Chapter 65: Moving (2)
* * *
Bang!
The Emperor slammed the chair armrest hard, then squeezed it tightly.
“Are you saying this is true?”
The papers Carson brought with him were filled with shocking content.
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
Carson answered calmly, and the Emperor twisted his face.
“How can this be… I can’t believe I didn’t know this happened.”
The Emperor pressed hard on his forehead.
Even though a warlock had killed his people, he didn’t know.
How many had died to complete the curse.
And how terrible it would have been if this curse had spread.
The Emperor exhaled deeply.
“It was done systematically in the shadows.”
“However, I should have noticed it first. I didn’t even know that a warlock is setting up in my land. I was a fool.”
“It’s not too late now, Your Majesty. You must quickly arrest Count Robrio and capture all of his members.”
“You are right. Come here.”
The Emperor shouted loudly outside.
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
The Imperial servant came inside and bowed his head.
“Call the 3rd and 4th Knight Commanders, and call the Great Light Temple to summon the priests.”
“Understood, Your Majesty.”
At Emperor’s angry voice, the head servant also became impatient.
“Well, I’ll leave you now, Your Majesty.”
Carson bowed to the Emperor.
Now this problem was out of his hands.
At the time when the Fizat family had collapsed, how could Count Roberio be safe?
“Carson, have you contacted Novio?”
The Emperor asked before Carson stepped down.
“Of course, Your Majesty. The frontier is ready to fight against the enemy at any time.”
“I’ll never forget your deed.”
“It’s not my doing, it’s my brother Lucion’s.”
“…Did the Saint dig this up?”
The Emperor’s face showed surprise.
Carson replied, hiding the fact that Lucion had discovered it while exploring.
“Yes.”
“Haha! I didn’t expect our Saint to do something big already!”
The Emperor laughed with satisfaction.
Not only he caught a warlock less than a day after becoming a saint, but he also gave chance to pluck out the gangs who had colluded with them.
Twenty-five years ago, an entire Kingdom disappeared because of a warlock’s black magic.
And ten years ago, though they didn’t know whether it was black magic or not, something similar had happened to the little Kingdom of Keortia.
No matter how high his Imperial status was, he wasn’t unaware of the fear of black magic.
‘Saint Lucion Cronia will become an unquenchable flame of our Empire.’
The Emperor smiled.
* * *
“Ahchoo!”
Lucion suddenly had an itchy nose and sneezed.
“Aren’t you catching a cold?”
Hume, who was putting down the macarons filled with colored stars, asked anxiously.
“No, it’s because there’s dust.”
Lucion rubbed under his nose and picked up a macaron.
—Ratta, too.
Ratta opened her mouth and Lucion threw one away.
Munch.
Ratta, who had perfectly received and eaten the macaron, had her eyes gradually shining brightly.
—Ratta is happy.
‘…Let’s see.’
Lucion asked, mumbling at Bethel who was staring at him and trying not to get lost in thoughts.
“What? Do you have something to say?”
[The Lord is very busy.]
“You think so too, right?”
Lucion sighed deeply.
Getting out of the corner of the room, he was rarely able to put his butt down.
‘But this will be over soon.’
First of all, he had gained the title of ‘Blessed One of Divine Blessing’ and ‘the Saint’ by gaining the light resistance, which was his greatest purpose.
The situation in which people were recklessly driven to be a warlock like in the novel had disappeared.
Second, the situation in which his information was exposed to the outside was now almost settled.
In particular, almost all of the people who sold Cronia’s information were dead, and when they returned to the border, they were going to organize what was in the mansion, so there was no way for the enemies to know their information.
And he manipulated information about himself and the Hand of the Void, so it remained to be seen how this information would change.
‘What’s left is… Working on building my power and cutting the red thread that connects with Heint?’
He was worried about the black thread that briefly appeared and disappeared not too long ago, but there was nothing he could do about it right now.
‘I hope it’s a simple bug.’
[So… Wake up early in the morning, train black magic after breakfast, run after lunch, train, go for a walk after dinner, and then train again.]
Every time Bethel folded her fingers, there was a clashing of armor.
[Even though he’s my student, he’s amazing.]
Russell nodded.
Doing it all on his own.
He couldn’t have been more perfect as a student.
[I agree with you. He’s one of the most diligent aristocrats I’ve ever seen.]
Bethel agreed with Russell’s words and took a deep breath for a moment.
[If I hadn’t been cursed, I would have had a student like the Lord.]
[He’s my student, so don’t even think about it.]
Russell hastily kept Bethel in check.
He had no intention of having his student intercepted by a rolling stone.
[I don’t want to…]
[Right. Don’t even drool in that posture.]
Russell interrupted Bethel, who spoke in a ridiculed voice.
Lucion murmured ‘Another macaron’ and looked at the ridiculous situation between the two.
Carson was already his sword teacher.
It was only because he hadn’t even held a sword yet.
‘I don’t care how many teachers I have… Huh?’
Lucion opened his eyes wide at one fact that suddenly came to mind.
‘There was definitely one villainous organization in the central…’
The main villain group, ‘Hand of the Void’.
Luminos, a group of wizards.
And the priests themselves.
Even with the exception of those three, two years later, it was a time when large and small groups of villains appeared all over the country to the extent that the warlocks became overbearing and the country turned unstable.
It was Lucion in the novel that integrated and accepted them.
As many villains were accepted, the power of Hand of the Void grew quickly.
‘Looking back, Lucion in the novel is very competent.’
But he didn’t want to get entangled with them, let alone fall into the Hand of the Void.
‘Should I clean it up before we go to the border?’
Thinking about it, the time hadn’t yet come for the villains to grow.
