The Knight Who Devours Magic - Chapter 20

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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 20. Awakening Memories
Crackle-pop.
[Coordinates confirmed, Drasen Territory……. Target located. Baron Rayan?]
“Connect me to His Grace. Now. This is urgent.”
At Rayan’s words, the operator manning the Communication Stone nodded in surprise.
But moments later, the face that appeared in the Crystal Orb was not whom he expected.
[Father is away from the territory due to your previous report. But what urgent news is this, Rayan?]
A fair-haired man in his early forties, his face marked by sideburns that ran from his temples down to his jaw.
A face Rayan knew well.
“Grand Prince Cain…….”
[Ah, did I jump straight to business without proper greeting? It’s been a while, Rayan.]
The father of Princess Loanna, who had attended the party, and still called only Grand Prince or heir apparent because of Enoch Trian’s robust vigor.
And.
[Don’t tell me you’re upset that I, still without a title, used your name?]
Someone who had always made him uneasy since their youth.
“……How could that be the case, Your Grace.”
[Why the long face over a simple joke? Your problem is that you’re far too serious about everything.]
Always probing with his words, reading reactions to store them away.
When Rayan saw Cain, his liege’s words came to mind.
– His vessel is too small. He can never feel at ease without checking others’ reactions. And yet his ambition knows no bounds…….
– That is why I cannot step back. All I can do is hope time will temper his desires and broaden his vessel.
– If that boy had inherited even half of you at the same age. Ha…….
But the Cain that Rayan saw had not changed so much from his youth.
If anything, with age he seemed to grow slightly more irritable.
Just as now.
[There it is again, that look. Don’t you know how much it annoys people…….]
Conversations led by Cain had a way of draining the life out of whoever faced him.
Rayan cut straight to the point.
“Count Connel’s proxy was a Mage.”
[……What!?]
“I subdued and eliminated him last night. His two escorting knights confessed under interrogation.”
[Surely you’re not fabricating charges against Moeno Connel just because you’re at odds with him…….]
“Sir Karina of the Gale and Sir Gremen of Eshmeth witnessed it directly. The Magical Artifact left behind by the Mage remains as evidence.”
[Hmm…….]
Though Cain’s furrowed brow gave no indication of his thoughts.
[What of the connection to the knight who allegedly attacked my son before?]
The fact that he pressed no further suggested he grasped at least the gravity of the situation.
“Nothing confirmed yet. But the possibility seems quite high.”
[……Yes. It would. Then Father went in the wrong direction.]
“Your Grace?”
[He headed for Toyzen Countdom. There are suspicions of a Mage operating there…….]
“What!?”
The news was impossible to hear without shock.
“Count Tinnel Toyzen is His Grace’s closest…….”
[Exactly. My father’s right arm, whom he prizes even above you. So he went to verify it himself. But Connel of all people……. What are these Mage bastards plotting? Right here in Trian, the cursed vermin…….]
Muttered beneath his breath, Cain’s expression held both displeasure and perplexity in equal measure.
Even up to this point, shocking news had already been exchanged.
But Rayan added one more shock to it.
“That’s not all. The dead Mage was a member of that Cult from ten years ago.”
[What!!?]
At that moment Cain shot up from his seat so violently that his face disappeared from view of the Crystal Orb.
It was reason enough. That Subjugation ten years ago had been Trian’s pride and its scar alike.
A clatter of sounds came through the Communication Stone, and soon Cain’s face, flushed with excitement, reappeared.
[What are you talking about!? Those wretches were utterly annihilated! Father personally executed a Six-Circle Mage at the time!]
“Yes, I know. I was at that scene myself.”
[……Was the Mage you eliminated yesterday the same one you saw back then?]
“……I did not see him myself.”
[You didn’t? Then who?]
“My eldest son confirmed it.”
[Your eldest son? That adopted boy? The one who just came of age? How would he know anything about what happened ten years ago!!]
“I know well enough. I was there.”
[What!? What are you saying right now……!]
Even as Rayan watched Cain’s expression contort with bewilderment, he continued in an even tone.
“Your Excellency knows this already.”
[Huh…….]
Cain’s face twisted into something complicated, and he fell silent, his heavy gaze lost in thought.
Then, unexpectedly, he spoke again.
[You’re not to breathe a word of this to anyone.]
“I beg your pardon?”
[That the mage who died yesterday has any connection to what happened ten years ago. That story must never reach another soul.]
“But——”
For Rayan, it was an order he could not accept.
Yet Cain’s demeanor was unyielding.
[We received royal honors in exchange for subjugating the Cult back then. And you yourself were granted the Slayer for your service! Are you telling me now that the entire mission was actually a failure!?]
When the name of the beloved blade he’d wielded for ten years came up, his brow furrowed despite himself.
“It wasn’t a complete failure—there may have been remnants left behind……”
[Isn’t that exactly what you’re saying!? How can we possibly undo all of this now!? With Father’s entrance into the capital imminent, what becomes of his political standing!?]
“……”
At those final words, Rayan had no choice but to fall silent.
The thought of obstructing his liege’s path was a weight he could not bear—not as a noble, but as one who had chosen to be a knight.
[Absolutely! That word must never slip out! Do you understand!?]
……I understand.
The moment he meant to answer, the face of his eldest son flickered through his mind.
The pitiful boy who still broke into cold sweat whenever he tried to recall those memories.
And without knowing it, Rayan’s teeth clenched.
“……I cannot do that.”
