34 – Trust Me (1)
Lucion scanned through the documents, one by one.
He looked at them a couple of times, but there was no sign of anything that could drive Durahan to sacrifice himself.
In the photo, Durahan was smiling.
“What on earth happened?”
The strange thing is, there hasn’t been a single photo taken for almost three years.
It means they haven’t taken any recent photos.
There were several photos, but generally, Durahan had a bright face and a neat appearance.
With well-groomed black hair, bright blue eyes, and a suit from the Mousega family, he looked slightly more mature compared to his seventeen years.
Since the last date in the photos is three years ago, let’s ask about that.
“What happened three years ago?”
The Black Rabbit answered calmly.
“Durahan said he saw a demon.”
“A demon?”
This is Panachia.
The southeastern region of the vast Oslund Kingdom.
The area where the Demon King appeared is far away, and it will be a few years before demons start knocking on the borders.
“That doesn’t make sense.”
The Black Rabbit muttered as he glanced at the documents in Lucion’s hands. Whether it was based on the situation or their parents’ opinion, the conclusion was the same.
“Are you insane?”
“The possibility of hallucination?”
There’s no way demons would appear here.
“I couldn’t understand it, so I talked to her directly. But it doesn’t seem like she’s under a hallucination spell.”
“I see.”
The Black Rabbit uses illusion magic. A sorcerer who rose to the position of Archmage candidate through illusion magic. Since it’s her words, it’s confirmed that it’s not a fantasy.
Then, is it really nonsense?
Lucion looks at the documents again.
Lucia, who was looking at the documents together, asks with a furrowed brow.
“But why exorcism?”
The mission being exorcism implies that, in any case, Durahan is not in his right mind.
Even when Lucion was at the academy, he had never heard of anything related to spirits. There is nothing like that in this world.
It was a metaphor. Felt as terrifying as a demon. Doing actions that humans couldn’t comprehend.
“That is…”
The Black Rabbit showed a sad face.
As a candidate for Archmage, she must have built a relationship with Durahan. After all, Durahan is the only grandson of the Archmage of the Black Tower.
‘They must have been like siblings.’
The time Lucion met the Black Rabbit in the past life was after Durahan died. Therefore, he couldn’t know the extent of their relationship.
But now, it seems like the Black Rabbit genuinely cherishes Durahan.
“Please. I also hope Durahan would come out of the room now.”
“Make an effort.”
Lucion skimmed through the documents.
“Trapped in a room….”
Was he the one who trapped himself? Or was it someone else who confined him?
It was a story that only he and Duharan, his alter ego, knew.
There were still quite a few documents that he hadn’t opened yet.
Before meeting [someone], he had to gather as much information as possible.
“Duharan. Seventeen. Eligible for early admission to the Academy, but refused. Has been confined in a room for the past year and hasn’t left. Reason for confinement is… nonsense.”
“It’s been about a year since I stopped going outside, but Duharan started saying strange things about two years ago.”
“That’s what it says.”
The details about the nonsense were also written in detail by time period.
Around two years ago.
Two years ago, Duharan claimed that his parents weren’t his real parents. He said he was scared to be at home and went into the Marrow, locking the door to avoid meeting people.
“Domestic violence?”
It was a problem that could be considered.
In any case, it was a nuisance in the Marrow. After it became a sin and he was scolded, Duharan couldn’t trust people anymore.
Although the explanation was quite condensed, it was clear that he had not been trusted by people.
Duharan rebelled against people and went into the forest.
“He really saw a demon. Said his parents weren’t his real parents….”
But even to Lucion, it sounded like nonsense.
Usually, I don’t believe it.
Durahan, who went into the forest, happened to encounter a hungry troll and reportedly used powerful fire magic to attack, setting the forest ablaze.
As a result, Durahan got into trouble once again.
Because the forest burned quite a bit.
The conversation they had at that time was the last piece of information available,
Luckily, the conversation they had back then was written down in some detail.
– Nobody believes in me.
– Laham, you’re in the wrong here.
– I wasn’t trying to start a fire.
– It doesn’t matter. Sweetie, you’re unstable right now.
– Yeah. I’m unstable. But everyone here is unstable too! Right now, you, and you too!
The people Durahan pointed out were none other than his parents and the wizards following Daharan.
Who would believe the troublemaker who causes accidents left and right?
After that, no one believed Durahan’s words.
To think that the son of the Grand Wizard would scold his own parents.
