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[Translator - Kiteretsu]
[Proofreader - Kyros]
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Chapter 59
For reference, the total cost of the supplies Chris mentioned amounted to:
1 million Rupee.
It was enough to buy several mansions even in a large castle like Baron Castle.
* * *
Ruina immediately prepared the items Chris had requested.
As expected of the owner of an auction house, her speed was like lightning.
Gritting her teeth, Ruina said,
“…If it turns out that this upcoming struggle won’t result in a major disaster, I’ll be billing you for every coin!”
Chris shrugged.
‘Why’s she making such a fuss? This is only the beginning.’
Ruina couldn’t even imagine it yet, but their connection was just getting started.
From now on, she would steadily end up playing the role of his purse. If she wanted to avoid ruin, that is.
‘Don’t feel too bad about it. Think of it like a tax.’
Just like one pays taxes to maintain the army that protects them.
Chris figured that the work he would be doing from now on would protect her merchant guild, so it was only fair that she paid her share.
‘Still, there really is a lot to take care of.’
Chris recalled the events that were about to unfold.
The horrific disaster of Gold Cross.
The conflict between the Venomous Demonic House and the Dark Demonic House.
The revolt of Jinnok.
The death of the Duke of Noga.
The rampage of the Destruction Demonic House.
And the Demon King's plot from Cheongnyu.
All of these were set to take place within a few years in the Southern Demon Kingdom. And that was just the major ones.
Unless he stopped them all, he wouldn’t be able to prevent the first great war against the Four Demon Castles.
The worst part was that this wasn’t even the end.
Eventually, he would have to reach the pinnacle of the Magus Empire.
‘Hey, why the hell do I have to go through all this?’
Overwhelmed, he let out a deep sigh.
‘This is the kind of suffering the Hero was supposed to go through! Why the hell did I have to regress in his place?! Damn it.’
The more he thought about it, the more furious he became.
‘I’m not going to suffer through this alone. One day, I’ll gather the entire Hero’s party again and work them to the bone.’
For now, he was only active within the Magus Empire.
But there was plenty to be done on the Alliance’s side as well.
When the time came, he planned to find Evan and the rest of the Hero’s party and make full use of them.
Especially the Hero Evan!
Top of the list of people he would overwork.
‘Just wait until I see you. I’ll work you like a ruthless boss.’
That was the end of his idle thoughts.
When he returned to the mansion, a row of sharp-eyed demons were lined up.
There were thirty of them.
At the front stood a familiar girl with a cold expression—Jupien.
It was an expedition team headed for the Neutral Zone.
“……”
Jupien stared at him without a word.
Her eyes clearly asked, 'What were you doing until now?'
“Ah, I was having so much fun, I lost track of time.”
At his nonchalant response, the demons beside Jupien frowned.
There was no way Chris, who had just returned from playing around in the castle right before an important mission, could be seen in a favorable light.
Chris didn’t care either way. He let out a short snicker and yawned.
“Maybe I had too much fun. I’m tired. I’ll just follow along while sleeping in the supply wagon. That’s fine, right?”
“!!”
At those insane words, the demons glared fiercely.
Jupien’s gaze also grew sharper.
“No, Young Master. No matter what, that’s—”
Just then, Jupien raised her hand.
“Enough.”
“But, Lady Jupien?”
“Let him do whatever he wants. Just ignore him.”
Jupien spoke coldly.
In truth, after their brief duel before, Jupien had started to look at Christian a little differently.
He had great talent and skill.
Of course, if she had properly used her specialty, the Illusion Sword Technique, she wouldn’t have lost so easily. Still, what deserved recognition had to be acknowledged.
Though he had a bad history with her younger brother, Jupien wasn’t as reckless as Royn. She knew how to recognize strength.
But to see him goofing off in the castle until the mission started and now behaving like this again—
The disgust that had subsided flared up once more.
'That guy has no right to be an heir of the main family.'
Jupien decided to leave Christian alone.
If he didn’t participate sincerely and failed to accomplish anything, it would only hurt him in the end.
“…Move out.”
Jupien muttered, and the horses began to run.
The wagons carrying supplies also started moving, and Chris, lying inside one of them, smiled faintly.
'Lying down like this is comfortable.'
Chris thought to himself.
'Of course, things will get rough soon enough.'
He hadn’t lied in the supply wagon just to take it easy.
He had his reasons.
'Everyone better be thankful to me.'
Originally, this expedition team was destined for annihilation.
To prevent that disaster, he had to catch everyone off guard. Even his allies had to be deceived.
It was the start of the operation.
* * *
The Dark Demonic House ruled over a vast territory.
The Venomous Demonic House was no different.
Each was larger than most small nations.
They had divided the territory like national borders, but the problem was with areas like forests, demon zones, and mountainous regions, where boundaries were difficult to define—leading to clashes over territorial claims.
As the damage accumulated, those areas were declared Neutral Zones.
The place where the relic appeared this time was one of those Neutral Zones—the Viskin Mountains.
A demon zone where high-level monsters frequently appeared.
As they neared the destination, Jupien gave a warning.
“No one is allowed to act alone. Form groups of at least three.”
It was an order meant to prepare for the frequent appearance of powerful monsters, ranked 4-star and above.
“Yes, understood, Lady Jupien!”
“But what should we do about Young Master Christian’s group?”
Jupien furrowed her brow slightly.
Christian was still lying in the supply wagon.
“…Leave that worthless bastard alone.”
