Chapter 67
Chapter 67
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 067
Chapter Title: Departure for the Main House
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The exchange tournament had ended days ago.
"Take care on your way."
Dante's candidates departed.
"We learned a lot."
Handshakes exchanged between them.
No grudges lingered.
If anything,
"Don't die before we meet again."
A sticky bond remained.
That was exactly what Sein had intended from the start.
If he had simply crushed Dante at the end of conquering the labyrinth, this camaraderie wouldn't have formed.
But by accepting Dante midway and sharing life-and-death struggles in the hellish labyrinth, they had become true comrades.
The departing Dante.
"I'm jealous."
One of Rasiel's candidates muttered.
"Why?"
A puzzled tone.
"They didn't sign any contracts."
"......"
Silence fell at those words.
They followed Sein wholeheartedly now, but magical contracts still bound them.
In contrast, Dante had pledged loyalty to Sein without any contract.
"They probably did too...?"
A self-consoling remark from wounded pride.
No one believed it was sincere.
But then.
"I've already torn them up."
Sein's voice rang out.
"R-Really?"
That demon did such a thing?
"Sein!"
The candidates looked ready to shed tears of emotion.
"Those contracts were never necessary to begin with. True obedience comes from fear anyway."
Sein spoke in a dry voice, arms crossed.
"If you want to run, go ahead. I'll make you taste hell."
At that sight, the candidates sweated coldly instead of tears.
The Sein they'd seen so far was exactly the type to do it.
"Until you've repaid what I gave you, consider yourselves my slaves."
"...Of course."
"What did we even receive...?"
Chris, who was always called oblivious, asked.
"Your lives. Your futures. Need I say more?"
They regretted hearing what they didn't need to.
"...How do we repay that?"
"By repaying it in kind, obviously. Don't worry. I'll use you for a hundred years and send you back."
"Humans die in a hundred years...."
But the candidates' expressions weren't all that dark.
They had all chosen this already.
And a few more days passed.
"We announce that Sein Demorus has been selected as Rasiel's successor candidate."
Alman Demorus made the announcement in Rasiel's name.
-Sein Demorus.
The Sein who had first entered Rasiel's garden.
Back then, he was treated as nothing but an outrageously mad fool.
But now.
"Waaaaah-!"
No one failed to acknowledge Sein.
To the candidates, he was their benefactor.
To Rasiel's members, he had brought victory.
"With this, the candidate competition concludes."
The end of the candidate competition.
And before even a day passed, news from Dante arrived.
-Dante will select no one from the candidate competition.
Forfeiture.
With Dante's candidates now Sein's limbs, choosing one as successor wasn't a bad option, but they didn't.
The battles above weren't won with such shallow tactics anyway.
-Instead, we, Dante, declare our support for Rasiel's successor candidate, Sein Demorus.
Dante declared support for Sein instead.
"Insane."
It was an unbelievable turn.
The first in Demorus history.
Never before had two of the three great organizations supported a single candidate.
The continent buzzed.
But Sein's impression was simple.
"Now the tutorial's finally over."
*
*
*
"Sein. I still don't get it. Is this really right?"
Ballak spoke to Sein in a troubled voice.
"You're really okay with this?"
Sein and Ballak stood before a carriage.
"This is better."
Sein replied firmly.
Ballak Demorus.
Today, he left Rasiel.
With the successor candidate decided, Sein's return to the main house was confirmed.
However, the remaining candidates had options for their futures.
"Hope you become a pretty useful tool when we meet again."
Ballak nodded heavily at Sein's words.
The carriage bore Dante's emblem.
-We want to take Ballak Demorus to Dante.
It was Rohan's request.
Rohan, who had observed Rasiel's candidates.
He agonized between Sis and Ballak but chose Ballak in the end.
-I'll raise him enough to entrust Dante to him.
Rohan, with his steadfast personality, chose the similar Ballak.
"Go."
"Yeah."
A curt farewell, and the carriage departed.
The other candidates' fates were decided one by one.
"I'm staying in Rasiel."
Sis.
He chose to remain in Rasiel.
"I'll learn from Master Alman and one day become Rasiel's master."
Easier said than done.
"I considered going to the main house to help you, but my enemies might become yours."
