Chapter 5 : Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Father, who had approached at some point, shouted while barely suppressing his rage.

His expression showed deep disappointment and naked contempt.

Damn it.

I had meant to quietly settle the situation before Father came out.

In the end, everything had gone wrong.

“Cain! Say that again! Are you telling me that you skipped even your mother’s memorial rite, got drunk in broad daylight, and collapsed on the roadside?”

Father’s voice was as cold as ice.

There was not the slightest trace of warmth within it.

“When have I ever attended Mother’s memorial rite? Why are you acting like this now?”

“You… you… insolent wretch! How dare you run your mouth simply because you have one! Kneel and apologize this instant!”

Father trembled all over with anger.

He looked as though he might draw his sword at any moment.

“Is it not normal for us to be distant as father and son anyway? Do not concern yourself.”

Yes, this was exactly the relationship between Father and me.

A desolate, twisted relationship where neither of us had any expectation or affection for the other.

“I will go rest in my room first.”

Thinking there was no need to concern myself with Father’s mood, I turned away as I was, said those brief words to Simon, and headed toward my room.

From behind, Father seemed about to shout something, but I faintly heard Simon stopping him in a worried voice.

‘This is right. After all, today is the day I became a sinner to my family.’

From now on, everything was my burden to bear alone.

I could not lean on anyone.

When I entered the empty room, a soft bed covered in dust greeted me.

I threw my exhausted body onto the bed.

“Hoo….”

I let out a long sigh from deep within my lungs.

My entire body felt as heavy as a thousand pounds.

To be honest, more than the physical pain that felt as though my bones were being crushed, what weighed on me now was the fact that I had become utterly worn down mentally.

My memories of my past life had awakened, and I had abruptly awakened as a Summoner.

After experiencing events that had swept over me in a frenzy, I had found myself facing an unbelievable reality: the conquest of an F-Grade dungeon.

And it had been a dungeon where Death Wolves, the monsters that killed my mother and embodied what had felt like my lifelong grudge, appeared.

The desire for revenge that I had carried in my heart like a hardened lump all my life.

That desperate and vicious longing had finally been fulfilled.

Although I had not stained my own hands with blood directly, I had, in any case, used the power of my summoned creature to sweep away every last one of those dreadful monsters and conquer the dungeon.

Was this not enough?

The heavy guilt and piercing sorrow that had pressed down on me like a boulder for the past five years seemed to fade, if only a little.

But at the same time as that brief joy, an indescribably deep sorrow and emptiness settled thickly in one corner of my heart.

.

.

.

I still had not taken revenge with my own hands.

Even so, at this moment, I missed Mother so much it felt as though I might go mad.

* * *

The next day, after falling into a deep sleep as though I had fainted, I finally opened my eyes.

My entire body felt as heavy as cotton soaked with water.

The things I had experienced in the dungeon yesterday felt distant, like a dream from a single night.

However, the Status Window spread clearly before my eyes reminded me that none of it had been a dream.

I forced my heavy body up and stepped outside with a creak.

As expected, from the empty lot behind the mansion came Simon’s resounding shouts and the sharp sounds of sword wind, as though he was absorbed in training as always.

“Eldest young lord, you have awakened?”

As if he had been waiting for me to come out, the butler approached like a shadow and greeted me.

“Yes. Father?”

I gave a vague answer and asked after Father’s whereabouts.

“He has just begun receiving the administrator’s report in his office.”

For Father, this hour was always the time to hear reports on the day’s schedule and the trivial matters that had occurred in the territory the day before.

And today was no different.

“Yes, I understand.”

“What shall I do about your meal?”

The butler wore an expression that seemed concerned.

But hidden behind that mask-like face was contempt.

“No need. Do not concern yourself.”

I deliberately snapped back even more coldly.

I was in no mood to play along with a perfunctory greeting of concern.

“…Understood.”

The butler asked nothing more and turned away.

Well, in any case, the butler had probably only asked out of courtesy.

It was not as though he was genuinely worried about my meal.

‘Damn it. For now, should I at least go get some air? I need to get out of this suffocating place.’

To shake off my gloomy, heavy mood, I rose and headed out of the mansion.

Nothing would be solved by staying cooped up inside the mansion and brooding.

Whether it was taking revenge on Owen, or raising the power I possessed even a little more through Dungeon Conquests.

I had to do something.

‘Ah, damn it. I suppose I have to put revenge aside for a while. Damn it all.’

My mouth tasted bitter.

I wanted to run over right now and twist Owen’s neck.

If I looked at it coldly, killing Owen right now was entirely possible.

