The Hero Becomes the Duke’s Eldest Son

Chapter 91

Marcus questioned Shandalkan with a twisted expression, like an evil deity.

“Charles, what did you do to my daughter’s spirit? And tell me about the poison disguised as a fever reducer, immediately!”

“H-hiik! I don’t know anything about that! I’m only a mid-level executive… I-I just know that the fever reducer is being sent to the guild from that group inside the dungeon!”

As expected, the source of the poison disguised as a fever reducer was the warlocks.

The man sincerely appealed that the happenings within the dungeon and other related matters were under the jurisdiction of higher guild members.

He desperately emphasized that he only knew this much because his skills were recognized within the guild, and he gathered information while occasionally bribing others.

Aden asked him a question.

“Who is behind this? It’s impossible that a mere grand guild could orchestrate such a large-scale event. There must be a force behind them that made them cooperate. Who are they?”

The true mastermind.

In fact, Aden was already almost certain of their identity but asked for confirmation.

“T-that is…”

He seemed to know something.

But he hesitated to speak, fearing that revealing this information would lead to his end.

“Hmph, it seems you still haven’t come to your senses. If you wanted to end up like those friends of yours, you should have spoken sooner.”

Aden pointed to the blood-soaked former humans with his finger and slowly raised his fist.

“Once you look just like them…”

“Sias! It’s Sias…!”

Unable to withstand Aden’s threat, he shut his eyes and confessed.

Even if he were to die, he wanted to avoid ending up like that.

“The Syres Grand Duke Family provides immense support and funding to the Umbra Guild. And every few months, a subordinate from the Syres Grand Duke Family comes secretly to inspect.”

The Syres Grand Duke Family.

As that name was spoken, the atmosphere around them grew heavy and a cold silence fell.

The guild leader Marcus’s eyes shook intensely.

“S-Sias…?”

The Grand Duchy of Syres, a military nation that curbs the overflow of the Frozen Land, one of the five territories.

As the name of the ruling family of that place was mentioned, his mouth fell open.

Aden, however, remained calm as he had already known that Sylbeta Sias was colluding with the warlocks of Chaos.

But despite his calm expression, a serene storm was brewing in his black eyes.

‘How ridiculous…’

The imperial banquet, the Sacred Fire Order, the Forest of Death…

And now, the human experiments happening here.

It was absurd to think he once considered such a revolting person an ally.

A shiver ran down Marcus’s spine as he felt a sudden chill and looked at Aden.

Seeing Aden’s expression, he flinched.

He was… smiling.

‘It’s delightful that someone is begging to be killed so earnestly.’

Aden was smiling, but he also seemed angry and somewhat sorrowful.

But all those emotions combined into a grotesque smile, expressing one single emotion.

Killing intent.

“H-hiiik…”

Before that killing intent, Shandalkan started to convulse and nearly fainted again.

Marcus, who hadn’t felt such a murderous aura since retiring from active duty, swallowed hard as he felt as if his head might fall off.

“Aden… young master?”

-Dragon Slayer, calm yourself.

The Maedala Guild Leader cautiously called out to him, and Curse spoke to Aden.

As a result, the grotesque smile and murderous intent on Aden’s face gradually faded, returning to a calm, expressionless state.

He grabbed Shandalkan by the collar and asked.

“Where is the dungeon located?”

“I-I don’t know… Only the guild leader and the higher… guild members know…”

Shandalkan, barely managing to answer Aden’s question, eventually passed out.

However, since he had already extracted enough information, there was no need to wake him up.

“For now. This is all we can learn from this guy.”

“…”

Marcus Maedala looked at Aden in contemplation.

A murderous aura that seemed to strangle his whole body.

It felt just like being confronted by Master Fear.

He couldn’t understand how Aden, an eighteen-year-old who grew up in a duke’s household, could emit such killing intent.

He was curious about the reason, but his mouth wouldn’t open.

So, instead, he got to the main point.

“…So, what do you plan to do now? By tomorrow, the Umbra Guild will notice that we have detained these people.”

“So we will move immediately. Then we need to find the dungeon where they took the people.”

“But that’s too tight. We still don’t know the dungeon’s location…”

“There is one person, isn’t there?”

“What?”

Aden repeated himself.

“There is one person, isn’t there? Someone who knows the dungeon’s location and is aware of Charles’s spirit.”

“Who on earth… Surely not…!”

Finally understanding Aden’s meaning, the guild leader was astonished.

Aden smirked at the dumbfounded Marcus.

“We will go see the guild leader of the Umbra Guild. We have no choice but to directly interrogate him.”

* * *

-Dragon Slayer, are you really going to do it?

‘Of course. Have you been dozing off? Why are you asking?’

-Because your plan is ridiculous. Pretending to be an agent sent by Sias.

To explain the situation, it was like this.

Aden decided to visit the Umbra Guild headquarters and meet the guild leader directly.

Of course, he had no intention of revealing his true identity.

He planned to go as a subordinate sent by Sylbeta from the Syres Grand Duke Family.

However, Curse was against this.

-We can’t fully trust what that mutt guild member said.

