Chapter 65 : Chapter 65

Chapter 65 - Killing Ants

Halsin stood before everyone in the reception room.

The Head Maid and the Butler.

Jubel and the Youngest Son.

And Kio.

Standing before those people, he rested his chin on his hand and dredged up his memories.

“...The Forest Witch. I tracked her for a while to obtain something called a Druid's Horn.”

A man who had just spent 15 years in the belly of a whale.

Before that, his eyes were red with the hunt as he roamed the world.

“Yes.... I did track her. Hmm....”

It wasn't easy to recall other memories.

His voice broke off intermittently, and what came to mind was also intermittent.

Still, he squeezed his eyes shut and reminisced about that time.

“It was a certain forest in the East. A forest with a slightly cool temperature. It was also incredibly vast.”

“It is the Kaburion Great Forest.”

The answer came immediately from the giant merchant's mouth.

As much as that Land General Manager, the land-grabber, Jubel knew the geography of the East like the back of his hand.

“Various non-human races live in that great forest. The most representative are the Dark Elves.”

Elves live in the West.

Dark Elves live in the East.

It was a difference in the energy the land held.

“Have you traded with them as well?”

“Yes. I have business partners there too.”

“It's best not to use a plan involving those partners.”

Halsin cut into the conversation between the Youngest Son and Jubel.

Kio added the reason.

“Before I escaped from the Forest Witch, during the 10 years I was with her, I never saw her say anything good about Dark Elves.”

As Kio said, he had been with her for 10 years.

Despite that, he didn't know the Forest Witch's location.

Because the Forest Witch could literally be anywhere in the forest.

The Great Forest was just the most probable place; it was impossible to specify her location.

“That woman isn't called a witch for nothing. She's called the most outstanding since the Great Witch Baba Yaga. If only she hadn't insisted on being alone.”

As he spoke, Halsin's eyes tilted toward the Youngest Son.

I knew what he was trying to say, and I agreed.

“She was more than qualified to become an in-law family of Millesdusk.”

She was the next Great Witch, enough for a great family to choose her to expand their power and receive outstanding genes.

Also, because she was a witch.

“She has a strong affection for her forest, and that affection inevitably clashes with the overprotective Dark Elves.”

Halsin picked up on the Youngest Son's words.

“As you know, to find her intentionally, you have to get lost. That's why I chose the Great Forest.”

“Doesn't that mean we'll have to be prepared for battle if we meet the Dark Elves first?”

“I will write you a letter of recommendation. If you meet the tribe I trade with, it won't lead to the worst-case scenario.”

Jubel's letter of recommendation reduced the risk slightly.

But the Great Forest was still the Great Forest.

Kaburion was a home for many lives.

Among them were not only the non-human races living in the forest but also a plethora of monsters.

The rich air and food also increased the size of the monsters, making even small-scale battles no ordinary matter.

“We will need talented individuals to minimize unnecessary conflicts as much as possible. One hunter is not enough.”

Halsin's head turned.

“It won't be easy to find someone better than me or on the same level.”

“It won't be easy.”

I nodded in acknowledgment.

But the Youngest Son always said.

If he only did easy things, he would have died a long time ago.

“Jubel. Explain the situation to Cailin and bring her here.”

“Yes. One person like her should be fine. Provided, of course, her guardian consents.”

“Don't worry about that. Remus will consent.”

It was the Great Forest, said to be the best even in the East.

The Werewolf father would permit the outing with the heart of sending his child to an amusement park.

“If the people I've called come, we'll be able to foresee conflicts and avoid situations. Then we can get to the Forest Witch quickly too.”

“Right. We'll be able to get lost quickly.”

Halsin crossed his arms and leaned his back against the outer wall.

Even so, his eyes were on his son.

Kio's eyes were as complicated as his own.

It was understandable since he was returning to the home he had abandoned and had been living to forget.

Of course, though he said he had forgotten, there was no way he could.

“Haaah....”

The surgeries that were carried out every day under the pretext of training or strengthening.

