Chapter 5 (Part 2)

At the single word “Rockbellion,” Iudi jumped up from his seat in surprise.

<Will you collect the bond?>

<If it’s the Duke Rockbellion’s house… Honestly, commoners like us are tossed around by nobles…>

Nobles usually don’t come directly or reveal their identity. Iudi was curious why the name Rockbellion was revealed.

<The Duke has no interest in such small money but still needs to collect it, so he entrusted it to us. It doesn’t matter if you hide or reveal the bond’s owner. If you don’t take this job, we’ll pass the bond to someone else.>

<No! We’ll take the job.>

The person who placed the stack of bonds in front of Iudi with a kind smile was Butler Ferrell. He also placed a hefty pouch of gold coins on the table.

<This is your fee.>

Seeing the considerable number of gold coins in the pouch, Iudi and his subordinates’ faces lit up.

<If my guess is right… you’re not just asking us to collect the bond. Is there a bonus if we handle this well?>

Iudi decided not to think further. He just needed to squeeze Beonar, who had become an enemy of the Rockbellion house. He didn’t feel sorry for Beonar, only filled with thoughts of making money.

<You have good instincts. Please collect the money by any means necessary.>

Seeing Ferrell’s kind face, Iudi understood the exact intentions of the person entrusting the bond.

<We specialize in that. We’ll use any mental or physical methods to ensure we collect it. We might even break a leg if there’s resistance. Hahaha.>

Iudi and his subordinates, with eyes filled with greed, confidently spoke to Ferrell while looking at the pouch of gold coins and the stack of bonds.

<Please don’t disappoint our master.>

With the Duke Rockbellion house backing them, what more could they ask for? Iudi looked at Beonar with a wide grin.

“If you can’t repay the money now, I suggest you find a guarantor.”

Beonar went to the bank. When he angrily asked why they sold his bond, they only repeated that it was sold for ten times the bond’s market value.

<I heard business has been tough lately. It seemed difficult for the bank to recover the money, so we were lucky.>

Selling bonds at a high price is not illegal. Hence, Beonar couldn’t say anything. He looked for someone to guarantee him, but no one was willing.

“Damn it! Is there no other way…”

Beonar’s last thought was of Sophia. Since they were going to get married anyway, if the Earl Lumichua house guaranteed him, everything would be resolved.

“If I don’t resolve this quickly…”

He was anxious, fearing he might suffer humiliating treatment from commoner thugs.

However, the door to the Earl Lumichua residence did not open. They said Sophia was away and asked him to come back another day.

Thinking about it, Sophia’s frequent visits to the Marquis Fedeurus house had suddenly stopped. Beonar immediately returned to his residence and wrote a love letter to Sophia. But even after two days, there was no reply.

* * *

Erzen and Anton, who had gone to the northern dungeon, returned to the Duke Rockbellion residence.

“It wasn’t a dungeon, Yan.”

“Explain in detail.”

“It was a monster we’ve never seen before. You wouldn’t believe how much Erzen and I struggled.”

Anton explained what happened in the dungeon.

Anthus narrowed his eyes. He recalled the altar in the village of Luteons that he and Yuliana had investigated and the new monster they encountered there.

“We caught about 50 of them… It was the first time. They had regenerative abilities, so cutting them was useless. Anton made Molotov cocktails on the spot and burned them. They seemed weak to fire.”

“They didn’t burn well with just Molotov cocktails, so we mixed magic stone powder into them.”

“Not long ago, my lover and I went to a village on the outskirts of the empire to investigate the new monsters. They looked similar to the ones we encountered there…”

“Wait, lover? Have you finally become lovers with Lady Loengrin?”

Erzen grinned mischievously.

“Yes.”

“Congratulations. But to think someone like you, a battle-crazed man, became lovers with Lady Loengrin… Is she an angel?”

“More like a goddess than an angel. Let’s save the personal talk for later. Listen to the story, Erzen.”

“Got it.”

“The new monsters we encountered in the village of Luteons didn’t emerge from the ground… They looked like walking corpses. They had slime-like regenerative abilities and spewed poison. Even attacks with holy artifacts were useless, but our Lia summoned the fire spirit and burned the new monsters to death. She was amazing. If there’s a goddess of war, she must be our Lia.”

“Wait… You were explaining the investigation, but why does it sound like you’re bragging about your lover?”

When Erzen squinted and glared, Anthus made a face as if to say, “What did I do?”

“I didn’t expect you to be such a lovesick fool…”

Anthus then explained the underground altar they found in the village of Luteons. Erzen, surprised, mentioned a similar altar in the northern dungeon. The two places were very similar.

“Anton.”

“Yes.”

“This is the magic circle drawn on the altar found underground in the village of Luteons. Even the elder wizards of the Mage Tower said it was unfamiliar.”

“This ritual!”

Anton, as if he remembered something, quickly opened his magical space and handed a piece of paper to Anthus.