It was then, as they were preparing for the expedition—
From far ahead, a cloud of horse dust rose.
They were demons dressed in deep indigo robes tinged with black!
“They’re from the Venomous Demonic House!”
At the front was a girl with an intelligent and proud expression—the Venomous Demonic House’s noble daughter, Marisa, who approached from that side.
“You’ve arrived right on time. I’m Marisa.”
“I’m Jupien.”
“I assume you’ve heard the rules.”
Relics are items imbued with the power of either the Celestial Thrones or demons. They are referred to as Holy Relics and Demon Relics, respectively.
They possess great power, and each time one appears, it brings a storm of bloodshed.
The worst-case scenario is when one appears along the borders of major powers, as it has now.
It goes beyond simply desiring the relic—it becomes a matter of pride between the factions. It wasn’t rare for near-war levels of bloodshed to occur.
Originally, this could have turned into such a disaster, but to avoid unnecessary bloodshed, both sides agreed to compete in a match-like contest.
However, in order to prevent any later disputes, perfectly fair rules were established.
“During the expedition, laying traps or deliberately attacking the other side is prohibited.”
An excessively fair rule—uncharacteristic for demons.
But precisely because they were demons, such rules were necessary.
Otherwise, both sides would focus more on killing each other than on retrieving the relic.
“Alright.”
“…You're quite blunt with your words.”
“Aren’t we enemies? Should I be more polite?”
“…No. That won’t be necessary.”
Marisa cleanly lowered her speech level as well.
“Well then, I’ll take my leave.”
As she turned to leave, Marisa suddenly paused.
She glanced around at the demons from the Dark Demonic House—as if searching for someone.
Just then, Christian slowly sat up from the supply wagon and let out a long yawn.
A pitiful sight, clearly just woken up from sleep.
Marisa pressed her lips tightly together.
And then.
“…Hmph.”
Marisa returned to her faction with the other members of the Venomous Demonic House.
Now the competition had begun.
Jupien addressed the members of the Dark Demonic House.
“We’re starting the exploration. Follow my instructions.”
She gave her orders.
Everyone was to form into groups and not stray beyond a certain range. If they encountered a monster beyond what they could handle, they were to immediately call for help.
No one knew exactly where in the Demon Zone the relic was located.
All they knew was that it had “appeared” somewhere in this mountain range.
So rushing in blindly wouldn’t get them anywhere.
Getting impatient would only lead to casualties.
More than anything, this Demon Zone was too vast and dangerous to move carelessly.
The proper method was to calmly divide the area and search every section thoroughly.
Just then, Christian got up from the supply cart, yawning, and approached Jupien.
“Would it be alright if I moved separately?”
“…What?”
“With the way we’re crawling around like slugs, when will we ever search the whole mountain range?”
Jupien’s eyebrow twitched.
She already had a bad impression of Christian.
And from their first meeting until now, he’d done nothing but get on her nerves.
“…You really—”
“It’s frustrating, that’s all. If we miss the relic because we’re following your sluggish orders, it’ll be a disaster.”
Jupien’s eyebrows trembled with fury.
But unlike before, she didn’t draw her sword.
It wasn’t wise to cause internal conflict right before a mission, so she held back.
“Do as you please. But.”
Her voice turned icy.
“Don’t expect any rescue if you run into a powerful monster.”
She looked at him like he was garbage.
Christian just shrugged.
‘She completely hates me now. Ah well, she already did, so does it matter?’
If anything, it was better this way.
For his “operation” to work, he needed to be completely free of everyone’s eyes.
“This is perfect. In that case, I won’t be needing this.”
Christian tossed a small crystal orb onto the ground.
It was a magic tool that allowed teammates to track each other’s locations in case of emergencies—but he had discarded it.
Now, not even Jupien or the others in the expedition could track Christian’s whereabouts.
“Well then, good luck.”
Swoosh!
Christian dashed alone into the mountain range.
“Th-that lunatic…? Can he even do that? Does he know how dangerous this Demon Zone is?”
“Is he going to come back as a corpse?”
The other demons murmured among themselves.
Even Jupien felt conflicted.
Was it really okay to leave Christian alone like that?
But by then, Christian had already vanished deep into the mountain range.
Jupien bit her lip and glared in the direction he disappeared.
* * *
However, Christian didn’t encounter any danger at all.
“Why would I run into monsters? I can just avoid them.”
Christian had traveled through countless Demon Zones with the Hero’s party.
He was thoroughly familiar with the habits of magical beasts and how to avoid encounters with them.
Especially here, which was a neutral zone between the two Houses.
The types of beasts appearing here had already been thoroughly investigated, so avoiding them was easy.
“I have to move fast. Otherwise, I’ll be too late.”
Marquis Langham’s scheme was already in motion.
He was hurrying along when he unexpectedly ran into someone.
“…Christian.”
It was Marisa!
She widened her eyes as she saw him.
‘Great.’
He was in a hurry, and this was not someone he wanted to see.
‘She’s just a former fiancée now. We’re unrelated. Just ignore her.’
He tried to pass by without saying a word, but something unexpected happened.
Whoosh!
Black poison flew through the air!
In the direction Christian had been heading.
He stopped in his tracks, and the poison sizzled as it melted the ground.
“…What do you think you’re doing?”
“I have something to talk to you about.”
Christian frowned.
This wasn’t a coincidence.
He realized Marisa had come looking for him on purpose.
‘What is this about?’
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[Translator - Kiteretsu]
[Proofreader - Kyros]
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