As Kio sighed, recalling those days, the door to the reception room opened quietly.

Marvin, who entered through the gap, approached Jubel with short steps.

His expression was not good.

“...What did you say.”

Jubel's expression also soured upon hearing his words.

So the Youngest Son could also tell.

“Has Mystics already made a move?”

“It seems so.”

“We'll have to depart quickly too.”

“...Are you not going to ask what kind of damage was sustained?”

Jubel asked, blinking his eyes.

The lord of the domain Eclipse was, of course, Dante Black Millesdusk, the Youngest Son.

He was told there was a problem in such a place, yet he only looked at his own task.

From the Youngest Son's perspective, it was a matter of course.

“Hasn't the division of labor already been established? You are on defense. I am on offense.”

“That's... right.”

“If I worry about that area, this side will only become unstable as well. That's why we have a division of labor.”

Jubel nodded naturally.

“I understand.”

How could a single merchant sell goods, package them, and promote them all at once?

There are separate domains for each.

“Let's do it like we always do.”

“Yes. Like always.”

As the two rose from their seats, everyone in the reception room stood up.

There was no more time to sit around.

Jubel and Marvin asked for the Youngest Son's understanding and left first.

He mulled over what his subordinate had said just a moment ago.

“The suppliers for the mines, processing factories, and logging sites have started pulling out one after another... is that so.”

“They don't even give a reason. Even if they do, they just beat around the bush, saying they're reluctant to set foot in a place that used to be a demonic realm.”

“It must be because someone instigated it.”

And who else would that someone be?

“Mystics. They move faster than I thought.”

Jubel rolled a copper coin in his hand.

It seemed there was a lot to think about, but the matter was surprisingly simple.

Didn't the other side also use a simple method?

All they did was simply scare them.

Whether their lives or livelihoods were at stake in the threat, it wasn't a special method.

The solution to such a simple problem was also simple.

“Dispatch one employee to each of the supplier's bosses. Send them to deliver this message.”

If the promised materials do not arrive at Eclipse on time.

“I will stake my everything to erase you.”

An eye for an eye. A tooth for a tooth.

But a merchant's eye and tooth are different from a noble's.

Even if they swagger around with a lot of money, they are fundamentally commoners.

A noble leisurely stabs with a knife, but a commoner rolls in the mud and bites with his teeth.

Marvin also ground his teeth in preparation for that time.

“Mystics will just frown and leave if the insects hide in their burrows, but we won't.”

“Right. Absolutely not.”

It wasn't a natural disaster, but a fellow human, a merchant at that.

Betraying trust and letting their knees tremble at a mere threat.

“They're insects who've never had water rush into their burrows, so they don't even know what's truly scary.”

A threat for a threat.

Nobles only knew how to step on ants to kill them; they didn't know how to handle them or various other ways to kill them.

Because they weren't the same as ants and had never been ants.

But the giant merchant was different.

“Leak information about their slush fund warehouses and tax evasion workshops to the local lords of those regions.”

If they showed a moderate amount of remorse, he would offer to negotiate.

And then, he would suck them dry with contract terms that abandoned all semblance of justice and righteousness.

Not just water, but something as hot as lava poured down on the ants.

***

The deck of the Mariella.

A space surrounded by glass, where one could see the sky as clearly as the sea.

The party to find the Forest Witch gathered here, and Josephine also boarded to see Kio.

As soon as she did, she saw a familiar middle-aged man with white hair.

It was the same man she had exchanged attacks with back then.

“Y-you...!”

“Wait, Josephine. I'll explain.”

Kio grabbed her arm and explained the whole story.

And then she understood.

The reason people gathered on this merchant ship, the destination, the newly formed relationships, and so on.

The Youngest Son, at the center of it all again today.

After swallowing countless gasps of astonishment, she glanced at him out of the corner of her eye.

When the sun was at its zenith, the Youngest Son fell asleep.

Then, around the time the sun began to set, he would stealthily come out.

He stood with his hands clasped behind his back, wearing sunglasses, and admired the scenery.

