CH 117

Lucion didn’t take his eyes off the vast place made of rocks.

It was like seeing a dried gray desert.

‘…is this beyond the frontier?’

A landscape to be seen by anyone with the name Cronia.

It was just vast.

It was just an empty landscape, but Lucion’s eyes widened.

At the same time, Ratta’s mouth opened wide.

―Ooooh! So high! This is the first time Ratta has been to such a high place!

Ratta’s admiration didn’t stop.

“Yaho!”

Suddenly, Hume shouted.

Ratta shouted along with him.

―Yaho!

“…Hume?”

Lucion looked at him with an incredulous look.

Beside him, Russell giggled and laughed as if he was about to die.

“Ah. Is this not it? It was written in the book that when you go up high, you should shout ‘Yaho’.”

“It’s usually only in the mountains.”

“Is that so? I will correct it.”

Hume smiled brightly.

‘If there were no knights around, I would have shouted like Hume.’

Lucion looked at Hume with envy inwardly and licked his lips with regret.

Climbing the wall made it clear.

That the red thread was leading to the rocky area.

‘Is it connected to Teacher’s notebook? Or is it connected to Heint’s colleague, who has already obtained the notebook and is learning black magic over there?’

If he had known when the warlock was learning Heint’s magic, he wouldn’t have been so nervous.

Lucion let out a long breath.

[Doesn’t it feel good?]

Bethel hurriedly asked.

Lucion nodded.

Beyond the wall, he could see people gathering like ants.

They were probably soldiers from the kingdom of Nevast.

As soon as he saw them, he felt sick.

Fizzle!

Lucion was startled by a sudden sound that seemed to hit his ear.

―No, darkness! If we move now, Lucion will be in big trouble!

Ratta freaked out, and Russell snapped his fingers and pressed Lucion’s darkness.

Thud!

“It’s all right, Young Master. You don’t have to be surprised.”

Hume raised his finger calmly and looked forward.

Whoo!

Lightning came up from below as if to scratch the wall, but it was blocked by the boundary and couldn’t touch anything.

‘…Wow. That was close.’

Lucion looked at the knights quickly approaching him and examined his dry saliva.

If Ratta and Russell hadn’t suppressed the darkness, itwould have popped out and he would have been caught.

Lucion reluctantly nodded his head at his darkness which was seeking praise, and said ‘You did well, huh?’.

They were usually bad at it but they were so nice to him only when he was in an emergency.

“Are you okay?”

Carson rushed in and asked.

These attacks were frequent here, but it was different for Lucion.

He must have been surprised.

“Yes. It’s all right, I was just a little surprised.”

“Don’t you feel dizzy?”

“I do.”

“It’s because this place is high. It will subside in time, so don’t worry.”

Carson looked at Lucion for a moment, then stretched out his finger and pointed at the herd of ants.

“Can you see them?”

“Yes, I see them. Aren’t they Nevast’s?”

“Yeah. They’re starting to move again. Now that you’ve finished looking around, why don’t you go down from the wall?”

“All right.”

Actually, he wanted to see a little more, but it seemed the darkness would pop out on its own when the enemies attacked again.

“Lucion.”

Carson called out to Lucion.

“Promise me not to come near the fortress wall. As long as you keep that promise, even if this is the end of the frontier, I won’t stifle your freedom.”

This wasn’t out of arrogance like it was in the past, but a bait for Lucion not to be interested in the other side of the fortress wall.

He’d already climbed the wall and seen beyond the wall.

Any man would want to go beyond.

“…Are you sure?”

Lucion’s eyes twinkled for a moment.

He’d come all the way here anyway.

Now all that was left was the conditions to use shadow movement and the time to enter Russell’s hideout and search the notebook.

Carson’s suggestion just solved both of them.

“…Lucion? Why are you that happy?”

Carson frowned a little suspiciously.

He thought Lucion would be disappointed.

