Eugene met with Lord Bemos, who had been waiting near the entrance of the dungeon in advance.

“Sir Palo. Your Majesty. It’s good to see both of you.” Lord Bemos gave a light bow to Baron Palo before turning to Eugene and bowing deeply. It was the utmost courtesy he could show to someone who had come to rescue his territory from an unprecedented crisis.

“I’m Jan Eugene Batla. By the way, you seem to have quite a few guards,” Eugene commented.

“It couldn’t be helped with the current situation. I have nothing to say,” Lord Bemos responded. He had three knights and about seventy soldiers guarding him. The situation was so bad that the lord had to use almost all his forces just to travel only half a day’s distance from his castle.

“…” Lord Bemos took on a stiff expression and closed his mouth. He felt quite uneasy after finally coming to see Eugene in person. The rumor was true, and the King of Maren was truly much too young and beautiful. All the outstanding knights he had encountered up until now had been manly and rugged. And Lord Bemos thought that true knights would have rough, strong appearances at first glance.

However…

‘Even if he is a member of the Dark Clan… Isn’t he basically just a pretty-looking boy?’

In fact, the knights standing behind the nobles representing the different countries, including the prince of the Roman Empire, looked to be stronger and more trustworthy than Eugene. Lord Bemos felt that he would have been more relieved if one of them was the expedition’s leader instead of Eugene. However, Lord Bemos couldn’t express his true thoughts. Regardless of the circumstances, he could not afford to show disrespect to a great noble who had traveled so far just to assist them.

“…”

“Sir Bemos,” Baron Palo called out when Lord Bemos remained silent. Baron Palo was quick-witted, and he had already realized the source of Lord Bemos’ worries.

“Two days ago, His Highness the King defeated a large number of monsters in the territory of Bemos,” Baron Palo said.

“What? What are you…” Lord Bemos took on a puzzled expression, then took on a bitter smile. It appeared that Baron Palo wanted to flaunt the King for having eliminated a dozen or so monsters.

Lord Bemos responded. “Sir Palo. Do you know how many monsters there are on my territory? I can’t say for sure, but it’s probably more than thousands. And they are going around in groups. At least fifty and up to two or three hundred monsters are—”

“His Majesty and the expedition have eradicated one of the large groups. They had been driven out of your territory, so they won’t be returning,” Baron Palo said, interrupting him.

“…?!”

“I can guarantee that on my name.” Localope stepped forward and turned his head, “And exactly how many of them had been driven away?”

Princess Lilisain took off her helmet and responded, “There were about two hundred lower-ranking monsters, twelve lycanthropes, and three trolls. The beowulf warriors eliminated some of them while they were driving them out of the territory, so there would have been more than three hundred.”

“Oh, this knight is Princess Lilisain of Eland,” Baron Palo introduced.

“What…?!” Lord Bemos forgot his dignity for a moment and gasped. He had mistakenly considered her to be one of the prince’s escorting knights, but it turned out she was also royalty. However, it was even more shocking that the King of Maren had already killed hundreds of monsters. Even the Red Axe Mercenaries broke their contract with him and fled, but the King’s expedition had already achieved something so great only two days after arriving in his territory.

“H-how could I ever repay this kindness…” Lord Bemos muttered.

“There is no kindness to repay. I am only keeping my promise with His Majesty Viseche and his representative, Sir Palo,” Eugene responded.

“Ah…!”

Keeping a promise was an honorable act in itself. Lord Bemos knew well that people who practiced true chivalry—people who didn’t only run their mouths but truly considered their honor as important as their lives—were rare. Trust was the most important thing for mercenaries, but didn’t they run away without looking back?

“So, you should thank Sir Palo and His Majesty the Duke of Viseche. Just as I kept my promise with the two, you sir should continue to do your best as a lord of the dukedom,” Eugene said.

“Oh! I will carve those words into my heart.” Lord Bemos bowed with a deeply touched expression.

A satisfied smile appeared around Baron Palo’s lips. Lord Bemos’ loyalty to the dukedom and the duke would surely strengthen after this event. If a lord wasn’t loyal to a monarch who had fulfilled his obligation to his subjects during a time of crisis, then who would be loyal to him?

