The Northern Grand Duke's Mad Son-in-Law - Chapter 16

WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: Ceaseless

◈ The Northern Grand Duke’s Mad Son-in-Law ◈

Chapter 16: Mole Cricket

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The forest was so dark that not a single ray of light could penetrate it. Even the snow falling through the trees looked gray instead of white.

It was like ash drifting down from the sky.

“This feels like the sort of place Monsters would be.”

Galahad smiled in satisfaction and put a cigarette between his lips.

“Ah, I brought torches. Take one each.”

Tom handed out the torches. The thick smell of burning oil filled the air.

“I’ll take the lead.”

Gilbert drew his sword and stepped forward.

“No need. You’re in the way, so step back.”

“Yes.”

“Don’t you give up a little too quickly?”

Gilbert shrugged.

Galahad snickered and spread both palms. He compressed his mana, released it, then compressed and released it again.

It was a preparatory motion.

When he snapped his fingers, a tiny Mana Arrow floated above one fingertip.

Gulp.

“Wipe your mouth, Gwen.”

Startled, Gwen wiped her lips. Her urge to use magic seemed to be growing stronger by the day.

That was a welcome change.

Galahad walked while watching the Mana Arrow’s size.

Mana always flowed from areas of lower mana concentration to areas of higher mana concentration.

If the Mana Arrow shrank even slightly, it meant the mana concentration around them had increased.

He gauged its size, chose a direction, and continued onward.

“Eeeek!”

Gwen had fallen into a pit.

“I found it!”

Covered in dirt, Gwen smiled brightly.

“This is a Mole Monster.”

Tom wiped the sweat from his brow.

“A Mole Monster?”

“Yes. They burrow through the ground and leave pits like this behind.”

“How do you know that?”

“Ah, you have to memorize things like that to survive on the front line. Once Mole Monsters appear, they become such a nuisance that you have to abandon the surrounding area.”

“Do you know anything else about Mole Monsters?”

“Th-they burrow underground, so they’re hard to find. They hide beneath the earth, then spring out, bite people, and drag them away. They’re a real problem.”

Galahad nodded and jumped into the pit.

“You came to rescue me!”

He pushed aside Gwen’s outstretched hand and poked around in every direction.

Everything was blocked.

‘No clues, then.’

Clicking his tongue, he climbed back out.

“What about me!? That’s cruel!”

Gwen took Tom’s hand and climbed out after him.

“Gilbert, don’t you know anything?”

Gilbert looked down at the pit with a serious expression. He had spent years on the front line as a knight.

Surely he would know something.

“This Monster burrows through the ground.”

“That was a mistake. I shouldn’t have asked you.”

“Ah, Mole Monsters are very sensitive to sound.”

Tom added awkwardly. Gilbert shot him a glance, but Tom seemed too tense to notice.

“Sound...”

Galahad looked at Gwen. As she brushed dirt from herself, Gwen’s eyes widened.

“...A fart?”

“No, sing a song.”

“Ah! A song?! Ahem!”

Without hesitation, Gwen immediately began singing.

It was not that Gwen was a bad singer.

The problem was that she was trying far too hard.

She had the spirit of heavy metal.

“In! A lovely garden! A splendid prince! His Highness Zirman! And beau! ti! ful!”

Gwen quickly became engrossed in the song. Damian frowned.

Ignoring Damian, Galahad focused on the mana and followed the path.

How long had they walked like that?

By the time the prince and princess in Gwen’s song had married, and their daughter had slit the neighboring king’s throat to inherit the throne...

“It’s coming.”

“It is.”

There was a reaction. Gilbert stepped forward.

“She’s inheriting the thron... Aaaah!”

Tom raised his shield and moved Gwen behind him.

The ground split apart, spraying dirt everywhere. Dark brown carapace filled their vision.

“Kyareureuk!”

It was a massive crustacean with red eyes. Sand scattered from behind its wings.

“Mole Monsters are weak against bright light!”

Tom shouted as he shielded Gwen behind him.

‘Light...’

At that moment, Gilbert swung his sword diagonally. Blue aura wrapped around the blade and cut across the Monster’s chest.

Blood sprayed wildly, but its carapace was too thick. The Monster did not fall.

Despite its massive body, it swung one of its tiny front legs at Gilbert. Gilbert blocked it with his sword.

Boom!

A heavy impact rang out, shoving Gilbert backward.

Galahad extended his left hand and detonated his mana.

Mana concentrated into light burst with intense force.

When the brilliant light flared, the Monster’s red eyes blinked wildly. It truly was weak to light. Its movements came to a complete stop.

Damian, a sword clenched in their mouth, climbed onto the Monster on all fours.

Damian looked like an insect.

Reaching its head, Damian raised a rusty sword.

Kyareureuk!

