LIGHTNOVELWORLD Chapter 83
Chapter
“Uh… nice to meet you?”
It was a thoughtless remark, and the Marquis wasn’t really thinking much about it either.
A Swordmaster’s apprentice can use a bit of formal speech. What’s the big deal?
“I’ve heard from my son that you saw a ghost…”
“Um… yeah… I guess so.”
Enok rolled his eyes awkwardly, letting out a sigh.
“Ha… Well, from what I heard about Zikfrein, I think that Idalian is that lady over there. Am I right?”
“That’s correct.”
“I can’t say I’ve seen her for long, but I only caught that name: Idalian Le Demisto. Looking at this portrait, she really does resemble her.”
“Well, that… is true. Idalian is…”
Enok found it odd that he was so readily believing without a hint of doubt.
“Don’t you have any suspicion? They said you saw a ghost.”
“Doubting it would be rather silly, wouldn’t you say? Why would an apprentice of a Swordmaster lie about such a thing? They aren’t incapable of honesty.”
“Oh.”
That made sense.
But putting that aside, I suddenly felt flustered at the sight of the Marquis. Now I was curious about just how powerful a Marquis from the Kingdom could be.
According to Rionne, the King fell far short of her. If the Marquis was weaker than the King, then I probably won’t have high expectations.
Kiiing—
Enok’s Ki Sense extended cautiously, while his Ki Eye quietly opened up. Evaluating the Marquis’s level was surprisingly not easy.
“Oh…”
And that immediately proved that the Marquis was anything but ordinary.
‘Is the Marquis this strong?’
I knew there were Dukes above him, and at the very top, the King. So, the Duke and the King must be even stronger than this?
“How interesting.”
The Marquis reacted to Enok’s words as he felt an unusual tension. It quickly transformed into surprise, revealing itself on his face.
“…You don’t say.”
“Well, it doesn’t seem like today’s the day for that. Let’s meet again some other time.”
It didn’t feel right to request a duel right after hearing that the ghost of his wife resided in the castle.
“Can I ask just one thing?”
“Sure, what is it?”
“Is it true that Heavenly Death is a thing?”
“Yeah.”
“Hmm.”
While the Marquis pondered over something deeply, Enok stepped away.
What must the feelings of a husband who heard that his wife’s ghost had been seen be like? I couldn’t imagine it would be a pleasant experience.
“Enok.”
“Huh?”
Zikfrein, who had been following him silently, opened his mouth with a serious expression.
“If that ghost really is our mother, then I can’t let this matter slide.”
“What matter?”
“I told you before, didn’t I? There are people in the Slum suffering because of a ghost. And we can’t tell if it’s the ghost’s doing or if someone is using the ghost as an excuse.”
“Right.”
“But if that ghost is our mother… I must stand up for her honor. It’s my duty.”
Why was he telling me this? As Enok stared blankly at him, Zikfrein awkwardly laughed.
“Honestly, it’s also because I want to do that. Anyway, that’s what I wanted to say.”
After scratching his head for a moment, Zikfrein cautiously made a request.
“Could you help me out? My dad won’t just sit back either, but you’d definitely be a big help.”
“Sure, why not?”
“Really?”
“Yeah.”
There was no reason to not help.
“Oh, but when did you say that meeting was?”
“You mean the meeting? It’s in two days.”
“So, we just have to catch it within two days?”
“That would be great, but I think that might be hard.”
Zikfrein sighed and gestured to Jatum, who had been quietly following beside him.
Jatum nodded at the order to strengthen the city’s patrols and quickly disappeared, while Zikfrein stroked the sword at his waist with a troubled expression.
“As long as there’s time after the meeting.”
“Hmm.”
At that moment, Tsukiyo, who had been quietly clearing her throat, climbed up Enok’s leg and naturally mounted his back.
“That loyalty of yours is truly admirable. Don’t worry. If it’s our dad, it won’t take him even two days to find out the truth.”
“Is that so?”
Zikfrein smiled slightly and exaggeratedly widened his stride.
“Then let’s go.”
*
The streets of the city were unusually chaotic. As the peace that had been maintained for a long time began to crack, the residents felt the unease intensely.
“Hey, Max. What’s going on? Why are there so many patrols? I even saw some knights.”
Max, who was on patrol, shook his head at the neighbor’s words.
“I don’t know. I’m just a low-ranking officer.”
“Oh, come on. You really don’t know anything?”
“Well… it doesn’t seem like something minor.”
Scratching his chin and in deep thought, Max quickly noticed something and opened his eyes wide.
“B-Battle Alert!”
“Did you find something?”
Zikfrein Le Demisto, the heir to the Demisto house, was usually kind to the soldiers, but today his expression was anything but cheerful.
Knowing that making a mistake at times like this could spell disaster, Max maintained a military posture and replied.
