Farewell, Munin

"It seems you've already seen through it," the knight said softly.

"Lord Bone made a deal with the wizards. The wizards handled Lord Bone's sealing and the construction of the territory. Lord Bone was responsible for protecting the territory and providing them with enough Nightmare Knights."

Richard stroked his chin. "So the wizards handle the actual administration?"

The knight shook his head slightly. "Yes, and no. Both we and the wizards have the authority to manage the territory, and ordinarily, we do more of the managing. Those wizards generally don't show themselves."

Richard nodded slightly. That was only natural. As long as production did not go wrong, conducting research in a laboratory was far more interesting than managing a group of grotesque-looking Nightmare Creatures.

"Wake Bone. I have some questions for him."

"Th-this..."

The knight looked troubled.

"What is it?" Richard asked.

After hesitating, the knight finally answered truthfully. "Waking Lord Bone requires the territory to come under attack. Otherwise, the wizards will use our unauthorized use of Nightmare Power as an excuse to deduct our Nightmare Power quota.

"In recent years, the wizards have needed more and more Nightmare Power, while the amount distributed to us has grown smaller and smaller. If they deduct even more..."

"Alright, I understand." Richard raised a hand to cut him off. "Take me to the person in charge of the wizards."

"Ah? What do you want with the wizards?" The knight grew somewhat panicked. "These wizards are very capable. Behind them are even some great wizards comparable to Nightmare Kings. Please, don't act rashly."

The knight had never met Richard, but he had heard of his exploits.

According to Bone, Richard was a great Nightmare Creature. With methods nearly akin to foresight, he had found this city right beneath the eyes of numerous