Count’s Youngest Son is a Warlock

* * *

Lucion’s eyes darted around desperately.

The fact that he, Ratta, and Russell had entered was less surprising than the landscape that lay before them.

Darkness surged around them like waves, and despite the absence of light, the path ahead was incredibly bright.

Even fluorescent beings were scattered around, moving.

It felt like they had entered the depths of the sea.

‘I’ve seen it a lot somewhere…?’

Lucion squinted his eyes halfway.

―Woah! There it is, there. Uh…

Ratta closed her eyes tightly and thought hard.

[The boundary between life and death.]

―That’s right! Russell showed it at the Great Light Temple. Hehe, Ratta remembered!

“Ah… !”

Lucion’s eyes widened at that moment.

He remembered that Russell had used his darkness to actually cross the boundary between life and death to find the bomb in the temple.

The scenery he saw back then was very similar.

“So, is that fluorescent darkness?”

[If this place represents the boundary between life and death, then it must be.]

It didn’t make sense if that being hovering near Lucion and Ratta wasn’t darkness.

Lucion walked with relief only after hearing Russell’s words.

Although the surroundings were completely dark, it wasn’t uncomfortable because everything was visible.

In fact, it was strangely refreshing, as if his pain and fever had subsided, leaving his mind clear.

“Is there something here?”

Lucion asked as he walked.

[I don’t know.]

The answer that came back was obvious.

Since it was a place that Russell and himself had never been to, no one knew what would unfold in front of them.

Lucion fell silent.

Asha had said that this place was naturally designed to absorb the power of the black orbs.

How does it absorb it?

Can it absorb all the power?

Doubts piled up one after another.

-Is it comfortable? Is it easy to breathe?

The darkness spoke.

“Yes, that’s right,” Lucion replied, and the darkness blinked and twisted its body in response.

-Lucion talked to me. Ah, I’m so happy!

[Why do you like Lucion so much?]

Unlike its appearance, Russell couldn’t help his curiosity about this overtly displayed affection and asked.

-Because it’s Lucion.

-Because he is a lovely child.

Darkness spoke proudly.

[That’s true. But what makes Lucion different from anyone else?]

Russell nodded and asked again.

Even Lucion, who had been momentarily embarrassed, was curious, so his eyes were fixed on the darkness.

―Ratta knows! Lucion is very, very affectionate. Kind. Beautiful. Adorable!

“Ratta!”

Lucion urgently called Ratta.

‘Yes, yes.’ The affirmative words of the darkness were so loud and clear, unlike its appearance, that they could be heard distinctly.

Lucion felt so embarrassed that he could have died. His cheeks burned.

―Why?

“That’s enough.”

―But Ratta can say more.

“That’s enough.”

―Fine. Ratta can say more, but because Ratta is kind, Ratta will only say this much. If you ask Ratta later, Ratta will tell you more.

“Okay.”

Lucion replied modestly, though he didn’t really want to.

[You tell me.]

But Russell didn’t smile like usual. He was extremely serious, perhaps because he thought it was an issue that must be addressed.

-You know it, Russell.

[I know…?]

Russell asked in surprise.

-The darkness spread everywhere, so as long as I spoke out loud, the darkness had no choice but to listen.

But what the darkness just said was different.

It sounded as if the darkness knew Russell’ past.

-Ah. You’ve lost your memory, haven’t you?

-Shh, that’s enough. Even in this space, it’s dangerous.

-Right. That’s true. I can’t say this. It’s useless to ask again. I can’t say it.

In response to the continuing words of the darkness, Lucion spoke up.

“Who are your enemies that you’re being so cautious about?”

-Ask Russell. I mean, if he finds his memories.

-We can’t talk. We’re in trouble.

-That’s right. We’re captured. We’re trapped, and we hate it.

Lucion tried to catch the hints that the darkness was throwing at him.

There was definitely a being, a being so significant that even the darkness was cautious.

Regardless of what it did, it seemed like that being was suppressing the darkness.

Because of that, perhaps there was a system in place where any specific or important words spoken out loud would be detected by that being.

“Then, how can I find the teacher’s memories?”

