The Unfilial Heir Who Tries to Kill Me Tempts Me - 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.

“You cause trouble almost every day.”
“And you’re giving me credit for it?”
“How did you know Robert was a traitor?”
Kaieus, perched on the edge of his desk, posed the question. I slipped my gaze sideways and answered.
“…Intuition?”
What.
Why.
Don’t look at me like that.
I caught the turncoat for you, didn’t I?
This man—ungrateful as they come—never lets anything slide.
“…You said I could track down the perpetrator of ‘that incident,’ didn’t you? It’s similar reasoning.”
“Does your mana come equipped with some sort of discernment?”
“Yeah, I know. I’m amazing.”
Suddenly exhausted, I slumped my head onto the desk and answered.
I’m starving.
The Truth Spell has such a complex formula that it drains mana like nothing else.
So I’d planned to dismiss him through violence and insubordination, quietly bury it where no one would know.
Ugh, such a waste of my precious mana.
“Anyway, don’t overthink it. I did my best.”
“Yes, you did well.”
Huh?
I lifted my head, startled.
“Did I mishear you?”
Kaieus blinked back at me in bemusement.
“What’s with that reaction?”
“You’re suddenly praising me—it’s terrifying.”
“You produced results. You uncovered a truth no one had realized in eight years and rooted out a traitor. That warrants praise. What’s wrong with that?”
“I thought you’d suspect me of some cunning scheme or other.”
“My judgment hasn’t dulled to that degree. Besides, didn’t you say it yourself? ‘A good Dark Mage.'”
“Technically not a Dark Mage.”
“Fair enough. This time, I benefited from your work.”
“This is really strange.”
Goosebumps rippled across my skin as I shivered, and Kaieus laughed softly, noting he wasn’t the sort to nitpick good deeds.
“In any case, the position of Security Force commander has opened up. What do you intend to do about it?”
“You’re… giving it to me?”
He trusts me that much just for catching one Robert?
“No, wake up.”
I should have known.
He had no intention of giving it to me, yet he asked anyway.
But it didn’t matter.
I already had someone in mind for the position.
Removing Robert so quickly stemmed partly from his betrayal, but also to bring a promising prospect into Lucifenia’s territory.
“The Security Force should be reorganized quickly. The Mountain Range is held by golems, but a Dark Mage’s infiltration is another matter entirely. If Robert has been siphoning information from the territory all this time, we absolutely need a trustworthy successor.”
Kaieus narrowed his brow.
By now, he was likely thinking of the same person I was.
“I need to step out for a while.”
After a long pause, Kaieus rose from his seat.
Yes, go on.
Bring him back.
That man is someone both you and I need.
“Safe travels.”
I promptly returned to the desk and waved my hand dismissively.
Go quickly.
I’m going to eat and rest in the meantime.
I haven’t eaten anything, yet I poured my mana into Magical Potions until I was starving.
“What are you doing? Get up.”
“Yes?”
Chirp?
“Did you not hear me say you need to leave right now?”
“…Me too?”
“You can use Teleportation Magic, can’t you?”
He’s not listening to me again.
“I think you could go alone this time, actually. I’ve already brought Robert back, and besides, I’m starving….”
“That’s precisely why you must come. Isn’t this an achievement of your own making?”
“Usually when you complete an achievement, they let you rest….”
Chirp, chirp!
Golsun and I protested halfheartedly together, but it was no use. Kaieus simply stared at me with the clear intent to pick me up if I didn’t rise on my own.
I really can’t stand this.
In the end, unable to withstand his gaze, I dragged myself reluctantly to my feet.
“Golsun, you rest here. I’ll be back soon.”
Chirp?
Kaieus gave me an amused once-over, then called out coordinates to the middle of the Northwestern Forest—a remote region that would take a month by carriage from the Lucifenia estate.
And I just told him I was hungry.
Is this what employee welfare looks like?
“…Do I really have to go?”
I asked, clinging to the thinnest thread of hope. Kaieus smiled at me slant-wise. The expression made it clear: not a chance.
“Field work. You know?”
He really is infuriating.

