Chapter 19 - Is this how it goes?

Is this how it goes?

Russell blinked and stared at Lucion.

[Lucion?]

“Yes, sir.”

[…again, even if you’re still feeling dizzy?]

“I’m fine now.”

[If you were in your right mind, you would have stopped eating Ratcho.]

“I’ll tell you when Ratcho comes out…”

[No.]

Russell cut him off like a knife.

What Lucion said was obvious. It was all about increasing the dose of Ratcho.

“There is not much time left until the banquet.”

There was a little over a week left, but there was still a problem.

At least, in order not to be driven out as a warlock, even the minimum resistance to light that could withstand the light emitted by the Divine Beast was required.

Russell said with a look of anticipation.

[Are you getting nervous? I told you not to go.]

“I’m not saying this out of the blue.”

At the end of the long haul, Ratta took a look at Lucion and Russell and threw herself into the garden’s flower bed.

“It doesn’t hurt as much as it used to.”

[It’s just probably how you feel. The amount of darkness dying from the sunlight is still the same.]

“Well, that’s great.”

Lucion stepped down for now.

It was no good to provoke Russell anymore.

‘The opportunity will surely come, and I’m going to hold my breath for that time,’ Lucion thought.

“For now, teach me the second method.”

At Lucion’s natural smile, Russell exhaled a strong breath.

[The second option is simpler than you’re thinking. Much simpler than what you’re thinking.]

“If I look at the teacher’s emphasis on that, it seems that there is a big process going on.”

[Of course, there may be individual differences, but I personally liked the second method better. Well, I’m waiting anyway. I’m going to catch one(ghost).]

When Russell disappeared, Lucion grabbed Ratta’s back, who was waiting for him in the garden.

Leaving her like this was going to ruin the entire garden.

—Look at this. Ratta has hands and feet.

“Yeah.”

Lucion reacted sourly.

—With hands and feet, Ratta is so happy every day!

Ratta laughed.

—Look, Ratta’s got a flower.

What Ratta held was a bright yellow flower.

—Lucion, Ratta will give you this.

Ratta held out the flower that she had caught on both feet to Lucion.

Lucion blinked.

“You’re gonna give me…?”

—Yes!

“Why?”

He didn’t do anything to deserve that flower.

It was unfamiliar to him, so Lucion asked with a frown.

—Ratta doesn’t like Ratcho, but she likes flowers! Lucion also likes flowers, so Ratta will give them to you as a gift.

Ratta’s eyes sparkled.

She had the same blue eyes because she was a divine beast born to him.

‘I never thought blue was… pretty,’ Lucion thought.

Lucion turned to the flowers.

It was a flower that he sees almost every day, but something was different.

He hated being noisy.

He didn’t want anyone near him either.

When he didn’t know it was the same world as the novel, he hated Russell.

But it was as different as Ratta.

‘Maybe it’s because she’s… a divine beast,’ Lucion thought.

Lucion reached out carefully.

At that moment, ironically, a red thread appeared that connected to the ground.

‘Not even a compliment stamp.’

Lucion grinned and received the flowers.

Crisp.

The easily cut red thread was not weird, right? And it felt strange because it had been a long time since I had received someone else’s offer without any doubt.

[Pretty.]

Lucion flinched at Russell’s voice and saw him.

A ghost was shivering with Russell grabbing him by the collar.

‘…that guy,’ he thought.

Lucion’s freshness turned into anger on the familiar ghost’s face.

The ghost asked, [Me… You can see me? You can hear my voice? Right?]

How can I forget?

The fear I felt the moment I made eye contact with him. I was only six years old at the time.

[Ratta, hang out in the garden for a second.]

Russell quickly snatched Ratta from Lucion’s hand and carefully put it down.

Ratta glanced at Lucion and answered vigorously.

—Yes!

[Lucion.]

After Ratta left for the garden, Russell quietly called Lucion.

“…Yes, I’m calming down.”

Lucion tried to suppress his anger.

I didn’t want to increase the negativity, and I had to stop the spread of darkness. Besides, I didn’t even want to get excited about something like this.

Russell squeezed the ghost’s head and slammed it down.

Bang!

[Put your eyes down. What are you looking at my disciple?]

Russell gave the ghost another blow to the head, perhaps not satisfied with one more time.

Bang!

[Normal ghosts are like beggars and dogs, like the one here.]

Russell’s voice has become sharper than before, perhaps because of his ulterior motive.

[So if you want to subjugate these people, you have to fight them and press them into darkness.]

“Fight? You said it’s a concept of letting go of resentment when you attack.”

Lucion looked at Russell with an absurd face.

[That’s the attack. What do you think? If you let go of the ghost’s resentment, the world is good, and you are good.]

[Now, please wait a moment,] said the ghost.

Lucion grinned as the ghost spoke out.

“That’s a great idea. Obviously, I prefer the second one to the first one.”

[Right? The second one is better because all the ghosts were beaten.]

“I know better than anyone else what it feels to be beaten up.”

Lucion moved the darkness right away, giving his voice strength.

Ratta, who buried the leaves all over her body, suddenly pricked up her ears in the garden.

—Oh my!

Lucion moved the darkness and struck the ghost in the face.

[…Warlock?] (ghost)

The ghost freaked out when he saw the spot turned black.

[You’re really a warlock? Do you…?], the ghost asked.

“Get down.”

Lucion said, showing darkness in his grasp.

