‘The fact that it’s Count Roberio…’
Lucion immediately thought.
‘Is it possible that the Hand of the Void is behind him?’
“Young master?”
As Lucion paused for a moment, Hume called him.
“Hume.”
“Yes, Young Master.”
“Are there any other smells you are familiar with?”
“None.”
Hearing Hume’s answer, Lucion cut the door to the safe using the darkness.
Shh.
The inside was full of papers.
Lucion shook the papers.
“You’re saying the smell comes from these documents, right?”
“Yes.”
‘First of all, one of the villain’s branches is cut off.’
Lucion’s lips twitched.
The tense blue thread proved that this document was the decisive blow.
‘It’s neat.’
Lucion examined the papers calmly while Hume packed the jewels.
Flutter.
Lucion’s expression gradually hardened as he turned over the documents.
[I knew it since I found out about the fallen ghosts! These bastards!]
Russell, who was looking through the documents at the same time, shouted with a spit.
Lucion was startled.
“When did you come…?”
[Just now.]
“Have you seen this yet?”
Lucion shook the papers lightly.
Contrary to its appearance, this workplace was created for the warlock to experiment with a certain curse.
There were traces that Count Roberio had prepared a place for the warlock, and that the Fizat family bought illegal slaves and got money from him by acting as the bridge.
It was a false business, but there was even a certificate of permission from Count Roberio to run it.
However, there wasn’t anything important.
‘…I don’t know what kind of person the warlock is. Was it done by the Hand of the Void, or was it another warlock?’
Besides Hand of the Void, there were quite a few small groups in the world where warlocks became villains.
It was the word ‘curse’ that Lucion was paying attention to now.
“Teacher, is the curse a difficult magic to use?”
[To be exact, it’s magic that shouldn’t be used.]
Russell sighed heavily.
“How do you usually use it?”
At Lucion’s question, Russell frowned and pursed his lips tightly as if he didn’t want to tell.
“Teacher, I’m not saying I’m going to learn. But shouldn’t I at least know?”
Russell exhaled loudly.
Lucion was right.
At least he had to know what it was.
[The curse exerts power as much as the price it costs. The greater the price, the greater the power, distance, and scope of the curse.]
Russell was still frowning.
[Originally, it was a magic that a warlock used to commit suicide together before they died, but I learned that the curse can be used even at the cost of someone else’s life.]
“Then does the warlock accumulate negative stats in return?”
[The price isn’t just having negative stats. The caster’s lifespan is also required to some extent. Interestingly, however, if multiple people use the same curse, the negative stats accumulated is divided by the number of the caster, and their lifespan is taken away.]
Russell pointed to the ground.
[That’s why this kind of behavior keeps happening.]
“Even if there’s a price, it doesn’t mean you will succeed right away, right? If that’s the case, the curse that has already taken place here must have hit the center.”
Lucion asked, licking his dry lips.
If this was where the Hand of the Void used to be.
The curse that was only powerful enough to strike the middle half.
The curse used by Lucion in the novel.
[Right. The curse is a pretty difficult black magic. No matter how much it costs, the success rate is only 20%.]
Lucion was briefly relieved by Russell’s words.
[But when you use the curse, the success rate changes depending on who is the leader. Depending on how well you handle the darkness, you can increase your success rate.]
“…I have goosebumps.”
[Of course, the curse I’m talking about here is a curse that requires great power to pay the price. Mostly life-related curses. It’s not that the light curse is worth learning.]
“How light is it?”
[Change a pair of socks. Confuse salt with sugar or something like that. Or make them wear their clothes backward.]
Only then did Russell relax and chatter excitedly.
‘Rather than a curse… It looks more like a joke?’
Lucion put on a subtle look.
[It’s funny, but it’s a useful curse. It’s a different kind of curse, so I have to talk about it in connection with the spirit.]
Tak.
Russell pointed to the door.
[That’s all for now. Let’s clean up what’s in front of us.]
Only then did Lucion look around.
Hume had already swept away half the jewels.
Ratta was curling up and dozing off happily in the reinforced glass containing jewels.
“Oh, Young Master, you can stay still. I can do it all by myself.”
Hume smiled lightly at Lucion’s gaze.
“Yes.”
Lucion sat down in a suitable seat and yawned.
When he saw Ratta dozing off, he felt sleepy.
* * *
[What happened a while ago… It’s my fault…]
The death knight, who was waiting upstairs, hesitated for a while before uttering in a voice that sounded like crawling mosquitos.
“What?”
Lucion heard her apology but pretended he didn’t.
[I-I was asking if you have brought all the jewels.]
“Of course. Thanks to you, I have a lot of fun taking them all.”
Lucion was in a good mood.
This feeling of his pocket becoming heavier was always welcome.
[Is your purpose accomplished now?]
The death knight asked.
“First of all, yes. The safe is no longer there.”
[May I ask again if you are ready to do my request?]
“Go ahead.”
Lucion urged the death knight.
There might be a distance between the West and Central areas where Cronia was located, so he thought it would be better to rebuild the building here and roll the money while receiving rent.
For that reason, it was unacceptable for the fallen ghosts to swarm the land.
Eventually, the fallen ghosts had to disappear, not only for the sake of the death knight but also for himself.
[Good.]
As Lucion no longer dragged it on, the death knight’s voice became slightly brighter.
The death knight said, pointing directly to the next room.
[Go this way.]
Screech.
