Chapter 82
Translator: crow
Chapter Title: Marquis Demisto
The Marquis Demisto
The street visible from the window glowed faintly red. Enoch, who had been staring blankly at the flickering light of the forge amid the night's darkness, turned his gaze slightly toward the sky.
Pajijijik-!
There, a fox was soaring through the night sky with a sword in its mouth. Residents let out gasps of admiration at the trail of purple light it left behind.
"Hmm."
Was this okay?
It wasn't something Eri had told him about. The place where Enoch was staying right now was a room in the lord's castle. Zikfrein had said to use it, but he genuinely wasn't sure if it was fine to just take it without telling the marquis.
There might not be any issues, but wasn't this basic courtesy? Enoch considered himself a polite young man, after all.
'Well... his son said it was fine, so it should be okay.'
Getting lazy about it, Enoch roughly concluded and emptied his mind. Forgetting the time, he gazed vacantly at the night sky, and the moon, which had been lazily creeping at the edge of his vision, now hung high overhead.
The streets, which had been softly lit, were now pitch black, and all that was visible from the window was the vast night sky and the faint silhouette of the city illuminated by the stars within it.
Eri, who had been excitedly dashing around with the sword in her mouth, was now tired and resting. In the castle steeped in silence, a faint sound suddenly echoed.
Takak- Takak-
The sound of shoes? It wasn't something you'd expect to hear in the castle late at night.
Curiosity piqued, Enoch quietly moved his feet.
Dalak-, he passed through the door, which opened soundlessly thanks to good oiling, and walked down the corridor. The corridor was dark with the lights out, and the only source of light was the faint moonlight seeping in.
Deulkeong-!
"...Jeez."
Was that the window rattling in the wind? Enoch scratched his head for no reason and closed his eyes, straining his ears.
Takak-
It came again. Roughly pinpointing the direction, Enoch quickened his pace a bit.
The corner ahead. Just around that bend. With his eyes calmly settled, Enoch was just turning the corner when,
"...Where are you off to?"
Enoch flinched! He turned only his eyes without a word, furrowing his brow.
"Choco. Make some noise when you walk."
"Hm? You always notice even when I hide my presence, so what's that about?"
"I was focused elsewhere and didn't sense you."
Was it a ghost or something? No matter what, there definitely seemed to be something. He could hear the sound, but his senses picked up nothing, so he had all his nerves concentrated.
"No way, right now...?"
"Ghost hunting."
"Eek...!"
Tsukiyo clung tightly to his leg.
"D-don't go, nyang! We can't lose Daddy too, nyang!"
Too?
It was a phrase that caught his attention, but right now, the priority was catching the ghost.
He'd brushed it off when he first heard the story, but now that it was happening, it was seriously getting on his nerves.
"It's fine. We'll win."
"We won't!"
"If we can't win, we run. That much should be doable, right?"
"Uh, umm...."
Grabbing the scruff of the hesitant Tsukiyo's neck, he rounded the corner right away. And there, the ghost...
"Wasn't there."
Well, it would be weird if it was visible to the naked eye, huh? But Enoch had eyes that weren't ordinary.
Kiiing-!
The rings in his eyes rotated, dividing the world into lines and lines.
The ghost still wasn't visible. Guess this level wasn't enough. In that case, a bit more.
Wooong-!
Just as a purple gleam flickered in Enoch's eyes, his clairvoyance caught an indistinct form in the empty air.
"...There really is one?"
He tilted his head, and the ghost, sensing his gaze, tilted its head too—the part that looked like a head—and met his eyes.
The ghost's form rapidly adapted and grew clearer. It didn't take long to recognize it as the shape of a woman.
"O.... Choco. There really is one?"
"G-g-g-ghost...?"
"Yeah. A female ghost."
"Eeeek...!"
Tsukiyo wriggled wildly, still held by the scruff. The female ghost stared at the sight for a moment before slowly approaching Enoch.
- ......?
Was it trying to say something? But what Enoch possessed was the mind's eye, not the mind's ear.
"Can't understand you."
- ......?
"Maybe she can't understand either? Can ghosts even hear human speech?"
"D-don't know! But probably they can, nyang? Souls are a higher order, so they should be able to."
"Oh ho."
By then, the ghost seemed to realize Enoch couldn't hear her and began mouthing words vigorously.
"Th. Is?"
- ......!
"Ah, not 'is', moon."
The word he barely pieced together was 'Idalian le Demi'.
"Ugh...!"
Around that point, the strain on his clairvoyance made the rest inaudible.
