**

I found lodging at a local inn and spent a week in the city.

As I bit into the loaf of bread in my hand, I continued staring at Harman. We were currently inside my rented room.

I asked first. How many kids have been abducted so far?

Fifteen in total, your highness.

According to the intel, those Black Order bastards had been making their moves every three to four days, sometimes with the gap of a week or so before we arrived at the city.

Fifteen kids already? And thats within the time-span of a month too.

Those bastards forget about being secretive and whatnot, it was pretty much safe to assume that they were openly declaring themselves.

I thought that for an easily scared bunch like that, their actions so far had been a bit too over the top.

Thats a lot I heard that there are a lot of kids from various noble families living in this city. Considering that, isnt this citys security way too lax?

The bastards have only abducted the children from commoner families. There havent been any victims from aristocracy so far, your highness.

I felt a lot of dissatisfaction from that. I even began wondering if the citys garrison assigned a portion of their forces to protect only the nobles.

Harman noticed my dissatisfied glare and shook his head as if he had read my mind. Please dont misunderstand, your highness. The scions of the noble households employ their own private forces as their guards. Not to mention, even the bastards at the Black Order wouldnt dare touch the nobles. They wouldnt want to see the nobles forces dispatched to all corners of the city, after all.

He spoke with a lengthy groan.

I took a sip from the teacup and continued asking him. Whats the strongest force currently present in this region?

Its the Order of the Golden Cross, your highness. As were located rather close to the border with Aslan, a portion of this famed order is always stationed nearby.

I was surprised by his response and stared back at him. The Golden Cross, you say?

Wasnt that the knight order directly under the Holy Emperors command?

The Heavenly Army, Paladin Corps., Verdant Cross, Crimson Cross, and finally, the Golden Cross these were the five main forces of the Imperial Family, and the Golden Cross was referred to as the strongest of the lot. They also wouldnt move a muscle without the emperors command, too.

Such powerful monsters were stationed here, and yet they couldnt stop the abductions?

Unfortunately, their field of expertise is unsuited for this task, your highness. More importantly, the Black Order only began building their nest here just over a month ago. If they noticed any pursuers, they wouldnt hesitate to get rid of the Red Devils. As such, we dont have much information to go on. If you wish, I can request the Golden Crosss aid. With your current authority, it should be possible to mobilise them.

No, dont.

Just me and Harman being here was enough to eliminate the Red Devils without much difficulty. But if the Golden Cross began mobilising, then more than likely, the Black Order would go into even deeper hiding.

If that were to happen, itd get harder to confirm whether the abducted children are still alive or not, too.

This was probably the reason why Kelt Olfolse didnt order the Golden Cross into action already.

If the bastards havent run away by now, they should be preparing to make another move soon, said I while extracting the two corpses of Red Devils from my storage and laying them down on the floor.

Zombies could be rather convenient in cases like this. Unlike Vampires, these undead corpses wouldnt extinguish from this world after their heads get blown away, so it was possible to analyse them.

I took out the tortur ahem, I mean the medical tools that the Crimson Cross enjoyed using and began dissecting one of the Red Devils right there and then.

Harman hurriedly covered his mouth from the gruesome sight happening before him. Since we were still in the middle of a meal, maybe he felt like throwing up or something.

Y-your highness. If you can help it, how about behaving in a way that fits your station a bit better?

The Imperial Family doesnt give a sh*t about such things, though? Besides, its about time we rush things along, anyways. I began extracting intestines from the sliced-open belly and tossed them on the floor. Heh, so this is how they look inside? Theyre not all that different from a regular zombie, then.

I continued unhesitantly yanking out more internal organs. Finally, I found the heart, grabbed it, and pulled it outside right away.

Although faint, there were some traces of demonic energy left within.

Yup, its totally worth it to research these things.

I havent seen a magical construction like this before. It seems that they somehow forced the heart to beat, and in turn, caused the rest of the body to move.

Excellent! This alone should make it possible. This one is useless now, but the other one, well I stared at the corpse of the fake Santa and the corner of my lips curled up on their own. Its still pretty useful.

