Chapter 248
Chapter: 248
-----------------------------------------------------------------
>Translator: penny
>Chapter: 248
>Chapter Title: Soul Stone (2)
>-----------------------------------------------------------------
>Logan and Masain confirmed that Seongjin had woken up safely, took a short rest, and then had to set out from the count's mansion once more. The Sigismund territory was still in disarray.
The major battle had come to a temporary end, but the drawn-out mop-up operations remained. On top of that, they had to pursue the fleeing Lycanslopes.
There was plenty of work to do, but a severe shortage of hands.
Seongjin's group had also banded together to help the territory. Only Sir Sharon, who had collapsed from a sudden drop in condition, and Captain Bruno, who had volunteered to guard Seongjin, remained at the count's mansion.
'I should be doing something too...'
Seongjin thought that, but there was no room for him, who had barely survived near death, to step in. His body felt itchy, and as he tried to sneak out the door, Logan and Masain glared at him side by side.
"Should I put you to sleep nice and deep so you can rest easy today?"
Logan asked ominously, fiddling with his fist.
Wait, was that physical therapy instead of sleeping pills?
"Your Highness, wouldn't it be better to just cover your eyes? It might help you sleep."
Seizing the moment, Masain held out a bandage and asked.
Though he had recovered, they seemed unable to stop worrying about the eyes that had been pouring blood just yesterday.
In the end, Seongjin had no choice but to raise both hands in surrender.
"Alright, alright. I'll stay put in the room."
But contrary to the atmosphere that suggested they would rally troops and chase the Lycanslopes right away, by late afternoon, there was still no word of the pursuit team departing.
And Seongjin learned the reason from Edith, who brought his dinner.
It was because a major incident had befallen Sir Ilma and Sir Sebastian—the backbone of the pursuit team, and aside from old Vincent, the territory's greatest wielders of force.
"Runaway?"
"Yes, so it seems, Your Highness."
Their only daughter, Luize, had left a single letter and vanished completely from the territory.
This was the gist of what Edith had heard.
-Dear Father, Dear Mother. Thanks to your recent help, I have safely settled in as a maid at the count's mansion. But is this childish thinking? I feel like I want to explore the various possibilities still hidden within me. I want to travel the continent and gain more experiences. So please don't worry too much and wait for me in the territory.
Seongjin inwardly clicked his tongue.
Luize, even at her young age, has an incredibly meticulous personality. After deciding to confront the Lycanslope Lord, she had even considered the possibility of not returning from defeat.
"But isn't it strange?"
Edith tilted her head.
"I've only known Luize for a few days, but she didn't seem like the type at all."
"Yeah?"
"Yes. Spend even a short time with her, and you'll see. Luize plans everything down to the minute. While helping me, she handled her maid duties with such meticulousness. For someone like her to set off on an adventure without a plan—I couldn't even imagine it."
"......"
Suddenly, the image of Luize neatly removing her shoes and carefully packing them into her backpack came to mind.
Seongjin knew she had headed to the [Flower Garden] at the heart of the demon realm.
-Your Highness, I must confirm the true nature of that [Flower Garden] with my own eyes.
It was just a moment, but he had a premonition that he wouldn't see her for a long time.
And not just that. Though busy controlling the ice spirits, Seongjin had also caught faint thoughts transmitted from her.
-I must now go on a distant journey from which I may never return. A path I cannot reveal to anyone.
Had Luize arrived safely at the [Flower Garden]? What on earth had happened there?
-This world is full of lingering attachments, and the only one who knows the complete me is Your Highness. Please take care of what's left...
That was the end of what came through as thoughts, but Seongjin somehow felt she had entrusted him with her parents at the last.
'She doesn't want her parents searching for her and entering the demon realm.'
That's why she left the letter to hide her whereabouts.
Seongjin pondered for a long time.
'Sir Ilma and Sir Sebastian have the right to know about Luize.'
But for some reason, even if they chased after their daughter into the demon realm, it didn't seem like they would meet her.
In that case, wouldn't it be better for them to believe she was wandering the safer parts of the continent?
