Chapter 32
Chapter 32
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 32
Chapter Title: Madman: Begerton Antares (2)
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Begerton Antares, the man known by the moniker Madman, had one peculiar habit.
When introducing himself to someone he met for the first time, he always requested that they address him as "Doctor."
It was Begerton's oldest habit.
Regardless of status or rank, he always wanted others to call him Doctor.
Those who met the Doctor sometimes claimed that even this was just another whim born of his madness.
Nevertheless, Begerton always referred to himself as the Doctor.
He always had to be the Doctor.
An ancient promise.
A habit born from a promise that would never be broken as long as Begerton Antares lived.
That was why he held such affection for his title of "Doctor."
"Doctor. How the hell did you win over the marquis's daughter?"
In the northern region of the Alperatz Marquisate.
The Doctor was traveling with his chimera across land classified as relatively rugged even in the marquisate's vast granary plains.
It was to move the materials needed for his research before proceeding with the great experiment he had planned.
Naturally, Raintas, the Doctor's bodyguard, walked alongside him with a sword at his waist.
Had he grown fond of the hospitality he'd received as a guest at the Alperatz Marquis household over the past few days?
Clink.
Raintas tapped the new sword at his waist and directed a question at the Doctor.
"The soldiers cleared the way for us as soon as we entered the marquisate, right? I just can't wrap my head around how you pulled strings to let riffraff like us anywhere near the lord's castle."
"......"
"That girl apparently keeps a house-sized mana dragon as a pet. You said she was your friend or whatever, but what business would a fine young lady like her have getting chummy with the likes of us?"
The Doctor gave a faint smile in response to Raintas's question.
The Doctor, Begerton, quite liked Raintas, who followed him around.
Raintas always scrupulously used the form of address the Doctor preferred most when dealing with him.
Moreover, Raintas's skills were far from subpar.
He wasn't cheap, but he more than earned his pay.
The only flaw in such a Raintas was that he occasionally questioned the Doctor's social skills greatly.
Just like right now.
"Raintas. Doubting people's words may not be such a good habit."
"You're a piece of work. What sane noble lady would want to befriend a freak who stuffs monsters into his own body?"
Raintas snorted as he looked at the Doctor.
Thud. Thud. Thud. Screech.
Behind such a Raintas, the multi-legged chimera bug—"Bug"—burdened with a full load of luggage came to a halt.
They had arrived at the destination where the Doctor planned to transport his luggage.
Raintas, eyeing the halted chimera, reached out toward his own bag loaded on Bug.
"Looks like we're already here. So, how exactly did you convince the young lady?"
"Hmm. Well, you see."
The Doctor pondered how best to explain the story to Raintas.
The library in his dreams.
The meetings that took place in his consciousness space.
The transcendent being he had come to know in that library, and his minions.
His thoughts drifting to those seated in the Magic Tower, the Magic Corps, or noble families, the Doctor soon opened his mouth.
"For wanderers like us, connections are surprisingly important, Raintas."
The Doctor's hand adjusted the monocle strapped over one eye.
Click.
The monocle's filter switched, and the circular shape of the barrier he had spread out came into view.
The boundary of the new secret laboratory site he had previously scouted was revealed.
"Connections? I thought all the Doctor's acquaintances were just fellow members of the Magic Research Society like us."
Raintas's dubious expression turned toward the Doctor's monocle.
Hmm.
Raintas stroked his chin with a puzzled look on his face.
"Do you really think that's the case? Do you have any idea how many people in this world yearn to meet a brilliant researcher like me?"
"Most of 'em are just gold addicts or crazies obsessed with weird experiments."
"......"
"Apart from that, aren't they all just people gunning to kill you? Pretty much every faction in the Empire hates your guts."
Raintas snorted at the Doctor's words.
The grudges trailing the Magic Research Society's Doctor spanned both underworld and high society alike.
That was precisely why he was the Empire's top-priority wanted criminal.
Even so, upon hearing Raintas's words, the Doctor merely wore an inscrutable smile.
"Raintas. Having many people who hate you means."
Swish.
Having confirmed the barrier, the Doctor's gaze turned upward to Bug, laden with countless loads of luggage.
"In a sense, that many people remember you."
"Well, yeah, obviously."
"Even if I die, no one will forget me easily. That's quite fortunate."
Heh heh heh.
The Doctor's eerie smile spilled out in chilling laughter.
In the Doctor's ear still echoed a hallucination he couldn't erase from his mind.
—Please don't forget me.
Hearing the familiar voice, Begerton shoved a finger into his ear.
Only pain could sever memories.
Crack!
Having banished his reverie with sharp agony, the Doctor's hand picked up one of the research materials atop Bug.
"By the way, this... Hmm. It's been quite a while since I've seen this material."
Swish.
The eye wearing the monocle gazed at the research material in his hand.
It appeared to have been written long ago, bearing traces of worm damage.
—Bartov.
The familiar name was written on the material in the Doctor's hand.
Pilgrim, Bartov.
It was a research material penned long ago by the former head of the Magic Research Society.
It seemed he had secretly taken it from the head's room at some point and, finding no interest in it, quietly shoved it among his things.
"One of the materials I swiped from the head's room. No wonder it looked familiar after so long."
"Doctor, you even stole from the head?"
"Don't worry. Would the head really kill me?"
Ha.
Letting out a short sigh, Raintas shook his head.
