age? How could they cover up the sordid actions and scandals of Lord Leon that would inevitably be dragged into the light? How could they definitively name a culprit and seal the case when there was no ‘decisive footage’—especially when the target of their accusation was none other than this man?

There was no one capable of bearing that burden. Nor was there anyone willing to try.

Despite this, the grim details of the Roberni affair had been laid bare, and a scapegoat had to be captured for the assassination of a royal. That being the case, only one solution remained.
They had to sacrifice the person who appeared persistently throughout the recording—someone whose arrest the public and the court could easily stomach.

Even if that person had merely acted under the prince’s orders, the prince would not be able to shield him under these circumstances. He would have no choice but to acquiesce to this development and cut him loose. And this scapegoat would have to shoulder all the blame.

Him. Isaac.

“……”

Isaac looked at the prince. The prince, too, was looking at him.

Isaac could speak up here and claim his innocence. He could point a finger and declare that it wasn’t him. If he did, though it was impossible to predict how far the consequences would ripple, as long as this nation wasn’t entirely corrupt, they would not be able to blindly frame him. Given enough time, he might even prove his innocence.

“SEIZE HIM!”

The administrator barked the command sternly once more. The guards hesitantly made a show of grabbing Isaac, warily reading the prince’s expression in dread that he might order them to release him again.

Isaac looked around at them. The guards approaching him with troubled, apologetic expressions; the administrator wearing a strict mask to hide a glimmer of pity; the surrounding crowd whose faces looked much the same—and the prince.

Prince Kyan’s gaze was fixed solely on Isaac’s shoulder. His arm was stained a brilliant crimson, drenched in blood that was still flowing from the ghastly, gaping wound. Feeling that intense gaze, Isaac finally realized why Roberni’s subordinates had attacked him. It was because of this very matter. Because the mysterious culprit who had been going around taking down Roberni’s faction was ‘Isaac.’

Since Roberni’s lackeys were scattered all over the world, Isaac wouldn’t even be able to walk down the street in peace from now on. In a way, it might actually be safer to let himself be caught quietly and remain locked up somewhere.

Isaac looked at the prince. The prince wore an expression Isaac had never seen on him before. A colossal rage, a terrifying ferocity, frozen at its absolute peak. With that ice-cold, expressionless face, Kyan stared at Isaac’s shoulder. Before long, his gaze shifted up to Isaac’s face. Their eyes met.

And right then.

“——.”

When Isaac suddenly moved, there was no one to block him.

Snatching the sword from the belt of the guard who had been loosely holding him, Isaac slammed his fist into the guard’s jaw to shake him off, then kicked off the ground and bolted.

Since it happened so suddenly and unpredictably, the guards were a step too late. Isaac ran toward the startled, clamoring crowd and snatched the reins of a horse waiting right at the bottom of the main building’s long steps. Threatening the groom, who had lost the reins in a daze, with his drawn sword, Isaac pulled the horse back a few paces.

Belatedly, the administrator bellowed, “YOU SCOUNDREL!” with glaring eyes, but by then, Isaac had already drawn his weapon, slipped past the guards’ perimeter, and secured the horse.

“What are you doing?! Surround him! Do not let him escape!”

As the administrator screamed, the guards exchanged glances before starting to form a perimeter. Among the nearby guards, one lunged forward to seize the reins back, but when Isaac bared his blade, the man dared not step any closer.

“PRINCE KYAN!”

The administrator called out to the prince. It was a plea for him to speak up, since the culprit was his own guard. Isaac anxiously clicked his tongue and quickly mounted the horse. No. If the prince called his name, Isaac would have no choice but to turn back. He couldn’t let that happen.

There was no time. Both the Grand Banquet and the Great New Moon were just around the corner.

He didn’t have the luxury of being dragged to the capital to sit idly in a cell.

Of course, the prince would never allow Isaac to be taken away quietly either——but doing so would only put the prince in a difficult position. No matter how all-powerful the prince was, his political standing would inevitably be compromised.

Isaac couldn’t let that happen. He didn’t want to. He had no desire to be even the slightest obstacle to him.

In that case, there was only one path Isaac could take in this moment.

“OUT OF THE WAY!”

Isaac shouted, digging his heels into the horse’s flanks. The horse let out a long neigh and bolted forward, kicking up the earth. The guards who had tried to block his path scrambled out of the way at the sight of the charging beast bearing a sword-wielding Isaac.

