Chapter 14

Chapter 14

-Karbol, what is this small butterfly-shaped object?

-That is an ancient device that reads the target’s magical energy pattern and allows one to eavesdrop on communications. We called it an eavesdropping device.

-Fascinating. It looks like an ordinary brooch. How do you use it?

-You simply press the butterfly button near the user you wish to eavesdrop on. Then it reads and registers the target’s magical energy pattern.

-That is all?

-That is all. Once the pattern is registered, you can press the button and eavesdrop on conversations made through communication orbs connected by magical energy at any time. Its drawback is that you cannot listen if the distance becomes too great.

-Is there no risk of the target noticing?

-Since it recognizes the registered pattern and eavesdrops, there is no chance of being traced backward. The other party will be busy communicating and will not notice at all.

Recalling the conversation he had with Karbol not long ago, Zeke raised his hand.

In his hand, a gold butterfly-shaped eavesdropping device glittered.

‘Karbol. What is wrong with this?’

-The communication of the user whose pattern was overlaid is being recorded.

‘What?’

That meant Peter was talking to someone right now.

Since Zeke had secretly registered Peter’s magical energy pattern while they were in the mana-powered vehicle, there was no doubt.

“Sir Raker.”

“Yes, Young Master.”

“May I go take care of something for a moment?”

“Yes. But you must not go far.”

Zeke nodded and walked until the others were no longer visible.

Then he lifted the butterfly-shaped brooch and pressed the button.

-You said you wanted me to bring Zeke because you needed a test subject for Mana Backlash Research...

-...If I had intended to kill you, I would not have told you to bring me a test subject. What about the test subject?

-Zeke will not come out alive.

-That is unfortunate. I wanted to examine him personally under the pretext of training him in the magical arts, since he was said to have no Mana Affinity.

‘Th-This is!?’

Throughout the conversation, Zeke doubted his own ears.

It was hard to believe, but he had not misheard.

‘Eldest Brother conspired with the Tower Master and tried to sell me off as a test subject?’

Now he understood.

Why the Magic Tower had invited him, even though he had no talent.

‘I nearly became material for human experimentation, did I not?’

It was absurd.

The Magic Tower, which was secretly conducting human experiments, and his eldest brother, who had sold off his younger brother because he disliked seeing him.

‘These fucking bastards...’

His fist clenched on its own, but there was nothing he could step forward and do right now.

Peter had fled using Invisibility, and the Tower Master was a giant too powerful for his fifteen-year-old self to deal with.

‘For now, getting out of the Forest of Magical Beasts comes first.’

He knew this place was the Forest of Magical Beasts because Raker had told him.

He also knew how filled it was with vicious monsters.

And he knew that none of those who entered the Forest of Magical Beasts had ever returned unharmed.

But Zeke would return alive.

‘First, let us return to the family. Peter has disappeared too, so there is no reason to go to the Magic Tower. And this recording...’

It would serve as a fatal blow to the ones who tried to use him as a test subject.

Holding the brooch tightly in his hand, Zeke returned to where he had been.

But Raker and the other guard knights were looking somewhere.

With fear trembling in their eyes.

“Sir Raker?”

“Y-Young Master. Please do not come any closer.”

When Zeke looked to see what was happening, they were facing monsters with crimson skin and burly physiques.

“They are Blood Orcs.”

He had seen them before in a book called [Monster Encyclopedia].

Among the monsters that appeared in the Forest of Magical Beasts, they were the most common, and they grew stronger when they saw blood.

Each one was basically at the level of an Aura Expert.

And there were dozens of them.

“We will hold them off somehow, so Young Master Zeke, please leave this place.”

Raker spoke with a solemn gaze, as though prepared to die.

But only for a moment.

“Kwiik, kwiik.”

“Kwik, kwik.”

As if to make that solemn resolve meaningless, the Blood Orcs began retreating first.

“Hm? Why are they acting like that?”

The Blood Orcs slowly backed away, then vanished beyond the bushes with expressions full of terror.

For the guard knights, who had been tense, it was an anticlimactic situation.