[What!? What did you just say!?]
“I said I cannot do that!”
[You, a mere count, dare to——!]
“You don’t understand, Grand Prince Cain! You didn’t even participate in that subjugation!”
[Ha!? You, you madman!?]
That Cain had abstained from the subjugation ten years ago under the pretext of danger was a tender nerve for him.
And save for Earl Enoch Trian, who had slain the Cult’s leader, no knight had distinguished himself more in that campaign than Rayan, known as the Gluttonous Knight.
“Do you have any idea how deranged those creatures were!? You only saw documents! If it was merely remnants that survived, that would be fortunate—but if what happened ten years ago was truly a failure, this could become far worse than we imagine! We must root out the evil before calamity strikes again!”
[Rayan Drasen…….]
The sound of teeth grinding came through even across the Crystal Orb.
Only then did Rayan think, ‘Ah’—but he felt no regret.
Though he’d spoken in the heat of his concern for his son, every word of what he’d said was the pure, unvarnished truth.
Through the Crystal Orb, Rayan stared directly into the eyes of his liege’s son, who ever spoke only with narrow-minded grievance.
Perhaps it had struck home, for after a long moment of mutual regard, Cain let out a sharp breath and continued.
[……I shall report this matter directly to Father myself. Including your insolent conduct.]
“Do as you see fit. But make certain to convey that an investigation into Count Connel’s household and inquiries regarding the Cult must be undertaken without fail.”
[All decisions rest with Father, Rayan. And I warn you in turn. Do not think to link what happened ten years ago to this incident without Father’s permission. Not under any circumstance!]
As Rayan pressed his case, Cain yielded not an inch.
Only after the hot and cold gazes of the two men crossed did the light in the Communication Stone fade away.
* * *
Muno dreamed again.
Within that ancient memory, the child that was him clenched his teeth.
– Those bastards, I’ll make them pay…….
Even as consciousness fractured to flee reality, pain did not end.
During those terrible ordeals in hell, his mind filled more and more with hatred.
Then came an abrupt change.
– Border Earl Enoch!?
– How did he even know!?
– Stop him!!
– What of the scouts and sentries!?
– Aaaaahhhhh!
One by one, those demonic, hateful enemies fell helplessly.
In the midst of that, one desperate enemy seized his arm and pulled.
– Damn it, it’s sooner than we’d hoped, but we have no choice.
– I’ll offer you up and set …… loose. Then the Border Earl’s forces amount to nothing…….
– ……the High Priest will have things to say about this.
Even in that chaos, he dragged me toward a dark, blood-reeking place.
A room with strange markings carved into the floor. From the moment I was thrown to its center, only fragments of memory remain.
– Done. Kahahaha.
The man who dragged me there let out a triumphant cry and vanished somewhere.
Something chilling burrowed into my body.
And a voice echoing through my skull.
– I am the demon of chains, ‘&%@#’. The binder. The oppressor.
– What a magnificent offering.
– You are mine now.
A terrible sensation, and a strange power began to devour my entire body.
Then, I thrashed in convulsion against it.
– Not by your will!!
There was no choice.
Bondage. Oppression.
These were the worst words imaginable—they touched both Han Munho’s past life, where he dreamed of freedom in a harsh world only to die in futility, and his present trauma of losing parents and being imprisoned the moment he was reborn.
Clarity struck him like lightning, and he gritted his teeth.
But what could he do against something burrowing through his body with merely the ability to manipulate metal?
All he could do was lament.
Shing—click-click.
Crash!
The shackles and chains suddenly binding his body stretched and uncoiled, burrowing into the stone walls on all sides.
– So many offerings. So many. All mine!]
A demon of chains.
The moment that word came to mind, I began to interfere with the chains’ movements using my own power.
Of course, my resistance was pathetically inadequate against the overwhelming force I felt—all I could do was twist its flow ever so slightly.
With a force that was less than one ten-thousandth compared to what I sensed.
But it worked.
The iron chains that had been thrashing with tremendous power suddenly began to tremble.
– No……!?
The terrifying voice seemed to falter with confusion.
– It can’t be!!
Flash.
The demon’s anguished shriek filled the room, and everything before my eyes turned white-hot.
When I came to.
I was standing in the ruins, in my father’s arms.
– My boy. The people who were tormenting you—they’re all dead……, ahem. I’ve driven them away. Are you all right?”
What did I answer then?
I’m all ri…….
“All ri……!?”
The moment his eyes flew open, Muno became aware that his entire body was drenched in sweat.
“……Hah!?”
For a moment, the sensations of past and present tangled together, leaving his mind blank, before yesterday’s memories surfaced.
‘Ameths!’
He’d poured an enormous amount of strength into capturing him, then returned and collapsed into sleep.
That such an ancient, painful memory had become vivid again—was it because he’d eliminated one of the sources of his trauma?
All manner of complicated emotions filled his chest, but there was no time to dwell in them.
His confused feelings were not the most important thing right now.
“Certainly, certainly…….”
– ……the High Priest will have things to say about this.
“That’s right. He said that.”
The leader of that place, the one who’d dragged him to that blood-soaked altar.
If what he’d said was true.
‘That bastard has a superior! Someone I’ve never seen. I’m certain of it!’
That Cult faction was not completely eradicated.
Then a new objective emerged—one that took precedence over all else.
‘I can destroy those old nightmares with my own hands.’
With a body drenched in cold sweat, Muno wore a bleak smile as he suddenly sprang from the bed.

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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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