Chapter 74

The first thing Lucion did when he returned to the mansion was to call the ghosts No. 2 to No. 7 who ruled the mansion and listen to the information they had collected.

The ghosts’ mouths moved nonstop as if they had gathered every piece of information.

[This guy and this guy too. And… I saw him steal something, too.]

After Lucion heard the ghost’s information, he wandered around the mansion, and each time the ghosts pointed out someone one by one.

There were 13 of them.

‘…Ha. That’s no joke.’

Lucion was excited and couldn’t stop laughing, causing the ghosts to tremble.

[Who’s the leader?]

Russell asked.

Now that Shen was gone, someone must have taken his place at the center.

[That’s him!]

Then, all the ghosts pointed to the butler who was walking in the hallway.

Maybe he was a butler who mainly managed miscellaneous tasks, but unlike Hume, there were no badges on his clothes.

‘Yes, in that way, it’s convenient to collect information.’

“I greet you, Young Master.”

The butler bowed his head as soon as he saw Lucion.

“Yes.”

Lucion pretended to answer appropriately and called the butler two seconds later.

“Wait a minute.”

Hume wasn’t here.

He must be cleaning up the weapons he had bought and absorbing the sword containing the monster’s bones.

“Yes, Young Master.”

“Please bring snacks to my room.”

“I understand. I’ll prepare it right away”

Lucion listened to the butler’s answer and headed to his room.

‘I wonder if he believed the information I fabricated.’

He had manipulated information related to him in that cave.

Lucion leaked false information, such as that he had a serious allergy to apples, and he planned to check through that butler.

“No. 2.”

Lucy called for No. 2 out of many ghosts.

It was one of the ghosts who bullied him, so shouldn’t he pay it back?

[Y-Yes!]

“Follow that guy and report right now.”

[I understand.]

No. 2 immediately moved with a rigid expression and almost stuck himself to the butler.

Lucion paused in the hallway and looked out the window.

As a familiar smell drifted through the open window, he realized that he had returned home.

Lucion looked down.

Looking around, he noticed a flower tree that had been abandoned.

It was now the beginning of early summer.

‘I don’t want to feel hot.’

—It’s Bethel!

Ratta diligently climbed up to Lucion’s head, looked down, and smiled broadly.

Looking at her wielding a sword in the empty air, it looked like she was training swordsmanship without fail.

‘Do ghosts train as well…?’

[Bethel. Leave them alone and look around the mansion.]

As Lucion was in doubt, Russell spoke to Bethel.

“Were you getting rid of ghosts, not training?”

[No, I wasn’t getting rid of them. I was threatening them. Those ghosts swear at you a lot. You must have been annoyed by the sound.]

‘No wonder Bethel said, ‘I need to pull out the weed’ as soon as she came to the mansion.’

Lucion exhaled.

[Russell.]

Bethel flew toward Lucion with a sword in her hand and uttered in a voice mixed with dissatisfaction.

[Why do you leave them alone? Can’t you get rid of all the ghosts here?]

[Right. We can get rid of them, but Lucion didn’t do it because he has to use them.]

[Is it for training?]

[Right. I’ll explain the details later. You too, don’t make a fuss for nothing and hide yourself in moderation.]

[Russell. I don’t understand this place at all. So many ghosts…]

[Bethel. There are ghosts everywhere. What’s so weird about that?]

Lucion thought the conversation between Russell and Bethel was too unnatural.

In particular, Russell seemed to be hiding something.

“What did you see, Bethel?”

Lucion asked.

[I saw ghosts. Those who speak ill of you and curse you beyond words.]

Bethel spoke calmly.

“They have nothing left besides resentment against the nobles so don’t worry about what they say.”

Lucion’s expression hardened at once.

Bethel was slightly perplexed by the sharp, ferocious rage.

“Teacher, please. I’m not sure I can explain it well to Bethel.”

But Lucion calmed down.

He didn’t even want to get angry because of them.

[Okay. I’ll explain it well, so go ahead.]

Russell parted his lips when Lucion had gone out of sight in the hallway.

[Bethel.]

[I’m listening.]

[I can’t tell you in detail, but Lucion hates the ghosts here.]

[But Russell. This oddity… I’m so confused. There are so many ghosts, but none of them are corrupted. There isn’t even a warlock around.]

Bethel clenched her fist.

There was no way the warlocks didn’t know about this place.

There were so many ghosts.

[The warlocks see a well-prepared meal and just let it be? That’s ridiculous. No way. Even if this place belongs to Cronia, they will do everything they can to get a good ghost…]

[Why do you ask if you know the reason?]

As Russell smirked, Bethel voiced her doubts.

[Is it possible that this situation happens just because of one death knight?]

[Of course, it’s possible because they’re strong. More than you.]

Russell’s finger pointed at Bethel.

[They don’t hate warlocks unlike you. But their mission is to kill all the warlocks who e to Cronia.]

[Mission…?]

Bethel responded, not being able to understand it at all.

[Anyway, I decided that no one could replace them. It’s not mon to have a mission of killing warlocks, is it? So we made a deal.]

[A deal?]

[I won’t touch them, but they won’t touch Lucion either. As long as we don’t touch each other, it’s a situation that benefits both parties.]

Bethel thought about it for a moment.

Isn’t it a one-sidedly advantageous condition for Lucion?

The death knight whose mission is to kill the warlocks doesn’t touch the warlock Lucion.

It was for nothing else, just a mission.

