Count’s Youngest Son is a Warlock

Chapter 78: Take Over (3)

[A-Are you okay, Lord Lucion?]

Bethel was taken aback by Lucion’s bloody nose and blurred eyes.

[Did something go wrong while he was being possessed, Russell?]

[Wait a minute.]

Russell frowned and calmly examined Lucion’s condition.

The fact that Lucion had a nosebleed meant that he was overloaded with magic.

[‘…How could that happen?’]

The darkness that connected Lucion and Bethel, and the door that was made so that Bethel could safely dwell in Lucion’s body.

All of these worked fine.

[Lord Lucion. Come on, cut off the darkness.]

Judging by the complicated emotions flowing out of Lucion, Bethel thought they had to dissolve the state of possession first.

Lucion, who belatedly came to his senses, first cut off the darkness following Bethel’s words and released the possession.

A white thread flowed out of Lucion’s body, and Bethel regained her original ghostly appearance as if the thread were woven.

‘Clearly, darkness has spoken to me…’

Lucion thought as he wiped his nose.

It was the same voice he heard when he used the curse.

However, unlike the last time he used the curse, there was no price.

‘If it’s Ratta…’

Lucion slowly turned his eyes and looked at Ratta.

Ratta’s eyes fluctuated and she rolled her front paws.

She looked like she knew something.

[No, there’s nothing wrong with the possession. Lucion’s darkness is fine.]

Russell concluded.

It almost looked like an external factor had interfered.

There was an external factor that he didn’t notice?

Russell chuckled for a moment.

“Teacher.”

Lucion called Russell with a confused look.

[Yes, Lucion. Tell me.]

Russell unintentionally licked his mouth.

“The darkness spoke to me when I used the curse. Is it supposed to work like that?”

[…?]

For a moment, Russell raised his eyebrows, wondering if he heard it wrong.

However, seeing Lucion’s expression eager for an answer, Russell relaxed his shoulders and asked.

[Is it the voice of your darkness?]

“No. It wasn’t my darkness. How can I not tell the voices of my darkness?”

[Has it happened this time too?]

“Yes.”

[Don’t worry, Lucion.]

Russell tried to calm Lucion’s emotions first.

[Because the darkness wandering in nature reacted to you.]

“Darkness wandering in nature?”

[Yeah. The most common thing in nature is mana, followed by light and darkness, but if they find something interesting, they sometimes talk. Even now, I can hear the place where the rats used to be because it’s in the underground where there’s no light.]

When Russel confirmed it to Lucion, only then he relaxed.

At the same time, Russell also let out a sigh.

If the darkness wandering in nature had spoken to Lucion, it could have briefly overloaded him during the possession.

[‘…But the darkness that wanders in nature is rarely interested even with those who are blessed with darkness.’]

Russell turned his head slightly to hide his expression.

“Bethel, do you remember the last thing you said to me?”

Lucion asked just in case.

[Are you talking about when I told you to cut off the darkness?]

“No. I remember you saying that darkness is my everything and my only thing.”

[I remember. It’s true.]

Bethel’s expression was slightly subtle, but Lucion relaxed his shoulders.

“I must have been sensitive, Teacher.”

[No, it’s not uncommon for the darkness wandering in nature to talk but it’s so rare that it’s surprising.]

“Is that so?”

Lucion picked up the fallen sword and swung it once.

He smiled at his crude figure, unlike the figure when Bethel swung it a while ago.

Certainly, the difference between before and after being possessed was too great.

“How was it, Bethel? It felt a bit strange, but it was better than I thought.”

Although interrupted by the sudden voice of darkness, Bethel’s possession succeeded.

The success itself was a good thing, but Bethel’s skills were no joke even to him.

Only after knowing that there was nothing wrong with Lucion did Bethel’s expression soften.

[I was happy. It was only for a moment, but I felt alive.]

Contrary to Bethel’s widening smile, Russell was staring at her.

Feeling that gaze, Bethel pointed at herself and said.

[Don’t worry, Russell. I won’t covet the living like what’re you’re worried about. The memory of my death is so intense that I can’t help but recognize it.]

[That’s good enough. It’s not because of Lucion…]

Russell stopped talking.

All of a sudden, he felt a tingling sensation.

* * *

As Lucion came out of the basement and crossed the garden to return to his room, he reflexively turned to Hume’s voice calling him.

“Young Master.”

Next to Hume, who showed no sign of exhaustion, he saw Heint crouching down as if choosing his next weapon.

Lucion looked around.

Strangely, there was no one near those two.

“Ah, Lucion.”

Heint belatedly found Lucion and greeted him.

At Lucion’s gaze looking around, Heint said.

“They were here a little while ago, but as soon as the sparring between the Imperial Knights and the Knights of Cronia started, they all rushed out. Everyone is at the exercise hall.”

“That’s a relief. Can I watch, if you don’t mind?”

Looking at the broken weapons, Lucion couldn’t overcome Hume’s power and asked.

“Sure. You’re fine with that, right, Hume?”

“Yes. Of course, it’s fine.”

Hume replied happily.

As Lucion leaned against the tree, Russell couldn’t hold back his itchy mouth.

[Then I’ll watch the fight, no, the sparring for a while.]

[I’m going to follow Russell. Will it be okay?]

‘Teacher must really want to see the sparring, and Bethel seems to have something to say to Teacher.’

Lucion moderately noticed, but nodded as if he didn’t know anything.

He happened to have something he wanted to talk about with Ratta.

―Ratta will stay here.

