Chapter 78
Chapter 78
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 77
Chapter Title: The Final Boss of This Area is Me
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Dominic headed toward the alchemist who could wield the Bagua Furnace.
'Even during the Empire's days, there weren't many humans who could handle that thing.'
Of course, the Bagua Furnace was just a slightly more complex cauldron unless you were using it to make taboo items or the Philosopher's Stone.
Any alchemist who knew how to use a standard cauldron could somehow make it work.
But Dominic didn't consider that truly handling the Bagua Furnace.
Let's compare the Bagua Furnace to a pipe organ.
A skilled pianist could play it awkwardly after a bit of practice.
Ordinary people might even be satisfied with that kind of performance.
But anyone with even a passing interest in music wouldn't call it mastering the organ.
The Bagua Furnace was the same.
Any alchemist could operate it and perform some alchemy.
But they couldn't fully command it, and the results would be flawed.
'That's why I told them to track down traces of alchemists from the Empire era passed down in the kingdom.'
Only the traditional alchemist artisans—those who branched off from the Pater lineage continuing from the Empire—could truly wield the Bagua Furnace.
New alchemists born after the Empire's fall? No chance.
They might have talent, sure, but talent that transcended history was rare.
Under that premise, they narrowed it down to five candidates, and one had recently gone missing, leading straight to the Bagua Furnace.
Thus, the girl in front of him was highly likely a monster harboring memories from the Empire era.
This appearance was just smokescreen to lower guards.
Under that assumption, Dominic interrogated the alchemist.
BAM!
Dominic slammed his palm on the desk, acting the part of a shady old butler.
"Since this is our first meeting, I'd prefer not to ask too many questions. Which alchemy school are you from?"
"...Huh?"
The alchemist being interrogated was a frail young girl.
Not even 1st rank, looking no older than twelve—a half-elf girl.
But Dominic wasn't fooled by appearances or her realm.
In this world, people like Peter, whose looks matched their age, were rare.
Duke's lover Hana alone was over 200, and the Triad Commanders looked like young men but were three digits in age.
So even if this frail half-elf girl trembled her voice, Dominic saw through it.
To show her answer dissatisfied him, Dominic didn't hide his irritation.
Tsk.
The old butler clicked his tongue, and the girl flinched.
Despite her delicate appearance, the butler subtly stroked the sword hilt at his waist from an angle that hinted at threat.
"Pater school?"
"Y-Yes? Sorry, I don't really know..."
"Who trained you during the Empire era?"
"The Empire? I don't know anything about that..."
"Aren't you Miss Vald?"
"That's right, but... it's not... like that..."
By the end, she was nearly in tears.
Seeing the tears welling in her eyes, Dominic tilted his head.
He double-checked the report multiple times, but the girl before him was definitely Vald.
Gender: Female.
Has lived since the Empire era; vanished with her wealth when the Empire fell, fleeing nobles who targeted her.
After the Eschric dynasty fell and the Providen dynasty rose, she began establishing her family in the northern kingdom region.
Built a trading company with peerless alchemy skills, becoming a local lord in the north.
Actively engaged externally for family revival, generous with guests.
Recently, activity dropped sharply; refused external contact; company frequent closures.
Infiltration attempt failed.
Unclear if external intrusion or internal issue; no leads.
Dominic closed the report after reading that far.
Continuing from the report:
While monitoring the family, contact with the head succeeded, and a rescue signal arrived.
Curious about internal situation but believing rescuing the head would resolve everything, they traced the signal.
At its end: the Bagua Furnace and the imprisoned alchemist.
Naturally, the alchemist beside it was assumed to be the head.
But conversation revealed the girl knew little of the Empire or her school.
'Is she lying?'
But she seemed genuinely innocent.
Her realm was unbelievably low for someone from the Empire era.
Dominic's doubt cleared when the fidgeting girl spoke.
"S-Sniff... A-Are you... not mercenaries?"
"Do we look like that kind?"
"G-Grandma sent... N-No, nothing..."
Aha.
That explained it.
Dominic nodded and passed the baton to Jane.
Originally, Dominic was to play bad cop, Jane good cop.
The alchemist was a victim here, but possibly a Pater heir.
Thus, Dominic was set for villain role, but...
'What was I about to do to a child like this...'
Dominic shook his head and handed off to Jane.
Jane, taking the baton, gently stroked the girl's head with a soft smile.
"Little one, we're not mercenaries—we're knights. Grandma did send us, so relax."
"Then that grandpa..."
"Grandpa's been fighting bad guys a lot lately, so he's on edge. Understand?"
Ahem.
Dominic awkwardly cleared his throat and looked away.
Then the girl burst into relieved tears,
reconciled with Dominic's handkerchief,
found comfort in Jane's maternal scent, and finally spilled the truth.
"Scary people suddenly broke into our house."
According to her, bad villains invaded her family.
Parents mentioned something about heroes, but she was too young to grasp.
The invaders seized the trading company's wealth, locked the doors.
Used the granddaughter as hostage to demand her grandma's cauldron.
"That cauldron—is it this one?"
"Yes!"
The girl beamed at the Bagua Furnace.
Bowing cutely, calling it Grandma's treasure.
The 'bad people' took the cauldron and granddaughter, then demanded alchemy knowledge from Grandma.
The girl didn't catch what knowledge.
Unclear if Grandma yielded to protect her.
By then, granddaughter and cauldron were already auctioned off; she knew nothing after.
"Is Grandma okay?"
"Of course."
Jane replied, though strictly, they didn't know yet.
But high chance the head was safe.
'To sum up,'
The baddies wanted old lady Vald's knowledge and revenge on Duke.
