Chapter 40
Chapter 40
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 40
Chapter Title: Pruning (2)
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Lian sat leaning against the wall, eyes closed as if meditating.
Then, unfamiliar voices drifted into his ears.
Voices of a young girl and a woman, at that.
It was a combination that didn't suit the castle's underground dungeon at all.
"Young Master, please! If we get caught this time, I'm really in big trouble!"
"Don't worry! I said I'd take responsibility, didn't I?"
"Nooo! Last time you said the same thing, and I was the only one who got chewed out!"
"Ah! There he is!"
"Oh no! Young Master! Hey, you lot standing around gawking, say something to stop him!"
Lian slowly opened his eyes at the commotion outside.
A boy with a bright, innocent face came rushing to the iron bars where Lian was imprisoned.
Behind him trailed a maid venting her frustration at the soldiers who were pointedly looking away.
"Tell me. Are you the wizard hunter Lian?"
"And you, Young Master, must be Lord Leon's son?"
"Gasp! How did you know? Magic?"
"Because you look just like him."
"That's right! I'm Louis Monteir! My father's the new lord of Madella!"
Leon's young son appearing out of nowhere.
Lian wondered what scheme Leon was plotting this time.
But the boy's purely innocent gaze suggested otherwise.
"Did you sneak here without your father's knowledge?"
"Ah, no! I got permission!"
"I heard your whole conversation with the maid just now."
"Gasp! Then you'll tell my father?"
Louis clutched the hem of the maid's skirt, his face tense.
"May did nothing wrong! I insisted on coming!"
"Don't worry, Young Master. No reason to tattle, so it'll stay our secret."
"Really?"
"Of course."
Lian nodded with a faint smile.
At least the boy was willing to take responsibility for his actions—far better than his father.
Besides, why give Leon any favors?
"Do you know magic too? I've never seen it before and I'm curious!"
"Really? Hasn't the court wizard shown you any?"
"Well, that guy won't let Grandpa or Dad meet him."
So Francis and Leon, despite their bad blood, agreed on that point.
That grumpy old man was definitely bad for a child's education.
"It's a secret, but the court wizard isn't human—he's a terrifying monster!"
"A monster... Yeah, that tracks."
"Eh, what? You've met him?"
"Truth is, that's why I got caught."
"Gasp! The knights said the court wizard escaped, but did you eat him?"
"Pardon? How'd you jump to that?"
"Because you're a wizard hunter...?"
Watching the slightly quirky boy, Lian once again felt that father and son were total opposites.
For the territory's future, that was a relief, at least.
Though at this rate, Madella Island had no future anyway.
"Hey! The knights told me! You wield a mysterious magic sword and perform beautiful sword dances!"
The words "magic sword" puzzled Lian for a moment.
They must have mistaken the blade glowing red-hot for the sword's inherent power.
"You're too kind. Shame I don't have a sword now or I'd show you."
"Hear that, May? Let's get him a sword!"
"Young Master. He's a prisoner. Giving him a sword would be a disaster."
"Hah! Almost fell for it!"
No.
This whole family might just be hopeless from the start.
"See? They said you have a silver tongue that charms people with words, and it's true!"
Lian let out a quiet, dry chuckle.
He hadn't meant to deceive the kid, yet here they were.
Then, near the stairs in the distance.
A soldier on guard saluted someone.
"Young Master Louis? What are you doing here?"
"Mommy! It's the aide!"
"Gasp! Simon!"
At Simon's unexpected arrival, Louis jumped in surprise.
Only the young boy and his maid were caught off guard.
Every evening around this time, Simon came to check on Lian as part of his routine.
"Young Master, you can't come to a place like this. If the lord finds out, how many of us underlings will get scolded? Have you thought about that?"
"Um, Simon... Sorry..."
"And you—didn't even try to stop him and brought him here?"
"S-Sorry, Aide! I told him no, but..."
The castle's number two.
Even Leon's son Louis couldn't budge under Simon's reprimand.
"Honestly, aren't you in no position to scold the maid, Simon?"
But hadn't Simon himself failed to speak plainly to Leon?
If he had, Lian wouldn't be in this mess.
Catching Lian's implication, Simon bit his lower lip and averted his gaze.
"...May. Take the Young Master back to his room at once."
"Simon! Don't tell Father!"
"If you promise never to do this again."
"Yeah! I promise!"
"This time for real."
The words carried a sharp edge.
This clearly wasn't the first or second time.
