Chapter 149: The Pursuer is the Same (1)
Moreover, the joy was even greater when he got it for free.
There was a faint smile.
[Lucion.]
Russell sighed and called Lucion. Lucion slurred his eyes.
“I’m a little sleepy, but I can hold on.”
[Not that one]
“It just hurts a little. It’s worth it, too.”
Lucion carefully wrapped the bandages around his waist.
What can I do when the wound heals late?
Russell hesitated with a subtle expression on his face. What on earth are you trying to talk about?
He was ready to retort when Russell said that he shouldn’t go out.
[The fact that I have to teach you and the fact that I am worried about you are conflicting, so I don’t know if this is a good thing.]
“…Teacher? Isn’t it different from what you said?”
I thought he was worried about me, but it turned out he was talking about black magic.
This teacher?
[Hey, of couse I’m worried. I’m worried, but you’re going to ask Bethel to go to the mine later, right?]
“Yes…….”
Lucion replied in a shameless manner.
[After that, you’re going to go outside and use shadow movement to go to the light, right? Right?]
“Yes.”
[Then there will be time and place to learn how to do debuff, but I wonder if I should give up.]
“You don’t have to give up. If I have time, of course I have to learn. Didn’t you say that it’s necessary to capture those blessed with light?”
[That’s right. You have to learn. Did you see the highlight? Oh, of course, not everyone blessed with light can move like that.]
‘The thing I should be wary of is Heint, who does what everyone can’t do.’
Lucion bit the inside of his cheek tightly, holding back what he wanted to say.
I don’t know when, but I had to keep preparing myself.
[I think you’re comfortable, too. It’s better to use a debuff to stop and slow it down than just holding it in the dark and pulling it.]
Russell said it in an excited voice.
Teach you this and teach you that. As the words trailed off, Lucion looked at Russell, who was soaked in happiness.
“Then we must leave early. Tell Hume that I woke up.”
[Sure.]
Russell tilted his head for a moment instead of moving to the wall.
[It’s weird when you do like that. I’m sure I told you to rest… It seems like you are forcing yourself to leave.]
“There is no end to learning. It’s been a long time since I had time and space, so I have no choice but to learn.”
[…….]
Russell moved again with an expression as if he had been punched by Lucion’s giggling laughter.
‘I can’t speak.’
Lucion grabbed his neck and made a noise when he saw Russell disappearing over the wall.
“Ah. Ah.”
The sound was definitely coming out well though.
‘That’s weird.’
He wanted to hold on to Russell a moment ago and ask him something, but all of a sudden, his voice didn’t come out.
‘Is it because of the black beads?’
Lucion stared at the ceiling and surrendered himself to the warmth of the blanket until Hume came to visit.
Sometimes, he wanted to bury himself under the blanket for a long time.
“……Ha. It’s hot.”
But for a moment, Lucion kicked the covers and looked at the window with a red face.
I felt that the real summer was just around the corner.
* * *
“…Where are you going?”
Heint’s eyes were puffy.
It seemed to be because of the letter Lucion himself handed over.
It’s probably because he had a lot of worries and doubts, and he’s mentally exhausted.
“I’m going to play for a while.”
Lucion told him again.
“Why don’t you get some rest at home? You look tired.”
“This is what I want to say to you. You don’t look good.”
“Oh, I’m fine with staying up a few nights. It shows on your face unfortunately.”
Heint smirked.
“I think you have something to stay up for a few nights.”
Lucion poked a little at the heft.
Heint reacted quickly and his eyes shook.
“Huh? Oh, no. I don’t have any.”
[I didn’t know when he was escorting but his emotions are clearly visible on his face.]
Russell burst into laughter.
“Brother, I don’t know what’s going on, but I don’t want you to hide it if it concerns me.”
When Lucion spoke openly, Heint licked his lips without realizing it.
“No, really… I don’t have any.”
Lucion felt relieved at the embarrassment.
Lucion felt a pang in his stomach at the sight of his confusion.
If I didn’t intentionally touch it like this, the tight red thread would be annoying and I might get nervous.
“I’m going to play nearby, so you don’t have to follow me. Wouldn’t it bother you if you caught them?”
“…….”
Heint couldn’t speak as usual.
The difference between having or not having a traitor inside the Knights was so great.
If he followed Lucion, the people under his protection could die.
They should never die because they could suppress the power of the temple.
But it was the same with Lucion.
Didn’t the black wizard come out of the auction house? What if the black wizard comes out when Lucion moves?
[Is this why you sent a letter to Heint?]
When Russell asked Lucion, he shook his head slightly.
He sent a traitor to be a chalice, not to cause conflict.
“I’ll be back quietly.”
Lucion quietly persuaded Heint.
“I know what you’re worried about.”
“You know…?”
“Isn’t it because of the black wizard?”
“Ah..…Yes, it is.”
“Isn’t the reason why the black wizard found out where I am in the first place a problem inside the auction house?”
“That’s right. It must have spread unknowingly.”
“But not now. There is no problem inside, and if you help me, I can go out quietly and come back.”
Heint’s face, which was full of agony, frown even more.
No more words were needed to imply that it was an internal problem.
“…..So, are you saying we’ll just pretend that your departure never happened?”
“That’s right. You need to help me.”
Lucion slowly grasped and shook without Heint noticing.
He must have been tormented by worries all night to start to have new worries about himself in his mentally weakened state.
He wanted to avoid it instinctively.
“I’ll take Hume with me and leave quietly.”
He wondered if it had been engraved in Heint’s head by now.
“Didn’t we make a promise before we left for the south? That you promise to guarantee my freedom within 30 minutes.”
Lucion slowly set a trap, bringing up what Heint had promised before the trip.
“I’ll be back within two hours.”
Lucion’s various suggestions sounded so sweet to Heint, for it was not so long.