Its pointed mouth, like a bundle of daggers, trembled as it let out a sharp cry.

Damian drove the sword down.

The blade was clearly dull, yet it easily split the carapace. Looking closely, Damian seemed to have aimed for a tiny gap between the plates.

The concentration was incredible.

Then Gilbert’s sword sliced through one of its front legs. The severed limb flew through the air and landed in front of Galahad.

Hot blood sprayed from the severed limb and soaked his boots. A small pool formed below.

Galahad plunged his hand deep into it.

‘This Monster’s mana concentration isn’t that high.’

It was higher than that of an ordinary mage, but far weaker than a Demonkin’s.

A Monster with that level of mana concentration could be handled without Monster blood.

Still, Galahad deliberately used its blood.

It was more efficient that way.

And more fun.

Fire suddenly rose from Galahad’s hand.

‘Monster blood is rougher.’

Its mana was less refined than a Demonkin’s. Because of that, a small error entered the formula.

A drop of sweat ran down his forehead, gathered on the bridge of his nose, and fell.

His hand nearly burst apart, yet the corners of Galahad’s mouth were raised high.

‘This really is fun.’

The tension sharpened his mind. His head spun.

A large crescent-shaped flame shot from Galahad’s hand.

The blaze aimed for the wound Gilbert had carved into the Monster.

The Monster tried to dodge, but Gilbert blocked its path from below.

The flames burrowed deep into the wound in its chest.

Kyareureuk!

The Monster quickly turned golden brown.

“And they lived happily ever after!”

In time with Gwen’s song, the Monster collapsed forward. Flames flickered behind Gwen.

It was a splendid finale.

Gwen herself did not seem to realize it.

Clap clap clap clap!

“Wow! You handled a Mole Monster so easily! That was amazing!”

Tom clapped enthusiastically. Gilbert shook his sword for no reason and struck a pose.

He seemed weak to praise.

Gwen scratched the back of her head, looking embarrassed.

“Tom, do you have a spare canteen?”

“Yes! What size would you like?”

“You have different sizes?”

“Yes, just in case.”

Tom held out four canteens. Galahad chose the largest one.

“Why are you collecting Monster blood?”

Gilbert asked with narrowed eyes. There was a faint trace of hostility in his voice.

He seemed uncomfortable with the idea of keeping Monster blood.

“There was a boy beaten by a blacksmith.”

“Pardon?”

“The boy beaten by the blacksmith waited until the blacksmith was away, then stole a sword. He used that sword to stab the blacksmith. Stabbed him very deeply.”

Gilbert narrowed his eyes further.

He did not understand.

Then Gwen raised her hand high.

“Gwen, tell us.”

“Ah! The blacksmith is a Demonkin, and the boy is you, Captain! The sword is magic!”

“Correct. Gwen understood, but you didn’t.”

Gilbert opened his mouth with an awkward expression.

“It’s not that I didn’t understand...”

“It’s okay! I just got lucky!”

Gilbert let out a sigh at Gwen’s consolation.

“Uh, could you come over here? There’s something strange!”

Tom, who had been examining the Monster’s corpse, called out to them. He pointed at the Mole Monster’s stomach.

“Isn’t this like the thing Captain did to the carriage earlier?”

There was something on the Monster’s stomach that should not have been there.

A magic circle.

A magic circle carved into a Monster...

Its implications were not insignificant.

It was one of the reasons mages came to be treated like Demonkin filth.

* * *

“This is...”

Gilbert’s face twisted. His grip tightened around the sword hilt.

“It isn’t his. He was officially declared dead, wasn’t he?”

“Can we be sure of that?”

Gilbert let out a rough breath. A long cloud of white vapor escaped his lips.

Galahad could not answer with certainty.

The Intelligence Bureau had an official record of that man’s death, but...

‘Now I can’t even be sure of that.’

A Demonkin had been inside an Intelligence Bureau safehouse.

There was no way to know where the information had become muddled.

‘No wonder information on the north was especially scarce...’

Galahad clicked his tongue.

There might even be Demonkin in Intelligence Bureau headquarters.

Perhaps even within the imperial family...

‘I never sensed a thing.’

If they had been skilled enough to escape his notice...

Galahad’s mouth went dry.

He had been underestimating the Demonkin far too much.

“Who is he?”

Tom’s question broke him out of his thoughts.

“When the Demonkin crossed the north and threatened the Empire long ago, there were people who betrayed others and took the Demonkin’s side. Those were the people who became the origin of mages.”

“Humans did that?”

“Yes, they were human. Among them, there was a mage who controlled Monsters. I heard that magic circles like this were carved into the Monsters he controlled.”

“Then...!”

Tom jumped away from the Monster’s body. Galahad gave a bitter smile at the dramatic reaction.

“Could a Demonkin have used it?”

Gilbert asked in a tightly restrained voice.

