Creeeeak.
The old tavern door opened, and the stale smell of alcohol stung my nostrils. The interior, dimly lit by candles, was in complete disarray, likely from another brawl.
Yulid, a man with a black tattoo on his cheek, calmly walked through the middle of the chaos.
He bumped into a man who had just beaten several others to a pulp. The man was in a state of excitement from his consecutive victories.
“Who the h*ll are you? Get lost if you don’t want to die!”
Contrary to his words, his blood-stained fist shot out first.
But in the next moment.
“Aaaagh!”
The man clutched his arm and staggered.
Yulid retrieved his dagger, twirling it after it had been deeply embedded in the man’s arm. Or at least, that’s what it looked like.
“Guh.”
Before returning to his pocket, the dagger pierced the man’s side. He twisted it mercilessly.
Kicking aside the fallen man, Yulid sat down across from someone. He seemed completely indifferent to the trash he had just disposed of.
“I took care of the half-elf.”
“As expected of Lord Yulid.”
Henrik, a man in a black robe, replied with satisfaction.
“Thanks to you, things have gone very smoothly. My master will be pleased.”
“I couldn’t care less about your master’s feelings.”
“But you should. Especially regarding that tattoo. The mark that only the closest confidants of the Black Hand’s leader bear. Didn’t the Vice Archmage recognize it?”
“How would that old man who knows nothing but magical research?”
Yulid snickered. His golden eyes shone brightly, yet somehow gave the impression of being worn down and tattered.
“This mark is only recognizable to sewer rats like you.”
“Watch your mouth. There’s no need to antagonize someone you’re currently working with, right?”
“How surprising. I never expected to hear a dark mage say he doesn’t want to be disliked.”
“Hey…!”
Henrik flinched and unconsciously raised his voice. He hurriedly looked around, relieved to confirm that no one had caught the word ‘dark mage.’
Yulid, who had been watching, smiled crookedly.
“Scared, aren’t you?”
“…”
D*mn b*stard.
If he weren’t useful, I’d kill him right now.
‘Well, he’s going to die anyway.’
I have no intention of letting him live even after I’m done using him.
Inwardly sneering, Henrik took out a small container from his br*ast pocket. Inside were small, wriggling larvae and their eggs.
“This is the final condition. To prove your loyalty and that you won’t betray us, swallow these poison insect eggs.”
The poison insects were a type of magical creature summoned through dark magic.
“They’ll hatch inside your stomach within three days and will reproduce quickly on their own. If you don’t take the medicine I give you, they’ll eat you from the inside out.”
“So if I want to keep living, I should be obedient?”
“Exactly.”
Henrik picked up one of the larvae eggs with tweezers. He tried to place it in Yulid’s hand.
But Yulid didn’t accept the egg.
“What the…!”
What he snatched instead was the container with the remaining larvae and eggs. While maintaining eye contact with Henrik, he tossed the entire contents into his mouth.
Gulp. He swallowed conspicuously, his Adam’s apple moving dramatically.
He stuck out his tongue to show it was empty and grinned.
‘This, this madman!’
Bang! A dagger was driven down between Henrik’s fingers.
“Gah…!”
“Roast me or fry me, do whatever you want. I’ll gladly give you this worthless life. In return, you only need to keep one promise. Just one.”
“…”
Yulid, all traces of humor gone from his face, thrust his face toward the horrified Henrik.
“My wife and daughter.”
“…”
“You said they’re alive, that they can be found. That you could locate them with dark magic.”
“…”
“You’d better keep your promise. Otherwise…”
Swish. The dagger grazed Henrik’s throat.
“Ugh?!”
“You die.”
Henrik’s pale face reflected in Yulid’s wide golden eyes.
“When you die depends entirely on my mood.”
“Of… of course I’ll keep our deal. You just finish the remaining tasks.”
“Good.”
Yulid turned away cleanly. Behind him, he could hear Henrik’s metallic coughing.
