CH 94

A fierce gaze bloomed.

Red blood splattered, and the pain constantly overtook him.

Where did my brother go?

Someone grabbed him, rode his horse, and after a haze of smoke enveloped him, he couldn’t see his older brother.

He was thrown into a narrow room.

His legs were broken.

‘…Save me.’

He had to beg.

He couldn’t tell which one was a dream and which one was real.

Black darkness came again, and when he opened his eyes, people’s fierce eyes bloomed again.

‘Save me.’

He kept praying.

Save me.

‘Dad.’

No more tears came out.

Blood was the only thing that came out of the pain that continued to melt his head.

‘…Brother.’

The blood kept drenching him to the point that he wondered if he was going to die like this.

‘Sister…!’

He kept calling names one after another, but no one came.

Nobody.

He was a little kid.

Then, someone called him.

At that voice, tears that hadn’t come out for a long time burst out.

‘Save me.’

Poor kid. When night comes, all this pain goes away. Until then, stay by my side. I’ll sing you a lullaby so you can go to the sky without worries.

He turned his head desperately to the voice.

Can you… see me?

His eyes were red, he couldn’t tell what color it was

Still, as the faint figure reached out, he kept wriggling his fingers.

‘Save me…!’

A cold feeling suddenly ran through his fingertips.

But it was the warmest sensation in the world.

‘…Please, save me. I don’t want to be sick anymore.’

Do you really see me? You are not our blessed one.

‘I do.’

Yes. Maybe you are a vessel.

The faint figure gently patted his head.

And whispered tenderly.

Then I’ll make your wish come true.

* * *

“…Lucion, did you have trouble sleeping?”

Novio’s eyebrows furrowed looking at Lucion’s feeble face.

[Lord Lucion’s complexion and face look worse today.]

Even Bethel, who had just returned to the mansion, was speechless at Lucion’s dark complexion.

“Yes, it was kind of like that.”

Lucion tried to smile.

He had a nightmare for the first time in a really long time.

He wondered if he had that dream because Novio and Carson had never been out of the mansion at the same time.

He didn’t want to remember, the memory of being taken to Nevast Kingdom.

‘…A vessel.’

It could have been just a dream, so he could have made it up on his own, but he heard the word vessel again.

“Did you have a nightmare?”

Novio asked anxiously.

“Don’t worry. It has already passed.”

Lucion smiled reassuringly.

“Father.”

“Yes, Lucion.”

“I’m also a Cronia. I will now watch over this place so don’t think that Father’s and Brother’s seats are empty.”

At Lucion’s answer, Novio looked at him admirably.

Such a small, tender child was growing.

He was very proud.

“Yes. Lucion, since you are also a Cronia, I believe you will do well. But don’t overdo it. Cronia can never be protected alone.”

“Of course.”

Lucion answered firmly.

Novio immediately called for Anthony.

“Anthony.”

“Yes, my Lord.”

“Please.”

“Yes, don’t worry. I will do my best to assist you.”

Antony bowed his head with a smile.

“Lucion.”

Carson called Lucion.

“I’m fine. I’ll take advantage of anything.”

Carson tapped Lucion on the shoulder.

“Yes, that’s fine.”

“Father, Brother.”

Lucion called them with his voice raised.

He was always the person leaving every time, but it was his first time seeing them off.

Strangely, he already felt sentimental.

He knew that those two people were strong, but everyone had one life.

Knowing that fact, Lucion smiled as brightly as possible so that Novio and Carson could go with light hearts.

“Trust me and come back safely.”

Lucion gazed for a long time until Novio and Carson were far away and he called Anthony.

“Anthony.”

“Yes, Young Master.”

“Bring a list of patrol in case of uninvited guests who may come at any time.”

Everyone didn’t show it, but the two people who were the centerpiece of Cronia had left the house.

They must be nervous.

Even if he couldn’t make it up for 2 people, shouldn’t he at least make up for 1.5 people?

“Young Master.”

Anthony called Lucion carefully.

“Yes.”

“Excuse me, but would you like to get some sleep now? Your complexion doesn’t look good.”

“Don’t worry, I’ll sleep after I do my job.”

Novio was so meticulous that there was nothing much to do.

