Chapter 103: Step by Step
Gulp.
Quate swallowed his saliva.
If the person in front of him was just a wizard, he wouldn’t care, but the opponent was a warlock.
He knew that warlocks saw things that people couldn’t see.
Besides, didn’t he have the power to raise a corpse?
Saying that death was not the end was not just a threat.
“…Are we allowed to leave if we don’t think the organization is right for us?”
“If you have the confidence to keep quiet for the rest of your life.”
“So I can leave, right?
“That’s right. I can’t just kill someone who says they’re leaving because the organization doesn’t fit them.”
Lucion giggled jokingly.
But Quate’s complexion turned a little pale.
Having fought warlocks, he knew how strong and strange they were.
He suddenly remembered the feeling of being immersed in the darkness more than he was as an assassin and quietly held his breath.
“…Hey, Hamel-nim.”
Quite spoke out instead of watching him fill the paper that would soon become their contract.
“Say it.”
Lucion was paying great attention to the writing so that it didn’t stand out and would be impossible to recognize as his own handwriting.
Quate put a finger to his mouth and whistled lightly before speaking.
It was a sign to back off.
Even if he didn’t see it, he could feel his subordinates putting their ears on the door.
Quate spoke out as he heard his men walk away.
“By any chance. Well, I don’t know if this sounds weird.”
Lucion didn’t even pay attention to Quate, who was dragging his words.
Quate’s eyes were on Hume.
“I’m like Hamel-nim’s shadow, so you don’t have to worry about me.”
Receiving his gaze, Hume replied with a blank face.
Unable to force him out of the room, Quate uttered with slight embarrassment.
“When a person dies, everyone goes to the God of Light. That’s what I thought until I met a crazy warlock.”
Lucion thought about what Quate was dragging his words for, and laughed at the words that sounded like a confession.
“Yes, there is.”
“…Yes?”
“Since you killed a person, didn’t you mean to ask if the grudge was attached to your body?”
“…Yes.”
Quate replied, smiling awkwardly.
But his face gradually distorted, and Lucion said with a smile.
“So I’m telling you it’s there.”
―Ah! Didn’t Russell say something about a curse before?
Lucion’s shadow wriggled.
[Yes, that’s right.]
Ratta smiled pleasantly as Russell replied.
―Ratta remembered everything. Because Ratta is smart.
“Are you sure…?”
Quate’s expression froze as Lucion pointed to his neck.
“Here is the mark of the curse. Have you killed any warlocks recently?”
“I have. Originally, I didn’t want to, but I urgently needed money, so I couldn’t help it.”
Quate’s face gradually distorted.
Because he remembered the warlock who was dying a while ago with a mad smile while pointing at him.
Warlocks were enemies of the world, but no one wanted to execute or kill them, lest they got cursed.
But the reward was too great to refuse, so he had no choice but to deal with them, and it turned out like this.
“What should I… Is there anything I can do?”
“What group of warlocks did you kill?”
At Lucion’s question, Quate urgently shut his mouth.
This was because the disclosure of the mission was something that should never be said as an assassin.
“I know. I understand what it means for an assassin to reveal their mission. But if you don’t tell me, I can’t tell you anything.”
Lucion was measuring the distance because he hadn’t reached the level of ability to confidently say he would lift the curse.
[The way to lift the curse is not always by killing the warlock who put the curse. There are times when a warlock cast a curse at the cost of their own lives.]
Russel explained in case Lucion was curious.
[First of all, the fastest way is by breaking the curse engraved in Quate’s head. But if you do it wrong, his mind can break down. The greater the effect, the greater the risk is.]
Lucion listened to Russell and looked at Quite, who was hesitating for a long time.
[Second, cover the curse with another curse. This is impossible now, let’s move on. The third way is to periodically inject your darkness into Quite’s head and scatter the curse. It takes the longest time, but it’s the safest way.]
Russell raised a finger.
[And lastly, the method I mentioned earlier that most people already know, kills the person who cast the course. Of course, it doesn’t apply here.]
[Magic is very complicated no matter how many times I hear it.]
Bethel, who was listening quietly, frowned.
There were so many methods.
“Is it serious?”
Quate, who had opened and closed his lips several times, finally spoke out.
“It’s terrible. You should probably be prepared to quit your job as an assassin.”
Lucion gave a slightly different account of what Russel had told him.
“…It’s the Imperial family.”
Quate said in a whisper.
It seemed that the curse was very frightening.
The Imperial family and the warlocks.
Lucion quickly guessed what the incident was.
“Was it to kill the warlocks involved with Count Roberio?”
Quate nodded as much as he could.
‘They must be warlocks belonging to the Hand of the Void that was entangled with Roberio. These incidents are bizarrely intertwined.’
Lucion thought it was very strange.
[Indeed. This is the best way. What’s the point of the Imperial family provoking the warlocks when they haven’t even caught the warlocks’ tail?]
Russell crossed his arms.
He was a warlock himself, but he knew how deep their obsession and vengeance were.
It wasn’t just bad luck if you got caught.
It was comfortable to think that, like Quate, whether it was through a curse or a disease, something would be broken.
[If the huge body called the Imperial family moved directly, there would be a lot of noise. …I’m sorry. If I had known beforehand, I would have gone to kill them.]
Bethel licked her lips and fiddled with the handle of her sword.
‘Well, anyway, I have an excuse to tie up the assassins until the organization stabilizes.’
Apart from the opinions of those two, Lucion was very satisfied with the current situation.
Being able to put a leash around Quate’s neck by force.
