Translator: Wan ED/PR: Fan
The first thing Lucion did after coming back to the mansion was to call No. 2 and No. 7, the dominated ghosts at the mansion, to hear the information they gathered.
As if they were gathering information whether they were dead or alive, the ghost moved their mouths without stopping.
[That bastard, and this bastard. And… I saw that bastard over there steal something.]
Lucion wandered around the mansion, while listening to the ghosts’ reports, and paid attention to everyone the ghosts pointed out.
In the end, 13 bastards were pointed out like this.
‘… Ha. It’s really no joke.’
Lucion couldn’t stop snorting at how ridiculous it was, while the ghosts couldn’t help but tremble at that laughter.
[Who is their leader?]
Russell asked.
Now that Sean disappeared, someone else would take his place.
[That bastard!]
At that moment, the ghosts pointed at the butler walking down the corridor, speaking in chorus.
He appeared to be a butler mainly handling miscellaneous tasks, so he didn’t have a badge on him, unlike Hyum.
‘Alright. I need to check if that information was properly eaten up, so that’s convenient.’
“I greet Young Master.”
The moment the butler saw Lucion, he bowed his head.
“Okay.”
Lucion gave an adequate answer, and then called out to the butler two beats later.
“Wait a moment.”
Opportunely, Hyum wasn’t around.
He was probably organizing the weapons they bought, and absorbing the sword containing monster bones.
“Yes, Young Master.”
“Bring simple snacks to my room.”
“Understood. I’ll prepare them right away.”
Hearing the butler’s answer, Lucion headed to his room.
‘Did you believe the forged information or not?’
He forged information about himself at the information nest.
Lucion planned to check through this butler if the fake information like him having a severe allergy to apples was leaked or not.
“No. 2.”
From the many ghosts, Lucion tormented No. 2.
As this bastard was one of the ghosts that harassed him, shouldn’t he shove him around?
[Yes, yes!]
“Follow him and report.”
[Understood.]
No. 2 moved with a stiff face right away and clung to the butler.
Lucion momentarily stopped in a corridor and looked out through the window.
When a familiar scent wafted over through the open window, he at last really felt like he returned home.
Lucion looked down.
Looking around, the flowering trees, in which the flowers all fell off already, caught his eye.
The days of early summer were slowly starting.
‘I hate the heat.’
— It’s Bethel!
Latta smiled brightly, after quickly climbing onto Lucion’s head and looking down.
Seeing how she was swinging her sword at nothing in the air, it appeared she was training her swordsmanship.
‘Do ghosts train, too…?’
[Bethel. Leave those guys alone and go look around the mansion.]
Just when Lucion had his doubts, Russell spoke up to Bethel.
“She is not training, but eradicating ghosts?”
[No. She’s not eradicating them. She’s threatening them. Those ghosts were cursing you. She probably got annoyed by it.]
‘The moment Bethel entered the mansion, she did say ‘I should pull out the weeds’, didn’t she?’
Lucion at last sighed deeply through his nostrils.
[Russell.]
Bethel flew towards Lucion, sword in hand, and spoke up, her voice mixed with dissatisfaction.
[Why should we just leave those bastards alone? You should be able to swiftly eradicate the ghosts here, right?]
[Sure. I can eradicate them, but I’m just not doing that because Lucion needs to use them.]
[You mean you’re using them for training?]
[That’s right. I’ll explain in detail later. You too don’t make a useless fuss and hide yourself properly.]
[Russell. I don’t understand this place at all. So many ghosts…]
[Bethel. Ghosts are everywhere. What’s so strange about it?]
Lucion thought that the conversation between Russell and Bethel was very unnatural.
Russell especially seemed to be hiding something.
“What did you see, Bethel?”
Lucion asked.
[I saw ghosts. The guys who slandered you and cursed you with words I can’t even say with my own mouth.]
Bethel said quietly.
“Whatever those bastards were blabbering on about, don’t bother. They’re bastards who have nothing left but grudges against nobles.”
