Translator: Wan ED/PR: Fan
[…!]
Russell was startled and clutched his chest.
Lucion, who was always full of suspicion, was different.
Russell glimpsed trust towards himself in him.
[You, you… Why are you like this?]
Russell fumbled with his words.
[You hit your head, so… You didn’t lose your mind, right?]
Lucion shook his head at Russell’s question.
Up till now, the reason why Lucion couldn’t fully accept Russell was because he was also a ghost.
However, the Russell in the novel protected him.
He sacrificed himself for him.
‘Now I’ll be the one to protect master-nim.’
Lucion made a resolution.
‘So that he will never disappear.’
The reason why he became a corrupted warlock was due to Russell’s annihilation.
“Master-nim.”
Lucion raised his body with difficulty.
He looked into the eyes of Russell who was still so surprised that he couldn’t speak.
“Please teach me black magic.”
Lucion bowed his head towards Russell.
[For real…?]
Russell couldn’t believe it at all.
“Yes. For real.”
[You aren’t going to tell me later it was a lie, right?]
Russell looked at Lucion with half-closed eyes.
What he obtained from persuading Lucion for over a month was only the title of warlock.
These days he was really worried about how he should teach him black magic from now on, but he didn’t expect for it to be solved instantly.
Russell tried to pinch his cheek even though it didn’t hurt.
“It’s not a lie.”
He saw determination in Lucion’s eyes.
Warlocks controlled Darkness, which possessed an ego, and black magic was made to prevent Corruption.
In the end, the people who received the blessing of Darkness could do nothing but become warlocks whether they liked it or not.
‘Although Darkness is treated like an infectious disease in this world, I certainly have to learn it.’
Lucion clenched his fists tightly.
[I really can’t adapt. Why are you suddenly like this?]
Russell couldn’t hide his confusion.
“Nothing much, the world just suddenly looks different.”
Lucion was being honest.
After seeing his previous life as Lee Haram, he felt many things.
At that time, he was sad because he had no money, and even if he wanted something, he couldn’t do anything because he ran into the wall of reality.
However, now it was different.
Since he had an abundance of money and was born into a noble family, the wall of reality was absurdly low.
He realized that he could do anything if he just put a bit of effort into it, so why should he throw it away like he did until now?
‘I can do it.’
The memories of the past and his current abilities.
He surely could become different with those two things.
The point when he became a mid-boss was two years later, when his coming-of-age ceremony was held.
The novel also started two years later, so there was still time.
[Okay. Sometimes such things happen, right? Situations where something starts to look different.]
“Then straight away, now…”
[We can’t.]
Russell cut him off.
Unlike other injures, a head injury is a very serious injury.
[Recover from your injuries first. And…]
Russell pointed at the door straight away.
Knock, knock.
A sound of knocking was heard.
[Novio came. We will talk later.]
Russell left in a blink of an eye.
‘Ah…’
At last, Lucion remembered the things he did during the banquet.
But he didn’t feel any remorse.
That shitty son of a bitch shamed his mother and bad-mouthed him, so how could he leave it alone?
He should have punched him more.
He should have completely torn off his ear.
Bang!
The door opened loudly.
You could feel how angry the person entering was just from the sound of the door opening.
“Do you feel better now?!”
The moment Novio, his father, entered the room, he scolded Lucion.
“Didn’t I tell you talk with other people when I sent you to the banquet!? Didn’t I tell you to stay for one minute, ten minutes, or however long you wanted, and that you could return home whenever you wanted to?!”
As a parent, Novio was always frustrated at Lucion who shut himself in his room.
So, he sent him out to a banquet.
He told Lucion to meet people for a bit and come back.
He said that it would be good even if it was just for a moment, as he would get a bit of outside air.
“But you started a dog fight? No matter how much you’re my son, I can’t allow for meaningless violence!”
Veins popped on Novio’s neck.
“If you had a reason to use your fist, speak with that good mouth of yours!”
“Father.”
