Dark Fantasy Guide for the Summoner - Chapter 49

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Episode 49.
Regrouping IV
Seigrena had been in excellent spirits lately.
She had successfully completed her first expedition into the Eternal Forest, which had been fraught with worry, and she had even secured an object to prove it.
“Hehehehe…….”
At the sight of the Exploration Crystal, her mouth spread in an enormous grin. She pulled it out whenever she had a spare moment, and each time brought the same joy.
How could something shine so brilliantly?
It looked far more beautiful than the countless precious metals that filled her jewelry box.
“Ahem.”
After giggling for a while, Seigrena caught herself and cleared her throat deliberately, remembering her dignity as a noblewoman.
“……Time really does fly.”
Though it had been less than a month, whenever she recalled those moments in the forest, her heart still raced.
There had been dangerous moments—plenty of them. Moments that might have discouraged her. Specifically, Lorang’s betrayal.
Suddenly that memory surfaced. She meant that moment after returning to the Royal Capital, when that man first regained consciousness.
“My sincerest apologies, Miss.”
After the treatment at the Temple concluded, Lorang bowed his head and apologized with perfect formality.
His body wavering, sweat pouring down his face, he brushed aside the Shrine Maiden who urged him to remain lying down.
“I am truly sorry.”
But when Lorang finally lifted his head and their eyes met, Seigrena perceived an emotion she had never detected before.
‘He isn’t sorry at all.’
He was simply apologizing because the situation demanded it.
Could that really be called an apology?
‘What does it matter.’
Surprisingly, Seigrena found herself unmoved by this truth.
She had expected her heart to flutter or her emotions to surge when confronted directly, but instead she remained oddly calm.
In fact, she had managed to ask her question in a voice so steady it surprised even herself.
“Why did you do it?”
“…….”
Lorang did not answer immediately.
But the moment her gaze locked with his blue eyes, Seigrena felt for the first time that this man was truly seeing her.
“At that moment, I believed it was the best course of action.”
“…….”
“……But Miss, how on earth did you survive?”
The question drew a laugh from her.
Seigrena answered in a deliberately teasing tone.
“I’m not telling you.”
That was the end of the matter with Lorang.
She had no further reason to concern herself with him. The Montreye Family would handle the rest as they always did.
Besides, she still needed to report everything that happened in the forest to the Montreye Count—her father.
“Miss. The head of house is calling for you.”
“Ah, yes.”
After finishing her preparations, Seigrena turned a slow circle where she stood.
“How do I look today?”
The old governess smiled warmly.
“You are, as always, lovelier than anyone.”
“You say that every day……well, I’ll take it!”
After a final check of her appearance in the mirror, Seigrena made her way directly to the head of house’s study.
Her steps were light.
Her heart was even lighter—so light that if she weren’t careful, she might float away like a feather.
“Sigh…….”
Before the study door, Seigrena composed her excited mood and knocked carefully.
“Come in.”
At the sound of the measured voice, the door opened to reveal the figure of Count Erbe, head of the Montreye Family and Seigrena’s father.
Seigrena greeted him by gathering the hem of her skirt with both hands.
“……It has been some time since we last spoke, Father. I trust you have been well.”
“I have been.”
Unlike usual, he was not seated at his desk.
The Count stood before a bookcase, leafing through a thick volume with visible care, and the scent of ink hung distinctly in the air.
It seemed he had been writing documents until just moments ago.
“…….”
Seigrena had always been both drawn to and repelled by this space.
She was glad to see her father, but his gaze had rarely, if ever, turned toward her.
Could you even call it a conversation when their eyes never quite met?
‘Today will be different.’
Seigrena opened her mouth.
“I have completed an expedition to the Eternal Forest.”
“Is that so.”
“It was no easy journey, but I, Seigrena Montreye, have fulfilled your orders and returned.”
Snap.
The sound of a book closing.
The moment his indifferent gaze met hers through the translucent lenses of his spectacles, her steady heartbeat quickened once more.
“You have fulfilled them, you say.”
“Yes. Here—”
Seigrena withdrew the Exploration Crystal she had kept hidden in her breast.
“It is here.”
……
The Count approached.
Though he had entered middle age, her father’s presence remained immense—not merely in spirit, but in tangible form as well.
His frame, a full head taller than hers, and his well-trained body could not be concealed even beneath the loosely draped velvet of his shirt.
“Come here.”
Seigrena placed the Exploration Crystal into the Count’s weathered palm.
The crystal was large enough to require both her hands cupped together, yet in her father’s grip it appeared no more than a toy.
The Count examined the Exploration Crystal with practiced familiarity, then checked the Exploration Map. Throughout, Seigrena stood motionless, her spine rigid, waiting.
……
At last, the Count’s lips parted.
“This is my fault.”
“Sir?”
“I told you, did I not? If you filled the entire Exploration Map with a single Exploration Crystal by your own strength, I would acknowledge you.”
……
Seigrena stood under her father’s gaze and wondered. Was this praise?
‘No.’
The old Seigrena might have felt her heart soar at this juncture. This one did not.
For reasons she could not name, her heart seemed to plummet.
“And so, my fault lies in not mentioning the grade of the crystal.”
The Count’s expression shifted.
“I did not foresee it. Surely I could not have imagined that the blood of the Montreye Family, my own child, would return and report that she had ‘fulfilled her orders’ with nothing more than a single Lowest-Grade Crystal.”
The Count dropped the crystal to the floor.
Crack.
His black boot then came down upon it, crushing it to powder.
* * *
Seigrena gulped down cold water as though her throat were parched.
‘Hmm……’
It was heavier than she’d expected, but it stirred no particular emotion in her.
