At the borders of Vinlig territory, the area is surrounded by slopes and terrain, accompanied by a forest that does not turn green due to the winter lasting a whole eleven months.
The place was mostly covered with snow, which in some spots today did not appear its typical white but instead had marks of crimson.
"Count, that Agithi should have gone in this direction," three men seated at the front said, one of them observing the blood with his hand, rubbing it to feel its freshness before turning his gaze backward toward the man seated on a horse in front of a cavalry of more than a dozen soldiers.
He informed him about the escape of the monster, which, after being attacked, fled into this area. Due to its white fur, it was hard to see in the snow, allowing it to escape without being detected.
"Hm, we need to hunt it down before more people get hurt," Count seated at the front said, narrowing his gaze as he looked around and found that the atmosphere was filled with visible tension among the soldiers.
Though they were relieved by his presence, he thought about how the situation had become so intense that he needed to join the subjugation of the monster, which had been rampaging here for quite some time and killing innocent people.
The major reason for the monsters' violent actions was the active anger caused by the Haidrens, who were killing monsters at a very violent pace and throwing them outside their kingdom.
The Vendal kingdom was just at the borders adjacent to the Hedrian kingdom, and things were taking an ugly turn.
Count Vinlig did not blame those people, given that they had just lost their queen a few days ago in her battle against a demon named Guiniear, causing them to fall into a state where they became more proactive in killing all those monsters harboring demonic energy.
"Prepare for departure; we will finish off that—" Count Vinlig was about to instruct the soldiers to move forward toward the Agithi to kill it and subjugate the injured monster, but before he could complete his words, he suddenly heard a message.
:: Help! Count, Young Master is in danger! ::
'!?'
'Lily? What happened to him?' Vinlig was startled as he recognized the voice of the servant, one of the daughters of the previous butler who used to work under him.
He remembered each servant's name, and since he even recognized her voice, he inquired about what had happened to his son while clearly gesturing with his hand for the soldiers to halt.
:: Count! Lady Kassidy has lost her mind and is about to kill Young Master! Please come before it's too late! ::
'Head maid?!' Suddenly hearing the voice of the head maid with a clear urgency, the count was taken aback, causing him to instantly pull the leash of the horse before turning direction and dashing towards his territory. "Follow me! Lucian is in danger!"
"What!? Young Master! What happened to him!"
"Damn it! Move, move, move!"
One after another, voices echoed from the soldiers as they appeared more like family than mere troops of soldiers.
They swiftly pulled their horses, rushing in the direction while three or four stayed behind, knowing well that if they followed the Count, he would most likely be angry for not helping the people and instead prioritizing his safety.
"Sir soldier, please leave; Young Master is in danger," One of the villagers, who had a hunched back and looked completely malnourished, requested the guard standing back with two others. Villager clearly seemed to care more about the life of the next heir of this territory than about their village.
"No, the Count will never forgive if something happens to you people!" One soldier pulled the leash of his horse before dashing towards the direction of the forest while the other two also followed, moving towards where the injured monster had gone.
This whole scene revealed how all the people respected Count Vinlig from the bottom of their hearts.
"Hope Young Master is safe," One of the old women prayed, folding her hands as she looked towards the sky, remembering how, after the announcement of the birth of the present young Master of Count Vinlig, the Count had declared and immediately distributed bread throughout the territory, even though there was a shortage of food.
.
.
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"Lucian!!" Arriving at the doorstep, Vinlig's eyes widened and pupils trembled as he beheld a sight he had never expected: his child was stuck in a state of death, with his body appearing unnaturally bloated and surrounded by unstable mana while his mother stood away.
Even with several maids present, no one seemed to care about him.
'No!' Ignoring all of them for now and without caring for himself, he dashed towards the swirling mana before jumping into it.
"Count!" the head maid yelled as she also sprinted, covering Count's body with a shield as he lunged into the intense mana barrage.
The searing heat instantly began to melt his armor; the shield formed by the head maid protected his body to some extent, but the heat was immense, causing burn marks all over his body.
Yet he did not care about his own pain.
"Arghh! Lucian!" He instantly grabbed the unnaturally bloated body of the newborn, appearing red and completely swollen, before swiftly rolling on the floor to distance the child from the mana orb.
"Lucian!? My son, wake up!" The Count distanced himself from the orb and hurled himself while rolling toward the stairs, halting as he tried to look at his son's body.
At that moment, he could only see a lump of flesh, not clearly visible as it was swollen beyond recognition.
The heat emanating from child's body was melting his armor and burning his body, but all of that faded in exchange for his emotional pain.
"H-how did this happen, Kassidy!" With his eyes bloodshot, Vinlig snapped his gaze toward his wife, glaring as he noticed several maids who had stood in the hall just moments ago evacuating it while following his wife, who was slowly moving upstairs.
His eyes widened as he saw how nonchalant she was, even though her son was in this state.
"If you want to save that thing, come right now to my office," the Duchess moving upwards toward the stairs glanced at the situation while proceeding, followed by maids, uncaring, a cold glint flashing through her eyes as she had not anticipated this man to arrive at such a time.
But it was good now that he was here; she would just get her hands on the mana mine and leave this deserted place, leaving this naïve idiot man with his useless son.
"Thing?" The Count seemed unable to believe what he had just heard, looking toward his wife, who had referred to their own flesh and blood son as a thing.