Marek Casino (2)
Marek Casino (2)
The Kingdom of Crane and Ravino.
These two kingdoms have been at war for a long time, but a few years ago they signed a truce.
Though the open warfare has ceased.
The Crane Kingdom has spared no expense in developing its frontline counties. This is because they don't know when they will go to war with the Ravino Kingdom again.
The road leading to Viscounty Bothaman.
As the only road to the battlefield and the last line of resistance, all supplies had to pass through the Viscounty of Bothaman.
Viscount Bothaman's job was to make sure that those supplies arrived at their destination without problems.
"The supplies for Count Horden have arrived."
"What's the status?"
"Everything is in order."
"Take the five red boxes from the warehouse and give them to Count Horden."
"Understood."
The knight bowed and left the office. Viscount Bothaman turned his attention back to the documents on his desk.
A viscount's job wasn't just to manage supplies.
He had to manage his estates.
He was also required to attend royal functions.
When he was halfway through the pile, he stood up and stretched.
"Phew. This is exhausting."
He had been swamped these past few days and hadn't been able to rest.
Taking a casual walk around the office to shake off the languor, then he sat back down at the desk and picked up his cup of tea.
A cup of energizing tea.
"Mmm."
After sipping his tea, he picked up his pen again and grabbed a piece of parchment to get some work done.
This time, it was a report.
A special report on the money he had funneled to other nobles for the coveted count title and details of their weaknesses.
Most of them supported him.
Viscount Bothaman smiled at the near-unanimous support. Then he looked at those who refused.
The day he would become a count.
They will be relegated to the outskirts.
Swoosh!
The next parchment was also a report.
-Potential Objective Found.
It was only a single line, but the hand holding the parchment trembled. He squashed the emotion rising deep in his chest.
'Not yet.'
Dropping the corner of his lips that kept rising, he closed his eyes for a moment to compose himself.
It's not time to rejoice yet.
Just as soon as he had calmed his emotions.
*Knock!* Knock!
"Viscount, you have a visitor."
"Tell him I'm busy."
He doesn't want the excitement of the moment to be disrupted.
"That is..."
BAM!
Viscount Bothaman slowly opened his eyes at the sound of the door slamming open. He saw Terry the Poison Toad wearing a full length coat.
Next to him was a panicked knight.
He gestured for the knight to leave, then frowned at Terry.
"What do you think you're doing?"
"Is it too hard to see your face now?"
Terry sauntered over and sat cross-legged on the sofa, then pulled a small flask from his pocket and unscrewed the cap.
*Glug!* Glug!
"Wow. As expected, the booze here is incredible. Would you like some?"
"Never mind."
Viscount Bothaman quelled the surge of displeasure that had risen to the surface. He still needed Terry, so he had no choice but to hold it in.
Keeping his temper in check, he asked calmly.
"What happened to that troublesome new prison guard? I heard rumors that he's still alive."
"Ha... Fucking asshole. Don't worry, I'll take care of that bastard in my own time."
"I heard your man was captured as well, is that true?"
"You wanna know?"
Terry gave him a murderous glare.
Viscount Bothaman smiled in return.
"I can tell by the look on your face. If you're having trouble on your own, let me know, and I'll help you."
"Never mind, I'll take care of that bastard, I just want you to find what I asked for quickly. Did you get anything?"
A tinge of irritation in his voice.
It was definitely different from the Terry that he'd known before. There was a sense of impatience, like he was being chased by something.
"Nothing yet."
"Phew"
Terry licked his dry lips with his tongue.
Bouncing on his toes, he stuck his tongue out, then raised the flask and downed the contents.
"Whew. I didn't want to go this far. If you don't hand over what you know about the Imperial Laboratory, you'll never see that thing you want, Viscount."
"Did you... find it?"
Viscount Bothaman's voice trembled as he tried to maintain his composure. Terry, whose head was spinning with irritation, didn't notice.
"Yes. I found it."
"Are you sure it's what I wanted?"
"A Soul Summoning Grimoire."
"How much does it cost, I'll buy it right now."
Terry scowled.
"What I want is information about the Ancient Empire, and I'm not willing to trade for anything else, so you'd better find it as soon as you can."
Rising from his seat, Terry turned to meet Viscount Bothaman's eyes.
"You have two weeks, and if you don't find a speck of the Imperial Laboratory in that time, then the grimoire I possess will be lost to the world."
He stared at Terry as he disappeared with a threat. Instead of being angry at his behavior towards him, he was thrilled to finally have the grimoire he'd been searching for.
'Finally....'
Swallowing hard, Viscount Bothaman quietly rose from his seat.
He paced slowly.
Finally, managing to calm his trembling body, he left his office and descended into the castle's basement.
A path that only he and some handful of servants could travel.
At the end of the long descent was a small door. Viscount Bothaman pushed it open and peered inside.
A large, lavishly built room.
He saw a woman lying on a bed large enough for four people.
A woman who looked so much like the woman he loved.
Her daughter.
Ellie Bothaman.
After a long moment of staring, Viscount Bothaman closed the door and turned, a smile of madness on his face.
"Avienna... Give me a bit more time."
'Soon, it won't be long before I bring you back to life in that body.'
'This time, you'll be with me forever.'
"Hehehe...."
* * *
Pooh-pooh-pooh!
The sound of the ship's horn echoed.
A sign that the ship was nearing land and it was time to get ready. He turned his head to look at Marek Casino shrouded in a cloak.
His dry chapped lips were coated with a thin layer of saliva.
He looked around nervously, then let out a small exclamation as he saw the port city beyond the window.
"Ahhh....."
Redin pulled a key from his pocket and unlocked the mana cuffs on Marek Casino's hands and feet.