It was possible even without my summoned creatures.

Although I could not use mana, I had once been called a genius when it came to basic swordsmanship.

Someone like Owen, who could use mana but had dreadful swordsmanship, was well within my ability to kill.

People were different from monsters.

They could die from nothing more than a sharp blade.

But how would I deal with the catastrophe that would follow?

If I killed Owen, the Viscount’s House of Hennes would surely use revenge as its justification and trample the Count’s House of Lake, my family, so thoroughly that not even ashes remained.

To avoid that conclusion, there was only one answer.

‘I have to raise not only my own power, but the strength of the entire family.’

The problem was, ‘How am I supposed to strengthen the family?’

Unable to think of a clear answer, only frustration circled inside my chest.

If it was Seirei, who was at the Sword Master level, she could certainly deal with the viscount’s house.

But that would not do.

The moment Seirei’s existence was revealed to the world, the relationship between her and me would inevitably be exposed as well.

‘If that happens, it may become even more dangerous. I will be the one targeted.’

The fatal weakness of the Summoner job.

If a summoned creature was not by the Summoner’s side, the Summoner was no different from a powerless ordinary person.

At least until I had gained sufficient strength or prepared a contingency for when my summoned creatures were absent, I could not carelessly reveal my existence.

‘If I show off with half-baked strength and die for nothing, that would truly be a dog’s death. I refuse such a thing.’

I had to keep myself as low as possible, quietly and secretly increasing my strength.

That was the only path I could choose right now.

Fortunately, I had already drawn the vague outline of a plan.

Did our family not have my younger brother Simon, who was rumored to be a genius?

Yes, on the surface, I would put Simon at the forefront.

All the glory and attention would be focused on him.

And I would hide behind him, increasing the family’s true strength, in other words, its martial force and financial power.

‘The problem is the concrete method to build that strength.’

Of course, no clear move came to mind right away.

But perhaps, through another summoning, I might find a clue to overcome this difficulty.

My summoning skill still held infinite possibilities.

Yes, I had no choice but to stake everything on that.

For now, I decided to set aside the headache-inducing thoughts.

After stealthily checking the movements around the count’s office, I quietly left through the mansion’s main gate.

However, in the distance, I saw a scout running toward this place in a great hurry.

Covered in dust, he looked terribly urgent.

‘What is it? Did something happen?’

The scout spotted me standing in front of the mansion and hesitated for a moment, but soon quickened his steps again.

He probably had urgent business to report to the Count.

“Wait!”

I instinctively called him to a halt.

I sensed that something was unusual.

The scout hurriedly stopped, bowed his head politely, and asked,

“Eldest young lord, do you have any orders for me?”

“Yes. Why else would I have called you?”

I asked while deliberately putting on an air of authority.

“What happened for you to run here in such a hurry from early morning?”

Of course, the sun was already high in the sky, and it was broad daylight, but what of it?

To me, who had only just awakened, this was morning.

“There is an urgent matter I must report to the Count.”

The scout answered carefully.

His voice was trembling faintly.

“Is that so? What is it?”

When I asked again, the scout closed his mouth for a moment and seemed hesitant.

It was clear on his face that he was wondering whether he could tell me.

I gave a faint laugh and said,

“You know my personality well, do you not? Even if you report it to Father, it will reach my ears later anyway. From the look of it, the matter seems rather urgent, so would it not be easier for both of us if you quickly told me and went on your way? You do not have time, do you?”

Perhaps judging that my words had a point, the scout finally opened his mouth with a grave expression and spoke in something close to a whisper.

“The color of the dungeon entrance near Haron Village has changed.”

In that instant, an icy chill ran down my spine.

“What color did it change to?”

“It was an ominous red, like blood.”

The scout’s voice was thick with unmistakable anxiety.

“Red? How much of it has been dyed?”

“When I confirmed it with the naked eye, about half of it had already turned a chilling red. At this rate, the entire Dungeon Gate will soon be dyed completely red like blood.”

If what he said was true, the situation was far more serious than I had thought.

A Dungeon Break was right before our eyes.

“I understand. You must be busy, so go inside quickly.”

“Then I shall take my leave, eldest young lord.”

The scout gave a respectful bow, then ran like an arrow toward the mansion again.

The dungeon entrance turning red was a clear and dreadful sign that a Dungeon Break, the dungeon collapse phenomenon, was imminent.

If the dungeon was not conquered quickly, before long, the starving monsters inside would pour out into the real world.

If that happened, an uncontrollable catastrophe would unfold.

This small territory would turn to ashes in an instant.