Chapter 174
Chapter 174
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 174
Chapter Title: A Use for the Treacherous Subject
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Near the Daina Family Trading Division, a cafe.
"Here is your coffee and dessert, sir."
"Hoh... This tastes quite good. I wouldn't have expected it from a place that doesn't seem to focus on agriculture."
At the very moment Darken Daina was undoing the seal on the magic tome, Beonald, at the same time, was leisurely enjoying the coffee and dessert brought by a skeleton in a suit at a cafe near the Trading Division building.
Perhaps because there were too many visitors from outside, the area around the Trading Division was well-equipped with spaces for meals or short breaks, which was fortunate.
"Hmm~ Anyway, I think the magic tome I provided has probably reached the esteemed personage by now... I wonder how it will turn out?"
Like a small child waiting for fireworks, he was watching the blank page of the magic tome.
Then, a moment later, an image as if ink was spreading suddenly appeared on the blank page, and the ink began to move on its own, drawing something.
Two arrows were drawn; one pointed toward the direction of the Daina family mansion, and the other pointed toward the bottom of the page.
"Hmm, I didn't think he'd break the seal this quickly. It was a sealing formula I carved with all my might, after all. That means... the possibility that 'Darken Daina' is still alive is high, isn't it?"
If it wasn't a genius on the level of Darken Daina, it would be impossible to undo the sealing formula he had carved so quickly, so he had to assume that Darken was alive or that a Daina descendant's skill had reached that level.
'...Well, that will be revealed soon, I suppose. Let's see what kind of reaction he'll have upon seeing the surprise box I prepared.'
Expecting that this would soon clarify who had undone the sealing formula, Beonald savored the sweetness of the cookie in his mouth and waited for the outcome.
Everyone has adversities and twists in their life.
Because of this, everyone has unpleasant memories etched into them. For some, these become traumas that last a lifetime, causing seizures at the mere thought, and though they strive to forget, the memories occasionally jump out to stab them with pain.
This was also true for Darken Daina, who had lived his life as a pillar of the Magic Tower, a Grand Mage, with innate talent. Even after rejecting death and becoming a lich, the memories engraved on his soul often brought pain.
[Hikkigi-i-i-e-e-e-e-ge-e-e-ge-ge-ge-ge-gek!]
"A-Ancestor! Ancestor! What's wrong? What did you see?"
[Hi-gi-gi-gi-gi-gik! Tha... that... that! ...Gi-gi-gi-gi-gik! That!]
The lich Darken Daina let out an eerie scream impossible for a human, and as if indicating his soul felt terror, the blue flames covering his body trembled violently, spraying in all directions. He dropped the book and trembled in fear.
Inside that book existed the one and only thing that the mage Darken Daina, who was born into this world fearing nothing and challenged divine authority, had ever truly feared.
"Ancestor, what in the world did you see... This is?"
...
...
...
Darian Daina read through the various phrases that appeared in the book, but all it contained were things like 'invoices,' 'summons,' 'requests for statements,' or 'demands for written explanations'—utter nonsense.
Having imagined something like forbidden knowledge or dangerous content, Darian thought there might be something else and flipped through... but there was nothing of the sort, only this content.
"Ancestor, you had that reaction over just this?"
[Just this? Krgrgrgrk... Do you... do you not know... grgrk! Why I... became the 'Mage King'? ...And why... gigigik! I built this country? ...It was all because of that damnable! ...Money! Krkrgrgrk! Because of that bastard Beonald! Ki-gi-gi-gi-gi-gik!]
Darken Daina trembled violently, having a fit as if struggling to shake off the memories of the past.
Human memory is a curious thing; even when experiencing the same event, the thoughts held by those involved differ.
To Beonald, 'Darken Daina' was remembered as just a bothersome, money-squandering, irritating old man who was nonetheless skilled. But to Darken Daina, 'Beonald' was something else entirely.
'A Grand Mage, and you can't even write a proper budget proposal? I wish you'd use half the brain you use for spell composition and magic on this.'
'What in the world is this preposterous plan? We cannot waste precious resources on this. Rejected!'
'If you don't have research funds, go be an adventurer and earn the money yourself. How on earth does a Grand Mage get into debt?'
'Stop doing the research I told you not to do! You old man!'
Originally, in the Magic Tower, only magical skill and knowledge were everything. But ever since that Beonald fellow entered, things started to feel strange, Darken Daina thought.
In fact, that guy would yell at him for every little thing, peck at him from all sides, disrupt his experiments, and hurl all sorts of insults and humiliation. In his heart, Darken really wanted to kill him with magic, but he absolutely could not.
The power wielded by the Imperial Regent, the formidable influence built upon it, and the fact that—though strict—the Tower's budget had multiplied several times over thanks to his support, along with the creation of various magical tools and factions within the Tower that made him untouchable... All of it meant that Beonald had become a fearsome existence who used and tormented Darken in every possible way.
[Krgrgrk! Krgrgrk! Damn it! Damn it! Damn it! That bastard! Even in death, he's screwing with me! Damn it! Damn it! Who brought this? Krgrgrk!]
The level of that fear was such that even when his core research, 'Divine Magic,' was scrapped, he didn't dare oppose him, and could only resist after death... He was imprinted as an annoying, irritating, yet fearsome entity, like the leader of a gang in charge.
"C-calm down, Ancestor. A-after all, it's all in the past. And... the Neumel family has been gone from this world for a long time now. Please calm down."
[Krgrk... Krgrk... Hoo... Hoo......]
Even though he was an undead lich with no need to breathe, so painful were the memories of the past that Darken Daina kept taking meaningless deep breaths, trying to calm himself.
