Chapter 54
Chapter 54
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 54
Chapter Title: Scheme (4)
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“De, Demian!”
Sophia came running toward Demian.
“I-It’s such a relief to meet you so soon. You’re the o-only one I can rely on.”
Fear filled Sophia’s face. She trembled as she spoke to Demian.
“If the Church starts interrogating Jackson... N-No, Jackson Cutter, they’ll definitely come for me too.”
No one here had a deeper connection to Jackson Cutter than Sophia Russell.
There was no way the Church would leave her alone.
“B-But I’m innocent. I didn’t know anything. I-I didn’t even know Jackson Cutter had that bracelet!”
Sophia Russell clung to Demian’s arm.
“You’re the only one who can help me. Please protect me. I-I’m begging you.”
“Why should I help you?”
Demian couldn’t comprehend it at all.
Not only had Sophia Russell unilaterally declared their broken engagement, but she had also insulted the Haksen Viscountcy.
Now, they were worse than strangers. How could she ask for help so casually?
“I-If you help me, I’ll give you whatever you want!”
“Whatever I want?”
Sophia Russell swallowed dryly. A slow smile spread across her face, which had been steeped in anxiety.
“I’ll become your woman again.”
Sophia Russell spoke with a face full of confidence.
She seemed convinced that Demian would definitely accept her offer.
“No need.”
Demian said with an incredulous expression. Sophia Russell let out a deep sigh and scolded him.
“Demian... No matter how angry you are, how can you stay sulky like this?”
“What?”
“When a woman bows her head and comes to you like this, you’re supposed to pretend you can’t resist and accept her.”
“What nonsense are you spouting...”
“Fine. I’ll apologize again. It was all my fault. So please stop being mad and take me back.”
For the first time since his return, Demian felt at a loss for words.
At the same time, he grew utterly disgusted by Sophia Russell’s unchanged attitude, even in this situation.
“Demian, I know everything. I know you still want me. That’s why you pretended not to know me when we first met. To get my attention.”
Sophia Russell spoke in a tone full of conviction.
“You kept yielding the seat next to Lady Olivia to Abel because of me. You tried to hide it, but I noticed right away...”
“This is so ridiculous I don’t even know where to start correcting your misunderstandings.”
Demian said in a cold tone.
“Are you still not over it? How many times do I have to apologize...”
“No, I don’t need anything. I don’t need you. I have zero interest.”
Demian cut her off firmly.
“I’m asking nicely, so stop with the bullshit and get out of my sight.”
“De, Demian...”
“If you ignore my warning and show up in front of me again spouting this crap, I’ll cut out your tongue.”
To make his intent crystal clear, Demian even unleashed his killing intent.
Sophia Russell’s face went pale.
“If you understand, get lost.”
* * *
Demian walked past Sophia Russell.
She stood there frozen like a statue, not even thinking of grabbing him.
Demian took Olivia and headed to the jousting grounds.
To meet the Holy Knights still there.
But something felt off.
The atmosphere among the Holy Knights gathered at the jousting grounds was extremely grim.
“Sir Demian, you’re back.”
Holy Knight Thomas said. He spoke to Demian with a somber face.
“We let Jacques Noire escape.”
“Is that true?”
“He was hiding his skills. And he used another black magic tool on top of that...”
Thomas ground his teeth. It seemed he was furious at letting a heretic slip away right in front of him.
“Jacques Noire... As the rumors said, he’s a formidable one.”
Demian said with a stiff expression.
But unlike his face, Demian wasn’t particularly surprised.
‘He escaped after all.’
Demian had predicted this from the first time he saw Thomas.
Thomas’s skills were far too lacking compared to Jacques Noire.
If Jacques Noire had wanted to, he could have easily killed Thomas.
‘But killing a Holy Knight of the Church would bring an even bigger backlash.’
A situation where he couldn’t kill or spare the enemy.
In that case, escaping was the only option.
‘Good thing I placed the mark in advance.’
The night before, after sending Victor to the city, Demian had gone to Jacques Noire’s lodging.
Since he remembered Jacques Noire’s mana, it wasn’t hard to find.
Fooling a mid-class’s senses was simple for Demian too.
Demian had secretly drawn a tracking mark on Jacques Noire’s clothes while he slept.
“Sir Thomas, don’t be too disheartened. The Lord is watching over you, so you’ll get another chance to catch Jacques Noire anytime.”
Demian comforted Thomas. Thomas looked at him with a face moved to tears.
“Sir Demian... Even in this situation, you don’t lose faith... As Lady Agnes said, you truly are the exemplar for Holy Knights!”
Demian subtly put some distance between himself and Thomas.
These zealots were still as unfamiliar no matter how many times he saw them.
* * *
From the next day, the jousting grounds were in an uproar.
The Church’s reinforcements had arrived and begun investigating all the nobles there.
“Hey! I have no connection to that Jackson Cutter guy!”
“Do you know how much holy donation I give the Church every year? I won’t stand for this treatment!”
The nobles protested, but it fell on deaf ears.
The Church interrogated each noble one by one.
Fortunately, since Jackson Cutter hadn’t mingled much with others, the nobles were quickly released.
“Who gave you this bracelet?”
“J-Jaques Noire! Jacques Noire gave it to me! He said with this, I could k-kill Demian Haksen... Aaaagh!”
“You tried to kill Sir Demian? Who else was in on the plan?”
“C-Copperhead Earl! The Copperhead Earl was there too!”
