The Son-In-Law of the Magician Is a Transcendent Sword Master - Chapter 97

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 97

Lashelle was an orphan.

As in any city, orphans in the back alleys were treated with particular cruelty.

Finding dried, twisted bread scraps while rummaging through garbage cans meant it was a lucky day, and in winter, she would curl up next to stray dog carcasses to avoid freezing to death.

She didn’t know who her parents were. She didn’t want to know either.

That was all Lashelle remembered of her childhood.

‘…Poor thing.’

As she was rummaging through a garbage can as usual, someone spoke to her.

It was a woman wearing a black robe with a translucent veil draped over her face.

‘Follow me, child. At least I won’t let you starve.’

‘If I follow you… what’s in it for me?’

‘A comfortable life.’

Lashelle knew neither the woman’s identity nor her intentions.

However, the woman’s attire and manner of speech seemed not just well-off, but overflowing with wealth. She judged that following her would at least mean not going hungry.

At minimum, it would be better than her current situation.

‘I’ll go.’

Her expectations proved correct.

For the first time, Lashelle ate warm soup and freshly baked bread. She also got a clean bed to sleep in. She received the pretty name Lashelle.

‘Now rest comfortably in this mother’s embrace.’

Most importantly, for the first time, Lashelle had someone she could call mother.

Arania Sheydi.

The Queen of the Shadow Tower.

Though she had a somewhat stern and frightening appearance, to Lashelle she was nothing less than her first protector.

‘Lashelle, from now on you are a Daughter of the Shadow. You need only follow me, your mother. Get along well with your sisters.’

Besides Lashelle, there were several other children in the tower.

Their circumstances varied, but it was certain that they all followed Arania like a mother.

So all of them were Lashelle’s sisters.

The sisters constantly competed and strived to claim even a little more of their mother’s love.

Lashelle was the same. Driven by the obsession that she had to earn her keep, and the fear that otherwise she would be thrown back into the cold back alleys, she learned magic.

She trained more harshly than anyone and mastered dark magic faster than anyone.

‘This is… truly remarkable.’

At the age of eighteen, Lashelle broke through the 5th Rank Barrier.

It was overwhelming talent unprecedented among all the Daughters of the Shadow in history.

Arania smiled brightly seeing Lashelle’s achievement.

‘Well done, my daughter. I’ve decided on you. You will succeed me.’

Arania whispered while caressing Lashelle’s cheek, and thus she became the Sub-Archmage.

She was overjoyed as if she had gained the whole world. She was intoxicated by the sense of achievement of finally receiving her mother’s recognition.

However, the joy didn’t last long.

‘…Lashelle, could you come out for a moment?’

‘Sister Elisia? What’s wrong?’

Elisia, a sister she was close to, had carefully knocked on her door.

Elisia was the first to approach Lashelle, who had been born an orphan and never felt familial affection, so she felt particularly special among the sisters.

Therefore, she had no hesitation in following her words even during hours when going out was normally forbidden.

Elisia silently took Lashelle’s small hand and headed toward the deep interior of the tower.

‘Sister, this place… we’re not supposed to come here.’

‘I know. But… you have to see this.’

They finally arrived at the deepest part of the Shadow Tower.

The space where rituals were conducted.

There… Lashelle ended up seeing it.

“…”

Countless human figures floating in tanks.

Women who had become empty shells without life or soul, like the shed skin of a molted snake.

They were all those who had once been called Sub-Archmages of previous generations in the Shadow Tower.

There were faces she recognized.

The shell floating at the very top was… the sister who had become Sub-Archmage when Lashelle had just entered the tower.

‘Wh-what is all this?’

‘…The reality of the succession ritual. Mother… plans to take over your body and enjoy eternal life…’

Only then did Lashelle realize what Arania’s kindness had meant.

It was merely the process of fattening livestock before slaughter and preparing them for consumption.

Though the location was different, her situation was not much different from the gang leader who had exploited orphans in the back alleys.

No, it had actually gotten worse.

Click. Click.

The sound of chattering teeth rang out. Terrified, Lashelle’s legs gave out and she almost collapsed.

But before she could fall, Elisia hurriedly grabbed her shoulders.

‘Lashelle, Mother is currently away preparing for the ritual. So… now is our chance.’

‘Ch-chance?’

‘Run away. I’ll help you.’

‘…Run away?’

‘Yes. About three days’ walk from here, there’s a Great Magic Family. Benheim, I heard the Elders talking about it before.’

Benheim.

Mulling over that name, Lashelle stood up.

She didn’t want to die.

Even if she had to die, she didn’t want such a horrific death.

So she escaped the Shadow Tower together with Elisia.

Just when she thought everything was going smoothly, pursuers caught up. They were dark mages from the Shadow Tower.

‘Lashelle, don’t look back and run. You must.’

‘B-but…’

‘Go now! I’ll be fine!’

She wasn’t naive enough not to notice that Elisia was willingly acting as bait.

Therefore, Lashelle ran desperately.

