Youngest 240
by CristaeEpisode 240
“Wait, wait, waaaaaait! Kal! Let her go!”
No sooner had I shouted than Kal swiftly withdrew his sword.
“Elder!”
“Cough, cough. Everyone… do not, under any circumstances, resist.”
Clutching her throat, the woman quelled the clamor with a cold command, staggering upright as she regarded me with incredulity.
“H-how are you here?”
“That’s exactly what I want to ask you.”
“……”
“As a palace elder and one of the Mage King’s confidants, what are you doing here?”
“That’s…”
She scanned her surroundings, steadying her breath.
It seemed everyone already knew she had once been a royal mage.
“It’s simple. I could no longer bear the Mage King’s atrocities. Alongside a handful of elders who shared my convictions, I fled the palace. We scattered—now I don’t even know if the others are alive.”
“If you succeeded in escaping, why not flee further away—”
I broke off mid-sentence.
Ah, I think I understand.
I thought of Benjamin’s eyes, always laced with guilt when he looked at me.
“You stayed to help these villagers escape, didn’t you…”
She was likely the one who warned them of the Mage King’s experiments.
“The Mage King has lost all pride as a great Arkan. I cannot sacrifice any more precious mages.”
She had probably been the one to remove the portal’s apparatus and stones, then, using teleportation, traded them in other villages for food.
I glanced at the pitiful bundle of black bread the old woman held.
“And you? By what reason—”
The elder looked at me with a face of utter despair.
“Why have you returned to this hell?”
Her voice was as turbulent as it was raw.
The elder’s name was Ideline.
“There is a way.”
I quickly explained the purpose of my visit to Ideline.
Learning that my supposed underlings were in fact the prince, a duke, the heir of a great house, and a knight, she was dumbstruck for about a full minute.
Add to that my declaration that I’d returned to cut off the Mage King’s head, and she fell into a second stunned silence.
Still, it was only for a moment—her composure as a wise elder soon returned, and she went straight to the matter at hand.
“The portal in the lower village remains intact. If you steal the apparatus from there, you should be able to repair this one.”
“Why not just move to that village and use the portal there?”
Ideline shook her head firmly.
“It’s a small village, so the gateway is too small to accommodate so many people at once. This location is better—besides…”
“Besides?”
“While the villagers have long since fled here, the Mage King’s soldiers are stationed there to catch anyone who tries to return, having given up on escape.”
“Of course.”
The endless tales of pursuit.
“We also deliberately damaged the sanctuary portal to guard against a possible invasion. But if necessary, I can repair the magic circle.”
“So all we need is to bring back the magical device?”
Ideline nodded.
“I’ll draw you a teleportation circle for quick round trips between here and the village outskirts. As for who will infiltrate…”
“I’ll do it.”
Father, who had been silently listening, spoke up. He removed the golden necklace from his neck, and with it, the swirl of mana shrouding him dissipated.
“This way, the mages won’t sense my mana.”
He smiled in a lazy, effortless way.
“Perfect for a little thievery.”
My father is a hero, but… does this line really suit him?
“I’ll mark the portal’s location for you.”
Ideline indicated the spot on the village map and handed it to him.
Just in case, I laid layer upon layer of emergency protective spells on Father.
“Be careful, Dad…”
“So much to worry about.”
“I know you’re the strongest, but still…”
His long finger tapped my forehead.
“Don’t worry, I’ll be back without anyone the wiser. Have I ever broken my word?”
“You almost always do… How long are you going to keep sneaking bell pepper pieces into my soup…”
I complained in a childish whine, and Father grinned wickedly.
Before we knew it, dusk had fallen.
To guard against the threat of magical beasts that came with nightfall, Licht and Kal went on watch around the area. Liam was still absorbed in the villagers’ stories about palace experiments.
“I’ll help repair the portal magic circle.”
“Will you be all right?”
Ideline asked gently, perhaps expecting me to be too worried for Father to do anything useful.
“Yes, of course! It’s only right to worry, but I still have things I need to do.”
“…Very well. Let’s go, then.”