“It’s the same as the alchemy ritual drawn on the altar in the northern dungeon.”

“Alchemy ritual? Not a magic circle but an alchemy ritual, Anton?”

“Yes.”

“It wasn’t a magic circle but an alchemy ritual. No wonder the wizards of the Mage Tower didn’t know. So, Anton, what is the purpose of the alchemy ritual drawn on the altar?”

Anthus asked, showing the drawing to Anton.

“The basics of alchemy involve marking points at 12, 10, 8, 6, 4, and 2 o’clock and drawing a star. Then, ancient languages to be used are written around it.”

Pointing to the star shape in the drawing, Anton continued.

“I understand some of the ancient languages drawn here, but I don’t know the rest.”

“Languages you don’t know?”

“If I don’t know them, it means it’s a forbidden alchemy ritual.”

“What is a forbidden alchemy ritual, Anton?”

“There are mainly two kinds of forbidden alchemy.”

Anton paused and took a deep breath, a sigh filled with tension and difficulty.

“Life and death are determined by the gods, so alchemists must not interfere with them. Even if it’s the death of a loved one, alchemists should never touch the realm of death.”

“I understand. What’s the other one?”

“To summon demons or demon lords from another world, the necessary sacrifices are human blood and souls. The alchemy ritual is used to trap those souls.”

“Is that possible with alchemy?”

“Yes. Souls are meant to leave the body and return to the gods, but the alchemy ritual traps them.”

“Anton, I’d like you to investigate the alchemy ritual on the altar with the wizards of the Mage Tower.”

“Understood!”

Anthus’ mind became more complicated. He hadn’t considered that the magic circle on the altar could be an alchemy ritual.

* * *

Selenia decided to arrange a meeting to reconcile Louis and Yuliana.

“Your face doesn’t look good, Lia. Are you very busy with work?”

“No.”

“How far has the investigation progressed?”

“I can’t tell you yet.”

Crown Prince Cloud had ordered to keep quiet about the new monsters immune to holy power to avoid causing confusion.

“Are you in love? Or are you receiving a lot of love… You seem to be getting prettier.”

“…”

“Your face is turning red. What are you imagining?”

Selenia teased Yuliana, whose face turned red with embarrassment, and laughed happily.

While they were having a conversation, a dark shadow appeared behind Yuliana.

“Hello? Excuse me, beautiful ladies.”

“Hello.”

A man, whose face was paler than most men, greeted them, looking sickly.

The man approached Yuliana, bowed, and examined her face, raising the corners of his mouth. His eyes sparkled as if he had discovered something incredible.

“Blonde hair… and golden eyes… How beautiful.”

“Pardon? But thank you for the compliment.”

Yuliana was taken aback by the man’s sudden approach and behavior. Seeing the people behind the man, she guessed he might be a noble.

However, his attire was subtly different from the uniforms worn by the nobles of the Sirius Empire. She thought he might be a guest from another empire, here for the Crown Prince’s upcoming birthday.

“I was fascinated by your golden eyes, just like mine, so I took the liberty of greeting you.”

Yuliana looked into the man’s eyes. His hair was as dark as night, but his eyes were the same golden color as hers.

Yuliana met the man’s gaze again, feeling like she was sinking into a sticky swamp.

“You are beautiful.”

Amidst the wind brushing past her face, Yuliana heard a scream. It was strange. The wind screamed like this only once before, when Emperor Rezeph asked to see her face when she was ten.

“Have you ever tested your holy power?”

“I am a spirit mage. I have no holy power, so there’s no need to test it.”

“So, you inherited your golden eyes from your parents…”

Yuliana thought of her biological mother, Saint Rosaline. She wanted to say she inherited her mother’s eyes, but she couldn’t bring herself to say it. She felt an unpleasant chill throughout her body.

“People with golden eyes like ours usually have some holy power… It’s unusual that you don’t.”

Just as the man was about to reach out to Yuliana.

“Lia!”

Selenia, who was sitting opposite Yuliana, stood up abruptly. The man’s arm stopped moving.

“We need to go. Your lover must be waiting. Let’s go quickly.”

Selenia made up a non-existent appointment, and Yuliana nodded in gratitude. The man, with a resigned expression, said,

“We’ll meet again soon, lovely lady.”

Selenia glanced back and forth, then grabbed Yuliana’s hand and led her into the carriage. She opened the small window of the carriage to check the surroundings, then closed it and sighed.

“Let’s go to Duke Rockbellion’s residence, Lia.”

“What’s wrong, Sellie?”

“Even though I clearly said that your lover was waiting, he still called you a lovely lady. And he’s watching the carriage from outside. He seems to be a noble from another empire… It makes me uneasy.”

“Alright, let’s do that.”

Yuliana gently stroked Selenia’s hand, which was showing an uncomfortable expression, to calm her down. The carriage headed straight for the Rockbellion residence.