[Translator - Peptobismol]
[Proofreader - Max]
Chapter 20: The Three n of the Gilmore Clan (1)
Hal turned around, the dagger still in his hand.
"I'll go downstairs."
[With this, it is possible.]
He could easily guess the aning of that sentence.
The only ans and device to kill the immortal monster.
This was the key to solving this workshop.
He did have questions.
Who left this dagger? Why was this the only thing that could kill the monster?
But there was no ti to ponder.
If he delayed any longer, both Daniel and David would die.
Bang!
Just as he was about to leave the room, a loud noise echoed.
Hal quickly opened the study door.
There he saw the monster, having destroyed all the dolls and climbed the stairs, and...
"Mari...onette. M-move."
David was there, struggling to hold back the monster while casting spells on himself.
He must have been badly injured in the anti.
Covered in blood, David looked like he could barely stand.
If Hal had been even a minute late, David would have been minceat.
Just as the monster was about to strike David with its fist,
Clang!
The sword Hal had thrown collided with the monster's fist in mid-air.
The monster's fist, slightly pushed back, missed its target.
anwhile, David retreated, wiping his blood-soaked hair, and smiled at Hal.
"Oh, you finally made it."
Hal nodded, feeling a mix of emotions.
He was grateful for David's sacrifice, enduring until the brink of death for him.
Hal walked past David and stood before the monster.
"I'll take over from here."
"Do you have a way?"
"Yes."
Hal adjusted his grip on the dagger, twirling it in his hand.
"That's..."
David's eyes widened as if recognizing it.
Perhaps convinced,
"Alright, I'll leave it to you."
David nodded and stepped back.
Ugh…!
Hal looked up at the monster.
A monster with flesh patched together like rags.
It looked unimpressive on the outside, but its immortality made it no less dangerous than Riteil.
But Hal wasn't afraid.
Just as the monster possessed the power of immortality according to the rules of the workshop,
Hal now possessed the power to kill it, also according to the rules of the workshop.
***
As the monster swung its fist, Hal dodged the attack smoothly and closed in.
A long wound opened up along the arc drawn by the dagger.
At the sa ti, a voice ca from behind Hal.
"Oh Lord of War and Sacred Fla, burn down your enemy!"
"Shadow Manipulation. Piercing Thorns."
Spells poured out, accompanying the head priest and David's incantations.
Crackle!
Their spells tore and widened the monster's wounds.
The next mont,
Thud!
The monster fell to its knees.
As expected, the dagger was effective against it.
Its body was covered in wounds and burns.
The wounds from the dagger were burning with azure flas.
Since the immortality effect was nullified where it was injured, various spells, including the Azure Fla, engulfed its body.
Having easily defeated the monster, Hal stood before its fallen form.
It no longer moved.
"...It's over."
The head priest muttered with a relieved expression.
As he said, they had overco the most dangerous hurdle.
The others also rejoiced at their imdiate victory.
"Brother, I'm sorry, but could you take a bottle out of my bag?"
David asked Hal, leaning against the wall as if he couldn't move a finger.
Hal nodded briefly and took out a glass bottle containing sothing.
A red liquid sloshed inside.
"...What is it?"
"Wine."
"..."
When Hal looked at David without a word, he chuckled and added,
"It's not just any wine. It has the effect of restoring stamina and healing wounds. It's better than most high-grade potions."
"...You should have said so."
Hal finally handed the bottle to David.
He could have healed him with the Azure Fla, but if it was possible to heal with a potion, it would save ti and energy.
Indeed, David's wounds began to heal as he drank the wine.
"It's quite effective."
"It tastes good too. Actually, that's the bigger advantage. Hal, have a drink too. You too, Father."
David smiled and took out glasses from his bag.
However, no one stepped forward to accept them.
No matter how effective it was, it was still alcohol. They couldn't just drink it before the workshop was cleared.
"No, really? I'm just offering a celebratory drink..."
When David made a disappointed expression, the head priest and Hal hesitated and exchanged glances.
Then, as if planned, they chuckled and each accepted a glass.
A sip should help them recover their strength.
At that mont,
"I don't drink alcohol."
Ono refused without hesitation.
"..."
The atmosphere beca awkward for a mont.
"Ahem, then I'll have so instead..."
Just as Antonio subtly reached out his hand,
"No, you can't. You're not of age yet."
The head priest firmly pulled his hand back.
Antonio sulked and stepped back.
Hal, clinking glasses with the priest and taking a sip of the wine, thought to himself,
Now all that remained was to find the owner of this workshop and finish this.
'There's still ti to save Daniel.'
It hadn't taken them even five minutes to defeat the monster.
They should recover and imdiately search for the workshop's owner.
Just as he was thinking that,
"...Cough."
"...?"
Suddenly, the head priest coughed up red blood.
