Chapter 69
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 69
Chapter Title: An Eye for an Eye
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“...I see.”
Seated in a spacious office and handling documents, was an elegant dark elf.
Arsha set down the quill she was holding and spoke.
“So, you mean to say your return may be delayed.”
[Yeah, sorry.]
“You need not apologize. This was to be expected, was it not?”
The thin paper doll on the desk.
No, to be precise, Arsha spoke calmly, looking directly at the boy possessing the doll.
Ever since he left with the intention of revealing his true identity, she hadn't expected Dion to return quietly.
...Though she never imagined he would cause trouble with the Hyeolya Maga and even the Cheoltu Maga before he even revealed his identity.
Arsha was surprised by this fact, but not shaken.
She simply spoke quietly.
“The estate is fine, and it will continue to be. So please, I pray for your safe return.”
[Are you worried about me?]
“As your wife and as your regent, it is only natural for me to worry about my husband.”
[Right, that makes sense.]
“And...”
[?]
“...Please take good care of Parsha.”
As his wife.
And as his regent.
Making such a request was, in itself, overstepping her bounds.
Perhaps feeling ashamed that, despite her hesitation, she couldn't hold back those words.
After gazing silently at Arsha, who had slightly bowed her head, Dion chuckled.
[Don't worry. Even if I get hurt, I'll make sure Parsha returns safely.]
“Th-that’s not what I meant…”
[I know. It’s okay, so just wait for me without worrying.]
“...Yes.”
Why was it?
He was a young boy, not even a tenth of her age.
Yet, as Arsha felt a sense of relief from his simple and reassuring words, Dion turned his head to the side.
[Our little lucky charm has been well, right?]
Nod, nod!
The beastkin girl who had been peeking out from beside Arsha.
Orr Kai’s face lit up when her master’s doll finally looked at her.
But that too was brief.
[Alright, then...]
*Flump.*
...?!
Before he could even finish his sentence, the paper doll slumped over powerlessly.
Startled, Orr Kai picked up the doll and shook it vigorously, but...
“Orr Kai, that’s enough. The Young Master’s possession has already been released.”
*Sulk...*
Perhaps disappointed that she had heard so little of her master’s voice, Orr Kai’s shoulders slumped. Arsha reached out her hand.
She pulled the small body onto her lap and said calmly.
“Don’t be too disappointed. The Young Master will return soon enough.”
...*Nuzzle.*
Perhaps finding comfort in those words.
Or perhaps she just liked the warm body and soft skin.
As Arsha stroked the head of the nuzzling Orr Kai, her expression grew complex.
Was this little girl the only one who was lonely?
And for whom was this worry and longing?
Quietly setting aside the questions she couldn't answer herself, she gently closed her eyes.
***
“Hmm, as expected, items have very clear limitations.”
Quietly, Dion opened his eyes.
He looked at the pouch he had a finger in with a regretful expression.
[Origami Pouch (Uncommon)].
An Uncommon-grade item he had obtained from a client in exchange for dispatching a slave.
Its effect was simple.
After crafting a 【Paper Doll】☆, one could possess it and control it as if it were their own body.
The ability to wield supernatural power without being an Awakened One was certainly incredible, but that was all it was.
Given that the 【Paper Doll】 was only on par with a 1-star monster, the item was difficult to use for anything more than reconnaissance.
...That is, if anyone else had used it.
‘Still, it’s a good thing I got the 【Marionette】 trait.’
The Unique Trait gained from defeating Rashanta, 【Marionette】.
By using its power to push the Origami Pouch’s performance to its limits, Dion, who had succeeded in contacting Arsha in the Dragon’s Lair across a vast distance, if only for a moment, smiled faintly.
The dark elf maid standing beside him asked bluntly.
“Did your conversation go well?”
“It went well enough... but it’s a bit of a shame.”
“Are you referring to the cooldown time after a single use?”
“No, I mean that I’m the only one who can use it. Parsha probably wants to talk to her mother too.”
“Save your sleep-talking for when you’re asleep.”
Regardless of Parsha’s cold retort, Dion chuckled and put the pouch away.
Having pushed its performance to the limit for remote possession, it would take at least ten days before it could be used again.
‘It would be convenient to pick up a high-level production Class or two.’
【Enchanter】, 【Alchemist】, or 【Artificer】.
Dion’s mouth watered as he thought of several production Classes.
Having acquired numerous Classes during his second run, he had more than enough knowledge to craft items.
But knowledge was just knowledge.
Just as knowing many recipes doesn't make one a great chef, without the aid of a Class, that knowledge was nothing more than pie in the sky.
Of course, unlike other Awakened Ones, the ability to skip the learning process once he obtained a Class was in itself a remarkable feat.
‘Well, that will be resolved soon enough.’
A faint smile.
It was just as one formed on Dion's lips.
“Excuse me, Master. Have you perchance forgotten about this young lady?”
“Of course not, Shuttle.”
“My name is not Shuttle, it is Vault Keeper! How many times must I tell you?”
“But I’m your master, right? So what I call you is up to me.”
“How can you be so unreasonable!?”
“If you want to blame someone, blame the King of the Dark Grotto for giving me the right to be your master.”
“Eeeek...!”
Bound in chains and a straitjacket, her pale skin exposed, the purple-twin-tailed girl.
The Vault Keeper glared at Dion with her amethyst-like, translucent eyes.
But that too was brief.
