Chapter 94
Chapter: 94
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>Translator: penny
>Chapter: 94
>Chapter Title: Logan (1)
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Plop.
A small pebble ripples the calm water surface.
Seongjin was crouched by the shallow lakeside, gazing at the circular waves spreading outward. From time to time, a small child's hand tossed another pebble from underfoot into the lake.
Strangely, the scenery faded to gray, lacking any sense of reality.
It was a situation he'd experienced before.
So, this was a dream? Then, was this another of Mores's memories?
Once he became aware, the melancholy mood of the boy sitting with his chin on his knees flooded into him. The child was extremely angry, but even more sad, so he clenched his lips tightly to hold back tears.
Rustle.
At that moment, bushes ahead parted, and a small boy emerged.
Perhaps seven or eight years old. His round head covered in glossy black hair resembled someone Seongjin knew.
"Why are you here like this? Sword training started ages ago."
As the boy approached with concern, Seongjin—no, the child—reacted sharply and snapped back curtly.
"Go away, Logan! I'm not going to class anymore!"
"Why? You like sword training, don't you? Come on. Captain Bruno is waiting."
"I hate it! You go and enjoy it since you're so good!"
What a bratty, irritable response.
Yet Seongjin couldn't blame Mores. He vividly felt the child forcing back tears ready to burst at any moment.
- …….
Surprisingly, the other boy, who seemed about the same age, appeared to notice it too. He paced worriedly for a moment, then cautiously approached Mores.
"Did Mama Elizabeth say something again?"
Mores's tightly shut lips began to tremble slightly.
Unable to hold back, the child bowed his head and buried it between his knees. Seongjin felt the hem of the boy's pants growing damp, a bittersweet sensation.
Mores only shed tears without making a sound.
But Seongjin alone could vividly hear the tearful voice repeating in the child's mind.
She said I ruined all of Mama's dreams.
Because... I'm not like you, not like Papa.
So she gets angry every time she sees me.
She hates me....
The boy listened to the sniffles for a while, then quietly sat beside him, crouching to face the lake.
- Hm....
The boy stared at the water, pondering his words as if choosing them carefully.
He seemed to guess at the words Mores had swallowed inside.
- Mores.
After some time passed and Mores seemed a bit calmer, the boy softly called his name.
- I'll tell you a secret, just between us. No one else knows.
As the child lifted his reddened eyes to meet his gaze, Logan smiled gently at him. His slightly drooping eyes made the smile seem somewhat sorrowful.
- Truth is, this isn't my first time learning aura training. I only seem good because I learned it before.
- Before? When?
- Well... actually, I....
* * *
‘…So, actually, what are you?’
Seongjin blinked, still dazed.
A tear rolled down his cheek. He'd unconsciously synced with dream-Mores's emotions.
Showing a memory was fine, but waking up at the crucial part? It was like seeing nothing at all.
So, actually, what?
Feeling oddly resentful, he glared at the bed canopy when a commotion erupted in his mind.
[Whoa! You're awake? Hey! You okay?]
What was this guy's problem?
[Waaah! Dude! I thought you actually died! Who charges in like that, smashing your whole body to bits?!]
‘Uh....’
Only then did memories before losing consciousness slowly resurface in Seongjin's mind.
The monster attack. The gate. Pago and Nephila's rampage. The dead old man....
What a total mess.
The bird in Pearl Palace that always cried during the day was quiet today—because it was midnight now. After the daytime chaos, Seongjin had slept straight through until now.
‘So, what happened to the spider brat? The gate?’
Seongjin asked the Demon King, but he wasn't too worried. He'd clearly felt the spider's core shatter completely at the end.
The gate? The monsters? The Holy Emperor must have handled it fine.
Wasn't proof that Seongjin lay safe in Pearl Palace?
[I knew your reckless charging style, but still! This time was really... Whew, in that short time, you looked....]
Ignoring Seongjin's question, the Demon King muttered complaints for a while. Only when Seongjin's expression darkened did he flinch and start explaining.
When the Demon King went underground, a small gate had opened in the underground corridor. Spiders, hornets, and ant-type monsters were pouring out.
The monsters that attacked the underground prison ate the Lofroom eggs in the prisoners' chests, turning the place into total chaos.
Wait, Lofroom eggs?
[Yeah. Most prisoners in the Heresy Tribunal's jail had eggs. Recently implanted ones, all still alive.]
Seongjin's face grew serious.
As he'd suspected, academy students had eggs implanted by the Heresy Tribunal. Someone there was implanting monster eggs into disposable prisoners.
The Demon King continued.
