The Failure Marquis Is A Genius [EN]: Chapter 54

The Young Master of the Marquisate Is a Genius-Episode 54 (54/200)

Chapter 7: Summoning: A Scoundrel to Hunt

On the way to Hinz Lake.

It had been a while since I’d passed through the outer city, and people came to greet me.

“Oh! Isn’t that Henon!”

“Try some of this. It’s the fruit that just came into our store today!”

“Thank you for winning the territory war. Thanks to you, my son was able to return home safe and sound.”

Starting with adults who repeatedly expressed their gratitude.

“Let’s play hero! I’m Henon!”

“What! Why are you Henon! I want to be Henon!”

“Let’s play rock-paper-scissors. The loser is Lord Albus!”

The children were playing hero games based on my stories.

And in the back alleys.

“Young master! If you have time, would you like to have some tea?”

The women asked for time with me with affectionate eyes, and the young maidens who didn’t even have the courage to do so couldn’t even look at me, clutching their pounding hearts.

“I’m on duty right now, so let’s drink together later.”

I gently pushed them away just enough to not be rude and headed straight to Hinz Lake.

Campbell, realizing my popularity, grumbled next to me.

“Hmph! Everyone only likes the vice-captain. Even though I, Campbell, have been putting on a brilliant performance next to him.”

A very Campbell-like reaction.

Sion next to me was unusually quiet.

As we walked, she seemed lost in thought, muttering to herself, so I pricked up my ears.

“Bailey, Tina, Monica, Bianca…existences that pose a threat to the young master’s safety…need to be eliminated.”

Good heavens.

She’s not going to cause an accident, is she?

But when did she find out all the girls’ names?

As expected, Sion is exceptionally good at handling information.

There was a brief commotion, but we arrived safely at Hinz Lake. The lake still boasted its unchanging beauty. However, there was a noticeable difference from before.

“The cabin burned down.”

It was a place called a famous spot.

It seemed like an artificial arson, so I decided to start the investigation from here.

First, I called a fisherman who frequented this area.

“Did you call for me, young master?”

“Was the cabin originally like this?”

“No! There’s no way!”

The old man jumped up and down, spitting as he got excited.

“It’s obvious that the kids who come here often played with fire and burned it all down. Now I can’t even fish and rest near the lake anymore. Tsk tsk!”

“When did the fire happen?”

“It was around the last waning moon.”

Waning moon would be about 4 days ago.

Not long ago.

“Thank you for letting me know.”

I threw a silver coin to the fisherman in exchange for the information, and he received it with both hands as if he were grateful and quickly disappeared.

As soon as he disappeared, Sion said with a serious face.

“The day the Marquis’s wife left and the day the cabin was completely destroyed coincide.”

It was too coincidental to be a coincidence.

A person who had never gone out at night in her life suddenly went to a place that didn’t suit her at all to get some night air, and arson happened there?

Considering the circumstances, it was reasonable to assume that Rosaline was involved in the destruction of the cabin.

“Search this place.”

I started rummaging through the ashes.

Sion and Campbell also participated in the investigation.

Sion seemed to be investigating meticulously as she was good at information warfare, but it was burned so cleanly that there was nothing to salvage.

“This isn’t just burned. They set fire first and then smashed it to pieces using tools.”

That was Sion’s conclusion.

I agreed with her opinion.

Then I found it.

When I lifted the board, there were stairs underneath.

“What is this?”

“There was a basement in the cabin.”

I went straight down the stairs.

The basement was also a mess.

Everything was messed up.

There were obvious signs of artificial destruction.

“There’s nothing here either.”

Campbell’s murmur.

However, I had no choice but to stand still like a statue.

Because the status window popped up in front of me.

[A trace amount of magical energy is infiltrating.]

[The purification function is activated.]

[Immunity to abnormal conditions.]

Magical energy.

It is mana with a negative property, and it can be said to be negative mana that is opposite to the positive mana of the Arnia continent.

While ordinary warriors use positive mana to train their bodies, black magicians use negative mana to cast spells.

Above all, since the demon race, which is fundamentally different from humans, handled magical energy, users of magical energy have always been ostracized on the continent.

Such magical energy was staying in the basement of the cabin.

I don’t know what Rosaline did here, but I think I know for sure what kind of being she was trying to borrow power from.

