Chapter 18
Chapter 18
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 18
Chapter Title: Lord Crimson
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2. Boyhood
The lively music of the minstrels, the countless luxuries lavishly decorating the entire castle, the multicolored magic stones glowing like fairy lanterns…
The festival at the ducal castle celebrating Dale’s tenth year was the epitome of the empty formalities Duke Sachsen himself loathed.
It was not for themselves, but for the guests who would soon arrive.
“Hoh, as expected of His Grace, Duke Sachsen!”
“My, look at all this food!”
The Emperor’s people. It was not difficult to grasp the meaning behind those words.
The greatest power bloc that constituted this empire. In other words, the central nobles of the imperial capital who formed the core of the Imperial Faction.
“While it cannot compare to that of the Imperial Palace, this is a sight unbelievable for the heart of the North!”
“Indeed, it is!”
Each of them was draped in expensive velvet or silk, unable to hide their excitement as if they were the main characters of this festival.
They knew better than anyone that the nobles of the Imperial Faction were visiting on behalf of the ‘Emperor’s name’. That fact was the very value of their existence, and it was no different even when dealing with Duke Sachsen.
“I feel foolish for having worried, thinking this was some frozen backwater!”
The Empire’s central nobles always liked to compare the territory to Lord Black’s political standing.
A land excessively vast, yet holding no real substance.
One of the great nobles of the Empire, and at the same time, a political outsider who chose to isolate himself in the northern frontier.
The Empire’s most powerful military force, and simultaneously, the head of the Black Magic Tower, shunned and feared by all.
Nevertheless, the fact that he was a great vassal of the Empire remained unchanged. No matter how much they scorned black magic and necromancy, they could not scorn the military value that darkness possessed.
This tug-of-war between caution and awe was the reality of Duke Sachsen’s position in the Empire.
Lord Black sat upon his throne, looking down at them with emotionless eyes.
The nobles, who were rummaging through his castle as if it were their own home, lost in amusement.
Of course, most of the nobles here were not even worthy of being called a threat to Duke Sachsen. What he was wary of was not them, but the meaning of their presence here.
A tacit warning.
A message from the Imperial Family that they would not stand by and watch the Holy Sword Master be insulted.
—And the ‘messenger’ who understood this message most clearly appeared before Duke Sachsen.
“I humbly present myself to Your Grace, Duke Sachsen.”
A red-haired man bowed his head respectfully before the throne. When he smiled, the gazes of the noblewomen nearby were drawn to him.
“Welcome, Marquis Yuriseu.”
Dale, too, mechanically offered his respects beside his father, silently clenching his jaw.
Unlike his gentle and soft appearance, Dale had not forgotten the true monster he was. How could he ever forget that face?
The man who bore the name ‘Lord Crimson’.
Fire and fury… the head of the Red Magic Tower, which sought order through power.
The Master of the Red Magic Tower.
The mages of the Red Tower were the closest allies to the Emperor’s will, and they did not hesitate to become the enforcers of the Empire’s ambitions. The ‘justice of the strong’ they pursued was the very spirit of the Empire’s age.
—He recalled his past life, where he had to endure all sorts of horrific modification procedures at their hands.
“So this is the young Lord Dale.”
And that object of his hatred was smiling quietly at him.
“The genius prodigy of the ducal house… I’ve heard he possesses a talent for magic that is unparalleled throughout the Empire.”
For a moment, Marquis Yuriseu’s eyes glinted like a snake eyeing its prey.
“According to the gossips, you annihilated a horde of orcs to protect a knight of your house?”
He spread his arms wide in an exaggerated manner, like an actor on a stage.
“Such an achievement at the mere age of nine!”
“The tales people spin are always exaggerated.”
Duke Sachsen calmly cut him off, maintaining an air of endless humility. He, too, understood the danger of Dale’s talent better than anyone.
“He is truly his father’s son.”
“He is a child blessed with more than I deserve.”