‘That curse must have been unleashed by a warlock belonging to the Hand of the Void. …but it’s a waste to clear it up now.’
Lucion hoped that more and more people would hate the Hand of the Void.
That would help destroy the Hand of the Void.
“All right.”
Despite the positive words falling from Lucion’s mouth, Quate didn’t say anything.
Of course, it seemed he was thinking there would be some kind of condition.
“There are two ways to solve the curse right now. The faster it is solved, the higher the risk, and the slower it is, the more stable it will be. What would you choose?”
Lucion asked in a voice that was neither fast nor slow.
It sounded like a very ordinary question, and Quate almost fell into trouble without realizing it.
“The price… Why don’t you tell me?”
“We’re going to be members of the same organization, so the price has been paid. It’s enough that you work harder on your mission.”
At those words, Quate couldn’t calm down his surprised heart.
He looked at Lucion for a moment and lowered his voice.
“A fortune-teller… told me that I would meet a noble man soon.”
[What…?]
Russel opened his eyes wide at the sudden words.
[Hmm…]
Bethel dragged her words.
She had already seen Quate perform an unknown ritual before she went to Baron Kokoren, so she was convinced by this point.
He was a superstitious person.
It was rare but she had seen similar people during her time as a knight.
It wasn’t strange, but it was close to a chronic disease that people who lived close to death usually had.
“They told me I should grab onto him because he is someone who will change my life.”
[Wow. I don’t know where they are, but they’re very useful.]
Russell admired, ready to clap his hands.
“Then, you shouldn’t betray me and the organization, right? As the fortune teller said, I could change your life.”
Lucion’s mask turned yellow.
It sounded like a joke, but to Quate, it sounded strangely threatening.
Indeed, the warlock in front of him seemed to be able to change his life.
“Rental, what time is it?”
“It’s 4:12 p.m.”
Hume took the watch out of his arms and checked it.
“Are you busy…?”
Quate asked.
Lucion nodded.
Soon Anthony might stop by his room for dinner.
“Yes, it’s a big deal if I get caught.”
‘Are you being chased by a priest?’
Quate’s eyes went up slightly.
“So which one would you choose?”
Lucion urged Quite, and he paused for a moment to think.
“The latter. If you don’t mind, we can clean up Hamel-nim’s problems.”
“That’s impossible. He’s very strong.”
Anthony was.
“Then sign this.”
After checking the time, Lucion was in a hurry, so he tapped the paper.
“…I see.”
Quate grabbed the pen and thought.
Just how strong is the priest that chases you?
* * *
Knock. Knock.
Lucion flinched at the knock on the door.
He was just on his way back from taking Hume to his room.
‘Why are you here already?’
Before he could complain, Lucion hurriedly raised his voice.
“Wait a minute.”
After taking off his clothes, he roughly tucked them under the blanket, and hurriedly dressed up.
[I-I’ll be out.]
Bethel left the room in a flash.
―Come on, come on!
Ratta jumped around Lucion frantically.
“It’s distracting, so stop jumping around, Ratta!”
―Oh, got it!
When she was told not to jump around, Ratta now spun around in place.
―Come on, come on!
[Puhahaha!]
As both of them went wild, Russell grabbed his stomach and laughed out loud.
“…Sigh.”
Lucion barely got dressed and breathed out.
Move to medium and short distances with shadow movement and run until the darkness rise high enough to use shadow movement.
Doing this several times was as difficult as physical training.
“Come in, Anthony.”
Lucion soon called Antony in a calm voice.
“Excuse me, Young Master.”
Anthony bowed his head first.
“Young Master.”
When he looked up again, he noticed something strange and called Lucion.
“Say it.”
“Where have you been?”
It was faint to Lucion, but he could smell various things.
“You know better than I do.”
Lucion took off his pretense to avoid Antony’s slightly tightening investigation net.
“You’re sweating.”
“I was working out inside.”
“Even your clothes are messy.”
“Well, isn’t it possible to live like that?”
“Excuse me.”
Anthony fixed Lucion’s wrongly fastened buttons, straightened the wrinkles, and pulled out clothes that were slightly tucked into his pants.
Russell, who was watching Antony’s skills as if possessed, opened his mouth belatedly.
[What a neat trick. There’s a reason why he is the butler.]
―Yes, yes. Hume is good, but Anthony is better.
Ratta was also watching Anthony’s skills with her butt on the floor.
“So what’s going on? Didn’t you come earlier than usual today?”
“Today is the day you have to see your doctor.”
Lucion sighed at the mention of his doctor.
“Is it that time already?”
Since Lucion was allergic to divine powers, naturally, a doctor was always on standby in Cronia.
When they looked for a doctor who had a heavy mouth, had good skill, didn’t hate Lucion, and could only live in Cronia, he didn’t know how many times he had changed doctors.
“Yes, it’s already the time.”
But the doctor Anthony was talking about was a psychiatrist.
“We don’t need to meet anymore, right?”
Lucion spoke softly.
He was told that he might have to take the medicine he had stopped taking just a month ago, but now he was really fine.
‘…Well, I can’t say I am totally fine.’
“It’s the Lord’s order. I’m sorry, Young Master.”
Anthony bowed his head.
“No. Is that all you need?”
“No.”
Anthony suddenly searched for something and took out a beautifully-wrapped gift box.
Russell immediately reacted.
[It’s from Tella!]
In a letter Tella sent to Lucion not too long ago, it was written that the Luteon family would send a gift along with grateful words for being helped by Lucion again.
“Young Lady Tella Luteon sent you a gift.”
A warm smile settled on Anthony’s face.
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