WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: Ceaseless
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ The Northern Grand Duke’s Mad Son-in-Law ◈
Chapter 22: Alumni Love
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“What happened? I saw Galahad and Corton leave together.”
Mark, commander of the Fifth Battalion, nodded at his adjutant Lumian’s question.
Things were unfolding differently from how Mark had expected.
“Do you know why I called Galahad here?”
“Wasn’t it to use Galahad, a mage, to keep Corton in check? You also wanted to find out the price of Magic Stones.”
“That’s right. Corton’s rise has been too fast. Something about him felt wrong, too. I called Galahad to keep him in check. Since he hadn’t established himself yet, I thought he wouldn’t be able to refuse my offer.”
Tap, tap. Mark’s fingers drummed against the table.
“Is there a problem?”
“I heard he killed a mid-ranking Demonkin, sixteen Mole Monsters, and two mages. Without Adrianna.”
Lumian fell silent for a moment before frowning.
“Could he be bluffing?”
“No, that wasn’t the look in his eyes. He wasn’t boasting. It felt like he was simply mentioning something he dealt with on the way here. Like a soldier saying, ‘Ah, a fox showed up today. Caught it.’ He was completely casual about it.”
The conversation paused. Tap, tap. Mark drummed his fingers against the table.
“Wouldn’t it be a good thing if he’s skilled?”
“It’s a problem because he’s more than skilled. You know the makeup of his group. The only useful one is Sir Gilbert. Even Sir Gilbert couldn’t handle all of them. If Galahad really killed that Demonkin...”
“You’re jumping to conclusions.”
Mark readily nodded at Lumian’s remark.
It was true. Mark often made leaps in his thinking. Lumian’s role was to rein him in.
“Corton and Galahad knew each other. They graduated from the same Academy. Apparently, Galahad was quite famous, but no one heard anything about him after graduation.”
Lumian remained silent. It was not a question seeking an answer. Mark was simply talking himself through it.
“He graduated from the Academy, disappeared without a trace, then suddenly got sent here as Adrianna’s husband. The third son of a count? What does that mean? It means he worked somewhere connected to the Imperial Family.”
Tap. Mark’s finger came to a stop.
“I don’t know exactly what organization Corton belongs to, but he seems to have quite a bit of information. If even Corton doesn’t know where Galahad was, there are only two possibilities.”
“What are they?”
“He was unemployed, or he belonged to a highly secretive group. It can’t be the former, so it must be the latter. If he worked for the Imperial Family in a highly secretive group...”
Mark stopped speaking. Lumian swallowed.
After frowning for a moment, Mark let out a quiet breath.
“I don’t know.”
Lumian frowned slightly. Mark had acted as though he had figured something out, only to say he didn’t know in the end. It was absurd.
“It feels like we brought in a tiger to suppress a fox.”
“You’re jumping to conclusions.”
“How is that jumping to conclusions? It was strange enough that the Grand Duke created a unit for a mage sent by the Empire. There was the rumor that he defeated Hermun in a single blow... No, that wasn’t a rumor. Then, on his first mission, he killed a mid-ranking Demonkin and sixteen Monsters. How is that a leap?”
Lumian pressed her lips together. Hearing it all laid out made it an impressive record. Lumian was beginning to worry as well.
“Hmm. Now I’m worried that I spoke too arrogantly to Galahad.”
“You probably did. Considering how you usually speak, Commander.”
“You’re jumping to conclusions.”
Mark replied irritably.
* * *
‘He’s flustered.’
Galahad smiled as he watched Corton’s stiff expression.
They sat facing each other in a silent room. Bookshelves lined every wall, and there were no windows. Mana Lamps scattered throughout the room lit the space.
The sharp, distinctive scent of the Mana Lamps made Galahad feel as though he were back in the Intelligence Bureau. There was something off about the room.
The bookshelves surrounding them looked suspicious. The shelves were closer together than the apparent space between them suggested.
‘What did they hide behind those shelves?’
Galahad muttered under his breath and put a cigarette between his lips. Without asking whether he could smoke, he lit it.
A refreshing lemon scent spread through the room. Savoring it, he waved a hand.
“There’s too much dust.”
A breeze stirred naturally. Smoke from his Mana Cigarette spread through the room with the wind. Because it was a Mana Cigarette, it did not disperse easily.
The smoke brushed against the gaps between the surrounding bookshelves. Galahad watched carefully as it scattered.
‘Three.’
Two were hiding behind the shelf on the left, and one behind the shelf on the right.
‘It’s behind the rear bookshelf.’
They had entered from the front, and no one was hiding behind the shelves at the rear. There had to be something beyond them.
Flicking ash from his cigarette, Galahad considered the worst-case scenario.
Two on the left, one on the right, and Corton in front of him. It was not a good space to fight four mages.
