Chapter 40
Chapter 40
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: penny
Chapter: 40
Chapter Title: 4. The Most Conscientious Orphan Dealer
-----------------------------------------------------------------
After Karen shattered the mana sensitivity orb.
Treatment toward Karen changed 180 degrees.
"Welcome, Karen!"
"The Cornell Viscount Family welcomes you!"
"Aren't you hungry? Eat this first! This will be your room!"
"Welcome, Miss Karen. We are your exclusive servants."
"......Yes."
Not only did Viscount Cornell himself come out to warmly greet Karen, but she was also assigned exclusive servants and given a room that was clearly luxurious at a glance.
It was blatant ability supremacism, but nothing particularly special. Effort mattered in magic, but geniuses who started miles ahead were bound to exist.
And since Karen was one such genius, the Cornell Viscount Family favored her. Recalling just what her talent entailed, the first thought that crossed Karen's mind was.
'As expected, Father.'
If she hadn't learned magic and continued living as a back-alley orphan with her heart closed off, would anyone have even sought her out? Would anyone have treated her like this?
It was possible only because of Father. Only because of him.
With all hesitation perfectly erased, Karen's eyes gleamed. She had received so much grace from Father that it was time to repay him, even if just a little.
So, for that reason at least.
"Welcome, Karen. I will be your big brother."
"......Yes, big brother."
"I'm the heir who will one day succeed the Cornell Viscount Family, so if there's anything hard, tell me anytime!"
For now.
It was time to play along with this ridiculous family charade.
*
Two weeks passed like that.
Surprisingly, Karen didn't have much to do during that time. Having once proven her value, the Cornell Viscount Family treated her preciously.
They let her eat what she wanted, rest when she wanted, and brought her whatever she desired.
But there was one thing.
"I'm sorry, miss. You still can't leave this room."
"......I see?"
"It's the family head's order. Please wait patiently."
"If it's the family head's order, there's no helping it."
Karen couldn't leave the room. Even those who smiled and granted her every wish firmly refused only when it came to leaving the room.
It wasn't frustrating or anything, but this was a problem.
'I can't confirm anything while stuck in here......'
She needed to at least get out and explore the mansion to find something matching the intel, but being unable to leave made any investigation impossible.
On top of that, there was something more unpleasant than problematic.
"Karen, I know it's stifling, but don't be too hasty. How about spending time with your big brother here?"
"......I'm sorry, big brother."
"I'd do anything for you, haha!"
It was because the Cornell Viscount Family's young master and eldest son was trying to get close to Karen in a rather overt way.
That in itself might actually be a good thing. On the surface, it looked like a cheerful big brother working to bond with his somewhat cold stepsister.
However, Karen knew.
'His gaze is impure.'
It wasn't that the young master harbored lewd intentions toward her. The impurity in how he looked at Karen had a slightly different meaning.
He didn't see her as 'family.'
It was true that he cherished her, treated her preciously, considered her, and cared for her.
But none of it was because he'd accepted her as family.
'I've seen this gaze enough times to be sick of it.'
The gaze she'd received after her mother died and she'd gone to find her real father—the one she didn't even want to speak of.
Even though they were blood-related family, it was that repulsive gaze that never saw her as such. And because it was Karen herself, she recognized it instantly.
'It's all an act.'
The young master regarded Karen not as family, but as a 'valuable item.' She could tell because his actions weren't for her sake, but ultimately for his own.
And Karen knew why she—who had proven her value—was treated not as family, but like merchandise.
'Keeping me from going outside must be for that reason too.'
It was a pathetic scheme. And one that Karen, already aware of her lineage, could easily detect.
The viscount, the young master, and the servants all acted with shameless expertise, as if they'd done this countless times. How many orphans adopted for their magic talent, how many children excited to become nobles, had fallen into this pitfall?
Karen had no way of knowing. Nor did she need to.
"Big brother."
"Yes, Karen! If there's anything you want───"
"Would you mind leaving now? Even if we're family now, it's still burdensome having a strange man in my room."
"......I see?"
"Yes. You'll come back tomorrow morning with the family head anyway, right? I'll wait for then."
Karen didn't smile. She knew smiling would make for more natural acting, but she didn't smile anyway.
It was the same reason she called him 'big brother' while referring to the family head not as 'father,' but as 'family head.'
Her smile, the term 'Father.'
They were only for one person. They were reverence solely for the one who truly cared for her and loved her from the heart. She couldn't show them to these scum.
"Alright, got it. I'll come again tomorrow."
The young master, who had gazed at Karen for a moment, waved to her with a good-natured smile and left the room.