‘People like him value their own lives the most. So, it’s all true.’

Someone like Shandalkan, when cornered, would actively cooperate to increase his chances of survival.

He wasn’t brave enough to mix lies that would hasten his own death.

‘According to him, the guild leader of the Umbra Guild, Tallin Umbra, knows just a few of the attendants.’

So, the plan was to disguise himself as someone so significant that he wouldn’t dare to check.

-So how do you plan to disguise yourself?

‘How? Like this.’

Aden took out some items from the subspace pouch.

-That’s…?

Curse’s voice was filled with astonishment.

* * *

At the back gate of the Umbra Guild headquarters.

Guild members stood guard there.

They watched Aden approach and became wary.

He was currently covered from head to toe in a cloak.

“Stop.”

“Who are you?”

In response, he silently removed the cloak covering his body.

The guild members’ first thought upon seeing him was this.

‘What kind of sword is that absurdly big?’

‘Black iron armor?’

Aden was currently clad in black iron armor from head to toe, with a huge black greatsword strapped to his back.

His face was hidden under a deeply pulled helmet.

The guild members glared at Aden.

“I’ll ask again. Who are you? No outsiders are allowed in here.”

“If you don’t want your life ruined, get lost.”

Aden’s voice lowered menacingly.

“It seems like you’re the ones who want your lives ruined.”

“What? This bastard…!”

Just as the enraged Umbra guild member drew his sword to attack Aden, Aden was a step ahead and drew his own sword, infusing it with aura.

Hwaaaat!

The formless Sword Aura condensed into visible Aura Threads.

The sharp blue Aura Threads flickered.

The guild members were horrified.

“Aura Threads!”

“A Semi-Master?”

A knight clad in black armor, wielding a greatsword, and using Aura Threads.

The guild member’s mind immediately recalled a particular knight with these characteristics.

He gulped.

“N-no way, are you…?”

“Yes.”

As the guild member asked in a trembling voice, Aden nodded slightly.

Aden raised his greatsword and declared with authority.

“I am one of Lord Sylbeta’s swords, the Black Knight Dares Clayman. Bring your guild leader here immediately.”

Aden decided to deceive them.

* * *

The knights directly under Sias.

They protected the bloodline of Sias, and their personal prowess was exceptional, comparable to the Imperial Guard that protected the imperial family in the empire.

Especially the Black Knight, one of the direct knights of the eldest son, the Thunder Knight, was no exception.

Well, he had died in one strike from Aden, though.

Aden had killed him and kept his black greatsword and black armor just in case.

‘The important thing is that his death hasn’t been publicly known yet.’

Since quite some time had passed since the incident in the Forest of Death, Sylbeta must have noticed his death.

However, the news of his death hadn’t spread to the world.

He had died in the land of the Ent tribe, occupied by warlocks.

His death itself was dishonorable, so it couldn’t be announced.

A knight dispatched on a secret mission could cut off contact for several years, so only two months had passed.

They would keep it hidden for now and later announce it as an accidental death at an appropriate time.

There was no reason to share information about the Black Knight’s death with an outsourced guild like the Umbra Guild.

In other words, the Umbra Guild knew nothing about the Black Knight’s death.

Therefore, he wore the Black Knight’s black armor and greatsword and used the voice modulation technique he had learned in his previous life to mimic the Black Knight’s voice.

“I greet you, Sir Clayman. I am Tallin Umbra, the person in charge of this guild.”

“You already know about me, don’t you?”

“I have heard

of the Black Knight’s name many times.”

The result was the current scene where Tallin Umbra, the guild leader of Umbra, was bowing respectfully in front of Aden.

Aden was sitting on a sofa, facing the guild leader in the guild’s VIP reception room.

Tallin, known for his arrogance and ruthlessness, was sweating profusely as he watched Aden, who was impersonating Dares Clayman.

‘It’s going as expected.’

Tallin Umbra, like the Black Knight, was a top-level Sword Aura user, a strong warrior.

Nevertheless, his attitude was extremely humble.

The authority of the knights directly under Sias was so powerful, showing that they were indeed low-level subordinates supported by Sylbeta.

“Please understand that the reception is shabby because we did not receive prior notice…”

He couldn’t bring himself to doubt Aden and firmly believed he was the Black Knight Dares Clayman.

‘He would never imagine that a Semi-Master would impersonate a direct knight of Sias.’

Aden had already shown him the Aura Threads.

A top-level Sword Aura user, or a Semi-Master, could establish their own power like Tallin had with the Umbra Guild.

But there was no reason for someone who could live well enough without taking risks to impersonate a knight of Sias and risk being marked by them.

Knowing this well, Aden responded naturally.

“It doesn’t matter. Do you have any idea why I came here?”

After thinking for a moment, Tallin cautiously asked Aden.

“…Is it an unscheduled inspection?”

“You’re well-informed.”

“I thought it was about time for one.”

It was amusing how easily he nodded in agreement with himself, but Aden hid his inner thoughts.

He plastered a brazen face and gave him a haughty command.

“Then you must know what to do. Show me all the current operations and their results, without leaving anything out.”

—