Chapter 130 - Karlstein (4)

What did the family head really want from me?

That question had been on my mind all along. I had an inkling, but nothing I could be certain of yet.

Hence, Plan B.

I devised a plan to reveal everything in front of everyone. In the current situation, that was the last thing the family head would welcome.

'Yep. Keeping your opponent in check means stopping them from doing what they want.'

The family head wanted to keep Misha's successful awakening secret, both within the family and outside it. That was why he had hurried out before Plan B could succeed.

And after continuing our barbarian-style conversation, I finally got to hear what he really thought, without the packaging.

“I know you used that item.”

The Frost Spirit Ring.

A Numbered item that guaranteed a contract with the Glacial Magical Beast Scadia when its hidden piece was activated.

'It wouldn't be strange for a tribal chieftain to know about it.'

It was a possibility I had already considered. Unless he thought she had used “that item,” there was no reason to treat Misha as someone else's child.

Still, the family head wasn't certain either.

“That item? What are you talking about?”

A twenty-five-year-old Therianthrope of the Red Cat Tribe.

The probability of someone meeting those conditions naturally forming a contract with Scadia had to be close to zero...

But close to zero and zero were distinctly different.

“Hmm.”

That was why he was probing me like this. He had suspicions, but no proof.

“You're a poor actor, aren't you?”

Poor, my ass. Did he have any idea how many people I'd fooled?

“What are you on about? Say something that makes sense.”

“I mean ‘that item’ that allows one to contract with the Glacial Magical Beast Scadia. Surely you can't claim to know nothing about it?”

The family head stared at me as if to say he knew everything, so I should stop lying.

Did he think barbarians were fucking idiots?

“There's an item like that? Then why didn't you give it to Misha?”

“Because it's extremely valuable. Why would I give it to someone who isn't even my child?”

The moment I heard that, I instinctively checked on Misha first. As expected, she looked ready to cry.

But comforting her would have to wait. I kept playing the clueless barbarian.

“A valuable item? Doesn't that make even less sense? How would I have something like that?”

“Who knows? Perhaps you happened to obtain it at that Magic Tower you used to visit so often.”

What the fuck?

Did he really know everything?

My body stiffened before I could stop it. To cover for that mistake, I decided to glare openly at him.

“... You even had me investigated?”

Just a barbarian pissed off because someone had crossed a line.

That should make my reaction seem natural enough—

“Didn't I tell you? You're a poor actor.”

Bullshit. I believed in my acting skills.

Without flinching, I shot back irritably.

“So what is this item? What is it that makes you keep pestering me like this?”

“I can't tell you that.”

“What?”

“You keep denying it, don't you? This item's existence must not become known to outsiders. If you admit it, then I'll tell you.”

Huh? What was this?

There was nothing contradictory about his words. If he was merely fishing for information, it made sense that he couldn't even give me the item's name.

But...

'Why does this feel so strange?'

Something felt distinctly off. The instincts that had seen me through countless encounters with probing assholes were telling me so.

“Does this item actually exist? You don't have some other goal here?”

I pressed him again, focusing all my attention on watching him closely.

A moment's hesitation. Changes in his facial muscles. Where his eyes went, how his voice sounded.

“Of course it does. What other goal could I have?”

I was no expert, but I watched every instant of that brief answer with suspicion.

And instinctively, I realized it.

The family head was lying.

'Ha. So that's it.'

That cleared up my last remaining question. He could have tested me in other ways.

“Be honest with me. If you're keeping quiet out of concern for this child, I'll resolve that problem for you.”

Why was the family head going so far as to contradict himself like this?

It all made sense if his goal wasn't Misha, but “that item” itself.

'No wonder he keeps calling it “that item.”'

At last, I was certain.

The family head knew about the Frost Spirit Ring.

But only half the story.

'He knows an item like that exists, but he doesn't know what it actually is.'

The situation finally fell into place in my head.

The family head had invited me to his mansion. Whether Misha was his biological daughter didn't matter. He hadn't seemed particularly devoted to his children in the first place.

His real goal lay elsewhere.

An item that guaranteed a contract with a Spirit beast.

If, by some chance, I really knew about such an item, he wanted to find out what it was. For a Therianthrope, that information was too important to put a price on.

That was why he had shoved Misha's miserable circumstances in my face, judging her to be my Achilles' heel. He must have intended to use her as a bargaining chip or a threat.

And so...

“On my honor as a warrior, I know nothing of such an item.”

I played the trump card I had been saving.

The warrior's oath, my number-one reason why barbarians were so overpowered.

“...”

Deep bewilderment settled in the family head's eyes. Seeing that, I squeezed in one last blow before the moment passed.

“But I will find out what that item is. Just you wait.”

Muttering as if holding back my anger, I checked his expression. His eyes were filled with profound disappointment.

Well, look who was the worst actor here.

* * *

“Forget everything we discussed today.”

