WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: Ceaseless
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ The Northern Grand Duke’s Mad Son-in-Law ◈
Chapter 83: Wedding Gifts
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‘It worked.’
Galahad smiled broadly at the spreading mist.
The red mist was high-density mana made visible through Monster blood. It allowed him to visualize mana concentration through fog.
That meant he could find powerful Monsters far more easily.
There was one small problem.
“You-.”
The spear shattered easily. The Grand Duke’s blue eyes narrowed slightly.
The Grand Duke’s presence was simply too overwhelming, drawing in the mist. He was a magnet. Around him was no longer mist, but a pool of blood.
Galahad felt wronged too.
“Your Grace is too strong, so it keeps gathering around you. This is clearly interference.”
“Interference?”
The Grand Duke clicked his tongue as if he found that absurd.
“Are you done hunting? Then hold your breath for a while. You’re getting in the way.”
“...What did you say?”
Galahad quickly walked away.
‘Damn it. He noticed.’
The Grand Duke had noticed the Egg of Pain.
‘Can’t you even hide the sound? What a cheap thing.’
Thump... Thump.... The Egg of Pain beat faintly. Its dejected pulse was almost pitiful.
‘Right. What can I expect from a low-grade egg?’
It was not entirely the Egg of Pain’s fault. Galahad had let his guard down a little while concentrating on the magic.
More importantly...
‘He can actually hear heartbeats?’
No matter how sharp someone’s hearing was, how could they hear a heartbeat? Galahad had thought it was a joke.
Yet the Grand Duke truly had heard it.
That was how he had noticed the Egg of Pain.
‘I can’t lose.’
The Grand Duke would ask about his second heart. He had to win.
If the Grand Duke asked about the Egg of Pain, things would become quite troublesome.
The stakes he had set for the wager were rather intense.
The wager involving questions had become a little rougher than intended, but that did not matter.
Galahad never entered bets he could lose.
‘Fifteen, seventeen, twenty?’
They were Monsters between low-grade and mid-grade, mid-grade Monsters, and Monsters between mid-grade and high-grade.
With a cigarette between his lips, Galahad waved a hand.
Red mist spread far and wide. His expanded senses pricked at him.
He closed his eyes and focused. Soon, information from a vast area flooded his mind.
‘Hmm. Shall I start with this one?’
He chose a suitable target.
A huge Monster waited at his destination.
Galahad examined the dense blood concentration gathered around it. It was so thick that it would splash whenever the Monster moved.
‘An upper-mid-grade Monster.’
At that moment, the Monster opened its jaws wide. Poison dripped from its massive fangs.
Its presence was vicious. Still, it was only an upper-mid-grade Monster. This was not the Demon Realm, and it was not dangerous enough to threaten Galahad.
He had another concern.
‘How am I supposed to bring that back?’
Transporting the Monsters he caught was the problem.
There was not much time. Hunting them was already cutting it close, and now he had to carry them as well. Even for Galahad, that was too much.
‘Ah, I have that.’
After thinking for a moment, Galahad nodded.
A stupid person makes their body suffer. Galahad was a capable mage, so naturally his body could take it easy.
* * *
‘Magic? How ridiculous.’
The Grand Duke’s eyes narrowed.
Everything around him had turned into droplets of blood. The once-white mountain had been dyed red. Could this truly be called magic?
It was the sort of thing a high-ranking Demonkin might do.
And then...
‘He had two hearts.’
The Grand Duke touched his chest. A thick scar was etched into the left side. It was one of two debts he had yet to repay.
Hot breath left the Grand Duke’s mouth, heavy with rage and delight.
He would soon have his answer.
There was no chance Galahad could defeat the Grand Duke in a Monster hunt.
The Grand Duke had already hunted every Monster nearby. To catch anything stronger, Galahad would have to go farther up the mountain.
The Monsters higher up were clever, so they hid from the Grand Duke. Since the Grand Duke had entered the mountain, they would have concealed themselves thoroughly.
Even if Galahad found one, catching it was another matter. And even if he hunted it, carrying it back here would be difficult.
The snowy mountain was high and treacherous. A skinny mage could not drag a massive Monster all the way here.
‘The moon is sinking.’
There was not much time left.
The Grand Duke was certain of his victory.
After some time passed, the moon vanished.
The red mist that had pooled around the Grand Duke had now become a puddle.
‘He isn’t coming.’
The Grand Duke narrowed his eyes. The wager lasted until sunrise.
