CH 128

“I’m sorry.”

Peter first bowed his head 

“I forgot that I was a member of the organization and only burned with revenge.”

“Right. You’re good at talking.”

Lucion was sarcastic.

“Or should I say that I’m glad that you didn’t die?”

“The pursuers… I got stuck with them.”

“So what?”

“I was afraid that I would be a nuisance to the organization, and that my brother would be cursed again, so I had to be a dead man to make sure they could no longer chase me.”

“You did something useless.”

“…Yes?”

“I don’t know why everyone thinks death is the end.”

At Lucion’s brutal voice, Peter swallowed his dry saliva.

“If death is not the end… What is the end?”

“I will tell you in a simple way. Your plan is a failure, Peter. If you had told me, I would have helped.”

It was like going after one pursuer, but in turn, adding more pursuers.

Isn’t there a black magic for pursuit on Peter’s neck?

“First of all, tell me what you wanted to say to me.”

Lucion urged Peter.

“Do you remember the Owl?”

Lucion nodded to the question.

Of course, he remembered.

Isn’t the Owl the one who manages all six branches, including the central cave, created by the Neubra Kingdom?

A cross scar on the back of the hand.

Black little fingernails.

That was the hint that pointed to the Owl.

“I heard that the Owl will attend a large banquet in the East.”

“A big banquet in the East…?”

Lucion remembered the invitation.

For a large banquet held in the East, three invitations were sent to him.

Two typical noble banquets made by eastern nobles in a hurry because of him.

And the festival to pray for the purification of the Sea of Death held together by the temple and some eastern nobles.

He didn’t know any other banquets.

Is the Owl attending the banquet he’s invited to, or is it somewhere else?

“You don’t know what kind of banquet it is?”

“With all the information I got, I only got the notification note asking to be prepared because the Owl will participate in an important banquet.”

“Do you still have that note?”

“No. It was burned because it was a piece of paper with magic.”

“That’s too bad.”

Hume would have remembered the smell if Peter had it.

Lucion shifted his gaze and looked at the ghost near Peter.

‘Now shall we deal with that?’

The moment Lucion took out the darkness, he struck the ghost in the face and knocked them out.

Pop!

Russell’s eyes widened at the same time.

Why would Lucion strike the ghost all of a sudden?

[Wait, Lucion…! Are you using backtracking right now?]

Russell freaked out, but Lucion had sharpened the darkness and thrust it into his heart.

Russell closed his eyes tightly.

Didn’t he already say he would teach better black magic for pursuit later?

Lucion was using the risky backtracking again.

Peter, who couldn’t have seen the ghost, was busy looking around with his eyes wide open.

―Ratta is maintaining it, so Lucion just concentrates on finding the real darkness!

Lucion seemed to burst into laughter all of a sudden.

Wasn’t he hit by Peter’s magic when he used backtracking before?

But now he was using backtracking for Peter again.

Unlike before, Lucion easily found the real darkness hidden in the ghost.

As he held the darkness in his hand, images quickly passed in front of his eyes.

it was in the East of the Tesla Empire.

Lucion was surprised by the information about the place that came into his head.

‘…The tower?’

In an instant, he made eye contact with someone.

A man with yellow glasses and a white beard.

A blue thread coiled Lucion.

“…Crazy. When using the backtracking, the blue thread shows up!”

Just like the last time, it was a blue thread this time too.

[Lucion! Again, it is defense magic!]

Russell exclaimed, startled by the unknown letters drawn around Lucion.

The letter took shape like before and became a multi-headed serpent sticking out its tongue at Lucion.

Hume stood in front of Lucion and held out his palm.

“I’ll block it.”

“No, both of you, stand down.”

Peter extended his index finger and thumb and leaned to the right.

The letters wrapped in blue appeared in front of Hume, and the curtain slowly unfolded.

Bang!

“W-What’s the matter?”

Kran came running, startled by the sound.

But the first one to arrive was Quate.