Afterward, his parents were so ashamed that they couldn’t hold their heads up for a while.
#
Durahan was confined to his house. According to rumors, to maintain the image of the Grand Wizard Daharan, Durahan was told not to leave his room.
As a result, it is said that Durahan truly hasn’t left his room for a year since that incident.
Lucion could interpret his mission like this.
‘It is the duty to make Durahan see the light.’
Whether it be to awaken the spirit, achieve success, or employ any means necessary, the role is to confidently prepare Durahan to face the outside world.
It was not a difficult task.
After all, this side was comprised of priests.
It was a task to enhance Durahan’s magic, boosting their performance.
And if depression or mental disorder was the cause, it was a task to forcefully drive them out, even if it meant imbuing them with sacred power.
Regardless of the cause, just infusing the room with intense heat was not an easy feat. It was possible to make them come out on their own just by injecting a large amount of sacred power.
‘Just like Lucia raised a sprout….’
Time was running out. In three months, Durahan would eventually throw themselves.
By the way, it’s a strange thing.
“To have such courage.”
#
Lucion headed to the Black Castle where Durahan stayed, along with Lucia.
It was where the Myus family, maintainers of the Panachia region, resided.
As a family that had been the Matopju of the black tower for generations, the mansion where Durahan stayed was not just a mansion; it was close to being a castle.
When Lucion and his party arrived, the butler came out to greet them and guided them on the way.
Lucion marveled as he looked around inside the castle.
Living so luxuriously.
“A devotee, huh.”
It was a satisfied remark.
Someone who wants to live still dies from illness.
For Lucion, who stood on the front lines, fighting to protect countless lives, it was an unforgivable thing.
The black rabbit, walking ahead, suddenly turned around in surprise.
“Suicide? Who?”
“Oh. It’s a story about a known sorcerer.”
“Huh? … A sorcerer?”
The black rabbit’s expression became troubled. Then, with a look of incomprehension, he asked Lucion.
“How can a sorcerer commit suicide?”
“Huh?”
What kind of talk is that?
Just jumping into a river…
Oh.
Lucion couldn’t shake the feeling that there was noise in his head.
Could a sorcerer die by drowning?
Wouldn’t survival instincts keep him alive?
It was a very simple spell.
Even on the brink of death, even in the midst of panic, just using a tiny bit of magic within his body, a sorcerer could come out alive from the river.
A sorcerer is someone who can create a whirlpool in the river. Durahan, the direct grandson of the archmage, was a talented prodigy capable of early admission to the academy.
Kanan asked, just to be sure.
“Just in case, you know?”
“What are you talking about?”
The black rabbit, as if impressed, confidently steps forward.
“Well, even if you don’t know what kind of mentor you’ve met, a naive guy who just came up from the countryside wouldn’t know such things.”
“What nonsense. Explain it so I can understand.”
The black rabbit, sighing, stops in place.
“That’s a euphemism.”
Lucion could now understand the expression on the black rabbit’s face that seemed to not comprehend.
‘Right.’
It was a euphemism for “a wizard has thrown themselves into the river.”
An elimination.
Lucion knows a few such euphemisms himself.
When a clergyman becomes corrupt or heretical and is executed, they can’t announce that fact outright due to image problems.
In the case of a clergyman executing a heretic with their own hands, they wrap it up with the signature of [Mercury Poisoning].
Clergymen often deal with sacred metals due to the nature of their profession. Among the metals closely attached to their bodies, there was one harmful to humans, and by sticking it too closely, they died as a side effect. That’s how it’s expressed.
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But in reality, clergymen don’t deal with mercury.
Only those who are not clergymen know that a clergyman died from dealing with mercury.
That’s how it is.
A wizard has thrown themselves into the river; it’s a euphemism for being killed.
Lucion’s mind quickly races.
“Yeah, so that’s what it was….”
I shouldn’t trust anyone I meet from now on.
Especially not the [Black Rabbit] right in front of me.
The reason is simple.
The day I encountered the Black Rabbit in my past life was the day after Durahan died.
The Black Rabbit I met back then.
‘Looked perfectly fine. Rather…’
It seemed to be gleeful as if its heavy weight had disappeared.
As past and present intersect, the castle in front of my eyes is seen once again.
A vast garden, tall buildings.
A fountain with flowing water and an angel-shaped statue.
In this space that only appears peaceful, a black aura seems to ripple like a disturbance.
Lucia also sensed something. Holding Lucion’s arms tightly, she pressed close.