"...Amazing."
So ghosts really existed?
Without his clairvoyance active, no matter how hard he focused, he couldn't detect even a hint of presence. This thing was at least as good as an assassin at the demigod realm.
"Idalian le Demisto.... Daddy, this seems like..."
Tsukiyo was saying something, but Enoch was lost in other thoughts and didn't hear.
"But... then who made the shoe sounds?"
"Hm?"
"If it's that hard to even communicate words, she couldn't make shoe noises, right?"
"......"
"There might be more ghosts."
"Hieeek...!"
Tsukiyo fainted.
*
Enoch wrapped the fainted Tsukiyo in a blanket and tucked her neatly into bed.
*
As soon as morning came, Enoch went looking for Zikfrein.
The ghost had probably been trying to say 'Idalian le Demisto.' Anyone with a brain could guess it was someone connected to the Demisto family.
"What's up so early in the morning?"
He asked bluntly to Zikfrein, who was yawning hugely.
"Do you know who Idalian le Demisto is?"
"...How do you know that name?"
"A ghost told me. Could be her name, or she was just saying it."
"...A ghost? A ghost said that name? Wait, no, you talked to a ghost?"
Zikfrein looked confused. Enoch awkwardly calmed him down.
"Yeah, you need to stay calm. So, was the thing Tsukiyo saw back then that ghost too?"
"Probably not? I wouldn't have seen it without clairvoyance either. Must've been a mistake or another ghost."
Anyway, that was that.
"So, who is Idalian? Someone you know?"
"Yeah. Very well."
"Who?"
"My mom."
"......?"
Enoch tilted his head puzzled, and Zikfrein gave a wry smile.
"She's also my dad's wife. The Marquis Demisto's wife."
"Ah."
Enoch thought for a moment before asking.
"Did your mom die?"
[Daddy!?]
Eri freaked out. Tsukiyo, who had been scared since last night, slowly opened her mouth.
"What."
[That's rude!]
"For me, both parents died as a set, so it's fine."
[Are you seriously insane?]
Ignoring the shocked Eri, Zikfrein let out a hollow laugh.
"She passed a while ago. When I was little."
"Hmm...."
"Come with me."
Enoch followed behind Zikfrein as he led the way. Behind Enoch, Eri and Tsukiyo whispered.
"He might be planning to challenge him to a duel or something."
[From what I see, it's legal at least.]
"But Daddy can't win. Honestly, even if the marquis charges in, he'd just get beaten."
[What a lamentable situation....]
Whether Eri sighed or not, Zikfrein entered a building and headed into a spacious hall through a passageway.
One wall of that passageway was lined with portraits, and at the end was Zikfrein's portrait as well.
"Nineteenth family head, Zikfrein le Demisto. You're not the head yet, are you?"
"Just put up early. Anyway, look at this."
What Zikfrein pointed to was the portrait of a woman. Her blue hair cascaded like gentle waves—the beautiful woman was Idalian le Demisto.
"Ah...."
That face definitely resembled the ghost Enoch had seen last night.
"So the ghost yesterday..."
"Your reaction confirms it. Yeah, my mom."
"...Confirms what?"
At that moment, a voice from behind made Zikfrein whip his head around.
"...Dad."
"I told you not to call me Dad when guests are around. So, what were you just talking about?"
Enoch, who had already sensed the presence, slowly turned around, and there stood a middle-aged man who strongly resembled Zikfrein.
It was the face from the portrait hanging further back. Eighteenth family head, Niveiron le Demisto. The Marquis Demisto himself.
"Hmm...."
While Zikfrein explained the situation, Enoch fell into thought.
This was a first for him, so he couldn't help feeling a bit troubled. What was he supposed to do in this case?
"Eri."
[Yes?]
"Hmm...."
Zikfrein could be called a friend, roughly. So, should he use formal speech with his friend's parents?
"But isn't it weird to use formal speech with a bloody kid not even a thousand years old?"
[The weirdest thing is that Daddy thinks that's normal.]
While Enoch pondered, Zikfrein finished introducing him.
"Enoch Estor.... Disciple of the Sword Emperor."
The marquis extended his hand to Enoch.
"Pleased to meet you. I'm Niveiron le Demisto."
A disciple of the Sword Emperor was a position that didn't pale in comparison to a kingdom's marquis—no, the marquis was the one who fell short.
Still, considering he was young and also his son's friend, the marquis decided on the polite 'hao' form.
"Uh..., pleased to meet you?"
And Enoch still hadn't reached a conclusion.