He looked around, and Reint sniffed.

“Defense spells collided.”

As the smoke dissipated, Lucion’s yellow mask was visible inside the shield.

‘Wow, that’s great. It’s very reassuring.’

Peter’s defensive magic was simply fantastic.

Even if the enemy’s defensive magic had become a snake with several heads, it was useless in the face of Peter’s magic.

The thought that he was glad to have saved Peter welled up like a fountain.

“Hamel… What happened?”

When Kran asked again, Lucion answered in a calm voice.

“Ah. It was nothing. There was something stuck behind Peter, so I just took it off.”

What is he talking about?

As the surroundings suddenly became cold, Quate shivered slightly.

“…Was I being pursued?”

Only then did Peter ask in surprise.

“Yes. Now that I’ve taken it off, you don’t have to worry.”

“…Next time.”

Peter swallowed.

“This will never happen next time.”

“That’s a good idea. Because you only have one life.”

Lucion looked directly at the branch.

Even if the distance was far, they would move because of the commotion.

“How about we move again?”

They all nodded at Lucion’s suggestion.

* * *

“First of all… I’m not good at drawing.”

Lucion’s lips moved naturally under pressure when he saw the large piece of paper that Quate had put out.

He didn’t want to say it, but he thought it was better to be disappointed in advance.

[Ah, is that so?]

Russell smiled as if he had caught something.

―That’s okay! In the book Hume read to me, even if you can’t do everything, it’s okay as long as you have a lot of money. Lucion has so much money, right? So it’s okay!

‘…Hume. What the hell are you reading to Ratta?’

It was strange, but even with Ratta’s consolation, Lucion couldn’t escape the feeling of his pride being slightly crushed.

Being a noble son didn’t mean he was good at everything.

“Then I’ll draw it.”

Hume held out his hand and asked Lucion for a pen.

“…Do you know how to draw?”

“I studied because I wanted to help Hamel-nim.”

‘No way, you study when you’re not sleeping…?’

It was Hume who need to rest, not him.

Lucion swallowed what he wanted to say, and saw the ghost No. 23, whom he had just dominated.

“The basement consists of a total of four floors.”

When Lucion spoke, Hume drew the picture.

“The key is on the third floor. The branch manager is on that floor, too.”

Hume drew a star on the third floor.

“Usually there is something important on the bottom floor, but in that place, there is a magic bomb planted for self-destruction.”

Lucion looked at Reint.

“As you know, the only wizards in the organization are Reint and the mercenaries. The same goes for people who can defuse magic bombs.”

Lucion’s gaze turned to Peter.

That gaze made Peter feel uneasy for some reason.

“Move with the Reint mercenaries, just in case, Peter.”

“I will protect Hamel-nim…”

“Peter. Don’t you see which place is more dangerous?”

“No, I will join the Reint mercenaries. Please take care of me.”

As if his back was pushed forward, Peter looked at Reint and greeted him.

“I didn’t expect you to be a magician. Please take care of me, too. It’s very reassuring.”

Reint bowed to Peter, genuinely happy.

“But aren’t you also a wizard?”

Kran couldn’t hold back his sudden curiosity and quietly raised his voice.

“I am a warlock. It might sound similar, but the power we use is different.”

“That’s right. I use mana, and Hamel uses Darkness.”

Reint added.

“I am sorry.”

Kran tried to lower his head in surprise but struggled to hold back.

“No, there’s so little information about warlocks and they sound similar, so it can’t be helped.”

At Lucion’s words, Reint’s eyes twinkled for a moment.

‘Why are you suddenly staring at me in such a burdensome way?’

Lucion suddenly thought of Shaela when he saw Reint looking at him.

It was similar to the look she made before asking how it felt like after using magic.

[It’s a big deal. The wizards can’t resist it. Warlocks are also strange beings. He might be suppressing his curiosity to death.]

Russell made a fuss as if he was in big trouble and giggled.

“So will you be all right, Mr. Reint?”