Dawn would break soon, yet Galahad had not brought back a single Monster.
‘Does he intend to drag back all three at once...?’
Monsters were extremely heavy. Moving three at the same time would not be easy even for the Grand Duke.
Then...
Thud.
A heavy sound rang out. The sweet scent of Monsters filled the air.
It was the sound of Monster footsteps. The strange part was that there were several sets of them.
This was a mountain where Monsters were confined. Here, Monsters devoured one another. They did not gather together.
‘It’s a sturdy one. At least thirty...’
The corners of the Grand Duke’s mouth rose.
The red mist slowly receded. The fog covering the mountain was thinner than before.
A Monster appeared beyond it.
No, Monsters.
One had the form of a snake. It had three heads: one a snake, one a lion, and the other a wolf.
It was at least thirty.
The Monster beside it was also rather massive. It had the form of a giant wolf, but its claws were snakes.
An eagle’s head rested where its eyes should have been, while a snake dangled between its jaws.
They were larger than the ones the Grand Duke had caught.
Monsters like those would run the instant they smelled the Grand Duke. Yet they were approaching him first...
‘Interesting.’
Then the Grand Duke noticed another Monster among them.
At first glance, it looked like a glossy horse. It was about four times the size of an ordinary horse, had five snake-like eyes, and flames scattered from its hooves.
It was smaller than the Monsters on either side, but it was unmistakably a Monster.
‘I want it.’
The Grand Duke was genuinely tempted.
Could that Monster carry him? Unfortunately, Monsters could not be tamed.
As the Grand Duke gripped his axe again in disappointment...
“I’m not late.”
A familiar voice spoke. Galahad sat atop the enormous horse.
Unlike before, he looked a mess. His neatly swept-back hair had come loose, and his face was full of exhaustion.
Still, a refreshed smile rested on his face.
“Come on, greet him.”
Galahad smiled and waved a hand.
The giant Monsters at his sides slowly lowered their heads.
Moving Monsters with a gesture...
The Grand Duke recalled an old legend.
Humanity’s worst traitor.
‘The Monster Tamer...’
Veins rose on the Grand Duke’s hand around his axe.
* * *
‘This is dangerous...’
The Grand Duke’s axe pointed at Galahad. In that moment, Galahad clearly sensed death.
It was certain death.
‘He had been hiding his strength.’
The presence the Grand Duke revealed far exceeded Galahad’s expectations.
‘This isn’t good.’
Galahad subtly loosened his fingers. The Egg of Pain beat repeatedly as mana circulated without pause.
If the Grand Duke had been a knight, Galahad could have at least judged his chances.
But the Grand Duke had filled his stomach by eating Monster heads. He was closer to a Monster than a knight.
A very high-ranking Monster at that.
Galahad did not fare well against Monsters.
“Were you the Monster Tamer’s disciple?”
The Grand Duke asked in a flat voice, as dry as an executioner speaking before dropping the blade.
‘He’s sensitive about the Monster Tamer.’
That was understandable. The Monster Tamer had caused the greatest damage in the North.
Galahad had appeared with high-grade Monsters at his sides, so it was easy to see why the Grand Duke would misunderstand.
But it was not true.
“Ah, you misunderstand. I’m not their disciple.”
Galahad raised his palms and spoke sincerely.
“I improved and applied the Monster Tamer’s magic circle, which I happened to acquire. I also filed a report that I had found traces of the Monster Tamer.”
“You happened to see the traces left behind by the Monster Tamer and gained control over high-grade Monsters?”
One corner of the Grand Duke’s mouth rose.
He clearly did not believe him.
“Yes, because I’m an exceptional mage. You know that, don’t you?”
Galahad lightly snapped his fingers.
The Monsters on either side lay down at once.
What Galahad had acquired was a weaker version of the Monster Tamer’s magic circle. No matter how talented he was, he could not freely control high-grade Monsters with such an inferior magic circle.
He had only used it to transport them.
The Grand Duke’s presence bore down heavily on Galahad. The air became heavy, choking off his breath.
Galahad had accounted for the possibility that things would go badly due to a misunderstanding.
“I see...”
The Grand Duke let out a low breath.
“Was it also a coincidence that you have two hearts?”
The pressure on Galahad’s shoulders intensified. It was almost impossible to endure. At least he had the Golden Scepter.
‘What a monster.’
Galahad admired him sincerely.
The Grand Duke’s misunderstanding was plausible.
Still...
“Aren’t I the one asking the questions?”