“Demonkin do not use magic circles or incantations. They cannot, and they do not.”

“What do you mean?”

“Just as imperial citizens don’t need to think before speaking Imperial, Demonkin don’t need magic circles or spells. Their breath and gestures are the very source of magic.”

Galahad coughed softly.

“But for humans to imitate a Demonkin’s power, they need formulas and incantations. Like translation. So much time has passed since then that magic and Demonkin have become completely separate things now, but...”

He clicked his tongue at their blank expressions. They did not seem to understand.

“So there are human mages helping the Demonkin?”

“That’s right! Tom, you understand quickly.”

Galahad snapped his fingers and pointed at Tom. Tom smiled awkwardly.

Gwen looked disappointed.

“I almost got it!”

“So is this his? This is serious.”

“Don’t rush me. I’m about to find out.”

Galahad rolled up his sleeves and crouched in front of the Monster’s corpse.

“This is...”

Galahad’s face twisted as he examined the magic circle.

It was too crude.

“Pathetic. It uses the mana contained in Monster blood, but whoever made it doesn’t know exactly what that mana does. They just copied what they saw. And they didn’t even copy a proper magic circle...”

Tom brought his torch closer so Galahad could see better.

“Ah, thank you, Tom. They mixed the blood of a higher Monster with human blood. Did they use soldiers for garbage like this? My condolences.”

“Please say it in Imperial.”

“I’ve been speaking Imperial the whole time. In short, this isn’t his. More precisely, someone copied a magic circle that copied his magic circle.”

Gilbert frowned.

“Can’t you make that simpler?”

“Hmm. It seems our first mission will be bigger than expected. That means a greater achievement, so we should be happy. Everyone, clap.”

Gwen, Tom, and Damian clapped.

Gilbert did not.

‘With a magic circle this crude, someone must be watching nearby.’

After working it out, Galahad rolled his neck.

“A magic circle this trashy... The one who drew it is a magical idiot who can’t even copy properly. I wonder how they became a mage...”

Galahad’s head suddenly snapped around.

From beyond the darkness, he heard the faintest sound.

“You were there.”

Galahad smiled brightly and waved.

No matter how trashy a mage was, they always got angry when someone insulted their magic.

“W-who are you calling an idiot! Go! Tear them apart!”

After the clumsy shout, the ground trembled.

Galahad waved his hand and scattered mana.

It was a method that relied on the fact that mana with a low concentration had no effect on Demonkin or Monsters. The mana swept through the area and returned, leaving empty spaces behind.

There had to be Monsters in those spaces.

The number was...

“Three. Sir Gilbert, Damian, can you handle them?”

“Yes, Brother.”

“...Where are you going?”

“You’re being awfully clingy today. I’m a man with a woman to marry.”

Gilbert’s face twisted completely. That familiar expression had returned.

“I need to catch the blacksmith. Ah, in this case, he’d be more like the blacksmith’s assistant’s assistant.”

At that moment, the ground split open and Monsters larger than the first burst out.

“Yes, understood. I’ll open the way. We have to catch him.”

Gilbert raised his sword.

“Don’t worry. This is my specialty.”

* * *

“Karl! Karl! Karl!”

Bern ran desperately on trembling legs. His feet felt heavy, and his breath caught in his throat, but he could not stop.

Watching that man insult his magic as trash had been too much for Bern to bear.

What mage could endure someone insulting their magic with such bizarre logic?

Bern swayed for only a moment.

Then that man had looked straight at him through the darkness from that distance.

Seeing the raised corners of his mouth, Bern realized he had fallen for it.

How long had he been running?

Bern cautiously looked around.

There was nothing but a dark forest.

‘Right. I sent three Mole Monsters. There’s no way they’re unharmed.’

Bern leaned against a tree and let out the breath built up in his chest. Then he vomited as nausea rose in his throat.

His heart felt like it would burst.

Stupid bastard! Who are you calling trash? You don’t even know anything!

“Why did you stop? This doesn’t seem to be the place. Ah, are you tired? I’ll wait. Rest comfortably.”

A flat voice reached him.

Bern looked up, and his eyes widened as though they would tear apart.

The man stood a short distance away.

A cigarette hung from his lips as he waved.

The Mole Monsters...

“You look as if you’re wondering how I got past the Monsters. You had it carved into the magic circles, didn’t you? Do not attack mages. I suppose you expected them to attack your group too?”

“H-how did you...?”

“It was all written in the magic circles.”

Not all magic circles were the same.

It was not the sort of thing one could understand just by looking at it. If anyone could understand one simply by seeing it, who would use magic circles?

The magic circle on the Mole Monster was also one related to Monsters.

Someone who knew nothing about Monsters could not have understood it...

“Y-you... You studied Monsters!”

“More precisely, I studied Demonkin. I started recently.”