“Oh, but first.”
I reached for Ideline as she rose awkwardly to her feet.
“May I tend to your neck wound?”
“…?”
A fine scratch remained across her throat—and below that, the unsightly brand of the Mage Kingdom.
Before she could reply, my hand touched her skin.
A familiar resonance of dispelling magic rushed forth.
Swish.
Leviathan’s sword sliced silently through the air.
Two soldiers prowling the village fell without so much as a scream.
He moved cloaked in shadow.
Again, with swift precision, he drove his blade through the hearts of soldiers ransacking empty homes.
Someone who had long surpassed his body’s limits was just as adept at silencing his presence. They died without ever knowing what killed them.
“Don’t worry, I’ll be back without anyone the wiser. Have I ever broken my word?”
“You almost always do…”
My daughter really is sharp.
‘How does she always catch my lies?’
He’d never intended to let a single one of the Mage King’s pursuers tearing up this village live.
‘If I spared them, they’d surely find their way to the sanctuary.’
Any threat to his little ones needed to be eliminated in advance for his peace of mind.
“Are there any who don’t deserve it among the mages in that village?”
Before he departed, he’d asked Ideline. The wise elder had quickly understood his intent.
“Those who remain under the Mage King now are all there by their own will. You can wield your sword without hesitation, Duke.”
“And those—did they also take children, delivering innocent victims to the Mage King?”
“If their priestly robes have red embroidery.”
“……”
“Absolutely.”
He rolled over the corpse of a slain mage with his boot.
Crimson blood seeped over embroidered red thread, soaking the hem.
Red-embroidered robes were a gift granted directly by the Mage King—bestowed only on those who had faithfully carried out his orders.
“Monsters, worse than beasts.”
He muttered, crushing the magical apparatus in his hand. The very device that had been anchored in the village portal was now his.
“Time to go back.”
Rubian would be waiting.
He sniffed himself, checking for traces of blood, and then let out a long sigh.
On the dead man’s arm, he spotted a familiar mark.
“A guess… Rubian. I doubt she ever erased her own brand.”
On the ship to the Mage Kingdom, Kal had once whispered to him in secret.
“What do you mean?”
“It’s hard to check with your own eyes—can’t just yank her clothes.”
“Obviously, you brat.”
“The mana around her lower back isn’t clean.”
“Down there…”
Thwack. Leviathan couldn’t help but flick him on the head.
“So you’ve been feeling around.”
The young man, now eye-level with him, rubbed his forehead without expression.
“It hurts.”
“I know it doesn’t.”
“Ahem.”
“Huuuuh. Very well… understood.”
Leviathan dragged a large hand down his face. Was it really all right to let his youngest, most precious daughter be snatched away like this?
Worry crept up on him, but he set it aside for now.
‘She deflected pretty neatly when I asked before.’
He thought he now understood why Rubian hadn’t erased her brand.
‘If, by some chance, I failed to kill the Mage King, she could use her brand to steal his power.’
He remembered how, in the academy, the Mage King—then known as the ‘Second’—had claimed others’ brands and controlled the mages by imbuing their crests with a portion of his own mana.
“Don’t worry, Dad. I’m in control when it comes to brand battles. I’m….”
“A brand master?”
“…Well? Is that lame?”
“It’s not even worth replying to.”
“Oh, come on.”
Hearing that, Leviathan could guess Rubian’s brand had stopped evolving and was no longer susceptible to the Mage King’s control.
He flicked the blood from his sword and turned, dashing toward the last of those clad in crimson.
‘I’m not worried, Ruby.’
After all, Rubian’s premise was wrong.
Even if, by any chance?
Hard to believe.
There was no way he would fail to deal with the Mage King.
Even if it cost him everything he had, even if it burned through the last of his life—never.
“Forgive me, my daughter, but this time, you’ll have to let your father take over.”
Where his silver blade danced, blood spurted forth.
Those who had worshiped evil and toyed with others’ misery crawled the floor like worse than insects.
He ground the cold point of his boot into their temples and let out a razor-edged laugh.
This was his first revenge.