The Tyrant Is A Little Bit Kind-Chapter 34: Investigation

(Orlax’s POV)

"Ten thousand soldiers? Are you serious? Not a single soldier has arrived in Baron Elyon’s territory, let alone ten thousand."

I narrowed my eyes at Tiran, who was sitting before me, and spoke the truth of what had happened.

"I’m not joking, Your Majesty. I already sent my response to Baron Elyon, and the reinforcements left six days ago. If you don’t believe me, take this."

Tiran handed me a tablet and started displaying the response he had sent to Baron Elyon, along with images of the soldiers leaving the city.

I felt more and more bewildered by what I was seeing and took a deep breath.

"So where did the ten thousand soldiers disappear to, Tiran? And Baron Elyon has already passed away—he never received this message."

"This... I don’t know."

I looked at Tiran, who seemed just as confused, then turned my gaze to the screen floating in the air.

[Loyalty: 94]

’His loyalty is close to being absolute—I don’t think he’s lying.’

"Then, Tiran, we have a very big problem on our hands."

I stood up from the couch where I had been sitting and started pacing slowly around the room.

"Yes, ten thousand soldiers suddenly vanished. If it were ten or even a hundred, it wouldn’t be such a huge issue. But ten thousand, and on top of that, all of them being elite soldiers—I believe there’s someone behind this."

I stood behind Tiran, who was deep in thought, waiting for him to continue.

"Your Majesty, have you heard of the names ’Blue’ and ’White’?"

"Blue and White? No, but I’ve heard a similar name—’Gold.’"

"Gold? Could he be associated with them? Blue and White..."

Tiran began explaining about Blue and White and the acts they committed just hours ago—things I hadn’t known about.

"This is what happened, Your Majesty. Gold must be involved with them. But how do you know him?"

I leaned back against the couch opposite Tiran and started browsing my phone to check the latest news.

"Several people came to me after I finished dealing with the monster wave. They said that Gold sends his regards."

"Hmm, what do they mean by that? White and Blue said the same thing too."

"You didn’t seem surprised when I told you that I encountered Gold’s followers."

I put my phone aside and turned to the giant man sitting before me, who was deep in thought.

"I mean, when you said you knew Gold, I assumed you had fought him or one of his followers."

’I thought he had no intelligence from our previous encounter, but appearances can truly be deceiving.’

"Hmm, anyway, I’ll go investigate this matter. I’ll leave now and come back later to pick up my servant. Farewell."

I moved towards the door, preparing to leave and begin my investigation into the missing ten thousand soldiers. But Tiran’s voice stopped me at the door.

"Wait a minute, Your Majesty. I’ll come with you."

I turned to see Tiran standing there with a determined look on his face.

"You don’t need to come. I can handle this alone."

"Your Majesty, with all due respect, I know you can do it alone. But ten thousand of my people have vanished—I can’t just sit idly while their fate remains unknown."

’Hah, he really has an exceptional personality. I saw neither hatred nor discrimination in his eyes towards me, and he values honor more than anything.’

"As you wish. Let’s go now."

"Alright."

We left the palace and began moving across rooftops to avoid drawing attention, eventually reaching the city wall.

"Your Majesty, the soldiers departed from this direction, and the tracks of the vehicles they rode are still visible. Let’s follow this path."

Tiran pointed to one of the roads, and we descended from the wall, starting our journey.

We kept walking until the paved road ended, reaching a dirt path.

The wheel tracks were clearly visible, so we began following them.

We continued for hours before deciding to rest for a while, sitting near the road by a few trees.

I took a water bottle from my bag and handed it to Tiran so he could drink.

"Tiran, I have a question that has been bothering me. You don’t seem to hate me because of my hair and eye color?"

I looked curiously at the giant man sitting before me as he gulped down the water eagerly.

"Fiuu... Your Majesty, with all due respect, discriminating against someone because of the physical traits they were born with is utterly foolish."

My eyes widened when I heard the answer I had longed for.

A faint smile appeared on my lips, and I stood up.