Finally, recalling once more that Beonald was dead, he barely managed to calm down, picked up the damned magic tome, and began to look at it.
[That... krgrk... That rotten bastard! Even after dying... krgrk! He's messing with me. Anyway, is this a ledger? Grrk... That meticulous bastard would be this thorough. Krgrgrk......]
Thanks to barely calming down, Darken Daina began analyzing what this magic tome was again.
At first glance, it seemed like a ledger, but as it appeared to be written by Beonald himself, there was a possibility it contained other important information, codes, or clues to his legacy. So he checked it from beginning to end, but the contents were nothing special—just a ledger.
[Krgrgrk... How pointless.]
"Still, we only paid 10 gold coins for it, so it's not a big loss."
[Is that so? That's fortunate then. If I'd spent a fortune on this crap... Kga-mang-na ᅳᆷo-u-ㅠㅣ ᅣᆫmong-ma ᅵᆫ;dul-ni;wa-i;ㅋㅌㅊ!]
"A-Ancestor?"
Now, beyond the sound of scraping metal, he began making an indescribably bizarre noise, having another fit.
Wondering what was wrong this time, Darian approached, helped up the fallen Darken, and lifted him... Even though an undead shouldn't be able to foam at the mouth, the blue flames inhabiting his body were trembling violently as if he were having a seizure.
"Ancestor! Are you alright?"
[That bastard... Kr-grgrgrgrk... That bastard...!]
Suddenly, as if he had seen a ghost again, Darken Daina began trembling and convulsing.
To check why his ancestor was acting this way again, Darian glanced once more at the ancient book that had fallen to the floor.
The opened page was the very last one, where exactly two lines were written.
"...Ancestor? Isn't this also just the same content...?"
[Y-you fool! Kga-ga-ga-a-ga-ak! This... this! Is different!]
Darken Daina pointed at the contents in a panic.
Yes, 'Divine Magic Implementation and Methodology' was originally his, but due to research failure and an accident, it was scrapped by Beonald.
That bastard had actually not disposed of the research materials but siphoned them off, and it was thanks to Beonald's own son, Alterio von Neumel, that Darken found out.
Upon learning this, of course, to reclaim what was his, Darken Daina joined hands with Alterio and rebelled against Beonald. The moment Beonald was executed, he reclaimed it.
[In other words... krgrk... This is... an invoice that shouldn't exist. Ki-gi-ge-ge-ge-gek! No... it can't be!... It must not be. It must not be... Ki-gi-gi-gik... A devil's prank......]
"Why are you saying that?"
[Ki-gi-krgrk... If I do this... like this......]
Swish......
With a trembling bony finger, Darken Daina carefully touched the part on the magic tome page that said 'Request for Return of Borrowed 'Divine Magic Implementation and Methodology' - Bill To: Darken Daina.' The page automatically reconstructed itself and began to change its content.
It was turning the request into a table of contents to view its details. Darken Daina, uneasy, intended to look at that content.
[Kr-keo-geo-eo-eo-geok! I had a feeling, but... That bastard... is alive? Keu-ge-e-gek......!]
The flames in Darken Daina's eye sockets flickered as if he couldn't believe it. But this signature, and the engraved formula craftsmanship... No matter how you looked at it, to anyone, it was that bastard's handiwork.
Darken Daina felt a sensation as if cold sweat that shouldn't flow was pouring down as he looked at the magic tome again and checked the signature inside, but there was no mistake.
[No. No. No. No. There's no way he's alive... No. I saw it! Ki-grgrk! Kr-gi-gi-gik! I saw his head fall from the guillotine with my own eyes... Krgrgrk! But no, with his skills, it's possible he prepared a homunculus double or something. Ka-ga-ka-ga-ka-ga-ma-gak-ga-gak! Come to think of it, from the day of his arrest, he was strangely quiet......]
"Ancestor! Please calm down......"
[No, how he's alive isn't important. That bastard... Ka-ga-ka-ga-ga-gak! If that bastard is alive now, ka-ga-ga-gak! He'll interfere with my plan again...! He'll interfere again! Ga-ga-gak! After I've come this far with my research! After how hard I've worked on my research! That bastard! That bastard! I can't let him interfere again! I can't allow it!]
Fwoooosh!
Swallowed by anger, anxiety, and fear, Darken Daina, unable to control his agitated emotions, used magic to blast the magic tome full of invoices and requests into pieces.
He thought that if he kept looking at it, he wouldn't be able to control himself, and he wanted to dispel the anxiety. But erasing a fact once imprinted on one's mind was nearly impossible.
[...There's no choice. I have no choice but to... hurry things along......]
Thus, Darken Daina had no choice but to decide to hurry his current research, 'Divine Magic,' and gave instructions to Darian.
Trying to find the living Beonald now and do something about him would be futile, so he intended to get the jump on him before that bastard could do anything.
"Hahaha, that old man, still so hot-tempered..."
And at the same time, Beonald, seated in the cafe, couldn't help but laugh as he looked at the magic tome with the ink-blot-like stain.
He had set up a formula device to indicate here when the magic tome he sold to that Trading Division was destroyed, and it had indeed been blown up.
"That old man is a genius and smart, alright... but still so emotional."
And through this, Beonald became certain of Darken Daina's survival.
Normally, no matter how nonsensical the contents, any descendant or mage other than Darken Daina would never dream of destroying a book containing such a precious sealing formula. Therefore, the one over there had to be Darken Daina himself. Having now confirmed one thing, Beonald began to plan what to do next.