With that final instruction from the family head, we left the Karlstein mansion. Misha had been looking dazed for a while, and I didn't go out of my way to talk to her.

I had things to think about myself.

'Whew. At least the worst didn't happen.'

There were two reasons I had readily accepted the Karlstein family's invitation.

1. Misha leaving.

If the family head intended to put Misha into a major clan, I had to stop it. Losing Misha, whom I'd painstakingly helped grow stronger, after Erwin and Aynar?

The mere thought was horrifying.

2. Preventing suspicions that I was an evil spirit.

If the family head knew the secret behind Misha's awakening, I needed to visit at least once to come up with a convincing explanation.

Though I hadn't imagined he would summon me over something he only half knew.

CREEEAK.

As we passed through the garden, the gatekeeper recognized us and opened the gates wide. He was someone I hadn't seen before. The bald guy from earlier must have gone to get treated and rest.

But did this one know who I was?

“G-goodbye, sir.”

When our eyes met, he even gave me a small bow to see us off.

This mansion was where Misha must have lived from childhood to adulthood.

The well-tended garden was bright and beautiful, and the fountain sparkled as it sent up magnificent jets of water. The mansion was much the same. Unlike the inn where I stayed, the building had an old-world elegance and grandeur.

But...

The dank malice surrounding it hadn't changed. Just as when I first saw this place, it felt as though I were looking at a dungeon crawling with monsters.

It struck me anew.

Right. She had survived here.

For all those years.

“You've been through a lot.”

I gave her a pat on the back as I spoke. Misha snapped out of her daze and shook her head.

“N-no. You did all the hard work... nyah.”

Hmm. That wasn't what I'd meant.

“Still, you had the hardest time, didn't you?”

I chuckled and gave her back another pat.

“Ow! That hurts, nyah!”

There. That was more like her usual self.

“If you're back with us, lead the way. I don't know how to get home.”

“Ha, seriously... What would you do without me, nyah?”

“I wouldn't have come somewhere I didn't know the way around.”

“... True, nyah.”

We walked through the Therianthropes' streets, exchanging idle chatter. Everywhere I looked, I saw happy scenes.

“Dad, there's that barbarian from earlier!”

Therianthropes wandered about in family groups as though on outings, laughing and chatting happily.

“Bjorn, let's get some of that too, nyah.”

“What brought this on? You don't usually buy food when we're out.”

“Hmm, well... Because you've worked hard today, nyah?”

We stopped at a street stall, bought some snacks, and sat on a bench in the square. We could have eaten them as we walked...

But taking a little break wasn't a bad idea either.

“You know, Bjorn... nyah.”

“Go on.”

“Why haven't you ever asked, nyah?”

“Asked what?”

Our quiet rest watching the Therianthropes pass by didn't last long before Misha asked me a question.

“Aren't you curious, nyah?”

“Again, about what?”

“Well... Whether I'm really my father's child... nyah.”

I'd wondered what she was getting at. So that was it.

I chuckled and looked at Misha. Though she hadn't done anything wrong, she had bowed her head after asking, staring at the ground.

“I'm not curious.”

“Really? Not at all, nyah?”

“No. Why would that matter?”

“Wow, you really have no interest in me... nyah.”

What was she talking about?

I started to pat her back, then stopped.

'She told me not to do that because it hurts.'

I considered ruffling her hair like in a comic, but the thought made me cringe, so I didn't. With nowhere else to go, my hand returned to my knee.

Looking away myself, I spoke to Misha. We were companions, after all. I ought to clear up the misunderstanding.

“It's not that I have no interest. It really just doesn't matter.”

“Huh, nyah?”

“Misha Karlstein, rank-seven explorer. That's who you are, isn't it? It doesn't matter who your parents are. You're still a companion I can trust to watch my back.”

“Wow... nyah.”

Misha's mouth fell open as though she had heard something extraordinary. Then she looked at me with a broad, silly smile.

“How did you come up with something like that, nyah?”

“... Are you trying to pick a fight?”

If so, that was a relief.

We had rested enough, and I was about to get up when Misha caught my sleeve.

“Bjorn, nyah.”

“What?”

“This is a secret. I'm only telling you, okay, nyah?”

“Fine. Just spit it out.”

“I... really am a half-breed, nyah. Mom told me before she died, nyah. She said she was so sorry, nyah.”

Ah. Uh. Hmm...

After struggling to think of a response, I decided to simply nod.

“... I see.”

“What? Why aren't you surprised, nyah?”

Because I already knew.

Though I hadn't known the details.

“It's not particularly important, is it?”

“Ugh, you heartless barbarian, nyah!”

We soon got up, left the sanctuary, and entered the city, eventually reaching the public boarding platform.

But after we bought our tickets, while waiting for the carriage...

“Oh, right. What was that about, nyah? You swore an oath in front of Father earlier, nyah. That was definitely...”

Misha trailed off.

I was genuinely flustered. Whether because I'd grown too comfortable around her or because I'd had too much on my mind in front of the family head, I hadn't even considered this.