Simon watched Louis and the maid hurry out of the dungeon, then let out a long sigh.
"Not listening to his underlings must run in the family."
"...You've shown me an embarrassing side."
Lian smiled faintly at Simon's lack of denial.
"Anyway. Any discomfort?"
"Oh? Is this a dungeon or an inn? Change my room if I complain?"
"Just know we're taking extra care to prevent any illness."
True to Simon's word, this was VVVIP treatment for a prisoner.
Thick, soft straw on the floor, warm stew with meat chunks every meal.
Even a separate toilet—no wallowing in filth.
"Speaking of, it's pretty noisy outside. The gate guards must be busy."
"Pardon? You can hear that down here?"
Simon cupped a hand to his ear, puzzled.
But sounds from outside couldn't reach the underground dungeon.
"Madness should've started spreading by now. Any countermeasures?"
"That's..."
"Remember, madness is just the precursor."
Simon recalled the knights' reports.
Tree branches sprouting from Manuel's mutated head.
Those stabbed by them turned into the same monsters—instant proliferation.
"Lian, may I ask something?"
"Go ahead."
"Just hypothetically. Could the lord be under magical control?"
"Rest easy. He's doing this fully sane."
"Sigh... I just can't fathom why he's acting like this."
The simultaneous madness outbreaks among nobles at Leon's succession ceremony.
Connecting the dots, it was clear the charges against Lian were fabricated.
"If no one yields, this could turn into a real disaster."
"Am I the stubborn one? Only one side's throwing a tantrum."
"True..."
Simon rubbed his weary face and sighed softly.
The deeper he thought, the single conclusion emerged.
The current mess stemmed from Leon's recklessness.
"Best fix is to behead the madness victims. No need for full decapitation—just sever the neck."
"Impossible. Beggars maybe, but no noble house would cooperate."
Plus, it'd look like a political purge from outside.
The fallout afterward would be severe.
"Seal off just the nobles' district?"
"Old town? No. That isolates the castle too."
"Technically not. There's a secret passage right below connecting outside. Escape through..."
"Wait! How do you know that?"
Even Leon knew only of its existence.
No maps survived; it was a labyrinth avoided entirely.
"Don't tell me. The castle intruder days ago wasn't the court wizard—it was you?"
Lian shrugged nonchalantly instead of answering.
Simon rubbed his face again.
But it made sense.
Either way, Lian had been trying to resolve things in his own way.
"Figures. The court wizard's treason charges felt off too..."
Simon pondered recent events deeply.
Then something interrupted his thoughts.
"Did you hear that just now?"
"Hear what?"
Simon gripped his sword hilt and glanced at the stairs.
Something was wrong.
The guards on duty had vanished.
"Trouble. Excuse me a moment."
Not shift change, and both guards gone simultaneously? Ominous.
Simon approached cautiously, alert.
But only the guards were missing.
No other anomalies.
"Strange. People don't just vanish..."
Unlikely they'd fled with Simon nearby.
Had to be an attack.
"Gone in the blink of an eye, without a sound... What the hell?"
And if he guessed the goal...
"Damn! No way...!"
Simon rushed back.
But the cell was empty. Lian gone.
In pitch-black darkness where he couldn't see an inch ahead.
Lian felt his way along the wall, advancing slowly.
"You found this passage somehow. Good job."
"Aw, shucks. The wizard left a map, so it wasn't too hard. Took time to memorize, though."
"...Heavens. You memorized all that?"
Lian was genuinely impressed by Pablo's hidden talent.
A human navigator, straight up.
"At the inn, you kept flashing the same signals, so I figured it out."
"Situation was urgent, signals sloppy, but glad you got it. I'd have resented you if you'd gone first."
"Psh. Honestly, you'd have escaped fine without me."
"Well, yeah."
Pablo's rescue was Plan A.
He had backups: solo escape, or contingencies if Pablo got caught.
"But if you were escaping anyway, why get caught?"
"Fleeing straight to the south harbor would've tangled things worse."
"True. If the lord brings troops... With Isabel's temper... Whew."
"So, kill two birds: chat with someone reasonable, shake up the board a bit."
The blockade he'd subtly suggested to Simon.
Hard for Simon to enact alone.
Noble backlash, and Leon wouldn't approve.
But now, with an escaped prisoner, the justification existed.
"Hope I didn't misjudge him."
Lian prayed inwardly as he walked through the dark.
May that tormented expression not be a lie.