Ting!
Just when he openly called that title with difficulty, he saw a blue thread connecting him and Novio.
“…?”
Novio’s boiling anger, also settled in an instant.
“Wh-what did you say right now?”
Count-nim.
That was the word Lucion always used when speaking to Novio.
Was it approximately a few years after his wife died when he last heard the word ‘father’?
“Father.”
“Ye-yeah.”
Novio’s throat was suddenly dry.
“That bastard shamed my mother.”
“What…?”
At the words that were different from the testimonies of people who witnessed the dog fight, Novio’s forehead wrinkled.
“The bastard used my mother to seduce a woman. How could I endure it as a son?”
The always sensitive and anxious Lucion from before was nowhere to be found. Lucion was calm and quiet.
“That bastard was an animal in rut, so why should I treat him like a person? I just gave him suitable treatment.”
Novio’s pupils shook at Lucion’s action of accurately conveying a situation.
He suddenly looked like a different person.
Thinking ‘is it truly Lucion?’, Novio stared at him.
“Father.”
“… Yes?”
Novio replied a bit late.
Because, just like before, he couldn’t believe the appearance of a changed Lucion.
“Swordsmanship.”
A blue thread became taut as if it could snap at any moment.
“I’ll learn it.”
Snap.
The thread was cut at the same moment his words ended.
However, Lucion was frustrated regardless of that.
At the banquet, he was frustrated at the fact that so many people ignored him, and he was frustrated at himself who, like a fool, tried to throw people away.
“…”
At Lucion’s constitutive actions, Novio’s eyes grew bigger.
Lucion changed somewhat.
“Please give me permission.”
Lucion bowed his head towards Novio.
The source of the power a warlock possessed was not mana, but Darkness.
As Darkness had no form, it could be changed into any shape.
However, he couldn’t become a mage because he couldn’t possess anything else besides the ‘darkness’ attribute.
Therefore, he decided that the best way would be to change Darkness to look like aura and to become a knight.
Like mana, aura had numerous colors, and among people there were quite a few with a black color.
‘… I can pull it off.’
Lucion frowned briefly.
One of the main character’s companions was a warlock.
Was there anything he couldn’t do by himself?
He had to pull it off for sure.
He had to hide the fact that he was a warlock so perfectly that no one would recognize it.
“Did you really mean those words just now…?”
Novio barely opened his mouth.
To match their duty as the Protectors of the country’s border, the Cronia family held swords for generations.
Excluding the second daughter who ran away from family saying that she will become a mage, the only trustworthy one was his eldest son.
“Yes.”
At Lucion’s short words, the corners of Novio’s mouth twitched.
His son said he will learn the family’s swordsmanship, so how could he be not happy as a father?
He already completely forgot about the incident Lucion caused at the banquet.
“Okay. If you want to learn it, you should learn it.”
Novio’s eyes that were looking at Lucion soon filled with worry.
“But will it be okay?”
Lucion was different from others since he was young. He was a heartbroken child.
Because Lucion isolated himself until now, there were several things he was worried about, not just about him not getting along with others.
“It’s fine. Shouldn’t I overcome it now?”
Lucion smiled as if trying to reassure him.
At the smile of his son, which he saw for the first time in years, Novio’s heart instantly shook.
He even wanted to immediately pray to God even though he had no idea what was going on in Lucion’s mind.
“Okay. You thought well.”
Novio lightly tapped Lucion’s shoulder.
“Don’t worry about the banquet matter. I’ll take care of it as always.”
“No. I’ll deal with this problem.”
“… Huu.”
Novio couldn’t hide his intense feelings any longer.
His behavior was astonishing before, but now he was even taking such praiseworthy action this time?
“Lucion. I understand your determination to say you’ll change.”
For Novio, it was enough that Lucion just set his mind to change.
But there are many things that couldn’t be done at once, so he hoped he would take it slowly and calmly.
“But your injury is quite serious, so rest for the time being.”