“It’s a bit eerie here.”

“I feel heavy for some reason?”

“I feel bad.”

Sion and Campbell shuddered and expressed their unpleasant feelings.

Since they were also experts who had reached the Expert level, they felt the magical energy permeating their bodies.

However, the amount of magical energy was very small, and they didn’t clearly grasp it with the status window like me, so they just dismissed it as feeling bad.

I told those guys the truth.

“Magical energy remains in this place.”

“Is that really true?”

“No wonder. I felt heavy.”

Sion and Campbell, who were greatly surprised, soon nodded.

This unpleasant feeling that they had been feeling since entering the basement was understandable if it was magical energy.

Sion opened her mouth in anger.

“The Marquis’s wife has crossed the line. We must report this fact to Lord Lloyd immediately.”

I wish I could.

But this is insufficient evidence.

If Rosaline denies it, it’s over.

It was obvious that she would cover it up with excuses that anyone could see were absurd, saying that she had never been to the cabin and that the missing maid had run away.

The problem is that Rosaline is allowed to do that.

Because she is the legitimate wife of the Marquis family.

No matter how suspicious the circumstances are and how vague the arguments are, if there is no clear evidence that can’t be budged, she will rather face the backlash of being framed.

“Let’s get out of here for now.”

Leaving the complicated worries behind, I came outside, and it was already night, probably because the investigation took a long time.

Unfortunately, it was a new moon again, so it was terribly dark.

Sion, who was thoroughly prepared, skillfully lit the oiled torch and illuminated the surroundings.

“Shall we see the Marquis?”

“I’ll think about it a little more…”

It was the moment I was about to answer Sion’s words.

The druid’s intuition moved.

I felt someone’s subtle gaze.

It was so brief that I was confused.

However, the voice of the Heavenly Demon continued.

-Someone is hiding in the southwest bushes. He’s watching you. He’s a suspicious guy.

If even the Heavenly Demon says so, it’s certain.

I moved as if nothing was wrong.

At the same time, I whispered to Sion and Campbell in a small voice.

“We have a tail. Act like nothing’s wrong.”

Sion and Campbell flinched slightly, but soon maintained their natural movements. I conveyed the hand signals I used in the North to them. The message was to move at the same time when signaled.

As I moved towards the Marquis’s castle, the bushes also moved little by little. It seemed like they were planning to back off after seeing me enter the Marquis’s castle.

I can’t let that happen.

The timing is now.

“Move!”

I turned sharply and rushed towards the bushes.

Campbell, who had been preparing in advance, also charged like a wild boar, and Sion’s more advanced Water Lizard Steps quickly closed the distance.

The follower was startled by the sudden change, and the bushes shook violently.

Then a black magic bullet flew.

“It’s a black magician!”

Sion dodged with ease.

Campbell knocked away the magic bullet with his sword.

I…had already arrived and grabbed the back of the back of his neck.

“What kind of speed is that!”

The hooded man, surprised, resisted fiercely and cast Magic Missile from close range, so I broke his fingers.

Crack-!

“Kuaaaaack!!”

A painful scream.

Then Sion and Campbell completely subdued him.

I approached the guy who was lying face down with his limbs tied and asked.

“Why were you following us?”

“How did you see through my stealth? I used a high-level magic tool.”

“I’m asking the questions.”

I gently stepped on the back of his hand.

“Kuaaaack!!”

“I’ll ask again. Why did you follow us?”

“Hehehe, do you think I’ll tell you that?”

I don’t know what he’s so confident about.

Campbell, Sion, and I looked at each other and shrugged.

It seems like this guy needs some Northern-style steaming [torture].

“Okay. Answer as late as possible. That’s what I want.”

I took out a dagger from my waist and approached him.

Sion skillfully covered his mouth with a rag to prevent suicide and prevent the sound from leaking out.

And I slowly started skinning him.

“Eup! Euueup! Eueup!”

“It’s okay. You don’t have to say anything. The night is long, so let’s take our time.”

I suddenly remembered when I captured Gavin, the leather collector.

I skinned him slowly like this back then too.

He couldn’t last an hour and peed and begged for mercy.

Compared to that, the black magician lasted a whopping two hours, so his guts were better than Gavin’s.

Anyway, it doesn’t matter.

