Episode 14
“Dungeon? I don’t know.”
As soon as he heard my words, Lian shook his head in disbelief.
“You found one.”
“No.”
He’s pulling it off, but his eyes are shaking slightly. A person’s eyes don’t lie.
Especially Rian’s eyes.
“I’m not good at lying.”
“Ha, what a lie I was…!”
“That dungeon was discovered a year ago. An enormous amount of mana was observed, and the lord, Count Paslov, judged the dungeon to be a ‘mana stone mine’ and dispatched an investigation team.”
“…?!”
At that moment, Ryan’s eyes widened.
“Uh how did you… …”
“I guess that’s right too.”
Actually, strictly speaking, it’s not a dungeon.
At this point, we don’t know the exact identity, so we just called it a dungeon, but its ‘true identity’ was far from a dungeon.
‘Most of the investigation team are missing.’
Before the return, Count Paslov’s family dispatched an investigation team five times in total.
And those five investigation teams almost never returned.
In fact, the reason why I was so obsessed with the engagement with the Duke of Lindell was because of the financial difficulties caused by the dispatch of this investigation team.
“Even if you send an investigation team to die there, there will be no profit. Rather, it will only increase the loss.”
“…How do you know?”
He asked if he had given up the idea of hiding it, his eyes shining sharply.
“I thought I was hiding something about it, but there was no way there was a rat in the family.”
“No, not like that. I just inferred from hearing rumors going around the mercenary industry.”
“…mercenary?”
“Yes, rumors over there are quite fast. I heard you recruited a lot of mercenaries from your territory. Especially experts who are well versed in dungeon exploration.”
I waited for a while, but it’s not wrong.
In fact, the existence of the dungeon was revealed before returning because of rumors in the mercenary industry.
“Even if we don’t know the details, we can infer the situation at that point. Including the fact that the condition of the very few mercenaries who returned after that was also not good.”
“…Did you investigate that? It wouldn’t have been so great that you noticed it in the first place.”
“I am not.”
I smiled at Lian’s ridiculous expression.
“I tend to be quite interested in useless things. That’s why I got this information.”
“…what’s up So, since I’m interested in that dungeon, what am I going to do?”
Ryan frowned and continued.
“Most of the investigation team sent that way did not survive. It means that the horse is a dungeon, but it is no different from a demon’s cave. There’s no way you can attack something like that.”
“But your family has no intention of giving up on that dungeon, right?”
“….”
In fact, Count Paslov’s family couldn’t give up the dungeon until the very end.
So did you succeed?
No, I didn’t even succeed in raiding the dungeon.
It was someone else who revealed the identity of the place, and he also took all the rewards.
“So I am going to help. I will go in myself on behalf of the investigation team.”
“You say you can do something that mercenaries, who are experts in exploring the lower reaches, couldn’t do?”
“Of course you can. In the first place, dungeon exploration is the basic knowledge of wizards. I am the heir to the family of the wizards, the Walpurgis.”
Rian, who was scratching her head, said in annoyance.
“Are all wizards like you? What kind of guy’s confidence is like this?”
“It’s not a proposal that will damage your family either. If I see through the identity of the dungeon, it’s an advantage, and nothing happens if I don’t.”
“It is, but…Lian ,
who was silent and lost in thought, opened her eyes a little later and asked me.
“…What is the training method?”
“Of course I will tell you. It’s a promise, so I’ll keep it.”
“Hmm…”
Soon, Lian nodded.
“What good. If you know that much, there’s no reason for me to hide it. Let’s do it. Of course, I can’t guarantee you’ll listen.”
“know. Doesn’t that mean your father has a choice?”
“yes.”
If so, it doesn’t matter much.
I had enough confidence to get permission from the count.
“Then it’s decided.”
I said, standing up.
“Let’s start right away.”
* * *
“…It happened.”
At my words, my father asked with a bewildered expression.
“It seems like you said you would take on the work of the Duke of Lindell, but what kind of bullshit did you say?”
“It is not unrelated.”
“You mean that the Paslov family is the new fiancée of the Lindel duchy. Well, you’re not saying that you’re going to make a mess in the county, right?”
“Of course not.”
Both families are families that will help me in the long run.
How could you do such an inefficient thing?
“I got rid of that right away. didn’t you tell me I made a promise to Ryan Paslov. As you know, a promise to a wizard is… .”
“It is a contract that must be kept. Yes I know.”
My father always had a club in one hand.
Why is someone who is so generous to an old friend so anxious that he can’t beat me as a son?
“Father, please put away the stick. After all, you’ve been rehabilitated and you’re doing well, right?”
“Staff.”
“I don’t call the staff a blunt weapon that catches people.”
“Staff.”
My father’s wrist, visible through the robes, was full of tendons.
I don’t know why the magician’s wrists are so ragged, but it was anyway.
“Anything a wizard is holding becomes a staff member. I’ve never told you, but when I was young, I hunted many monsters with this staff. Do you see the reddish part here? These are all traces of the blood of monsters.”
“No, why is there blood on the magic staff?”
Did you try to beat them one by one with the staff?
“….”
My father looked at me gently with eyes filled with unknown emotions.