“They are suddenly retreating.”

“What happened?”

“Phew, in any case, this is fortunate. If we had fought them, one of us would certainly have bled.”

“Do not relax yet. They may be trying to bring more of their comrades. For now, we move.”

However, no matter how long they walked through the forest, they did not encounter the Blood Orcs.

The same was true for other monsters.

“This is strange. Why are there no monsters?”

“I heard there were so many monsters here that there was no time to put down one’s weapons...”

“Could the rumors have been exaggerated?”

Despite its name as the Forest of Magical Beasts, finding monsters there was like plucking stars from the sky.

The only monsters they had seen were the Blood Orcs they first encountered.

And since they did not show themselves again, it seemed they had not gone to bring comrades either.

In truth, only Zeke knew the reason.

‘Of course they will not appear again. What bold monster would show itself after smelling a dragon?’

Dragons were apex predators who commanded monsters like hands and feet.

Since Zeke was with Karbol’s soul and emitting dragon force, the monsters had no choice but to be terrified.

‘Karbol. Spread that energy called dragon force more widely. Make it so they cannot even come near us.’

-I am doing so without you needing to say it. Monsters will not even be able to step on my shadow.

‘It is my shadow, not yours.’

Zeke smiled and urged Raker onward.

“There are no monsters in sight, so let us move quickly.”

“Ah, understood, Young Master. Everyone, increase your pace a little more.”

They had to leave this place and reach his father as soon as possible.

‘Once I get there, I will reveal it. The identity of the one who hired the assassins.’

Thinking of one person, Zeke narrowed his eyes.

***

“Mother...”

“Peter! What happened to you?”

Seeing Peter return with his entire body covered in dirt, Christina was horrified and rushed over.

“What happened?”

“On the way, we were attacked by four 6th-Circle mages.”

“Attacked? Are you injured anywhere?”

“I am fine, but Zeke...”

“Zeke?”

“What happened to Zeke?”

Perhaps having heard the commotion, Dana had approached before they knew it.

“Peter, tell me. Did something happen to Zeke?”

“Well...”

Peter hesitated, putting on an act, then delivered the death sentence with a grave expression.

“Zeke... is dead.”

“Wh-What do you mean? Why would Zeke be dead?”

“Zeke and the guard knights fled into a forest to escape the assassins. But the place they fled into happened to be the Forest of Magical Beasts. I did not confirm the body, but he will likely find it difficult to return alive. That is how infamous the place is.”

“Ah...”

“Fortunately, because I learned magic, I was able to return without any major injury.”

“What a relief. Truly, what a relief.”

Christina embraced her son and stroked his hair, but unlike her, Dana could not recover from the shock.

“I cannot believe it. There is no way my son is dead...”

“Aunt. I feel terrible saying this, but the Forest of Magical Beasts is a place even archmages avoid. The chance of returning alive is extremely slim...”

“Ah, Zeke...”

Even at his aunt’s sobbing voice, Peter’s gaze was cold.

‘Tsk. What is there to be so sad about over the death of one measly half-wit? If anything, it is a good thing that the family’s disgrace is gone.’

Of course, it was not that he could not understand it.

Even a speechless beast grieved the death of its child.

‘Zeke should be grateful in the heavens. Grateful that there is someone who sheds tears even for his insignificant death.’

His youngest brother had died, but Peter had no intention of mourning.

It was not as though the dead would return to life if he did.

Nor did he want Zeke to return alive.

“Where is Father? Is he home?”

“Your father is away on business.”

“Is that so? Then I will tell my siblings the news.”

“Do that.”

With Christina’s permission, Peter took a step forward and passed by the sobbing Dana indifferently.

***

In the Deccan Kingdom, there was an assassination group called Black Moon.

As befitted a group of assassins, it was an organization that made contract killing its trade, but nothing was known about how large it was or who its leader was.

The method of contact, the method of payment, and the method of handling the request were all a client could know.

Even Alex had not known whether the assassination group truly existed until his personal guard knight, Dalton, recommended it to him.

‘By now, they must have taken care of it, right? Heh heh.’

