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[Translator - Kiteretsu]
[Proofreader - Kyros]
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Chapter 102
“But, Young Master?”
“Why?”
“The matter you mentioned. Are you really going through with it?”
“Well, is there a problem? It’s not like it costs money this time, right?”
Chris responded nonchalantly, but Ruina looked like she was about to explode.
“It may not cost money… but what you’re about to do is a crime!”
And not just any ordinary crime.
“You’re planning to kidnap the Young Count?!”
Chris grinned.
“I just want to get closer to him.”
‘An accomplice… more precisely, someone I can use.’
Baron Bord was the younger brother of Count Burssen, the ruler of the Kingdom.
Now that Count Burssen was bedridden and on the verge of death, Baron Bord was effectively the one in charge.
Taking down someone like that wasn’t going to be easy.
He needed someone cooperative.
‘The Young Count is perfect for this.’
Young Count Roy.
A tragic figure who had his power stolen by his uncle, Baron Bord.
Now, he was drowning in despair, wasting each day like a drunken delinquent.
That made him the ideal partner for this operation.
“Ruina.”
“…Yes.”
“You know it’s already too late, right? If you were scared, you should’ve backed out from the start.”
“…You never said you were going to do something like this?! You just told me to lure the Young Count to the gambling den!”
Ruina clutched her head.
‘Ughhh. Why did I have to get involved with this devil…’
But just as Chris had said, it was already too late.
The two were already accomplices.
“I don’t know anything! All I did was lure the Young Count here, so if something happens, you’re handling the rest yourself!”
“Yeah, yeah. Don’t worry.”
Chris replied offhandedly and moved his steps forward.
Passing the signboard that read “Dear Trading Company,” he stepped inside and was greeted by the familiar sight of a gambling house.
Ruina had even been running gambling dens and auction houses on the Union’s side.
Heading all the way to the inner VVIP section, he spotted someone.
A young man already red-faced and dead drunk.
It was Young Count Roy.
“Hey, you there! B-bring more booze!!”
“S-sir, you’ve already had too much to drink…”
Hic “Sh-shut up! What are you standing around for?! Are you looking down on me?! Do I need to beat you before you come to your senses?!”
Chris chuckled and took a seat in front of Roy.
“And who’re you?" hic
“Just a gambler passing by. Say, would you care for a round with me?”
Hic “You? You're playing against me?”
“Yes. I may not look like much, but I assure you, I’m more than capable of keeping up with you, Young Count.”
Young Count Roy seemed intrigued.
“Very well. Let’s give it a go. Hic. Let’s see just how skilled you are.”
And so, the game began.
Chris used his seasoned gambler’s skills to slowly fleece Roy.
“Hmm, not bad.”
“Your skill is truly impressive. As expected of the Young Count. Let’s go one more round.”
Little by little.
Letting Roy win just enough to make him think he was about to win again.
“W-What?!”
“Jack of Spades Cross. Such a rare hand… Seems the heavens are smiling on me.”
“Again! One more round!”
And before Roy knew it, he’d been completely stripped.
“M-More… More…!”
“You already owe me 500,000 ruppees, do you not? Even for a Young Count, I can’t allow any more than this. If you want to continue gambling, you’ll need to offer up collateral.”
“Collateral? Like what?”
“Well, let’s see. What would be good? I wouldn’t dare ask someone I respect so highly to wager something important… What could we use…”
Chris made a thoughtful face—then flashed a playful smile.
Like a devil tempting its prey.
“This sounds good. How about we do it like in that opera trending in the Karn Empire recently—The Tragedy of Selde. What if you wager your soul, Young Count?”
The opera tells the story of a noblewoman who gambles her soul away to a devil and suffers a tragic fate.
“So in this case, I’ll be the devil, and you’ll play the role of the gambler challenging the devil. Sounds poetic, doesn’t it? And there’s no financial burden at all.”
Already completely drunk, the Young Count took Chris’s words as a joke.
After all, unless Chris was a devil, he couldn’t actually take his soul.
It was basically like lending him money without any real collateral.
Roy figured Chris was just humoring him and laughed.
“Heh heh… That does sound fun. I like it. Fine! I’ll wager my soul!”
“Then swear it.”
“You really talk like a devil, huh. Fine, I swear. If I lose this match, I’ll offer you my soul. Come on then, devil.”
“Very well. Let’s continue.”
The match resumed.
The result—Roy went all in.
And was completely wiped out.
“Th-this…”
“I’m afraid I truly can’t allow any more.”
“I can put up as much collateral as you want! This whole manor belongs to me!”
“Does it really belong to you, Young Count?”
Chris looked Roy straight in the eye.
“As far as I know… it doesn’t.”
“!!”
Realizing what Chris meant, the Young Count’s face flushed red.
But he couldn’t say a word.
He felt an inexplicable sense of pressure coming from Chris.
“The game is over, so it’s time to collect the collateral.”
“What? That’s ridiculous. Haha. And just how do you plan to take a soul? Enough with this unfunny devil act.”
However—
“How will I take your soul? It’s simple. Like this.”
Chris’s eyes darkened.
In that instant, the Young Count’s vision was swallowed in black.
“!!”
Like a predator devouring its prey—darkness consumed his consciousness completely.
Fwoosh!
A blood-red magic circle appeared midair and branded itself into the Young Count’s heart.
