Chapter 3
Chapter 3
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 3
Chapter Title: Suspicious Reunion
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Thud, thud!
The Eldest Young Lord, Alex Lichtenauer, and the search party rushed to the main gate of the Lichtenauer estate upon the report from the soldiers scouting the outskirts. They were at a complete loss for words at the sight of the Second Young Lord.
His disheveled hair, his tattered clothes.
The Second Young Lord, Ian Lichtenauer, was covered head to toe in dirt—from his fingertips to the tips of his toes. He looked just like a beggar from the back alleys.
Scratch, scratch!
Was it because some of the dirt hadn't fallen off yet?
As he scratched vigorously at the back of his head, irritated by the sensation on his scalp, clumps of dust that hadn't been shaken loose rained down.
"Yaaawn... everyone's working hard early in the morning, huh? What's all this fuss about?"
...Crack!
At the sight of Ian casually gaping wide and letting out a yawn, veins bulged on the foreheads of every search party member who had endured the stench of dung and horse piss since before dawn.
"Second Young Lord, where on earth have you been all this time—what have you been doing...?"
No matter that he was one of the only two direct descendants alongside the Eldest Young Lord, they simply couldn't hold back any longer.
"Search captain, that's enough."
The one who stopped the search captain, who was about to speak out even at the risk of punishment, was none other than the Eldest Young Lord himself.
Thud, thud!
The Eldest Young Lord, Alex Lichtenauer, walked slowly toward Ian.
"...?"
Ian stared at Alex, clueless as to what was going on.
Whoosh!
Alex silently pulled Ian into a tight embrace.
Even as the dirt from Ian soiled his neatly groomed appearance and pristine clothes, Alex didn't mind in the slightest.
"You rascal, where on earth have you been wandering off to without a word? Do you have any idea how worried everyone was? We searched high and low for you."
Smooth, smooth!
His hand—small compared to Lucas's but sturdy enough compared to Ian's—gently stroked Ian's head.
"I want to ask why you vanished so suddenly, but... you're back safe and sound, so that's what matters. Go inside and get some good rest for now. We'll talk later. As for the Gate Opening Ceremony, I'll speak to Father about it, so don't worry."
'Gate Opening Ceremony?'
What was that?
Unaware of the circumstances, Ian pondered. Alex simply gazed at him with warm eyes, oblivious or perhaps not to Ian's confusion.
'...Well, now.'
To any onlooker, it was the picture of brotherly affection, but Ian stared straight into Alex's eyes.
And soon enough.
...Heh!
Ian hugged his brother Alex's back in return.
"Sorry for making you worry, brother."
"...?"
Alex's body stiffened for a brief moment at his strangely unfamiliar brother's tone.
But no one noticed.
Splash!
"Hoo... ahh..."
As he soaked in the warm water, the fatigue from last night's ordeal seemed to melt away.
Though his soul was that of the Hegemon who had devoured the barbaric Northern Continent, this body was still that of a half-crippled child.
It was only natural that the flesh, which had nearly been buried alive in a remote mountain, felt utterly drained.
Gazing blankly at the steam rising to the ceiling, Ian recalled the man he had just encountered.
'Alex, huh...'
Alex Lichtenauer.
The pride of the Lichtenauer Martial Clan, a powerhouse of the Southern Continent—their Eldest Young Lord.
The treasured gem of the entire Titan territory, beloved by the clan and all who dwelled there.
He was known for his warm and gentle heart, embracing even his flawed younger brother without reproach.
Ian could sense that the original owner of this body harbored fond memories of Alex.
But Ian's instincts told him otherwise.
Alex Lichtenauer couldn't possibly be as pure as he seemed.
"He reeks, they say. The stench. Usually, the ones who look spotless on the outside are the ones stirring up trouble from behind."
The faint killing intent he had felt during that embrace.
The senses of Lucas—the Hegemon who had conquered the savage Northern Continent and ascended to the supreme realm—were screaming it.
Beware Alex Lichtenauer.
'Still, it's odd.'
The man called Alex, Ian's elder brother, possessed a physique and frame befitting the Lichtenauers' future hope—a perfect heir.
He was the firstborn son, not even a precarious second.
So why would such a man harbor killing intent toward Ian?
He could secure the succession just by biding his time.
'Well, time will tell if I wait patiently.'
Bubble, bubble!
Ian dunked his head underwater, halting his thoughts.
If his senses weren't playing tricks, then with Ian—who should have died—alive and returned, Alex Lichtenauer would make some move.
And in that case, Ian's task was simple.
He need only devote himself to reclaiming his past power.
The Hegemon never bowed to petty schemes.
Huff, huff!
On the mountain as dawn broke.
The two thugs, beaten like dogs by Ian on a summer day, dragged their battered bodies down the slope at last.
They were heading in the opposite direction from Titan territory.
"Ugh, not a single spot doesn't ache. Damn it. Looks like we got in deep this time."
They had thought it a simple job of fleecing some naive young master.
Who knew that young master would turn out to be anything but ordinary?
"Th-that monster brat... wh-why did he let us live?"
"How the hell should I know, you idiot! Just hurry up—my gut's screaming this ain't good."
Unlike his subordinate, who was simply glad to be alive, the thug couldn't shake the ominous premonition gnawing at him.
'That kid's strength was no joke. For him to be subdued and drugged...'
It surely wasn't the work of some soft amateurs.
Anyone capable of that would have long since noticed the kid's survival.
And that meant no mercy for them, the ones who botched the job.
"From now on—no, for the rest of our lives—stay the hell away from Titan territory. That's our only shot at surviving."
"Y-yes...? But our organization's in Titan territory..."