The culprit himself, Jackson Cutter, was interrogated directly by the inquisitor.
The Church inquisitors’ interrogations were infamous for their brutality.
Rumors spread that their torture methods improved every year to extract all desired information.
Even during meals and bedtime, Jackson Cutter’s screams didn’t stop.
Only after hearing even his trivial secrets did the inquisitor halt the interrogation.
Next, the inquisitor summoned Sophia Russell and the Copperhead Earl.
“Ah, the Earl is innocent. He did try to kill me, but he knew nothing about the black magic.”
As promised, Demian vouched for the earl.
Even as he spoke, Demian felt a bit worried. He knew how tenacious the inquisitors were.
“Understood. We’ll only bring in Sophia Russell.”
“...Y-You believe me?”
“Of course. How many contributions has Sir Demian made to the Church?”
The inquisitor accepted Demian’s words with surprising ease. Because of that, only Sophia Russell was dragged away.
“I-I really didn’t know! He never told me anything!”
Sophia Russell insisted on her innocence.
But the inquisitor didn’t believe a word.
Judging her as Jackson Cutter’s lover, she must be hiding plenty.
Soon after Sophia Russell was taken, a piercing scream that could tear eardrums erupted.
* * *
It took a week for the Church to finish the investigation.
They concluded no other suspects besides Jackson Cutter.
Only then were the nobles released from the jousting grounds.
The jousting tournament wasn’t over yet, but the nobles fled one after another.
A long line of nobles heading back to their territories formed.
“Are you leaving too, Sir Demian?”
Demian was preparing to return to the viscountcy like the other nobles.
But Thomas and the Holy Knights came to him.
“Yes, my family must be worried, so I want to see them soon.”
“Hmm... I’d recommend staying a bit longer.”
Thomas said with a worried face.
“Jacques Noire might target you, Sir Demian.”
Demian was the one who had called in the Church to the jousting grounds. The chance Jacques Noire held a grudge was high.
“The Church is currently pursuing him. How about staying here until his whereabouts are known?”
He appreciated the concern, but Demian had no intention of accepting.
With his skills, he could handle Jacques Noire easily.
If anything, Demian hoped Jacques Noire would come to him.
Above all, traveling with these stuffy Holy Knights was something he’d refuse even in death.
“Thank you, but I’ll pass. It wouldn’t do to tie down Sir Thomas because of me.”
A 2nd-grade Holy Knight was a rare asset even in the Church.
He must have plenty of duties.
“Besides, with the great one in heaven watching over me, how could some vile heretic harm me?”
Moved by Demian’s words, Thomas quietly made the sign of the cross.
“Above all, with the Church issuing a wanted order, Jacques Noire won’t have the spare mind to target me.”
“Sir Demian, still, just a few days...”
Demian refused Thomas several times.
In the end, Thomas had no choice but to give up.
* * *
Demian departed for the Haksen Viscountcy.
Unlike the trip there, the group had one more member on the way back.
It was Olivia Copperhead.
“I didn’t think I’d be going to the Haksen Viscountcy this soon.”
“M-Me too. I didn’t expect to introduce Lady Olivia to my parents so quickly...”
Olivia Copperhead sat next to Abel.
She had already fallen out with her father the earl. So rather than staying pointlessly at the earl’s house, she chose to leave with Abel.
“But how long do you plan to use formal speech? I told you it’s fine to be casual.”
Olivia said with a pout. Abel hesitated before speaking.
“...O-Olivia.”
“Good. From now on, always speak to me that way.”
Demian, sitting across from them, looked at the two with a nauseated expression.
He hoped they’d work out, but he had no intention of tolerating their lovey-dovey antics.
Demian stood up.
“Brother, where are you going?”
“Outside. You two have fun alone.”
Demian opened the window and climbed onto the carriage roof. Victor, in the driver’s seat, asked with a puzzled face.
“Young master? Is something wrong?”
“No, nothing. Just drive the carriage.”
Demian sat on the carriage roof and opened his subsapce.
He reached in and pulled out an item. It was the spirit heart he’d won as the jousting prize.
Due to the complicated situation, the award ceremony hadn’t happened.
But as the earl promised, the jousting winner was Demian Haksen.
So Demian had received the prize from the earl.
“Absorbing this is a chore too.”
The spirit heart was like a solidly clumped stone, which made it easy to think of.
He couldn’t absorb it without melting it first.
From now on, Demian had to stimulate the spirit heart with his mana to melt the spirit power.
Even for someone of Demian’s caliber, it wasn’t easy. But the reward was certain.
If he could absorb the spirit power, he’d gain not just mana but the spirit’s power too.
‘The spirit’s power...’
Spirits were immensely powerful beings. Their abilities were countless.
‘Among the elves, many absorbed spirit hearts to gain spirit traits.’
Some elves gained hyper-senses by absorbing wind spirit hearts, others got skin tough enough to block aura by absorbing earth spirit hearts.
Without exception, those who absorbed spirit hearts surpassed mid-class to become powerhouses.
‘What trait does absorbing a fire spirit’s heart give?’
This was another reason Demian, who knew the hidden powers of spirit hearts, was surprised.
Hearts containing fire spirit powers were especially rare. Moreover, he’d never seen an elf who gained a fire spirit’s power.
So even Demian couldn’t predict it.
‘I’ll find out after absorbing it.’
Demian poured mana into the spirit heart the entire time the carriage moved.
That night.
Jacques Noire ambushed Demian.