The Crown Prince Who Raises a Side Character-Chapter 25: New Adventurer Bern (23). The Beginning of the Hunt

“So the new adventurers found the culprit and also retrieved the victims?”

The next day.

The lord’s reaction to Bern’s report was one of disbelief.

After all, the previous team had been struggling for over a month and couldn’t solve the issue, yet Bern had declared it finished in just three days.

“To be precise, we managed to rescue about ten people who had been held at an interim hideout. As for the rest of the victims, they were taken by the organization the culprit belongs to, so retrieving them immediately is difficult,” the treasurer said.

The lord’s expression twisted even further at that.

“An organization? You mean there was some kind of slave trader behind this? Are you telling me this is real?!”

“Th-that's....”

“What are you mumbling for? Speak up!”

At the lord’s scolding, the treasurer reluctantly spoke.

“It’s a lich.”

“What?”

“Apparently, the culprit is a disciple of a lich, and he kidnapped people to offer them as sacrifices for his master’s ritual. The other victims who were not rescued are currently imprisoned in the lich’s dungeon, but we don’t know where.”

“......”

A long, heavy silence followed.

The lord wiped his face with a dry cloth and glanced at his vassals.

Normally, some would scoff or joke about the absurdity of it all, but everyone was silent, blinking rapidly.

Sir Gudrun, who would typically be the first to speak and raise his voice in such situations, was quietly watching and waiting.

If he had realized, belatedly, that he had been too rash and was now waiting for his lord’s decision, one might have praised his growth as a knight. But that wasn’t the case.

‘He’s just waiting for the situation to unfold.’

Was he worried about the treasurer? Impossible. Gudrun had always disregarded the treasurer, a commoner, despite the fact that the man held his current position.

No, he wasn’t looking for his lord’s approval either.

‘Bern, was it?’

That red-haired adventurer.

The one who had toyed with Gudrun and destroyed him mercilessly—he was the reason Gudrun kept quiet.

Though the treasurer had spoken first, it was clear that it was Bern and his party who had actually reported the findings.

The lord, subtly lowering his evaluation of the guards, asked the treasurer,

“So, what happens next?”

“The victims have returned to their families, and the adventurers have made a request to you. They are waiting for your answer.”

“To me? What are they asking?”

“They wish to take the culprit—the lich’s disciple. They said it would be more reliable if there is a witness to present to the guild regarding this matter. However, they also mentioned that if you wish to execute the culprit yourself, they would gladly hand him over.”

“Hmmm...”

The lord fell into thought for a moment.

Had Bern’s party just gone ahead and taken the culprit without permission, the lord would have surely ordered them to be captured. But now that the choice was in his hands, he found himself considering more options.

Purely based on personal feelings, he certainly wanted to capture the culprit, execute him, and throw his corpse to the crows.

But if there really was a lich involved?

What if the lich sought revenge after the disciple’s death?

“Then, are there any more risks of further harm on our side?”

“If the culprit’s confession is true, then no, there should be no further harm.”

“I see.”

The lord could feel his internal scales slowly tipping in one direction.

The loss of dozens of young women was tragic, but when considering Frencia as a whole, it wasn’t irreparable.

The main reason the lord had sought to resolve the case wasn’t necessarily out of concern for the civilians, but because the terrified people had fallen into apathy.

At least the culprit had been captured, and as long as no new harm came, the people would gradually feel safer.

The lord spoke up.

“Tell them this: If they accept these terms, we’ll hand over the culprit.”

***

The culprit will be officially executed in Frencia. If they agree to this, we won’t interfere if they take someone unknown with them.

Upon hearing the lord’s offer through the treasurer, Renya blinked in confusion.

“What does this mean? Are they saying they’ll execute the culprit themselves?”

Bern shook his head.

“No, they’ll hand over the culprit to us. Instead, they’ll pick someone else from their side, declare them the culprit, and execute them instead.”

“What does that even mean?”

“They want to spread the word that ‘the lord of Frencia has executed the villain who disturbed the peace.’ As long as the common people believe that, it doesn’t matter who really dies. Besides, if the lord keeps the culprit, it might anger the lich, so this is a way to prevent that.”

It was a shallow scheme, but Bern didn’t mind.

If the lord insisted on personally killing the culprit out of misplaced pride, it would only make things more troublesome.

The agreement made, the group sent the bound culprit, disguised as cargo (or more accurately, physically shoved into a large sack), to the guild.

As expected, the guild went into an uproar.

“A lich behind this? Preparing a ritual for thousands of sacrifices? Disciples spread out in secret?”

The guild wasn’t an organization focused on justice or protecting the weak.

In other words, they weren’t inclined to get involved in dangerous situations without a reward. That would be free labor.

But the information that Bern had brought changed everything.

“A lich is a monster that can easily rival someone in the 5th rank. If this lich tries to advance to a higher level through mass sacrifices, and succeeds, we could be looking at the birth of a 6th-rank monster.”

“A 5th-rank mage can stand against an entire territory. And a 6th-rank mage can stand against an entire nation. If a monster, who sees living humans as mere experimental tools or sacrificial offerings, gains that kind of power, the damage will be unimaginable.”

“We have to strike before the lich finishes the ritual and ascends! If we don’t, both Birka and we will be doomed! We need to contact headquarters and request support!”