However, since the gap was already filled by Novio and Carson, he had to adjust it according to him.

* * *

Bethel looked at the setting sun and as she looked up at Russell climbing up from the roof of the mansion, she asked.

[What about Lord Lucion?]

[Sleeping with Ratta.]

[Good. His face doesn’t look good because he didn’t sleep well. I was afraid he might collapse.]

[Is that why you come here avoiding Lucion the whole time?]

Bethel answered with slight embarrassment as Russell giggled.

[That’s right. If I were there, I thought he would ask me to go right away to find out the location of the assassin that we were supposed to recruit, so I sneaked out. It looks like I made the right choice.]

[I mean, Lucion. He must have had bad memories in his dreams.]

[If it’s memories…]

[Yes, Bethel. It must be the memory you saw when you signed a contract with Lucion.]

Russell stopped smiling and brushed his hair.

[Are you upset?]

Russell nodded without hesitation at Bethel’s question.

[Yes, but I think Lucion, who has already overcome it, will shake it off again. The beginning is the hardest, right?]

[Sometimes. Sometimes, there are people who can’t overcome it and fall in the second and third rounds. But I think you, the teacher, will support Lucion even if that happens.]

[…What are you trying to dig up?]

Bethel smiled pleasantly as Russell looked at him suspiciously.

[You can ask me anything.]

[Don’t regret it, think carefully before you say it. I’m pretty straightforward.]

[It’s okay.]

[So, now that you signed with Lucion, do you regret it?]

[Regret it?]

Bethel raised the corners of her mouth.

[No. Rather, I should have met Lord Lucion earlier. How nice it would have been if I had protected Lord Lucion’s back when I was alive. Those thoughts keep coming to mind. I mean, it’s a lot of fun.]

[That’s a relief. Lucion says he wants to be happy, but how great would it be if everyone around him were happy too?]

[Is that what Lord Lucion wants?]

Bethel asked, taken aback.

Isn’t that pretty simple?

[That’s right.]

At Russell’s answer, Bethel’s eyes twinkled for a moment as if she had made up her mind.

[Sure, Russell.]

Bethel asked what she was most curious about to continue this atmosphere.

[Why did you accept Lord Lucion as your disciple?]

[Of course…]

Russell, who was already excited about praising his student, closed his mouth with a stiff face for a moment.

He didn’t remember again.

[Russell…?]

At the sight of Russell standing still without saying anything, Bethel hesitated as she wondered if she had asked something she shouldn’t have asked 

Soon Russell clenched his hair.

‘…Not just once. Again? I don’t remember again?’

How did he come to Cronia?

His real reason for choosing Lucion, other than Lucion’s outstanding mental power, had disappeared.

* * *

Gulp.

Lucion drank the water Hume gave him in one shot and wiped his mouth.

“So what happened after that?”

Lucion remembered that he had fainted after seeing the strange black bead that the death knight showed him.

“Russell-nim hit the death knight with all his might, darkness fell, and the death knight continued to do nothing, insisting on the contract with Russell-nim.”

‘Aha.’

Lucion noticed that the death knight had originally known Russell.

He decided to ask about it when Russell came and called Hume and Ratta.

“Hume. Ratta.”

“Yes.”

―Hn!

Ratta, who was busy chasing the ball, stopped in place and responded.

“Did you see the strange black bead that the death knight showed you?”

“I didn’t. Honestly, at that time, I blanked out for a moment.”

Hume’s expression was dark.

―Ratta is like that too. When Ratta came to her senses, Ratta was surprised that Lucion had passed out!

“There’s something I need to tell you.”

Hume said, hesitating.

“Say it.”

“… For the first time in a long while, I had what is called a ‘dream’.”

“A dream?”

Hume didn’t have to sleep, but he didn’t like it.

He used to stare at the moon and stars while looking out the window.

He especially liked the way the morning sun rose the most.

“Yes. Yesterday, albeit briefly, I slept and had a dream.”

“Did you suddenly fall asleep? I mean, the feeling of being sluggish and forcing your eyes to close?”

“How did you know?”

Hume opened his eyes wide.

―Yeah! Ratta did that yesterday too!

Ratta was surprised, too.

