Chapter 90
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 90
Chapter Title: I Want to Go Home
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I want to go home...
Why had the bastard son of the Argent Family wanted the corpses of that old heretic couple branded as heretics?
That question had lingered in his mind ever since he set foot in this unsettling territory.
And now, at last, it was taking shape.
"Even if I wanted to supply more chimeras, it's not that easy right now."
Walter Argent waved his hand dismissively, as if annoyed.
"The most important ingredient is missing. Demon blood."
"Demon blood..."
Julius furrowed his brow.
"Aren't chimeras made just by combining humans and beasts?"
"Hah."
Walter scoffed mockingly.
"This is why rookies are so clueless~ Did you really think someone like me, Walter Argent, would be satisfied with such crude results?"
It was an insolent tone.
A complete lack of respect for his counterpart.
Just as the rumors said.
The third heir of the Argent Family.
A shut-in weirdo with zero social graces who rarely ventured out in public.
Even as an Argent heir, to act this way in front of a cardinal of the Papal Court...
But right now, Julius was in the weaker position.
He swallowed his displeasure and forced a smile.
And in that moment, he clearly understood why Valerian had become this man's 'big client'.
"My chimeras require three key ingredients: humans, beasts, and demon blood."
"......"
Julius was momentarily speechless.
"Demons... aren't they byproducts of those forbidden experiments from the past? Using a taboo existence itself as an experimental subject. Taboo upon taboo."
"Hahaha."
Walter laughed heartily, clearly pleased.
"Impressive, right? Who do you think I am!"
It wasn't praise. It was closer to mockery.
But oblivious to that, Walter didn't care at all.
And then, the scattered pieces in Julius's mind clicked together.
The time when Walter's experiments suddenly started yielding tangible results.
The point when the chimeras' growth rate accelerated abnormally.
And—
The day the heretic doctor couple was captured.
"......"
The cardinal was certain.
On that day, along with the old couple, there was an unidentified female demon captured.
That being was Walter Argent's core experimental subject.
'What a bizarre coincidence.'
When he first realized this, he had briefly deluded himself.
That he could use this opportunity to raise a holy knight order rivaling Valerian's.
But reality was harsh.
With the massive 'big client' Valerian already in place, Walter had no reason to supply him with equivalent chimeras.
The competition among cardinals vying for the next pope was notoriously cutthroat, known not just within the Papal Court but throughout noble society.
Even a socially inept third son of the Argent Family would demand a fitting price for a deal that stabbed Valerian in the back.
So Julius changed tack.
Once again, a crisis was an opportunity.
"That female demon. I'll get her back for you."
"R-Really?"
"Yes."
Julius smiled.
"In exchange... share some of those chimeras you've been supplying exclusively to Cardinal Valerian."
A brief silence.
Then Walter's lips curled up.
"Heh heh. I get what you mean. Return that female demon, and I'll start supplying your side too."
The deal was struck.
Possessing demons was a blatant taboo in any nation.
No, it transcended law—it crossed a fundamental line of humanity.
Which made this not blackmail, but a righteous cause.
'Take that female demon from Lucas Argent. Then return her to Walter Argent.'
Gaining trust by returning what was taken.
Even as a bastard, he was Argent blood.
A cardinal, ultimately an outsider, couldn't pressure him head-on.
But.
'It was the family head who permitted him to take that demon.'
That simplified everything.
No need to persuade Lucas.
Just meet the one above him.
Julius immediately requested a private audience in the main hall's reception room.
"It's a Papal Court matter regarding heretics. I have urgent words for the family head—relay that."
"Understood."
Once the messenger left, Julius took a slow breath.
Agram, head of the Argent Family.
This would be his first direct meeting.
The Papal Court.
The continent's sole religion, openly championing 'justice'.
Even that Papal Court dared not confront the Argent Family directly.
The dark family that gripped all shadows.
And at its pinnacle stood Agram Argent, whom he would soon face.
'What kind of man is he...'
There was a hint of tension.
But that was all.
If anything, his shoulders felt lighter.
He had already met the naive fool born of Agram's blood, oblivious to the world's ways.
'At least better than Walter Argent... sane, I hope.'
Besides, he was a cardinal of the holiest faith in the world.
No matter how much the Argents dominated the continent's darkness, that was only in the shadows.
In simple terms, under the light, Cardinal Julius—praised across the continent—held the higher status.
