Count’s Youngest Son is a Warlock

[You’re gonna take a walk…?]

Russell immediately swept down his face.

[You didn’t forget that you vomited blood earlier, did you?]

Russell’s voice became a little sharper.

“What’s the point of sitting here? I still feel nauseous.”

[We can go back to the villa.]

“When will I be able to come here again?”

[Why can’t you come?]

“Will my father allow me to come here again after hearing what happened yesterday and today?”

This was possible because a deal was made between Lucion and Novio. Besides, their main purpose of quelling rumors was already done.

‘Just finding the bomb doesn’t solve the problem.’

Lucion knew who had the bomb switch.

But, why was the bomb switch on the priest?

He found this fact extremely strange.

* * *

—Ratta is in a really good mood right now!

Ratta’s humming came from Lucion’s shadow.

She seemed to have gained energy after eating meat.

Lucion walked leisurely, following the red thread connected to the priest with the bomb switch.

Perhaps he went to the outskirts because the more Lucion followed the thread, the fewer the people could be seen.

Lucion rolled his eyes and called Hume.

“Hume.”

“Yes, young master.”

“Are you good at stealing?”

“Are you talking about the act of taking someone else’s belongings?”

 “Yes. You must do it as quickly as possible so that you won’t be noticed.”

[Lucion?]

Russell called Lucion reflexively.

Isn’t it very strange to talk to Hume?

“I just said it, so you don’t have to worry about it,” Lucion said with an indifferent look.

However, unlike what he said a while ago, Lucion urged Hume. “So what’s your answer?”

“I do not know. I’ve never done it. If you teach me, I’ll do it right now. I will steal anything.”

Hume was motivated and clenched his fist.

“No. I don’t like clumsiness. Then, how good is your sense of smell?”

“I don’t know. I was always stuck in a small room, and when I came out, I had lost control of my body’s senses.”

Even though it was a quite heavy story, Hume calmly confessed.

Hume pondered for a moment, then said with a look of interest.

“Butler Anthony said I was smart. So, I think I’ll be good at stealing and smelling, too. I’ll give it a try.”

“No. Those two are different from being smart. It’s a skill.”

Lucion shook his head.

Because Hume was a monster, he thought his physical abilities would be more developed than humans.

It may be true, but the situation was not good to put in unstable elements.

‘If you fail, half of the battle will be lost.’

—Ratta can do it. Ratta is good at smelling.

“I think your sense of smell is limited to food.”

Lucion raised the corners of his mouth.

—No, Ratta can tell the difference between them.

[Lucion.]

At Russell’s call, Lucion slightly looked at him.

[Are you trying to find the bomb, too?]

“Well, it’s similar.”

[What do you want to do?]

“I want to find the bomb switch.”

Lucion spat out the truth because he couldn’t deceive Russell’s eyes.

He actually already knew the culprit. However, he could not find a suitable way to approach and remove the switch, without appearing like he knew something.

“Is there a way?”

[There is.]

Russell replied as if he was uncomfortable.

“Do you really have one?”

At the unexpected answer, Lucion looked at Russell with surprised eyes.

[You’re a warlock.]

“But here…”

[And I am a genius warlock of misfortune.]

Russell pointed at himself and raised the corners of his mouth.

[I know the location is not good.]

Russell tapped the ground with his feet.

This was the Great Light Temple, which can be said to be the representative of all the temples within the Tesla Empire.

[But as you said, there was a bomb and you could even stop it but you couldn’t.]

“I don’t want to stop it,” Lucion said firmly.

This was not the same as the sense of justice. He just didn’t want to abandon his conscience, and it was also to break his damn fate.

[Yes. I know my student will come out like this. How can I stay still as a teacher?]

Russell smiled at Lucion’s serious deep gaze.

The teacher was a being who pushed the student’s back.

If the student wants to run, the teacher must push him.