Isn’t this Lucion’s second trip in the first place?
“I also have contact items that you gave me.”
Lucion shook the contact item he received from Heint.
Heint’s troubles grew longer, and Lucion waited leisurely, packing up macaroons.
‘…..Lucion will also take the Knights of Cronia.’
After thinking and thinking, Heint came to a conclusion.
Isn’t Lucion a cautious person?
Hume.
Heint finally reached the end of his thoughts.
‘I have no choice but to allow it anyway.’
Lucion enjoyed another macaron and drank tea.
Although Heint was his escort, he was also an imperial knight.
You can’t just shed the fact that there’s a traitor among the imperial knights.
Moreover, the escort was not just the Knights of the Imperial Household.
If there were multiple worries and more things to think about, it would lead to half-baked speculation.
‘I’ll take the Knights of Cronia. I’m sure he’s thinking like that?’
Since he was too lazy to run away, he didn’t even know that he was the person that the knights of Chronia were most wary of.
Lucion swallowed a smile while drinking tea.
* * *
Scribbles.
Lucion controlled the ghost to find the people who had lost the mine, visited them himself and collected the money first.
“I know you wrote a memorandum of renunciation of mine ownership. The mine came into me. You just have to write your name here again. Oh and this is a small consolation.”
“…….”
When they saw the money, they looked at each other, nodded, and signed a new contract as Lucion wanted.
‘Now the mine is really mine.’
Lucion felt the corners of his mouth rising.
It was the mine that the fake Chayton was after.
They wouldn’t know, but it was never, ever a useless place.
Lucion put the newly signed contract in his pocket and left before the effect of the money covering their eyes disappeared.
Here we go!
As soon as he went outside, he returned to the mine through the shadow movement used by Ratta.
Lucion found Russell right away.
What do you know about ore?
He asked Russell, who was interested in swords and naturally knew ore, to tell him how good that mine was.
But Russell seemed to be still looking at the mine.
‘Let’s put meaning on the fact that we got it, even if it’s not a good place.’
―Can I go down now? Ratta wants to go down.
Ratta flashed her eyes at Lucion.
She really liked it, saying it was like a secret place.
“Well. Let’s ask when Hume comes.”
―Yes! Ratta can wait.
Ratta wagged her tail and looked at the mine entrance.
After a while, Ratta opened her eyes wide.
―It’s Hume!
“Finished digging the road. I was late.”
Hume said as he walked out of the mine. Although he was covered in dust, he smiled.
‘Dug the road…? He’s not saying that he dug it by hands, did he?’
Lucion swallowed the question, “How did you dig the road?”
Lucion turned his eyes around, past Hume.
‘As expected, the location is okay. I like the land around me.’
The mine was in a low mountain range. The height of the mountain was also high, but he thought it would be okay to build a few buildings near the mine because it was flat.
“You must not go inside, sir. Of course not Ratta either.”
As Lucion tried to head into the mine, Hume sneaked up and blocked the road ahead.
“Why?”
―Why? Ratta wants to go in.
“That’s all I have to do when I transform, but if you’re covered in dust, you’ll have to take a bath. I don’t think you’ll have enough time.”
“I don’t care if it’s dark.”
―Ratta will be in the shadow.
Hume hesitated and opened his mouth carefully.
“…Well, the road is narrow. Of course, the place to mine ore along the road is wider than the road, but it is generally narrow.”
[I think so too, Lord Lucion.]
Bethel said as he came up from the mine.
She looked sorry, knowing that Lucion often mentioned that he wanted a mine.
“It can’t be helped if it’s too small. You don’t have to be sorry.”
Lucion exhaled briefly. Now it’s okay if there’s not a lot of people, but he knew it was still difficult in a small place.
When Lucion looked at Ratta, Ratta laughed.
―Ratta can stand it! Because Ratta grew up (with it)!
“How was it, Bethel?”
As he moved to meet the mine and the original owner of the mine, he did not hear Bethel’s report.
Bethel smiled broadly only then.
[Safely rescued. I checked that they fell asleep after eating even a little bit. It’s… I can’t throw away their memory, but I think it’s a relief that they’re safe.]
Joy and envy co-existed in Bethel’s eyes.
Perhaps Bethel was thinking, at her time, what it would have been like to be rescued like that.
“Good for you, Bethel.”
[It’s all thanks to Lucion. My lord saved them.]
“It wasn’t me, it was the members.”
[Thank you.]
Bethel knew Lucion was shy, so she didn’t push him anymore, but only expressed her gratitude.
[They’re all gathered here.]
Lucion turned to Russell’s voice.
“How’s it gone? Are you okay?”
He thought I had a lot of time, but the schedule was tighter than he thought.
If it wasn’t good here, he had no choice but to go around to get another mine in a day.
[Do you know what’s good about being a ghost?]
“I don’t know.”
Lucion gulped down his dry saliva.
[It means that you can see everything, whether inside the rock or in the ground, without having to dig.]
[That’s right. It’s a pretty fun experience.]
Bethel nodded and went along with Russell’s words.
[You’re so lucky, Lucion.]
Russell chuckled.
“Well, are you sure…?”
[Why are you lying? The bottom part was real, not the part that the mine owner originally dug. There is a huge amount of ore buried, and there is even a mana stone nearby.]
“Do you just say mana stone?”
He knew it wasn’t a useless place, but he didn’t expect there to be even a mana stone.
Mana stone was the energy source of magic items.
Magic items were essential for living.
This could be said to be more than a waterfall.
Lucion couldn’t hide his joy at the fist he clenched on his own.
With the mine in hand, it was obvious that the organization would get bigger.
[Lucion.]
“Yes.”
Lucion’s voice lit up.
[Since there’s a lot of time left, let’s learn how to do the debuff.]