Chapter 194
Chapter 194
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 194
Chapter Title: The Grand Duke's Private Orb
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"Waaah, Your Majesty, how could you do this to me?!"
Lianus was heartbroken. He'd trained diligently in swordsmanship and come straight back, only to find his dear friend gone, replaced by the utterly exhausting news of a kidnapping.
"I trusted you with him!"
"...I'm sorry, son."
"Your Majesty is an idiot!"
They bickered playfully as a soft cotton bat smacked against the king, but Sedes had no defense—he simply took it meekly. It was rather adorable, in fact.
"Sniff, can't you contact the Grand Duke through the communication orb?"
"...I did try, but..."
He'd managed to connect after several attempts. However, the Grand Duke seemed rather irritated for some reason.
Nothing appeared in the Grand Duke's private communication orb, suggesting it had connected due to someone's mistake.
The Grand Duke hadn't noticed the connection and continued his conversation with someone. Sedes couldn't eavesdrop since it was in an unfamiliar tongue.
The only word he recognized—"Requies"—was repeated several times, but given the particularly annoyed tone, it might have been a curse.
...Maybe I should rename the square.
It was named by his second son himself, so he hesitated a bit, but if it doubled as a curse or threat, changing it made sense.
"...Haah, Your Majesty!"
"Ah, er... yes."
Sedes snapped out of his wandering thoughts at Lianus's call.
"What did the Grand Duke say, Your Majesty?"
"Well... it seems impossible to connect today. We'll try again tomorrow."
There had been sounds like laughter in between, so his son's friend was probably safe. They might even have known each other from the start.
"No way!"
Unaware of the circumstances, Lianus flopped onto the floor. Evan quickly helped him up, but Lianus dangled limply from his hand, refusing to put any strength into his legs.
They'd barely fended off the grim reaper, only for the Grand Duke to target his dear friend right after. How could this happen?!
Lianus was utterly devastated. What if his friend never came back? How could he even rescue him...?
"Lou, blow your nose."
"Khrum!"
Lianus blew his nose heartily and solemnly wiped his tears with his sleeve.
No matter that the opponent was the Grand Duke—he absolutely wouldn't abandon his dear friend.
Nihil sat there in a daze, utterly dumbfounded.
"[Requies, have you lost your mind?]"
"[You're really trying to get yourself killed.]"
"[Come quietly.]"
"......"
He never imagined the first words he'd hear after five hundred years would be calling him senile. The kid's mouth had gotten awfully foul in the meantime.
"[What are you spacing out for?]"
Suddenly, a piece of metal was thrust in front of his eyes.
"[This is...]"
Scissors. Barber scissors, no less.
Nihil stared blankly for a moment before bursting into laughter and taking them.
"[Dia, sit down. You're too tall; I can't reach.]"
"[It's not that I've grown—you've shrunk, Father.]"
"And I was this height five hundred years ago." Dios grumbled like that but plopped down on the floor anyway.
Only after sitting did Nihil's eye level finally match the boy—who was no longer just a boy. He stared intently for a moment before circling behind him.
He stepped carefully to avoid trampling the disheveled hair on the floor, and a voice called out again.
"[You can step on it.]"
"[Wouldn't that be a waste?]"
"[...It would.]"
Nihil said no more and ran his fingers through the jet-black locks. He didn't ask why he'd grown it out so long.
It was surely just the result of clinging to his existence.
"[Dia, perhaps I owe my survival to you.]"
Because he'd stubbornly left Nihil with his "duty."
"[...Did I perhaps disturb your rest?]"
But the boy seemed to interpret it differently, his shoulders visibly stiffening.
"[Did I ruin your chance at true peace...? Guh.]"
"[What are you talking about?]"
Nihil grabbed the brooding boy's head and tugged firmly. Then he gripped a thick handful and snipped it clean off.
"[It's true I had no desire to live, Dia.]"
"[So then...]"
"[But have I ever wanted to die?]"
"[......]"
Snip, snip, snip—the sound of scissors followed. The severed strands fluttered to the floor.
"[I merely accepted the death I had to face. I never wanted it.]"
"[...But that wasn't true death, was it?]"
"[True enough.]"
Since he'd ultimately opened his eyes again.
"[But, Dia, there's something you need to know.]"
"[What... is it?]"
"[The reason I accepted death was because I knew I wouldn't die.]"
"[...I don't understand.]"
"[If it were true death, I wouldn't have accepted it so easily. Ah, Dia, it's still too high—can't you shrink a bit? My arms hurt.]"
"[......]"
Nihil whined and pressed down on Dios's crown. But the boy just scowled and refused to get smaller.
Nihil felt inexplicably hurt and bowed his head.
"[They say a little reaper's been coming and going from the prince's palace.]"
"[...What's a reaper?]"
"[The prince seems to have mistaken you for one come to claim my soul. Wasn't it you?]"
"[Hah.]"
Suddenly labeled a little reaper, Dios gaped in disbelief. So that's why the little blood clot had thrown such a fit.