Once again, Marquis Yuriseu’s gaze turned to Dale. Just as the elven mage Sephia had done before, he was coolly assessing Dale’s talent to discern the threat he posed.
Magic was, after all, a manifestation of the mind. And his opponent was Lord Crimson, said to have reached the pinnacle of fire magic.
Therefore, it would not be a difficult task to perceive the “flame” of hatred blazing in the heart of a ten-year-old boy.
“…”
But no flame of hatred ignited.
Only a piercing, freezing chill spread through his chest.
“Dale of Sachsen, it is an honor to meet you, Marquis Yuriseu.”
In the midst of a chill that felt like it could numb his mind, Dale smiled innocently. He put on the guise of a naive ten-year-old boy who knew nothing.
* * *
Even as the night deepened, the flames of the festival showed no signs of dying down. Leaving the maturing birthday celebration behind, Dale quietly slipped out of the ducal castle’s great hall.
Alone, with his father, mother, and the ladies-in-waiting who were assisting his mother with the nobles at his back.
—The Master of the Red Magic Tower, Lord Crimson, had personally led the nobles from the capital to the ducal castle.
Dale understood the meaning of that act as much as, if not more than, his father.
After the Empire unified the continent, an era of peace and prosperity had by no means arrived.
The Imperial Faction, the Aristocratic Faction, and the resistance fighters of fallen kingdoms who continued to resist, proclaiming their separatism from the Empire.
Amidst that chaos, his father’s warning to the Holy Sword Master, a confidant of the Imperial Faction, must have caused quite a stir.
‘Should I just swing my sword by myself?’
Dale thought as he crossed the marble corridor of the ducal castle. If he had his way, he would have called Charlotte for a sparring match, but officially, Charlotte was a lady-in-waiting attending to Elena. In such a situation, it would be even more dangerous if it were revealed that the ‘daughter of the Divine Sword’ was practicing swordsmanship.
He was reminded anew of how blessed a place he had been born into and how well he had been cared for.
“Kyaa!”
It was at that moment.
Not far away, a young woman’s scream was heard.
“Stay still, you damn servant girl!”
Judging by the voice that followed, it was not difficult to grasp the situation. To guess what might be happening in a secluded spot outside the great hall.
“P-Please, I beg you! I serve the House of Sachsen…”
“How dare a lowly maid invoke the Duke’s name?”
The status of a ‘lady-in-waiting’ from a noble family and a ‘maid’ of common birth was clearly different.
“Hah! The young lord’s birthday, what a joke! They’re all just fooling around!”
To most nobles, the treatment of a maid was not even worth mentioning.
“Instead of wasting time on that nonsense, bedding a wench is a more productive use of time!”
And the mischief a man who considered such treatment normal would cause in another’s house was also predictable.
It was something unimaginable in the Ducal House of Sachsen, but it was not exactly a rare occurrence in the Empire.
Birth determined nobility and class, and those of lower status could never defy a noble. This was that kind of world.
“Resist any further and I’ll slit your throat!”
*Shing.*
The sharp sound of a blade being drawn was heard. The sound of a stiletto’s edge.
“Ah…”
Following the pale voice, Dale walked without hesitation.
Beyond the corner at the end of the corridor, toward the bushes outside the ducal castle.
“What are you doing?”
“Young Lord Dale…!”
At the sound of Dale’s voice, the maid who had been struggling against the wall cried out.
“…”
It was Eve, the seventeen-year-old maid who usually attended to Dale’s daily needs.
“Y-Young Lord Dale!”
The noble who had been trying to forcibly undress her turned his head in alarm.
A lumbering physique in a velvet coat that looked like it would tear at any moment. Seeing his trousers awkwardly undone, an unbearable wave of nausea washed over him.
The saying ‘pearls before swine’ was too good for such a wretched sight.
“What were you doing here?”
Dale asked again. The noble flinched back in panic.
“W-Well, that is—”
After flinching, he then gave a sly grin.
“Young Lord! Have you ever had experience with a woman?”
After smiling, he made an absurd proposition.
