Chapter 116
Chapter 116
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 116
Chapter Title: The Lord's Accusation
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[Chapter 115 - Thief]
Arsen returned to the campsite under the knights' watchful eyes.
No sooner had he arrived than he was met with words of relief that he had returned safely, along with questions about what had kept him so late.
He had prepared an excuse for that very purpose.
“Sir Kren’s comrade is from this region, so he asked me to pass along his regards to his family.”
Since no one in the group was personally close to Kren or his comrades, no one doubted his words.
Late that night, Arsen pulled out the crystal orb he had been keeping.
He even stepped out of the tent briefly to check if anyone was nearby, then tightly sealed the entrance to prevent any sound from leaking.
When he channeled mana into the crystal orb, Lattis’s voice soon came through before long.
[Sir Arsen.]
“You’re still awake, I see.”
[I just woke up. Dawn is breaking here.]
“I see. I should have contacted you earlier.”
Understanding the implication of Arsen’s words, Lattis’s response grew a bit heavier.
[You’ve arrived, then.]
“Yes. Is anyone else around?”
[No.]
At Lattis’s reply, Arsen let out a sigh before asking,
“Why did you have Ethan’s brother—or should I say, the previous successor—ask me to pass along his well-being?”
Ethan’s brother—Parim, if he recalled correctly.
The meaning behind his words had been clear.
A person who not only felt no aversion upon seeing a mage but even claimed it was cool to be escorted by knights.
That could only describe a successor.
In response to Arsen’s question, Lattis countered with one of his own.
[Do you know how successors are born?]
At that, Arsen recalled what Maroon had told him.
It was presumed to follow bloodlines, but the probability was extremely rare.
After a brief hesitation, Arsen spoke up.
“It’s presumed to be hereditary through bloodlines, but there’s no solid proof. Right?”
A moment of silence followed, then Lattis sighed.
[So you heard it from Maroon. I spent half my life trying to keep that guy’s mouth shut.]
Arsen didn’t respond. Fortunately, the crystal orb transmitted only voices, not faces, making it easy to hide his feelings.
On the flip side, it was hard to read the other’s emotions too.
[Is that right?]
“Yes.”
Arsen admitted it readily.
There was no point denying it when the other already suspected as much.
[Well, that saves me some explanation. Correct. The chances are slim, but successors do come through bloodlines. So when we lost Ethan, a few of the survivors among us... made some utterly repulsive proposals. Kidnap Ethan’s family and breed a bunch of kids until the next successor is born.]
He added that with just two or three men kidnapped, they could produce dozens of children in a few years, so surely one would be a successor.
It was a cruel yet rational plan, as if discussing the mating of livestock.
[That plan was actually carried out, but it failed.]
“Why?”
[Because the people they kidnapped weren’t Ethan’s blood relatives—just some ordinary family.]
Arsen let out a low groan without realizing it.
Taking that as his response, Lattis continued.
[From the start, all the information we had on Ethan’s family was fake. After leaving Iden Estate, Ethan always used false identities. He didn’t anticipate this, but he never told anyone about his real family. Except for one young mage he treated like a brother.]
It wasn’t hard to guess who that was.
A quiet chuckle came through, but Arsen couldn’t bring himself to laugh.
“So you asked me—the one person who wouldn’t leak that information.”
If Byulburmi secured Ethan’s family and bred successors from their children?
Instead of the powerful knight Arsen, who was hard to control, dangling an infant around would suit their tastes far better.
For Arsen, keeping that secret was to his advantage.
“You must have been quite close.”
For someone who was one of the organization’s top leaders to betray its interests like that.
Guessing at the unspoken part, Lattis laughed.
[I thought it’d be nice if I had a brother like that.]
“Is that so?”
The actual little brother had described a completely different image.
That thought lasted only a moment before Arsen remembered the stories he’d heard about Ethan were from when he was just sixteen.
At that age, everyone’s an idiot.
[I told you I’d reward you for passing along my well-being.]
“Yes.”
[Here’s your reward. The faction that tried that ‘breeding operation’ in the past seems to be plotting something suspicious again.]
“A plot?”
To Arsen’s question, Lattis replied in an even tone.
[They plan to restrain you the moment you meet at the rendezvous point.]
The original meeting spot for Arsen and Byulburmi’s main force was ‘Estate on the River’ to the southwest.
It was where their target underground tunnel was located, and where one of the key artifacts for this operation resided.
“They think they can’t control me?”
[Yes. They’ve witnessed your brilliant growth up close. Though that’s not the only reason.]
Compared to his past as a merely competent knight, Arsen had grown tremendously.
He could easily overpower a handful of average knights now.
With Maroon’s regular reports, Byulburmi’s elders knew this well too.
[I mentioned before—opinions are divided on what it means to restore the world to its original state.]
According to him, Byulburmi was split into two main factions.
The first wanted to focus on purifying the world with mage power and rebuilding ancient civilization itself.
The second sought to monopolize ancient magic’s power and reign as great beings.
Lattis belonged to the former, while those plotting to restrain Arsen were the latter.
[If the successor’s authority plays a big role in acquiring and using the library, that’s a problem for them.]
Naturally, they didn’t expect knight Arsen to buy into their mage-supremacist ideology.