[This is a type of magic that you can’t use right now. In a way, it’s dangerous. So I’ll help you this time.]

Lucion got what Russell’s words meant.

He would use his darkness. It was a crazy idea to use his own black magic in my stead, but that didn’t matter.

Lucion spoke without hesitation. “I’ll allow it.”

As soon as the permission was granted, Lucion felt the darkness moving.

It was really thin.

Thin darkness permeated the ground in a blink of an eye. It was so thin that he wouldn’t notice if it weren’t for his own body.

Lucion was surprised and looked around.

However, as Heint said, he could not see the priest running.

“How did this happen?” Lucion lowered his voice and urgently asked.

[It’s not something to be surprised about. Darkness is the quietest of all human powers.]

Lucion’s eyes widened.

Now, Russell was telling him that the power of darkness was greater than he thought.

[I told you so. Speed is the life of a warlock.]

Something was happening under his feet, but the surroundings were still quiet.

[If you move the darkness at this speed, most people won’t even notice it. Instead, we should be able to hold onto the darkness as we do now.]

Whoosh!

Lucion shivered at the feeling coming under his feet.

—Hup!

Along with it, Lucion’s shadow with Ratta trembled.

[Hold your breath.]

Lucion held his breath as Russell told him to do.

At that moment, the black water that appeared from somewhere swept over him.

His body was not shaken by the current, but coldness rushed in.

His body naturally tensed up.

[You’re not really underwater, so don’t resist and breathe out slowly.]

Lucion exhaled, closed his eyes, and opened them again.

Blub. Blub.

As if he were really underwater, bubbles came out of Lucion’s mouth.

‘This is…’

Fluorescent, round beings, floated in the black water.

[If all beings die, they disappear to the ground.]

Russell pointed to the ground.

[So the ground is also a bridge that connects all deaths.]

—Ratta knows this place! This is where Ratta was!

Ratta shouted and hurriedly climbed onto Lucion’s shoulder.

[This is the boundary between life and death. It’s a place where the living can’t come.]

‘This is…the boundary between life and death?’

His voice didn’t come out of his mouth.

Instead, it felt like his thoughts rang in his head like a real voice.

[It is also a place where only warlocks who can communicate with death can be invited. But it’s not a place to stay for a long time, so let’s hurry up.]

Russell pointed to the round beings nearby.

—Hi, darkness. Ratta is also darkness.

Ratta shook her front paws as if pleased.

‘Darkness… What do you mean? Isn’t it emitting light?’

[That’s not light. Originally, you can’t see the darkness deeper than death, but you’re a warlock. Did you forget you’re blessed by darkness?]

Russell brought the round beings and stuck them out to Lucion.

[Darkness exists everywhere, looking at everything. Catch him. The darkness will do you a favor as a warlock.]

Lucion hesitated for a moment.

However, he heard a murmur as if it were okay.

Lucion took in his breath and caught the darkness.

In an instant, the location where the bomb was installed and the location of the bomb switch passed through his head like a picture.

‘Unbelievable…’

[It’s done now.]

With Russell’s words that marked the end, Lucion felt the disconnection of the darkness there.

Blub. Blub.

Lucion returned to reality with the last sound of bubbles.

Suddenly, his legs lost strength and he collapsed.

“Young master?”

Hume quickly caught Lucion and asked in a panic.

“Aren’t you feeling well yet? I mean… Are you dizzy?”

“How long has it been?”

“What?”

“How long have I been standing here?”

“Five seconds? Eight seconds? I don’t know exactly. You suddenly stood still as if your soul had escaped and then collapsed like this.”

In response to Hume’s answer, Lucion looked at Russell.

[Right. We’ve been there for that long.]

‘It’s only been that long?’

It felt like a few minutes had passed.

[Anyway, the magic name is ‘Sea of the Death,’ which is one of the magic I made.]

Russell shrugged and laughed.

“… Are you a genius?”