‘Even if I can’t stop it completely, at least I have to make sure they don’t hold hands with the Hand of the Void. Yeah, that’s right.’
Lucion looked out implicitly.
‘The festival is over, so let’s go and say hello to Lady Tella.’
There was a villainous group who established a foothold in the central, so-called ‘Rats’ who were active in the shadows.
They later became one with the Hand of the Void and took a large stake in ruining the whole country, including the Empire, so he couldn’t let them go.
‘Since their power came from the Hand of the Void, they are now only strong in numbers before joining the Hand of the Void. It’s the perfect time to get rid of them.’
Lucion got up after brushing off the macarons.
[Lucion.]
Russell pressed his forehead tightly at Lucion’s excited expression.
[What are you going to do?]
“Why are you so quick-witted?”
Lucion didn’t deny it.
If he denied it, he would have been caught.
[So where are you going? No, is it okay to go now? We’re leaving for the border soon.]
Russell looked at the clock.
“Yes. After staying here for two days, my body is full of darkness.”
When Lucion brushed off the macaron crumbs around his mouth, Hume hurriedly caught them in a bowl.
—Oooh.
Ratta’s eyes twinkled at Hume’s agility.
[Lord Lucion. Can I accompany you this time?]
When Bethel asked, Lucion rose from his seat and answered.
“It won’t be fun for you.”
He wanted to use the possession, but he couldn’t confirm it because there was no link between him and Bethel.
[If you’re concerned about the warlock, you don’t have to worry about it. If you allow it, I’ll look after you from afar to avoid harming you, my Lord.]
“Okay. Follow me. Like I said before, it won’t be very fun.”
Lucion only knew that Bethel was one of the death knights that the final boss had.
In particular, at that time, she was just a doll who only said “Yes, I see,” So he didn’t know anything about her.
However, there was no need to rush because it was a problem that he had to figure out gradually anyway.
If he hadn’t gone to this banquet.
If only he hadn’t developed light resistance.
If only he hadn’t smashed the Fizat family.
He was so happy to see the change in the unchanging fate.
‘What I did was not in vain.’
Lucion smiled and went outside.
* * *
‘…A blue thread?’
Lucion paused slightly.
As soon as he saw Tella, a blue thread suddenly connected him to her.
‘What? What’s going on? Is something going to explode?’
“Would you like to come in and have a cup of tea?”
Tella suggested to Lucion with a slightly uneasy smile.
“Would you too?”
She patted Rata, who wagged her tail like a puppy around her as if trying to erase her anxiety.
—Yes! Ratta would like it too!
[That would be nice. I came all the way here and I need to drink some tea.]
Russell nodded vigorously.
They had come by carriage anyway, so there was still time until they went back to the border.
“It’s all right. I’m just here to see your face.”
Lucion turned down Tella’s offer.
He had to go to crush the ‘Rats’ before they got any bigger.
The Rats’ main job was to disrupt and gather information, and if he didn’t crush them now, it would be very difficult to get rid of them, as they really lived digging holes like rats.
But Lucion knew where the main base was.
About halfway through the novel, Heint acquired the ability to trace darkness, and it turned out that the Rats’ main base was in the heart of Tesla Empire’s Capital City.
“Well, I’ve seen you healthy, so I’ll come to see you again next time.”
Lucion smiled.
Even if it wasn’t for this excuse, he really meant to say goodbye to Tella.
Because she was his first friend.
But Tella didn’t immediately open her mouth.
Rather, she was busy glancing at the knights standing at the front door.
Then she lowered her voice.
“My Lord.”
“Yes, Lady.”
“Do you have a moment?”
“The time is…”
“Just help me get out of here.”
Tella asked eagerly.
Since he couldn’t refuse her first request, Lucion asked, pretending to have a conversation.
“How can I help you?”
“You can just offer to take a short walk with me.”
Tella was in a hurry, and Lucion raised his voice louder than before and called her.
“Lady Tella.”
“Yes, my Lord.”
“If you have time, can you take a walk with me?”
“Yes, that would be great. If it’s nearby, it’ll be fine.”
As Tella moved, some of the knights standing at the front door also moved at the same time.
It was only then that Lucion realized why Tella asked for his help.
He didn’t know why, but she was now under close supervision.
His last meeting with Tella was at the banquet for the Divine Beast’s birth.
‘At that time, I heard there was a problem with the bank…’
“Thank you, my Lord. I’ll take care of the rest, so don’t worry.”
Tella lowered her head slightly.
“Are you going to run like this?”
“Oh, how did you know?”
Tella was surprised.
“Can I ask you why?”
“Well…”
Tella paused and grabbed her skirt.
“I don’t know if you remember, but there’s a problem with our bank. I haven’t been able to contact you because of this problem.”
“Is it a big problem?”
“Yes. Someone stole our customer’s information.”
Tella bit her lip with a depressed expression.
[…Oh, that’s a big deal.]
Russell clenched his fist in regret.
Looking at Russell, Lucion freaked out.
Even if he vomited blood after seeing the black thread, Russel wasn’t worried.
‘By the way, did this always happen?’
Because Tella was just a named extra, what happened at the Luteon Bank didn’t even come out of the novel.
“If this is known to the outside world, our bank will be over.”
“Lady… You’re not the kind of person who acts recklessly. Do you know anything?”
“Yes. I know who stole the information. That’s why my life is now threatened.”
“Who the hell are they?”
Lucion couldn’t stay still.
Who the hell is blocking the way for Tella to become the head of the family?
The name Lucion knew popped out of Tella’s mouth.
“The Rats.”
“…What?”
“That’s what they called themselves.”