Lucion asked.

-There’s a black orb. Collect them.

“Can collecting black orbs really help Teacher regain his memories?”

-He might not be able to regain all of them. That was the price.

-But if you collect the black orbs, then maybe he can get back what he lost in return.

‘A price…?’

Lucion’s eyes turned to Russell.

[Yes. A price. One of the prices for using a certain black magic was the loss of my memory.]

After coming this far, Russell wondered what else he could hesitate about, so he spoke up.

“Teacher, you used black magic? What kind of black magic is this?”

Lucion stopped walking.

Then the darkness approached Lucion and urged him to keep moving.

-No, don’t stop. Keep going. It’s not safe to stop here.

-You are in pain. You must keep walking to avoid the pain.

Reluctantly, Lucion resumed his slow walk.

Looking at Russell.

He wondered why he had to walk, but what he was most curious about was the black magic Russell had used.

[Even if you look at me like that, I don’t know. The information I obtained from the notebook is just as vague as what the darkness has revealed. It’s like having a single grain of a puzzle with the core missing—fragmented and incomplete.]

Russell let out a short breath, a look of frustration on his face.

“I’ll find it for you.”

Lucion was planning on collecting black orbs anyway.

He was curious about the story behind what the black figure had mentioned, and he could become stronger himself.

Above all, since it is said that Russell’s memories can now be found, the black orbs have become an item that must be obtained.

[Okay.]

Russell turned his head slightly. He felt like he had given Lucion a burden.

“Then how many black orbs are there in total?”

-Hume will tell you. Because he is a great guide.

‘You can’t even tell me how many?’

Even though Lucion heard the reason at first glance, he felt really frustrated.

Hand of the Void. Is he the head of that group?

Or is it something else?

‘No matter how much I twist the story, it’s becoming too different.’

Lucion felt a sense of guilt creeping up his chest as the situation changed due to his presence.

-We created this space according to the most natural space we exist in.

-It is also a place where no light enters at all.

-So there is no disruption. If you walk to the end, it will help you absorb the power naturally.

The darkness spoke happily.

‘Are you helping me?’

Lucion thought.

But it wasn’t too bad for now.

The black figure called himself a broken vessel.

A broken bowl was bound to leak, no matter what you put it in.

―Ratta loves it here! It’s like a cozy quilt.

Lucion moved forward, looking at Ratta, who was as happy as the darkness.

‘It’s okay as long as it’s fun.’

The darkness, which had been close enough to cling to at first, now watched Lucion from a distance.

Lucion’s steps also changed cheerfully.

The more he walked, the lighter his body became and the better he felt.

“Can I come again next time?”

Lucion asked with a smile.

-If it really gets a lot better, wouldn’t it be better to come here somehow instead of getting another black orb next time and suffering like now?

-Yeah! You’re welcome…

The darkness suddenly stopped speaking.

“…?”

When Lucion looked back with a feeling of doubt, the group of fluorescent lights that had been following him stopped and whispered among themselves.

But he didn’t hear as much as that.

‘What happened?’

When Lucion looked at Ratta, Ratta just pricked up her ears and shook her head.

—Ratta can’t even hear it. Ratta doesn’t know what it says either.

[For now, don’t worry and walk calmly. Just focus on recovery, Lucion.]

Russell forcibly turned Lucion’s head.

“It bothers me. A lot.”

[Yeah, it’s bothering you, and so am I. But for now, let’s focus on your recovery].

“Can you guess who Asha was talking about and who the darkness was referring to?”

[If you ask me who has lost his memory, what will come out?]

“Then how about we go to Teacher’s hideout and search properly?”

[No. You still won’t find him].

Russell said it clearly.

“Why are you so sure? Wasn’t there a trace left in the notebook?”

[Even though I’m a genius, I barely managed to hang on to the notebook, and I had cast black magic on a piece of paper.]

Russell’s eyebrows twitched. His voice was a little louder than usual.

[Think about it, Lucion. Do you think I wouldn’t have tried everything to let myself know? And yet, I could only cast black magic on a small notebook. What does that mean?]