“You haven’t yet tasted the body of a mature maiden, have you?”
The stiletto in his hand was drawn down over Eve’s clothes, between her full breasts.
“I, Petro, can teach Young Lord Dale a pleasure you could never have imagined!”
He must have been dismissing Dale as just a ten-year-old child. Someone he could easily handle as he pleased.
Either way, it was a truly foolish and despicable act.
“…”
Dale was so dumbfounded he couldn’t speak. Nausea rose in his throat.
“Y-Young Lord…”
The maid Eve’s face turned deathly pale.
“Don’t worry.”
Seeing her, Dale smiled quietly.
“Send her over here.”
After smiling, Dale spoke.
“Did you not hear me, Lord Petro?”
As Petro hesitantly turned Eve toward Dale, Dale extended his finger without a second thought.
A chilling magic of frost swirled from his fingertip. Realizing its meaning, Petro’s face hardened into a pale mask.
‘My actions…’
*Thwack!*
But Dale’s Ice Bullet merely grazed his cheek and embedded itself into the castle’s stone wall.
“H-Hiiiek!”
The noble Petro collapsed, his massive body falling as he landed on his rear. He trembled uncontrollably in fear, and the stiletto in his hand fell limply to the ground.
‘I must consider the consequences this will bring upon the House of Sachsen.’
He had no intention of backing down so easily. But firing an ice bullet at one of the ‘Emperor’s people’ without a second thought was by no means a good choice.
“Kneel.”
Therefore, Dale spoke. The same words his father had once spoken to the Holy Sword Master.
“Kneel and apologize to Miss Eve for your actions.”
“W-What!”
“Did you not hear me?”
Dale asked again.
“Young Lord! You don’t need to worry about me any further…!”
Alarmed, the maid Eve tried to stop Dale.
“As Miss Eve said, she is one of ‘our people of Sachsen’.”
But Dale did not back down in the slightest. Seeing this, Petro swallowed hard. But after swallowing, he bit his lip with an obstinacy that refused to submit so easily.
‘This damn little brat…!’
His opponent was just a ten-year-old child.
No matter how precious the eldest son of a ducal house he was, he could not endure such one-sided shame and humiliation.
“Young Lord, unfortunately, I cannot kneel.”
“And why is that?”
Dale asked again. His voice was emotionless and calm.
“I am here representing His Imperial Majesty the Emperor!”
Petro raised his voice, his massive body wobbling.
“Young Lord, you who are still inexperienced in the ways of the world! I do not know if you can comprehend the grave meaning of this!”
He was trying to manipulate the naive child to his own liking.
“To insult me in order to protect the honor of some lowly wench is tantamount to…!”
“Does His Imperial Majesty have a hobby of raping other people’s maids?”
Seeing this, Dale sneered coldly.
“W-W-What did you just say!”
Petro’s expression twisted in horror.
“When you, Lord Petro, say you are ‘representing His Imperial Majesty,’ is that not what you mean?”
Dale asked nonchalantly, and Petro’s lips contorted.
It was at that moment.
“This way!”
“What is the matter, Young Lord!”
By then, the people of the ducal house, having sensed the commotion, were heading this way. It would not be long before his father and ‘Lord Crimson,’ who were in the great hall, noticed the disturbance and approached.
The noble Petro swallowed hard again.
“This is your last chance.”
Dale spoke.
“Kneel.”
People were now approaching. And Dale’s eyes, as he looked at Petro, were colder than ever before.
* * *
His father, Lord Black, and his mother, Elena, along with the knights and ladies-in-waiting of House Sachsen. The Emperor’s nobles.
There, in front of a considerable number of people, the Imperial Faction noble Petro was kneeling.
Towards Dale, and towards the maid behind Dale.
“Hmm, this is quite a sight.”
Watching the scene, ‘Lord Crimson’ Marquis Yuriseu stroked his chin with interest. As if he were watching an amusing spectacle.
“Dale, what is this commotion?”
