Chapter 25

Chapter 25

“I-I am sorry.”

‘What is this? I thought it might be, but did he really come to apologize?’

Theo’s apology was unexpected, but there was an old saying.

You could not know what a person meant until you heard them out to the end.

Since there was still a chance he might change his words, Zeke pretended to be indifferent.

“What are you sorry about?”

“For picking a fight with you. Thinking back on it now, it was pointless immaturity and an ugly inferiority complex. I am sorry.”

Zeke quietly looked at Theo’s apologetic face.

The way he could not even meet his eyes, as though he was truly sorry, did not seem like an act.

‘Is he sincere?’

Luna was the same.

The sight of her bowing her head as though reflecting on her past wrongdoing felt so unfamiliar that he wondered whether this was truly the Luna he knew.

‘Hmm, the Elder Sister Luna I know is not someone who would act like she was lowering her pride, even if someone beat her to death…….’

It seemed that nearly dying at the hands of the Assassins had changed them.

“You are not acting to make fun of me, are you?”

“A-acting? Why would you say something so hurtful……?”

“There is too much of a difference between how you are acting now and how you acted when we first met.”

“T-that was when I did not understand anything. Now I know. I know whom I should trust, and whom it would benefit me more to stand with in life.”

In other words, he had belatedly gained an eye for people.

“The truth is, my position within my family is not very good. My father does not acknowledge me either, and I was treated as a child he had completely given up on. Perhaps that is why I lived quite a debauched life. I had many complaints, and I had a deep inferiority complex. It seems that even reached you. I am sorry for that.”

“That is a rather honest statement.”

“Ahem. I-in any case, I apologize for what happened last time. I mean it.”

“……I am sorry too.”

When both of them lowered their pride together, the corner of Zeke’s mouth lifted slightly.

Judging by the look of things, they did not seem to be trying to deceive him.

“Are you both going to keep saying only that you are sorry?”

“Ah, that is right! I forgot to thank you.”

“Th-thank you so much for saving us. If not for you, we would have been helplessly killed by those Assassins.”

‘You should probably be thanking the System rather than me.’

At the time, Zeke had not even known that Assassins had infiltrated the estate.

If the System had not told him, he would never have had a chance to save the two of them.

“Why did you leave without saying anything back then?”

“A-at the time, my mind was in such turmoil……”

“Turmoil?”

When Zeke tilted his head, Luna explained.

“The truth is, I felt too ashamed, so I fled as though running away. I had received help from someone I had picked a fight with, and I could not bring myself to raise my head……”

Only now did he understand.

That was why the two of them had left the scene in such a hurry.

“So that was it. Thank you for telling me, Elder Sister Luna.”

“N-no. We are the ones who are grateful.”

“Speaking of which, you left too quickly back then, so I could not say what I needed to say……”

“I know, I know! You want us to keep what happened then a secret.”

As Zeke began to speak, Theo shouted as though he already understood.

“I do not know why you learned Aura, but I have no intention of going around talking about it.”

“Mm. From now on, you can consider us to be on your side, Zeke.”

When Zeke stared at them, Luna and Theo were the ones who became flustered instead.

“Y-you do not have to look at us with those eyes. P-please believe us.”

“Really?”

“I said yes. You are the savior of our lives.”

A faint laugh escaped Zeke’s mouth.

To think that he, an F-Rank who had been called trash in his previous life, had suddenly been elevated to the savior of someone’s life.

‘I did not even use a quarter of a quarter of the power I have, and yet I am being called a life savior.’

Still, it felt good.

So saving people was this fulfilling.

So this was a Privilege only those who possessed power could enjoy.

Perhaps because of that thought, the smile that appeared on his face did not disappear.

“I am glad you have turned over a new leaf.”

“Turned over…… what?”

“There is an expression like that. Anyway, it means you want us to get along from now on, right? Future Brother-in-law? Elder Sister Luna?”

“Uh, yes. That is right.”

“If that is the case, I will accept it. And it does not matter if you tell people that I learned Aura. The rumor that I beat down the Assassins has already spread even to the servants, has it not?”

“That is true, but they do not know how you caught the Assassins. We were the only ones who saw the process.”

“We only said that you beat them with your bare hands. We did not say even the slightest thing about you using Aura.”

‘I did not use Aura, though.’

In reality, Zeke had not used even a handful of Aura when subduing the Assassins.