They had originally planned to deal with him once they obtained the library, but his rapid buildup of forces had alarmed them, prompting an earlier move.
“Lattis Elder, you oppose this?”
[Yes. If something goes wrong with you in the fight, we might have to track down Ethan’s family.]
Thus, Lattis had been negative about such ‘hardline measures’ from the beginning, he said.
“First off, thank you for warning me about the plan... It means you’ll help me. I’m truly grateful.”
[No problem.]
The atmosphere warmed. But the next question shattered it instantly.
“So, how do they plan to subdue me? Even mages would have a hard time.”
[Well...]
As he said, Byulburmi being a mage organization didn’t mean they could subdue a knight like Arsen at will.
Explaining the method would reveal one of Byulburmi’s key secrets, so Lattis hesitated.
At that moment, Arsen thrust his deduction at Lattis.
Based on Maroon’s earlier slip-up and some intel he’d pieced together himself.
“I have a guess already. How many combat dolls does Byulburmi have?”
Silence. A heavy silence like the deep ocean floor flowed through the crystal orb.
Was there ever a moment more regrettable for not seeing the other’s face?
Much later, a lightly trembling voice came through.
[How did you... Did Maroon tell you?]
The question carried suspicion that surely he hadn’t revealed that much.
Indeed, Maroon hadn’t let slip anything related until Arsen directly probed with the term ‘combat doll.’
That’s how crucial a secret it was to them.
“I stumbled onto it.”
Arsen answered vaguely.
After much deliberation, Lattis replied straightforwardly.
[Thirteen.]
Arsen swallowed a quiet groan.
His deduction was correct, but that didn’t bring joy.
[I know it’s not morally right, but it was necessary for self-defense. As you know, mages are inherently powerless against knights.]
Lattis added by way of excuse. They only subdued and used knights who abused or killed mages, and without these combat dolls’ protection, they couldn’t maintain a mage group this size.
[We didn’t use combat dolls before, and the Giant King nearly destroyed us for it.]
Shaken, Lattis’s explaining voice trembled.
“I see.”
Arsen filed the info away for now. He couldn’t be certain, but it was worth referencing.
“Anyway, let’s talk about that later. You’ve shown me great favor, Lattis Elder, so I’ll respect your judgment.”
As Arsen brushed it off, Lattis’s voice brightened a bit.
[Thank you.]
“First, tell me more about their plan.”
[They didn’t tell me everything—even I only learned by chance. But...]
* * *
The next day, Arsen woke a bit later than usual.
He had stayed up agonizing over countermeasures after hearing that major secret the night before.
What roused him wasn’t sunlight, but Rino’s urgent shout.
“Captain! Captain! You need to get up now!”
“...What’s going on?”
“The lord’s here—with knights too.”
Arsen bolted up, swiftly donning the armor by his bedroll and grabbing his axe.
The whole process took barely ten seconds.
Rino, watching from the side, momentarily forgot the urgency in his admiration for the speed.
“Lead the way.”
Outside the tent, even without Rino’s guidance, the lined-up knights and soldiers were visible.
‘About ten knights, and... sixty soldiers?’
It wasn’t hard to guess this force was meant to completely suppress Arsen’s group if things went south.
If he were an ordinary knight, he’d have yielded to such odds.
But confident he could overcome even this with minimal losses, Arsen stepped forward boldly.
Matching him was a young man who looked a few years older.
Striking in his red fur coat despite the near-summer heat, he seemed part of the lord’s family.
Otherwise, there’d be no reason for such bravado.
“Are you Arsen of Belluan?”
“Yes. And you?”
At Arsen’s retort, the man scoffed.
“I am Yordin, lord of this estate.”
*So the lord himself,* Arsen thought, gauging the distance between the lord and himself, then between the lord and his knights. He was certain.
*If things go wrong, just grab the lord.*
Mistaking Arsen’s Black Lion for an ordinary mount or mechanical beast, the lord stood dangerously far forward.
Arsen too had advanced to represent his camp, so the moment a knight approached the lord or he tried to retreat, he could charge and seize him easily.
Oblivious to his thoughts, the lord asked calmly,
“I heard you bribed our knights last night. True?”
“Yes.”
With multiple recipients from yesterday, Arsen nodded without hesitation.
Surely they hadn’t mobilized this many just for that. Facing this force would cost the estate heavy losses too.
No madman would start a war over something so trivial.
“Among the jewels those guys took, there was my aunt’s heirloom. Stolen by a thieving knight from our estate long ago. I remember it clearly—it was my birthday gift to her.”
Looking at the knights upon hearing that, Arsen noted the faces of those he’d given jewels to yesterday were absent.
He pondered the jewels’ origin. They weren’t purchased separately, for sure.
He recalled they were spoils from a knight he’d ambushed while raiding the Irene ruins.
The guy had said he was Rashuka of Iden...
*Ah.*
Considering it a vicious coincidence, Arsen asked,
“Was the thief who stole that jewel named Rashuka?”
“You know him well. Technically, it was his father. Rashuka fled with his dad.”
Likely assuming Arsen had met or dealt with Rashuka or his father, they’d come to intimidate and pry out details.
Utterly unnecessary, but still.
“Rashuka’s already dead. By my hand.”
The lord’s face turned dumbstruck.