Episode 214

Episode 214

After the conversation with Lise, I left the underground library immediately.

For the time being, I noted down the items that seemed important. I would pass this list to Kayan later.

The highest priority item was the Holy Grail. Of course, the name of the Holy Grail was disguised. It was first presented under the grandiose name of Blue Dragon's Blood Goblet.

According to Lise, it was highly likely that Raizen, who had prepared the goods, and the clients who had come to bid didn't know the true value of the Holy Grail. She had said that it was disguised quite nicely.

If this was true, then Lise's eyes were truly discerning. It was because the notebook that Kayan gave me only contained a poor quality picture. It was probably a cut and paste of the item from the catalogue given during the auction. The image quality naturally wasn't very high.

"

There are a total of seventy-two Holy Grails in this world.

The higher the number, the stronger the divine power."

It was surprisingly easy to use. It was said that when a being with full and high-quality divine power poured wine into the Holy Grail, the cup would become imbued with divine power. Then all that was necessary was to drink from it.

Originally, I would've been stuck when it came to this, but not anymore. I now had a bishop-level priest called Hellstar.

So the thing that bothered me was whether it would really be possible to strengthen my blessing through usual means. I knew well enough that the Spirit Mountain's Blessing was a very unusual one.

Well, it is worth testing.

I gave Kayan the list of items straight away. There was the Holy Grail, Randall's Cloth and a few elixirs that seemed useful. The common trait among them was that they were all small in size, making them easy to carry.

"I've confirmed it. You should receive them within a week at the latest," Kayan informed me.

After Kayan left, I spent time in my room doing internal energy circulation. Then once the sun went down, I left my room again and headed to the dean's office. It was necessary to obtain the notebook with Leone's identity.

First of all, Morland was the acting dean and usually used the dean's office. I had to go there after he went home from work. Of course, given Morland's friendly attitude and my relationship with Alderson, I could've asked for a favor without moving secretly like this. However, there was always the possibility that he would refuse.

I murmured, "It is bad for my body if day and night are reversed like this."

This was my growing period. I needed to live a regular life, eat a balanced diet, and above all, have frequent exposure to the sun. I hoped that today's secretive actions were the last.

With this in mind, I sneaked into the dean's office and rummaged through the drawers. Fortunately, it didn't take long for me to find the notebook I was looking for.

"This is it." I opened it and scanned it.

Was everything related to the puppets supposed to be documented? It was filled with information on all the students who were turned into puppets, whether they were current students, graduates, or even those who had been expelled from the school. I was surprised to see that there were not only notes about the Iron-Blooded Lord, but also notes about me prepared. That fellow was going to make a puppet of me later.

No. It wasn't Dean Alderson himself, but his puppet who did this.

Well, the puppet and the real dean had the same mindset. Thinking about this, I finally checked Leone's entry.

Then my expression immediately hardened. The entire page was stained black as if it had been burned. It wasn't actually burned. It looked like ink from a bottle had been poured on it. In addition, white letters were engraved on the black page.

[Shall I see you at Setitus?]

I took a sharp breath. It was written not long ago. This much could be inferred from the ink and the handwriting. There could be a slight error, but it was at least within a week. In other words, Leone had been at the academy until very recently. She had also suspected that I would come here.

"How sly." I chuckled as I put the documents back in the drawer.

At first glance, it seemed like I had gained nothing, but this wasn't actually the case. At the very least, I was convinced that Leone wasn't a person in a dream. She really existed in reality.

I got these good results and went straight back to my room. Now, I just needed to visit the imperial palace, and all the troublesome post-processing matters at the academy would be over.

I lay down on the bed with a lighter heart and slept soundly.

The next day, I woke up due to Kayan's urgent call. "Master Luan, it seems you should go to the imperial palace right away."

"What's going on?" I asked.

"Young Master Hector is seriously injured."

What was happening now?

***

It was dawn when Kayan arrived and I headed straight to the imperial palace. I even skipped breakfast. We set out when the sky was still dark, so we were able to arrive at the imperial palace by afternoon.

Unlike the last time I visited with Glenn, today's inspection and entry procedures took a bit more time. I once again thought that having a friend from the imperial family was a really good thing. Then I headed straight to the room where Hector was staying.

It was a different place from the mansion I had stayed in.

"Brother Hector?"

Hector was sitting on the bed in a daze. He saw me and smiled slightly. "Ah. You came."

Charles was sitting next to him, cutting apples in a somewhat awkward position. It seemed that she had come as my proxy. Certainly, Rubieta was a Great Family, so its position wasn't too inferior compared to the Badnikers or Goodsprings.

I gave Hector a once-over to check his overall condition.

Kayan had made such a fuss that I expected Hector to be half-crippled. Surprisingly, he looked fine—aside from his right arm.

I said, "I heard about the situation. It is said you had a fight with a Royal Knight in the imperial family."

"What fight? It was a legitimate spar. However, both of us got caught up in the heat of the moment and our movements got a bit rough. It is a common occurrence."

"What bullshit about a common occurrence. Is it common to call someone over with the promise of a reward, only to end up fighting and breaking their arm?" I argued,

Charles nodded in agreement. Hector looked embarrassed.

It wasn't something to quibble over with this guy, so I looked around and asked, "Seren?"

"She is in the next room. She is probably trying to drive away the chill. Her complexion is still pale." Charles answered.

It was hard to see her face. Perhaps Seren's condition was just as serious as Charon's.

I sat down next to Hector and said, "There is still Bishop Hellstar at the academy."

"I know. I've already seen him once."

