LIGHTNOVELONLINE Ch 02 (part 2)
Chapter 02 (part 2)
“It’s been an honor to serve you, young master.”
The butler welcoming him on his final journey shed tears.
Ferda quietly observed those tears.
‘Saying things he doesn’t even mean.’
If those tears had any meaning, it would be closer to relief than sorrow.
After all, serving a useless, incompetent young master in a noble family was a humiliating task for any servant.
‘Was this guy one of the ones who tampered with my food?’
He hadn’t realized it at the time.
When the floor was made slippery so he would fall, or when he vomited in the middle of a meal,
He’d always thought it was just because of his own frail body.
Did he ever even imagine that the servants were behind such tricks?
Normally, such things would be enough to ignite a fire of hatred and thirst for revenge.
The only mercy he would’ve granted them was killing them so quickly they wouldn’t even realize they had died.
‘But what does it matter now.’
However, the current Ferda was nothing but calm.
The burning flames had died down, leaving only tranquility behind.
Having already avenged himself once, he decided to let go of any lingering regrets about it.
And so, Ferda patted the butler on the shoulder, offering a word of encouragement.
“Yeah, you’ve worked hard. Taking care of someone like me for so long.”
“…Pardon?”
The butler, who had been performing a teary act, was so flustered that his fake tears vanished instantly.
“I’ll leave the Rosnova family to you now.”
“Ah, y-yes…”
With that, Ferda turned on his heel.
His composure was too serene for someone walking to his death.
As he stepped out of the house, a servant waiting for him greeted him.
“I’m Hans, the coachman who’ll escort you to your destination, young master.”
“A coachman?”
“Yes, sir.”
Ferda tilted his head.
“I’m riding in a carriage?”
“Uh, yes. Of course, it’s a carriage. What else would it be?”
“Hmm, I see.”
“Is there a problem, sir?”
“No, it’s nothing. Just feels… nostalgic, that’s all.”
“Oh, is that so…? …Huh?”
No matter how hard he thought about it, the coachman couldn’t make sense of what Ferda meant.
“Well then, we’ll be off!”
–Clop-clop!
With the snorting of horses and the sound of hooves, the carriage began to move.
‘It’s been such a long time since I’ve ridden in one of these.’
The last time Ferda remembered carriages, they had long since vanished.
Or rather, to be precise, they’d become items for the middle class, where the concept of “carriage” itself had grown vague.
‘That gap was eventually filled by magical automobiles.’
At first, there had been resistance, claiming that tradition was being lost.
But it didn’t take long for people to accept the superior control and convenience offered by magical vehicles, making them a staple of noble life.
‘Then came flying carriages and all sorts of innovations.’
All these things were creations born under the name of magical engineering.
‘Not that any of it mattered to me.’
For Ferda, who had lived driven solely by revenge, it was an area of magic he had no interest in.
‘Magic…’
The once-unprecedented 9th Circle caster of the Wish Magic, Ferda, was no longer a grand mage.
‘The weak, dismissed Ferda.’
It was only natural that, right now, magic felt far removed from him.
He had awakened his magic when he left home, but the driving force behind it was always rage and a desire for revenge.
The current Ferda lacked the boiling anger and razor-sharp thirst for vengeance.
It was only natural that he hadn’t awakened again.
‘I don’t even want to anymore.’
Looking back, the magic Ferda wielded was like a drug.
It felt good at first, but as the threshold kept rising, it became uncontrollable—just like an addiction.
When he was consumed by it, everything felt exhilarating and pleasant, but now it was nothing more than a horrifying memory he’d rather not relive.
Ferda liked the bitter calmness he felt now.
‘Though that doesn’t mean I want to live without magic forever…’
Life without magic was inconvenient in many ways.
Like putting on clothes by himself, for example.
By reaching the 3rd Circle, one could use magic to dress simply.
At the 4th Circle, one could understand the intricate structure of ceremonial attire and command magic to dress them automatically.
‘To live alone without issues, I’ll need to at least reach the 4th Circle.’
To any other person, hearing him talk about the 4th Circle so casually would’ve left them speechless.
But for Ferda, the feeling he had was one of daunting uncertainty.
He’d already climbed to the pinnacle of the 9th Circle once, but the path he knew was no longer available to him.
What did Ferda, now free of anger and vengeance, need in order to awaken his magic?
“Young master…!”
Just as he was pondering the question, the frightened voice of the coachman reached his ears.
That alone told him everything he needed to know.
“We’ve… we’ve arrived!”
—
The carriage had stopped in the middle of a forest, and a single signpost stood in the open road ahead.
**“Beyond this point lies the territory of the Void King. Entry beyond this point is strictly forbidden.”**
This was as far as the carriage could go.
“Good work.”
Ferda stepped out of the carriage, and the coachman unloaded the baggage while standing nervously nearby.
“Well, you can head back now.”
“But I must wait for the person who’s coming to meet you…”
His stubbornness was clearly not his own will.
He’d undoubtedly been ordered to ensure Ferda didn’t try to escape.
“A dragon will be here soon.”
“A d-dragon?”
“Well, not a real dragon, more like a spawn or one of its kin, but for someone like you, it might as well be a dragon.”
Sweat dripped from the coachman’s brow, and his throat bobbed as he swallowed nervously.
Ferda nodded toward the horses.
“Even if you could handle the dragon, those beasts wouldn’t. The horses would panic, and you wouldn’t make it back home. That’d be your loss, wouldn’t it?”
“A-ah…!”
“So just head back and report that I’m fine. Won’t it be a waste to die for nothing?”
“Y-yes, understood.”
The coachman abandoned his feigned resolve.
He unloaded a large bag from the back of the carriage and set it down.
“Then I’ll be on my way! Stay healthy, young master!”
The man, who’d vowed to stay, didn’t even look back as he drove the carriage away.
He was in such a hurry that the back of the carriage bounced.
Ferda sat down on the hard bag, using it as a makeshift chair while he waited.
“The Void King’s domain, huh…”
Before long, the wind began to stir suddenly.
Ferda raised his head and looked toward the dark forest.
Standing there was a young girl.
She wore a maid’s uniform and had silver hair, but she was no ordinary servant.
Don’t be fooled by her appearance.
She was a dragonspawn.
“Are you Ferda Rosnova?”
She asked politely.
“Yes.”
“I’ve come to accompany you to the castle. This way, please.”