Before Zeke’s group left for the Magic Tower, Alex, the Third Young Master, had made one request of Black Moon.

To kill Peter, the First Young Master, and Zeke, the Fourth Young Master.

His reason for killing them was simple.

It was to remove them from the successor competition.

‘At this rate, the irritating Eldest Brother is highly likely to become the successor. If so, it is better to kill him off. And as an added bonus, I will kill that bastard Zeke too.’

If the two of them died on the way, the successor candidates would be narrowed down to Russell and himself.

His chance of becoming the successor would rise to 50%.

‘If I compete against the weak-willed Second Brother, I will have a chance too. Heh heh.’

Assassinating his brothers to become the successor?

Anyone who saw it would rightly point fingers at him, but Alex felt no guilt.

He was rationalizing it as the only way for someone like him, who had neither talent nor ability, to survive.

Perhaps because of that, it was not his conscience but something else that bothered him.

The fact that he had exposed his identity to the assassination group.

‘Originally, I wanted Dalton to secretly make the request, but... they said the client had to come in person, so there was no helping it.’

He had thought they would kill anyone as long as they were paid, but the assassination group was surprisingly selective about people.

Then again, since the targets were the children of a ducal house famous as a prestigious magical family, he could understand why they were reluctant.

‘If something goes wrong, are they planning to deny involvement by saying I was the one who made the request?’

Exposing his identity left a bad taste in his mouth, but he could understand it.

Considering the gravity of the matter, the assassination group also needed a kind of insurance, did they not?

‘Well, it does not matter. As long as the assassination succeeds, the fact that I requested it will never be discovered.’

They had said that four 6th-Circle mages specialized in assassination would be sent, so they should be able to handle it without issue.

Moreover, he had even provided detailed information about when and where they would pass.

‘I even switched their communication orb with a broken one so they cannot request Father’s help. The plan is perfect.’

The shield on the mana-powered vehicle would soon break under 6th-Circle fire magic, and the skills of the accompanying guard knights were nothing special.

There was no way the assassination would fail.

It was practically like spoon-feeding them.

‘It did cost me quite a bit of money, but who cares? As long as they are killed.’

Now all he had to do was sit quietly and wait for contact from Black Moon.

Just as he fiddled with the communication orb with the corners of his mouth raised, there came a knock.

Knock, knock.

“Who is it?”

“Young Master. It is me, Dalton.”

“Come in.”

Dalton, his direct guard knight and accomplice, entered the room.

“What is it? Did the assassination group contact you?”

“That is not it. The First Young Master...”

“What about Eldest Brother?”

“...Returned to the family a short while ago. Completely unharmed.”

“What?”

The assassination target had boldly returned alive?

Alex could not help feeling uneasy.

“What happened? Tell me in detail.”

“He said he was attacked by assassins, but managed to survive by using Invisibility.”

“Ha. How the hell does Black Moon handle its work? They boasted that even if the target was 5th Circle, they could kill him in one blow!”

Thinking only that his plan had gone awry and his money had been wasted, Alex asked cautiously,

“What about Zeke?”

“He is dead.”

“Are you sure?”

“From what I heard, he entered the Forest of Magical Beasts while fleeing the assassins.”

“The Forest of Magical Beasts?”

A smile bloomed around Alex’s mouth.

Entering that forest was no different from dying.

“That part went well. I could not stand looking at him anyway.”

“But the First Young Master survived, did he not?”

“It is fine. There will be plenty of opportunities.”

The leading candidate, the First Young Master, had survived, but that did not matter.

Black Moon, feeling responsibility for its mission failure, would target Peter again.

If they refused, he could simply hire another assassination group.

“In any case, Dalton, you only need to trust me and follow me. When I become the successor, I will not forget your contribution.”

“Hehe, thank you for saying that, Young Master.”

Just as Dalton and Alex looked at each other and grinned...

Bang.

The door opened without a knock, and Alex’s brow furrowed.

“Who dares enter without my permission...”

Alex turned his head, and soon could not help being shocked.

Because someone who should not have entered had come in.