Chapter 97
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 97
The moment he realized the identity of the man sitting across from them, Turan quickly gripped Meisa’s hand.
Her body, which had instinctively started to turn toward Turan, froze stiff.
‘At least it’s a relief the person in question isn’t here.’
Since they had introduced Solif as a porter from a vagrant knight background upon their arrival, he was currently resting in the servants' quarters while looking after Bije.
Recalling their first meeting, Solif’s acting skills weren't exactly poor, but the chances of him maintaining his composure if he suddenly ran into his own father were slim.
“Mr. Godis, these are the two I mentioned before—young Turan and Lady Misha. It’s quite a coincidence that you’ve all crossed paths like this.”
“I am Godis Baraha. May the Sun grant infinite glory to you two young souls.”
Greeting them in a stilted, archaic tone, Godis looked at Turan and Meisa with somewhat bleary eyes. It was a gaze clearly intended to scout them out.
“So, Turan. By any chance, do you know which family that man named Sol—the one traveling with you back then—hailed from? I didn't realize it at the time, but looking back now, he bears a striking resemblance to the heir of Baraha I mentioned.”
“I’m not sure. To be honest, we parted ways not long after leaving the hot springs.”
“Oh, is that so? My apologies, Mr. Godis. That is a shame.”
Upon hearing this, Godis stared at Turan with sunken eyes and threw out another question.
“You said your name was Turan, correct?”
“Yes.”
“Did you not recently subjugate a pirate crew in the Southern Sea?”
“That’s right. I don’t recall the name, but I dealt with them because they had the audacity to kidnap and enslave people.”
After saying that, Turan added as if he had just remembered something.
“Come to think of it, I did run into that friend back then. The pirates had three islands they used as bases, so I was clearing them one by one. When I reached the last island, he had already taken care of all the officers.”
This was a story Turan had fabricated on the spot. He claimed he had gone to subjugate the Cobinus Pirates, happened to meet Solif—who had supposedly dealt with the Baraha nobles on his own—and then parted ways after traveling together briefly.
‘Of course, this won't completely dispel his suspicions...’
Still, if he could just make it ambiguous whether Turan had actually clashed with the Baraha nobles or not, it would be a significant gain.
“I see... Did this man named Sol happen to mention where he was heading?”
“I heard he was going west. He mentioned hearing stories about the Sky Mountains and wanting to see what lay beyond them.”
Solif actually had expressed a desire to go there once, so it wasn't entirely a lie. Though Turan doubted the man would take it at face value.
“Are the two of you traveling alone now?”
“I recently took on a servant who used to be a vagrant knight. He’s a hardworking porter.”
Since more than a few people had already seen Solif when they arrived, Turan spoke casually, as if it were an insignificant detail.
At that, Godis’s eyes widened. “Would it be possible for me to meet this servant?”
As expected, he seemed to suspect that Solif might be disguised using a Mimic God’s mask. The fact that he didn't dismiss the idea of the Baraha heir acting as a porter was likely because, as his father, he knew Solif’s personality all too well.
Just as Turan was about to express his displeasure and refuse, Lida lightly clapped her hands to draw their attention.
“Now, Mr. Godis! It’s fine to talk with such passion, but I’d like to catch up with my old friends now. If you could leave us—”
“Great Lady, I still have business with these young people.”
Perhaps thinking he had found a lead in the fact that one of the three suspected individuals had been replaced by a servant, Godis interrupted Lida in a somewhat agitated manner.
Turan frowned at the rudeness, but a cold, stern voice quickly settled the atmosphere in the drawing room.
“See here, Baraha.”
Despite her youthful face, Lida usually maintained a languid attitude, as if she had seen everything the world had to offer. But now, she was glaring at Godis with a frigid expression Turan had never seen before.
“I have accepted you as a guest and treated you with nothing but hospitality for weeks, yet you dare to interfere with me meeting my dear old friends. From the looks of it, you’re even ready to start an interrogation.”
“I was merely—”
“I treated you with courtesy as an elder, even though you’re younger than my own grandson, but do I look like a joke to you now?!”
With a sharp shout, a loud crack echoed as her pipe snapped and fell onto the tiger-skin rug.
Cowed by her fierce aura, Godis muttered an apology and hurried out of the drawing room. Only then did Lida let out a deep sigh.
“He’s a tiring man, truly. I’m sorry, Turan, Lady Misha. I’ve shown you something unsightly after inviting you here.”
“It seemed like he was suspicious of my servant. I’m worried he might try to find him and do him harm.”
“I guarantee that if he dares to do such a thing, he won’t leave this Merem alive. He wouldn't dare cross me like that.”
It was a fierce reaction, unlike the usually gentle Lida. It seemed Solif’s father had genuinely angered her. She lightly rang a bell beside her to summon a servant and instructed them to stop Godis if he tried to seek out Turan’s party’s servant.
