Translator: Wan ED/PR: Fan
[Are- are you okay, Lord Lucion?]
Seeing his nose bleed and Lucion’s pupils blurred, Bethel was flustered.
[Did something go wrong during the body-sharing, Russell?]
[Wait a moment.]
Russell frowned and carefully examined Lucion’s state.
From a nosebleed, it looked like Lucion was overwhelmed by the usage of magic.
‘…Did nothing really happen?’
The Darkness connecting Lucion and Bethel, the door created so Bethel could safely inhabit Lucion’s body.
All of those things were operating normally.
[Lord Lucion, please cut off Darkness.]
Because she felt very complicated feelings from Lucion, Bethel thought they should release the body-sharing first.
Lucion, who belatedly came back to his senses, cut off the Darkness as Bethel said and released the body-sharing.
A skein of white threads flowed from Lucion’s body, and in the way of tying a skein, they formed Bethel’s original ghost body.
‘It’s certain. The Darkness surely spoke to me…’
Lucion wiped his nosebleed and thought.
It was exactly the same voice as the one he heard when he used a curse.
However, unlike when he used a curse, it was a situation without any price.
‘Is it because of Latta…?’
Lucion’s eyes slowly moved and looked at Latta.
Latta’s pupils were shaking and her front paws were trembling.
She had an expression like she knew something.
[No. There were no problems with the body-sharing. Lucion’s Darkness is also fine.]
Russell drew a conclusion.
Didn’t some external factor interfere?
An external factor that he didn’t notice?
Russell spit out a bitter laugh.
“Master-nim.”
Lucion called out to Russell with a confused expression.
[It’s alright, Lucion. Speak.]
Russell unknowingly licked his lips.
“When I used a curse the previous time, the Darkness spoke to me. Is it usually like this?”
[…?]
For a moment, Russell wriggled his eyebrows, wondering if he heard wrong.
However, seeing Lucion’s expression as he earnestly awaited an answer, Russell relaxed his shoulders and asked:
[Was it your Darkness?]
“No. It wasn’t my Darkness. Shouldn’t I be able to differentiate the voice of my own Darkness?”
[Was it the same this time too, perhaps?]
“Yes.”
[Don’t worry, Lucion.]
Russell first calmed down Lucion’s emotions.
[The Darkness floating in nature must have responded to you.]
“The Darkness floating in nature?”
[Yeah. Mana is most plentiful in nature, next to it is Light, and Darkness is the last, but if it discovers something fun, it sometimes speaks up. The Ratmen’s place was a basement where Light doesn’t reach, so it could be around.]
Russell confirmed, so Lucion’s worries were at last relieved.
Then Russell also sighed.
If the Darkness floating in nature spoke up to Lucion, it could have momentarily overwhelmed Lucion while body-sharing.
‘… But the Darkness floating in nature rarely shows interest in the people who received the blessing of Darkness.’
Russell slightly turned his head so his expression couldn’t be seen.
“Bethel, do you remember the last words you told me?”
Lucion asked in case she didn’t know.
[You mean about cutting off the Darkness?]
“No. Do you perhaps remember saying that Darkness is my everything and only thing?”
[I remember. That’s a fact.]
Bethel’s expression turned slightly strange, but Lucion relaxed his shoulders.
“I guess I was oversensitive, Master-nim.”
[No. It’s not common for the Darkness floating in nature to speak up, so it’s not strange to be surprised.]
“Is that so?”
Lucion picked up the sword he dropped and swung it once.
He smirked, seeing how crude it was, unlike when Bethel swung it a moment ago.
There was certainly a big difference before and after the body-sharing.
“How was it, Bethel? It felt a bit unfamiliar for me, but it was better than I thought.”
He was surprised by the sudden voice of the Darkness and halted it, but body-sharing with Bethel was successful.
He was happy with the success itself, but he also saw with his own eyes that Bethel’s power was no joke.
Once realizing that there were no problems with Lucion, Bethel’s expression softened.
[I — was happy. It was just for a moment, but it felt like I was alive.]
Unlike Bethel, who smiled widely, Russell observed her carefully.
Feeling his gaze, Bethel pointed to herself and said:
[Don’t worry, Russell. I won’t covet a living person like you’re worried about. The memories of my death are too powerful, so I can’t help but recognize that I’m dead.]
[Fine then. This is not because of Lucion…]
Russell stopped talking mid-sentence.
He instantly felt his throat itch.
***
When Lucion left the underground warehouse and was crossing the garden to return to his room, he reflexively turned around at the voice of Hyum calling out to him.
“Young Master.”
Next to Hyum, who didn’t show any signs of exhaustion, he saw Heint who was crouching and seemed to be choosing his next weapon.
Lucion looked around.
Strangely, there was no one but those two around.
“Ah, Lucion.”
Heint belatedly discovered Lucion and greeted him.
Seeing Lucion’s eyes examine the surroundings, Heint said:
“They were here until a moment ago, but the moment a spar between the Imperial Knight Order and the Cronia Knight Order started, they rushed there. Everyone should be at the training grounds.”
“That’s good. If it’s okay, can I watch for a bit?”
Seeing weapons that couldn’t win against Hyum’s strength and were broken, Lucion asked.
“Of course. Are you okay with it too, Hyum?”
“Yes. Naturally it’s okay.”
Hyum replied with serious happiness.
When Lucion sat under a tree, Russell spoke up, unable to endure the itching of his mouth.
[Then I’ll go watch the fight, no, the spar for a bit.]
[I’ll follow Russell, if that’s okay?]
‘Master-nim looks like he really wants to see the spar, and Bethel seems to have something to say to Master-nim.’
Lucion eyed them a bit, but nodded, pretending not to know anything.