"Honestly, it's a miracle you're still alive."
As he listened to Raintas, the Doctor's eyes scanned the material in his hand.
A few years ago, he had shoved it into a corner out of disinterest.
But now, for some reason, he felt curiosity toward such a material.
Click.
Stroking his monocle, the Doctor's eyes read the title of the research material in his hand once more.
—On the Inscrutable Unknown.
The Doctor, Begerton Antares.
He decided to take a look at the research material in his hand sometime soon.
* * * * * *
The lord's castle of the Alperatz Marquisate.
In the center of a spacious room with a balcony, a girl with radiant golden hair lay deep in slumber.
The acting lord, Feria Alperatz.
Even after seizing real power in the Alperatz Marquis household, she continued to insist on using her original room.
Because her usual room was where she slept the best.
For that reason, Feria had fallen asleep early today in the room she had long used.
"......"
And right below the bedroom where such a Feria slept.
There, a black-masked assassin was scaling the mansion's wall.
Operating under the alias "Blue Blade," he was an assassin who had crossed into the Empire from the Israt Kingdom on a commission.
Blue Blade hadn't been in the business long, but over the past few years, he had successfully completed numerous difficult requests.
Had his efforts finally paid off?
He had even received an assassination commission targeting a noble, with a massive reward.
'The security isn't as tight as I thought. Easier than I worried— no real problem.'
In the assassin's judgment, the mansion's defenses were relatively lax for a noble household.
Once past the guards blocking the entrance to the lord's castle, there were only occasional patrolling knights or soldiers afterward.
Moreover, even those were infrequent, allowing Blue Blade to approach the main building where the acting lord resided without much trouble.
Thud.
Grabbing the balcony's railing, Blue Blade carefully began pulling his body upward.
To access the bedroom where the acting lord, Feria Alperatz, lay sleeping.
'They said this was home to a fairly high-ranking noble even by Empire standards. Looks like that commotion among the nobles is the issue.'
For a marquis-level noble, the security was excessively vulnerable.
Without that recent uproar, it surely wouldn't have been this defenseless.
As his client had told him, the acting lord still seemed to struggle with fully controlling the knights.
With such sloppy security, it was nothing but easy prey for an assassin like him.
'Talk about good luck. Finish quick, collect the reward, and head home.'
The masked assassin quietly pulled his upper body onto the balcony's railing.
Blue Blade's body moved soundlessly up the wall.
His long-trained physique smoothly settled onto the railing, and the assassin's eyes peered beyond the tightly shut window.
Beyond the window with curtains drawn back.
There lay the golden-haired girl he targeted, Feria, sleeping soundly.
If the assassination target was in deep sleep, it made it easier for him to show mercy.
Killing without pain.
That was the greatest mercy an assassin could grant.
"......"
Swish.
Blue Blade, gazing at Feria, reached for the dagger strapped to his thigh.
Having successfully approached the target, it was time to finish the job.
Just as he moved to silently draw the dagger.
Kieeeek!
Suddenly, a bizarre cry echoed from right beside Blue Blade.
"Urk...!"
The ear-piercing shriek reverberated deafeningly.
Clutching one ear, Blue Blade looked toward the source of the sound.
Right near the railing where Blue Blade stood.
Several grotesque creatures were crawling along the railing there.
Kiek! Kieeek!
Moreover, the grotesque creatures were emitting eerie cries, announcing Blue Blade's presence to all around.
—Must kill those things right now.
As Blue Blade's thoughts turned to silencing the creatures by killing them.
"Aaagh...!"
Crunch! Crunch!
The creatures on either side latched onto Blue Blade's ankles and began wrapping around him.
Feeling sharp pain, Blue Blade's eyes widened as he looked at the monsters biting his ankle.
The monsters clinging to his body had tied themselves to the railing, holding him firmly in place.
It was a trap to bind intruders.
He had thought the security too lax, but such traps were hidden throughout the mansion.
"Grk, grrrk...!"
As the assassin's hand moved to pry off the monsters, a presence came from beyond the window.
Had a knight heard the monster's screams and started moving?
The flustered assassin's gaze turned to the window.
Right in front of where Blue Blade looked.
Swish.
There, a small dragon with pure white scales clung to the curtain.
"A d-drag...gon...?!"
Blue Blade's pupils trembled greatly upon discovering the baby dragon.
Something had gone terribly wrong.
As he grasped the situation, his hand reached for his waist.
Fwaaah!
Soon, pure white light began to spread from the baby dragon's mouth.
"W-wait... hold on...!"
Sensing something from the spreading light, Blue Blade reached out into empty air.
This was dangerous if it continued.
That fact rang alarm bells in the assassin's instincts.
"Stop... stop right now...!"
However, the mana dragon watching Blue Blade did not heed his words.
With indifferent eyes fixed on him, the baby dragon merely spat out the light it held in its mouth.
Kwaaaaang!
A trajectory shooting straight ahead.
The path of pure white light surged forward, enveloping Blue Blade's body in radiant brilliance.
—Dragon's breath.
The mana dragon's blast of light instantly obliterated the assassin's body.
- …….
Sizzle.
After several seconds of scorching straight ahead, the pure white trajectory fully faded.
Gao!
The pure white baby dragon returned to its master with a satisfied expression.
Atop the collapsed railing.
The assassin's figure was no longer there.