“When did that man arrive?”
“It’s been a little over two weeks, I believe.”
After saying that, Lida looked somewhat apologetic.
“When I returned home and saw the portraits, I realized he had the same face as your companion. I shared the story with my family as a bit of gossip, but it seems one of my grandsons reported it to the Baraha side, hoping to get his hands on a magic device.”
Come to think of it, hadn't they said they would give a decent magic device to anyone who reported Solif’s location? To someone of Lida’s standing, it would be meaningless, but it was certainly tempting enough for a young noble.
“So that’s what happened...”
“I must apologize once more for causing you unnecessary trouble. I’ve given the boy a stern scolding, so please, forgive us.”
“There’s nothing to forgive. It’s not as if I asked you to keep it a secret.”
Since he had come here to ask for a favor, Turan accepted Lida’s apology graciously.
*
After smoothing over the atmosphere with some small talk and updates on their lives, Turan finally brought up his main purpose. He explained that his companion Meisa—using the alias Misha—was severely injured and that he wanted to entrust her treatment to Lida.
“Hmm? Where are you hurt? You look perfectly fine on the outside... No, actually, you look much better than before. You were far too thin back then, but you look much healthier now. Though you could still stand to put on a bit more weight.”
To grandmothers, any young person looks dangerously thin unless they are severely obese. At Lida’s words, Meisa gave an awkward smile and slightly lifted her clothes to reveal the horrific scar where her body had been severed at the waist.
Lida’s eyes widened in shock at the gruesome sight.
“This is...?”
“She was injured while hunting a powerful magical beast recently. We took emergency measures, but as you can see, the condition is poor.”
“Good heavens... For nobles of your caliber to be injured like this, it must have been a creature even stronger than Icool.”
Turan briefly imagined Icool fighting the Great Sea Serpent. The Monkey King, who possessed mana on par with Solif before he absorbed the sea serpent’s mana, was certainly a powerful being, but he likely wouldn't have stood a chance against that monster.
“Indeed.”
“Well, I’m glad it’s not a difficult request. Of course, to borrow the power of a healer of my level, one would normally have to fill a room with gold and jewels. But since I owe you an apology, I shall do it for free.”
Meisa bowed her head politely in gratitude at Lida’s playful boast.
“Thank you for your help, Lady Lida.”
“It’s nothing. Now, let’s get this settled right away—”
Lida placed her hand on Meisa’s abdomen and began to gather her mana, but her expression quickly changed. Stepping back in surprise, she murmured softly.
“Lady Misha... no, just who are you...?”
“I was going to mention this first, but Misha is quite powerful. That’s why we came to you, Lady Lida.”
Lida looked back and forth between Meisa and Turan with a face full of doubt before letting out a groan. She seemed to be searching her memory for any noble from a Great Family who matched Meisa’s description, but nothing came to mind.
“I felt it before, but you really are a man of many secrets.”
“May we proceed with the request?”
“Let me take another look.”
Fortunately, instead of prying further, Lida began to examine Meisa’s wound again. Unlike her previous casual attempt, this time she had Meisa lift her top halfway and carefully felt around the injured area. Turan politely turned his head away.
“Oh dear.”
“Is it very bad?”
“I’m not sure if ‘bad’ is the right word, but because it was clumsily reattached with weak restorative power, the inside is a mess. No wonder you were carrying her; her legs won't move because of this.”
According to Lida’s explanation, the inside of Meisa’s body was essentially just patched together. The internal organs and blood vessels were roughly aligned, but the bones, nerves, and muscles were literally just stuck back together haphazardly.
This was because the wound had been closed too aggressively when the injury first occurred, and the recovery potion artifact used for treatment was of too low a grade for someone of Meisa’s level. To fix a wound that had healed so poorly, a healing spell far more powerful than usual was required.
“Then...”
“It seems our Family Head will have to step in personally to fix this.”
The only person capable of exerting overwhelming healing power on Meisa—who had grown to a level comparable to the heads of most Great Families—was the head of the Lavitas family.
“If we are to borrow the Family Head’s power, it won’t be for free.”
“Absolutely not. In fact, it might not be possible for any price. Even for the Family Head, forcibly restructuring a wound like this would consume a vast amount of strength.”
The heads of mage families rarely left their main estates, primarily to protect their families and vassals from potential attacks. While a family with no enemies like the Lavitas might go on a simple hot spring trip, they still had to avoid situations that drained a large amount of their power.
“However, it’s not as if there’s no way at all.”
“Could you tell us?”
“It is easier to treat a fresh wound than it is to forcibly correct one that has healed incorrectly.”