He had used only pure Strength from his Stats.

‘Then again, who would think I possessed this kind of strength at the age of fifteen? Anyone would assume I used Aura.’

On top of that, Theo and Luna had not noticed at all.

They did not know that his true specialty was not Aura, but Mana Absorption, which blocked others from using magic.

‘At the time, I limited the absorption range to the Assassins, so it is only natural that they did not feel it.’

In any case, the most important information had not been exposed.

It was fine if people found out he had learned Aura, but Mana Absorption could not be revealed.

Human beings were naturally afraid of abilities that lay outside common sense.

At that moment, a servant approached from afar with quick steps.

“Young Master Zeke. The Lord Patriarch is looking for you.”

“Father is?”

Zeke opened his eyes wide and looked at Theo and Luna.

They, too, looked just as curious as he was.

“Future Brother-in-law, Elder Sister, I should go now.”

“Uh, yes.”

Feeling curious, Zeke quickened his steps.

Knock, knock-

When he knocked on the door of the office, a deep voice sounded from within.

“Is that you, Zeke? Come in.”

When he opened the door, his father glanced at him, then focused on his documents again.

However, as soon as the door closed, unexpected words came from his father’s mouth.

“Thank you.”

“Pardon?”

Hearing those unexpected words, Zeke stared at Gerard for a while.

What exactly was he thanking him for?

The reason was soon revealed.

“Thanks to the Eavesdropping Device you gave me, we were able to uncover the true culprit.”

“The true culprit?”

He asked while pretending not to know, but the answer was obvious.

“The attack last night was the doing of the Tower Master, Gregor.”

He already knew that much, but Gerard was not finished speaking.

“And we even discovered that Baluduk, one of the Twelve Pioneers, is behind him.”

“Baluduk?”

It was a name he had heard for the first time, but he had heard about the Twelve Pioneers.

They were the strongest 9th-Circle Mages on the continent, each from different nations and possessing different attributes.

“Baluduk is a Darkness-Attribute Mage called the Hand of Darkness, and he is a powerful figure ranked second in the hierarchy.”

“Does he belong to our kingdom?”

Gerard shook his head.

“If he did, there would be no need for us to be so worried. Baluduk is a mage of the Albitz Kingdom.”

“The Albitz Kingdom is an enemy nation, is it not?”

Gerard silently nodded.

What that meant was clear.

“That is treason, then?”

“Yes. Our Tower Master was colluding with a mage from an enemy nation. On top of that, he is committing the taboo of human experimentation, so this is no ordinary matter……”

Gerard trailed off as though worried, but Zeke was wondering about something else.

‘Why is Father not questioning me about how I caught the Assassins?’

He could understand the Tower Master colluding with an enemy nation, since the man had the sort of character that made it believable, but he did not understand why his father was not asking about him.

“Father. May I ask you something?”

“Ask me anything.”

“Are you not curious how I caught the Assassins?”

He asked directly, but Gerard was unexpectedly calm.

“How you caught them is not important. What matters is the fact that you subdued them.”

‘Is he not curious whether I learned Aura?’

It was not uncommon for someone with no talent for magic to change their path to Aura.

However, in a magical family, it was an unwritten rule that one must absolutely never do so.

For someone born into a magical family to become an Aura User was an act of lowering the family’s reputation with their own hands.

If things went wrong, that person could be called a disgrace to the family and become gossip for the rest of their life.

‘And yet Father knows that and is deliberately ignoring it. I do not know why.’

It was almost as if he knew it was Pandora’s box and was intentionally refusing to open it.

‘Is he pretending not to know? Well, that would be better. Nothing good would come of the rumor spreading.’

That was why Zeke had tried to hide his strength as much as possible.

He had used pure physical power, but in other people’s eyes, it would look as though he had used Aura.

“Zeke.”

As though he did not want to mention the matter of the Assassins any further, Gerard changed the subject.

“Do you know why I am sharing this information with you?”

“No.”

“I thought you, as one of the people responsible for resolving this incident, ought to know.”

“Responsible?”

“You were the one who first brought me information that Peter was on the same side as the Tower Master, and thanks to this Brooch you lent me, we were able to discover that Baluduk was involved as well. If someone were to name the person who contributed to this incident, no matter what anyone says, would it not be you, Zeke? So naturally, you should know the details.”

“Ah……”

He had wondered why his father had called him, and it turned out he had called him to share information.