Seongjin struggled for a while to make up his mind. He couldn't presume to guess the feelings of parents who had lost a child.
'But she'll come back.'
Even if it took a long time, he had a premonition that Luize would one day return here. In that case, it would be better to let her parents stay in the territory to welcome her.
After much agonizing, Seongjin finally decided in his heart to keep silent about her.
[Waaaah! Bear meat, bear meat~ Delicious bear meat~]
Even so, he couldn't shake the heaviness in his heart. While the Demon King sang excitedly, Seongjin mechanically cleared his dinner without tasting it.
Clink.
What drew Seongjin's attention amid this was the ornate tea tray that entered the room after the meal.
"...What's this, Captain?"
Seongjin asked, puzzled by the perfect tea set he hadn't seen in a while.
Captain Bruno, who had brought the tray, awkwardly stroked his mustache.
"Yes, Your Highness. It's a tea time set for you."
"So why are you bringing it, Captain?"
You're ultimately Arenza's external agent, not someone whose main job is serving tea.
Captain Bruno then said with the utmost solemn expression.
"No, Your Highness. From now on, everything I can do for you will be my duty."
"Huh?"
"Through this incident, I clearly realized that my devotion in serving Your Highness is still lacking in many ways."
"......"
It was bewildering to hear him suddenly speak of enlightenment, but Seongjin could tell how sincere he was about it.
Captain Bruno's mustache was perfectly alive, forming unprecedented symmetry and pointing sharply.
"Hmm."
Seongjin furrowed his brow, pondering what to say, then opened his mouth.
"Lacking? You've been doing more than enough so far, Captain."
"But Your Highness..."
"Just keep striving to recover your former realm as you have been. That's your job, Captain. The very fact that a Decaron Knight has become my man means you've fulfilled your role. Don't you get that?"
Captain Bruno seemed somewhat convinced.
Yet his expression remained dark, as if unsatisfied, so Seongjin had no choice but to add,
"If you really want to do more, guide Karmen properly."
That guy's 'brightness' is seriously unstable compared to the other resident knights. He's already got anger management issues—if his skills are mediocre too, how can I take him around worry-free?
For some reason, Captain Bruno looked deeply moved as he gazed at Seongjin.
"To think I only now realize Your Highness's such meticulous care—truly, this is what they mean by wasting one's years. I am ashamed."
"Uh?"
"I will surely live up to your expectations! And it's not just Karmen. Regardless of recovering my realm, from now on, I will properly train every single resident knight of the Pearl Palace. So that there will be no shortcomings in serving Your Highness henceforth!"
"...Uh, yeah. Sure."
Unable to stop his overflowing enthusiasm, Seongjin thought while breaking into a cold sweat.
Enthusiasm is good and all, but...
'Masain's absence means they're probably enjoying sweet postings right now, but with two tiger instructors coming back, it'll be hell.'
Good grief. Unless I massively raise the knights' salaries, who would stick around the Pearl Palace?
* * *
After that, the evenings at the count's mansion passed with tedious peacefulness.
Woof woof!
Aside from Max bursting into the room after escaping his kennel on his own, nothing disturbed Seongjin's rest.
So Seongjin spent the time meditating or observing items from the astral world with his divine eye.
Thanks to stuffing himself with bear meat steak, the Demon King was extremely cooperative with the divine eye use too.
'Hmm.'
Inevitably, his eyes would sometimes drift to the ice heart beside him, but Seongjin exercised unprecedented patience to suppress his curiosity.
There was the promise with the Holy Emperor, but apart from that, the more he looked, the more it seemed no ordinary item.
'I've used it in a pinch so far, but...'
Each time he used it, he felt it had a greater impact on the user's mind or soul than expected.
Continuing to manipulate the glacier troll haphazardly like before might cause irreversible problems someday.
'Father said it too, right? Don't dive in alone trying to figure it out.'
He was the type to let Seongjin do as he pleased otherwise, so it surely wasn't an idle warning.
'Indeed, when I felt oneness with the ice spirits, my soul felt slightly detached from my body. Mess it up, and my soul might fly off somewhere again.'