As soon as the door closed and soundproofing and locking spells were cast upon it, the young master changed his expression.
"Tch, what an annoying little brat."
"Please bear with it just a bit longer, young master. Just a few more days."
"Why does this one take so long? I'm getting sick of pandering to her."
"Didn't you see for yourself, young master? That child possesses mana and talent enough to shatter the mana sensitivity orb. It seems to take time to properly 'process' such talent."
"That makes sense. How many is this now?"
"The 38th. If this one succeeds, you'll be able to awaken to your lineage too, young master."
"It better. Do you know how much I spent buying her?"
The young master smirked. Karen's cold attitude, as if she knew her own talent and value, was irritating, but with fruition finally in sight, he could endure it lightly.
Anyway, wasn't this the first time since starting the 'processing' at the Cornell Viscount Family that they'd seen talent of practically unprecedented caliber? There was no harm in putting effort into such a valuable item.
Escorted by the servant, the young master entered the hidden basement, where he saw his father sitting amid the family mages, next to a massive magic circle.
"Father, I'm back."
"Kicked out, were you?"
"Yes, quite arrogantly so."
"Endure it. It's almost over. A material like that is worth the time."
The Cornell Viscount, who had shown nothing but a kindly smile in front of Karen, was completely different now.
With a gesture, he dismissed the mages and spoke privately with his eldest son.
"Once this processing is done, you'll be able to awaken to your lineage too."
"But that's not guaranteed yet, is it? Last time, you said the exact same thing......"
"I did. But this time is different. That one's practically a monster."
"Pardon?"
"Look at this."
What Viscount Cornell showed his son were documents filled with various diagrams.
The young master took them and began reading, his face freezing in shock.
"F-Father? This is?"
"Sensitivity to mana, discharge speed, deployment, perception—all off the charts. Or more precisely, impossible to measure properly at our level. You'd need the Imperial Capital or the Magic Tower to accurately gauge what kind of monster that is."
"H-Ha......"
"If we process such a precious material and feed it to you, what effect do you think it'll have?"
"Absolutely! I will definitely awaken to my lineage!"
Process and feed.
Even at words hard to comprehend, the young master grinned happily. Because he knew exactly what Viscount Cornell meant.
The Cornell Viscount Family adopted orphans with magic talent and evaluated them. Up to this point, it was common for mage families. Their bloodlines alone weren't enough to sustain the house, with so few mages.
However, the Cornell Viscount Family took it one step further. They processed orphans with magic talent and extracted only their essence and talent.
By feeding that extracted essence to someone, that person gained more mana and talent. Of course, it was the pinnacle of inefficiency, but Viscount Cornell didn't care.
No one would notice if a few orphans disappeared anyway.
"No matter the talent, could we accept lowly orphans as family?"
"Of course not, Father. Aren't we special?"
"Naturally."
This way, they could raise direct-line children as mages without giving side or direct family names to mere orphans.
Viscount Cornell himself had expanded his mage vessel through this very method. There was no reason he wouldn't use it on his eldest son.
Especially since the son's talent was lacking, making it an essential process.
"Just awaken to the lineage—that's all that's needed. Then no one will dare call you half-baked."
"I'm already looking forward to attending social gatherings, Father!"
"Anyway, be exceedingly cautious for that sake. One or two more days will suffice, so keep that orphan locked in her room."
"Yes!"
Not letting Karen out of her room for over two weeks was part of this processing. The method 'he' had taught required the sacrifice to remain in one space for an extended period.
"His Excellency the Duke's grace is as vast as the sea. Thanks to him, our Cornell Viscount Family has grown this much......"
"For the price of grinding through a few back-alley orphan brats, the results are splendid."
"A trifle."
Of course, the sacrificial orphans endured their bodies literally being ground to pieces in agony, but that was none of their concern. As said, what did a few lowly orphans dying matter?
Viscount Cornell and the young master exchanged smiles, but the young master suddenly tilted his head at a unfamiliar magic tool behind his father.
"By the way, Father, what's that?"
"Ah, a magic tool for identifying lineages. I got it expensively from the Magic Tower this time. If you awaken to your lineage, we need to quickly figure out what it is, right?"
"Nice. But can it identify any lineage?"
"Yes. Well, precisely, within those known to the Magic Tower, but they haven't failed to analyze almost any."
The Magic Tower was one of the empire's central institutions and the holy site for all mages. In Viscount Cornell's common sense, there was only one lineage they couldn't analyze.
And the chance of that one manifesting in his eldest son was nil. Not out of distrust in the son, but because across continental history beyond the empire, fewer than ten had ever awakened to it.