“Then what will you do now?”

“You may have already heard the news, but we will take refuge in the Royal Court. Then I will report all the facts to His Majesty the King and ask for help.”

“That is a realistic method.”

“It is. Speaking of which, when I have an audience with His Majesty the King, I would like you to be by my side as well.”

“Pardon? Me too?”

“How could the greatest contributor to this matter be absent?”

Zeke nodded with a dazed expression.

This was a chance to make himself known to the head of state who led an entire nation, so there was no reason to refuse.

“In that case, it would be an honor for me.”

“Understood. Then pack your belongings in your room. We will depart for the Royal Court as soon as preparations are complete.”

***

Shane II was the King of Deccan, who had reigned longer than any other monarch among the surrounding kingdoms.

If someone asked him what secret had allowed him to keep the throne even now, when his hair had turned pure white, he would answer as follows.

Benevolence and virtue toward the people.

The love of the people, who supported him regardless of status, whether commoners or nobles.

Shane believed that was the secret that had kept both the nation and himself strong and healthy.

At least until he heard Gerard’s shocking words.

“What? The Tower Master committed treason?”

Shane’s face, which always maintained a benevolent expression, crumpled like a sheet of paper.

It was a look no one usually saw from him, enough to startle all the retainers in the Audience Hall.

King Shane stared fixedly at Gerard, who had abruptly come to him and delivered such shocking news.

“When I heard that you wished to stay in the Royal Court with your family, I was glad. After all, you are the disciple of Dalfred, my close friend and the greatest mage in our kingdom. But I never imagined you would bring such bewildering news.”

“I apologize for bringing unpleasant news, Your Majesty. It may be difficult to believe, but what I say is true.”

Shane looked uneasy as he watched Gerard speak with his head bowed.

To think he would make such an explosive statement in front of so many retainers.

If this went poorly, Shane might have to charge Gerard with a crime by his own hand.

If Gerard could not prove the treason, it would be no different from damaging the image of the Royal Family.

“Though you have earned my trust as the Captain of the Court Mage Corps, that does not mean you may say whatever you please without evidence.”

“I know. I also know very well that the weight of my words is not light.”

“If you say this despite knowing that, then I suppose it means you have evidence?”

“Yes.”

Gerard answered immediately, then carefully took out a butterfly-shaped Brooch from his breast pocket.

“Please listen to this recording first, then judge whether or not you will believe me.”

“Play it.”

“Yes.”

A moment later, in the Audience Hall where silence had fallen, the conversation between two men rang out.

-Gregor? What is the matter?

-Lord Baluduk. A problem has occurred.

-What problem?

-I cannot contact the Hounds. Gerard did not come to the meeting place either.

-They must have caught on.

-Pardon? That cannot be.

-The Hounds have likely already been caught. They must have realized that you instigated it.

The contents were short, but their impact was intense.

Shane gripped the armrest of the throne as though he might break it.

“……Is this truly the Tower Master’s voice?”

“That is correct. The person he is speaking with is Baluduk Rahvez of the Albitz Kingdom. He is famous as one of the Twelve Pioneers.”

The Tower Master of Deccan, who represented the nation, had privately contacted another kingdom?

It was clear treason.

“Gregor also recently used his own assassination organization, the Hounds, to attack our house.”

“I had already heard about that matter. But are you saying that, too, was the Tower Master’s doing?”

“Yes. I have recorded evidence of that as well.”

When Gerard played the recording one after another, the Audience Hall stirred.

It was evidence from which there was no escape.

“How exactly did you record this?”

“After registering the Mana Pattern of a specific target, I remotely eavesdropped on his Communication Orb. This is the object that made it possible.”

“Where did you obtain such a precious object?”

“My youngest son here, Zeke, obtained it.”

Shane’s eyes fixed on Zeke, who stood beside Gerard.

“It is an honor to meet you for the first time. I am Zeke McLaughlin, the Fourth Young Master of the McLaughlin Ducal House.”

After greeting him according to etiquette, Zeke looked up at the king.

However, perhaps because the king’s mind was elsewhere, he did not give Zeke much attention.

‘Well, the Tower Master he had trusted so firmly has turned out to be a spy. It is understandable that he would be shocked.’

Since the evidence was clear, it would be even more so.

‘If we receive the king’s help, we may be able to catch Gregor easily.’

Just as Zeke smiled inwardly,

someone’s shout rang out.