Turan and Meisa’s faces went pale as they realized what Lida meant. She was saying they had to cut her waist open all over again and then reattach it properly.
“Th-that’s...”
The trembling in Meisa’s voice alone was enough to guess the magnitude of the pain and terror she had felt at the time. However, she soon gritted her teeth and nodded.
“I... I’m okay. If that’s what it takes to fix it properly.”
“What a brave young lady! Very well. In that case, I shall speak to the Family Head myself.”
“Is it still too difficult for you to do it even with that method, Lady Lida?”
“It is. If it were any other part of the body, I could reattach it slowly, but one can’t exactly stop halfway while reattaching a severed waist, can they?”
It was a logical point, so Turan nodded with a low groan. Having discussed the method, they now had to discuss the payment. If it were just Lida’s mana, she might have done it for free out of goodwill, but they couldn't expect the same when the Family Head was involved.
“Do you have something prepared as payment?”
“Yes. I have a fair amount of wealth.”
In addition to the vast amount of gold and silver he had unearthed on the island, he was also prepared to offer to handle a few troublesome tasks in exchange if that wasn't enough.
Lida nodded.
“Understood. I’ll mention it to the Family Head today, and when he has time, we shall all meet and discuss it.”
Ignoring the fact that Lida had casually referred to the Family Head as ‘that boy,’ Turan picked Meisa up and left the drawing room. The person whose presence he had felt outside for a while now spoke to him.
“Mr. Turan.”
The voice belonged to Solif’s father, Godis Baraha. He had been waiting for Turan outside ever since he left the drawing room.
“If you’re asking to meet my servant, the answer is no. I’m sure you’ll just find some strange fault with him.”
“Ah... well, in that case, could you at least accept this?”
Perhaps because he had been scolded so severely earlier, Godis seemed to have lost his vigor. Instead of being stubborn, he held out a single letter. Since Turan’s arms were occupied holding Meisa, she checked his expression before taking the letter on his behalf.
“If you should ever happen to meet that man named Sol... the heir of Baraha, please show him that letter.”
With that, Godis retreated, his shoulders slumped. It seemed he truly only intended to deliver the letter.
“There isn't anything strange about this letter, is there?”
“I don’t sense anything for now.”
Just as she said, to the senses of a Holy Relic, it was nothing more than an ordinary letter with not a trace of mana.
A short while later, after returning to their assigned quarters, Turan first summoned Solif and Bije from the servants' quarters.
“So, how was it? Did you get healed? Well, looking at you, I guess not.”
“They said I’ll need the help of the Family Head here.”
“Gah.”
Solif let out a groan, clearly thinking of the cost, but he quickly swallowed his words. He had noticed the heavy expression on Meisa’s face as she sat on the bed.
Turan used wind magic to seal the air around the room before speaking.
“More importantly, there’s something related to you.”
“What is it?”
“Your father is here.”
At Turan’s words, Solif’s face twisted into a bizarre expression. It was closer to absurdity than fear, anger, or rejection.
“Him? Why on earth?!”
“It seems he was mobilized as part of some search party tracking your movements. He already suspects you because I mentioned having a servant, so be careful if you run into him. Better yet, don't run into him at all.”
“Good grief... I’m not confident I could avoid being caught if we met.”
Since Solif rarely spoke about his parents, Turan didn't know exactly what kind of relationship he had with his father. However, judging by his tone, there didn't seem to be any great resentment.
“And your father sent a letter.”
“A letter?”
“He asked me to give it to you if we met.”
When Turan held out the letter he had received earlier, Solif’s face turned serious as he opened it. After a moment, his expression began to sour.
“Damn it, I shouldn't have looked.”
“Why?”
“Oh, it’s the usual stuff. Blaming me for everything...”
Solif held out the letter as if telling them to read it, so Turan took it and read it along with Meisa. As expected from their first meeting, Godis’s letter was filled with all sorts of archaic expressions, making it difficult to read.
After reading for a while, Meisa summarized it briefly.
“To sum it up... your mother is grieving because you ran away from home. Did you kill the family elites who went to bring you back? If so, come back and repent. The Family Head said he would forgive all your sins... that kind of thing.”
“Forgive my ass. After putting out a wanted poster and everything.”
Ignoring Solif’s grumbling, Turan narrowed his eyes as he read the letter, sensing something strange. A few parts of the sentences and spacing felt subtly awkward.
“Hmm...”
“What is it?”
“No, it’s just that this part here is a bit strange.”
“Where... Oh!”
Meisa, who had been looking at the part Turan pointed to, let out a small cry of realization.
“If you read diagonally starting from two characters in from this part, a sentence appears. I used to do this with my mother a long time ago.”
“What does it say?”
At Solif’s question, Meisa traced the characters with her finger and read them aloud.
“Never... come... back.”