The Knight Who Devours Magic - Chapter 16

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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 16. The Party’s Conclusion
“Acting Viscount Moeno Connel is a mage?”
“Yes.”
Since he’d already decided to join hands with her, Muno laid out frankly to Lady Roanna why he needed Karina’s help.
“Even if matters go awry and we can’t secure evidence, I hope someone from another house will witness him using magic. If that person happens to be someone in Trian, all the better.”
The lady’s eyes widened at his words.
“Setting aside how you discovered this, you speak as though you’ve already captured the mage entirely.”
“Ah… well. My father will be joining us as well, you see.”
It was merely something he’d said off the top of his head.
“Ah, if the Devouring Knight himself takes the field, that would certainly warrant it. I’ve heard he’s hunted mages multiple times before…”
What? Father?
Muno was flustered, but he simply played along as if he understood.
The lady seemed to sense something was off and continued speaking.
“Acting Viscount Moeno Connel… Now that I think of it, his lord did seem rather suspicious.”
“Yes?”
“Viscount Moeno Connel. He was Grandfather’s closest confidant, but ever since he noticed my ‘ability,’ he hasn’t stood before me at all. Many people do that, of course, but he was particularly severe about it, if I’m being honest.”
Ah…
It was almost exasperating how openly she now spoke of her ability, yet at the same time, the bitter expression that flickered across her face as she said it caught his attention.
Noticing his reaction, the lady quickly smiled again.
“It’s all right. Besides Grandfather and ‘that person,’ I’ve never met anyone who knows of my ability yet doesn’t avoid me. Oh, that’s right. I’ve gained one more now. You, Prince Muno. You noticed from the start, didn’t you? Yet you don’t seem to mind it at all.”
“Well, yes. I don’t really have much worth hiding, after all.”
That was a lie.
His past life, the Demon Devourer Ability—
But.
‘Even so.’
He knew well that even abilities of that sort had their limits, which was why he chose not to hide them.
From the fact that she’d failed to notice his slip about his father, one thing was already becoming clear.
‘She can’t detect a lie if only partial truths are told.’
And surely there were other constraints as well.
A fixed number of uses per day, perhaps. Or her stamina would drain with each use.
Well, he could make these guesses precisely because he himself possessed a Unique Ability of a different sort.
He’d heard that Unique Ability users were that rare.
“No, truly you are remarkable, Prince Muno.”
“That’s not…”
“My own father avoids me, after all.”
“…Surely not. Yes. Well, people can be that way sometimes. Or not.”
What am I even saying right now? Ugh.
As Muno’s eyes wandered, searching for somewhere to look, and an awkward smile spread across his face—
“Hehe.”
Beginning with the lady’s laughter, smiles blossomed simultaneously on everyone’s faces.
“Ahaha. Yes. Well, there are unremarkable people too. Which is precisely why I like such people. In that sense, I’m quite taken with you, Prince Muno.”
“…You mean as a knight, I presume?”
“Of course. I couldn’t steal Karina’s man… Ow! Why are you pinching me!?”
Thanks to the lady’s banter, the atmosphere that had been heavy lifted in an instant.
And naturally, a conclusion was reached.
“All right. If we’re catching a mage—and especially if it means ridding Trian of an internal parasite—I should certainly step forward. Don’t you agree, Sir Karina?”
“Of course, my lady.”
“And while we’re at it, Sir Karina’s glorious first date will be… Just joking! Joking! Stop pinching me! You’re leaving marks!”
The negotiation (?) wrapped up far more smoothly than expected.
But when successive bursts of laughter rang out from the balcony—
By the time they stepped back into the Banquet Hall, they couldn’t help but draw every eye in the room.
‘It’s not what you think. Stop smiling.’
Grr.
Muno knitted his brows severely and shook his head at his father and mother, who were looking at him with pleased expressions for some reason, and deliberately walked apart from the lady.
But his intention didn’t seem to get through.
Not to his parents, nor to anyone else.
“Say, could there be something between you and Lady Roanna…?”
The moment the second daughter of Baron Ashnam approached as Muno returned to his seat, trailing off suggestively, he felt the need to clarify his position more precisely.
“No, not at all. Lady Roanna has no interest in me. We were merely discussing a different matter under contract.”
“Ah, I see.”
The young lady with a flushed face hesitated for a moment.
“Then, would you perhaps care for a walk with me……?”
“Pardon? Ah, no. I apologize, but I’ve been away for quite some time, and I think I ought to remain at my post.”