Chris took a moment to verify that the spell had activated correctly, then gave a slight nod.
The Seal of Submission had been engraved.
He had succeeded in enslaving the Young Count by using his soul as collateral.
It was the beginning of the operation.
* * *
‘Good, it worked. I figured something like this might be possible after the Hero incident.’
Normally, enslaving someone by using their soul as collateral was something only the highest-ranking black magicians could do.
It wasn’t just a matter of ritual complexity.
It came down to the tier of one’s soul.
To turn someone’s soul into a possession, your soul had to be of a higher tier than theirs.
‘That’s why, if you dissect the workings of soul-binding spells, you’ll find they rely on hypnosis, ritual domination, behavioral enforcement… Rather than making someone a true slave, they force them to act like one by overpowering their will.’
But Chris was different.
His soul held the tier of a half-devil.
Just like a real devil, he could truly make someone’s soul his possession.
‘Thanks to that, I could inscribe a perfect Seal of Submission.’
The Seal of Submission was an advanced technique among the blood-seal arts.
The level of obedience one could impose varied depending on the success of the seal.
Chris’s mastery of blood-seal arts was only enough to issue simple commands, but by making the Young Count’s soul his possession, he could carve a far more powerful seal.
To the point where he could issue any command short of suicide.
‘But this alone isn’t enough. I need to make the Young Count fully submit to me.’
Even if the same Seal of Submission was engraved—
Being forced to obey and willingly submitting were worlds apart.
For Chris’s “plan” to work, the Young Count had to genuinely surrender to him.
“Hey. Time to wake up, don’t you think?”
Chris lightly tapped the Young Count’s cheek.
The Young Count frowned, then jolted awake with wide eyes.
He found himself sitting in a place that looked like a storage room.
Only a faint lamp in the darkness cast a dim glow across the shadows.
“What, what is this?”
“First, calm down and sit still.”
“Sh-Shut up! Let me out of this place right now…!”
“I said sit.”
The Young Count tried to stand up—then froze in horror.
His body wouldn’t move!
More precisely, the moment he tried to get up from the chair, it was as if his limbs were bound—he turned completely rigid.
“W-What is this…?”
The Young Count’s face turned pale with fear.
“I’ll explain. Look at my face.”
Step.
Footsteps echoed, and the lamp’s light illuminated Chris’s face.
Deep black hair.
Eyes glowing with black and crimson light in the dark—Black-Red Eyes.
A boy’s face, beautiful yet exuding a bone-chilling aura of pressure, looked down at Roy.
“Y-You’re the one from the gambling house?”
“Yes, that’s right. I took your soul as collateral. That’s why you’re like this now.”
“T-That’s absurd…! Taking someone’s soul—that’s impossible unless you’re a devil—!”
The shouting Young Count suddenly fell silent.
His body trembled slightly.
“D-Don’t tell me… you’re—?”
“I’m not a devil.”
Chris gave a faint smirk.
“My name is Christian von Baron Khazar. I’m sure you’ve heard of it.”
“!!”
Roy’s eyes widened to the point of tearing.
Baron—!
The noble surname of the Dark Demonic House.
“T-This can’t be… Impossible… T-Then, the gambling house…”
“Yes, that’s right. I approached you on purpose, with you as my target.”
The Young Count’s face contorted with fear.
“Why? Why? Are you planning to kill me?”
“No. If I wanted you dead, I wouldn’t have gone through all this trouble. More importantly—”
Chris let out a cold chuckle.
“Killing a pathetic worm like you—what benefit would that bring to our Dark Demonic House?”
“!!”
“Am I wrong? You’re a so-called Young Count who lives each day trembling under your uncle’s watch, with no authority of your own—a coward in name only.”
The Young Count’s face flushed.
But he couldn’t argue.
Chris was right.
His uncle, Baron Bord, had stripped him of all power.
Living drunk day by day was simply his way of coping with despair.
“You’re still alive for now, but even that won’t last much longer. The moment your uncle, Baron Bord, fully takes over the county, you’re as good as dead. Or you’ll be stripped of the family name and cast out.”
“…So, what exactly do you want to say?”
The Young Count growled.
“Just shut up and tell me what you want. You came to me because you want something.”
Chris’s eyes flickered briefly at the harsh tone.
‘Not a complete coward after all. Well, that fits with what I saw in my previous life.’
In fact,
in his previous life, Chris had known Roy.
Their connection was fleeting, just a chance encounter.
But because they were in similar situations, they had a certain understanding.
— If only I had had power back then.
Roy’s last words.
— I could have stopped the terrible destruction of the County of Burssen.
That was why
Chris was able to come up with this plan.
“I’ll help you if you want.”
Saying that meant,
“I want to help you prevent the destruction of the Kingdom of Burssen.”
* * *
“W-What do you mean? The destruction of the Kingdom of Burssen?”
His eyes were confused.
“It’s because of your uncle, Baron Bord. Didn’t you know? Your uncle was secretly conspiring with some of the Dark Demonic House’s Mages.”
“!!”
“Look at this.”
Christian took out an amulet and showed it.
Fortunately, Roy, as a Young Count, recognized the symbol.
“Is that the Dark Demonic House’s Black Shadow Knight Order’s?”
“Yes, it’s a treasure symbolizing their inspection authority.”
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[Translator - Kiteretsu]
[Proofreader - Kyros]
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