"Then things will proceed quickly. He is a good person. You can communicate well with him. He will probably offer to fix your broken arm as soon as he sees it." I noted.

Hector shook his head. "He is already overdoing it. This injury didn't come from a fight against the church. It is shameless to ask for treatment for my personal wounds."

I had nothing to say when this guy was talking sensibly. I also understood the importance of divine power and realized that using a bishop's power for personal reasons wasn't right. This was regardless of Hellstar's personality.

I looked at Hector's face. He was still smiling slightly, but it was a forced smile no matter how I looked at it. "Are you okay?"

Hector smiled and said, "Am I okay? I'm fine. Sir Morbius is twenty-seven. This means he has trained a few more years than me. It is only natural that there is a difference in strength due to all the years he spent with his sword.

"I expected that I would lose if we fought. In fact, I fought relatively well. I even managed to nick his earlobe a bit. It was a fair duel from the start. There is no ill will toward each other—"

"No, that isn't the case!" Charles exclaimed from where she was sitting next to him.

Then she said in a voice full of anger, "That knight! The so-called Royal Knights, who protect the imperial family, openly insulted and ridiculed us! He questioned if we really fought a demon king and said we must've been in a panic and imagined it all. He claimed that if they had been there, they would've handled it much better!

"The duel process wasn't honorable at all! Even though he was so strong, he didn't end it right away and toyed with Hector! He insulted the hero disciples, your family and even the head of the family! Then at the end, he deliberately went for the arm..."

Given Hector's expression, it wasn't difficult to see that what Charles was saying was true. He took pride in the Badniker name and worshipped the Iron-Blooded Lord like a god.

Naturally, he had a lot of pride. I knew it well. In a sense, I knew better than anyone else in the family. In my previous life, when I was the scoundrel Luan, this fellow tormented me endlessly due to his pride in the family.

Now, such a person was able to hide the fact that he was insulted and maintained his calm despite his shame being exposed.

Should this be considered growth? Someone's growth was certainly a joyful thing, but for some reason, it was hard for me to be genuinely happy. Somehow, my mind was becoming hot with anger.

"Tell me again. Who did you face in the Royal Knights?" I asked.

"Luan, don't do anything reckless," Hector warned with a deliberately stern expression.

"I won't do anything reckless, so just tell me. What is his name?"

Hector saw my expression and sighed. "Sir Morbius."

"That is his name, huh?" I let out a short laugh, looked at Hector, and asked again, "In any case, do you think you can attend the award ceremony in this state?"

"There are no problems with my movements, but it is impolite to see His Majesty with a bandaged body. Now that you are here, I think it is best for you to take my place."

"Got it..."

"Don't say you aren't attending as well. It must be you who directly receives His Majesty's praise," Hector said in a rare, forceful tone.

Was he still bound by the family and the Iron-Blooded Lord? No, it was a bit different now. Hector's eyes were clear.

Hector continued, "Since you were the most active in that disaster, it is a position you should've taken from the start. There was some turmoil along the way, but this is the right outcome in the end."

He was really good at saying greasy things. I got up while feeling an odd tickling sensation on the back of my head. "I understand. By the way, there is still time until the ceremony, right?"

"Luan, this is the imperial palace," Hector reminded me.

"I know. I'm going to eat first. I didn't even eat breakfast. Let's go, Charles."

"Why me too?"

"Show me to the dining room," I answered.

"Go up the first floor and tell the maid... Eek!"

I grabbed Charles by the hand and dragged her away.

The moment I opened the door and stepped outside, Charles shook my hand away. "How rude! I haven't finished peeling the apples yet!"

"Don't tell me you've been next to him since yesterday?"

"Huh? Of course. One of his arms is broken, so someone has to take care of him, right?"

Her intentions were commendable, but it somehow felt a bit suspicious.

She is trying to take advantage of this situation to score some points with Hector.

I sighed and said, "It is too fussy to take care of him just because he can't use one arm. He isn't a child. He can handle it on his own, even if it is a bit uncomfortable. Just leave him be."

Charles looked incredulous. "How can a family member say such heartless words?"

"Shh." I made a gesture to shut up and nodded toward the door.

At the same time, a muffled voice was heard. "Dammit."

The moment this tearful voice echoed, Charles instinctively shut her mouth. The hand that was reaching for the door fell limply.

I also instinctively rubbed the back of my neck. Even though we were half-siblings, he was still my brother. I couldn't help feeling annoyed hearing him sob like this.

How could I phrase it? It felt like watching my little brother being beaten by a kid from another family and crying about it. This was also an unfamiliar sensation to me.

I didn't hide my displeasure as I looked at Charles and asked, "Where is that Morbius guy?"

***

There was a dining room used by knights. It was around time for a meal, so there was a high chance he would be there.

Red hair, red hair...

I casually scanned the dining room and soon spotted the bright red head. I strode over and plopped down in front of him. This guy had a relatively young face, red hair and an annoying expression. It must be Morbius.

"Are you the genius of the Badnikers

I heard that you have good talent in swordsmanship, so I will teach you a lesson.

Draw your sword."

"Why?

For you, who has only seen the Badnikers' shabby swordsmanship, this is an opportunity to broaden your knowledge."

I remembered what Charles had said. It seemed to be words he spoke to Hector right from the start.

"Who are you?"

I looked at Morbius, who was using informal language right away. "Are you Morbius?"

"Yes."

After finishing the final check, I nodded and said, "You were talking about experience, so I thought you were at the level of a commander. However, you are still just a brat."

"What?"

"Eat a lot of food and grow a bit more. My time is too precious to teach you a lesson right now," I said arrogantly.