A conclusion after long deliberation.
"But the connections I have in the main house have decided to support you. If you need info or help, tell them. Though I doubt it'll be much use to you."
"Why beat around the bush? Just say you want them to keep you alive."
Sein brushed it off.
"If they're useful, I'll take them. If not, I'll discard them. If they object, tell them to prove their worth."
"Of course."
"Thanks."
Like college graduates choosing paths, the candidates selected their futures one by one.
"I'm thinking of applying to the main house's enforcers."
"It's a lower organization, but maybe I can grow there. Close to home too."
Sein didn't force anything on them.
He wanted only one thing.
-Make yourselves useful to me.
He placed no limits on how.
"To intelligence..."
"To security..."
This was.
"Do whatever you want."
Why he had spared and taken them in.
Demorus blood was an undeniable innate blessing.
Those who survived now escaped successor competitions, choosing lives with privileges thanks to their proven abilities.
And finally.
"You're a doctor."
Sein said to the one standing before him.
Roberta, with her red hair.
One of the three who opposed him to the end.
In terms of martial prowess, she was confident she was the strongest among Rasiel's candidates excluding Sein.
"I'm going to the main house."
She chose the main house.
And that too.
"To guard you by your side."
Taking on Sein's protection.
Sein had taken a liking to her back in the labyrinth.
"Being by your side seems best for achieving my goal."
"Sounds like you're using me."
"Exactly."
Roberta admitted.
"But you use me too."
She declared boldly.
"I'll be your porter if you want. Even night service if needed..."
"No need."
Sein met her eyes and said.
"What's the reason for going that far?"
The simple reason he hadn't fully taken her in the labyrinth.
-I don't know much about Roberta.
Lack of info on her.
Especially her desires and ambitions.
"I."
She said.
"Want to become a witch."
*
*
*
Finally, the day arrived.
"Open the main gate."
What appeared was a single black carriage.
No emblems, no decorations.
But that's how they knew.
Creak.
They were from the main house.
Across the continent, only one group used black carriages.
Demorus.
"Welcome."
Alman personally greeted them.
"We've come to escort Rasiel's successor candidate."
A stiff voice, not even bowing to Alman.
Yet it was tolerated.
-The main house.
Because it was the main house.
Even if Rasiel boasted as one of Demorus's three great organizations, or Master Alman claimed blood equal to the family head's, it changed nothing.
That was.
"Those main house bastards are fucking rude."
The main house.
Sein's words drew no frowns from the main house men.
"I like it."
"Are you Sein Demorus?"
Sein's status had changed completely.
His affiliation now from Rasiel.
"Yeah."
They knelt on one knee and bowed their heads.
"I'm Number 89, here to escort Sein to the main house."
"I'm Number 71, here to escort Sein to the main house."
They had no names.
Demorus tools.
Nothing more, nothing less.
"Rasiel at least smelled like humans lived there. Not the main house, huh?"
Even to Sein's shitty joke, they didn't respond.
"Are you Roberta Demorus, coming along?"
To Roberta, heading to the main house with him, they spoke in a completely different tone.
"Yes."
Roberta couldn't treat them like Sein did.
A perfectly divided hierarchy.
All the watching candidates realized this was the real world.
"You ride horseback."
"Understood."
Then.
"Sein Demorus."
Alman called to Sein.
"Don't think the main house is like Rasiel."
They had spoken many times already.
"It's a battlefield of asuras and a den of demons."
His eyes brimmed with sincerity.
"...But if it's you."
Clap.
Alman placed a hand on his chest.
Their relationship couldn't be announced to the world yet.
Thus.
"I believe Successor Candidate Sein will manage well."
The greatest courtesy Alman could offer.
"Let's go."
No time for more farewells.
If he disliked it, he could've caused a scene.
But.
"Sure."
Departures should be easy.
Sein advanced with Cecil at his side and Roberta beside.
Permission from the main house already granted, nothing to hesitate.
Before boarding the carriage, Sein looked back at Rasiel.
Candidates yet to leave, familiar and unfamiliar members.
Alman Demorus.
"No need to worry."
He was here.
A phrase he couldn't even mutter to himself.
'I'm a cheat player, after all.'
Demorus is already mine.