Though her breath reached her throat and her soles tore and bled, she couldn’t stop.

Barely escaping the tower, Lashelle was able to reach Benheim Estate.

‘…You want to work at Benheim?’

Steren, the head of Benheim, asked no particular questions even seeing Lashelle arrive covered in blood. He seemed to have already noticed she was from the Shadow Tower.

Instead, Steren smiled warmly and asked.

‘Very well. What is your name?’

‘…She…ril.’

Lashelle became Sheril.

For some reason, Steren asked Sheril nothing more, and Sheril devoted her loyalty to him.

Ten years spent at Benheim like that.

It was a warm and fulfilling daily life. Like a sweet dream.

However.

“…”

Because it was a sweet dream, she had to eventually wake up and face cold reality.

And now was exactly that time.

“Ah…”

Sheril, no.

Lashelle Sheydi sat collapsed on the cold stone floor, aware of her situation. Her gaze turned toward a corner of the iron bars.

There was Elisia, who had become an empty shell.

“…Ugh.”

Because he fled.

All those who had helped him were hurt or killed.

It was the same now.

‘…Why couldn’t I realize it?’

I am… just a cursed spirit that brings misfortune wherever I go.

Perhaps it would have been better to quietly become a vessel for the ritual that day ten years ago.

If I had, at least Sister Elisia wouldn’t have ended up like this.

I wouldn’t have caused trouble for the kind people of Benheim either.

“Oh my, what a touching reunion.”

At that moment, Vera entered the prison and sneered.

When Lashelle glared at her with murderous eyes, Vera exaggeratedly shrugged her shoulders and giggled.

“Haha, how scary. But even if you glare at me with that expression, Sister Elisia won’t come back, you know?”

“…”

Crack.

Lashelle’s teeth ground together.

“How foolish you are. Sister misunderstood Mother’s great love.”

Sierra, who was beside her, chimed in agreement.

“To become Mother’s flesh and be eternally united as one. How could she refuse such a great blessing and run away? That’s why you mustn’t reject Mother’s love.”

There wasn’t a trace of doubt in their eyes.

Of course there wasn’t. They were in a position worse than livestock that wanted to be completely domesticated by Arania.

“Mother is so merciful too. To take back a traitor who fled once. If I were in Sister Lashelle’s position, I would have shed tears of gratitude and offered my body immediately.”

Vera didn’t stop her mockery, and kicked at Lashelle’s bundle that had been thrown to one side with her toe.

“Is this your luggage, Sister? I wonder what you picked up from someone else’s family. Shall we take a look?”

Vera turned the bundle upside down without asking permission.

Several shabby maid outfits and daily necessities spilled onto the floor.

“Ugh, disgusting.”

Sierra frowned when she saw the maid outfit.

Then, as she shook out the bundle, a small glass bottle containing a brilliant purple liquid rolled out onto the maid outfit.

“…Huh? This is…”

Vera’s eyes widened. Sierra also gasped in surprise when she saw the glass bottle.

“Is that an elixir?”

“That’s right! The secret elixir of the Mirage Tower! Dew of Illusion!”

“It’s not something the likes of Sister Lashelle could dare to possess…?”

“Benheim gave it to her, definitely! As a farewell gift!”

The Dew of Illusion, which dramatically enhanced mental power, was truly a dream elixir for covert mages.

The sisters’ eyes gleamed with greed.

“Th-this is mine.”

“What are you talking about, Vera! I discovered this first! I’m going to have it!”

“I’m the one who picked it up!”

With no trace of their previous affection, Vera and Sierra began bickering with each other to claim the elixir.

In that brief gap.

Lashelle silently crawled across the floor and slipped between the two women’s feet.

“Ah! Sierra! That thing!”

“What!”

Vera spotted Lashelle and shouted.

However, before they could reach out to pull her away, Lashelle quickly twisted her body and buried her face in a piece of cloth from the bundle that had fallen to the floor.

“This damn sister! What useless thing are you doing now…!”

Sierra angrily grabbed Lashelle’s hair roughly.

Slap!

Lashelle’s head turned from the blow that followed. Her lip split, filling her mouth with the taste of iron.

“Sierra! I told you not to hit her! That’s the body Mother will enter!”

“But that damn bitch…”

“What if her face gets scarred! It’ll be terrible if Mother finds out about this!”

Vera was horrified and pushed Sierra away. While the two women blamed each other and screamed again.

Lashelle swallowed the bloody taste seeping through her split lip and rolled the small metal lump she had just swallowed with the tip of her tongue. Then a silver button fell to the floor with a thud.

It was the item Reagan had given to Sheril when she was about to leave Benheim not long ago.

– If something happens, hold onto that and contact me. If the situation goes to hell, Renia and I will personally raise hell in Benheim’s name.

Reagan’s indifferent yet reliable voice echoed in her ears.

‘How shameless of me.’

I had resolved to die without regrets and left Benheim.

No, even in Benheim I was thinking about how to die rather than how to live.

How should I die to help everyone? That’s what I was thinking.

Just as Sister Elisia had done.

