#739 (Patreon)

The Royal Garden (3)

The garden farthest from the palace.  

Bang━!!  

A loud, blunt sound echoed from there.  

It seemed like two objects of high density had collided, which was partly true.  

A hammer was an object of high density, and so was a human head.  

Thud.  

As the hammer struck the human head, Miller's knees hit the ground.  

The head that had been struck by the hammer was none other than Miller's.  

"Uh······."  

Witnessing this, the second prince of the great United Kingdom staggered back involuntarily, uttering a dazed sound.  

The reason he stepped back was obviously fear. But he could not be blamed.  

Imagine.  

On an unlucky day when nothing goes your way, you go for a walk to clear your head, and suddenly, a fat man, as big as three pigs combined, appears out of nowhere and smashes his secretary's head with a hammer.  

And this happened within the palace walls.  

It would be stranger not to be frightened.  

Moreover, the prince was a boy in his early to mid-teens.  

Although his status as a prince forced him to grow up early, he was still a boy.  

The fact that he did not scream at the sight before him was enough to say he had mustered courage.  

'I must run······.'  

Broad daylight. Inside the palace. The prince, pale as a ghost, barely managed to think upon seeing the unreal sight of the royal secretary's head being smashed with a hammer.  

He needed to run now.  

It was incomprehensible why a well-known figure from Landa would commit such madness, but that could wait.  

For now, the immediate need was to escape and alert others.  

If he could manage that, he would secure safety and find out the reason for this madness.  

'Yes, let's run.'  

The boy, determined, moved his frozen head to think, and soon his body followed the command it had received.  

The prince's upper body turned backward, and his feet lifted off the ground.  

Shudder, shudder, shudder······.  

But it was not easy.  

His mind made the most necessary decision with courage, but his body betrayed him. His trembling legs were proof of his fear.  

And it didn't end there.  

Tat-tat-tat-tat-!  

The pig named Edith Rock, with a nimble movement that did not match his appearance, blocked Albert's escape route.  

"Were you surprised? I told you I take good medicine."  

"Ah······."  

Albert stumbled backward, needing to stall for time.  

"Why are you doing this-"  

"-A picture is worth a thousand words."  

Edith interrupted Albert's words, pointing at the fallen Miller.  

"It means that seeing something once is better than hearing about it a hundred times. I learned it after I debuted in society through my wife's family. Look over there."  

Edith urged him to turn around.  

Albert couldn't easily do so.  

The moment he turned his head, he feared that mad pig would hit him with the hammer.  

Also, it was painful to see the corpse of his secretary... or in some sense, his friend, who had been at his side since he started walking.  

Suddenly, guilt overwhelmed him.  

His friend had fallen victim to an assailant, yet he, the prince, had tried to flee.  

But that was one thing, and this was another. Albert decided to follow Edith's instructions for now.  

First, he needed to find a way to escape and save his own life, which belonged not to himself but to the kingdom.  

"What is this?"  

Albert slowly turned his head and stared at the fallen Miller, uttering a stunned sound.  

It sounded like a question, but it was not one that sought an answer.  

The sight before me was so incomprehensible that the question came out reflexively, more out of confusion.  

That was understandable, given that Miller, struck by the hammer, looked far from 'normal'.  

The head that had been hit was indented, cracked, and split.  

That much was conceivable.  

The problem was that along with red blood, things like screws and springs were also leaking from the cracked head.  

Among the metallic smell of blood, there was also the smell of oil.  

"He's a corpse-doll," Edith, standing behind, explained.  

He kept a safe distance so Albert wouldn't be frightened and explained the true nature of the fallen Miller.  

"Put simply, think of him as a premium zombie puppet. A top-tier zombie, lovingly crafted by a warlock. Unlike ordinary zombies, he possesses high combat ability and can be used for other delicate missions. One of which is spying, like, say, a royal secretary..."  

Normally, such nonsense would be dismissed, but now Albert could only mutter, unable to say anything.  

It was a ludicrous, insane statement, but that insanity was what was happening right before his eyes.  

The only thought in his now whitened mind was, "How······."  

How could a Corpse-doll have served as a royal secretary, and for decades at that?  

The palace was the most critical location in the kingdom and boasted tremendous security. Moreover, the Holy Order also paid special attention, with paladins periodically inspecting the palace to check for any possible rats.  

Of course, those rats included warlocks (Corpse-dolls).  

According to the paladins, their eyes, blessed by God, could see through even the most perfect Corpse-doll.  

However, there had never been any mention of such an incident until now.  

"The reason is simple. Puppet was simply superior to those tin cans," Edith said, approaching the staggering Albert.  

Up close, he looked even fatter. Disgustingly so. However, unlike before, Albert did not guard against him.  

He was too exhausted to muster the energy. All he could do now was raise questions.  

"Puppet?"  

"Yes, Finger Puppet. He's the best in that field."  

"That's impossible······."  

"Why not? Puppet has lived for hundreds of years, and until recently, almost swallowed Landa through a self-staged drama. What's so hard about swallowing a powerless royal family?"

Albert was appalled by such a disrespectful statement and tried to respond, but the fat fighter did not listen.  

"Sorry······. Actually, I'm not sorry. Prince. I didn't come here to argue with you. I came to save you. So please cooperate."  

"You came to save me?"  

Albert recoiled in shock. It was unbelievable that someone who had just swung a hammer would say such a thing.  

What reason could a fat fighter have to save him? From his tone, it seemed he lacked patriotism, loyalty, or even the slightest sense of decency.  

"You saw it right. In fact, there's a sad story behind it. Because of some silly woman······. Anyway, will you run away with me?"  

Edith extended his hand, which resembled a pig's trotter.  

Albert breathed heavily and refused.  