The events right after his soul left his body were now faintly blurred, almost unrememberable. Only a vague impression remained of hearing a strangely benevolent laugh along with a bell chime.
But even so, he was aware it had been no ordinary danger. How shaken even the always composed Holy Emperor had been.
'I don't want to worry Father anymore.'
So Seongjin spent time mainly examining the accessories from Bazra or the Nebraska amulet.
Among them, what especially caught his eye were the small, round soulstones.
〚Bazra's Soulstone〛
Seongjin detached the vividly reddish-brown soulstone and toyed with it, thinking.
'It definitely wasn't this color before Bazra died. It was a transparent orb like the other soulstones.'
So, did this contain Bazra's soul after death?
[Whether it's that guy's soul is a bit ambiguous. The feel is similar, but the Lycanslope definitely had a present world soul when I first saw it. Yet what's in here seems closer to an astral world soul.]
After examining the soulstone for a while, the Demon King said.
That meant either the present world soul had been converted to an astral world soul, or this didn't contain Bazra after all.
But was that possible? A present world soul turning into an astral world soul upon death?
'And look at this, Demon King.'
Seongjin held up the Nebraska summoning amulet, pointing to the small slots now empty, presumably where gems had been set.
'Doesn't it feel like a soulstone would fit perfectly here?'
[Hm? Yeah, the size matches. It kinda does.]
'Then shall we test it?'
So Seongjin took out an empty soulstone and gently pushed it into one of the Nebraska amulet's slots. Then—
Click!
Like it was sucked in, the soulstone settled firmly into the slot!
'......!'
And soon, a faint message appeared before his eyes.
〚List of summonable souls: 2/4〛
〚1. □□□□ (Inactive)〛
〚2. □□□ □□ (Inactive)〛
〚3. Hayes Martin (Active)〛
〚4. Red (Active)〛
〚Select a soul?〛
〚Accept / Decline〛
'This is...'
He had seen it once before.
After slaying the Lycanslope Lord in the labyrinth, right before riding the portal back.
It hadn't appeared no matter what he did after returning to this world. Since even the divine eye couldn't see it, he thought some other condition was needed—and sure enough, it was the soulstone.
[Gasp?!]
But Seongjin wasn't the only one surprised.
In the labyrinth, the window had appeared only to Seongjin upon acquiring the amulet, but now sharing the divine eye, it finally became visible to the Demon King too.
[S-Summon...? Red?!]
And the Demon King's shock upon reading it was immense.
[I-Seongjin, what is this? I must be seeing wrong, right? No way is this 'Red' here referring to me? It is, isn't it? And it's recognizing this great one not as the mighty Demon King of Gehenna, but as a mere s-summon?!]
'......'
[For the great Demon King of Gehenna to be fixed with a name like Red? How could this...!]
The Demon King muttered in despair, and by the end, he was sniffling.
Sob sob.
'Hmm.'
Well, to Seongjin, it was a name that suited the Demon King's patheticness perfectly, but with him so dejected, there wasn't much to say.
'Anyway, I'm starting to get a sense of it.'
When he first showed the Nebraska amulet to the Holy Emperor, hadn't he explained it like this?
-It's probably something that fundamentally alters souls. Precious for sure, but best to use with caution.
Fundamentally alters souls.
Meaning it could convert a present world soul into an astral world soul?
'Then shall we test it?'
Just in case Red... no, the Demon King got trapped in a soulstone suddenly.
Then there was only one choice.
〚3. Hayes Martin (Active)〛
〚Select a soul?〛
〚Accept / Decline〛
Hayes Martin.
The dark cult priest who had opened a gate to the Heresy Tribunal and died by the Holy Emperor's hand.
No idea why he was on the list.
'But no better soul for a test run.'
Whatever happened to this guy's soul didn't matter to him. With that thought, Seongjin unhesitatingly selected with his will.
〚*Accept* / Decline〛
The very next moment.
Shaaaa—
The transparent soulstone instantly turned pitch black.
'......!'
Checking with the divine eye uncertainly, the soulstone's name had changed like this.
〚Hayes Martin's Soulstone〛
Ah, as expected.