Clang!
The shackles on his hands and feet came off.
"How does it feel to be free?"
"... It doesn't feel real."
"You'll realize it soon, come on, we'll be getting off now."
A couple minutes later.
The ship docked in the harbor.
The gangway leading to land was sliding down, and Marek Casino came to a halt in front of it. He gripped the railing, bowed his head deeply, and sobbed.
At that moment, he remembered Marek's backstory.
He was abandoned by his parents at a young age. He was sold for a small sum of pennies and wound up in Magnes.
A training center for making spies.
There, Marek lived a hellish time of hardship. Every day was a battlefield, and it was difficult to even get food.
To survive, he had to kill the people next to him and become an emotionless monster.
After surviving it all, Marek went undercover as a spy for a knightly order and found the love of his life.
A fellow knight who understood and empathized with everything he was.
So he decided to betray the organization.
Eventually, his identity was discovered, and he lost his wife and daughter and was imprisoned in Burning Hell. He was labeled as a traitor to the organization and was beaten indiscriminately.
When Marek gave up on everything in despair, the Darkness Seven reached out to save him.
Marek wanted only one thing from them.
-Let me kill Viscount Bothaman and Terry with my own hands. Then I'll do everything I can for you.
"Sniffle... KKeukk"
All the emotions that had been building up inside him, unable to be expressed outwardly, burst forth at once.
Though not all of them.
Redin could completely understand what Marek was feeling. he'd lost both his parents, sought revenge, and despaired afterward.
"I'm sorry. It's unintentional."
"It's okay."
Hesitantly, Marek shifted his feet and took one step after another, slowly descending to the dock.
When both his feet reached the ground.
Marek's fists trembled.
It was clear he was holding in his emotions.
Raising his arms to wipe away his tears, Marek looked up at him, an expression of earnestness on his face.
"I want to see my daughter."
"There's something you need to do first."
"...What is it?"
"We need to fix your body first."
Although he could barely walk, inside he was completely wrecked. There was no way he could be anything resembling a healthy individual after being repeatedly assaulted by members of the Organization.
"Can't we go see my daughter first?"
"Are you going to go see her in that state? And even if you do, can you save her from Viscount Bothaman?"
"I'm sorry. I was in a hurry."
"Just as I promised, I will get you out of Burning Hell, and I will make sure you see your daughter."
"I believe you."
"We need to fill our stomachs before we continue, do you have anything you'd like to eat?"
"I have one."
"Then let's have that."
* * *
After eating in the Port City.
He took the teleporter with Marek Casino to the Kingdom of Resha.
Woosh!
As the bright light dimmed, he opened his eyes.
"Welcome to Magitia, the capital of the Kingdom of Resha!"
The Kingdom of Resha.
The land of mages.
In its capital, Magitia, there were four towers, the symbols of mages.
The Red Tower, the Blue Tower, the Green Tower, and the Yellow Tower.
They represented the elements of fire, water, wind, and earth, and those who studied the magic of those elements resided in these towers.
Casting a look around.
Redin can see a triangular tower rising from the east, west, north, and south. They surrounded Magitia, and atop each tower glowed a colored sphere representing the element.
"Is that a Magic Tower?"
"Yes."
"It's interesting."
"Let's get moving."
He pulled Marek along with him and they started walking.
He had come to the capital of the Kingdom of Resha for two reasons. A place of solace to heal Marek, and to find Bordeaux, the potion merchant.
Both of these things can be accomplished here.
As they moved toward the Red Magic Tower, a residential neighborhood of houses appeared, and from the entrance of one of them, Coachman Reto was waving.
"Over here!"
He called out to them.
"I didn't expect to see you so early. Is the man next to you the one Sir Bahad was telling me about?"
"That's right. We should first get inside."
"Okay. Let's go in."
He and the others entered the blue-doored house. The inside of the house was neat and large. They sat down at the dining table in the living room.
Reto came out with something to drink.
"My wife told me she's going to watch over our daughter... haha. What should I call the person next to you?"
"Marek Casino. Call me whatever you like."
"I'll call you Sir Marek, and I'm Reto, and I hope we'll get along in the future."
"In the future?"
Marek looked at Redin.
His gaze seemed to demand an explanation.
He ignored it.
"What about the room I told you to prepare?"
"Shall we look at the room first? Marek's room is on the third floor."
They went up the side stairs to the third floor. It was like having a house in a completely separate space.
From the living room to several rooms.
It was fully equipped with everything necessary.
"Let's start right away."
"Wha?"
"We should treat your body."
As he pushed Marek into a room with a large bed, he glanced at Reto.
"Bring me the information on Bordeaux."
"I'll get them right away."
Laying Marek down on the bed, he rolled up his sleeves.
"It's not painful, just sleep, and when you wake up, you'll feel healthier than you do now."
Marek merely gave a curt nod.
It had started out with distrust, but now that he was out of Burning Hell, it had turned into intense trust.
Redin reached out and pressed against Marek's blood channels.
At the touch of his recuperative meridian, Marek's eyes closed of their own accord.
"It's been a while since you've had a good rest."
In any case, the blood channels are not enough to bring the body back to normal. It's only a temporary fix. He needed Bordeaux's potion to heal him completely.
He closed the door and stepped out of the room.
"Here it is."
Reto returned with a stack of rolled up parchments.
"Huh. That's a lot."
He paused for a moment to compose himself.
Redin picked up the parchments and read them one by one.
He read through them carefully.
He found what he suspected to be Bordeaux.
But the last note at the end caught his eye.
-Dead.
"Is this person really dead?"
"Yes. I went to the cemetery just in case, but he's definitely dead."
"What?"
'Is he really dead?'