It also just so happened that he wanted to have a conversation with Latta.
— Latta wants to stay here.
Latta’s gaze followed after Russell and Bethel, who soon flew off, and then walked up to Lucion’s side and curled up.
“You heard it too, right?”
Lucion asked.
— Yes. But that’s a secret.
‘Master-nim didn’t hear it, so only me and Latta heard it?’
Lucion felt it was truly strange.
Russell certainly had 20% of his body through the contract Russell independently made.
Unable to find an answer right away, Lucion postponed it for now.
“Why is it a secret?”
— Latta doesn’t know. Latta just knows that Latta can’t talk about it for Lucion’s sake. Latta likes Lucion the most, so Latta can do anything for Lucion.
“What about Hyum, who packs your snacks?”
— … Heup!
Latta urgently covered her mouth.
But Hyum wasn’t here right now?
— La-Latta likes Hyum, too. Really!
Latta’s eyes were violently shaking.
“I was joking.”
Lucion lightly tapped Latta’s forehead, and then stroked her from head to tail.
‘Why did the Darkness tell me to remember that Darkness is my everything and only thing?’
Lucion made a flat face, but soon he smiled widely.
Before the sword Hyum swung even touched the ground, it snapped in half.
“… Wa-wait! It broke? I borrowed it!”
At Heint’s embarrassed voice, Lucion stealthily turned his head with an expressionless face, like he never laughed.
‘We need a weapon tailored for Hyum.’
Lucion thought of winning over people called ‘artisans’ for Hyum and himself.
It was time to use the information he obtained from Tella at the banquet and the knowledge he had.
***
‘I’m so relieved.’
After sending off the Imperial Knights, who were leaving, Lucion hurriedly found Novio to prepare to go out.
“Okay. Go.”
Novio strangely easily gave permission.
Seeing this, Lucion had to erase the 17 excuses he prepared beforehand in his head.
‘Considering that I haven’t recovered from my travel fatigue yet and Luminos’ attacks, I expected him to forbid me from going out.’
The moment he heard about Luminos’ attack, Novio gave an order to seal off all the entrances to the border right away.
He also didn’t forget to order to set up mana detection devices in each city to deal with possible terrorism.
While leaving Novio’s room, Lucion soon slightly nodded, guessing what his father was thinking.
‘… Ah. Today is the day, huh?’
12 servants who sold information.
The human resource managers who chose them.
It was the time to pluck out all of those people.
‘Then, the butler will hold his breath for a moment, and then move shortly.’
There was only one way to survive.
As he had Ghost No. 2 stuck to him, Lucion was reassured and went out together with his horse Syandra and Hyum.
In order for his organization to run self-sufficiently, instead of heading to the city, Lucion headed North, where the artisans he wanted to coax were.
“Hyum.”
When the mansion grew distant, Lucion called out to Hyum.
“Yes, Young Master.”
“Didn’t you try out various weapons yesterday? Which one among them was the most fun?”
According to Carson, who was close to a sub main character in the novel and the main character Heint, Hyum had amazing talent and could do well with anything.
Then, he thought it would be best for Hyum to use a weapon he enjoyed.
Hyum pondered it thoroughly, and then frowned.
“All the weapons I held broke when I swung them. Are there even weapons that can withstand my power?”
For Hyum, the weapons right now could serve as good of a defense as fingernails.
However, supposing there was a weapon that could endure Hyum’s strength, the story would be different.
“We’re currently heading somewhere to solve that problem, so say it.”
“Daggers, ah, that’s of course for throwing. I liked the heavy things like greatswords, double-edged axes and maces.”
Hyum hesitated for a moment, but soon revealed the unconventional experience he had yesterday and smiled brightly.
“Good. As there is nothing to do but sit, continue to think.”
At Lucion’s order, Hyum brought up something he was conflicted about for a while.
“Young Master. If I may ask, isn’t Your arm uncomfortable?”
“It’s fine. It’s not difficult. And Syandra knows that my arm hurts, so it’s running, adjusting its speed.”
Neeigh!
Syandra made a happy cry at Lucion’s praise.
“… Young Master, then where are we going right now?”
At Hyum’s question, Russell, who was flying while comfortably lying, and Bethel, who was wiping her helmet while flying, were belatedly startled.
Because Lucion’s outing was so natural, no one realized.
They frowned at Lucion’s strange response.
“Didn’t I tell you a moment ago?”
“My apologies. I didn’t hear You properly. Can You please repeat it?”
“We’re going to win over some artisans. Today, we’re winning over two people. I’m planning to get my hands on a weapon smith first and then on an item maker.”
[You’re winning artisans over for your organization?]
Russell asked.
“That’s right. I have to get to know the locations of mana stones and gemstones, and the locations of fertile lands first, but I’m planning to get people earlier.”
[I see…]
Russell thought about it, while listening to Lucion’s plans.
[Looks like you’re planning to grow an independent power, eh?]
“Yes. Isn’t that the best option?”
[That’s true. As a warlock, you will need an independent and powerful force to move freely.]
Lucion drew a picture of a future in Russell’s head too.
“It’s very cool to imagine.”
Hyum’s eyes smiled.
[Won’t the road to do it be too difficult?]
Bethel looked at them with slight skepticisms.
As he couldn’t satisfy everyone, Lucion moved onto the next point right away.
“That’s why I have something to talk about with You, Master-nim.”
Lucion looked at Russell with an extremely bright smile.
[… I think I’m already breaking out in a cold sweat.]
What the hell is he going to ask for now?
Russell unknowingly swallowed dry saliva.
*~*~*
Translator’s note: Jerno might be biting dust, but Syandra is well and remembered!
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