Lucion asked Reint, hiding his displeasure.

“Yes, I will be fine. Rather, it’s a good opportunity.”

Reint spoke proudly, with flames in his eyes.

“Can’t you understand how powerful our mercenaries are?”

“Then, I’ll let the members of the organization clear the way. I’ll make sure Mr. Reint doesn’t regret coming into the Organization Ale.”

Kran said with a confident smile.

As no orders were given to him yet, Quate looked at Kran and Lucion.

“Please deal with the skilled people. It can’t be helped if they resist, but I want you to knock them out as much as possible.”

Lucion said.

This was the minimum device to swallow the branches.

However, he didn’t want to recklessly sacrifice the members of the organization, so Quate was allowed to kill them.

“That’s right. We came here just to get the branch, not to slaughter them.”

Kran quickly added, affirming Lucion’s words.

He had already spoken about this part with Lucion, and he agreed with Lucion’s opinion that the organization should grow ‘fast and strong’.

“There will be less opposition when you get the branch with minimal sacrifice”

Kran looked at the people around him, and again slowly addressed the core of this plan.

“Well, next…”

Lucion mentioned the areas they should be aware of, such as layout structures and magic detectors.

“…What’s your mission, Mr. Hamel?”

Quate asked.

Now Hamel was the only one who had no mission.

It was a loss to the organization if he, who had power, did nothing.

“I’ll go get the head of the former branch manager.”

Lucion’s mask turned yellow.

“NW-Wait a minute, Mr. Hamel.”

Crane stammered in astonishment.

Didn’t he say he would try to appease the branch manager?

“Ah, let’s appease him first. If it doesn’t work, there’s nothing we can do about it, right?”

Lucion smiled light-heartedly.

The purpose was to take control of the branch, not to appease the branch manager who was neither friendly nor obedient.

If he didn’t like it, he had to die.

Letting go a person who obtained Cronia’s information and joined hands with the Neubra Kingdom, what good it would do?

“Your escort…?”

“I have Rental, so it’s okay.”

When Kran asked, Lucion pointed to Rental.

Rental smiled.

“Then, I will go first.”

Signals from Bethel had been confirmed before the operation meeting.

Lucion disappeared with Hume.

“Kran-nim.”

Reint opened his mouth as he looked at the place where Lucion had gone off to.

“Yes. Tell me.”

“Will Hamel-nim hate it if I asked him about black magic?”

It hadn’t even been a week since Reint joined the organization.

It was strange that there was a warlock in the organization, but that warlock even turned out to be Hamel who had saved him.

Gratitude and curiosity were separate things.

“Don’t!”

Kran reacted like a knife.

It was only for a short time, but since Kran had never been angry, Reint was genuinely surprised.

“I’m against that, too.”

Even Quate quietly raised his voice.

“Why not?”

Reint, who asked the question, thought that there might be a misunderstanding of his words, so he corrected it again.

“Oh, I’m not arguing. I’m asking because I’m worried that I might make the same mistake.”

“He works the most in the organization, to the point where he can’t eat and always stays up all night.”

“He’s being chased by a priest as well.”

Kran spoke first, and Quate spoke immediately after.

At those words, Peter’s face hardened.

Hamel’s words, telling him that he would help, circulated in his head.

Peter running out of the organization was not just a nuisance.

“And, if you would like to ask, Mr. Hamel is not staying in the hideout because of the things that have just been mentioned.”

“…Ah.”

At Kran’s words, Reint immediately put on an apologetic expression.

“I almost made a real mistake. He didn’t seem to be feeling well just now.”

“…Yes?”

Kran asked in surprise.

In his eyes, Hamel seemed unconcerned.

“I felt the heat when he got close earlier.”

Crackle.

Fire was created in Reint’s grasp.

“I know how to use fire magic, so I’m a little sensitive to temperature.”

Kran closed his eyes tightly in response to the emotions that surged through him.

‘…Hamel-nim!’