[Translator - Peptobismol]
[Proofreader - Max]
Chapter 3: An Unexpected Invitation (1)
Hal descended from the tree with light steps.
The baby, nestled in his arms, slept soundly.
"Follow ."
With those words, Hal started walking sowhere.
The village headman followed him as if in a trance. Before long, they arrived at a clearing.
"This is..."
"The monster's feeding ground."
The first thing that caught their eye was the carcass of a deer.
Its upper body, brutally torn, hung pathetically from a tree. The deer's blood, still fresh, dripped down, staining the surroundings red.
Around it were blood-stained rocks, torn clothes, and scattered bones.
So belonged to animals, but others were unmistakably human.
Hal silently gathered the scattered remains.
He skillfully collected what appeared to be human bones and set aside anything that could be considered a personal belonging.
That was all.
As if he had finished his business there, Hal headed down towards the village.
A strange silence fell between the two.
How long had they been walking?
The rustling of leaves filled the air as the buildings of the village ca into view.
The village headman was inwardly relieved that this uncomfortable journey was coming to an end.
"Why did you do that?"
Hal asked abruptly.
But the village headman knew what he was asking.
Feeling that the inevitable had co, the village headman closed his eyes tightly and confessed his guilt.
It was less a confession of repentance and more like a criminal's admission.
"...The mansion I guided you to today was a nobleman's house. I had no choice but to prioritize it."
"There would have been a way to protect both children in one place."
Hal paused, then sighed and continued.
"I did suggest it, but the Baron, the owner of the mansion, refused."
"..."
Hal didn't press further.
He simply nodded in understanding.
However, he didn't hide his expression, which had grown even colder.
***
After delivering the bones to the villagers, Hal imdiately headed to the Order's temple.
Inside the rattling carriage, Hal closed his eyes and leaned his head against the wall.
He hadn't found any clues this ti either.
How many more tis would he have to repeat this?
The Priest of Azure Fla.
The youngest exorcist.
These were the nas people called him.
But Hal didn't think he was such a great person.
'On the contrary.'
Yes, maybe he was half-baked.
With an impassive face, Hal scoffed at himself, recalling the scene of handing over the belongings.
The three missing children had returned ho as skeletons.
Even if he had expected it, seeing it with his own eyes was undeniably different.
The parents of the children collapsed on the spot, staring blankly and shedding tears.
So wailed like animals.
As if they were about to die.
As if they had lost all reason and strength to live.
Yet, Hal couldn't do anything.
He couldn't even shed tears with the bereaved families or offer comfort.
His emotions had dried up.
'Only for revenge.'
He had forgotten sadness, compassion, and fear.
Hal quietly took out the pendant hanging around his neck and opened it.
Inside was a portrait of a smiling woman and a strange scale.
The woman in the portrait was his mother.
Murdered by a monster in her bedroom.
Creak!
The leather strap wrapped around the hilt of his tightly gripped sword creaked as if about to tear.
***
He still vividly rembered that day.
That day, he wanted to hear the fairy tale his mother often told him.
He went to his mother's bedroom in his pajamas and heard a strange animalistic sound.
He was scared, but an unknown force made him turn the doorknob.
Thanks to that, Hal encountered an unforgettable being that day.
Blood-soaked bed sheets and his mother's clothes torn to shreds.
And the monster, drenched in blood, greeted him.
Rustle!
Scales rippled on the monster's skin, and its gaping maw slowly approached Hal.
Frozen like a stone, Hal felt fear rather than anger.
He desperately wished it wouldn't co any closer.
At that mont, Hal awakened his power.
Azure flas blood, and the monster recoiled in shock.
That was the end of his mory.
Hal lost consciousness.
When he ca to, the monster was gone, and the mansion was in complete chaos.
Dozens of mages were dispatched to hunt down the monster, but they found nothing.
The only evidence was a single scale, presud to be from the monster.
Hal had never forgotten the monster since that day.
Not long after the incident, Hal left the mansion.
He had no regrets.
He was born with a lack of mana anyway.
The Gilmore clan, a renowned magic family.
Despite being the second son of the clan, Hal, who wasn't born with even a shred of mana, was destined to be expelled soday.
Rather than being expelled, he left on his own.
Dreaming of revenge.
***
He ended up at the Order.
There was no better place to investigate the monster that had devoured his mother.
Fortunately, Hal awakened his unique ability not long after entering the Order.
Azure Fla.
He gained complete control over the very ability that had saved his life from the monster.
As a result, he beca an exorcist priest at the young age of 12, the youngest ever.
However, that was all he was allowed.
Hal lacked more than just mana.
No matter how much he prayed, divine power wouldn't accumulate in his body.
Naturally, he couldn't learn blessings or consecrations. Even his unique ability remained stagnant for years, showing no signs of growth.
He beca a half-baked priest.
Ti passed, and he reached the present.
The clergy of the Order were disappointed by the fall of the genius.
Of course, their opinions didn't matter to Hal.
But he couldn't give up on revenge.
He pondered ways to beco stronger and gathered information about monsters.