What do you mean, your highness? Still useful?

Santa Claus. I looked back at Harman and grinned. Im planning to give those bastards an unforgettable gift, you see? Can you do something for me? Get me some blue-coloured robes.

I activated [Minds Eye] while staring at the heart. By doing this, I was able to see the flow of demonic energy and the organs internal structure.

Not too long after that, a notification message popped up in my head.

[A new skill has been generated.]

**

(TL: In 3rd person POV.)

About two weeks had passed by since the two Red Devils had vanished. However, another one with an exact same appearance silently showed up during this particular night.

Indeed, it was another Red Devil. The demonic creature with a rotund physique and beard was currently squatting on top of a houses chimney.

It was scanning the surroundings with a mischievous look etched on its face, but it abruptly began tilting its head this way and that.

The citys security seemed more lax than usual. Then again, no abductions had been taking place for the past three weeks. Not only that, the soldiers managed to kill two Red Devils already, so they probably thought that the culprits had run away from the city by now.

This was the foolishness of humans on full display.

With the passage of time, they would gradually forget the fear in their hearts. When such a moment comes, the Red Devil would appear again and just like how it was in the fairy tales, start abducting children.

Pursuers would surely start showing up and doggedly chase the culprits down, but itd be quite easy to lose them if that happened.

If a tail stuck itself to the Red Devil, then itd simply extinguish itself. That was all it needed to do.

The probing gaze of the Red Devil eventually landed on the village plaza. A boy could be seen loitering there. The robe he had on looked quite shabby and cheap.

Was he a traveller who just entered the fiefdom? That had to be it, otherwise he wouldnt be that defenceless.

What about his age though?

He looked to be between fifteen and sixteen. Not all that tall either, perhaps because he was still yet to enter his growth spurt.

The Red Devil alternated its gaze between its red pouch and the boy. After estimating whether the boy could fit in there or not, it slowly nodded.

A smirk gradually floated up on its face.

It dashed across the rooftops, leapt up, and quickly pounced on the boy.

It was then, the boy turned his head as if he had sensed the movement of the Red Devil, before suddenly cracking a smile.

Only one stench this time, eh? What a relief that I dont have to eliminate the second one.

The Red Devil pushed the boy down to the ground. However, he was simply smiling away without offering any resistance. The Red Devil saw this unusual reaction and tilted its head once more.

Something seemed kind of off here.

The victim shouldve been terrified by now, yet he looked rather relaxed for some reason.

The boy pondered something deeply after being subjected to the Red Devils puzzled gaze, then he fake-coughed loudly. Oh my goodness! The devil is here! Someone help me!

He finally cried out while sounding terrified.

Thats more like it. It seemed that the fear terrified the boy into a dazed state just now.

Once the Red Devil no longer felt suspicious, it covered the boys mouth, and then stuffed him inside the pouch. Just one child should suffice for tonight.

Son of a Why the hell is it so cramped in here?! You aint some penny pincher either, so why cant you start carrying pouches that match your size?! What the hell!

The insides of the pouch became noisy really quickly.

Its the Red Devil!

The creature referred to as the Red Devil shifted its head. It could see the soldiers on patrol rushing towards its position from afar.

Since it was seen, it escaped from the spot by quickly darting up to the rooftop.

While dashing agilely above different buildings, it masked its presence. Even the sound coming from the pouch had been blocked off. The soldiers gave chase for a while, but losing them didnt prove to be all that difficult.

A short while later, it entered a nondescript building in a darkened alleyway and silently locked the door behind. After doing so, it then opened a hidden access to the basement floor and climbed down the stairs to enter a tunnel.

A Necromancer wearing a black robe was standing near the doorway. He stopped the Red Devil from going forward. This black magician looked beyond the undead to confirm that no one had followed it here, and after he was done checking, he began examining the creatures body for any abnormalities.

Lastly, he confirmed the boy inside the pouch and grinned widely. You may pass.