I thought I’d declined with reasonable courtesy.
But her reaction was strange.
Sniffling.
What……?
“How could you……, wah-h-h.”
The young lady suddenly burst into tears, turned on her heel, and fled the banquet hall.
“I……?”
In my bewilderment, the murmurs around me swelled.
“Tsk, tsk…….”
“……His character doesn’t seem sound.”
“To insult her like that.”
Insult?
‘Me?’
There was nothing like this in any of the party etiquette I’d learned.
As I turned back in confusion, I caught sight of my mother pressing her forehead and collapsing into her seat.
‘What on earth did I do?’
Not going for a walk is an insult? Shouldn’t the protagonist stay at his post?
That’s when my composure began to crumble.
By the time a succession of young ladies approached and began spouting absurd compliments, I felt my soul departing my body.
“Prince Muno, you’re even more dignified and dependable than the rumors suggested.”
“My goodness, I feel myself drawn into those obsidian eyes of yours.”
“If you’re amenable……later tonight…….”
These were things said by girls of sixteen to eighteen years old.
One of them even——
“A toast to the Prince’s beautiful eyes.”
——and goosebumps erupted all over my body.
‘I just want to smash those eyes of theirs!’
Never mind the reek they gave off as they approached—the sheer tackiness of their remarks made my skin crawl, and I had no choice but to refuse them soundly.
“I appear somewhat worn for my years.”
“You seem tired. Do rest.”
“No, I’m afraid not well. You should sleep soundly.”
“You ought to abstain from drink.”
Each time I answered like this, I felt a twinge of pity at the distorted expressions on the girls’ faces, but I couldn’t help it.
‘Refusals have to be clear.’
The young ladies here were likely the second or third daughters of their houses, or perhaps adopted daughters.
They were nothing but bait, each household trying to reel in Muno Dracen—a talent of immediate utility and infinite future potential—into their own family.
Besides, no matter how exceptional one’s gifts appeared, there was no guaranteeing a bright future for a ward who would eventually have to leave House Dracen.
Their true treasures—the daughters they truly cherished—were either already married or being groomed as pawns to secure alliances with other noble houses.
As that thought took hold, the bitter taste returned.
‘Yes, that’s what this world is like.’
A world where nothing pleases me except the fact that I can become superhuman through my own effort.
Daily discomforts are the least of it; there are far too many things that threaten life itself.
‘Why was I born into this world again?’
What does the god or demon that brought me here want from me?
It was precisely as such fundamental questions surfaced and I found myself staring blankly into the void.
“You’re doing well.”
“……??”
“Karina seems to like it. Keep doing that.”
Princess Roanna suddenly approached and whispered this odd remark before sweeping past me.
And only then did I notice Karina, her neck flushed crimson, following after her with her eyes fixed on the back of Roanna’s head.
“Haa…….”
A deep sigh reached my ears.
It was Father.
“Boy, truly, is there not a single woman you find acceptable?”
“No. They all reeked. Save for one…….”
“One? Who?”
The moment Father’s eyes lit up, Muno realized his mistake.
Without meaning to, he found himself thinking of Karina, who had just passed by.
‘Come to think of it, that’s true, isn’t it?’
The warm fragrance he’d sensed as she walked past came back to him.
For a knight, it made sense that she didn’t wear heavy perfume, but what was strange was that she bore none of the peculiar stench that seemed to cling to every other knight in this world.
Without thinking, he turned his gaze back toward Karina as she walked away.
His father, catching sight of this, smiled with unmistakable meaning.
“A lady noble?”
“Ah—no, no, Father! That would be terrible!”
“Terrible? Why?”
Only when he saw his father’s bewildered expression did he realize he’d misspoken.
“Ah. Well… I’ll explain that later. In any case, she’s not a noblewoman.”
“Hmm. Then this rascal—surely you don’t mean that female knight?”
He flinched without meaning to, and in doing so, gave his father more ammunition.
“Ho ho. This boy of mine…!”
But what came next surprised him considerably.
“Like father, like son—your taste in women…!”
…What did he just say?
Bewildered, watching his father smile with seeming satisfaction.
“Dear, what are you saying? So there’s a young lady who’s caught his eye?”
His mother, arriving belatedly, drove her elbow sharply into his father’s side.
“It looks like our boy has taken a fancy to a young lady who resembles you. Hehe. Now that I think about how well you’ve looked after him, I feel rather proud……”
“Really?!”
How had this conversation gone so completely off the rails?