I gently turned my head.
For a moment there was silence between me and my father.
“…Well, anyway, there are other things besides keeping promises.”
“What is it?”
“I won’t tell you.”
The father’s arm holding the staff doubled in an instant.
“Ah, this son is really…”
“Even if you do that, I won’t say it.”
I answered firmly and waited for my father’s words to follow.
“Tsk.”
My father clicked his tongue briefly and lowered the hand holding the staff.
“Can I trust you?”
“Didn’t you always trust me?”
Even though I was so broken, it was my father who never forgot his faith in me until the end.
Rather, it hurt more because of it.
After my father passed away, I regretted a few times that I was free from being an idiot.
It is also one of the reasons why I gave up the status of a warrior.
“…damn bastard.”
My father grumbled a little at my answer.
“Are you sure you have the confidence to take care of Lindel’s business?”
“As I said, this is part of the work after all. I can’t tell you the details.”
Whether it’s the dungeon or the promise with Lian… ….
To an outsider, you could say it was ‘Walpurgis’, but it was impossible to do that to your father.
It’s better to look around.
“What good.”
My father spoke bluntly and then turned his back on me.
“Where do you want to go?”
“Yes, do whatever you want.”
I turned my head and glanced at the corner of the room.
It felt very thin.
“Were there any passengers?”
“There is no such thing.”
For a moment, my father turned his head and looked at me.
Tears were flowing in his eyes.
“Did you see something?”
“No, I think it was an illusion.”
I pretended not to notice and nodded and left the room.
* * *
“Tsk.”
After Mikhail left the room, Marquis Walpurgis clicked his tongue briefly.
“Anyway, who resembles someone and moves that way without any countermeasures?”
“You look at it, isn’t it Your Excellency?”
It was a sudden voice, but the Marquis showed no signs of panic.
Rather, he asked the other person in a calm voice.
“Huh, did I say that?”
“Yes, he was in his prime. Well, you have grown in many ways now.”
“hmm…The Marquis
scratched his cheek with a shy expression.
“By the way, what do you think?”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean Mikhail. Even though it’s only for a short time, it seemed like he noticed your presence.”
“There is nothing strange about it. My circles are not normal. Of course, hiding your presence won’t be perfect… …“
But that ability doesn’t go anywhere.”
The Marquis raised his head and looked at his opponent.
“As a butler, I assumed that those of you who watched the child from the side must have noticed something.”
“Hmm…The
butler put his hands behind his back and put on a thoughtful expression at the Marquis’ words.
“Certainly, it suddenly changed a lot recently. They are bold and their ability to use magic is unparalleled.”
“Usage means not using witchcraft.”
“Yes, such a talent cannot be obtained by using witchcraft. It is clear that it is the master’s own ability.”
The butler’s expression when he said that was completely different from what he had seen in front of Mikhail.
Insight and vertigo.
They were caught in my eyes.
“However, was it that he had been hiding it until now or was he belatedly aware of his talent…”
“Hmm.”
“For a Walpurgis bloodline, the sudden realization is not unusual. Isn’t the current Walpurgis inheriting the spirit of the ancestors from generation to generation? If that soul awoke… …Such a sudden change is not unusual.”
“The blood of Walpurgis…”
The Marquis frowned.
Yes, it wasn’t that his family became the largest magic family in the empire for no reason.
Lots of magical knowledge and wizards.
At the same time, he is holding on as the only 8th Circle wizard, but that is only the result.
The reason why the family called ‘Walpurgis’ can be established is the special blood that flows from generation to generation.
origin of the blood.
“…It’s a talent passed down through generations.”
The reason she wasn’t surprised by the sudden change in her son must be because she knew about the blood.
“The time has already come.”
Generally, people become aware of that blood around the age of 20.
But it wouldn’t be strange if the change came a little sooner.
“Then just a little more, please.”
“Yes, it is. It was such a contract.”
The butler respectfully bowed his head and suddenly disappeared from the marquis’ presence.
“The time has already come.”
Left alone, the Marquis quietly recalled memories with his eyes closed.
* * *
I think I got permission from my father, too. Lian and I headed straight to Count Parslov.
Of course, it wasn’t just me and Ryan going.
“Oh, boy!”
The butler was following me, making a sound of pain.
“No, why are you following me when you’re not feeling well?”
“The Marquis requested it! He told the old man to follow him because he didn’t know what accident might happen.”
“….”
Anyway, the reason is very plausible.
But knowing the real face beneath that mask, I nodded unaware.
“What good. Instead, the butler decided to follow, so don’t complain?”
“I’m here for orders too.”
“It’s work. While receiving a lot of money from our family.”
“Okay…The
butler sighed as if he had lost and walked away.
“Mister of the Parslov family, please take good care of me.”
“Uh um…I see.”
Lian nodded absently and whispered to me in a small voice.
“…Hey, don’t you mind?”
“The butler is fine.”
I’m not the kind of person who would go anywhere and say that.
Ryan nodded and asked me.
“So what can I do now?”
“What do you do?”
I said to Ryan.
“You must guide your father.”
Great mage who transcends by regression
