Chapter 161

Sererassie smiled demurely and shook her head.

“Do I really have to be the one? I don’t want to be associated with terms or relationships that aren’t a genius mage.”

However, Valenciaunos let out a soft sigh.

“It can’t be helped. It needs to be known that I’ve been saved by the royal family and have gained favor with the imperial court. There are only eight royal family members left now. And out of those, only six are active in public, no, it’s just four.”

Seeing Valenciaunos’s yellow eyes sparkling, she smiled bitterly.

“If you say you saved me, it would only invite backlash. Besides, who would believe that you really saved anyone?”

“Is it that much?”

“Even I find it absurd. Hmm. Right. Recently, wasn’t that war enthusiast named Helena appointed? She needs a title too, doesn’t she?”

Valenciaunos adjusted his loose left arm and replied.

“I agree… But she’s not someone who would become famous for saving anyone. Besides, there’s already a rumor going around about how she defeated me and saved Konel from the old slums.”

“Better to speak the truth even if it’s distorted. It’s not a rumor if it’s made up.”

“That’s the same thing. Well.”

“Don’t say nonsense.”

Sererassie snapped back, and Valenciaunos snickered and nodded.

“Fine. Thank you for your understanding.”

He once again wrapped his body in scales and leaped over the mansion’s gate that stood over five meters tall.

“Then why did you ask?”

“Procedures are always important!”

Laughing while the cold protest from Sererassie played like background music.

Crackle!

A trap utilizing electric magic was triggered, enveloping his arm in electricity.

The intensity was enough to burn off all of his dragon scales, but he landed safely and dismantled the magical lock and thick iron column that secured the door.

During that process, three more traps were triggered, but his strengthened body absorbed the damage effortlessly.

“Sister, look at my hand. It feels off.”

“Finally! Looking at the residue, this seems to be a well-established electric trap from a deep history. As expected of the Duchy.”

Valenciaunos showed a scar crossing his white hand like a twig while smiling, and Sererassie drew complex circles and triangles using her staff with her left hand.

“Be careful.”

“Well, at least you’re the only one who worries about me. I knew it.”

“Don’t say anything further. Besides, Lady Trentia is not here right now. If you die, who will be my shield?”

“Stop with the extra remarks, sister.”

In the narrow garden, ten shadows appeared.

They were literally transparent and distorted figures, with the opposite side appearing through them.

Valenciaunos drew the Black Tear and charged in, while Sererassie unleashed a chain lightning spell.

However, the sword skills of the shadows from the Duchy were comparable to knights.

Swish!

As Valenciaunos swung his sword, cleaving one shadow’s jaw, two shadows simultaneously thrust short swords into his left flank and back, twisting them.

Thud!

The short swords were coated with such a deadly poison that a single drop could wipe out dozens of fully grown men.

But no amount of poison could deter a Duke with the blood of a different race flowing through him.

“Heh heh.”

With a faint smile, Valenciaunos stretched out his tattered left arm toward the face of one shadow.

Thud!

The shadow nonchalantly thrust the short sword into the back of Valenciaunos’s hand, but he reached out to grip the shadow’s face.

With a crackling sound, smoke rose and the shadow rolled on the ground.

“‘Flames that heat like a furnace.’ Now I can use it on my body too.”

He spun the Black Tear and targeted the shadow that aimed for his right side.

As the shadow retreated with a long leap, Valenciaunos forged a blade of fire from his sword and unleashed it.

Wind and flames burrowed into the shadow’s body, and a horrific scream erupted, with a satisfied smile creeping onto his yellow eyes and red lips.

The remaining seven shadows lunged at Sererassie simultaneously.

Sererassie was still shrouded in her own barrier.

A blue powder clung to their bodies countless times, slowing the shadows down.

“You’re wearing leather armor inscribed with the ‘Total Reflection’ spell.”

“!”

“Other defensive spells… don’t you have any?”

Thud!

The moment she thrust her staff into the ground, seven bolts of electricity shot forth toward the seven shadows.

Zing!

Blue light flickered, and the seven shadows rolled on the floor.

***

There were a few more shadows within the mansion, but they were not a match for Valenciaunos and Sererassie.