A faction in the guild was already pushing to go after the lich.

“Hold on, aren’t we being too rash? After all, this is based on the testimony of a single wizard, isn’t it? How can we be sure he’s telling the truth?”

“We’ll have to raid the lich’s dungeon to defeat him. It’s not just about taking out a strong opponent; if we go in to kill him, the casualties will be enormous.”

“Why should we solve the kingdom’s problems? Who’s going to give us a reward? Let those damn kings and nobles deal with it themselves!”

A group in the guild was strongly opposed to taking action.

"Further investigation is needed. Frankly, there's no guarantee this isn't a trap set by the lich, is there?"

"Let's inform the kingdom and see how they respond. This doesn’t seem like something we can handle on our own."

Even the cautious faction, who wanted to assess the situation first before acting.

The conflict within the Eastern Branch escalated into a full-scale disagreement across the entire Adventurers' Guild, and soon, a request was posted in all branches:

Title: Lich Subjugation

Requester: Adventurers' Guild

Participant Requirement: Level 3 adventurers or higher.

Details: Information has surfaced that the lich, Mortius Varmore, is preparing a large-scale human sacrifice to gain immense power. Rescue the sacrifices, stop the ritual, and subdue the wicked lich.

"Lich? How are we supposed to catch one?"

"The guild’s issuing the request directly? That’s unusual."

"Wow, the reward is enormous. With this, I could live comfortably for years."

"I’ll pass. No matter how much money you offer, what good is it if I die?"

The murmurs of adventurers could be heard as Bern shifted his gaze to the side.

There, Blanca was staring at the request with a complex expression.

"You seem to be deep in thought."

This translation is the intellectual property of Novelight.

"...Honestly, yes. This opportunity came so suddenly, it doesn’t feel real."

Originally, according to Blanca's plans, even if she reached level 4, there would still have been many steps before facing the lich.

Even if the guild had gathered some information on the lich, pinpointing the exact location of his dungeon and assembling the forces needed for the subjugation wouldn't have been easy.

However, thanks to the guild taking full action, their informants managed to gather additional information at an astonishing speed, pinpointing the location of the lich’s dungeon. Meanwhile, the lich’s disciples, secretly operating in different regions, were either hunted down by high-level adventurers from other branches or forced to flee, having ceased their human sacrifice operations.

In a sense, it was only natural.

Though considered a 5th-level mage, equal to the strength of an entire territory, the guild's combined effort could easily overpower even a territory-level force.

"This request has even attracted the Guild Master’s direct involvement. No matter how strong that lich is, he won’t survive. It’s finally time for him to pay for all the harm he’s done."

It was a joyful prospect.

The certainty of killing the enemy, the hope of rescuing her mother, how could that not be a good thing?

Yet, for some reason, Blanca couldn't suppress the uneasy emotions building up inside her.

If this was the end, if it could be resolved so easily...

What had all her efforts meant up until now?

She couldn’t bring herself to feel nothing but joy, even though she could save her mother. Blanca couldn’t help but feel intense self-loathing.

How ungrateful, how cold-hearted she must have become to feel this way.

"Is Bern okay? The adventure he expected seems very different from the situation we’re in now."

Blanca didn’t even realize the absurdity of the question until it slipped from her lips.

Was she, in a way, expecting Bern to feel dissatisfied with the situation?

This red-haired adventurer, the one who embodied the very definition of perfection, would never share such ugly emotions with her.

"What? Well, I am a bit disappointed," Bern said nonchalantly.

Yet, Bern did not hesitate to agree with Blanca's sentiment.

"Going on an adventure with just a /N_o_v_e_l_i_g_h_t/ few companions and clearing a dungeon is different from hunting in a large group. Honestly, what I was looking forward to was the former, so yes, it’s a bit disappointing."

"...You're being insincere. There might be more victims by the time we finish."

What answer had she been expecting from him?

Blanca realized that asking such things would only upset Bern, yet she couldn't stop herself from speaking.

But instead of getting upset, Bern gave a wry smile and simply agreed.

"Yes, it's insincere. But well, aren't we allowed to have our little indulgences?"

"Is that something that’s not good according to the world’s standards?"

"Adventurers don’t operate by morals, do they?"

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"But you're different. You still rushed in even when it didn’t benefit you."

"No, I just did it because it was ‘cool.’ It’s very shallow, really."

Bern laughed as he said that.

"And when you think about it, all of this is thanks to us, so I think we deserve a little room for sentiment. If we hadn’t captured the culprit and handed him over to the guild, that lich and his disciples would still be running wild, wouldn’t they?"

—So, your efforts aren’t meaningless.

Blanca thought she heard those words, but perhaps it was just her imagination.

She stared at Bern’s face.

He seemed to see through others' feelings so easily, yet never revealed his own, making him a truly unfair man.

Still, she couldn’t deny that just conversing with him made her feel better.

"Well, I suppose so. I’m a hero now, after all. I’m allowed to feel a little sentimental. But we mustn’t let our guard down. Usually, accidents happen when everything seems to be going smoothly."

"Wise words, adventurer. I’ll be prepared for anything that comes my way."

After exchanging words casually, the two of them chuckled together.

"Hey, Boss! Miss! I’ve finished restocking the supplies and checking the camping gear!"

They turned and walked toward Renya, who was running up from afar.

The lich subjugation was drawing near.