Lucion couldn’t even force a laugh because everything he saw was real. It was unbelievable, but he indeed had been to the boundary between life and death.

[Would I have lied then?]

Russell reached out to Lucion.

[We can talk about this later. There’s something you have to do now, right? What are you doing? Still not moving?]

Lucion recalled the number of bombs he had seen.

132 bombs.

Lucion was not sure how powerful it was, but it was really an amount that could blow up half of the Great Light Temple.

Lucion took longer strides, following along the red thread.

Through the darkness at the border between life and death, he saw where the bomb switch of the priest was.

The ornament-like thing he wore on the side of his belt.

That was the bomb switch.

“Hume.”

“Yes, young master.”

“Can you take out the decorations on the belt without the other person noticing it?”

“I’ve never done it before.”

“Then do it now.”

Lucion pointed to the belt decoration he was wearing.

“Where is the decoration?” Hume tilted his head and asked.

“Here it is…”

Lucion was about to point it out when he noticed that the decoration suddenly disappeared. There he saw Ratta, gently biting on the ornaments.

—Ta-da! Ratta did it! Ta-da!

Russell stroked Ratta.

[Ratta is perfect.]

“… Right.”

Lucion looked at the smiling Ratta.

* * *

“Sir.”

Lucion approached the priest wearing a gray robe.

Seeing the situation in which all those passing by him were woven into the red thread, Lucion clicked his tongue inwardly.

‘They are drawn at random.’

The priest flinched at Lucion’s call and dropped something.

‘Paper?’

Lucion didn’t miss the moment.

The priest hurriedly picked up the paper and looked at Lucion.

His face was full of embarrassment.

“S-Son of light, do you have anything to say to me?”

‘… What?’

Lucion noticed something strange.

It was much less uncomfortable to be with this man even though he was a priest.

It was as if he had little power of light in him.

However, Lucion focused on what was in front of him.

‘What I have to do is simple.’

Lucion stopped walking, five to six steps before the priest.

“I’m really sorry to bother you even though you’re busy.”

Lucion bowed his head slightly toward the priest before saying the matter.

It was an act that naturally bought time.

“No. What do you have to say to me…”

The priest paused for a moment.

The priest thought the person in front of him was familiar, it was Lucion.

The priest suddenly stepped back, like he didn’t want to get caught.

“What’s the matter?”

Lucion asked, looking oddly at the priest’s reaction. 

He thought he could see a black tail slightly in his vision, but it soon disappeared.

However, Lucion’s expression remained the same.

“It’s nothing. I-I’m busy, so bye.”

The priest suddenly hurried to move.

Lucion, who was looking at his back, raised the corners of his mouth.

Ting!

The red thread connected to the priest became tense.

—Ratta did it!

Lucion pretended to pick something up for a moment and was handed over an ornament by Ratta.

“Good job.”

—Hehe. Rata is good!

The bomb switch disguised as an ornament was a combined size of two fingers, with a mana stone embedded in the back to replace the current.

For safety, he immediately took the mana stone out and handed it over to Hume.

“Leave it to pieces.”

“Yes. I’m good at breaking things.”

Hume held the mana stone in his hand and unfolded it.

Although the strength of a mana stone was as strong as steel, it became powder.

Hume moved the place he held tightly in his hand and sprinkled the powder.

Crisp.

Lucion exhaled deeply when the red thread was cut off and a pleasant sound came out.

He stopped the explosion.

The flow of the story definitely had changed.

No matter what flow this brought, Lucion had no regrets about preventing the explosion.

Lucion looked at the Great Light Temple. He smiled and said, “Thank you, teacher.”

[You did it, Lucion. Of course, I added a little bit.]

Russell shrugged.

[By the way, did you feel it?]

“Are you talking about the priest?”

[Yes, that priest.]

Russell’s eyes became a little fierce.

“The word ‘dark’ was written on the paper that the priest dropped.”

Hume brought it up.