"You’re right, doing such a thing is indeed foolish. Let’s move on."

Tiran stood up and started following me as we continued tracking the remaining wheel marks.

We proceeded until we reached a fork in the road.

We stopped, observing the tracks that veered left—away from the road they were supposed to take.

"The path to Baron Elyon’s territory is to the right. Why did they go left?"

"I don’t know either, Your Majesty."

We followed the tracks heading left until we saw numerous vehicles stopped along the road.

"These are the vehicles they left in, but where are they?"

I examined the empty vehicles, devoid of any life, and finally noticed footprints leading toward the distant mountains.

"Tiran, look at this."

I gestured for him to come beside me and showed him the tracks heading east.

"Why did they go east?"

"Let’s follow the tracks and see."

We kept tracking them until I suddenly felt like I had entered some sort of barrier. I turned to the giant beside me to confirm.

"You felt that, didn’t you?"

"Yes, Your Majesty. It seems we’ve entered a magical field. Could the soldiers be trapped here?"

"Perhaps. Let’s search for them."

We started searching the area until we finally found a large group of people gathered.

"Your Majesty! These are the soldiers."

"Hmm, yes, I see them."

We approached them slowly, and I noticed that their condition seemed dire due to hunger and thirst.

Tiran rushed towards one of the fallen soldiers and helped him lean against a nearby tree.

"You! Wake up! Wake up!"

My lips trembled as I watched Tiran slap the unconscious soldier.

The man slowly regained consciousness and looked bewildered by the situation around him.

"Did death come to me in the form of the Duke? I wouldn’t mind dying in his arms... Hurry, take my soul quickly, and please, don’t make it painful."

I saw a vein bulge on the giant’s forehead—he was visibly irritated by the soldier’s words.

I covered my mouth with my hand to suppress my laughter at the ridiculous situation, quickly regaining my composure.

"You scoundrel, if you don’t get up now, I really will take your soul."

Tiran struck the man’s head so hard that I thought his brain might have suffered from the impact.

"Duke! It really is you! Thank the heavens, it’s really you! We’re saved!"

The soldier stood up while clutching his head, which had developed a swelling from Tiran’s hit, joy evident on his face.

"Yeah, yeah, you scoundrel. Explain now—why did you take this path instead of heading toward Baron Elyon’s territory?"

"Ahem... Duke, weren’t you the one who ordered us to take this road?"

I glanced between the soldier, who was looking at Tiran in confusion.

"Me? Don’t joke with me! My orders were clear to Commander Dormon—go to Baron Elyon’s territory and assist them. When did I tell you to come here?"

Tiran struck the soldier on the head once more, and I saw his eyes nearly pop out from the impact.

"But, Duke, Commander Dormon told us that you had ordered him to take this path."

"What nonsense. Where is Commander Dormon?"

"Duke... He suddenly disappeared, and we haven’t seen him anywhere."

"He disappeared suddenly? What is he, a child vanishing like that? You’re telling me a grown man just disappeared, and none of you saw him?"

"I swear, Duke, everything I said is true. After he vanished, we were stuck here, unable to leave the area. That’s why everyone fainted from hunger and thirst."

"Tiran, I think Dormon is responsible for everything that happened here."

The giant man stepped away from the distressed soldier and approached me.

"I thought that at first, but Dormon has been loyal to me for twenty years. I don’t think he would betray me without reason. His family is still in the city."

"Is that so? What if he didn’t do this intentionally? What if someone tricked him into doing this?"

"That possibility cannot be ruled out. Let’s search for him first and see what he has to say."

After leaving the soldiers—who were still in shock—we started searching for Dormon in the nearby forest.

Even after two hours, we couldn’t find any trace of him.

’Where could he have disappeared? This area is surrounded by a barrier preventing anyone from leaving.’

As I was lost in thought, I heard footsteps behind me and quickly turned around.

Standing there was a man with brown hair and hazel eyes, clad in armor covering his entire body.

He carried a large sword on his back—similar to Tiran’s.

His expression was odd, as if he was surprised.

"Duke??"

"Dormon??"