"[He did say not to worry since he'd fended you off himself.]"
"[That blood clot said that?]"
A bit wounded by the "fended off," Dios furrowed his brow slightly and glanced at his scattered hair on the floor.
He'd certainly gotten thoroughly thrashed.
"[Why are you staring like that? Regretting the hair you grew so painstakingly?]"
"[Cut the nonsense and hurry up. Do you know what I went through because of this?]"
Recalling last night made his head throb. Dust might cling to it sometimes, but never a kid...
"[...He got tangled in my hair while rolling on the floor, crying not to take his father...]
"[Ahahaha.]"
Nihil couldn't hold back his laughter at the tale. At least the kids seemed to be getting along.
"[You think this is funny right now?]"
"[N-No, don't move, Dia. You don't want to end up bald, do you? Ah.]"
Thud—roll, roll...
Nihil jerked back to avoid Dios's sudden head turn and bumped into the table. The crystal orb atop it tumbled to the floor.
It was a communication orb, its receiving coordinates fixed to one location—likely a royal exclusive.
It happened to be glowing, so Nihil reflexively activated the connection.
—Grand Duke, finally answe—
"[Requies, that blood clot turned my hair into a snot-soaked mess!]"
Dios bellowed before the other side could finish. Getting slimy mucus in his hair must have been quite the shock.
It was such a rare emotional display that Nihil chuckled softly again.
"[You'd understand if you experienced the same, Father.]"
"[What nonsense. Don't you remember chewing my hair to bits as a child?]"
"[......]"
He'd even snipped Nihil's locks with scissors and plopped them on his own head that day.
It was the day the kid came home after hearing nonsense like, "That's not your dad. Your hair's brown, but his is white," and responded by yanking the other child's hair.
Thinking back, his little one had been naive but never one to take bullying lying down.
Nihil giggled at the memories and continued.
"[And that was just spit. When you couldn't control your bowels...]"
"[Requies! How ancient are these stories?!]"
Nihil burst out laughing again. The person on the other end seemed to be waiting for the conversation to end, but given the circumstances, he quietly disconnected the orb and set it back on the table.
Nihil glanced at the grandfather clock in the corner. The kid's sword training would be ending soon.
"[Dia, it's about time to go. If the kid finds out...]"
"[Go where?]"
"[Pardon?]"
As he prepared to leave, a chilling retort came.
"[You're not going anywhere.]"
Black mana surged from the floor, coiling around him.
"Class is over, Your Highness."
"Muuuh..."
Thanks to Nihil's kidnapping, Lianus had endured the lesson alone as usual and replied glumly. Karus eyed him and cleared his throat.
"Your Highness, I've brought something special."
"...Did Kara make cookies?"
"Not cookies today—pudding... no, that's not it."
Karus unwittingly grinned while reaching for the pudding but quickly changed tack.
"Take a look at what I swiped from Hiems Palace."
...Swiped?
Evan, who'd been focused solely on Lianus, wondered if he'd misheard and turned to the young marquis.
"Haha, my secret friend Sir Evan—you're curious too, aren't you?"
"...Very much so... but part of me would rather not know."
"No, no, that won't do. We're already accomplices."
Bluntly declaring them partners in crime, Karus looped an arm around Evan's neck as he tried to back away and dragged him over. Evan flinched at the unfamiliar contact but obediently followed without resisting.
"Now, now, Your Highness, feast your eyes."
Karus carefully drew out his prize: a pitch-black crystal orb.
"What's this?"
Lianus rubbed his eyes and peered intently at the dark orb. He couldn't see clearly, but hazy vapors seemed to rise around it.
"Ah, I know!"
Lianus had seen such distortions recently.
"Mana stone, right?!"
The high-grade mana stone the Grand Duke brought to His Majesty's birthday had shimmered similarly. This had to be a beautifully polished high-grade one.
"Wrong!"
"Wha, no way?"
Karus shook his head and pushed up his round glasses with a sly grin.
"It's a communication orb."
"Communication orb...?"
His own palace had one—a high-end model that even stored footage.
He tilted his head, wondering why risk stealing one from the main palace, when Karus continued.
"Your Highness, this isn't just any communication orb."
"Hmm... one made of black crystal?"
Lianus racked his brains, but Karus chuckled lowly and added more.
"This one connects only to the Grand Duke."
"......!"
"The one and only ultra-rare magic tool in the world."
Lianus's eyes widened at the unexpected revelation, then he beamed and hopped in delight.
"Karus, you're amazing!"
Karus shrugged proudly at the genuine praise.
"My little Sylphy put in some effort."
A hand-sized tiny girl perched on Karus's shoulder shrugged along with him. She was the only low-grade spirit that responded to Karus, who had virtually no talent as a spiritist.
Karus had named his contract spirit "Sylphy" to express his gratitude, allowing her to become a distinct individual unlike other indistinguishable spirits.
"Did good, right?"
"Yep yep!"
Lianus nodded vigorously.
Now he could contact the Grand Duke and demand his dear friend back!
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