“No, no—absolutely not!”
“…Does that mean I haven’t done right by you, son?”
“No, that’s not what I meant……”
He hadn’t sweated like this even in front of the lady noble before, but now cold perspiration streamed down his back.
Yet strangely, the more flustered he became, the more satisfied his parents seemed to grow.
“So, what’s this young lady’s name? And besides, if you’re going to have children, she should have a more robust build than me.”
“Since she’s a knight, her physical constitution should be more than adequate, my lady.”
“Father!”
“A knight, you say?”
“Yes. This boy’s reaction tells me it’s certain. She has the epithet ‘Swift Wind Knight’—was it Katrina?”
“Karina… that is, but absolutely it’s not like that!”
“Oh. If she has a title as well, she must be a promising knight indeed. Well then, I have no objections.”
“Mother?!”
“Ah. Though if she’s a female knight, we should seek permission from the Count, shouldn’t we? Well, it could be a simple matter once Muno enters the Trian Knight Order……”
“No. That’s not what I’m saying!”
He had wanted to see the world freely, but now it seemed he was on the verge of being forced into marriage.
Of course, it wasn’t as though Karina didn’t appeal to him, but……
‘No, absolutely not! I want to experience real romance, not some political marriage…or so goes my earnest desire.’
In that moment, a soul that had spent twenty-four years in his previous life and sixteen years in this one—forty years of unbroken solitude—voiced its honest longing.
‘Oh….’
He fell silent, stunned.
It wasn’t as though someone had read his mind, yet merely having such a thought filled him with profound shame.
‘Thank goodness I didn’t say that out loud….’
Just as he was trying to quiet his racing heart—
his eyes met Roanna’s blue gaze. She was watching him from a distance, a smile playing at her lips.
…No. Surely not.
I didn’t say it out loud.
‘She couldn’t possibly know, could she?’
She shouldn’t.
Yet the suspicion gnawed at him, and his face flushed hot with embarrassment.
Oh no.
‘Damn it. I’m absolutely mortified. Damn.’
What kind of man am I…
“Sigh……”
As the sigh escaped him and reality crashed down, his father interjected.
“Hmm. Yes. Everyone around us can see it. Now that our son has found his match, let us bring this evening’s celebration to a close.”
As his father signaled to Palmer, the music that had been flowing through the Banquet Hall began to fade and subside.
“So you’re aware that my son was discourteous?”
“Well, from the Baron’s position, it must have been frustrating. He seems eager to see you married off.”
“In any case, let’s leave it at that for tonight. With the Hunting Festival beginning tomorrow, there may be another opportunity then.”
“Very well.”
And as the nobility began to disperse, sensing their host’s wishes,
Raien received their farewells one by one before turning his attention back to his son.
“Now, shall we discuss this in detail? About that young lady.”
“Yes. I’m truly relieved, Muno.”
Muno lowered his head before his parents, who seemed to have already drawn their own conclusions.
“No, truly—that’s not it at all. I apologize, but I really have no intention of marrying. Father, Mother. I’m sorry. Truly sorry.”
Watching his parents hesitate at this confession, he felt a twinge of guilt.
How could he not understand their concern?
But as he saw it, the time simply wasn’t right.
“I wish to repay at least some of your kindness before I feel truly free to explore the world. Until then, I have neither thoughts of marriage nor of relying on any place. I apologize.”
He laid bare his honest heart once more.
Seeing his parents draw a heavy breath, his chest tightened unexpectedly.
“Ah. Of course, at least until Rian comes of age, I’ll somehow—”
But at those words, his parents turned serious and replied.
“There’s no need to think of repaying us. Son.”
“That’s right. We’re so pleased and happy to have such a gentle son as you.”
“Live as you wish to live. As I said, we have no intention of forcing you.”
“Yes. Our son, we’ll support you always. Though when you do marry, you must let us know? You understand? Or better yet, if you’d come home for the ceremony itself, we’d be even happier.”
At words he’d never expected to hear, wrapped in the warmth of their embrace, a flood of unnamed emotion suddenly rose within him.
Feeling that wordless warmth, the doubts about this life that had surfaced just moments before dissolved away entirely.
‘What does it matter why I came to this world?’
He had gained a family he’d never known in his previous life.
“Thank you……”
In that moment, fighting back the surge of feeling, striving not to let tears fall,
[When the moon rises, come to my room.]
a cold voice cut through his ears, and a damp chill seeped into his mind.
This bastard……

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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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