Chapter 15 : Chapter 15

Chapter 15

“Yes. Simon Lake. That worthless worm, lower than an insect, must have been the one who dared make my son like this.”

Viscount Bradley’s voice was filled with Killing Intent.

Cain, that crippled good-for-nothing Eldest Young Lord, had never been a match for Owen in the first place.

What could a halfwit who could not even handle mana possibly do?

In that case, within the House of Lake, the only people capable of directly harming Owen were the family head, Count Lionick, and his second son, Simon Lake.

No matter how much Count Lionick had fallen, he was still a count in name. If he dared lay hands directly on Owen, the heir of a viscount’s house, it would be no different from smearing mud on his own house’s honor.

He was not the sort of person who would do such a thing.

In the end, that arrogant fellow Simon Lake, recently rumored to be a genius swordsman, must have been the one who turned his precious son into a living corpse.

If that was the case, he could not simply stay still.

He would make them pay the price in blood. No, he would make them suffer far beyond that.

“Prepare for war at once. I will personally cut off that bastard Simon Lake’s head. No, I will make him end up in the same state as my son.”

Viscount Bradley gave the order with a blood-soaked scream.

His rage seemed ready to pierce the heavens.

However, at his shocking declaration, Baron Robbie O’Keefe, the strategist of the viscount’s house who had been listening from the side, urgently tried to dissuade him.

“My Lord! Please calm yourself for just a moment, and I beg you to hear this humble servant’s words. You must be cold-headed right now.”

“Baron Robbie, not even you will be able to stop me now.”

Viscount Bradley growled like a beast.

Baron Robbie O’Keefe.

He was the brain and strategist of the Viscount’s House of Hennes.

Cold and calculating, he quickly began turning his mind, even in this desperate and emotional situation, in order to find a way to maximize the house’s interests.

Once he finished thinking, his eyes gleamed sharply like a fox’s.

“How could I dare presume to understand My Lord’s rage? My blood is boiling as well. Naturally, I have not the slightest intention of stopping you. However… Since matters have come to this, why not make this incident even bigger? Turn this crisis into an opportunity.”

“Make it bigger? Are you saying we should not end this matter as mere revenge against Simon Lake personally?”

Viscount Bradley saw through his intention and asked.

His eyes slowly began to fill with greed.

“Yes, My Lord. This is clearly a vicious and despicable incident in which the Count’s House of Lake first attempted to harm the precious heir of our viscount’s house. This is a grave matter involving the honor of our entire house. Naturally, the Count’s House of Lake must bear responsibility befitting such a crime, and for grave matters of this nature, it has long been customary to decide victory and defeat through a Territorial War.”

Baron Robbie explained calmly.

“A Territorial War. Ha ha, yes. A Territorial War. If I win the Territorial War, I will take all the territory and wealth of the Count’s House of Lake. If that happens, it would be entirely possible for me to rise from viscount to count as well. Count Bradley Hennes.”

Viscount Bradley’s eyes flashed with greed.

His son’s revenge seemed to have already been pushed to the back of his mind.

“That is correct, My Lord. Furthermore, this incident was clearly provoked first by the Count’s House of Lake, which provided us with justification. Even His Majesty the King will not be able to carelessly stop the Territorial War. In other words, this is truly My Lord’s opportunity to ascend to the rank of count.”

Robbie spoke as though fanning the flames of his ambition.

“Good. Baron Robbie. Prepare a concrete plan for the Territorial War and report it to me at once. As swiftly and perfectly as possible.”

Viscount Bradley finally made his decision.

“Yes, My Lord. I will prepare it immediately according to your command and report back.”

Robbie answered with a satisfied smile.

Everything was flowing according to his plan.

Until only a few minutes ago, Viscount Bradley had lost his reason, blinded by his desire to avenge his son.

But inside his head, the sweet and intense ambition of rising in rank had already taken deeper root than his desire for revenge.

* * *

It seemed my calculations had been slightly off.

I had thought that if I steadily fed Simon only Low-grade Mana Elixirs, it would be enough for him to reach the realm of a High-level Sword Expert Knight.

Reality, however, was not so forgiving.

As expected, things in this world did not go the way I wanted.

“Master Summoner. You raised Young Lord Simon’s mana to near the level of a High-Level Knight using only Low-grade Mana Elixirs. That alone is proof that Young Lord Simon’s aptitude is truly incredible. It is practically cheating.”

Sharon offered words of comfort.

“Still, it feels a little lacking. If possible, I wanted to see this through completely.”

Since I had already come this far, I wanted to make him a proper High-Level Knight.

Only then would we have a chance against the Viscount’s House of Hennes.

“Becoming a High-Level Knight is not an easy thing. To reach that realm, you need at least Mid-grade Mana Elixirs, but we do not have a single Mid-grade Magic Crystal, which is the ingredient for them. Even if I want to make them, I cannot.”

Sharon smacked her lips regretfully.

I could feel the disappointment of an alchemist from her.