Lucion’s expression stiffened in a blink.
Bethel was slightly shocked by his extremely sharp and furious rage.
“Master-nim. I have a request. Please explain to Bethel everything. I don’t have the mind to.”
But Lucion calmed down his heart.
He didn’t want to spare even his anger at those bastards.
[Alright. I’ll explain everything, so you go first.]
When Lucion went far enough that he couldn’t be seen in the corridor, Russell opened his lips.
[Bethel.]
[I’m listening.]
[I can’t explain in detail, but Lucion loathes the ghosts here.]
[But Russell. This unnatural… It’s so baffling. There are too many ghosts, and they aren’t even corrupted. There wasn’t even a warlock around, right?]
Bethel clenched her fist.
There was no way that warlocks didn’t know about such a place.
How many ghosts were there?
[You mean a warlock will just pass by such a well prepared meal? You can’t say that. Don’t say that. Even if it’s Cronia, those bastards have their ways and tricks to obtain good ghosts…]
[You know the reason why, so why are you asking?]
When Russell smirked, Bethel asked with a voice mixed with doubts.
[Is such a situation possible because of just one Death Knight?]
[He is powerful, so it’s naturally possible. He is stronger than you.]
Russell pointed a finger at Bethel.
[That punk hates warlocks just like you. However, he considers it his mission to capture and kill warlocks who come to Cronia.]
[Mission…?]
Bethel responded like she couldn’t understand it at all.
[Anyway, I judged that no one will be able to deal with that punk. Killing warlocks as your mission isn’t that common, you know? So I made a deal with him.]
[A deal?]
[In exchange for me not touching that punk, he will not touch Lucion. If neither of us touches each other, each side gains something.]
Bethel thought about those words for a moment.
Wasn’t that a condition that was only profitable for Lucion?
The Death Knight, who made it his mission to kill warlocks, didn’t touch the warlock Lucion?
All else aside, wasn’t that his freaking mission?
[It’s good that Lucion won’t meet a warlock in Cronia, and it’s good because I won’t kill that punk.]
Russell raised the corners of his lips high, like he was patting himself on the back.
Bethel knew that it wasn’t arrogance.
[As expected… You’re a being I can’t understand.]
[Aren’t all ghosts strange?]
Russell giggled, and then slowly returned to the beginning of the topic.
[Anyway, there is no point in telling Lucion about it. Just keep it to yourself.]
[Perhaps… no. I’ll do as you said, hide myself and look around the mansion.]
[Good idea. Cronia’s mansion is big and there are many things to see, so take your time.]
Russell followed after Lucion, and Bethel sheathed her sword.
‘That was… such a clear hostility.’
Bethel looked out through the window, and followed Lucion’s gaze again.
Unlike when he looked at the ghosts outside of the mansion, Lucion’s gaze was filled with deep hostility.
When Bethel sighed and stopped thinking about it, the scenery at last entered her eyes.
‘This is the place I’m going to stay for a while?’
The scenery that she wasn’t able to notice a moment ago slowly entered Bethel’s eyes.
‘It’s pretty. It’s a really pretty place.’
Bethel leaned against the windowsill and crossed her arms.
It was a place that made her feel warm just by looking at it. So much so that she wished she had a cup of warm tea in her hands.
* * *
“… Whew.”
Lucion twirled a pen as he reclined against his chair and slightly leaned back his head.
When his long hair flowed down behind the backrest, Latta suddenly ran over and grabbed Lucion’s hair with her front paws.
Lucion’s gaze turned to Latta.
Latta, who met his gaze, laughed bashfully, and hit his hair with her front paw.
She looked like a fox, but Latta sometimes acted like a cat, sometimes like a dog, or a mix of both.
“Is it fun?”
— Ye! Latta likes balls, and playing with Lucion’s hair is fun, too!
“Okay. It’s good that it’s fun.”
Lucion blinked as he kept twirling his pen.