Galahad had won the wager.
Heavy silence settled over them. Galahad remained tense, ready to use magic at any moment.
Several misunderstandings had piled up. Nobles were always different on the surface and underneath.
Few nobles would simply back down after losing a wager. Most would throw a fit until the very end.
His opponent was the Grand Duke, and Galahad was an Imperial.
It would not be easy for the Grand Duke to accept.
‘This isn’t good.’
Galahad slowly relaxed his hand. He naturally put the cigarette in his mouth and continued compressing mana.
Then...
“Fine.”
The Grand Duke slung his axe over his back. The pressure on Galahad’s shoulders vanished in an instant.
“I lost.”
The Grand Duke nodded deeply.
It was such a clean admission that Galahad’s tension felt pointless.
The Grand Duke was a true man of spirit.
* * *
‘A clean admission.’
There were three questions.
Galahad organized his thoughts as he looked at the Grand Duke’s fierce face.
The pact was meant to bind powerful people to the Emperor. In exchange, the Emperor did nothing.
The high-ranking Demonkin wanted the Emperor dead because the Emperor did nothing.
Finding the connection between the two was important.
To do that, he first needed to understand the Emperor.
“What is the Emperor’s true identity?”
Galahad asked directly.
The Grand Duke’s eyes moved behind Galahad. He glared at the empty air for a moment.
‘So the Empire’s ears are more than simple spies.’
Galahad’s eyes narrowed at the unusual reaction.
He had confirmed that the very concept of the Demon King was denied across the continent. It was possible the Emperor had done something similar.
“Anything about the Emperor costs two questions.”
‘Two questions?’
Galahad’s eyes narrowed.
He only had three questions, yet this one cost two.
Still, the fact that it cost two meant it was important.
“Yes, fine. I’ll spend two.”
The Grand Duke nodded.
“The Emperor is...”
The Grand Duke paused.
There was a chance the Emperor was a high-ranking Demonkin. Human greed knew no end. It was a cliché, but...
Then the Grand Duke slowly opened his mouth.
“An idiot.”
“...What?”
“The Emperor is an idiot.”
The Grand Duke spoke each word clearly. That was not the issue.
“No... An idiot? What kind of answer is that?”
“Was that a question?”
“You’re not putting much effort into an answer worth two questions.”
“It is an answer worth two questions.”
The Grand Duke’s answer was firm.
An idiot... It was a description that did not suit the Emperor at all.
‘The Grand Duke is not someone who would play a cheap trick.’
Calling the Emperor an idiot must have been the best answer the Grand Duke could give.
Even so...
“Isn’t calling the Emperor an idiot too insincere?”
“Your next question.”
“What an idiot... No, I was reflecting on what you said.”
Galahad shook his head at the Grand Duke’s narrowed eyes.
‘An idiotic Emperor...’
It was not as if he had gained nothing. He had learned that talk about the Emperor could not be spread carelessly. The possibility that the Emperor had done something similar to the Demon King came to mind.
That was a substantial gain.
“Your next question.”
The Grand Duke spoke in a firm voice.
Anything concerning the Emperor cost two questions. There was nothing else Galahad particularly needed to use it on.
“Can I use it later?”
“Hmm.”
The Grand Duke nodded.
Some regret remained, but he had made quite a few gains. He had learned how to make use of the Monster Tamer’s magic circle and grasped the nature of the pact.
Then Galahad noticed that the Grand Duke’s gaze was fixed somewhere.
The Grand Duke was a blunt man. The corners of his mouth only rose when he ripped off a Monster’s head and chewed on it.
Yet his expression was strange now. His brows twitched slightly. According to Adrianna’s eyebrows, that was a sign that he was interested in something.
The Grand Duke was looking at...
‘The horse?’
The Monster Galahad had ridden here, a low-grade Monster in the shape of a horse.
The Grand Duke’s gaze was fixed directly on it.
Galahad subtly moved the Monster to the side. The Grand Duke’s head turned with it.
‘Does he see it as a horse?’
In this place, a fine horse was the equivalent of a supercar.
It was difficult to see this grotesque Monster as a horse, but the Grand Duke himself looked much like a high-ranking Monster.
‘They suit each other.’
Galahad nodded slightly.
He had caught it to make up the three Monsters.
Unlike the high-grade Monsters, he could control it because it was low-grade, but it was still a Monster. Taking it along was dangerous.
He also had to keep feeding it Monster blood to maintain control. Using such precious Monster blood as feed... Its fuel efficiency was terrible.
