Chapter 195
Chapter 195
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 195
Chapter Title: One Last Try
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"Wait, hold on...!"
Sir Evan couldn't hide his shock as he watched Lianus and Carus giggling away happily.
"Marquis... are you saying you stole our only magic communication orb?"
Even His Majesty wouldn't dare touch something belonging to the Grand Duke.
"Don't call me so stiffly. We're true friends who recognize each other now, aren't we? Just call me Carus."
"That's not the point right now. What if you get caught? How do you plan to handle that...!"
"Hahaha, they'll just say the mad Marquis did something mad again and let it slide."
Sir Evan pressed a hand to his forehead. Yeah, maybe they'd let it go like that. It wasn't like he was selling it off somewhere—just moving it from Hiems Palace to Vernus Palace. With his position, His Majesty might overlook it.
But what about the Grand Duke? Would he let it slide?
"...I'll sneak it back in place for you."
Sir Evan didn't want to see Carus skewered on a spit. Once was enough for that kind of experience.
"Haha, Sir Evan, don't worry so much. The Grand Duke doesn't care much about this thing. If he can't reach someone, he can just come find them himself. It's just a tool for humans anyway. Since it only connects to the Grand Duke, the security isn't that tight."
Who would even think to contact the Grand Duke? You couldn't sell it either. Carus shrugged as he said this.
"...If that's the case, then fine, but bringing it here means you're planning to use it, right?"
If not for smashing someone's head or hammering nails, then it had to mean contacting the Grand Duke as intended. But would he really not care?
"Hahat, you think I'd try to kill him? If he shows up in person, I'd be even more grateful."
"...Is that what you're aiming for?"
"Well, for now."
"Carus, hurry and connect it!"
Lianus bounced around excitedly, urging him on, and Sir Evan pressed his forehead again at the sight of the kittenish prince.
"Your Highness, what if the Grand Duke really gets angry...?"
"But I have to get Nil back!"
Lianus had his own confidence. It came from the 'restriction' the Grand Duke had placed on himself.
The Grand Duke could never directly harm royalty or interfere in politics. And above all, it didn't seem like he'd harm his own close friend.
"If a royal like me did it, he can't do much about it. Carus, hurry, hurry!"
"Yes, sir!"
But no matter how many times they tried, the communication orb wouldn't connect. Instead, Sir Ernest appeared. They'd been caught stealing.
"Hing... Sir Ernest, can't we try just once more?"
"Didn't Your Highness say 'just once more' earlier too?"
"No, no. This time it might really connect."
Scared of having the orb taken away, Lianus quickly stuffed it into his bosom and innocently suggested resting a bit before trying again. He scooped up a big spoonful of the pudding Carus had given him and popped it into his mouth.
Carus beamed happily at Lianus devouring the lumpy pudding Kara had made, then turned to comfort his secret friend, who had been tense ever since the Royal Knight Captain showed up.
"My secret friend Sir Evan, you eat some too."
"...I'm fine."
"Even though our Kara made it herself?!"
"......"
"Kara will be sad."
"...No, that's not it. I'll have some. Thank you."
"Hahaha, good thinking. Captain, have some while you wait. Come on, sit here. My secret friend can't relax with you standing so stiffly."
Carus shamelessly pulled Walter over and handed him some pudding. Hearing that Evan couldn't relax, Walter sat down awkwardly and uncorked the jar of pudding with a subtle expression.
"By the way, Evan. I had no idea you and the Marquis were so close."
"Pfft, cough, cough."
Sir Evan barely managed to stop the pudding from spraying out of his mouth. He hadn't expected his mentor to ask him something like that. He'd already been scolded once before by His Highness for being too rude, so he felt a bit downcast.
"...I'm sorry."
"Captain! Why are you killing my secret friend's spirit like that?!"
"No, that's not what I meant..."
"Don't bully my secret friend!"
"Marquis, it's a misunderstanding. And why 'secret friend' instead of just friend?"
"Secret sounds cooler, doesn't it?!"
"...It doesn't feel secret at all."
"Our Sir Evan is shy, so I have to put it like this..."
"What are you two saying with the person in question right here?!"
Lianus watched the three bickering fondly, then stealthily pulled the communication orb from his bosom. He'd told Sir Ernest it would be just one last time, so trying secretly now meant he could do it twice more as the final attempt.
But against his hopes, the orb just kept blinking without connecting.
"Hiiing..."
Lianus was so disappointed he felt tears pricking at his eyes. What if he couldn't get his close friend back like this?
Maybe he'd have to set off on an adventure to find the Grand Duke's mansion, said to be somewhere in the sea.
First, take Sir Evan... Poofu and Popo... ask the butler and head maid to come along. Oh, Robert too. If he offered Rima some commission money, maybe she'd join. Yvonne and Jane couldn't because of the Sharton kids...
"Ah, I've never been on a big ship before..."
"...Pardon?"
"What if I get seasick?"
"...Out of nowhere?"