She tried to approach him and talk, but.

“Dante! This is the first time in my life I've seen the sky so high!”

A girl with an excited voice blocked her path.

Although her face, the very picture of innocence, seemed to have no intention of blocking the way, she was blocked.

It was the girl they had introduced themselves to and shaken hands with.

─Hi! I'm Cailin!

A bright expression and a hand held out coolly.

Her coolly stretched limbs were not hidden by the clothes she wore, which revealed her curves.

1 Loss.

She didn't know what she did, but she was wrapped in good-quality leather clothes.

Unlike her own work clothes, which were stained with the smell of sweat because she had no time to change due to her busy schedule.

2 Losses.

What she envied most of all was.

“Dante. Look over there. The clouds are shaped like sheep. They look delicious!”

“Is that so.”

That they spoke to each other casually and called each other by name comfortably.

3 Losses.

Furthermore, from what she heard from the people around.

“She's someone who has an important role in this plan. A helper who will allow us to fight even a little bit less.”

Her abilities also seem to be good.

Seeing as that man specially called for her for this job.

‘Still, this is a draw. If we're only talking about ability, I might be better.’

So the result was. 1 Draw, 3 Losses.

...She lost.

Still, she really wanted to talk to him.

Not to the girl with the prominent sharp canines, but to that Youngest Son.

“Th-that, Youngest... Son.”

A proper title she was calling him for almost the first time, instead of ‘500 Gold Coins’.

‘500 Gold Coins’ smiled faintly and corrected her.

“When we're outside, you don't have to call me Youngest Son. You can call me by my name comfortably too.”

“R-really? Then I'll call you Dante.”

2 Draws, 2 Losses.

Her record changed in an instant.

“I heard you're going to find Kio's mother.”

“That's right.”

“Actually, I was really surprised when I heard. Because the things I was planning to resolve someday are proceeding in an instant.”

The reason this trio first gathered and was maintained was because their goals were aligned.

The first step was Josephine's success.

Thus, Josephine succeeded thanks to the Youngest Son, and Kio was also on his way to resolve his long-cherished wish thanks to the Youngest Son.

Though he himself perceived it as a trauma.

“Um, Ms. Cailin.”

She shifted her gaze and changed her conversation partner.

“Yes!”

“Please take good care of Dante here. He's a very precious person to a lot of people.”

“Of course! He's a precious person to me, too, you know?”

“......”

One of Josephine's eyebrows twitched slightly.

It was so faint that she herself didn't notice, so no one among the three noticed it.

In any case.

The Youngest Son had become a precious person to many people.

The one everyone had ignored and thought would die soon had tenaciously survived and offered a shoulder to lean on.

“Ah, and Josephine. There was something I wanted to say when we met.”

“...Something you wanted to say?”

“Yes.”

He nodded his head a couple of times.

And then a slight pause.

He seemed hesitant to say something.

The story that came out was surprising.

In a different way than expected.

“I became a Magic Assimilator too.”

“Huh...?”

“So my utility has increased greatly, and I thought it would be good to think of it in terms of water-attribute magic.”

Of course, it wasn't that the Youngest Son didn't know Wisdom's water-attribute magic.

But there is a great difference in image implementation between imagining and seeing it directly.

“I asked Jubel, and he said the warehouse is empty right now. Could you go and show me some water-attribute magic, and if possible, teach me?”

“That's not difficult. Though it is a bit sudden.”

She had already left Wisdom, so what was there to be hesitant about?

“Even though I'm from a branch family, I was good enough to tutor my young direct-line nieces and nephews in magic, you know?”

Yes. I know.

That was also included in the reason for my request.

“I won't go easy on you. It won't just end with me showing you. Even if I left Wisdom, I'm serious when it comes to magic.”

“Just what I was hoping for.”

Josephine smiled to herself.

Millesdusk, the strongest family in the East.

The Fifth Son, the rising star of such a Millesdusk.

To deliberately teach him in a difficult way and then see his perplexed expression for once.

‘It might be quite cute....’

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