When Lucion opened the door, the sound of the door was quite rough, probably because it hadn’t been oiled properly.
[The books on the shelf over there. This and this in that order. And you can pick this one.]
The knight of death pointed to the books on the bookshelf.
In an instant, Lucion’s mood worsened.
“Was it a lie that you didn’t know how to open the door to the secret safe?”
Lucion said sarcastically.
[No. I swear. I tested you, but I didn’t lie. I just didn’t look into it because even though ghosts have money, there’s no place to spend it.]
The death knight shook her head.
[Now that the question is resolved, why don’t you pull out a book and open the door to the secret place and go down?]
Just what the hell she was thinking while he was robbing the secret safe? The attitude of the death knight toward him had changed a little.
Cautious, and dead to the core.
Drizzle.
One wall opened as Lucion pulled out the books just as the death knight had told him.
He saw a staircase facing down.
—Ooh! It’s a secret place!
Ratta looked very excited as if there was a sense of romance in a series of secret places.
—Ratta loves places like this! Ratta is so excited!
‘Warlocks can’t live without a basement.’
Lucion had already expected it, but when he tried to go down the basement again, he didn’t feel very good.
“Young Master.”
Hume called Lucion.
“What?”
“How about not going?”
Lucion was startled by Hume’s dissuasion.
“Sorry, that was presumptuous of me.”
Hume apologized immediately but spoke more carefully.
“…There’s an old smell of blood underneath. I don’t think it’ll be a very good sight for Young Master.”
“I know.”
“I heard that people are traumatized by the death of others.”
“Yes, thank you for your concern, Hume. I’m a Cronia and a warlock. Death is closer to me than I thought, and it will be even closer in the future.”
“I shouldn’t have said that. It made you uncomfortable…”
“No. It was a great decision as a butler.”
Lucion praised Hume and went downstairs.
Hume smiled briefly and followed him down.
He didn’t know how deep the basement was, but the stairs continued endlessly.
When Lucion thought he had come down close to the 10th floor, he heard murmurs of ghosts.
—Hop! Ratta’s right foot is shaking.
Ratta raised her trembling right foot and showed it to them.
He couldn’t tell if it was a reaction to the fallen ghosts or just a trembling.
‘More than that, the numbers… There’s a lot?’
Lucion stopped walking.
The further down he went down, the more he could feel their presence below.
He wondered if he could handle it.
“Did you stop the ghosts from coming out?”
Lucion asked as he looked at the ghosts that hovered around a certain spot as if blocked by something.
[Right. I’m holding onto them to stop them from going up. But I’ve also reached my limit now.]
[It looks like she created a barrier using a sword as a medium. It’s about to break like she said.]
Russell said and looked at Lucion.
At Lucion’s slightly hardened expression, Russell put more strength to his voice.
[Don’t be afraid, Lucion. Even if there are a lot of them, the current you can do it.]
“I’m not afraid. It’s just a little burdensome.”
If he couldn’t do it, Russell would have stopped him in the first place.
[There are no ghosts out there that your darkness can’t cut.]
Russell spoke calmly.
He could teach Lucion how to fight, but it was Lucion who had to fight.
Once he became a warlock, he could never step out of this world.
Then he had to be the ruler.
The ruler of the existence of ghosts, the dead, and the darkness, so that no one could overcome him.
“I’ll allow it.”
Lucion had insurance for now.
[That’s a good idea.]
Russell nodded.
“I have confirmed that I can catch ghosts. I will assist you so you won’t be disturbed, Young Master.”
Ghosts were the warlocks’ domain.
Still, Hume wanted to assist Lucion.
“No. Stay here so you don’t get caught up. You, too, death knight.”
Lucion shook his head.
It wasn’t like cutting the iron plate using the darkness.
[Lord.]
The death knight hesitated and opened her mouth before Lucion moved again.
“Say it.”
[…I died here.]
The death knight pointed below.
[I was cursed by the warlock and vomited blood, dried up, and rotted]
Lucion’s gaze at her hadn’t changed.
He just listened to her voice calmly.
[Thank you.]
It sounded as if she was smiling.
“Save that word. I’ll have to do it again later.”
Lucion grinned and went down.
[Are you a warlock?]
After watching Lucion descend for a while, the death knight asked Hume, who was left with her.
Hume shook his head.
“No, I’m just a butler.”
[Everyone around him is as unique as he is.]
A strange ghost.
A boy who could see and touch a ghost even though he wasn’t a warlock.
A cute black fox.
She thought that this strange combination couldn’t come out unless it was deliberately matched.
* * *
He didn’t use shadow movement on purpose.
While coming down, Lucion confirmed that quite a lot of darkness had filled up.
Because the place wasn’t hit by the light, the recovery speed of the darkness was fast, and thanks to Ratta, the preparation to use the darkness right away was perfect.
‘Now one last step.’
Tak.
When he came down the last stairs, ghosts with bright red eyes looked at Lucion all at once.
No matter how calm he became these days, with dozens of people looking at him at the same time, even ordinary people were bound to be surprised.
[It’s coming out soon.]
Russell pointed to the sword that prevented the fallen ghosts from going out.
The sword was gradually pulled out, and the fallen ghosts were struggling to tear Lucion apart.
Even after seeing that scene, Lucion was calm.
Now he no longer feared them.
“Don’t worry. I’m ready.”
Lucion raised the corners of his mouth, looking at the fallen ghosts.
It was like the smile of a hunter who caught the prey.