Chapter 84
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 84
Boom! Rattle—clatter!
With a thunderous roar, the door was torn from its hinges and went rolling across the floor.
Fortunately, perhaps because they had heard the warning earlier, no one inside was struck or injured by the flying door.
Lucian muttered to himself as he stepped through the gaping entrance.
"It really doesn't cut, does it? I thought I might stand a chance since this sword is made of the same material, but I guess not."
"...."
The knight stared at the rolling door in a daze, ignoring Lucian’s mumbling.
Aside from a few large scratches and a slight bend, the metal door was perfectly fine. The problem was the wall.
The hinges and bolts securing the door were all anchored into the stone. No matter how sturdy the door itself was, if the anchors couldn't withstand the impact, the whole thing was bound to be ripped clean off.
"Well, now that the door is open, we might as well go in. No need to wait any longer, right?"
"Wait, just a moment! What do you think you're doing to this historic site...!"
"It’s my house now, and my property. Stop with the pathetic excuses and move."
Whoosh.
The knight, who had been trying to block Lucian’s path one last time, flinched and took a step back.
A faint bluish mana was shimmering around the body of the boy, who was a full head shorter than him. If the boy willed it, all that mana would strike his flesh with the same force that had just leveled the door.
Damn it.
Imagining his body being ground into dust, the knight squeezed his eyes shut and stepped aside.
With the primary obstacle gone, the soldiers who had crowded around the entrance also flinched and retreated.
"Why are you all gathered here? Were you planning to sneak in and do something while I was stuck outside?"
"N-No, that's not it...!"
"Save the excuses. Get lost. If I see you loitering in front of me again, your heads will fly."
As the chilling warning struck them, the soldiers turned pale and scrambled away.
After confirming that all the nuisances had cleared out, Lucian turned back to Glen.
"Sir Glen, what are you doing? You need to come and proceed with the inheritance process."
"Ah... yes! My apologies, Your Highness!"
Glen, who had been standing there half-stunned, quickly hurried toward the entrance at Lucian's call.
Watching this, the knights of the House of Calix wore expressions of utter despair. They had to witness the very territory they had guarded for over a decade for their master's ambition fall so easily into someone else's hands.
As soon as Glen announced the rightful inheritance of the legacy, the members of the House of Calix who had been managing the manor began packing their bags all at once.
Now that Lucian had claimed Grimaldi's legacy, there was no reason for them to remain.
"We shall take our leave now. Since all of this now belongs to Your Grace, we wouldn't want to be accused of anything by lingering."
"A wise decision. Though your phrasing is a bit off. It was mine to begin with; you were merely occupying it illegally. By rights, I should hold you accountable for your crimes, but since you've gone through the trouble of cleaning up, I shall grant you a special pardon."
"...We are grateful for Your Grace's mercy."
A knight gritted his teeth and briefly glared up, but he quickly withered under Lucian’s cold gaze.
His eyes fell upon the Adamantium alloy door still rolling around nearby. Shuddering, the knight left a brief farewell and vanished outside as if fleeing for his life.
"Tsk. If you don't have the guts to fight, don't pick a fight in the first place."
Clicking his tongue, Lucian headed toward the entrance of the Lord's Manor.
The interior was just as magnificent as the exterior and had been maintained so well that one could move in immediately.
As Lucian looked around the premises, Glen approached him with a smile.
"You have finally reclaimed your rightful inheritance. Congratulations."
"It is all thanks to His Majesty the Emperor's assistance. His grace is so great that I have nothing to offer in return but my absolute loyalty."
Lucian put on his most moved expression, hiding his true lack of sentiment.
Since he had already received Asagrim from the Emperor, this manor was merely a bonus.
This place was always more about the symbolism anyway. Now that I have Asagrim, which overwhelms everything including that symbolism, this place doesn't mean much anymore.
He would make it clear that it belonged to him so that no strange characters could use it, but that was it. Unless he found another use for it, he would likely leave it half-abandoned as it had been.
Still, since I'm here, should I try a bit of treasure hunting?
The manor had an incredibly long history, and it was the very place where Lucian’s maternal grandfather had lived. Who knew if some hidden treasure might pop up if he poked around?
"First, look through every nook and cranny. If you find anything suspicious or strange, tell me. If you think something is hidden, you're allowed to break things to check, so make sure you verify everything."
"Pardon!?"
The retainers blinked blankly at Lucian’s command.
Weren't there places only the Family Head was allowed to enter? And he was telling them they could enter everywhere? He was even giving them permission to damage parts of this historic manor?
While everyone else was speechless, Raymond grabbed Lucian with a horrified look.
"My Lord, what do you mean, 'break things'?! You know how long the history of this manor is!"
"I know. But you also know the value of Asagrim."
"What does that have to do with this?"
"Their values overlap. Honestly, do you think I'll ever have a reason to come back here once I've taken over Asagrim?"
"...."
Raymond fell silent as Lucian hit the nail on the head. He might visit, but at most, he’d probably just take a quick look around and leave.
"Since I'm not going to live here anyway, it's better to dig through it than to treat it like some precious statue. Like you said, it has a long history. Who knows if there's some hidden treasure?"
"Mmm, that is true, but..."
"What meaning will symbolism have a thousand years from now after it's all been lost? Let's just search it thoroughly now. We have Asagrim as a replacement, so there's nothing to feel bad about."