Dysfunctional families and parents who were no parents at all existed everywhere, after all, and such things had long since become familiar to her.
I found myself watching her face and asking abruptly.
“Did you cry?”
“Cry? Who cried!”
“…… You might have. There’s hardly a person alive who’s never wept once.”
“I really didn’t cry!”
She did cry. The way her eyes were swollen crimson made it impossible to blame on spring allergies at this time of year.
‘So in short……’
She’d returned home confident with an Exploration Crystal, expecting her value to be recognized—only to discover that the Head of the Montreye Family had no intention of acknowledging Lowest-Grade Crystals in the first place.
“Just curious, but what grade did the Count expect you to bring back?”
“Highest-Grade.”
“Insane.”
“What?”
I leaned back against the chair, ignoring Seigrena’s fierce glare.
Highest-Grade, no less.
‘Is he asking for her suicide?’
Filling the Exploration Map with a Highest-Grade Exploration Crystal to completion is a grueling task even for Delvers who’ve earned medals of honor.
To explain in detail would take all night… but it’ll be dozens of times harder than filling a Lowest-Grade Crystal.
‘Now that I think about it, Lorang was exploring with a Highest-Grade Crystal.’
Could that have been foreshadowing? Well, foreshadowing in FoOP tends to be brutally unhelpful anyway.
I studied Seigrena with a complicated expression.
“…Why are you looking at me like that?”
Seigrena Montreye—
She’s hardly unsuitable as an ally.
Our levels are comparable, job synergy is solid, and her growth potential is more than sufficient.
Being a noble lady does come with complications, but her Desire for Recognition trait can be leveraged well enough.
‘Besides, she already knows my secrets—and Kria’s too.’
No need for tedious confidentiality agreements, minimal betrayal risk.
But there’s one thing I need to be clear about.
“Don’t underestimate this forest.”
“What?”
“The expedition we ran last time wasn’t really a major crisis. The kind of disaster we faced happens constantly in there.”
“……”
Seigrena’s face stiffened slightly.
She’d apparently been assuming the last expedition was exceptionally difficult, that ordinarily she wouldn’t face that level of danger.
‘This is going to be a problem.’
I know FoOP well. I’m confident I can clear this game.
But even setting that aside, I can’t claim to understand every element of the forest.
“This time, you really could die.”
Seigrena inhaled quietly, her pupils trembling visibly.
Only for a moment.
“…I know that much.”
Seigrena bit her lip hard, her eyes fixed on me.
“That’s why I came to you. The forest is a dangerous place, and it’s no surprise if anyone dies there. Knowing how hard it is to find someone trustworthy in a situation like that—I know.”
“……”
“You didn’t abandon us back then. That’s why I can trust you. I don’t want another party. How was I supposed to know if another snake like Alon was hiding somewhere?”
On that point, we’re of one mind.
I nodded.
“All right. Welcome to the party, Seigrena.”
“…Is that it?”
“What, should we do a formal interview?”
Strictly speaking, we’d just had one. And neither of us is in a position to be picky. Without saying it outright, someone of Seigrena’s caliber is exactly the kind of asset I should be welcoming with open arms.
“But.”
A small doubt had crept in, and I decided to ask.
“Is that really all the count told you?”
“Why are you asking that all of a sudden?”
“Just curious.”
“……”
There was no real reason—just a nagging sense of discord.
Seigrena seemed to hesitate for a moment at my question, but then she offered a bitter smile.
“…That was all.”
* * *
Count Erbe von Montreye, who had been reviewing documents, found himself staring at the scattered glass shards on the floor before calling for his butler.
When the Old Butler appeared moments later, the count spoke to him.
“Clean up the floor, will you?”
“Of course. Might I also replace the carpet while I’m at it, sir?”
“Do as you see fit.”
Despite the cold tone, the Old Butler smiled warmly, replacing the carpet and meticulously clearing the remaining glass shards from the floor.
“Might I bring you some tea, sir?”
“Mm.”
Moments later, the Old Butler set an elegantly brewed cup of black tea upon the count’s desk.
“You seem to be in good spirits, sir.”
“What gives you that impression?”
“You were smiling the entire time, sir.”
The count let out a quiet laugh, pen still in hand.
“Perhaps I’m growing old. When I was young, I wanted everything around me under my control.”
“Indeed, sir.”
“Not anymore. The unexpected has an odd way of bringing joy.”
“Is that so?”
The Old Butler pressed no further. Knowing when not to cross the line was one of the secrets to remaining at the Count’s side for so long.
Once the Old Butler had withdrawn, the Count found his thoughts drifting back to the conversation that had just passed—a dialogue with his son, one he had harbored no hopes for at all.
“I apologize. It seems the crystal’s quality was inferior, as you said.”
He had expected tears to come first.
He had thought she would stumble backward, her face flushed red as a radish, clutching at the hem of her dress while uttering only incoherent sounds.
That was always how his daughter had appeared to him.
She did not.
Instead, his daughter had displayed a voice that seemed composed and bearing that did not surrender its dignity. If it was an act, it was a masterful one.
“Then next time, I shall bring something that cannot be broken.”
The Count held a lukewarm cup of black tea and pondered.
Some say that Delvers are moths drawn to the flame of greed, consumed by their own desires even if left to their own devices.
The Count’s view was different. They were the pillars of the kingdom, the future of mankind itself.
Click.
The Count opened a drawer and withdrew a wooden box.
After brushing away the dust, five medals of honor bearing the crest of a blue rose were revealed.
“……Let us see how this unfolds.”
The medal bearing the meaning of Grand Cruel—
The retired Count Erbe gazed upon those faded medals of the past for a long while.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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