“Of course I am happy. Wouldn’t it be better for me to have a tail attached when I looked around?”

“Aren’t you curious about the outside?”

“I’m curious, but I don’t want to do anything dangerous.”

“Yes. I understand.”

Carson smiled apologetically.

It must be scary for Lucion to be beyond the frontier.

Carson was very happy that he had come this far.

“I personally want to keep you at the wall, but it’s impossible because Nevast people are down there. I think I’ll have to leave for a moment, too.”

“Yes. Don’t worry. I’ll just walk around.”

“There are many places to look around here, too. If necessary, I will attach a guide and escort.”

“That’s all right. I’d like to look around with my own eyes.”

“Yes. Don’t go far.”

Carson didn’t hide his anxiety.

No matter how much Lucion had grown up, he was still an ordinary person.

“Hume.”

Carson called Hume for a moment.

“Yes, First Young Master.”

At his gesture, Hume looked at Lucion.

Hume approached Carson only when Lucion nodded.

“Speak, please.”

“If someone approaches Lucion, don’t hesitate to kill them.”

Carson had already given orders to all knights and soldiers to not come near Lucion.

He was tricked before, but not twice.

Beyond the fortress wall was dangerous, this area was much better protected than the mansion, so Lucion could roam freely.

“I understand.”

Hume tightened his gaze and answered.

* * *

Ratta’s eyes twinkled as she stepped on the grass.

Ratta felt great as she was looking for the right place to use shadow movement.

Lucion wondered if Bethel had reached Russell’s hideout by now.

―Lucion. Ratta has a request. Can you listen to it?

“Tell me what it is.”

―Ratta wants Lucion to send those ghosts to the sky.

Ratta raised her front paw and pointed toward the wall, and at that moment, a blue thread appeared.

The problem was that there wasn’t just one.

“Why…?”

Lucion’s eyes immediately widened.

In the first place, Lucion couldn’t see the ghosts now because of Russell.

However, there were too many blue threads connected to the air.

Dozens.

Hundreds.

Thousands.

The blue thread gradually increased, appearing as if an error had occurred, then it disappeared and no longer stretched.

He felt overflowing deep suspicion as he thought that if he cut this, a red thread would definitely appear.

‘Why are there so many? What the hell are the ghosts here?’

―From Ratta’s point of view. If we leave them like that, we will be in big trouble later. Ratta doesn’t want anything sad to happen to Lucion.

Ratta said, wiggling her front paw.

Lucion looked up and saw the wall.

He wanted to grant Ratta’s wishes, but in the current situation, there was no way to send the ghosts to the sky while avoiding the eyes of Carson and the knights.

He would definitely get caught.

“Ratta, what’s the big trouble you’re talking about?”

―Hmm, you know. To Ratta, it looks like those ghosts will gather and something unknown will appear.

Ratta said timidly.

‘…Unknown? Do you mean that something will be summoned, with ghosts as sacrifices?’

While Lucion was trying to remember whether or not it had happened in the novel, he met Russell’s eyes.

Already, Russell had a stiff look on his face.

[You must be curious whether ghosts can be sacrificed or not, right?]

“I am curious, and I want to know if it is also possible to summon something with ghosts as a sacrifice like Ratta said.”

If so, Lucion had an idea.

[It’s possible theoretically. But I’ve never seen it. You can say that this is the first time I’ve seen so many ghosts.]

“You’re saying that it’s possible, right?”

[That’s right. Ghosts are the existence of darkness after all. Why would it be impossible to sacrifice darkness for black magic? Well, it’s probably impossible in reality because the knights of Cronia are guarding the walls like that.]

At Russell’s answer, Lucion realized why the blue threads appeared.

<<Kuuung!

Heint was startled by the sound of the ground shaking and came out.

‘That… What is that?’

It was a giant foot that came down from the sky.

Feet fluttering with black smoke.

‘…It’s black magic!’

Heint was certain when he saw that foot.