Valenciaunos absorbed all their poison and short swords, while Sererassie poured overwhelming electricity on them, frying them to crisps.

Having secured safety, they began searching the mansion for the heirs of the Duchy.

They needed to sort everything out before sending knights from the Duchy to look for the heirs.

“Did you find them?”

“Yeah.”

“Find the kids, not just jewels and gold coins!”

“If we take everything, won’t they crawl out on their own?”

“Brother. You’re the one who wanted to come. Just give me a little faith with a serious look.”

Valenciaunos, frowning, handed Sererassie a large yellow diamond among the jewels.

“With this clarity, it can be used for a staff or magic tool, right? Take it.”

Sererassie glanced at the gemstone for a moment, then placed it in her robe’s inner pocket.

“…You were right. It’s rare to find one of this size and transparency.”

“Wow. You don’t even say thank you until the end.”

“I was going to say it if you listened to me. Again, your impulsive nature ruined everything.”

Valenciaunos shrugged and focused on searching.

“Sister, isn’t this the Total Reflection incantation circuit from earlier?”

“This isn’t it! What else have you picked up… Oh my. How did you find something so precious? Hurry and give it to me before it’s tainted by your touch.”

“Oh my god.”

He suddenly thrust a silver plate forward, and Sererassie grabbed it in a shudder.

“…Right. It’s detachable from the leather armor. Inscribing the Total Reflection spell on leather is nonsense.”

“Can you take that and make it a little smaller? So I can give it to Rudi and use it myself.”

“It’s not a spell with exclusive rights, so it should be fine. It won’t take more than a week to reverse-engineer.”

Sererassie smiled unusually purely, and Valenciaunos took a step back, startled.

“Why do you look so surprised?”

“It really came out.”

“What do you mean?”

“I told you, as we take everything, they will come out on their own.”

In the basement, five or six young masters and ladies came up.

With their faces resembling each other slightly, it was clear they were siblings, sisters, and cousins.

“Who are you to enter here?”

A young man with black hair who looked about Sererassie’s age drew his sword and asked with a cautious tone.

Given the old age of the Duke, all his grandchildren had already reached adulthood.

‘This will be much easier to communicate with.’

Valenciaunos narrowed his eyes and radiated a fearsome aura.

“I am Duke Valencius Solletaroon Solletarass. If you do not lower that sword immediately, I shall behead you without mercy for the crime of disrespecting the royal family.”

His white hair was matted in blood, haphazardly thrown back, his red lips sporting a predatory smile, and smoke and the smell of burning rising from his scaly arms.

Faced with a wounded, beast-like duke, the young man staggered back.

‘For now, you cannot back down. You should have the courage to keep the promise you made with me.’

Stepping forward behind that young man was a gentle-looking woman.

“Lord Valencius?”

She stepped forward, slightly rolling her sleeves up, and a bluish mark fleetingly appeared.

“Do you know me?”

“I have not seen you in person, but I have heard the rumors.”

As the woman stepped forward, her cousins tried to stop her.

“What are you doing?”

“Why are you stepping up?”

One young man even openly grabbed the woman’s wrist.

Valenciaunos felt intrigued and relaxed his imposing demeanor.

‘This could be an interesting story.’

Despite her gentle face, the brown eyes of the woman shone brightly, reminiscent of a nobleman he had killed just hours ago.

“Right. I am Valencius. Who are you?”

The reply came not from the woman but from the initially sword-wielding young man.

“Your Excellency, she is…!”

“I did not ask you. How rude.”

Valenciaunos kicked the young man’s chest with his blood-stained white shoe and turned back to the woman.

“Continue.”

The woman replied meekly.

“I am Grace, the daughter of the Gremoryus family. I am the granddaughter of Lord Benechion, the Count of Kimelian and the Duke of Gremoryus.”

“Granddaughter?”

“Lord Benechion has three sons and two daughters, and I am the eldest daughter of the eldest son.”

Valenciaunos recalled the name Grace in his mind.

‘She led the Gremoryus family in place of the increasingly insane Benechion. For ten years after Benechion’s death, she devoted herself to piecing the torn family back together while pretending to be loyal to us, secretly supporting Justianus in his quest for revenge. …Her ability is undeniable. But she’s not someone easy to manipulate. Precautions are needed.’