Pretending to pat his thigh, Galahad flexed his hand.
‘Does the desk move?’
He nudged it lightly, but it was fixed in place. They wouldn’t use a large-scale attack in such a cramped space.
‘Then I should take down the one in front first, pull him close, and use him as a shield while I deal with the right side. Then the left...’
“What are you doing?”
Corton’s question broke his train of thought. Corton still wore that uneasy expression.
He couldn’t exactly say that he had been planning to bore a hole through Corton’s head, use him as a shield, and kill the remaining three mages. So he gave a vague excuse instead.
“...Ha. You accepted my offer without hesitation. You must be desperate.”
Corton openly sneered at him. His voice was full of barbs. If Galahad agreed too readily, Corton would grow suspicious, so Galahad deliberately answered sharply.
“Desperate? I only found it hard to refuse the goodwill of a fellow alumnus. Is this your workplace? It’s smaller than I expected. There isn’t even a Magic Stone Mine. Is it behind the bookshelves?”
Corton flinched slightly. It lasted only an instant, but Galahad did not miss it.
‘There really is something behind the rear bookshelf.’
“You’re trying to provoke me with something pathetic. I’m only being careful because if you turn out to be worthless, it’ll reflect badly on me.”
Galahad clicked his tongue at Corton’s pompous reply.
‘He’s definitely different from before.’
The Dark Magic Society had once feared nothing. They approached every successful mage they could find.
Yet even when facing Galahad, they now remained cautious.
The shelves behind him were proof enough. They clearly cared more about security than before.
Still, there was one fool standing before Galahad, someone stupid enough to take four years to graduate.
In war, the most frightening thing was not a capable enemy, but a foolish ally.
‘What bait should I give him?’
Galahad reviewed the cards in his hand.
‘Something worth giving a member of the Dark Magic Society...’
‘There’s plenty.’
What mattered was making sure Corton did not realize Galahad had given it to him.
Mages tended to overestimate themselves.
If he needled Corton’s pride and added a touch of inferiority to the mix...
‘Perfect.’
Having finished his calculations, Galahad leaned back in his chair and smiled.
Like someone who still clung to his glorious past and strutted around because of it.
“You know my abilities better than anyone, don’t you?”
He smiled arrogantly.
A sneer appeared on Corton’s face.
It was a very good start.
* * *
Corton had not expected Galahad to accept his offer.
It had never been an offer to begin with. It was mockery aimed at Galahad.
Yet Galahad seized it as though he had been waiting for it.
That showed just how desperate Galahad was. He had to be desperate enough to eagerly accept a mocking offer from an old classmate he barely remembered.
It was a little strange. Galahad had been called a genius at the Academy, so why had he ended up like this?
“Abilities? Did you have any abilities?”
“I’m Adrianna’s fiancé. I’m the future heir of the Grand Duke.”
The future heir of the Grand Duke. Corton could not hide his laughter.
Galahad was a pretext the Empire had sent to the Grand Duke on the assumption that he would die. He would never marry Adrianna or become the Grand Duke’s heir.
“What... Have you even met Adrianna?”
“We’re close enough to hold hands.”
As Corton laughed at Galahad’s boasting, he suddenly remembered Galahad’s position.
‘Right. He’s Adrianna’s fiancé.’
As her fiancé, Galahad was in a position to get closer to Adrianna than most.
If Corton took him in, an opportunity to deal with Adrianna might come.
How high was the bounty Dawn had placed on Adrianna? It was not simply a matter of money.
If he dealt with Adrianna, attaining the position of branch head in the Dark Magic Society would be no problem. He could look beyond that.
He could rise within Dawn. He might even receive a high position.
Corton quietly admired his own brilliant mind.
“And I’m a commander! A commander! I command the Special Operations Unit.”
At that moment, Galahad began boasting again.
This time, he was talking about being a commander. Corton frowned. There were only four members in that unit. Why was he making such a fuss over a unit that existed in name alone?
‘No. Even if it’s only in name, a commander is still a commander.’
Corton had a deal in place with Mark, commander of the Fifth Battalion, but he had been feeling its limits lately.
Mark rarely showed any openings. In a situation like this, Galahad, even as a commander in name alone, was necessary.
No, being a commander only in name made him more useful. If Corton put Galahad forward as the commander and operated behind him, he would surely be able to run the Magic Stone Mine more comfortably.
On top of that, Galahad was Galahad. He had disappeared for so long after graduation that people forgot about him, but Academy graduates still remembered him.
Whatever state Galahad was in now, the name Galahad was quite useful.
‘Good thing I’m brilliant. Another fool would have let this chance slip away!’
Corton let out a small sigh of relief.
It was fortunate that he had discovered how to use Galahad. Another fool might have failed to see Galahad’s value and let him go.