‘Maybe I didn’t even need to use poison. He looks like he’ll die soon anyway.’
Leaving the tavern, he melted into the night streets.
‘My daughter…’
He had been searching for 24 years. He had done everything possible to find his family. There were so few clues that at first, he didn’t even know he had a daughter.
Eventually, he got involved in increasingly dirty work, leading him to this point. Dark magic was the only option left.
‘I’ll see you soon.’
On his way to his lodgings, Yulid caught sight of himself in the window of a high-end shop.
A clearly unwholesome appearance.
“…”
Yulid awkwardly touched his cheek, then tidied his disheveled hair and clothes.
He even tried an awkward smile.
‘Good. When I meet my daughter, I’ll smile like this. She doesn’t need to know I’m a dirty b*stard. I’ll only show her beautiful things and give her only the finest. I’ll treat her like a princess more precious than royalty.’
He had endured all these years dreaming of that day.
What would she look like? What would her name be? Was she doing well? Was anyone bullying her? The countless questions he had asked himself over the years surfaced again.
‘Just hold on a little longer, and this time I’ll finally know. Wait for me, my princess.’
With renewed determination, Yulid disappeared into the back alley.
※※※
“Just hold on a little longer, Noah!”
“Nnnnngh.”
With Allen’s encouragement, Noah concentrated power into his palm.
Lynen and I watched with bated breath.
Finally, Noah’s hand began to glow faintly, and a tiny ball of light floated softly above his palm.
Allen let out a cheer.
“You did it! Noah, you were born with sacred power!”
“…!”
Noah looked at Lynen and me with joy. I nodded, hiding my excitedly quivering lips behind my fan.
“Very well done, Noah.”
“This will broaden your swordsmanship options too.”
“Yes!”
Noah had begun his sacred power lessons today.
The teacher was, of course, the saint Allen. Actually, he was the one who suggested it first.
Since Baron Rotten was teaching imperial language, he proposed teaching sacred power as well.
‘It was an argument impossible to refute.’
In truth, I had been planning to ask him soon anyway, so this worked out well. Swordsmanship is good, but trying different things at a young age is even better.
‘I… no, Calliphe only knew magic from childhood.’
What if her father had remained and introduced Calliphe to other interesting pursuits like art or music?
‘Well, there’s no point thinking about that now.’
I folded my fan and asked Allen:
“How do you plan to structure the lessons going forward?”
“We’ll need to see which area his sacred power specializes in. Whether it’s combat-oriented like mine, or healing-oriented.”
“Isn’t sacred power a talent with predetermined limits from birth?”
“Generally, yes. But one can still be chosen by a light spirit later on.”
“Noah will not become a saint. He must follow the path of the sword.”
Lynen interjected with a frown. Allen responded with a cool smile.
“That remains to be seen, doesn’t it? Noah might have more talent as a saint than as a swordsman.”
“Sword.”
“Sacred power.”
“Sword. Calliphe, don’t you agree?”
Lynen grabbed my hand and looked closely at me.
“Huh? What?”
I was startled by the suddenly reduced distance between us.
Recently, Lynen had been approaching me abruptly like this. Each time, his expression was strangely anxious.
“Well, I’m not sure.”
“…”
When I tried to gently pull my hand away, Lynen stubbornly grabbed it again. Clearly telling me not to move away.
‘Wait, why is he acting like this?’
Can’t you see Allen glaring at you and muttering what sounds like curses?!
Just then.
“Miss! We, we have an emergency!”
“Oh! Welcome back. What’s the matter?”
Lina, her chest muscles even more bulked up than before the Harvest Festival, panted as she spoke.
“There’s been an explosion at the closing ceremony!”
Translator
YOU MAY ALSO LIKE
midori
Thanks! Hahaha, seems it’s really her dad! She’s her dad’s little princess (the wife is the queen, of course), and lynen’s princess! Rofl
Wowow lynen is forward about it huh!