Whether it was because she lost her will to argue in the face of her master, who simply kept smiling no matter how much she glared, she gave up with a *tch* and got to the reason she had called out to Dion in the first place.
“—Just when do you intend to take the King's trial?”
“I already told you. I'll take it later.”
“And I am asking when that ‘later’ will be!”
“Hmm, let’s see. If I had to say, when I feel the time is right?”
“That basically means never, doesn't it!?”
As the guardian of the King of the Dark Grotto's legacy and the examiner who confirmed one's worthiness to inherit it, the Vault Keeper openly showed her dissatisfaction.
‘What an ignorant master he is!’
To be chosen as the successor to the great King of the Dark Grotto should be an honor of three lifetimes, something one should bow down and accept with gratitude.
But to treat her, the administrator of the legacy and the examiner, like a mere girl.
The Vault Keeper couldn’t help but puff out her cheeks.
‘Hmph, it’s obvious he’s not qualified to be the King's successor, even without a trial.’
She had been dissatisfied from the beginning.
Judging by his personal musician and his noble elven maid, he seemed to be of some standing... but seeing him sneak around like this, he was probably just a noble from the frontier.
He was far from worthy of being her master, as she believed only someone on the level of a Baekdaesega head was worth testing.
The ‘stature’ of his soul, felt through their contract, was particularly faint even among high-level Awakened Ones, which only reinforced her opinion.
‘Just you wait! I will repay you for this humiliation.’
And so, the Vault Keeper made a resolution.
It might not be now, but someday, when she was free from these restraints, she would make this pretty-faced boy kneel and beg before her.
*Knock, knock.*
“My lord, it’s me.”
“It’s not ‘my lord,’ it’s ‘Young Master.’”
“Ah, right. My apologies, Young Master.”
“It’s fine, come in.”
*Creeak.*
It was then that a boy with rabbit ears opened the door and entered.
He must have been exhausted.
Dion asked the pale-faced, rabbit-eared boy, Naru, with a grin.
“So, the results?”
“I found out, for now.”
“You did?”
“‘You did?’... Is that all you have to say to me after all the trouble I went through?”
“Yep. For a Guild scout like you, finding this kind of information should be easy, right?”
“...”
“No?”
“...”
Bewilderment.
Deep conflict.
Stinging anger.
Even a sense of injustice.
After staring at Dion with a face contorted by a myriad of emotions, Naru finally twisted his face into something resembling a smile and spoke.
“O-of, course, it, is?”
“Yep, that’s how it should be.”
“...”
“Now, tell me.”
Regardless of whether the rabbit-kin boy with slumped shoulders was crying tears of blood at that cheerful reply, Dion asked leisurely.
Naru swallowed his resentment and laid out the information he had gathered.
“After investigating the place you mentioned, I confirmed the presence of a hidden investigation team.”
“Composition?”
“Three high-level Awakened Ones, eight low-level Awakened Ones, and about thirty other miscellaneous personnel.”
“Hmm, fewer than I thought.”
“That’s a dangerous force even for a decent noble family, you know...?”
“That’s why I said it’s fewer.”
Each high-level Awakened One was a one-man army, capable of overthrowing a small manor-level estate on their own.
Three such individuals was by no means a small number.
Even the Purgatory Manor, a subsidiary estate of the Lesser Demon Castle, had only three high-level Awakened Ones, including Siran, despite having many regular soldiers.
But...
“For an investigation team sent by my brother Ren, I mean.”
“That’s true, but still.”
Ren Unlight. The fifth son of the Unlight family, known among the Paljongyungma as the Iron-Blooded Mad Demon.
Recalling information about him, Naru wore an anxious expression.
No matter how widespread the Guild was throughout the Demon Territory, it was ultimately just an alliance of the lower class.
Lower nobles were one thing, but gathering information on one of the Baekdaesega, let alone the great demonic family Unlight, was far too dangerous.
Especially considering the purpose of that information.
“I am aware the Young Master is dumber than a water flea, but I will ask one last time for confirmation.”
That was why Parsha spoke with a cold expression.
“—Are you really going to do it?”
“Yes.”
“You must know that once you start, there’s no turning back.”
“I know, that’s why I’m doing this. As long as I was born an Unlight, this is something I have to do eventually.”
“...”
“In that sense, let me be the one to ask one last time.”
Even to his personal maid’s warning that this was the last chance to back down, Dion did not hesitate to answer.
This was the fate of the Unlights.
It was only a matter of when.
It was an inevitable process he must go through.
There was no reason to hesitate. He said so with a grin, then asked in return.
“—You can do it, right, Parsha?”
Was it because she never expected Dion to ask her such a question?
Or was it because she was captivated by his deep and bewitching red eyes that seemed to pierce through her heart?
With her usual expressionless face, as a maid, a nanny, and a vassal, she gazed intently at the boy she had raised since he was an infant, a boy who had become strangely unfamiliar recently.
The dark elf maid spoke coldly.
“Who do you take me for?”
“Who else? My competent personal maid who can handle any unreasonable request with ease.”
“If you know that, then don't ask such a foolish question.”
Watching the grinning boy, the expressionless dark elf maid, and the dissatisfied girl, the rabbit-kin boy, whose bangs covered his eyes, slumped his shoulders and muttered.
“It would have been nice if you’d checked to see if I was okay with this before dragging me into it...”
And so, a few days later—
Ren Unlight received some sudden, tragic news.
***
“...The investigation team sent to the Cloud Mist City has gone missing?”