The Failure Marquis Is A Genius [EN]: Chapter 34

Finding the Golden Branch and unexpectedly gaining a lucky chance made me happy for a moment, but I hurriedly left the ruins.

Reaching the Expert level is something to celebrate, but I had to go to Black Castle and report on the situation first.

No.

Maybe things have already gone wrong.

Jealousy’s Apostle and Victor also found me, so they must have considered the possibility that their plan was exposed.

‘I have to hurry.’

But there was a problem.

I jumped into the crevasse and arrived at the Dragon’s Lair.

So, to return, I have to climb that steep cliff again.

-Congratulations, kid. You’ve finally reached a level where you can be called a warrior.

At that moment, the Heavenly Demon Sword, having escaped the ruins and found freedom, spoke to me.

“Thank you, Heavenly Demon. It’s all thanks to you.”

-Kekeke, who would have known you’d meet a dragon there? Luck just follows you around.

I wanted to talk more with the Heavenly Demon about the new realm, but I decided to focus on climbing the cliff first.

-You’re good at something, aren’t you? Summon trees on the wall and use them as handholds to climb up.

The method he recommended was quite a good idea, but,

“I’m going to use the new skill I acquired this time.”

That’s Flash Step.

A technique that uses the power of wind to kick off the air.

I closed my eyes and concentrated.

[Wind Control activated.]

[Activating skill Flash Step.]

Feeling the gentle wind energy wrapping around my ankles, I kicked off the ground.

I floated in the air, and my body felt strangely light.

It was completely different from when I practiced countless times before and couldn’t even get a sense of it.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

The sound of air exploding.

I flew into the sky with the recoil.

Flash Step was truly a cheat skill.

A swordsman who needs to close the distance has learned a movement skill that allows them to fly in the air.

Even Karina, the person who developed the skill, can’t do more than a double jump, but I’m climbing the cliff by kicking off the air continuously.

If Karina saw this scene, even if she was a Sword Master with a higher level than me, she would be jealous.

‘The important thing is that this Flash Step is only one star. A one-star ★ skill.’

I was looking forward to how the already overpowered movement skill would develop even more bizarrely if Flash Step evolved into two or three stars in the future.

Cold air.

The sound of insects crying at night.

A sparkling night sky.

Stepping on the sinking snowfield, I finally felt that I had returned to the North.

My head was throbbing from using Flash Step so much.

When you look at it, Druid power doesn’t use mana, but it consumes a lot of mental power.

Even though my head was dizzy, my body was fine, so I ran towards Black Castle at maximum speed.

* * *

Black Honey.

Inside is a small studio apartment where the employee Erica lives.

Erica was unconscious on the bed, and a wet towel was placed on her forehead as she was sweating.

Sion was sitting by Erica’s bedside, but her complexion didn’t look good either.

‘Young Master, where on earth are you?’

The shocking night when Victor’s house was searched.

As Henon said, she went straight to the Commander and told her everything.

Karina, who was initially skeptical, was guided by Sion and witnessed the basement under Victor’s residence, and she was speechless.

Black Castle was turned upside down.

A large-scale internal investigation was conducted to catch additional Twilight cultists.

The most suspected person was Erica, who had an affair with him, but Sion defended her, and she was able to get through it.

In the first place, Erica was greatly shocked when she learned about Victor’s identity and fell ill.

The problem was what came next.

None of the main characters of that night showed up.

Victor, who went on night patrol, did not return, and even Henon, who followed him, was missing.

Karina rarely led the search party herself and went outside the territory several times, but she did not gain any particular results.

Rather, the Owl Bears showed signs of attacking Black Castle in groups, so she, the most important force, had to stay in the castle and focus on defense.

As the waiting time gradually increased, Sion gradually withered both physically and mentally.

‘Since when have I been thinking about Young Master like this?’

She laughed at herself when she thought about it.

Originally, she had wished for Henon’s death every day.

A bastard of a scoundrel.

A being that should never have been born.

The one-night love affair of irresponsible men and women.

How many acts of violence did Henon commit?