“I understand.”

The last thing Russell did was cast black magic on a notebook.

[That’s the price. That’s… what I am now.]

Russell smiled bitterly, placing a hand on Lucion’s head.

[I’m glad I have you, at least. Without you, I would probably already be a deranged, red-eyed, corrupted ghost.]

His laughter followed, but it lacked its usual warmth and lightheartedness.

“I’m glad too. If Teacher hadn’t rescued me, I would have been trapped in that room with no fingernails left.”

Still, Lucion chuckled and held out his hand.

Unlike before, his nails had grown back nicely.

―What about Ratta?

Ratta stepped between Lucion and Russell and looked at them both.

[Yes, Ratta, I’m so glad to see you too.]

Russell patted Ratta’s head.

Ratta wagged his tail and looked up at Lucion.

“The best thing I ever did was meet you, Teacher, followed by you, Ratta.”

As Ratta processed the realization that she was the second, a wave of shock washed over her. 

She came to a sudden halt, her body trembling.

Ratta cried while looking at Lucion.

―Ratta is not the first… ? Ratta… As for Ratta, Lucion is the first one. It’s all first.

Lucion lifted the drooping Ratta with one hand and walked forward again.

Tears were soon dripping down the back of his hand.

He wondered if his words were that sad.

“I can’t forget the moment you pulled me out of that pit, Teacher, and that’s why.”

Ratta’s ears, which had been drooping helplessly, perked up.

―Are you talking about a time when Lucion was very, very sad, not a time when he was very, very sick?

“Yeah.”

Ratta turned her head and looked at Lucion.

Because she was born from Lucion’s darkness, her blue eyes, which resembled his, were full of tears.

―You don’t… hate Ratta, do you?

“Why would I hate you?”

Ratta’s tail wagged.

―It’s okay as long as Lucion doesn’t hate Ratta. Ratta is happy about that!

[Have you ever scolded Ratta secretly?]

Russell asked, petting Ratta.

“I have never done that. Why should Ratta be scolded?”

Sometimes Ratta spills the tea he’s drinking with her favorite ball, runs at him because she likes cookies and knocks over dishes, plays with her tail and disturbs the materials he’s organized, and plays by pulling his own hair with her front paws, but that’s about it.

It’s just her way of having fun.

―Ratta is okay now. You can put me down.

Ratta whimpered and squirmed in Lucion’s arms, so he gently released her.

She trotted down the street as cheerfully as if she’d never cried before.

‘It’s good that she recovered quickly.’

Lucion, who was laughing, looked at the darkness that was still standing there.

What is darkness talking about so seriously?

[Why don’t you ask me?]

“What are you talking about?”

[I lost my memory in return. I didn’t tell you this easy thing; you should be angry.]

“Teacher, you are not ready to tell me, so why would I be angry?”

Lucion had a secret he couldn’t tell Russell.

Who has the right to reveal Russell’s secrets on such a topic?

[What I did really well was have you as my disciple, Lucion.]

Lucion’s heart grew as heavy as the smile on Russell’s face.

Secrets were such a terrifying thing.

* * *

“…!”

Hume opened his eyes.

He rolled his eyes here and there and looked at Asha.

“Did you have a good dream?”

“It wasn’t a hand this time. I saw a shape, a shape I recognized… but I don’t remember it.”

Hume frowned.

The figure told him how many black orbs it had.

It was all too familiar.

“That’s okay. Dreams are dreams, so you don’t have to force yourself to remember them.”

Asha gently stroked Hume’s forehead.

Until Hume fell asleep, Asha told him what she knew of Ravien.

Where she came from, where she lived.

“Asha is so kind.”

Hume raised his upper body and looked at Asha. Asha smiled warmly.

“But why doesn’t the darkness speak to me?”

Hume blinked.

He could barely hear the darkness in the first place.

“The Guides are different, even among the Raviens.”

Asha started to speak, then paused.

“We’ll have to talk about that later, now that Lord Lucion has returned.”

ugh... I want to hug Lucion...

Fyi, the darkness speaking format is (-)

Ratta is (―)

Russell and Bethel [abds]