Lucion’s gaze at the ghost was fiercer than ever.

[Now, hold on. I’ll do what you tell me to do, so… put it away for me,] the ghost pleaded.

‘This moment has finally come.’

Lucion felt a far more overwhelming feeling than when he first saw the ghost’s fear.

As he became a warlock, he was able to kick out the little ghosts.

He could have let their resentment go out of his sight.

But he didn’t.

It was for this very moment.

As much as I tormented myself, as much as I cursed and cursed myself.

‘I will bring all the ghosts of the mansion to my feet.’

Lucion looked down at the ghost slowly kneeling, covering the black wound.

[Grab the black part. That place is now stained with your darkness and can be caught.]

Russell informed, and Lucion grabbed the black wound.

An unpleasant shiver, the trembling ghost, passes through his fingers.

[As it is, breathe in darkness and say, ‘Will you obey me?’ This is gonna be easy, right?]

“Yes, this is easy.”

Lucion saw the ghost with a stiff face and asked, breathing in the darkness.

“Will you obey me?”

[Ugh!]

The ghost suddenly exclaimed in agony.

As Lucion put in more darkness, the black color spread widely over the translucent ghost’s body as if the paint had smeared a white canvas.

[AAGH!]

The ghost tried to resist, but all he has to do is stretch and curl his fingers until the darkness sweeps through the ghost’s entire body.

“I asked if you’d obey me.”

At Lucion’s question again, the ghost shook his head urgently.

[Yes, yes! I will obey you! I’ll obey you, please!] (ghost)

His body, which had been charred with darkness, returned to its original translucent state in an instant.

A black star, a token of the contract, appeared on the ghost’s hand.

[Good job.]

Only then did Lucion breathe long at Russell’s praise.

“Ha…”

His head was numb, but the exhilaration that was boiling inside him was greater.

Lucion laughed.

“Hahaha…”

His laughter grew louder and suddenly broke off.

‘It’s not the time to be happy yet. Not yet….’ Lucion thought.

Lucion saw the ghost with a straight face as usual.

“There’s a bug in the house.”

[…….]

The ghost looked only at the ground with anxious eyes.

“Do you know who’s selling my information?”

Despite simple bites, the ghost could not hide its fear of Lucion.

Lucion was just scared because he didn’t know when a foreign being, wriggling in his body, would build a blade against him.

The ghost said, [I know…]

“Then tell me.”

[It’s Vera, a maid.]

It was a name I had never heard of.

“It’s not just one. What about the rest?”

[I don’t know that. I’m telling you.] (ghost)

“You are number two now. Your job is to find all the bugs that sold my information.”

Lucion saw Russell after giving instructions.

Russell nodded.

“Let’s go, Ratta.”

Lucion called Ratta before stepping off.

—Yes!

Ratta, who poked her face out through the bushes, grinned.

[I, I……]

The ghost called Lucion, swallowing dry saliva, but he walked ignoring the sound.

[Is that Lucion? Is that him?], the ghost thought.

The ghost looked behind Lucion, who was getting farther away.

The ghost couldn’t stop shaking his eyes.

A month ago, they couldn’t even see Lucion, let alone bother him, because of the strange ghost that suddenly appeared.

He wondered what nonsense this was, but the place or room where he could not visit Lucion or go inside in the mansion changed from time to time.

Of course, most of the ghosts in the mansion were spiteful to the nobleman, so they bullied Lucion and took pleasure in his struggle.

So, of course, I looked for Lucion who disappeared. (ghost) 

Determined to torment him more brutally.

Then one day, some guys told me that Lucion appeared.

But, funny enough, the majority still couldn’t see Lucion, and very few insisted that Lucion was there, and it became a strange situation.

[‘…It’s because he’s a warlock. Because he’s a warlock.’]

Only then did the ghost find the answer to the strange situation.

Then, the ghost said, [That strange ghost turned Lucion into a warlock and we couldn’t see him.]

He now knew the answer, but the ghost didn’t feel good at all.

He was rather afraid.

Lucion’s eyes looking at himself.

He thought he was being eaten for a moment, and by the look in his eyes, he had forgotten the resentment that had been bothering him for decades.

[‘For God’s sake. Damn it!’]

The ghost crouched as it was and shivered.

Now hell was waiting for him.

* * *

“Teacher.”

Lucion remained silent the whole time before he came into the room and opened his mouth.

[Yes.]

“Do you mind if I take a day off?”

[That’s alright. Take a rest.]

“Teacher.”

[Tell me.]

“I was so happy that I felt like flying. But on the other hand, I’m afraid.”

Lucion looked at the back of his hand with a negative sign.

He just wanted to enjoy this happiness without becoming the middle boss.

“I think I’ll get drunk on this. I don’t know how much to be happy about. …teacher, please tell me how much I should rejoice.”

[Enjoy it to your heart’s content.]

At the unexpected answer, Lucion looked blankly at Russell.

[The teacher will correct the student’s fault. You can be happy to your heart’s content.]

“Yes.”

Lucion drew a smile only then.

“I see.”

Lucion placed the flowers he had received from Ratta on his desk and looked briefly at the sunset.

[What are you going to do with Vera?]

When asked by Russell, Lucion took a breath and looked at him.

“You’ve got to screw it up. She must be saving herself right now.”

[Then it wouldn’t be bad to talk to Anthony.]

Russell said in a welcome voice.

Knock. Knock. 

After a while, there was a knock on the door.