“Nothing out of the ordinary yet!”
“Really?”
Max, who was glancing sideways at the neighbor who was bowing his head, began to examine the unfamiliar people next to the young master.
One expressionless man with black hair, a small girl riding on that man’s back, and a fox.
‘…Who the heck are they?’
Upon closer inspection, the girl had ears that looked like cat ears. If it wasn’t cosplay, then she must be a Beastman, and if a Beastman I had never seen before appeared during such times, the chances of this event being ordinary just skyrocketed.
At that moment, the man made eye contact with Max.
“Gasp…!”
Max’s body stiffened. An incomprehensible sense of intimidation pressed down on him. The man’s eyes seemed to peer into the deepest part of his being, making him tremble, and only when the man’s gaze shifted elsewhere could he finally breathe.
‘Wh-What kind of creepy stare is that…?’
The man shook his head at the young master.
“It seems like there’s nothing here.”
“Is that so? Then thank you for your hard work.”
With a pat on the shoulder from the young master, Max quickly saluted.
“Yes! Victory assured!”
Once the young master and his company disappeared, Max exhaled the breath he had been holding.
“Ha… Ha… Ah, sir. You didn’t do anything wrong, did you?”
“Hmm? No, I didn’t. Why do you ask?”
“No…. Just make sure not to do anything wrong from now on. I thought we were in big trouble…”
“What are you talking about, you brat?”
*
As he walked through the streets, taking in all the people with his Ki Eye, Enok suddenly felt a pang of doubt.
‘Can we really find anything like this?’
Demisto wasn’t a small village. Scanning each and every person with his Ki Eye would take quite some time. Moreover, if people weren’t all gathered in one place, there’s a chance some may be missed.
‘If we’re going to look for connections…’
Simply put, it seemed that finding a line leading to this incident would solve the problem, but perhaps it was due to his own inadequacies, he hadn’t been able to find such a line at once.
“Zik.”
“Huh? Oh, what’s this? Are we on nickname basis now?”
“Stop messing around. Zikfrein is too long.”
Nicknames? For a moment, Enok almost threw a punch as he clicked his tongue.
‘Speaking of which, what nickname should I give Rionne?’
Rin? Onne? Lin?
He wanted to bestow a nickname, but he didn’t have the sense for it, which was quite troublesome.
“In any case, which place suffered? I think we should start there.”
“Oh, we’re almost there. Right here.”
Zikfrein took a step into a narrow alley in the center of the city, having walked quite a distance.
The alley wasn’t entangled in a maze-like manner. There was no reason for a place that was the heart of the Demisto house to have something like that. At least not unless it was extremely peripheral.
So, the alley itself was merely a narrow path straight between buildings, and Zikfrein stood there pointing at the ground.
“Here it is. Do you see the stain?”
“Is that blood?”
“That’s right. Someone was torn apart and killed here.”
“And you’re calling that ghost business?”
Zikfrein smiled bitterly, caressing the wall.
“This isn’t a grudge that will die forgotten, so I must deliver a fitting punishment.”
“What do you mean?”
“There were words written in blood.”
“That’s it?”
“Rumors among the people can’t be ignored. Once a rumor spreads, it can solidify as fact.”
Sighing, Zikfrein looked at Enok.
“So, can you find something? Though there might not be much left.”
“Just a moment.”
Enok closed his eyes for a moment. There should certainly be lines remaining at the spot where the incident had taken place. There was no need to hold back on using his Ki Eye.
Kiiing-!
The rings in his eyes glowed with a distinct purple hue and spun. As he examined the tangled lines in the alley, a small smile crossed Enok’s face.
“I found it.”
*
Enok followed the line. As he gradually moved toward the edge of the city, he surveyed the subtly changing atmosphere.
“Is there a Slum in Demisto?”
I wondered if it was really necessary to leave a slum in such a city, but Zikfrein nodded as if it were obvious.
“Once a city is established and time passes, it can’t be helped. We could crush it if we wanted, but that would be too harsh, wouldn’t it?”
“Is that so?”
Nodding vaguely, Enok stopped in front of a building.
“Is it in here?”
Zikfrein, who was about to head inside, was halted by Tsukiyo.
“Hold on, little one.”
Tsukiyo squinted her eyes and stared at the building before snorting.
“If you’re going to live like this without the decency to do it openly, then what’s the point in doing such things?”
With a smirk, she stomped her small foot on the ground.
Boom—
The earth trembled and a small hole opened where she struck.
“What… What is this?”
“There’s a space underground. And it’s quite large too.”
As Zikfrein looked at Enok, he nodded as well.
“Yeah. It looks like it could be half the Slum.”
“…There was a place like this? In Demisto?”
While Zikfrein looked dazed, Enok was peering into the hole that had formed in the ground and tilted his head.
“Something about this feels… familiar.”