Circumstances pointed to Priest Hayes opening the gate. But by the time the Demon King arrived, he'd just been killed by the Holy Emperor, so the method was now unknown.
After that, the Holy Emperor personally closed the gate and wiped out the underground monsters in one go.
[I'd never seen anything like it. Your father crushed the gate like crumpling paper with one hand. Even I, a Gehenna Demon King, couldn't squash distorted space like that.]
The Demon King's soul shuddered recalling it. Seongjin felt chills too.
Could gates be closed that simply? Just how far did that man's limits go?
[And he burst all the small monsters from afar without touching them. No idea how. You should've seen it....]
‘Hm....’
Seongjin swallowed a groan.
Maybe he didn't need to charge at the spider? If he'd hidden as Masain suggested, the Holy Emperor would've appeared and cleaned up easily.
[And when your father came up to the surface, your state....]
The Demon King's description of Seongjin's condition was far worse than expected.
Cranial hemorrhage, muscles necrotizing throughout his body. Fractures and abrasions were bonuses.
Without the Holy Emperor's holy power, he'd have died slowly or survived crippled.
The Holy Emperor's cool silver-gray eyes flashed in Seongjin's mind, cold sweat breaking out.
Now the aftermath scared him.
Warned not to cause trouble—with a walnut cracker punishment—and soon after, he'd half-killed his son. How to face that man now?
And what about Sir Masain....
‘Ugh... maybe just never wake up.’
Seongjin clutched his head and burrowed into the bed. The earlier uneasy dream was long forgotten.
Fortunately, his escapism didn't last.
[Lee Seongjin, it's that woman.]
Before the Demon King's warning, Seongjin sensed the familiar aura concealment and slowly sat up on the bed. Soon, the terrace window opened as always, and a lithe figure in black nightclothes slipped silently into the room.
Dasha spotted Seongjin staring right at her entrance, flinched briefly, then sighed and approached. Her recently cracked pride hadn't recovered.
"Yes, of course. I was the fool thinking I'd finally succeed in sneaking in."
She perched on the sofa opposite the bed and smiled.
"I heard you were badly hurt, but you look fine. Good."
"Dasha knows everything, huh."
"Not just me—everyone does. Rumors are spreading through the capital: the brave young prince, ignoring his injuries, slew a giant monster alone to protect the imperial citizens."
Such rumors?
He hadn't led by example for citizens, nor slain the monster alone.
"The monster incident downtown caused quite a stir."
It seemed like one of the hastily spread heroic tales to calm public sentiment. Would it help Mores's rock-bottom reputation even a little?
Dasha briefly explained the day's events.
The horde of amber hornet monsters flew into the city, scattering and attacking people—mostly in slums or remote areas.
It took the knight orders time to eliminate them all, as they split into teams across the capital.
Seongjin suspected they all carried the gray plague.
Sure enough, Dasha confirmed it.
"Strangely, all attacked had chests torn open when they died. Capital guards confirmed gray discoloration on the corpses' skin."
Seongjin recalled the Demon King's earlier words.
- I figured out what the incoming monsters have in common!
Was their common trait eating Lofroom eggs?
The Demon King answered Seongjin's doubt.
[Not quite. Spiders, ants, and hornets all crave a different egg.]
Rare butterfly eggs from the demon realm, fatal poison to most egg-eating monsters.
Yet why had Seongjin never seen such butterfly monsters in all those years?
[They channel. If danger looms, they flee to another dimension.]
Gehenna, at war with Sigurd 34th District, must've seemed too risky for them.
[The issue: dying Lofroom eggs emit a scent very similar to butterfly eggs. Seems they're luring insect monsters to be eaten, but I don't know why. Probably some lifecycle I don't know.]
So, as Lofroom eggs desperately emitted luring scents, the gate suddenly opened. That explained the insect monsters' frenzy.
But why did Priest Hayes open the gate? Was he the one implanting the eggs?
Seongjin pondered but drew blanks.
The eggs' purpose and gate's reason remained unknown.
He decided to do what he could.
"Dasha. Can I ask you to investigate?"
"Yes, Your Highness."
Dasha's turquoise eyes sparkled.
Though they'd met few times, Seongjin was piecing her together.
She couldn't hide excitement when curious or intrigued—intelligence work suited her well.
"First, about Priest Hayes from the Heresy Tribunal."
Oh! Dasha's face lit up with interest.
"The problematic priest who died today? No issue! He was suspected of dark cult remnants; intelligence is already investigating. I'll report details soon."
But Seongjin's follow-up cracked her confident expression.
"And about my mother, Consort Elizabeth."