“Could you explain why you entered this place and killed our guards?”

Though her hands and feet shook, her eyes did not tremble.

Valenciaunos smiled inwardly and answered.

“The Infiltrators, led by Duke Benechion, have been defeated. I, as the Duke executing his justice on behalf of His Majesty the Emperor, have come to rescue you from his captivity.”

He emphasized the word “rescue,” and Grace’s eyes widened.

“…I must have misspoken because of the shock of being imprisoned for several days. Thank you for saving me, Your Excellency.”

“That’s all it needs to be. Young Lady. Can we have a moment to speak upstairs?”

“I am still… Yes, Your Excellency.”

Valenciaunos left the bewildered young man and the others behind as he headed to the third floor with Grace.

Sererassie smiled demurely and spoke to the Dukes’ grandchildren.

“Were you close with her?”

“Y-Yeah?”

“You should have been.”

The initially sword-wielding young man looked as if the sky was falling.

***

Saint Matheos and Bishop Heharta couldn’t understand Valenciaunos’s proposal.

“Duke Valencius, you say to not proclaim the Duke’s sign? What does that mean?”

Though his expression wasn’t bright, he spoke calmly, relaying what needed to be said.

“More than a hundred Infiltrators have emerged, and countless people are dead or injured. Isn’t it precisely the time to unite the people under the authority of the Duchy and drive out the horde of Infiltrators?”

“Creating an atmosphere of distrust towards the lord’s family will not lead to anything good.”

“Yes, Saint.”

The nobles had lived under the Gremoryus for hundreds of years.

As the Infiltrators preyed on the hearts of the anxious, they needed to avoid causing confusion by revealing that Infiltrators had emerged from the lord family.

With Valenciaunos taking this stance, Bishop Heharta, who had hardly made up his mind, was left in a state of exasperation.

He had intended to deliver a fiery sermon criticizing the Gremoryus that would strengthen the church’s power.

Saint Matheos’s expression was equally displeased.

“Duke Valencius, does what you said imply that because of your hasty revelation of the Infiltrators’ identities in the Duke’s audience chamber, Lord Benechion was harmed?”

“Yes.”

“That’s not the case, is it? If it were so…”

“I have already spoken to the new Duke.”

Valenciaunos said this in a pleased tone, his golden eyes gleaming.

Seeing that indifferent and relaxed demeanor of his, Matheos sensed there was an underlying contract he was unaware of.

‘Surely not.’

“Duke Valencius, is this related to a loyalty oath?”

Valenciaunos looked back and forth between the saint and the bishop as he answered.

He had not anticipated Matheos would catch on immediately, and a slight awkwardness crossed his face.

“Grace is intelligent, but still a child. Becoming a Duke at this age, let alone facing attacks from the church, will shake her for a while.”

“…”

“I apologize for this to the saint and the bishop, but the imperial court needs the support of powerful nobles more than a strong church.”

“I understand.”

“Tsk. I shouldn’t have said that now.”

The saint and the bishop nodded.

He continued with a satisfied smile.

“I promised Grace a few gifts. She will swear her loyalty to ‘bring Duke Valencius before the High Court of the capital for offenses like murder because of fruit,’ and that verdict… might come out in a distant future, enough to bore even the God of Radiance.”

“Then.”

“You and the bishop know the truth, and I know the truth as well, so this matter with the Gremoryus will not have any contradictory statements later. If the bishop doesn’t sing for the young duke to give him a tithe by using the truth as leverage, assassins won’t come to the cathedral either.”

“Haha.”

An unusually peaceful smile adorned Valenciaunos’s face.

“Well, that went well.”

In that moment, Matheos felt compelled to say something.

For reasons he could not fathom, he wanted to intervene.

“Then… the Duke’s name will again be dragged through the mud. No matter how much of a sinner you might be, there’s no reason to be accused of a crime you did not commit.”

Valenciaunos shrugged and stood up.

Smiling too arrogantly.

“To be accused of a crime I did not commit will lessen the impact when I truly commit a sin, wouldn’t it?”

Typical of a reckless bandit, he casually concluded the conversation.