Ratta’s gaze turned to Russell and Bethel, who had already flown away, and then she walked next to Lucion and crouched down.

“You heard that, too, didn’t you?”

Lucion asked.

―Yes, but it said it was a secret.

‘Teacher didn’t hear it, only me and Ratta did?’

Lucion found it very strange.

Clearly, Russell had a 20% stake in his body under an independent contract made by Russell.

Lucion decided to put off things that didn’t immediately have an answer.

“Why did it say it’s a secret?”

―Ratta doesn’t know either. It just said it was for Lucion’s sake. Ratta likes Lucion best, so she can do anything for Lucion.

“Isn’t it Hume who brings snacks?”

―…Hop!

Ratta hurriedly covered her mouth.

Isn’t Hume here right now?

―R-Ratta also likes Hume. Really!

Ratta’s eyes widened greatly.

“Just kidding.”

Lucion lightly pressed Ratta’s forehead and stroked her from head to tail.

‘Why did the darkness tell me to remember that darkness is my everything and my only thing?’

Lucion made a grumpy look and soon laughed out loud.

The sword Hume wielded snapped and broke before it even touched the floor.

“…W-Wait! It broke? I borrowed this!”

At Heint’s flustered voice, Lucion slightly turned his head with an expressionless face as if he had never laughed.

‘Hume will need a customized weapon.’

Lucion intended to enlist the so-called ‘craftsmen’ for Hume and for the organization.

It was time to use the information and knowledge he had gained from Tella during the banquet.

* * *

‘I feel so relieved.’

After sending off the Imperial knights, Lucion visited Novio to prepare to go out.

“Yes, go out and come back.”

Novio strangely agreed.

Lucion had to erase all 17 excuses he had prepared in advance from his head.

‘I thought you’d say that I shouldn’t go out, considering my fatigue from traveling and Luminos’ attack that hasn’t been resolved yet.’

Upon hearing that Luminos had attacked him, Novio almost blocked all entrances to the frontier.

He did not forget to instruct each city to activate the mana detector immediately in preparation for any possible terrorist attack.

As Lucion left Novio’s room, he guessed what his father was thinking, then nodded slightly.

‘…Oh, you’ve designated today as the day.’

Twelve servants who sold the information.

Personnel managers who selected them.

It was time to root them all out.

‘The butler will hold his breath for a while and then make a move sooner or later.’

The only way to live was to move.

Now that he had attached ghost number 2 with them, Lucion was relieved and went out with Hume on his horse, Shandra, for the first time in a long time.

Lucion was planning to make the organization flow in a form that allowed self-sufficiency, so today he headed to the north, not to the city, to appease the craftsmen.

“Hume.”

After some distance from the mansion, Lucion called for Hume.

“Yes, Young Master.”

“You grabbed a lot of weapons yesterday, didn’t you? Which one did you enjoy the most?”

According to Carson, who was close to the main character in the novel, and Heint, who was the main character, they said that Hume’s talent was so good that he would do everything well.

Then he thought it would be better for Hume to use a weapon that he found enjoyable.

Hume pondered, then raised his eyebrows inwardly.

“All weapons break when I wield them. Is there a weapon that can withstand my strength in the first place?”

For the current Hume, weapons were at the level of armor that made his body as strong as a little fingernail.

However, if there was a weapon that could withstand Hume’s power, it would be different.

“I’m moving now to solve that, so tell me.”

“Daggers, ah, for throwing, of course. I like something heavy like a big sword, a double-edged axe, and a mace.”

Hume grinned, recalling the brief but unique experience from yesterday.

“Great. You don’t have anything to do besides sitting down anyway, so keep thinking about it.”

At Lucion’s instruction, Hume brought up an issue that he’d been feeling conflicted about.

“Young Master, I’ll drive the horse. Aren’t your arms feeling uncomfortable?”

“It’s okay. I’m not having a hard time. Shandra knows that I feel uncomfortable with my arm, so she’s running with adjusted speed.”

Neigh!

At Lucion’s praise, Shandra wept happily.

“…Young Master, where are we going right now?”

Russell, who was floating comfortably, and Bethel, who was floating while cleaning her helmet, were belatedly surprised at Hume’s question.

Lucion’s outing was so natural that no one was aware of it.

Lucion frowned at the strange reaction.

“Didn’t I just say it?”

“I’m sorry, I didn’t hear you properly. I want you to say it again.”

“I’m on my way to recruit craftsmen. There are two people who will be recruited today. I’m thinking of recruiting weapons craftsmen first, and item makers next.”

[You’re going to invite craftsmen to your organization?]

Russell asked.

“That’s right. Originally, I have to find out where the magic stone grows, such as the ore or the fertile land, but I think people come first.”

[Let’s see…]

Russell thought as he listened to Lucion’s designs one by one.

[I guess you’re planning to raise it as an independent force?]

“Yeah. Wouldn’t that be the best?”

[That’s right. As a warlock, if you want to move freely, you must have an independent and strong force.]

Russell also drew the future that Lucion was drawing in his head.

“It’s wonderful just by imagining it.”

Hume’s smile reached his eyes.

[Isn’t it too hard?]

Bethel looked slightly skeptical.

Since he couldn’t please everyone, Lucion just moved on to the next situation.

“That’s why, Teacher.”

Lucion’s smile as he looked at Russell was very clear.

[…I think I’m breaking out in a cold sweat right now.]

What the hell are you trying to do?

Russell unintentionally swallowed his dry saliva.