Silence fell among the group as they witnessed this.
Then,
Thud!
A sound that shouldn't be heard rang out right beside them.
He turned his head and saw Ono, a black spear embedded in his stomach.
"What the hell..."
Ono cursed under his breath, vomited blood, and collapsed face-first onto the floor.
What was happening?
He couldn't understand, but one thing was clear.
"...What is the aning of this?"
Hal raised his sword and pointed it at David.
It was David who had attacked Ono.
"I rely thought it was the opportune mont, brother."
David replied calmly, twirling his staff.
That was enough to answer.
Their opponent was a mage.
He couldn't give him ti to chant.
Hal erased the fact that the opponent was his brother from his mind.
Just as he was about to swing his sword, recalling how to deal with a mage based on his training and experience,
Thud!
The world spun, and the floor rushed up to et his face.
After a mont, Hal realized he had collapsed.
"...?"
Hal tried to steady himself by pushing his sword into the floor, but it was no use.
The world was spinning.
Sothing surged up his throat and spilled out of his mouth.
The coppery taste of blood.
It felt like his insides were being torn to shreds.
"...What have you done?"
"What have I done? You wound . I gave you such an expensive gift."
David chuckled and shook the half-empty glass bottle.
A bit of dark red liquid sloshed inside.
"Wasn't that... wine?"
Hal frowned, and David burst into laughter. Then, stifling his laughter, he said,
"Wine? ...This is dragon's blood."
‘Dragon's blood’
Hal finally realized what he had been tricked with.
A legendary creature that no longer existed in the present day.
A powerful being that devoured demons and was once worshipped as a god by humans.
The blood of a dragon, a being so alien, was said to be extrely poisonous to humans.
David, seemingly finished with his laughter, caught his breath and said,
"The mont you drank this, you and the priest were as good as dead."
"...You..."
Hal glared at him and muttered, and David sneered.
"I'm not a fool. Of course, I wouldn't drink sothing that would harm ."
Cough, cough!
The head priest continued to cough up blood.
His skin was pale from the blood loss. It seed he wouldn't last long.
"Why?"
Hal asked a pointless question he wouldn't normally ask.
That's how enraged he was.
"Why...? Well..."
David muttered softly and approached the monster.
He poked and prodded the monster's body with his staff, seemingly searching for sothing.
"Perhaps I was born this way. I've never fit in with the rules of this world and its people."
After a while, David let out a small exclamation and pulled sothing out from the monster's flesh.
It was a small key.
With the familiar aconitum flower emblem engraved on it.
"That's the key Father always carried..."
"That's right. That key."
David nodded, then tilted his head in confusion.
"But it's strange. I can't find the ring no matter how hard I look. It doesn't seem to be here either."
Hal realized what ring David was looking for.
The signet ring.
The ring that was like a symbol of the family, which Gail had delivered to him.
Hal imdiately understood and hid his expression, but it was too late.
"...Oh my. Hal."
David shook his head and said,
"It was you. Father ultimately handed the ring over to you in the end."
David sneered and approached Hal.
"Co to think of it, Father always looked after you. He acted cold and stern on the outside, but he always lingered near you. Was it because of your mother?"
Then, he easily spotted the ring around Hal's neck and roughly snatched it.
The chain snapped, scratching Hal's neck.
David stared at the ring for a mont, then scoffed.
"Why did he go through such lengths to hide and deliver this piece of trash?"
Then he threw the ring on the floor.
With a look of contempt, as if he had touched sothing truly disgusting.
Hal felt a sense of dissonance at David's words.
'Hide...?’
Sothing flashed through Hal's mind.
Shadow Manipulation: Marionette.
Gai., driven to madness and suicide, and the swapped letter.
'...So that's how it was.'
It finally made sense.
Hal nodded and muttered weakly,
"It was you, brother. You were the one who lured here."
"Indeed. You're quick to catch on. Father didn't call for you. It was quite the opposite, actually."
David sneered and continued,
"I needed your power. I thought they wouldn't allow in, but they would let you in. It didn't go exactly as planned, but in the end, it was a great help, brother."
It was all David's sche.
Hal bit his lip, reflecting on his own foolishness.
Co to think of it, there were plenty of suspicious things about his brother.
However, Hal had trusted the brother in his mories. That was the beginning of all these problems.
"Where... cough, where is Father?"
Hal asked, coughing up blood, and David laughed as if dumbfounded.
"What are you talking about? He's been here all along."
"...?"
Hal frowned, not understanding what he ant.
Just then, a small groan could be heard.
The monster, which had been motionless and dying.
It looked at them and opened its mouth.
Ugh…!
The dying monster muttered weakly.
David's lips twisted into a grotesque smile.
"See? He's calling for you even now. 'My son'."
[Translator - Peptobismol]
[Proofreader - Max]
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