***

Deep in the western forest.
Massive broad-leafed trees with tops lost to shadow crowded all around us. The darkness was so complete that I felt grateful for each scattered beam of light threading through the canopy.
If I got lost out here, that would be the end of it.
While I gazed about with a mixture of awe and dread, Kaieus forged ahead with quick strides.
“Do you know where we are?”
Instead of answering, he simply picked up his pace. Moving through the trees with such purpose and certainty that he clearly knew the way, I had no choice but to trail along behind him.
It wasn’t long before we came upon a small cabin nestled in the forest.
“…This is it.”
I was stunned beyond mere surprise.
What is this guy.
A human GPS?
How does he find his way without so much as a compass? Is this something a Swordmaster can do?
I remember that he’d come out here a few times before to seek someone out, but even accounting for that, his sense of direction was terrifying.
If he keeps showing off settings that the author doesn’t even know about, that’s going to be a problem.
“Here we are.”
Kaieus planted me in what barely qualified as a clearing and knocked on the cabin door.
Bang, bang.
No answer came.
Bang, bang.
“It’s me. Open up.”
Silence.
“…Looks like no one’s home?”
Kaieus, who had fallen silent in thought, reached for the doorknob.
I swallowed a sigh as he moved to attempt breaking in without hesitation.
Fortunately, the door wouldn’t open. It was locked from inside.
Right. Even alone in the deep forest, one ought to keep their door locked. You never know who might try to break in, or when.
Case in point.
Look at him twisting that doorknob.
That’s when it happened.
“Your Highness…? Your Majesty?”
Someone called to him from the other side. It was a man in his late fifties, carrying a bundle of firewood on his back. His shabby appearance spoke of long solitary years in the forest, yet an unmistakable air of quiet dignity and keen intelligence shone through his eyes.
“Daemon.”
Kaieus withdrew his hand from the doorknob.
“We need to talk for a moment.”
The man’s initial shock faded quickly. His gaze swept over me, standing a little distance off, and his expression hardened.
“I have nothing more to say to you, Your Majesty. Please leave.”
What’s this.
“This forest becomes dangerous once the sun sets. Please take the Crown Prince and return at once.”
He urged this upon me and then slipped past, brisk and businesslike.
“Then go carefully.”
Daemon shoved Kaieus, who had been standing by the door, to the side and disappeared inside.
Bang.
The door closed.
Whoosh.
The wild grass around us trembled in the wind.
“…Is he always like this?”

***

“He’s someone like Your Highness’s mentor, isn’t he?”
Kaieus tilted his head.
“You know quite a lot.”
“He’s famous, after all.”
Kaieus answered with surprising candor.
“Yes. He was my swordplay instructor and my brother’s as well. He was also the knight the previous Emperor trusted most.”
Daemon Nilson.
Until the death of the former Emperor, he had served as the chief of the Imperial Palace’s security detail.
After the incident occurred, he surrendered to his sense of responsibility, relinquished all his positions, and disappeared from public view.
Kaieus had come seeking him several times to persuade him, but each time Daemon turned him away, insisting he was unfit for such duties. The man was rigid and inflexible—stubbornness personified.
“It seems he still has no intention of returning to service as a knight.”
“Even so, we must bring him with us.”
Yet Daemon was a talent Lucifenia’s territory desperately needed.
He was a descendant of the Primordial Holy Knight, known as the Chosen One. Since he was a perfect counter to Dark Mages who wielded Corrupted Mana, no one else possessed his ability to defend the territory against such a threat as reliably as he did.
That wasn’t all. He could faintly sense the power of divine artifacts.
In other words, this man would notice the Stone of Wishes the moment it appeared in the territory.
So for the territory’s sake and for my own, I had to convince him somehow and bring him along—but…
“Hmm… there must be some way.”
As I was turning the problem over seriously, I suddenly felt Kaieus’s gaze from beside me.
“…What is it?”
“Something’s odd.”
What now.

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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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