He compensated for his weaknesses in other ways.
He gripped his sword until his hands bled, mastering its use.
While other exorcists honed their abilities and divine power, he focused solely on martial skills.
He had a talent for swordsmanship, but even that was reaching its limits.
Hal, lacking mana, couldn't imbue his sword with aura.
'An awkward in-between.'
That was Hal, himself.
He had a unique ability useful for exorcism, but no divine power.
He had a talent for swordsmanship, but couldn't use aura.
A half-baked cleric who couldn't even comfort the wounded.
As Hal willingly indulged in self-loathing,
"We've arrived, Priest-nim."
The coachman called out to him.
Clip-clop!
The horse ca to a stop, and the carriage door opened.
Hal stiffly nodded to the coachman and got off.
The bright morning sun had risen, showering him with its light.
Yet, Hal didn't remove his robe.
Instead, he pulled it further down, covering his face, and hurried towards the temple.
"Young Master."
At that mont, a familiar voice reached his ears.
He reflexively looked up to find the owner of the voice.
An elderly man, neatly dressed in a suit.
Who could it be?
'Young Master... No one calls that anymore...'
Hal paused, his thoughts catching up, and looked at the old man's face again.
"...Gail?"
"I'm grateful you rember this old man."
"What brings you here?"
He asked indifferently, but honestly, he was bewildered.
Forgetting even his exhaustion, Hal stared at him.
Gail, the head butler of the Gilmore family.
He was his father's right-hand man, the head butler, and a key figure in managing the estate.
Although Hal only knew him from his childhood, Gail was one of the few people in the main house who treated him well, so he remained in his mory.
"This is a ssage from the Lord."
A ssage, so suddenly?
Hal unconsciously furrowed his brow.
It was the first contact from the main house in years.
Has sothing happened?
Hal cautiously accepted the letter and spoke to Gail.
"Please co in for now. I'll give you a room."
"Thank you for your consideration, Young Master."
Gail bowed deeply.
Hal was uncomfortable with the title "Young Master" and the excessive courtesy, but he didn't show it.
He simply suppressed his fatigue and entered the temple. For Hal, patience was more familiar than breathing.
***
After providing Gail with a small room, Hal went to his study.
He wanted to calmly examine the contents of the letter.
He had intended to report the incident in the village to the bishop imdiately, but he was curious about what his father's ssage contained.
Slide, thud!
Hal paused as he was about to remove the seal with a letter opener.
'It's already opened?'
He felt a sense of incongruity from the sealing wax, but his attention was quickly drawn elsewhere.
A nostalgic feeling suddenly washed over him.
Five petals that looked like an overturned helt.
The clan crest caught his eye.
'This is our clan crest. Wolfsbane.'
One of the few mories he shared with his father flashed through his mind. The mory was faint.
But his father always looked at Hal with a mixture of love and resentnt.
Probably because he was a half-baked child who wasn't born with mana.
He held no resentnt now.
It would be a lie to say he didn't feel any such emotions, though.
Because he now knew what it ant to lack mana in a family of mages.
Hal unfolded the letter indifferently and slowly read through its contents.
[To my dear son,]
[My son, do you rember the lush forest of our estate from long ago?]
[The salt mine full of life? The coastline with the blue ocean spread out before it, you must still rember those, right?]
[And the grand mansion of our family, where you could see all of this at a glance.]
He rembered it all.
The forest that occupied half of the estate, the salt mine that was the estate's main industry.
And the harbor used to sell the salt.
He hadn't visited the estate once since he was expelled, but still, he had lived there for 12 years.
'But why suddenly...?'
He was a little puzzled.
And at the sa ti, uneasy.
Has sothing gone wrong?
Hal continued reading the rest of the letter.
[All of that is on the verge of disappearing.]
[If this continues, the family and the estate will fall and be consud by darkness.]
[I need your help.]
[Please rember our family motto.]
"...We are explorers of the abyss, we will dispel the darkness and illuminate the mysteries."
Hal muttered quietly with a frown.
It was an old mory, but hard to forget. Because his father smiled kindly at him only when he taught him the family motto.
After pondering the contents of the letter for a mont, Hal rummaged through it and tilted his head.
'Is this the end?'
No matter how much he thought about it, this letter was strange.
The content, the circumstances, everything was questionable.
Above all,
"The fall of the clan...?"
The Gilmore clan was quite wealthy and a long-established, prestigious magic family.
What could be happening there?
Hal got up from his seat and walked to the next room.
He wanted to hear the details from Gail.
Knock knock!
Hal knocked on the wooden door and called out to Gail.
"Gail. I have sothing to ask you. May I co in?"
He waited for a while, but there was no answer or sound from the room.
Had he fallen asleep already?
Hal slowly turned the doorknob and pushed the door open. The door opened without resistance, accompanied by the creaking sound of its hinges. And there...
Creak creak creak!
Gail, hanging by his neck, was smiling broadly.
His eyes, however, were filled with madness.
[Translator - Peptobismol]
[Proofreader - Max]
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