His father, Lord Black, approached with a chillingly stiff expression. The maid Eve’s face turned deathly white at the uncontrollably escalating situation.
“This man tried to rape a maid of our House of Sachsen.”
But Dale explained the situation from beginning to end without the slightest bit of intimidation.
“D-Dale!”
Elena, unable to hide her shock, was about to say something. Duke Sachsen quietly reached out his hand, stopping Elena.
“For a trivial matter like that, you show such disrespect to Lord Petro, who has come all the way from the capital?”
After stopping her, Duke Sachsen asked again.
A trivial matter like that. That was the reality of the standing between nobles and non-nobles in this world.
A flash of relief crossed the face of Petro, who had been kneeling, crushed by Dale’s aura.
“Y-Yes! Your Grace! The young lord, in his childishness—”
“Who told you to stand up?”
As Petro tried to rise, Dale once again extended his hand. Without a hint of hesitation.
“Dale…!”
Even Lord Black seemed surprised by his attitude and drew a sharp breath.
“The esteemed nobles from the capital.”
Therefore, Dale did not hesitate.
“You all bear the heavy responsibility of acting on His Imperial Majesty’s will.”
Dale understood better than anyone the consequences his actions would bring upon the House of Sachsen.
“And yet this man, forgetting the grave duty of being His Majesty’s representative, tried to rape a ‘lowly maid’.”
“…”
“Therefore, I could not tolerate the disgraceful behavior of Lord Petro, who dared to dishonor His Majesty.”
Duke Sachsen drew a sharp breath at Dale’s unexpected answer.
“A man like this, who has insulted and tarnished the name of His Imperial Majesty the Emperor.”
Silence followed Dale’s words.
“—Hah!”
The silence was broken by the laughter of ‘Lord Crimson’ Marquis Yuriseu.
“Well, I’ll be.”
Marquis Yuriseu twisted the corner of his mouth as if he couldn’t hold it in.
“The young lord’s brilliance is quite a masterpiece.”
Twisting his lips, Marquis Yuriseu continued.
“The young lord is absolutely right.”
“L-Lord Yuriseu…?”
“To dare, as a representative of His Majesty, attempt to rape a lowly maid.”
At his affirmation of Dale’s claim, Petro gasped in alarm, and in the next moment—
“—Burn, you worthless bug.”
The crimson magic flickering from Lord Crimson’s fingertips shot swiftly across the ground.
*Fwoosh!*
“…”
Blazing flames engulfed Petro’s lumbering body.
“Aaargh, aaaaaaaaaargh!”
Overwhelmed by the scorching heat, Petro rolled on the ground, screaming.
“It hurts, it hurts, it huuuuuurts!”
Flame Tongue.
Its practical use in combat was minimal, but the true value of this spell lay elsewhere.
It peeled away the skin, licked over every part of the body as if caressing it, and never granted a quick end to the pain. A merciless flame that slowly delivered the most excruciating agony in the world.
“—I cannot simply ignore a fool who dares to dishonor His Imperial Majesty.”
Marquis Yuriseu’s gaze then turned to Dale and Duke Sachsen.
“It is my job, after all, to incinerate the vermin who try to insult the Imperial Family and the Empire.”
He spoke to the father and son of House Sachsen, not even sparing a glance at Petro, who was shrieking and writhing in agony.
“The Marquis is correct.”
At those words, Lord Black also nodded calmly.
“That is the way of our Empire and His Imperial Majesty.”
He, too, paid no heed to the blazing flames and screams right beside him.
“Is that not so, Dale?”
At his father’s question, Dale also nodded.
“Yes, it is.”
By then, the screams of Petro, who had been writhing in pain, had ceased. His dermis, bones, and organs had melted away, and literally not even bone dust remained.
A few handfuls of ashes scattered emptily in the night wind.
In the silence, Lord Crimson’s gaze fell upon Dale.
“I truly look forward to the young lord’s future.”
Meeting that gaze, Dale replied. With the innocent smile of a ten-year-old child.
“You won’t be disappointed.”