Chapter 84
Chapter 84
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 84
Chapter Title: Ramsey
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Ramsey.
Because he was a bastard, he couldn't inherit the Schubert family name.
Bastards of nobles had no family name, like commoners. Damian receiving a surname was a rare exception.
Naturally, they couldn't expect a normal noble lifestyle.
Most lived in small buildings next to the main house and were constantly mistreated by the legitimate heirs.
As a result, they often ended up more authoritarian and cruel than ordinary nobles.
It was the only way to prove themselves.
Or, like Damian, they grew up pursuing their own destruction. Every moment was spent living in fear, always watching their step.
But in that regard, Ramsey had it better than Damian.
Agnes's father, the previous head of the Schubert family, Luce, was a man of great character.
For some reason, the previous lady of the house left the family after giving birth to Agnes.
Normally, one would take a new wife, but Luce did not.
Then one day, an old woman showed up leading a young boy.
She claimed that her daughter, who had recently died, had slept with Luce and borne him a child.
Naturally, all the retainers scoffed.
They knew Luce's character too. A man upright as a sword would never commit such an indiscretion.
However, contrary to everyone's expectations, Luce acknowledged the boy as his own son.
He gave the old woman a modest sum of money and named the child Ramsey.
The favoritism didn't end there.
He permitted him to live in the main house and ordered all retainers to treat him no differently from Agnes.
There was, of course, strong backlash, but Luce's decision was firm.
What was Agnes and Ramsey's relationship like back then? Looking back now, it probably wasn't bad.
Agnes took after Luce and had her upright side, and with a new family member appearing during her loneliness, she must have been happy.
Even so, that happiness didn't last long.
Luce was one of the most renowned knights of his time.
There were high hopes he could reclaim his past glory as the captain of the Imperial Knights.
Such a man was murdered by a fifteen-year-old boy—his own bastard son.
It was an outcome that seemed impossible.
No matter how talented Ramsey was, killing a seasoned knight at that age was unthinkable.
He must have used poison. No, he couldn't bring himself to kill his own child. Bastards are all the same.
Prejudice against bastards was already rock bottom, but Ramsey's patricide plunged it even lower.
-That bastard might harm His Majesty later too, just like that filthy patricidal scum Ramsey or whatever.
It was something the Fourth Prince Arkin had said. That was when Damian first learned about Agnes and Ramsey.
But the incident wrapped up quietly.
A pursuit team found the boy's corpse in the Teya Mountains, killed by a beast.
The Schubert family announced it was the patricidal Ramsey, and the headship passed to his younger brother, Ballack.
Afterward, Agnes was forced into an absurd engagement with the bastard Damian due to her uncle's coercion.
That's how people think the story ends.
No. For Agnes herself, it's a story that hasn't ended yet.
Ramsey, now a chimera, is still alive. And behind him is Ballack.
‘Already?’
Even before his regression, Ramsey reemerged in imperial history by committing another murder.
But that was years later, and the target wasn't Leon.
Was this another butterfly effect from Damian's regression?
‘First, I need to calm Agnes down.’
Her condition was far from normal.
No matter that Ballack was pulling the strings, it was Ramsey who actually killed her father.
She could never forgive him. He was family once, who betrayed their grace.
She wouldn't be able to contain her emotions. Damian, of all people, understood that feeling.
“Agnes…!”
Damian reached for her shoulder, but Agnes moved faster.
With a gust of wind, her figure vanished. It was too swift for either Damian or Dennis to react.
“Wh-what's going on all of a sudden? Does Agnes know something?”
“Let's chase her first.”
Outside, a drizzle was falling.
The barrier protecting the Magic Tower blocked most natural disasters, but let rainwater through.
It was for the tower's vegetation, but that erased Agnes's footprints.
Even asking passersby yielded nothing beyond claims of feeling a gust of wind—her movements were too quick.
“Spread out and search, Duke Dennis.”
At Damian's words, Dennis contacted the other guardians and guards. Though he hadn't heard the details, he sensed something was off.
‘Where did she go?’
It didn't seem like she was just venting emotions. There was clear purpose.
Did she see something in the sword marks left on Leon's body?
“No leads. She's nowhere.”
Damian and Dennis regrouped at Ezekiel's mansion. Both were drenched and miserable-looking.
“Shall I lend a hand?”
“It's fine, Lord Ezekiel. That would just make things bigger unnecessarily.”
“Not here either. And not at her usual spots. She's still inside the Magic Tower, though. In that case….”
“Ah!”
Damian groaned, pressing his temple. He'd overlooked one place.
“The sewers.”
It wasn't a place anyone would normally think of. Without a clear goal like before, there was no reason to go.
Entering the sewers required various preparations, but with a gas mask, one could manage.
Agnes's subspace pouch still held the gas mask she'd used in the past.
“Agnes!”
Damian's guess was half right. Agnes lay half-collapsed at the sewer entrance.
Her gas mask was split in two, and her body was covered in slashes. Identical to those on Leon's body.
“I'm sorry. I let him, get away.”
Agnes's words came out haltingly.
She'd lost a lot of blood. And with the rain, her body temperature was plummeting.
