Chapter 93
Chapter 93
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 93
Chapter Title: Found It, Finally (3)
-----------------------------------------------------------------
-Young Master.
From the far edges of his past life's memories, which no longer came clearly to mind.
The face of his mother, looking down at him with sad eyes, her hands and feet bound in ropes, floated up.
-Do not follow this foolish mother's path, Young Master. Find your own happiness.
Thud thud thud thud thud!
-This is what... I should have said first. I'm sorry it took so long.
The apology from his mother, with whom he had always walked parallel lines far apart.
It was filled with warm affection.
-So please.
That final plea of hers,
-Leave this place.
Had sunk deeply into Theo's heart.
* * *
It must have been around that time that Theo had fled the family like he was running away.
His mother's plea to leave the family in search of happiness.
He had wanted to follow it because he knew all too well that it was sincere.
But at some point, he forgot.
Amid the storms of life, in the flow of time, he had forgotten those words.
And now, they resurfaced.
In his past life, and in this one.
All of his mother's thoughts had ultimately been worries for him.
This foolish, unfilial son had lived his entire life without knowing that...
Theo bit down hard on his lower lip.
'The reason they framed Mother and killed her... was just for some relic that might be in the Rose Palace?'
The last remaining questions tied to his past life were gradually fading away.
'But even after that, they couldn't find any traces of the relic, and later they killed me even after I had left the family entirely.'
Crunch—
It was infuriating that his precious family members had all died unjustly because of that.
Their screams still seemed to echo in his ears.
Then a question arose.
'But Ed clearly died in the rebellion he started with Axion. My death came much later. So does that mean?'
Theo had a few guesses.
He began to examine the latter part of the ledger more calmly and deeply.
Thanks to that, he learned a few more facts.
"As expected. Even after Ed's death, the Troyvans' schemes continued?"
The Troyvans were the endpoint of all the conspiracies.
Cecilia and Theo had died because of the plot they devised to obtain the Primordial Dragon's relic.
The Ragnars had also weathered numerous large and small crises.
'What reason could those bastards possibly have for collecting the Primordial Dragon's relics?'
The Primordial Dragon's relics were undoubtedly one of the <Mysteries> that anyone would covet.
But Theo knew.
To activate the latent power of a Primordial Dragon relic, one absolutely needed Ragnar blood.
Even if the Troyvans collected them, they would be useless.
'Even if they planned to use the half-blood Axion, it became meaningless after he died?'
In both his past and present lives, the conspiracies hadn't stopped—they were still ongoing.
'Do they have another bloodline they colluded with in advance? Like a distant branch exiled from the Ragnars long ago? Or one planted within the family?'
And they're collecting items like those bearing myths of dragon-slaying to control such spies?
He was in the middle of such speculations.
When he reached the end of the ledger. A new phrase jumped into his eyes.
...Thus, we plan to recover what is judged to be the last remaining relic in the Ragnar Family soon.
The last remaining relic?
It was then that Theo's eyes widened.
Whoosh!
['Skill: Hatchling Synchro' summons the lingering thoughts latent in the item.]
Theo's vision twisted, and a different scene appeared.
In pitch-black darkness.
Ed was scribbling something quickly by the light of a small lantern.
He then neatly folded the completed letter and tied it to the leg of a waiting hawk.
-Deliver this to Father.
Flap flap!
The hawk nodded and soared vigorously into the sky.
It traveled a vast distance and arrived at a castle in the east.
A massive fortress so grand it could pass for an imperial palace.
At its top floor sat an old man.
'Granada Troyvan!'
It was a face Theo knew very well.
The current head of the Troyvan Family.
Though his skill might lag slightly behind Kyle's, he had raised his family to rival the Ragnars, making him the hegemon of the eastern region.
He was also the biological father of Ed and Emil Troyvan.
He untied the hawk's letter, read its contents, and smirked.
-We've uncovered some amusing information. The 'Moonwhite Demon Sword' that absorbs even its master's essence under the moon's energy is miraculous enough in its existence, but the 'Dragon Vitality Spirit Sword' that clings to its owner and tests their strength on a whim actually exists too? Primordial Dragon, Primordial Dragon—I've only heard the name, but what a truly remarkable being. If we pair it with the 'Dragon-Slaying Magic Sword' that's supposedly coming into our hands soon... it could paint quite the interesting picture.
The old man stroked his goatee and wrote a new letter, tying it to the hawk's leg again.
-The Dragon-Slaying Magic Sword and the Dragon Vitality Spirit Sword... These two are twin blades worthy of contending with each other. We must not miss even one. Convey that.
Flap flap!
The hawk soared vigorously once more, this time heading north.
The northeast region. The headquarters of the Ceres Merchant Group, where Theo was now.
Quadlak was receiving the hawk with utmost caution.
The lingering thought ended there.
'There was one more relic hidden in the family. Ed and the Troyvans are after it.'
He didn't know what the Dragon Vitality Spirit Sword was.
But from Ed and Granada's mutterings, it was clear it formed a twin set with the Dragon-Slaying one.
'The Dragon-Slaying is already in my hands... I've confirmed its location, so I need to intercept that one too. Before Ed moves.'
Theo's eyes cooled coldly.
He couldn't just hand over a Primordial Dragon relic to those who weren't even Ragnars.
Theo rummaged through the warehouse for a long while longer, leaving only when he felt there were no more clues to find.
* * *
Outside, the Holy Demon Church suppression had already been fully completed, and they were in the midst of arresting Quadlak and the other criminals.
"Do not leave a single person in the merchant group headquarters unarrested. Those who resist may be executed on the spot."
At Evelyn's firm command, the No. 5 Squad members scoured the headquarters with fierce eyes.