An ordinary horse listened better anyway, so there was no reason to keep this thing around.
He had planned to abandon it once they came down the mountain.
But the Grand Duke was interested in it.
Hmm...
“Your Grace, I haven’t given you a wedding gift, have I?”
Galahad smiled broadly.
The Grand Duke’s eyebrows moved slightly.
“A wedding gift? I never gave you permission to marry.”
Galahad searched through the bag Tom had given him.
Inside was an expensive bridle.
When Galahad put it on the Monster and offered the reins to the Grand Duke, the Grand Duke’s eyebrows twitched.
“As you can see, its hooves are on fire. In the capital, they call that a heated-seat option...”
The Grand Duke’s eyebrows gradually rose.
* * *
“Shouldn’t we go up?”
At a subordinate’s question, Benny Jones, commander of the Eighth Battalion, bit their lip.
Monster Graveyard was a snowy mountain so tall that its peak seemed to touch the sky.
The anomaly had begun at dawn.
At first, it was only a small dot. The red mist then spread, eventually covering the lower half of the mountain.
It looked as if the snowy mountain were bleeding.
Even Benny Jones, who had commanded the Eighth Battalion for a long time, had never seen such a phenomenon.
It had to be a high-ranking Demonkin.
The problem was that Monster Graveyard was a forbidden area designated by the Grand Duke. No one could climb it without his permission.
So they could only wait below.
Such dense blood mist...
‘This isn’t an ordinary high-ranking Demonkin. It’s an exceptionally vicious one.’
Sweat filled the hand gripping the sword hilt.
Then a voice came from somewhere. It was far too calm for the situation.
“So, to keep the horse going, you’ll need to feed it blood regularly. The more luxurious the horse, the higher the maintenance costs... No, the more maintenance blood it needs.”
A soft voice that did not suit the North. It had to belong to that obnoxious Imperial bastard.
“I see. A wedding gift.”
The Grand Duke’s voice followed. Unlike usual, it was slightly higher. It almost sounded as though it contained laughter.
It was a voice Benny Jones had never heard before.
Then the red mist ahead cleared.
A Monster with four burning hooves and five eyes. It looked like a horse that had risen from hell.
The Grand Duke sat atop it. Unlike usual, the corners of his mouth were raised.
“That was an entertaining hunt.”
Galahad smiled at the Grand Duke. The Grand Duke only nodded.
The two somehow looked close.
It was unbelievable.
Then the Grand Duke looked at Galahad and spoke.
“I invited your family to the engagement ceremony too.”
Galahad’s smile froze.
* * *
“The Kingdom Alliance’s resistance is growing. Another request has arrived asking us to uncover the truth about the prince.”
“The sea in the west is restless. Pirates are everywhere.”
“The Ministry of Magic has presented a prototype magical knight. It looks quite promising.”
“Work on the magic train tracks is nearly finished.”
“The frequency of Demonkin appearances has risen. We need countermeasures. We must establish two more knight orders.”
The Imperial conference hall was noisy. People passionately announced their accomplishments and argued fiercely for support.
Still, the meeting ended without gaining anything.
It had no head.
Count Amberton stood, adjusting their coat. A smug-looking noble blocked Count Amberton’s path.
It was Count Barahan, who had always kept Count Amberton in check.
“I hear Galahad has earned the Grand Duke’s recognition. Hasn’t that strayed too far from the plan?”
Count Amberton frowned at Count Barahan’s mocking tone.
“What does that have to do with me?”
“What do you mean, what does it have to do with you? Galahad is your son, is he not? Your third son.”
“So?”
“Rumors are spreading that House Amberton secretly helped him.”
Count Amberton laughed aloud at Count Barahan’s words.
It was not even amusing.
“He is the one who dared to learn filthy magic despite being born into House Amberton, a house renowned for swordsmanship. Help the one who stained House Amberton with filth? Ha. Even a dog would laugh. My greatest mistake was not getting rid of him in time because I did not want to dirty my hands.”
At Count Amberton’s harsh words, Count Barahan raised both hands and stepped back.
Sharp gazes landed on Count Amberton. Count Amberton had openly displayed their hatred of magic.
‘Filthy mages.’
Count Amberton muttered a curse.
Someone blocked Count Amberton’s path as they left.
Blood-red hair and stunning beauty...
The Princess.
The Princess beamed at Count Amberton.
“Count Amberton?”
Like a flower in full bloom.
Footnotes:
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