"In a few days, I'll finally use that magic tool too......for?"
"Son? What's wrong?"
"N-No, it's just. The magic tool suddenly!"
"Hm?"
Reacting? Viscount Cornell, momentarily lost in thought, turned his head. The young master, who had been happily stroking the tool, now wore an expression of extreme bewilderment.
Because the magic tool he touched was reacting furiously, emitting mana.
He wondered if the expensive purchase was defective, but instead, Viscount Cornell leapt up in joy.
"Son! You've awakened to your lineage!"
"Me? M-Me, Father?"
"Awakening to one's lineage can happen without the person even noticing. Splendid! Eating that orphan after awakening will greatly amplify the effect!"
Karen the orphan girl's talent was exceptional enough to trigger a lineage awakening, but precisely because of that, it was somewhat wasteful. After awakening, it would yield an even greater surge.
They'd thought the son's talent made this unavoidable, but to awaken unnoticed like this.
Amid Viscount Cornell's ecstasy, the young master grinned ear to ear.
"Th-Then, what lineage have I awakened to? What could it be that I didn't even notice......!!"
"Just wait a moment. The magic tool will tell us......soon?"
Viscount Cornell's face, eagerly awaiting what lineage his son had awakened, gradually hardened. Because of the intense reaction? No. Tool malfunction? No.
It was taking too long. He'd seen this tool at the Magic Tower several times. Lineage checks didn't take time.
The result should have been out already.
Yet the tool had been reacting as if about to explode for over five minutes.
"F-Father? Does it normally take this long?"
".........."
Unable to bear it, the young master asked, but Viscount Cornell was speechless.
As time passed, the tool's reaction and mana gradually subsided, finally outputting a single result.
"......'Unknown'? Father, what does this mean?"
"Impossible."
"Father?"
From a magic tool that could identify all lineages analyzed by the Magic Tower, it output 'unknown.'
This meant one of two things. First, the young master had awakened the first-ever instance of a lineage. But lineage progenitors were all geniuses without exception. Even a hedgehog loves its young, but to Viscount Cornell, his son was no genius.
So, only the second possibility remained.
"S-Son. Do you still feel nothing? Really nothing at all?"
"Yes, same as yesterday......Father?"
"Come here!"
Urgently scanning his son with magic, Viscount Cornell soon noticed something attached to the young master's shoe heel.
Something that, at a glance, looked like an ordinary stain—something even a mage of his level would need utmost concentration to barely detect.
Black mana.
Realizing its nature, Viscount Cornell trembled and opened his mouth.
"Th-That, th-that."
"Father?"
"That───"
A name for a lineage tantamount to taboo across the empire—no, the entire continent. A name so infamous that uttering it before the Emperor could mean execution for treason. It was on the verge of slipping from Viscount Cornell's lips.
As if reacting, the dead-silent black mana writhed.
"......Father."
The voice that emerged from it was, at the very least, incomprehensible to Viscount Cornell. At the same time, it was one only he could hear—the young master could not.
He didn't know. That the girl called a 4-Star orphan by a certain orphanage director had secretly attached her mana to his heel without anyone noticing.
He didn't know. That the girl they saw as a valuable item, a precious material, had already awakened her lineage and was a mage surpassing even Viscount Cornell.
And he didn't know.
"Truly......"
To the words emerging from the black mana, to Karen's words.
That they were laced with extreme ecstasy and rapture.
"Truly."
Karen, who had heard every conversation from her room, laughed. Laughed madly. Laughed until she could barely breathe.
In truth, Karen had no interest in Viscount Cornell's atrocities. Having seen the end of morality in the back alleys and Happy Orphanage, she had no inclination to moralize and rage, nor the luxury to care about others when she scarcely knew herself.
Thus, she'd only thought of this as Father's business, not something involving her.
But.
"Duke, Duke.........Duke!!"
When that name emerged from Viscount Cornell and the young master's mouths.
The empire's sole duke.
The moment her 'real father'—the one who had abandoned her mother and her—was mentioned, she realized.
──This is my birthday gift to you...... It will surely be a good thing for you too.
"I understand, Father. I truly understand."
This.
This was truly.
For revenge on her real father, the wretch who discarded her mother and her, was Karen's dream and desire incarnate.
How could she not be grateful to Father, who knew that dream and sent her here? How could she not rejoice? How could she not worship?
Thus, Karen whispered.
"All of you."
Right after.
"Wh-What the hell is this......?"
"R-Run away."
"Pardon? Father?"
"Run away now!!!"
Kwaaaaa!!
The pitch-black [Curse].
Engulfed the Cornell Viscount Family.