The ones struck by this bolt from the blue were the members of the Northern Merchant Guild.
-W-We have nothing to do with this! Please believe us!
-We had no idea what the Ceres Merchant Group was up to! It's true!
-Our merchant group was just... just ordered to attend the engagement ceremony between Ceres and the Bacchus Family to offer congratulations...!
-Aaaah! Our guild has nothing to do with this rebellion!
In the first place, they had been summoned by Quadlak for brainwashing by the Holy Demon Church. If anyone was a victim, it was them.
But now they were facing rebellion charges out of nowhere.
Not only their lives, but a bloodbath could engulf their affiliated merchant groups.
However, Evelyn couldn't release them carelessly.
There might be Holy Demon Church or Troyvan plants among them.
"I understand your grievances well, so we'll release you after a simple verification process. Please wait."
This promise would also be hard to keep immediately.
The incident at the Ceres Merchant Group couldn't leak outside yet.
The importance of this operation lay in speed.
A speed battle to eliminate them before Ed and the Troyvans realized the truth.
"Lord Klev, what about the Bacchus Family side?"
"Don't worry. The Black Iron Knights are already raiding them by now. They're probably in chaos."
Even when intimidating one of the Six Vassal Families, he acted as if it were nothing.
Klev leaned toward the view that the recent cracks in the north were all because 'the Ragnars have been too lenient.'
Thus, he believed it necessary to directly pressure the vassals like this to bring them to their senses.
Then Klev's gaze turned to Naban.
"We tied you up as ordered, but I sided with you this time. Doesn't that warrant some leniency?"
Naban lifted the ropes binding his hands slightly and grumbled as if wronged.
"We've already shown leniency by stopping there. But Naban Bacchus, your suspicions aren't fully cleared yet, so stand by until then."
"Sigh. That's just my luck."
He sighed deeply and muttered, but Klev didn't miss the odd amusement mixed in Naban's voice.
'The family faces potential annihilation, yet he's enjoying it? There were predictions that the Bacchus second son, born illegitimate, harbored deep resentment toward his family—looks like it was true.'
Klev's eyes gleamed strangely.
'We can't completely dismantle the Six Vassal Families' system anyway. In that case, replacing the current leadership with a rebel like him as family head would make things easier going forward...!'
Klev was pondering ways to seize the Bacchus Family this time when his thoughts paused briefly.
Naban had been opposing the Ragnars, then suddenly talked with Theo and immediately switched sides.
And now he seemed quite close to Theo.
So that meant?
'Did he foresee this...?'
Klev felt as if his head had been smacked hard with something blunt.
He recalled Theo's declaration at the Awakening Ceremony, challenging for succession rights.
For someone with no backing like him, a Bacchus Family with a new head would make a fine trading partner.
Someone hearing her guess might dismiss it as coincidence.
But based on the Theo Klev had observed so far, it was entirely plausible.
"......!"
Suddenly, a chill ran down her spine.
Klev hurriedly turned her gaze toward Theo.
Just then, Theo was approaching them.
"My daughter... Lily... what happened to Lily...!"
Quadlak, whose dreams and ambitions had shattered overnight, had been spacing out for a while, then belatedly bellowed as Theo passed nearby.
Theo glanced at him and let out a silent sneer,
"You bastard... you did something to my daughter again...!!"
Quadlak sensed Lily's fate intuitively and wailed.
He didn't get far charging at Theo before collapsing again.
Holcus had suddenly grabbed his head from behind with brute force.
"Stay still, will ya? You're annoying as hell!"
He grinned at Theo as if asking if he was okay... which felt a bit creepy.
'...What? Did something happen?'
Theo could only nod with a bewildered expression.
* * *
"There may be some who don't know me yet, so allow me to introduce myself once more. I'm Theo Ragnar, newly appointed as a Combat Inspector. I look forward to working with you all."
After the general cleanup.
Theo bowed politely before the assembled No. 5 Squad.
Whether they knew him or had only heard rumors, everyone ended up looking stunned.
-Huh?
-What? Did I hear that wrong?
-C-Combat Inspector?
Selphard asked urgently with wide eyes.
"Not Training Inspector, but already Combat Inspector? For real?"
"Yes. I passed the promotion exam during the previous mission."
"Whoa...!"
-W-What? So he got promoted after just the second mission?
-Even Torquel Ragnar didn't rise this fast—it's insane.
-Historic record, historic record—I'd heard, but this...
-Well, it makes sense. Didn't you see him take down the Blood Priest alone? Gotta acknowledge that.
-Yeah.
The good thing was that while the squad members were shocked, none seemed jealous or envious—they all acknowledged it.
Of course, he couldn't read their true inner thoughts completely, but Theo figured most were sincere.
That was the atmosphere Julius had fostered.
"Wow..."
"You finally got promoted. I thought I was catching up a bit, but now you're even farther ahead."
Holcus gaped with his jaw practically unhinged, while Erika gave a wry smile and scratched the back of her head.
Though同期, Theo felt like he was continuously pulling away.
Holcus felt a particular urgency.
'I gotta line up quick...!'
The problem was there was no separate time to declare his intentions.
He needed at least a moment alone to hint at it, but over the past few months, Theo had seemed too busy.
With this mission's success, he'd be even busier for a while.
Clap!
At that moment, Evelyn clapped loudly to liven the mood.
"With cleanup done, we're returning to the family. However, due to the urgent report and many prisoners, we'll split into two sub-units for separate travel. Theo, Selphard, Arin, Erika, Holcus—you five come with me to Winterer first. Dismissed."
"Understood."
"Understood."
"Understood."
As Theo responded, he drew Umbra from the shadows.
And so,
The second mission came to a complete end.