Whether it’s an hour or two, the result is the same: he raised the white flag.

“I’ll tell you everything…please stop killing me.”

“I wish you had said that sooner.”

Saying this makes me feel like I’m the villain, but it’s clear that those guys are the villains. I broke the ankle of the guy who said he would confess everything.

“Kuaack! Why!”

“There wasn’t a single guy who said he would confess and spat out the right information at first. Let’s play a little more and talk again.”

“No! I’ll really tell you. Euaaaack!!”

After playing for about an hour, sincerity permeated the guy’s eyes.

I felt that now was the time to hear the confession.

When I stopped cutting, the guy started spewing out words incoherently.

“So…that’s…”

Twilight. Greed. Demon summoning. Rosaline.

Every word that came out was so shocking that I couldn’t help but be shocked.

It didn’t seem like he made it up.

Above all, it was quite specific for a story told in a situation where he was being tortured and was terrified.

“In short, Rosaline commissioned a curse to kill me, but in fact, it’s a demon summoning circle prepared by Greed, disguised as a strategist of the Hilton family?”

“That’s right.”

“You guys are going to detonate that in the middle of the Marquis’s castle?”

“Yes.”

I thought Twilight had been unsettlingly quiet, but I didn’t know they were plotting such a huge thing behind the scenes.

Demon summoning is not something to be taken lightly.

If you touch it wrong, intervention may come on a continental level.

However, the fact that they took such an unreasonable step meant that Greed saw me as that much of a nuisance.

“If this guy is right, it explains why the maid disappeared. Poor Kate. To be a victim of the curse.”

Campbell frowned as if he was uncomfortable, and Sion also glared coldly at the black magician.

“Rosaline is just being used.”

“······”

“So, when is the demon summoning?”

The black magician, who had been shrinking until now, suddenly burst out laughing as if he had forgotten about it when he heard my question.

“Hehehe, it’s today. You’re already too late…Keok!”

“What’s wrong with this guy?”

I punched him in the stomach and gagged him.

Anyway, I found out who the mastermind was and figured out what kind of plan they had, so all that’s left is to go back and report to the Marquis and catch Rosaline.

There is also a witness who will tell the whole story.

The magical energy that the black magician is carrying is vivid evidence, so Rosaline won’t be able to get away with it this time.

“Let’s go back quickly.”

I returned to the inner castle like that.

But a problem occurred.

The Marquis, who was there in the afternoon, is gone.

Even Sebastian.

I asked the head maid, who had been replaced after the Gavin incident.

“Where is the Marquis?”

“A giant ogre appeared in a nearby manor, so he went there urgently. The head butler also accompanied him to protect him.”

The two powerhouses are not here at this time.

In other words, the Lloyd Marquisate is now a no-man’s land.

The owner, who was always attached to the Marquis’s castle, is not here when it’s most urgent, and the timing is too perfect.

Perhaps Greed’s design seemed certain.

‘He’s more annoying than Jealousy, whom I met in the North.’

The Marquis and Sebastian are on a business trip, and a demon is summoned in the middle of the Marquis’s castle with only Henon left.

If I run away from here, the demon will destroy the Marquis’s castle and massacre civilians, and if I fight back, I will die to the demon.

A dilemma.

I can’t do this or that.

…That’s what Greed would have thought.

[Persistent vitality is activated.]

[The purification function is activated.]

[Immune to negative mana.]

[Has the power of exorcism.]

But I have the power of a druid, and he didn’t calculate this variable.

At least when it comes to demons, I have good compatibility like a holy knight.

Kugugugugu!!!!

Debris is falling from the ceiling.

It seemed too late to stop the summoning.

Then I have no choice but to defeat it.

“What’s going on? Is there an earthquake?”

I order the head maid, who is making an uneasy expression at the ground-shaking vibration.

“Head maid, take all the people in the inner castle to the outer castle immediately. And tell the knights and soldiers to protect the outer city area. This is a formal ‘order’ as Lloyd’s successor.”

The head maid was quick-witted and predicted that something had happened, so she moved quickly.

The direction from which the vibration was coming was the east, where Rosaline’s residence was located, and an ominous darkness was gradually spreading from that side.

When I looked to the sides, Sion and Campbell had already drawn their weapons and were fully prepared.

They seem to be ready.

“Let’s go. The hunt begins.”