―But Ratta didn’t dream yesterday. Ratta usually dreams a lot!

He didn’t know whether it was really a dream, but the death knight’s strange black bead influenced Hume and Ratta as well as Lucion himself.

“What did you dream about, Hume?”

“I don’t know if I should consider this a dream. A finger pointed at me and said ‘guide’, and a plate came out and piled things on top of each other.”

When the guide came out, he hesitated for a moment, but as soon as the plate came out, he cooled down.

‘What’s the relationship between a guide and the plate?’

Lucion couldn’t interpret the dream at all.

In any case, it was clear that there was an impact.

“Teacher.”

Lucion called Russell.

[Yes, Lucion.]

Russell came down from the ceiling.

[After sleeping, your face looks much better.]

“Yes, I feel fine. Where’s Bethel? I haven’t seen her all day long.”

[Here she is.]

Bethel also came down awkwardly smiling from the ceiling where Russell had come down.

“First of all, I’d like to ask you something, Teacher.”

Without getting angry, Lucion calmly opened his mouth.

[Yes, I knew the death knight.]

Russell admitted obediently.

Hume couldn’t lie to Lucion, so he thought Lucion would find out either way.

[Sorry.]

Whatever the reason, Russell had lied to Lucion, so he made no excuse.

[I’m sorry, too, Lord Lucion.]

Even Bethel apologized.

Perhaps those two already knew about the death knight.

Lucion didn’t get angry.

He had been deceiving Russell, too, so he couldn’t say it wasn’t okay.

“Who is that death knight? Who did you make a contract with, Teacher?”

[I don’t know who he is, but I think it’s his mission is to kill the warlocks.]

“Did you happen to see the death knight’s black bead?”

[Black bead? No. I couldn’t see it because my eyes were a bit distracted.]

“Then do you know where the death knight is?”

Russell pointed to the floor.

[He lives here.]

“…!”

Being so close, Lucion couldn’t be happier.

‘All right, then…’

[But he’s not here right now. I don’t know where he went even if you asked me.]

“Is that so?”

Lucion expressed his regret, but now that he found out about the death knight’s home, he had the opportunity to ask as many questions as he could.

Putting aside the problems he couldn’t handle right now, Lucion thought of what he could do.

“Bethel, have you found a useful assassin to hire? You know, they shouldn’t be well-known for being an assassin.”

That’s what Lucion was worried about.

Even if they showed up in the novel, how strong they were or whether they could be drawn into the organization were not described accurately.

A famous assassin didn’t make sense in the first place.

If a person who killed secretly for a living became famous, aren’t they a prosecutor, not an assassin?

[I found them.]

However, Bethel produced very satisfactory results.

Perhaps because she was a ghost, her speed was different.

[I also found the weakness that Lord Lucion wanted.]

“Are they assassins who are starving because they don’t have money?”

Lucion asked with a smile.

Hiring an assassin was usually done through a company called a ‘Stepping Stone’ as the mediatory.

It was built to protect employees and assassins, but now employers refused to hire assassins without Stepping Stone, so it had become the epitome of power abuse.

But there were exceptions everywhere.

Due to Stepping Stone’s tyranny, the assassins moved to find the employers themselves.

[That’s right. It looked like it hasn’t been long since the organization was established. Maybe they were trying to find employers themselves without Stepping Stone.]

“It’s just fine.”

Lucion came out of his bed.

“Where is it?”

Bethel’s eyes rolled.

[I think you can take a day off. The Rats just unpacked at the Chefran mansion.]

Didn’t they acquire Chefran’s mansion during the day yesterday and chase after the butler who was selling Lucion’s information at dawn?

And if they went to the place where the assassins were today, the schedule was too tight.

“It’s okay. The sooner the better. I can rest after that.”

In order to become a strong organization, it was necessary to kill traitors behind their backs and kill those who stole their information.

“Guide me, Bethel.”

[Yes, there’s no point in stopping him, Bethel.]

Russell smirked.

He had already seen a firm determination in Lucion’s eyes.

[The Rats will need time to investigate the six branches. And… Lucion.]

Russell called Lucion as if he had just remembered something.

[Before that, let’s read the letter.]