Walter stared at Lianus in bewilderment as he suddenly fretted about seasickness.
Sir Evan kept calling him a baby kitten, and Walter thought maybe it was because of these quirky sides.
"...Sir Ernest and Carus wanna go too...?"
"Pardon?"
"...Where?"
"To find Nil... Huh?"
He was just about to coax the two into joining the adventure to find Nil when the blinking light in the crystal orb suddenly lit up fully.
His father soothed him patiently even as he was wrapped head to toe in pitch-black magic.
"[Dia, can't you release me from this?]"
"[No.]"
But Dios refused flatly.
"[Requies, it would be troubling if you think I still hold affection for you.]"
It's been five hundred years already. Dios said this, though a doubt crept in—did he really?
At first, he'd tried to remember everything. He'd fought to not forget. It was for the father who wanted to be forgotten, and defiance against the father who tried to erase his memories.
But he grew weary. His memory had limits, and his father never appeared. Maybe he'd truly vanished forever, finding his rest only after granting others theirs. Dios came to think that.
Time passed, and his hair kept growing longer. He'd even tripped over it once. He tried cutting it himself, but it was hard. Or maybe it was because the shadow in the mirror, with hair trailing to the floor, resembled his father.
Dios figured he'd slowly forget like this. When he died someday, no one would remember his father anymore. With that thought, he naturally blended into human society. That must have been what his father wanted.
But one day, he realized he neither aged nor died.
It wasn't because reaching the transcendent 9th Circle slowed his aging. He was no longer human. He didn't know exactly when it started. Just that it was 'back then.'
Before long, he stopped getting deeply involved in relationships. His emotions dulled, and Dios sought new stimuli. Three hundred years ago, killing the demon king summoned to the middle realm and closing the rift—that was for such a reason. Not some grand sense of justice. Just to alleviate his boredom...
'Great Mage, please protect us.'
No, that was a lie. Dios fought with all his might. For days on end without rest.
All because of a child who played the lyre for him one day, saying he looked gloomy. A fleeting connection, just that tiny thing.
...Father.
That was when Dios realized what he must have been to his father. Something infinitely small and fragile, yet occupying an immense place.
By the time he dealt with the demon king, his hair had turned black. Not just his hair—his sclera had blackened too, like a demon's.
At first, he thought it was a curse from slaying the demon king. But soon he learned it was the ability only his father possessed: 'Assimilation.'
Yet he had no power to control assimilation like his father. And before he could do anything, horns sprouted from his head, and his fangs sharpened.
'Gr-Great Mage, y-your appearance...'
The child sniffled, teary-eyed. It was frightening enough, but the innocent kid firmly believed it was a curse.
'Great Mage, I'll find a way to break the curse somehow. Just trust me!'
'...Harpen.'
'Y-Yes!'
Green hair fluttered in the wind.
'...What if I was originally a demon... what would you do?'
'...!'
The child's eyes widened at his lie. But soon they curved into a bright smile.
'Then you're not hurting, right?'
'......'
Dios felt he understood why his father clung so desperately to memories. He didn't want to forget. No, he couldn't. It was the driving force of his life.
"[Dia.]"
At the gentle call, Dios snapped out of his thoughts. Even if he met his father again someday, it might be awkward. Or he might have changed too much to be recognized. He'd thought that long ago.
But now he knew. The urgency in grabbing his hair—that was his father's desperate longing.
"[Dia, can you let me go?]"
"[...We haven't finished talking. What took you so long to show up?]"
"[...It's only been a few months since I awoke.]"
His father said this, lowering his eyes apologetically.
"[Shouldn't you have come straight to me upon waking?]"
Dios snapped more irritably on purpose, and his father's head drooped. An excuse soon followed.
"[...My power was too weak; I couldn't do much. And so much time had passed, I thought you might have died...]"
"[You thought I'd forgotten, didn't you?]"
"[......]"
"[So why rush in if you thought that? Were you trying to die?]"
"[...Dia, your language has gotten a bit rough.]"
Even then, his father tried to chide him. At that unchanging nature, Dios felt a surge of emotion but kept a straight face to hide it.
"[Stop treating me like a kid. How long are you going to keep this up?]"
"[...Until Dia grows up independent and starts a family...]"
His father trailed off, as if remembering something, then changed his words.
"[If you have kids, I'll...]"
"[I don't.]"
Dios cut him off firmly. He still loves children, huh.
"[So you scurried after that blood clot the moment you awoke?]"
"[...That's not it. I didn't follow...]"
"[What do you mean? You happily tailed them. Do I not know you, Father?]"
"[No, that's...]"
His father flapped his mouth before changing the subject.
"[More importantly, Dia, you seem about to assimilate with the magic...]"
At those words, Dios grimaced but obediently released the bindings. He seemed to have lost all his power anyway, so he couldn't escape even if freed. And even if he could, he wouldn't abandon him.
"[Um, Dia, that...]"
See? Already watching his eyes like that. Dios felt a strange relief and preempted the question.
"[I've assimilated.]"