All the territory residents hated him, but no one hated Henon more than she, who served him most closely.

From the moment he was born as a bastard, he was disqualified as a lord candidate, and even his actions were like that, so no one even looked at him.

So, when he died from food getting stuck in his throat, she felt more relieved than sad, and she was even happy.

Even though she was reprimanded by the Marquis for this.

When he came back to life, she couldn’t even control her expression because of her terrible disappointment.

‘That Young Master has completely changed.’

As if his soul had changed.

I thought it was just a simple change of heart.

Learning swordsmanship alone.

Revealing ambition.

Being recognized by the territory residents.

‘Sion, I will punish your rudeness.’

Always rough.

But the temperature is different.

Even though he spoke harshly, Young Master had always been considerate and caring towards her since returning from death.

Moreover, while training with him, she was able to break through her blocked realm and become stronger.

Punishing the Necromancer.

Suffering together in the North.

Since when was it?

She sincerely worried about Henon.

‘Young Master, please come back soon. You said you wanted to become Marquis Lloyd, didn’t you? It’s not like you to disappear like this.’

Sion muttered to herself.

Her thoughts were interrupted by a voice from outside.

“I’m coming in.”

Squeak.

The door opened.

Unfamiliar shoes came in.

“Young Master?”

“I’m sorry. It’s not the person you wanted.”

The person who came in was Commander Karina, the owner of Black Castle. When Sion tried to get up and pay her respects, Karina waved her hand.

“Ah, it’s okay. I just stopped by because I had some time.”

Karina gently placed her hand on Erica’s forehead, who was sweating profusely from the fever. Sion said to her.

“Is there any news about Young Master Henon?”

Karina replied in a skeptical tone.

“I’ve been out on several searches, but I haven’t found anything. It seems like he’s gone far outside the territory. Even if he wasn’t killed by Victor, he would have already died.”

“No. Young Master is alive. Absolutely.”

Sion denied Karina’s words with a firm face.

Karina’s eyes flashed with interest.

There is a saying that you can know the superior by looking at the subordinate.

In that sense, that maid seemed to have absolute faith in her master.

“As someone who has taught Henon, I know that he is extraordinary. But this has nothing to do with skill. The probability of him surviving is slim.”

“No. Young Master is a person who always keeps his word. He said he would come back alive. He will never die.”

“You trust him quite a bit. Henon would be quite happy to know that a pretty and skilled maid like you trusts him.”

Was it because it was night?

Sion’s face, reflected in the burning candle, looked particularly red.

Karina turned her back and opened her mouth nonchalantly.

“Tomorrow, all the soldiers of Black Castle, including me, will go to subjugate the Owl Bears. Victor told us the location of their habitat and sent us an invitation to be there.”

Sion was surprised and jumped up.

“Really?”

“Yes. We’ll meet Victor tomorrow. I’ll ask him about Henon’s whereabouts. If he says he doesn’t know, there might be a glimmer of hope.”

“Ah…”

“Or you can come with me and ask him yourself. Your skills are top-notch by Northern standards, so you’ll be a great help.”

Sion hesitated for a moment, then shook her head.

“No. I’ll wait here until the end. Young Master is definitely alive. He will definitely return to the fortress. I can’t be away when that happens.”

“You’re stubborn. I understand.”

Karina seemed to have expected Sion to act like this, so she coolly opened the door and tried to leave.

Sion shouted at her back.

“Commander!”

“Is there anything else?”

“Are you okay? Victor’s invitation is definitely a trap.”

“What? Were you worried about me?”

Karina chuckled.

Her eyes flickered with the light caused by the dense mana.

“Don’t worry about us. A trap? We’ll just break it. I hope Henon will be here when I get back.”

With those words, Karina disappeared, and the cold wind of the North blew particularly hard outside the window. Sion trembled slightly with an inexplicable sense of unease.

* * *

I finally arrived at Black Castle.

The fluttering royal flag felt particularly welcome today.

I didn’t know when I was being chased by Victor, but the crevasse I fell into and Black Castle were in completely opposite directions, so it took a long time to return to the castle.