Still, Galahad’s actions after graduating from the Academy bothered him.
“What did I do after graduating from the Academy? Didn’t I answer that earlier? I did this and that.”
The answer was blunt and careless, but it put Corton more at ease.
If Galahad had some ulterior motive, he would not have answered so vaguely. He would have given a detailed, carefully prepared story instead.
His recent history was probably too unimpressive to discuss, so he was avoiding the subject out of embarrassment.
Even if there were something suspicious, it did not matter much.
Galahad was a mage.
A mage could not help falling into the Dark Magic Society.
Magic was a slow, blunt field of study. The higher one rose, the slower progress became. Eventually, it felt like standing before a wall.
Dark magic worshipped only advancement. It sought advancement by any means necessary.
Once Galahad tasted it, he would never escape.
Normally, Corton would have had to report this to his superiors and wait.
But then someone else might take the credit. He could not stand the thought.
“Is this outside your authority? It’s fine. When you meet an old classmate after so long, it’s natural to exaggerate a little.”
Galahad’s arrogant attitude was also beginning to grate on him.
‘This card will work. It’s time to take a gamble.’
Having made his decision, Corton stood.
“Follow me.”
Corton headed toward the bookshelf behind Galahad. After removing several books, the wall split apart.
A set of underground stairs appeared within. Stale underground air greeted them.
“Follow my exact steps. If you step on anything else, it’ll be a disaster.”
Corton focused on the stairs as he walked. Every step was full of caution.
At the bottom of the stairs was a dead end. A large figure in a black hood stood there.
“The fire.”
“Cold.”
After exchanging the code phrase, the figure pulled a hidden lever. The wall split open with a harsh sound. Another underground staircase lay below.
Following it down, they found iron bars this time. Corton took out a key, inserted it into the lock, and turned it. The bars opened with a loud screech.
There were more stairs.
This time, two hooded figures stood there. Sharp teeth like those of wild beasts showed beneath their hoods.
“Hm, getting here is quite troublesome.”
Galahad openly complained.
It was troublesome, in truth. The process was difficult enough that even Corton sometimes got confused.
After considering it for a moment, Corton spoke. This much was not a secret. If anything, it was something the Dark Magic Society emphasized repeatedly.
“When we were in the Empire, the Dark Magic Society was flourishing. There wasn’t a noble without some connection to us, and we even had ties to the Imperial Family. Then, one day, a certain organization suddenly began attacking us. We strengthened our defenses, but that organization was so relentless that they never let us go.”
He took a Magic Stone from his pocket as he continued. It was a device for opening the next door.
“A certain organization.”
Galahad muttered and coughed softly. Had he laughed? Corton glanced at him, but it was only a cough.
“After attacks more vicious than a starving wolf, the once-thriving Dark Magic Society collapsed. We moved north to escape them, but the North we fled to became a land of opportunity instead. Some even say we are more prosperous than before. You can see that just by looking at me.”
Corton gestured up and down at himself. His staff held a massive Magic Stone, and he wore a coat made from Demonkin leather. His outfit had clearly cost a tremendous amount.
“Expensive, I imagine.”
Galahad grinned as he asked.
“It is. Still, being attacked by that certain organization was quite a shock, so the Dark Magic Society invested an enormous amount into security. Branches don’t even know each other’s locations, and every branch has a different security system.”
Corton answered as he took out another key.
Then they reached the final door. It had three layers of security, made of iron and magic circles.
After raking in money through the Magic Stone Mine business, the Dark Magic Society poured enormous wealth into security because of the fear they had never overcome.
The door before them was the result.
“Oh, a security device that uses three Magic Stones. Even the way the magic circles connect is exquisite. Not even the Magic Tower would have security like this. It’s impressive. This isn’t a simple magical device. It’s a work of art.”
Galahad continued exclaiming in admiration as he inspected every part of the door.
Corton felt needlessly proud.
“The higher-ups worry that, that certain organization might pursue us all the way to the North. That’s why they threw money at security, so no one could get close.”
Corton tapped the words written above the door. They read, ‘Security Is Life.’
He felt a little uneasy about bringing Galahad here without permission, but this was worth the risk.
“Even if the leader of that certain organization came here, they could never pass through this door. The person who made it guaranteed that no one could open it. Unless some fool opened it themselves, no one could ever get through...”
Corton confidently tapped the door. Three Magic Stones had been used on this door alone.
He turned at the sound of laughter behind him and found Galahad covering his mouth as he coughed.
‘What a frivolous fool.’
Corton clicked his tongue and pushed the door open.
The layered magic door with triple Magic Stone locks, boasting ironclad security...
Opened wide.
“Thank you.”
Galahad’s gratitude was completely sincere.
Footnotes:
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