‘Signing a contract with His Majesty had been the right choice.’

The King of Maren had even helped calm and strengthen the vassals shaken by the crisis. Aside from that, there was another thing he had to be thankful for.

“Sir Bemos,” Baron Palo called out.

“Yes, Sir Palo,” Bemos answered.

“I hear you don’t get along very well with Sir Lusa. Is that correct?” Palo continued.

“It’s true... As you know, the only evil lands in the vicinity of Moyna belong to my territory and the Lusa territory. He had always been trying to keep me in check. If it weren’t for this sudden increase in the number of monsters, we would have fought against each other in a territorial battle one day. No, I’m certain that he will once again pick a fight with me after this crisis is resolved,” Lord Bemos responded with a grim expression.

“Haha. That probably won’t happen,” Baron Palo remarked.

“What?”

Baron Palo grinned and turned his gaze toward Eugene before continuing, “It’s very unfortunate for Sir Lusa, but the monsters that His Majesty the King and the expedition had defeated happened to have fled toward the Lusa territory.”

“What?! Is that true?” Sir Bemos asked, stupefied.

Eugene shrugged in response, “Well, things simply turned out that way. Since it was my first time in the Viseche Dukedom, I wasn’t too knowledgeable when it comes to the geography of this place. I simply drove them away in a direction, and it happened to be in the direction of the Lusa territory.”

A lie!

Although he was honorable, the King of Maren held grudges! The surrounding nobles had the same thought, but no one expressed it. After all, the King of Maren was more reliable than anyone else when he was by their side, so why would they risk antagonizing him?

“Thank you, Your Majesty. You truly are… honorable and generous.” Lord Bemos expressed his gratitude once more with tears in his eyes. He then continued with a determined expression, “Once this situation is resolved, I would like to personally express my gratitude to Your Majesty and the brave expedition. I will surrender all rights to the monsters that Your Majesty and the expedition have defeated. I will also allow Your Majesty and the expedition, as well as anyone who comes to my territory with the flag of Maren and Your Majesty, to subjugate my evil land under the same conditions.”

“Hooh!”

“It is the motto of our family to always repay the grace we were shown,” Lord Bemos added.

“Sir Bemos, unlike the others, you truly know honor. Great,” Eugene responded. He hadn’t expected Lord Bemos to express such ‘sincerity’ with but a few words. Eugene smiled happily, thinking that the world would have been a more peaceful place if it was filled only with nobles like Bemos.

“In that case, I will have to enter the dungeon right away in exchange for your sincerity,” Eugene said.

“I would be even more grateful. Ah, and I will show the other sirs to my castle. We don’t know when the monsters might strike here, and it will be difficult to keep everyone safe as well,” Lord Bemos responded.

“No. There won’t be a need for that. They will protect you sirs,” Eugene said while pointing, and Lord Bemos turned his gaze. Many slaves and servants were sweating as they grilled meat over a bonfire, while the beowulf warriors were scrumptiously ripping into their meals after having thrown off their platecoats.

“Those warriors? Weren’t they going to enter the dungeon with Your Majesty?” Lord Bemos asked. He wouldn’t have to worry about everyone’s safety with the beowulf warriors, but who would enter the dungeon then? Lord Bemos wasn’t the only one concerned, as the other foreign nobles were worried as well.

Eugene’s gaze headed elsewhere, and soon, about a dozen figures gathered behind him. The group consisted of Romari, Galfredik, Rohime, Christian, Princess Lilisain, and elven knights.

“This isn’t a typical dungeon subjugation. The heart of the Bemos Dungeon… we have to delve deep into the dungeon,” Eugene commented.

“B-but how long would it take…”

“A day will be sufficient,” Eugene said.

“A-a day…!”

He would take care of it as soon as possible. In the first place, that was why he had chosen to bring only a small number of elites.

“You stay behind and take care of them,” Eugene said while looking at the griffons.

Mirian threw a fit. ”Kiek! It’s not like I’m a nanny for hire or—”

Eugene interrupted her, “Would you rather face monsters while navigating at the forefront or take care of them?”