"I can't······. I can't run away. I have to tell my brother about this!"  

"Oh! Didn't you listen to me? Didn't I tell you Puppet has swallowed the royal family? Who benefited the most in the meantime?"  

Albert took a deep breath. This conversation felt déjà vu.  

"It can't be! My brother would never······!!"  

"Didn't you listen to the radio?"  

Edith brought up that utterly disrespectful conversation.  

The nonsense that the key figures leading the kingdom, who lacked nothing in this world, had colluded with a warlock.  

"Damn······. Well, it might be. Most nobles are fools who can't see the truth even when shown······. So, I'll give you a choice."  

"?"  

"There's no time. If you follow me, I'll tell you what your brother is planning to do with Puppet. If not, I'll escape alone. Soon, this place will become hell."  

"······."  

"I'm not kind enough to look after a foolish kid who ignores the truth even when seeing it. What will you do? If I may advise, look at the situation calmly."  

Albert's eyes momentarily shifted to the fallen Miller.  

The royal secretary who had assisted him all his life, now a Corpse-doll with screws and springs leaking out of its broken head.  

Then he thought of his mother. The queen of the kingdom, who had collapsed due to a vague reason called nervous breakdown.  

Albert felt that, even if he wasn't sure, he needed to investigate the truth.  

"I······."  

As Albert opened his mouth, Edith swiftly raised the hammer in his hand.  

The dark, bulky chunk of metal flashed in the sunlight, then came crashing down next to Albert, smashing the crawling arm of Miller.  

Crack!!  

The arm, crawling away from the body, shattered under Edith's hammer, and Prince Albert, startled, moved away to Edith's side.  

"You must not follow him, Your Highness."  

Miller, lying on his back, got up and spoke.  

He looked like an overturned spider, with blood, oil, and screw pieces flowing out of his broken head, doubling the grotesqueness.  

"I thought you were dead? No, wait, you're already a corpse, so isn't it nonsensical to think you were dead? A malfunction?"  

Edith spoke while pushing Prince Albert back.  

The roles were reversed from the first time Edith and the prince had met.  

"Come this way, Your Highness. You must not follow him. He is a greedy gambler."  

Miller, rising like an overturned spider, beckoned the prince to come to his side.  

"Has his brain screw come loose, dropping his intelligence? Go look in a mirror. See if you'd really go to such a monstrosity. Better a gambler than a monster."  

Ironically, Edith's insult represented how Albert felt.  

"Or are you in a hurry? Afraid the prince might be persuaded to escape with me? You need to make a decision quickly, Your Highness. Whether you'll run away with me or just waste time until you're caught. People are coming this way."  

Edith had accurately grasped the situation; Miller had urgently risen because he was afraid the prince would follow him.  

People were indeed coming, and they needed to delay further.  

"Trust me, Your Highness! We are on the side of the royal family. Our master is not eroding the royal family, but supporting it through legitimate dealings! The crown prince has also agreed."  

"My brother······?"  

"Yes, hiding this fact was merely for security reasons. I was planning to tell you eventually. He is preparing a grand plan with my master."  

A heartfelt shout. However, Albert took it in another direction.  

"So, are you saying my mother's collapse is really connected to my brother?"  

Scandals of the nobility and Puppet, the sudden collapse of his mother, his brother's succession to the throne, Joanna's warning, Miller as a Corpse-doll.  

Each situation linked together like a puzzle, leading Albert to an unbelievable conclusion.  

Miller responded.  

"······No."  

After a moment's lengthy silence.  

Hearing that answer, Albert shouted at Edith.  

"Sir Edith. I'll follow you!"  

"Good choice!"  

Edith shouted back, pulling out a scroll from his pocket.  

It was a space-moving magical item, an expensive object capable of transporting the user or those around them to a designated location.  

Just as Edith was about to activate the magical item.  

Snap-!  

Something swiftly flew and split the scroll in two.  

"You've made a foolish choice······. Your Highness!!"  

Surprisingly, Miller's body transformed into a shape similar to a real spider.  

Cylinders expanded between the joints, and using his elongated arms, he smashed Edith's magical item.  

Edith cursed.  

"Damn it! It's ruined! You'll pay for this!"  

"I was actually targeting you······! Quicker than you look."  

"How many times do I have to tell you I take good medicine? Just as I thought, your head's screws are loose!!"  

Edith angrily gripped his hammer tighter.  

Watching this, Miller, now in a spider-like form, taunted.  

"Just because you took some medicine, what can a creature like you possibly do?!"  

Right after those words, mantis-like blades sprang from Miller's body.  

"It's really disgustingly creepy. I can see why you'd think you were just hit. Showing such a repulsive figure could lose any sympathy—" 

Swoosh-! 

A sharp sound of cutting through the air rang out. Blades that had sprouted from Miller's body grazed the hammer, cleanly slicing off the handle part which fell to the ground. 

"I wonder how long you can keep spouting such arrogance."  

"Don't move. Or I'll kill the prince!"  

Having lost his weapon, Edith immediately seized Prince Albert's neck and threatened him.  

The prince's eyes widened in injustice at this unimaginable act, and even Corpse-doll, Miller, hesitated.  

"You son of a—?"  

"Sir Edith?"  

The two, confused, called out to Edith.  

Edith whispered loud enough for both to hear.  

"Please cooperate. We need to buy time until reinforcements arrive."  

An incomprehensible statement. Fortunately, it soon became clear what he meant.  

Thwack!!  

Out of nowhere, a greatsword as large as a person flew in and shattered Miller into pieces.  

From the direction the blade came, someone appeared.  

It was Major General Philip, a Wizard and a key military figure of the kingdom.  

"I've come to escort you, Your Highness."