[Lucion is happy not to meet warlocks in Cronia, and they’re happy not being killed by him.]

Russell raised the corners of her lips high enough to look proud.

Bethel also knew that this was not arrogance, but a fact.

[You’re… as expected, a strange existence.]

[What is strange between fellow ghosts?]

Russell giggled and stepped back slowly.

[Anyway, it’s not good to mention them to Lucion. Just keep that in mind.]

[Maybe… Never mind. Like you said, I’ll hide myself and look around the mansion.]

[Sounds great. Cronia’s mansion is large and there are many things to see, so take a look around.]

Russell turned to Lucion, and Bethel put her sword back.

‘It was… definitely hostile.’

Bethel looked out the window and recalled Lucion’s gaze again.

It was full of deep hostility, different from when Lucion looked at the ghosts outside the mansion.

Bethel stopped thinking with an exhaled breath, and only then caught the scenery.

‘Is this where I’ll be for the time being?’

The sceneries she had never seen before came into Bethel’s eyes one by one.

‘It’s pretty. It’s a beautiful place.’

Bethel leaned against the window frame and grabbed her arms.

It was a place where she could picture the warmth just by looking at it, so she wished she had freshly brewed tea in her hand.

* * *

“…Hmph.”

Lucion swung his pen and leaned back on the chair, bending his neck slightly.

When his long hair flowed under the chair, Ratta ran quickly and grabbed Lucion’s hair with his front paw.

Lucion’s gaze turned to Ratta.

Ratta, who made eye contact with Lucion, smiled and hit his hair with her front paw.

Ratta looked like a fox, but she acted like a cat or a dog, it was all jumbled up.

“Is it fun?”

—Yes! Ratta likes balls, and it’s fun to hit Lucion’s hair!

“Yes, as long as it’s fun.”

Lucion blinked and continued spinning the pen.

Now that he had returned to the frontier, he had to increase his power, but the fatigue accumulated from the journey was unbearable.

As soon as he got back to his room, his physical condition dropped.

‘I think I need to rest for two days to return to my original state.’

Lucion mumbled with his pen in his mouth.

‘Then, the training will begin in a week, and the Imperial Knights will leave Cronia in two days, so I can go around and manage the organization under the pretext of relieving the fatigue.’

To be honest, there was no reason for the Imperial Knights to stay in Cronia for two days.

It only took half a day to get to the Central with a portal, so the fact that they stayed for two days was just to show that the Imperial family cared that much.

‘It’s a mess because Father didn’t prepare a weling party.’

However, it seemed he actually wanted to hold a weling party.

‘But he must have felt better since I asked to have a lot of delicious food for dinner.’

[Apple and jelly are mixed in the snacks.]

Russell said, sticking his head out of the wall.

—Hop!

Russell was busy grinning as Ratta bounced back.

Lucion raised the corners of his mouth, straightening his head.

“The information seems to have been delivered properly.”

Lucion himself didn’t really like apples.

He didn’t eat it simply because he didn’t like it, but it might look different from the servants’ perspectives.

Knock. Knock.

At the sound of knocking on the door, Lucion raised his voice.

“Come in.”

Before the door opened, Ratta rushed to the bed and hid under the blanket.

The butler, who entered the room, bowed his head slightly and came inside.

“Excuse me.”

“Put it down here.”

Lucion pointed to his desk.

“You’ve worked hard.”

At Lucion’s words, the butler nodded once more and opened the lid.

Twitch.

He could see Ratta hidden under the blanket moving slightly.

After a brief eye contact with Lucion, Ratta went back into the blanket.

Lucion smiled and looked at the bowl of snacks.

While snacks such as cookies, macarons, jelly, and fruits were distributed evenly, beautifully cut apples caught his eye.

“Then I’ll be going now.”

Lucion also aimed for the moment when the butler naturally greeted him and was about to leave.

“Wait a minute.”

[He’s smiling.]

Russell stared at the butler who turned his head.

As if mimicking the butler, Russell also made a sinister laugh.

[It’s an expression of someone who got something good.]

“Yes, Young Master.”

But when the butler turned his head back, there was no change in his expression.

“Take out all the apples. It makes me sick just looking at it.”

When Lucion frowned, the butler quickly bowed his head.

“My apologies, I didn’t know.”

“No, I hate it so take it out.”

“I understand, Young Master. I’ll clean it up quickly.”

The butler came up to the desk again, put the lid on the bowl, and took them out.

[Not yet. He has his ears on the door.]

Russell laughed, holding his belly.

Feeling like watching a really clumsy play, Lucion purposefully vomited.

To make him believe that the manipulated information was true.

“…Ugh!”

Lucion didn’t know how many times he mimicked the gag, but he stopped when Russell said ‘stop’.

[He’s gone.]

‘He checked for a long time. My sore throat was killing me.’

Lucion rested his chin and frowned.

Then looking at No.2 hanging on the wall, he said bluntly.

“What are you doing, No. 2? keep chasing him. Keep an eye on who he’s contacting and what he’s doing.“

[I understand. I’ll move right away.]

No. 2 disappeared through the wall with a stiff expression.

‘Now, shall we catch the rest of the 12 beside that guy?’

Lucion spun his pen and waited for Hume to e in.

Then, shortly afterward, he heard a knock on the door.

Knock. Knock.

‘It’s Hume.’

Lucion immediately recognized the heavy sound that only Hume could make.

It was really good timing.