“I am highly specialized in taking care of little brats. Please call me a professional nanny spirit from today on,” Mirian hurriedly said without hesitation.

Such a change in attitude was nothing new for Eugene.

***

Keeeeek! Kyaaahk!

Kuwuuugh!

The dark, damp dungeon was filled with the screams of monsters. The monsters ran while drooling after catching a whiff of fresh meat when the dungeon opened, but unfortunately for them, the fresh morsel they smelled were elves. And they weren’t just ordinary elves either, but elven knights who were veterans in hunting and killing monsters. In fact, they had hunted monsters for a longer amount of time compared to how long the monsters had lived in the dungeon so far. In addition, nobles of the night capable of seeing through the dark were with them. The vampires exuded Fear much greater than that of the monsters. An Origin, his vassal, and two highest-ranking nobles of the Dark Clan—high lords—were with the elves as well.

Most of the monsters had grown significantly stronger through evolution, but they still didn’t stand a chance. The blood-craving, slaughter-hungry monsters began to flee into the deeper depths of the dungeon. However, Eugene didn’t chase all of them down as they ran through the complex cave. Eugene only rushed toward the directions where he could sense monsters that were intermediate-rank or stronger. Since everyone with him was aware of his true identity, he didn’t have to hold back. As such, Eugene made full use of his vampiric powers and capabilities as a knight as he massacred monsters while heading deeper into the dungeon.

Kuweeeeeenggg!!!

Finally, a minotaur, one of the dungeon’s rulers, appeared with a loud roar.

“Hooh?” Eugene’s eyes glimmered with interest. He had defeated the same bull-headed, axe-carrying monster in the past. At that time, he still had quite a few tattoos left on his body, so he exerted himself quite a bit just to defeat the monster. But now, the minotaur was naturally no match for Eugene. However, it was a bit strange that the minotaur did not shrink back even whilst facing Eugene’s overwhelming Fear.

“Huh? That’s weird. Is the monster high on drugs or something?” Galfredik remarked while placing his longsword over his shoulder.

Romari responded, “It’s something similar. That monster has been completely stained with evil energy.”

“Evil energy? Aren’t all monsters in an evil land stained with that?” Galfredik asked. Monsters in evil lands were greatly influenced by evil energy, which was why they were typically more fierce and aggressive than roamers. However, they still had their consciousness, so they could still feel fear when facing a much stronger enemy.

“It’s a little different from that. That monster must have been completely eroded by evil energy. It’s highly likely that the intent to kill is the only thought remaining in its mind,” Romari answered.

“Hmm. It’s like the twin-headed ogre then?” Eugene asked.

“You can consider it almost the same,” Romari said.

“I see. Christian,” Eugene called out.

“Yes, oh great one,” Christian responded.

“The monsters you evolved in the Tywin territory. Were they similar to that?” Eugene asked.

“Slightly different, my lord. My humble self simply focused on evolving and releasing the monsters. I suspect that someone with deep knowledge of black magic may have been working in this place,” Christian answered.

Eugene nodded after hearing Christian’s testimony and Romari’s explanation. Christian had directly participated in the monster uprising, while Romari had studied the twin-headed ogre for a long time.

“So, we got lucky from the very start. It means that we may get to secure another skull incense burner, right?” Eugene grinned.

Shing.

He held Madarazika and Wolfslaughter as he stepped forward. Christain and Rohime immediately prostrated themselves before him with wide eyes.

“Please leave that measly thing to our humble selves. You can make use of us as much as you want in this place, even if you couldn’t do so outside due to the watching eyes.”

Even masters of vampire clans rarely dealt with monsters directly. Furthermore, even Galfredik, Eugene’s vassal, was stronger than the clan masters. It was inevitable for the two high lords to be anxious when they saw that Eugene was planning to take care of the minotaur himself.

However, Eugene shook his head. “No, I will take care of it myself.”

It was the obvious decision for Eugene. He had no intention of giving up the chance to obtain a red mana stone. After all, he could use it to erase the few remaining tattoos he had on his body.

‘What will happen to me once all the tattoos are gone? I’m so curious.’

It was one of the most important reasons why he had agreed to take care of the monster uprising.