Novio looked at the bandages wrapped around Lucion’s head.
Lucion’s constitution didn’t respond to the Divine power.
He had a Divine power allergy, which only a small number of people had.
Divine power didn’t have the capability to heal an injury in one go like a miracle did, but it was at least better than medicine.
Even though Lucion was in position where he could enjoy its benefits to his heart’s content, he couldn’t accept it.
What’s worse is that the injures healed slowly, so Novio was anxious.
“Then please tell me who those bastards were.”
Lucion also read Novio’s anxious gaze.
Before he thought that he had a Divine power allergy, but he now knew it was because Light was the opposite of Darkness.
“Viscount Hellion’s family.”
“Viscount Hellion’s family…”
Lucion chewed over the bastards’ family name.
On the subject of daring viscounts.
“I don’t want your reputation to become even worse than it already is.”
Novio very carefully opened his mouth.
It meant to be careful.
Lucion’s reputation already hit rock bottom since the moment the rumor that he was ‘crazy’ spread.
Much more so that every time he showed himself in the public, Lucion’s actions showed he was crazy.
No matter what they did, it was like pouring water into broken bucket, so the rumors didn’t settle.
“Rest.”
Novio told him and turned around.
But after taking a few steps, he opened his mouth again.
“Lucion.”
Unlike earlier, his voice was soft.
“Yes, father?”
“Thanks.”
He couldn’t see Novio’s expression because his back was turned.
However, Lucion knew he was happy.
‘Father.’
Looking at his back, Lucion smiled bitterly.
Even after he was corrupted, Novio tried to protect him and died even earlier than Russell because he was branded as a warlock.
He knew that because it was the truth his hyung Carson told when Lucion died to the protagonist and Carson in the novel.
Frankly, Lucion didn’t expect Novio to think about him in such a way.
Every time Novio looked at him, it seemed that his eyes were cold like ice or like a dry desert, devoid of any expectations towards him.
However, it was he who was mistaken.
His father loved him.
More than anyone else.
‘It will be different from the novel.’
Lucion tightly pressed his lips.
‘Certainly.’
[Learning swordsmanship?]
Russell stuck his head out of the wall and asked.
He had a somewhat surprised face.
“Did You hear it?”
[… Cough. When you become a ghost, your ears become uselessly good.]
While working hard clearing his throat, Russell passed through the wall and approached Lucion.
[Anyhow, say it.]
“Say what?”
[The reason you want to learn sword.]
“Can a warlock not learn the sword?”
[Why not? I’m not that old-fashioned.]
Russell pointed at himself and smirked.
[Frankly speaking, it’s a good method. Because it’s possible in theory. However, no one has pulled it off.]
Russell held up two fingers.
[I think you got this idea on the basis that Darkness has no form. To put it another way, it means that it doesn’t have power to maintain form. In other words, you have to passively maintain that form.]
He folded one finger.
[Have you ever used aura before?]
“Never.”
[Okay. That’s the biggest reason. It’s a road that no one has ever walked before. You will have to pioneer that road. Can you do it?]
‘No, it’s a road someone already walked.’
Lucion knew for certain there was a person who already succeeded.
“I can do it.”
[Good. Hearing that answer, my determination is at last surging.]
“Yes…?”
[I tried to walk down that road.]
Russell put strength into his voice as he spoke.
Ting!
‘This…’
Lucion was startled.
It wasn’t a blue thread this time, but a red thread.
Snap!
When the thread was cut, Lucion’s instinct rang out.
‘A pivotal point…?’
[I know how difficult the road I tried to walk was, so I didn’t tell you about it.]
Russell looked at Lucion with admiration.
He thought he would be glad if Lucion just learned black magic.
However, hearing the conversation he shared with Novio, Russell was happy for his disciple’s determination.
What master would say no when the disciple asked for it?
[If you’re going to walk that road, I’ll teach you as your master.]
*~*~*
Translator’s note: Novio… I understand everything, but that was shitty entrance.
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