Inside of the royal castle that stood at the middle of Larim City, the king Edhard En Latricia was seen sitting on the throne, his wife and kids were also present beside him, apart from the knights that is guarding the room, there isn't anything significant to show except the beauty of the room.
"Mhm, open the door."
The order was passed to the knights beside the door, the two of them then nodded and began pulling the massive door handle, slowly opening it and revealing the long hallway that is just outside of the throne room.
As soon as the door was opened, Edharn saw Carfeld standing along with a couple of other knights and also a few nobles, they're most likely there to guide Carfeld to him.
"Step inside." Said Edharn.
Carfeld soon obliged, he took a step forward and walked at the middle of the red carpet confidently, with no sign of nervousness or anxiety, after arriving not far away from the King Edharn himself, Carfeld then kneeled and looked down.
"I, Carfeld De Herme, greet Your Majesty, King Edharn En Latricia."
A slight smile formed on Edharn's face, he had expected Carfeld to be polite, but seeing him in person, Edharn knew that he is someone that would be fun to talk to.
The nobles that previously guided Carfeld to the throne room somehow went in aswell, they stood at the side, making a horizontal line, usually most nobles would not be allowed to enter the throne room except for emergency or a personal invite from the king, however there are two noble ranks that is excluded from such rules, and that is Marquises and Dukes.
The knights decided to let them in since they technically have a permit for it.
'Hmm, this will be a bit troublesome, we can't share a private conversation in here..' Edhard thought.
'Well, i'll first check him out myself, if he is someone that i think he is, he will be useful.'
"Lift your head."
Carfeld lifted his head up and looked at Edharn with his eyes.
"First thing first, i want to once again express my deepest gratitude for your effort at completing the mission that was given to you"
"No, it's okay Your Majesty, im just doing my duty as a knight."
"Haha, seems like you're a humble one, alright— Now, Sir Carfeld, there is a reason why i invited you here, may i ask something?"
"Of course, ask away, Your Majesty."
"Tell me– What happened in the inner part of Monoghriad forest."
gasp...
Upon hearing that question, Carfeld gasped vaguely, but even though his gasp is quiet, Edharn was still able to notice it, his expression changed to a more serious tone and his eyebrows were slightly furrowed.
'Coming back with only 6 other survivor when their initial number was 25 is a bit much, although it's true that the inner forest of Monoghriad is deadly, 5 special knights should've been able to defeat most of the monster there except the Two-Headed Giant Snake and Chimera, does that mean he encountered one of the monster in there?'
"That's—
Suddenly, many of the nobles that is present in the room began to whisper to one another, they talked about what they think could've happened inside of the forest, but there was no certainty to their words.
"i heard 5 special knights were deployed at this mission right? the combined power of all the special knight should be able to defeat an S-Rank monster, are they weaker than we thought?"
"What kind of monster roamed in there to make a group consisted of 5 special knights to come back with a heavy casualties.."
"I read it in a book long time ago, i remember it was a Giant Venomous Snake and a Chimera, they're both an SS-Rank monster!"
"That's terrifying.."
"Do you think they got ambushed by one of that SS-Rank monster?"
"That's the only reasonable answer.."
"Apart from the special knight, the rest of the group were pretty much useless isn't it?, in the end they're just a meat shield.."
"Chuckle.. You're right."
"Ugh.."
Amidst all of the theories and gossip that were thrown like a tennis ball in the throne room, Edharn suddenly interrupted the noble's talk with his next speech.
"Be quiet.. – Sir Carfeld, can you provide us with the truth?"
At first, Carfeld was taken a back, he contenplates whether to tell the story or not, however he remembered that the person he's talking to right now isn't just an average person or his colleagues, this person is the king of the kingdom, he ruled everything and possess the highest authority among everyone else.
"— Yes Your Majesty, I can tell you– The truth is, back in that forest, we..."
Carfeld started to vent everyhing in his heart, he told Edharn each and every detail of what had happened ever since they arrived at the forest, from the first fight against orcs and goblins, to the appearance of Sylias, and the ecounter with both Two-Headed Giant Snake and Chimera, in the end, Carfeld talked for more than 30 minutes before ending his story with his arrival at Larim, again.
"What?..." Said Edharn.
"What a horrible fate.." The Queen or Edharn's wife expresses her empathy towards those who died.
His kids, consisted of 2 prince, remained calm after hearing Carfeld's story, despite their young age, they were able to keep up and not flinch upon hearing the merciless murder scene being described infront of them.
Edharn couldn't react properly to the story that he had just been told, it was such a bizarre adventure that he himself was such in awe of how Carfeld and the other managed to survive after all of that, not only they were chased by two SS-Ranked monster, they also crossed path with a possibly even more dangerous creature like Sylias.
"no way.. That's what really happened? Unbelievable."
"It is indeed a miracle that the 6 of them managed to survive.."
After waiting for a few seconds, Edharn then talked to Carfeld..
"Sir Carfeld, what you're saying about the demihuman that almost killed everyone, is that part really true?.."
"I dare not to lie Your Majesty, it's really what happened, i can't exactly describe how strong that demihuman is, she was able to control both the chimeras and giant snakes, no one has ever heard of those creature being obedient to a person before.."
"If it is exactly as what you say, then we shouldn't take this matter half-seriously, you said her appearance is a woman with white long hair and crimson eyes right? I'll call a good painter for you to illustrate that demihuman's face."
"Thank you, Your Majesty."
Edharn then stands up from his throne, and lifted his hand to the front while saying...
"Everyone else that is present in here, especially those who have their own land to manage, i want you to increase your security for the next few months, and report any sight of white haired demihuman with crimson eyes to me, immediately."
"YES! YOUR MAJESTY!"
After the speech, Edharn goes back to sit on the throne, his face looked a little bit worried.
"sigh... Just when i thought it wouldn't get any worse, there is always another problem that came up.."