Now that he returned to the border, he had to increase his power, but it was difficult due to the fatigue accumulated from travel.
To the point that he wanted to lay down the moment he entered his room.
‘Don’t people usually rest one or two days after they return?’
Lucion bit the pen and grumbled inside.
‘Then let’s say we start training in a week, and when the Imperial Knights leave Cronia in two days, I’ll use the excuse of relieving the travel fatigue to walk around so I can organize the organization.’
Frankly, there was no reason for the Imperial Knights to stay in Cronia for two days.
The fact that they set two days to go back to the central region, when it took half a day with the presence of portals, just went to show how much the royal family cared about him.
‘It’s fortunate that Father didn’t prepare a welcome party.’
However, it was clear that he wanted to hold a welcome party.
‘Even so, I asked for many delicious things for dinner, so his mood should’ve gotten better.’
[There are apples and apple jellies mixed in with the snacks.]
Russell stuck out his head through the wall and said.
— Heup!
When Latta bounced back, Russell giggled.
Lucion raised his head, which he had laid back, and the corners of his lips rose.
“Looks like the information was conveyed properly.”
Lucion didn’t particularly like apples.
He didn’t like them, so he almost didn’t eat them, but from the servants’ standpoint, it might have looked different.
Knock, knock.
At the sound of knocking, Lucion said:
“Come in.”
Before the door opened, Latta hurriedly jumped onto the bed and hid under the blanket.
The butler entered the room, slightly bowing his head.
“Excuse me.”
“Put it here.”
Lucion pointed at his desk.
“You worked hard.”
At Lucion’s words, the butler bowed his head again and then lifted the lid.
Chink.
He saw Latta slightly move under the blanket.
When her eyes met Lucion’s for a moment, Latta hurriedly burrowed under the blanket again.
Lucion smirked, and looked at the bowl with snacks.
Among snacks like cookies, macarons, jellies and fruits, the prettily sliced apples, put here and there, caught his eye.
“Then I’ll excuse myself.”
Lucion was aiming exactly for the moment when the butler gave a natural greeting and was about to leave.
“Wait a moment.”
[This punk is smiling.]
Russell stared right at the butler, who had his head turned around.
As if he was mimicking the butler, Russell also put on a wicked smile.
[It’s the expression of someone who committed a crime.]
“Yes, Young Master.”
However, when the butler turned around, there was no change in his expression.
“Take out everything related to apples. It’s disgusting to even look at.”
When Lucion frowned, the butler hurriedly bowed.
“My apologies. I didn’t know.”
“It’s fine. I just hate them, so quietly take them away.”
“Understood, Young Master. I’ll quickly take them out.”
Butler approached the desk again, covered the bowl with a lid and took it out.
[He hasn’t gone away yet. He is putting his ear to the door.]
Russell grabbed his stomach and giggled.
Feeling that it was a really awkward performance, Lucion deliberately retched.
To make them believe in the fabricated information even more.
“… Eugh!”
Lucion pretended to retch several times, but he abruptly stopped at Russell’s words.
[He went away.]
‘He was confirming it for a really long time. I thought I was going to hurt my throat.’
Lucion rested his chin in his hands and frowned.
He looked at No. 2, who was almost sticking to the wall, and bluntly said:
“What are you doing, No. 2? Chase after him. Keep observing who he’s contacting and what he’s doing.”
[Understood. I’ll go right away.]
No. 2 disappeared through the wall with a frozen face, like he was soaked in cold sweat.
‘Then shall I capture the 12 others, leaving that bastard alone?’
Lucion twirled his pen while waiting for Hyum to return.
Then, not long after, he heard a knock at the door.
Knock, knock.
‘It’s Hyum.’
Hearing the heavy knocking that could only be Hyum’s, Lucion recognized him instantly.
It was perfect timing.
*~*~*
Translator’s note: How stupid you have to be to possibly attempt to murder your employer…?
Editor’s note: Money often clouds judgement, especially when they’re idiots.
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