Unclear which primary, but clearly aiming for two birds.
Used granddaughter and cauldron as bait/hostages, demanded knowledge from old lady meanwhile.
'Thrifty bastards.'
Sending hostages far risked deal-breaking if discovered, but only in equal negotiations.
With family occupied and threatened, exposure didn't matter.
'Anyway, Vald...'
Dominic pondered who the grandma was, but no one came to mind.
'Picked up a stray? Knows Bagua, so likely a surviving disciple.'
Duke's goal back then wasn't total disciple massacre.
Didn't chase those not corrupted by his pills.
But if this grandma took the cauldron for pill experiments...
Sorry kid, but Dominic added old lady Vald to potential kill list.
Meanwhile, the girl described the attackers' traits.
"They were super gross first!"
Attackers overpowered guards with regeneration, ignoring attacks.
Regen was horrific—tentacles and bugs, as shown at auction.
"And... they called them... angels!"
"Angels?"
"Yes! The bad guys said those people were angels!"
Angels. Angels.
Duke tilted his head.
This world had religion, but divine messengers were called apostles or immortals, not angels.
Closest was northern Holy Nation's seraphim term; they rarely said 'angels.'
'Holy Nation culprits?'
Too early though.
In original story, Providen conquest started with Holy Nation's fall, but not like this.
No clear motive for them against kingdom either.
'Angels... angels...'
As Duke mulled the word, the girl dropped the key clue.
"I know the bad guys' leader's name! He introduced himself boldly!"
"Who?"
"Kwe-bel or something!"
"??"
Question marks floated over Dominic's head.
Kubel? The agitator? Why him? Another reincarnator?
Stunned by girl's bombshell, Rex—who listened via system—messaged.
Dominic relayed verbatim.
The girl clapped with a bright smile.
"Yes! Kwe-bel!"
"It's Kubel."
"Like sis said, Kwe-bel!"
Dominic gave up correcting pronunciation, searching mentally for Kubel.
Nothing.
Luckily, Rex Wiki compiled info, questioning via Dominic.
Answer: NO.
"Yes! Weird picture on that guy's chest!"
Rex quickly summarized.
Attacker on alchemist family: Kubel Karognar.
Son of the count who ruled Providen capital... not quite.
Also the guy who fled the smithy after Duke showed joint and realm intimidation.
Unfortunately, subject had poor memory/interest, so forgot.
"Thanks for telling us. Sis and Grandpa will save Grandma."
"Mom and Dad too! Uncle and bro..."
"Yeah, yeah."
Now buddies, Jane sat the girl on her lap, pinky-swearing.
Dominic smiled warmly at the giggling long-eared duo.
Rex immediately planned.
Rex manipulated the system, gathering op intel.
Then, red warning lit Rex's view.
"Dominic here."
From the start, occupying the family and cutting external ties meant anticipating knights storming in.
Yet they chose this method because...
It meant they didn't care if discovered.
Dominic and Jane hardened, viewing the map Rex shared remotely.
Red dots blanketed the alchemist family's city.
Alongside the lethally highlighted word: Rebellion.
Hell Agency Director Hana bowed via remote comm.
Regretting failed infiltration when family locked down.
"No. You did plenty well."
Military-style surprise raids would've been nice, sure.
That's what intel agencies were for.
Hana held back because blind insertion without knowing internals was just cannon fodder for elites.
Eschric Kingdom was prime bad example; her caution valid.
She regretted not sniffing rebellion signs, but Duke saw her right.
"Sending Shadow Knights would've meant far more sacrifices."
Per Rex's system intel, Kubel occupying family reached 5th rank somehow.
A determined 5th rank superhuman locking down inside? Knights couldn't detect normally.
Beyond that, Dominic's gut screamed.
'This Kubel punk. Got a whole nation backing him?'
Prior necromancy probe on minor goons suggested national heavyweight involvement.
Kubel wasn't national, nor skilled for refined necromancy—pointed to foreign kingdom.
'Don't know who, but plotting in my turf? Crossed the line.'
Duke rarely spun his quick brain thus, but exception here.
This area's final boss was him.
Had to be.
Always capping the tale with overwhelming presence?
Him.
Scheming from shadows?
Him.
Getting played like this? Fell his final boss prestige.
Like a beast guarding turf, the thug dormant in Duke's soul growled.
Meanwhile, Jane gazed gravely at the map and girl.
"Sis?"
"Hm?"
"You okay?"
"Yeah. Nothing."
Red firefly map and innocent elf girl stirred forgotten past.
- "You know Mama loves you, Jane?"
Childhood ravaged under black dragon wings.
Not trauma.
She'd avenged on that black dragon, gained precious ones.
Just an aching old scar, not hand-shaking trigger.
But heart throbbed differently.
With friend's voice echoing in ear.
- Escaped past? Really think so?
- Got dreams?
- Dumb friend. Break from the past.
Sign language, not voice; details differed, but anyway.
Camilla's final smile held clear worry for friend.
Now, Jane felt she could answer Camilla.
"Think I found... what I wanna do."
"Sis?"
"Don't worry. Sleep tight~ Sis'll reunite you with family."
The girl could stay innocent.
Cruel reality could wait till her hormone storm years later.
One tragic girl was enough.
Shing.
Adopting stance a certain swordsman taught, she vowed to Vald's granddaughter.
"Yormungand Honor Guard 1st Platoon Leader Jane. I swear to you. As the shield guarding His Majesty, and the shield guarding the people. No night's darkness shall befall your home."
Girl's eyes sparkled at Jane's vow.
Jane smiled at her.
Yeah. That swordsman felt this too.
The girl trapped in memories finally began living the present.