"You moron! Think it'll still be intact? We gotta wash our names, our identities—start over! We latched onto the wrong damn people!"
He yelled at his dim-witted underling, who still hadn't grasped the situation.
'Damn it, should never have taken this gig for the fat payout.'
The terms had seemed too good from the start—suspicious as hell.
"No time to dawdle. Whatever assets we stashed in the territory? We'll grab 'em later."
"......"
As the fool kept silent, the thug scowled fiercely and shouted.
"What're you doing, damn it? Move it! Time's not on our side!"
"......"
His subordinate didn't respond even to the prodding. Irritated, the thug whipped his head around.
"You bastard, where the hell's your head at—?!"
The thug couldn't finish his sentence.
For one, his diligently trailing subordinate lay collapsed in a pool of blood.
For two, a decapitated man couldn't speak.
Drip, drip!
Blood droplets trickled thinly from the slender rapier.
"Useless trash."
Whoosh!
The masked man shook the blood from his rapier, his gloomy voice dripping with contempt for the thugs.
Swish, swish!
Shadows rose one by one behind the man, as if they'd been there all along.
"All members of the Speckled Family in the territory have been eliminated."
"Survivors?"
"None."
"Good work."
The man gave the shadows a curt commendation.
His lord's command.
No outsiders could be allowed to know of that command—which could potentially besmirch his lord.
Even if they didn't know, any connection to those who took the commission was reason enough for death.
"Return to the clan."
At the man's order, the shadows melted into the darkness one by one.
All that remained in their wake were the pathetic corpses of the two thugs.
Wipe, wipe!
A man with the refined beauty of a master sculptor's masterpiece meticulously cleaned his hands with a handkerchief.
One wondered just how filthy they could be to warrant such thorough scrubbing.
...Halt!
The man's hands stopped dead as if by magic.
"Cleanup... thorough, I trust?"
It was strange. The room was empty save for himself, yet he spoke naturally into the void as if addressing someone.
Swish!
As if to prove his sanity, a shadow stretched long from the ceiling, revealing a figure.
"No outsiders who know even a sliver of the confidential order you issued remain in the territory."
"Good. I knew you'd handle those third-rate hacks properly—unlike them."
The man—the Eldest Young Lord Alex Lichtenauer's icy gaze fell upon the shadow.
"Still, blood is blood, it seems? Entrusting it to total outsiders was clever enough. But keeping around the incompetent fool who hired those hacks? That's on me."
"...!!"
The shadow bowed so low its head nearly touched the floor under the Eldest Young Lord's glacial stare.
"I-I'm sorry."
A tremor leaked into the shadow's voice.
His lord, Eldest Young Lord Alex Lichtenauer, hid a ruthless and ferocious nature beneath his kind and benevolent facade.
"...Enough. I ordered maximum discretion myself, so it's my fault too. How could you have foreseen that idiot surviving even drugged?"
"......"
The shadow said nothing. His words demanded no agreement.
"I convinced Father to push the Gate Opening Ceremony to tomorrow, but..."
Creeeak!
Alex rose slowly from his chair and walked to the window.
The moon had set, leaving only a few stars twinkling in the sky. Gazing at it, he muttered offhandedly.
"With our incompetent little brother's talents, he'll surely suffer humiliation from the collateral branches and executives at the clan's Gate Opening Ceremony. If one knew that in advance... wouldn't the bare minimum duty of this foolish elder brother be to prevent it?"
"...!!"
Grasping the implication of Alex's 'muttered soliloquy,' the shadow silently bowed to him and slipped from the room.
Swish!
Alex didn't even turn toward the vanishing shadow, his gaze fixed on the twinkling stars.
"Tsk tsk, little brother. I don't know how you came back, but wouldn't it have been better to just quietly drift off into a drugged slumber?"
Alex clicked his tongue softly at his brother, who had rejected his mercy and returned.
The few stars reflected in Alex's eyes gleamed brighter, devouring the surrounding starlight.
Among them, the largest and brightest—the South Polaris.
Alex firmly believed that star, the most radiant in the Southern Continent, was his own.
A fitting star for the future head of the mighty Lichtenauer Martial Clan.
Humans couldn't touch the stars, but Alex had long imagined it.
If he could reach the sky.
How to make the South Polaris shine the brightest.
To make that radiant South Polaris stand out, Alex concluded two things were needed.
One: Pluck away the stars nearly as bright, though not quite.
Two: Remove the worthless specks that couldn't even glow, dragging down the South Polaris's dignity.
"There are just too many useless stars around."
Third-rate stars tarnishing the South Polaris's dignity. Alex decided to start by clearing out that trash.
The shadow headed straight for the Second Young Lord's quarters—Ian's room.
...Click!
Quietly removing the latch from the outer window, it slowly slid it open.
Despite the large window opening, the movement was so stealthy that only the faint whisper of breeze could be heard.
Swish!
Merging with the darkness, the intruder slipped into Ian's room—the shadow who had overheard Alex's 'soliloquy' and acted.
His lord had issued no direct 'order.'
Even if things went awry, it wouldn't harm his lord.
'Not that it will.'
It was merely eliminating the clan's black sheep.
A rotten fish was still a fish; he'd survived the thugs by sheer luck.
But he couldn't evade the blade of an elite Shadow Corps agent like himself.
Look at him now.
Ian sat cross-legged, eyes closed, oblivious to the intruder's presence.
The wretch couldn't possibly cultivate aura, so he was mimicking some meditation in preparation for tomorrow's Gate Opening Ceremony.
'Second Young Lord, Ian Lichtenauer.'
A blemish on his lord—the next master of the great Lichtenauer Clan—Alex Lichtenauer.
Swish!
The shadow cautiously raised its hand.