Faced with such logical arguments, Raymond eventually nodded. He thought he understood what Lucian was looking for.
"Is it magic?"
"Quick on the uptake, aren't you? Yes, exactly."
This manor was built long before the Mages' Rebellion. If they searched, they might find items related to magic, like the magical artifacts hidden by the Imperial Family.
It's just a hope, but it's not impossible. When you search a grand manor with a long history, a secret passage or a hidden record is bound to turn up.
Understanding his lord's intent, Raymond nodded and stepped back. If they were lucky enough to find a magical artifact, that would be great, and even if not, there was a high chance of discovering something hidden.
While the retainers searched every corner of the manor, Lucian decided to look through the office. Records left by predecessors were usually kept in the office or the library.
"Nothing useful."
Thud.
Lucian set a book down, swallowing his disappointment.
The office was filled with nothing but official records like ledgers, or miscellaneous items like poetry books and novels. No matter how much he searched, there were no personal records like memoirs or diaries.
Don't tell me the House of Calix swiped them? Maybe they saw something secret while managing the manor...
"My Lord! We've found something strange over here!"
Just as his suspicion toward the House of Calix was peaking, Hugo's voice drifted in from outside.
Lucian’s eyes sharpened, and he immediately dashed out to where the retainers were gathered.
"Did you find something?"
"We found an entrance to the basement, but someone has completely sealed it off. Look at this."
Hugo pointed toward the basement entrance.
Black iron latches and chains were wound tightly around the entrance, ensuring no one could open it.
Lucian stepped closer to examine the chains.
The door is quite old, but the latches and chains were installed recently.
Judging by the condition of the metal, they had been put there within the last three years at most.
Lucian gripped the hilt of his sword but then let go. If he smashed it with brute force, there was a chance the entire entrance would collapse.
"Felicia, can you cut this?"
"I will try."
Felicia drew her sword and took a stance for a vertical slash.
Simultaneously, her mana began to stretch out into thin threads, wrapping around the blade. It looked as if a silkworm were spinning a cocoon as the mana threads coiled around the sword again and again.
Slash.
With a sound like paper being sliced, the sword passed through the chains.
Immediately, the chains and the latch slid apart along the path of the blade.
Lucian touched the smooth cut surface and gave a thumbs up.
"Perfect. As expected of the next Sword Saint."
"You flatter me."
With a slightly flushed face from the praise, Felicia bowed her head.
Lucian and his retainers cleared away the broken locks and entered the basement.
"Good heavens...!"
The retainers gasped in surprise as they looked around.
Calling it a basement was an understatement; a cavernous chamber, larger than the entire manor itself, lay beneath them.
As Lucian and his retainers stared blankly at the massive void, they noticed recessed holes scattered across the walls.
"What are these holes for?"
"It looks like they were carved out to fit something inside."
"A place to fit something? For a key?"
"If it were for a key, there wouldn't be this many. Perhaps it was where handles or lights were placed?"
At the mention of lights, Lucian touched the recesses again. Upon closer inspection, there were traces of them being intentionally gouged out recently.
Not only did they seal the entrance, but they also dug out all the lights?
No wonder the torches felt woefully inadequate for lighting the place. It seemed someone had intentionally removed them to hide something in this basement.
As Lucian’s group continued down into the massive chamber and finally stepped onto the floor...
Rumble.
"Gah!"
"What is it?"
"The—the floor moved!"
Hugo scrambled back, frantically shining his torch at his feet.
When the rest of the group checked, they saw that one of the floor panels had indeed shifted. Looking closely, the panels laid across the floor each had subtly different patterns engraved on them.
A puzzle?
No matter how he looked at it, the floor panel hadn't shifted because it was old; it seemed someone had intentionally designed it to do so.
While Hugo examined the shifted panel, Raymond scanned the surroundings with his torch and spoke.
"My Lord, it looks to me like this entire basement is one giant puzzle."
"I agree. Now I see why they took the lights."
It was likely to prevent anyone from seeing the patterns on the floor. If the entire floor was a puzzle, it would require an immense amount of light to see the whole picture.
Lucian let out a hollow laugh in the dark basement.
Look at these bastards. Since they couldn't solve it themselves, they did this so no one else could?
Judging by the state of the locks and the holes in the walls, this was likely a measure taken before Lucian arrived in the North. Since the House of Calix couldn't solve the puzzle, they had clearly sabotaged it so that no other challenger could succeed.
As the rightful owner of this manor, Lucian found it absurd.
I can certainly see the 'character' of the House of Calix.
"What shall we do? Should we install torches and bring more people?"
At Raymond's suggestion, Lucian shook his head.
"Forget it. How long would that take? Besides, there's no guarantee that solving this puzzle leads to treasure. It might have just been built to show off artistic flair. Let's just leave it and head to Asagrim first."
"I suppose... If even the House of Calix couldn't solve it, we probably can't either with the little time we have. And Sir Glen, the inspector, might catch on."
"Exactly. Still, it is impressive. How did they build this entire massive chamber like this?"
Driven by curiosity, Lucian crouched down and brushed his hand over a floor panel.
Flash!
"....!?"
The moment Lucian’s palm touched the surface, a blinding pillar of light erupted from the underground chamber.