“Stay still. Bear the pain.”
A bright light emanated from Ezekiel's hand.
Agnes's condition improved bit by bit, but she needed to get to the infirmary as soon as possible.
“Did you know who the culprit was? If so, you should have told us first! This is the Magic Tower!”
Dennis's sharp rebuke made Agnes lower her head.
He was entirely right.
But Damian knew why she hadn't chosen that path.
She didn't want anyone else taking her revenge.
“Where did he go?”
“Deeper into, the sewers.”
Hearing that, Dennis immediately contacted the other guardians. Blocking the sewer entrances was the priority.
“Let's move.”
Damian scooped Agnes up.
In his memories of the previous world, she'd been quite embarrassed, but now she lacked even the strength for that.
Ezekiel created transparent platforms that carried them to the infirmary. Thanks to his magic, they no longer got wet.
Teleportation would be fastest, but even short-range might be too much for Agnes's body.
“Da-Da-Damian? Lord Ezekiel? And Duke Dennis too?”
When the famous trio arrived carrying a blood-soaked girl, the infirmary mage freaked out.
“Fortunately, no fatal wounds, but you'll need weeks to recover fully.”
In other words, late initial treatment could have been life-threatening.
“…”
Once the healer left, only the four remained in the room. In the silence, Agnes moved her dry lips.
“Ramsey. My half-brother Ramsey is the culprit.”
“That patricidal bastard? He's dead.”
Ramsey's patricide was known throughout the empire. So was his end.
Hearing it from Agnes herself, though, Ezekiel and Dennis didn't know how to react.
“He's alive. Really.”
But her resolute expression made it impossible to dismiss as a joke.
“How did you know he was in the sewers?”
“When we were young, we had this game. Passing messages through sword marks.”
Agnes hadn't just identified Ramsey from the sword marks—she'd read his message too.
Come to the sewers. That's what was written in the marks.
“So that bastard lured you by… No, not that.”
Ezekiel trailed off and shook his head.
If calling Agnes was the only goal, there were easier targets.
“Killing Leon was the main objective. Luring Agnes was secondary.”
Agnes nodded at Damian's words.
“What happened then?”
“I lost.”
Crunch. Blood trickled from Agnes's lower lip.
“I couldn't do anything. I trained nonstop to cut him down, thought I could win…”
Tears fell onto her clenched fists gripping the blanket. They looked both cold and hot.
“Every time my sword neared him, I remembered our childhood. He was a kid who smiled so brightly, so why… why…”
It wasn't that her sword missed. Or that her skill was lacking.
Her resolve broke. Agnes couldn't bring herself to cut down Ramsey—her half-brother who'd committed patricide.
‘My influence isn't nothing either.’
The pre-regression Agnes had remained solitary. Sword and revenge— she'd met no one who understood her in those.
But now there was Damian. A companion to share the sword with. That bond led her to new people.
It softened her heart again. That emotion hindered her from striking Ramsey down.
“…”
Damian couldn't fully empathize with that feeling.
Michael was his half-brother, but he felt no hesitation in cutting him down.
His throat had already been severed by that sword once, and they shared no brotherly memories.
Thus, only Agnes's faint sobs filled the quiet room.
* * *
Agnes didn't leave her room for a while. She only saw the healers checking on her.
“You should be fine for daily life now. But…”
She still hadn't pulled herself together.
“The greater the talent, the more devastating a single defeat. She has to overcome it herself.”
Only the three in the room—and Tower Master Ariella—knew the culprit was Ramsey.
To the public, Agnes had been defeated while pursuing Leon's killer.
Ramsey was still in the sewers. But even Dennis and the guardians racked their brains on how to proceed.
It wasn't like the chimera hunt with trackers.
Nor like Cadrel, with magical traces to follow.
In the end, searching the sewers directly was the only option. Like finding a needle in a desert.
“When did you arrive?”
Damian ran into Ariella on his way to Agnes's room.
“I was worried. Thought maybe I could help somehow…”
Ariella smiled softly and patted Damian's shoulder.
“Seeing your face, I know there's nothing for me to do.”
With that, Ariella left the mansion, leaving only a vase of fresh flowers to pass to Agnes.
Creak. The door wasn't fully closed.
Agnes, sitting in a chair gazing out the window, only noticed Damian after quite some time.
“Come with me for a bit.”
Damian grabbed her wrist and pulled. Agnes rose weakly, mouth slightly agape.
Taking even her sword, Damian led her to the underground training hall beneath the mansion.
“…I'm sorry. I worried you unnecessarily, Damian.”
Agnes said, eyes downcast. Her voice still lacked strength.
“I'll leave the Magic Tower soon. No more trouble for you because of this…”
“I didn't come here to talk.”
Damian held out her sword to Agnes. Her unfocused eyes accepted it almost reflexively.
“Draw your sword, Agnes Schubert.”
Damian drew his own as he spoke. Agnes's gaze still wandered.
“I'm grateful every time, but today…”
Whoosh. Flames ignited in Agnes's pupils.
Green flames poured from Damian's hand, enveloping his blade.
“And come at me. With everything you've got.”