“That... was a lie, wasn't it, nyah?”

I sighed and nodded.

She already knew everything, so what was there to hide? All I could do was smooth things over.

“Yes, it was a lie. Because you're more important than a warrior's honor.”

“... Do you really mean that, nyah?”

“Yes.”

Misha didn't say a word for a long time after that.

An anxious stretch of silence followed.

“...”

She wasn't getting any strange ideas, was she?

The silence was so suffocating that I was just thinking I ought to say something, anything, when—

“Ah!”

Misha sprang to her feet, then said something utterly baffling.

“I-I left something at home, so I'm going back to get it, nyah!”

“... What? The carriage will be here any—”

“Go on ahead, nyah!”

She vanished like a shot.

... What?

Was I fucked?

* * *

RUSTLE. RUSTLE.

Albreniv Karlstein sat in his study, turning the book's pages with somewhat hurried hands.

At last, he found the passage he was looking for.

[No...]

...when ... can form a contract with the Glacial Magical Beast Scadia.

The description had been torn away so thoroughly that only a single sentence remained legible.

All his suspicions had begun with this book.

[Comprehensive Record of Artifacts VI]

This book contained descriptions of hundreds of Numbered items.

The important thing was that those descriptions were never wrong. That was the nature of a Comprehensive Record.

A book of truth whose value was beyond all discussion.

'If I hadn't known about this, I could have been purely happy.'

When the girl told him she had awakened, he had honestly been glad. He'd thought he would no longer have to conceal the family's disgrace.

[“The Glacial Magical Beast Scadia, is it?”]

The problem was the Spirit beast she had contracted with.

Could this really be a coincidence?

He couldn't quite shake his unease.

So he had probed the girl several times, eventually reaching a conclusion.

She had not awakened naturally. If his guess was right, she had received help.

Most likely from that barbarian named Bjorn Jandel.

[“I-I can't talk about anything involving Bjorn. I-I swore to the guardian deity...”]

But the girl had invoked an oath to the guardian deity and refused to discuss it.

There was no binding force behind such an oath, and in these days of fading traditions, it meant nothing at all.

A girl who had never managed even a proper act of defiance had, for the first time, lied to him using such an excuse. He was unlikely to get a proper answer out of her at this rate.

[“I'd be better off digging into that barbarian instead.”]

He had redirected his investigation. Suspicious circumstances kept turning up.

The barbarian was close to a mage of the Altemion School.

Allua Raven.

As chance would have it, he remembered her. She had been a rival he encountered while searching for another Comprehensive Record.

That had given him a theory.

What if the mage had obtained a Comprehensive Record of Artifacts? What if she'd read it and told the barbarian?

[“That makes far more sense.”]

He had decided to target the barbarian rather than the headstrong young mage. His investigation suggested that the barbarian and the girl lived practically like a married couple, so using her seemed likely to make things much easier.

But...

'To think it really was a natural awakening.'

It wasn't that he had believed some oath.

The barbarian hadn't been acting. He had looked genuinely ignorant, and Albreniv could sense him lamenting that ignorance for the girl's sake.

'How interesting. To think even that lowly blood had talent.'

Just as his thoughts reached that point, someone knocked on the door.

It was his aide, Veros.

“Misha Karlstein requests an audience, sir.”

“The girl? Send her in at once.”

After a short wait, his aide left and the girl entered.

“Um... There's something I didn't get to say earlier—”

“Ah, if that's what you're worried about, don't be. I will keep my promise. No one will ever think you aren't part of our family again.”

Strangely, the girl showed no reaction. He had expected her to be a little happier.

He went ahead and added another remark.

“I'm saying that you're my daughter now.”

Those were the words the girl, who had lived with longing and a mixture of love and resentment, must have wished to hear more than anything.

Yet her reaction was the same.

“... Why aren't you saying anything?”

“Because I didn't come here for that crap... nyah!”

“What?”

Her insolent tone caught him off guard.

What on earth was this change?

Before he could adjust, the girl faced him squarely.

“Father. No, you're not even my father, nyah. Did you know, nyah? We don't actually share a single drop of blood, nyah.”

“What?”

He was genuinely taken aback.

Not because it was news to him, but because he had never expected to hear it from her.

“Mom told me before she died, nyah. I'm not really of the Karlstein bloodline, nyah. I came here because I wanted to tell you that, nyah. I hate you... but I pity you too, nyah.”

Was it because he had never once imagined her behaving like this?

Even those audacious words didn't anger him.

He was simply curious.

“Why on earth are you doing this?”

He knew who Misha's biological father was.

He had thought it would all be resolved if she died in the Labyrinth.

But...

“If you hadn't said that, I truly intended to accept you into the family.”

Why was she rejecting the very thing she had so desperately wanted, now that it was being offered to her?

“Why? Why throw away this opportunity yourself?”

As though he wasn't worth answering, the girl spun around and headed for the door.

Had she had a change of heart at the last moment, though?