As he savored his tea with that thought in the reception room—
...Drip.
"Huh?"
For no reason, cold sweat trickled down beside his eye.
His breath quickened. His heart raced without cause.
His body began to tremble faintly.
"W-What's happening all of a sudden?"
Was it illness?
Or accumulated fatigue?
Julius tried to steady his breathing, but the air filling his lungs felt oppressively heavy.
And without a sound, the reception room door opened.
Creeeak—
That noise came too late.
Julius looked up.
A figure whose presence there he couldn't even pinpoint when it began.
A face devoid of any color.
Eyes that reflected no light.
He approached. No footsteps.
No scrape of chair, no rustle of clothing—he simply existed across from Julius.
In that instant, Julius understood.
This was no illness, no fatigue.
His body reacted before his reason.
The instinctual freeze when a beast faces its predator.
Primal 'fear'.
"Cardinal Julius."
"Y-Yes... Family Head Agram."
"I heard you wished to see me regarding the heretic incident."
Agram continued without breaking eye contact.
"My time isn't that free."
His voice was low and calm.
Yet it made clear how trivial the time granted to the man before him was.
"So get to the point. Why seek me out?"
He wasn't the pope.
Yet he was the de facto number two in the Goddess Church, a cardinal.
Still, Agram's demeanor held no respect—only the barest courtesy, laced with indifference.
As if dealing with a 'human' who could communicate, but not worth prolonged engagement.
Julius swallowed dryly.
But he couldn't retort—that stung all the more.
'Ugh...!'
He had nearly placed that fool Walter Argent on the same level as this man.
Realizing that sent chills racing up his spine.
If anything, it was stranger that such a naive youth had emerged from under this man's wing.
But as the saying went, even a dragon's lair could be survived with a clear head.
Even a bastard—still one of the Argent bloodline—held a demon as a slave.
That alone meant he still held cards.
His heart pounded wildly.
Thump, thump, thump.
Yet Julius forcibly steadied his breath.
He couldn't show weakness now.
"Yes."
He deliberately raised his voice a notch.
"The reason I've come here is none other than Lucas Argent—your blood kin, Family Head."
Agram's eyebrow twitched ever so slightly.
"...Lucas?"
"Yes."
Julius nodded.
"Were you aware that Lucas Argent has recently acquired a demon slave?"
For a moment, Agram said nothing.
That brief silence pressed down like a weight on the air.
But then, his next words lightened Julius's body unwittingly.
"First I've heard of it."
"...!"
Good news.
If it had been directly permitted by the family head, he'd have to undo that permission—a whole other hell.
But if it hadn't even reached his ears, it meant it could be revoked under the family head's authority anytime.
Julius gained confidence.
"As you well know, Family Head Agram, demons are vile beings that corrupt this world."
He pressed on with firmer tone.
"Creatures that should be exterminated on sight. Keeping one around, even as a slave? That's clear overreach and a violation of doctrine."
He concluded with the face of a pious enforcer of justice.
"So, hand over that demon slave owned by Lucas Argent to the Papal Court immediately. We'll handle the rest."
Perfect wrap-up.
Demons were enemies of the entire continent.
Bastards were thorns in noble society's side.
This was the merciless Argent Family, infamous for shedding no blood or tears.
Its head had no reason to shield a bastard's 'property'—that's what Julius had banked on.
A faint smile tugged at his lips.
But then.
"Another slave, huh..."
Agram spoke.
"That demon slave Lucas has—what's its 'gender'?"
"...Pardon?"
A completely unexpected question.
Gender?
In this situation?
Julius's mind blanked briefly, but he answered.
"Female, but...?"
In that instant.
"...Pfft."
"......?"
A short, breathy laugh.
But soon—
"Heh. Heh heh... Heh heh heh heh heh..."
The laughter deepened, and the air grew colder.
As if the entire space was absorbing some emotion.
"That guy..."
Agram's lips curled in a way inhumanly wide.
"Now he's even gone after demons... Heh heh heh heh heh heh."
There was no joy or anger in the laugh.
Only anticipation.
As if a long-cast bait had finally bitten.
"As expected...! Blood doesn't lie."
"Hiiik?!"
Julius's body froze instinctively.
Only then did he realize.
He hadn't exposed the bastard's deviance.
He had merely pointed a calamity in the exact right direction.
Before the now-laughing Agram, Julius stood drenched in cold sweat, barely breathing, frozen solid.