The distance was far, and it wasn’t a territory developed by humans, so I kept encountering monsters, which delayed me even more.

If I hadn’t reached the Expert level and hadn’t been able to recover my stamina with the tenacious Life Force skill, I might have dropped out in the middle.

Anyway, I’ve reached my destination.

Originally, I should have rested a bit, but I had a lot of work to do.

Above all, the most urgent thing was to report the appearance of Jealousy’s Apostle, one of the seven Twilight executives, that is, Niflheim, to the Commander.

So, I approached the North Gate of Black Castle, but…

“Huh?”

The door was wide open.

What if a monster comes in? How can they be so unprepared?

Was I already too late?

Did Niflheim capture Black Castle?

With anxiety, I quickly entered through the North Gate.

Fortunately, there were no signs of battle, such as destroyed buildings or fires. However, it was deserted, and I wondered where everyone had gone.

Originally, I was going to see Karina first, but the atmosphere was strange, so I changed my destination to the accommodation where I was staying.

First, I wanted to see Sion and hear the whole story.

I opened the door to the accommodation and came in.

As soon as I opened the door, Sion was sitting on the bedside, staring blankly at the window.

When she saw me, she stopped abruptly as if struck by lightning. Now that I think about it, I was much later than expected.

“Um. Sion. I’m here. I’m a little late, right? Sorry…”

My words were cut off by Sion’s actions of hugging me tightly. Surprisingly, her purple eyes were filled with tears. I could deeply feel how much she had suffered during that time.

“I’m sorry. I’ll come early next time.”

“Young Master, you’re really a bad person.”

“I know that well. That’s what scoundrels are like.”

“Rather, point your sword at me. Running away without any news like this is really terribly cowardly.”

After that, I listened to Sion’s nagging, which wasn’t really nagging. I happily endured this time. I really felt like I had returned home, and I was happy that she had opened her heart to me this much.

After the nagging was over, I asked about Karina’s response to Victor and why Black Castle was so deserted. Sion’s answer to this was truly unexpected.

“So, you’re saying that all the soldiers of the castle have been dispatched to subjugate the Owl Bears? Even the Commander?”

“Yes. The rangers have been suffering a lot because of the Owl Bears. She said she was going to take care of Victor and clean up the troublemakers at once.”

Anyone could see that it was a trap.

However, Commander Karina is a skilled person from Seven Stars [a high rank], so she must have thought that she could easily break Victor’s trap.

She doesn’t know about the existence of Niflheim lurking behind Victor, so that’s the calculation she can make.

“This is a disaster.”

I briefly told Sion about meeting Niflheim while chasing Victor. Her face turned pale when she learned the situation.

“If Niflheim is a master comparable to Karina and has unique abilities that suit this North, as Young Master said, then all the soldiers of Black Castle will be in great trouble.”

She thought about something, hardened her face, and suggested to me.

“Young Master, let’s go back now.”

“Where to?”

“To Lloyd’s territory.”

As expected, Sion prioritized my safety above all else.

“We’ve done enough. How much experience have we gained in the North during that time? At least no one in the Elven Kingdom will ignore Young Master because of his military experience.”

“The castle’s people are in danger.”

“It’s already too late. We’ll get caught if we go to save them. Above all, we don’t have the ability to save them. Rather, we should tell the Marquis about this and find a solution.”

Sion’s opinion seemed reasonable at first glance. No, originally, it was common sense to do as she said.

Because just two user-level warriors can’t save an army that has fallen into a trap set by a master-level expert.

But I’m different from then. I’ve risen to Expert and grown greatly as a Druid.

Besides, I haven’t used my full power yet. What would happen if I made up my mind and gave it my all?

Even if I don’t know anything else, my ‘intuition’ is telling me that it’s possible.

“Sion, I’ve made up my mind.”

“You’ve thought it through. If you go back to the Marquis territory and report what happened, the Marquis will give Young Master a high score…”

“No.”

I cut her off in the middle of her words.

“I’m going to save Commander and the castle’s people.”