The clamor and shouting of the crowd instantly receded behind him. Isaac rode onward without looking back. Even after narrowly slipping through the main gates as the flustered gatekeepers tried to shut them, and long after the distant uproar had completely vanished, Isaac did not slow his horse.

Without a destination in mind, he simply stared straight ahead, riding recklessly down the endless road.

This was the only way. Perhaps there might have been a better option. If he had sat down to think it through, a smoother approach might have existed. But no matter what that approach was, they wouldn’t have been able to avoid wasting precious time. This was the only choice Isaac could have made.

“…… Haiz…… Nothing is ever easy, absolutely nothing.”

Isaac took a deep breath and muttered to himself. He felt as though doing so was the only way to alleviate even a fraction of the heavy, suffocating weight in his chest.

Soldiers would soon pursue him. Roberni’s faction would also attack. From now on, Isaac had to hide and survive without anyone’s help. He would have to find an opportunity to contact Kyan somehow, but the prince wouldn’t be able to offer him any overt assistance either.

As if his life weren’t already difficult enough, it had just become a whole lot harder.

Isaac let out a long sigh. He no longer even knew where he was riding. He had no idea where this single road stretching endlessly through the vast fields led. But it wasn’t as if he had anywhere else to go anyway. Isaac kept riding, gently slowing the horse’s speed. The thunderous drumming of the hooves softened into a lighter, rhythmic trot.

“Good boy, good boy.”

As he gently patted the horse’s neck, Isaac finally noticed his blood-stained hand, bringing the forgotten pain in his shoulder rushing back. As he winced with a quiet “Ouch,” Prince Kyan’s face flashed through his mind—the way the prince had stared down at his shoulder.

As if the administrator’s words and the exposure of the entire Roberni incident meant absolutely nothing to him, his terrifyingly rigid gaze had been fixed solely on Isaac’s shoulder.

‘……Was he a little worried? ……Surely not.’

“Though it’d be nice if he actually was worried……”

Isaac murmured to himself, letting out a sigh as he raised his head. The sun was sinking, painting the sky in the warm hues of twilight. Opposite the sunset, the pale moon grew sharper and clearer than before.

He hadn’t run away from the prince. After all, bound by the contract of the dark moon, fleeing entirely was impossible, nor did he have any intention of doing so. Once he found a place to hide, the very first thing he would do was contact the prince.

Even so, he wished he could have at least said a proper goodbye before leaving.

That freezing, rigid expression refused to leave his mind. It was a face so terrifying that no one would dare speak to him. If only he could have seen that harsh expression soften before he left.

‘What is he thinking right now?’

‘Does he think I’m insolent? Is he angry? Or does he think I did the right thing?’

Isaac stared up at the twilight sky for a moment, then let out another deep sigh.

“Even in this mess, all I can think about is him…… I’ve got it bad, really bad. Isaac, ya, is now really the time to be worrying about someone else?”

Clicking his tongue and tapping his own head, Isaac intentionally spoke aloud to drive away the thoughts. “Let’s see. Right now I have about two silver coins on me, the tinderbox is useless unless it’s the dark moon, and if I sell this sword, maybe I can get three or four coins……” He muttered his immediate, practical dilemmas.

“First, I need to figure out where on earth I’m heading. Let’s see, that way is west, so……”

Isaac confirmed the direction of the setting sun and surveyed his surroundings. A vast field stretched out beneath a distant, encircling sweep of mountains, with a single road cutting right through the middle. Racking his brain, he tried to recall the local geography.

“Ah, no wonder it felt familiar. This is the road coming from the capital. If I keep going this way, I’ll hit Atlan. Along the way, there should be a path branching off toward Kuslo. I think there were a few tiny hamlets of just a dozen households scattered around……”

Muttering as he looked around, Isaac suddenly fell silent. His gaze locked onto the southwest—just a bit to the left of the mountain range where the sun was dipping below the horizon.

A series of gently sloping peaks of similar heights stretched across the horizon. As the ridges overlapped one after another, the setting sun cast long, deep shadows over them.

A familiar crest, a familiar shadow. A mountain ridge he had seen somewhere before.

Though the angle and direction were slightly different from what he had witnessed in his scrying, there was no mistake.

“…… Alikisa.”

Isaac murmured under his breath.

The mountain ridge reflected in the mirror of her dwelling place was right there.

The Witch of Roberni was not far away.

* * *

[Continued in Volume 4]