Up to the E-grade Dungeons we had conquered so far, the best we had obtained were Low-grade Magic Crystals.

Nothing of a higher grade had appeared.

In that case, could Mid-grade Magic Crystals perhaps appear starting from D-grade Dungeons or higher?

It was a sufficiently plausible guess.

After all, it was only natural that the quality of rewards would increase as the Dungeon grade rose.

Right then, as though reading my thoughts, Seirei suddenly cut in.

“My Lord, I will go. A mere D-grade Dungeon is nothing. I can conquer one more than well enough on my own…….”

Ah, there she went again.

Where did the boasting end?

Surprisingly, however, Sharon beside me seemed to have developed a certain resistance to Seirei’s tiresome chatter by now.

She had reached the realm of letting it pass by without even furrowing her brow.

Well, I, too, no longer reacted to most chatter.

Human adaptability truly was remarkable.

‘Seirei. I am sorry, but I do not think we can conquer a D-grade Dungeon in the same way as before, no matter how much you want to.’

That was because, in every nation on this continent, D-grade Dungeons and above were thoroughly and intensively managed at the national level.

If a Break occurred in a D-grade Dungeon, it could bring about a terrible disaster capable of turning an entire territory, or perhaps even more than that, into ruins.

It was only natural, in a sense, that the state managed them so sensitively.

And there was another reason.

Starting from D-grade Dungeons, powerful relics called Artifacts were discovered at a noticeably higher probability compared to lower-grade Dungeons.

Therefore, from the perspective of a nation or territory, for the sake of safety management and securing Artifacts, it was certain that heavily armed guard troops would be stationed at the entrances of D-grade Dungeons and above.

In other words, we could not freely enter and leave as we pleased.

“Seirei. If you conquered a D-grade Dungeon alone, roughly how long do you think it would take?”

I asked in order to check just how far her confidence went.

“Would it not take about thirty minutes?”

After thinking for a moment, she answered.

The average time it took her to conquer an E-grade Dungeon was only around five minutes.

Even assuming it doubled each time, I had thought she would be able to clear a D-grade one in about ten minutes.

‘That is longer than I expected.’

If it took thirty minutes, conquering the Dungeon without being discovered was practically impossible.

“Too slow.”

At my short and firm reply, Seirei’s expression, which had been triumphant until moments before, instantly wilted as though cold water had been poured over her.

“Secretly conquering a D-grade Dungeon for thirty minutes without the guard troops noticing? Impossible.”

It was absolutely not possible.

‘If there were no guard troops watching the Dungeon entrance, perhaps it would be a different story. But there is no way that would be the case. As long as guards are there, we cannot stay inside the Dungeon for that long. If we are discovered, it is over.’

Even if we carried out a hit-and-run operation by diverting the guard troops’ attention elsewhere and sneaking in, no matter how long we stalled, it would be difficult to buy more than ten minutes before they realized they had been tricked and returned.

Everything had to be finished within that time.

“Sharon.”

I turned my gaze to Sharon beside me and asked.

“If the two of you joined forces… would conquering a D-grade Dungeon within ten minutes be possible?”

“Me? Together with that noisy elf?”

Sharon recoiled and asked back, almost screaming.

Her face clearly said she absolutely hated the idea.

“Seirei, you answer as well. If the two of you work together, is it possible?”

I asked Seirei the same question.

“Are you telling me to fight together with that foul-mouthed witch? No matter how loyal a Heresy Inquisitor I am, one who obeys My Lord’s command, that is truly impossible. My Divine Power might be defiled.”

Seirei also resisted fiercely.

Both of them were refusing to join forces because of a childish emotional feud.

I had no intention of listening to their childish opinions any longer.

“I will ask again. If the two of you together. Join forces. Can you conquer a D-grade Dungeon within ten minutes?”

Did they detect some kind of danger signal from my cold tone?

Or perhaps it was because I had raised my Charisma level, but the expressions of the two Summoned Creatures changed into fearful ones.

And at last, Sharon answered in a tiny, almost crawling voice, as though she had no choice but to swallow her tears.

“I… I can do it.”

Her voice seemed to tremble slightly.

“Seirei?”

I turned my gaze to Seirei.

“I… I can do it too.”

She, too, answered reluctantly in a very small voice.

“Good. Then this is how the operation will proceed. While I somehow draw the attention of the guard troops, you two will secretly infiltrate the Dungeon and conquer it as quickly as possible. The moment I confirm that the Dungeon has vanished, I will unsummon you. We will conquer the D-grade Dungeon perfectly without being discovered. Understood?”

I explained the final operation.

With this plan, we could safely secure the rewards of the D-grade Dungeon without being discovered by the guard troops.

However, if there was one thing I was worried about, it was whether it would truly be all right to send those two sworn enemies into the same space, and alone together at that.

What if they wasted all their time fighting each other instead of conquering the Dungeon?

The fact that I could not see it for myself made me even more uneasy.