However…

‘I don’t want to.’

Lashelle no longer wanted to accept such a tragic fate.

Like Elisia’s fate before her eyes now.

Just like ten years ago.

Everyone might get hurt.

But…

– Well. I think it’s okay to throw a tantrum or two.

Right.

This is a child’s tantrum.

‘…Please.’

Consoling herself like that, Lashelle closed her eyes tightly and pressed the silver button firmly with the tip of her tongue.

* * *

Whoooosh—— Thud.

I pushed Xenon Sierik’s corpse into the ravine to dispose of it.

The body fell down the steep cliff, and a dull sound echoed.

“Were you really planning to kill him?”

Rosalindr, who had been watching the situation, asked in a complicated voice.

“The antidote, you had it.”

Rosalindr took out the antidote from her bosom.

What I had just told Jeonon was a lie. There was an antidote.

However…

“…Was there any reason to use it?”

I stared coldly down at the pitch-black ravine where Jeonon had fallen and replied.

“I don’t know if the body-stealing secret art is black magic or not, but it’s one of the forbidden magics on the continent anyway.”

“That’s… true.”

“Those who condone this and even cooperate with it are no different from black mages. They committed a crime worthy of death, so I simply judged them.”

“…”

Rosalindr was silent for a while, but didn’t argue further and changed the subject.

“…Right. Your guess was correct in the end. The body-stealing secret art. How on earth did you notice it?”

“…Hmm.”

I shrugged and made an excuse.

“I just… heard that such magic existed. The circumstantial evidence was similar, so I thought maybe and took a shot.”

“…Hmm. A novice who just entered the path of magic knows about forbidden magic?”

“…”

Rosalindr still seemed suspicious, but didn’t probe deeper.

“It seems you too have your own shadows, Reagan.”

Well, if it’s a shadow, then it’s a shadow.

Since the clue came from memories of my previous life that I could never speak aloud.

‘Doppelganger.’

That wasn’t its real name. It was just a name the resistance gave it for convenience.

True to that name, it disguised itself as others and tormented the resistance countless times.

At first, we thought it was some kind of sophisticated transformation technique or illusion.

However, it didn’t stop at simply disguising its appearance—it killed others and stole their bodies to infiltrate deep into our camp.

– A little rat has snuck in. Did you think that just because you wore someone else’s skin, I wouldn’t be able to smell the stench of that rotten, festering soul?

In the end, it couldn’t escape the eyes of Renia, who was an 8th Rank Archmage, and died pathetically, but if its plan had succeeded, the resistance would likely have collapsed from within.

Of course, I don’t think the doppelganger I saw was Arania Sheydi, the Shadow Tower Lord herself. It was at most a 6th Rank black mage and couldn’t even use covert magic.

However, given that Arania used the same type of magic as the doppelganger—stealing bodies—I couldn’t help but suspect a connection between the Shadow Tower and black mages.

‘Actually… the Dark Mage Guild did side with the Archmage King after his rise to power.’

It felt like scattered puzzle pieces in my head were clicking together perfectly.

“…So what will you do now? Report it to the Great Mage Alliance?”

“No. That would be too late.”

The succession ceremony was on the upcoming Day of Eclipse.

Only a few days remained. Going through official procedures would put Sheril’s life in immediate danger.

“I’m going to the Shadow Tower as things stand.”

“…”

“I owe Lady Rosalindr a great debt. Our business is finished, so you may return now.”

I bowed my head with gratitude. However, Rosalindr spoke in a displeased tone.

“…What are you saying?”

Rosalindr roughly tore off her wooden mask and threw it aside. Her face looked more displeased than when she had just been freed from brainwashing.

“I’m going too.”

“…Pardon?”

“Such a terrible thing is happening in the heart of the Empire, and you want me to just leisurely return to the Spiral Tower after knowing about it? Do I look like such a cowardly person who can’t distinguish right from wrong and just tucks tail and runs?”

This was unexpected.

To think that the owner of the Thorn Mage Tower would join a plan to stir up trouble with the Shadow Tower.

If things went wrong, it could lead to serious conflict between the Spiral Tower and the Shadow Tower.

No, perhaps it was precisely because she had such a fiery and upright nature that she could rise to the position of Tower Lord.

‘How reassuring.’

I nodded slightly toward Rosalindr.

“Then, I’ll ask for your help.”

That was the moment.

Beep———.

A short, sharp friction sound rang out from within my clothes.

The crystal sphere connected to the button I had given Sheril not long ago flashed red.

This meant… Sheril had pressed the button.

‘…So she’s asking for help.’

That foolish and stubborn maid who had been seeking death had finally shown some attachment to life.

I gripped the flashing receiver tightly and chuckled.

“…Good. Let’s go rescue Sheril. However.”

I thought for a moment before continuing.

“Before we visit, let’s stop by the Great Mage Alliance Branch.”

“The branch? Why suddenly?”

“There are several people we need to ask for help.”

I smiled triumphantly.

“Now that we have evidence, it’s time to escalate things.”

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