“Then we’re on the same side! I studied Demonkin too! We’re friends! Friends!”

“Really? Are you planning to stab the blacksmith too?”

“The blacksmith? What are you...?”

At that moment, Bern met the man’s eyes and his lips trembled.

They were eyes like a Demonkin’s.

Something was missing from them.

This was not someone he could reason with.

“Empty yourselves, thirst, bones, children, screams...”

Bern hurriedly began an incantation.

In a battle between mages, casting the first spell was important.

Bern gripped his staff with both hands and held it out. Mana gathered quickly.

“Good heavens, a staff! Are you serious? This is driving me mad.”

The man vented his strange frustration.

What was wrong with a staff?

For an instant, Bern’s focus wavered. He hurriedly concentrated again.

“Mana is the power of the soul and the weight of knowledge. Yet you rely on a physical staff! And you call yourself a mage?”

The man kept getting angry, though Bern had no idea why.

Bern raised the corners of his mouth.

He did not know where the man’s confidence came from, but letting an opponent finish their incantation first in a duel between mages...

The battle was practically over.

“Pain, sexual desire!”

“Oh, good heavens! Why would you add sexual desire there? That’s why your focus breaks! If you cast pain, you should follow it with something like burns or a headache. That makes the association easier!”

“...Headache! Burns!”

“Now you’re making sense. No, your mana is leaking everywhere. Focus!”

For a moment, Bern wondered if this man was actually kind, but he shook his head.

“Burning Teeth...”

“Are you serious? After preparing all that, you’re only using Burning Teeth? Ha...”

Bern snickered at the man’s sigh.

He was definitely insane.

Calling a Third Circle spell like Burning Teeth pathetic...

The completed Burning Teeth shot toward the man. It flew faster than an arrow.

The fireball reaching the man opened wide like a Monster’s mouth.

The man flicked the ash from his cigarette and snapped the fingers of his left hand.

There was something strange in that motion, drawing Bern’s attention to it.

A massive spike of ice shot from the man’s fingers.

‘How can it be that fast?’

Bern realized the spell’s identity and froze in shock.

Ice Spike.

It was a Third Circle spell, just like Burning Teeth.

‘What?’

He had used a Third Circle spell with a snap of his fingers?

Bern had never even heard of such a feat.

When Burning Teeth and Ice Spike collided head-on, Burning Teeth crumbled immediately.

Bern blinked at the unbelievable sight.

“If I were you, I would have used Thick Roots and Ice Arrow instead of Burning Teeth. The incantations are shorter, and they let you react more easily. But you chose the biggest spell you knew. That is a common mistake made by mages unaccustomed to fighting other mages.”

The man spoke in a flat voice, clicking his tongue.

“I understand. People can make mistakes. Mistakes are a human virtue, aren’t they? The important thing is not making the same mistake twice. Now then, let’s start from the beginning.”

The man casually snapped his fingers, as if telling Bern to try again.

“Y-you... You’re making a fool of me?!”

Bern’s face twisted. He could not endure being looked down on...

“If you’re going to use Thick Roots, why use them now? That should have been your first move.”

An ice spike pierced Bern’s leg.

“Focus!”

The man shouted.

Suppressing a scream, Bern continued the incantation.

“Huh. You’re firing a Fire Arrow? At this distance? Are you serious?”

Another spike stabbed through Bern’s other leg.

“I said focus!”

Bern screamed in terror.

Pressed by the man’s urging, Bern shed tears as he recited his incantation.

“At least try to speak the incantation faster! Faster! I feel sorry for the soldiers you killed!”

How could he possibly say it any faster?

Bern’s knees slowly buckled.

Ice spikes had pierced his thighs, but the wounds were not fatal, and he still had mana left.

Even so, his knees bent.

Because his will to resist had broken.

The man was playing with Bern.

Why?

“You look as if you’re wondering why there is such a difference when you drank Demonkin blood too.”

The man crouched in front of him.

Bern nodded with difficulty.

“The answer is simple. Since I was three, I have used every bit of my mana every day. Without missing a single day. Do you think that gap can be closed just because you drank a little Demonkin blood? If you expected that, you have no conscience. Oh, you did expect it? You really are shameless.”

Why would anyone do that?

The man said it simply, but it was not easy.

Using all one’s mana was like a knight training every day until collapsing from exhaustion.

No, it was harder.

Magic consumed mental strength.

“Why? I don’t understand you. Isn’t magic fun? Doesn’t it make you itch to use it?”

“Madman.”

The man snickered at Bern’s insult.

“Thank you for the compliment. Now, I have a few questions. Where did you get that magic circle? Are there other mages with you? Or Demonkin?”

Bern bit his lip.

Even if it cost him his life, he could not speak.

“Oh, did you just shake your head? You’re mistaken. You have no choices.”