Also, the warlocks had started working.

Aaaaaang!

The feet came down to the ground, followed by a rush, and everything around them collapsed.

When Heint coughed and raised his head, the walls that guarded the Empire had disappeared.>>

The wall that the Empire was so proud of.

The wall that Cronia had long guarded.

With its fall, Cronia collapsed, and the fortress wall was also shattered.

‘…Yes. The feet that broke down the wall. Perhaps those ghosts were used to summon those feet.’

Lucion looked at the blue thread and clenched his fist.

He could prevent that situation by sending those ghosts into the sky.

“Teacher, don’t stop me.”

Lucion firmly insisted.

Whether he could do it now or not, he had to do this.

The criminal was the Hand of the Void.

Ordinary warlocks couldn’t enter the Empire because Broson had a mission to unconditionally kill all the warlocks.

But the Hand of the Void treated their own lives lightly, so they kept coming in even though they knew they were going to get killed by Broson.

Who could solve this situation now?

[Do you know what you’re saying?]

Russell stammered in bewilderment.

“I know.”

Lucion smiled and felt the signal from Bethel.

The darkness trembled.

“It’s Ratta’s first request. Of course, I have to listen.”

[Lucion!]

Ratta’s ears folded back as Russell screamed.

[It’s not a joke. It’s different from possession! You’re not skilled enough to use black magic in front of others yet.]

“I know my own skills.”

Lucion’s eyes were unshakable.

“Don’t worry. Your student is not a fool.”

Lucion took out his mask.

“I’ll do it outside the walls. The kingdom of Nevast should be blamed for all the false accusations.”

Wasn’t the Kingdom of Nevast just in the middle of picking a fight?

The corners of Lucion’s mouth went up before he put on the mask.

He had to turn the doubt into conviction.

[…Lucion. What’s with you? This is reckless.]

Russell lowered his voice and tried to persuade Lucion.

This was different from the concept of using black magic inside a noble’s mansion.

Since neither side could be on Lucion’s side, it was a very dangerous situation where they could be attacked by both forces.

“Teacher. If I can’t even do one request from Ratta, I must be really useless. And I already know that something is going to happen, so I don’t want to turn a blind eye.”

―R-Ratta is…

“No, Ratta. You did well telling me. Because I don’t like my people dying.”

Lucion patted Lata and handed the mask over to Hume.

“Hide your face, too.”

“Okay. Shall I wear a hood, too?”

“That’s a good idea.”

[Let me use your darkness! Oh, damn it!]

Russell showed a haughty look.

Why was Lucion doing this when they didn’t do anything good to him even if he were to die?

He knew it was crazy, but Russell couldn’t break Lucion’s stubbornness.

Lucion had already come to the wall at his request.

“When I use shadow movement, I want you to keep the darkness from leaking.”

Lucion’s voice was full of laughter.

[No, I will control the darkness. You’re going send the ghosts into the sky and bounce right into my hideout, right?]

“As expected of Teacher.”

He had Russell, so Lucion couldn’t be more reassured.

They were a perfect match.

[Just this once.]

Russell emphasized with his neck tightened.

His own help was a hindrance to Lucion’s growth.

But this time it couldn’t be helped.

There was no teacher who would only sit idly by and watched their student dying.

“Thank you, Teacher.”

Lucion thanked Russell wholeheartedly.

* * *

Shaak.

Without a sound, without any trace, Lucion stepped on two legs over the wall through the shadow movement.

As the soldiers of the Kingdom of Nevast moved toward the wall, dust covered Lucion.

‘My stomach feels… nauseous.’

Lucion felt his body stiffening.

―Lucion?

When Ratta looked at Lucion with an anxious gaze, he nodded as if to say he was okay.

Now he had to concentrate on what was in front of him.

[Now I’m going to take off the veil that hid you from the ghost. Are you going to be okay?]

“Let’s start right away.”

Lucion pulled the darkness out of his grasp.