The Unfilial Heir Who Tries to Kill Me Tempts Me - Chapter 32

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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 32.

“Charlotte Schmidt!”
Flash.
Light erupted across the floor as Kaiius touched down. The dungeon that had surrounded him moments before vanished, replaced by the blinding glare of daylight flooding his vision.
The Grand Duke’s Castle—his study.
His body went rigid.
…She really sent me back alone?
Left herself behind while I escaped?
Bassel, who had been opening the door, froze mid-step.
“…Your Highness?”
His deep green eyes blinked with confusion.
“Why are you here… Surely you haven’t returned from the dungeon already?”
Kaiius spun around. His confused, rigid expression twisted violently.
“Where’s the young demon?”
“Eden? He should be behind the main residence with Nilson, but—”
“Damn it.”
A curse tore from Kaiius’s throat as he bolted from the study. Bassel, stunned into stillness, scrambled after him.
The corridor blurred past on either side.
Kaiius vaulted down the stairs, taking them three at a time.
It made no sense.
To wait.
What could she possibly believe in, to speak with such calm certainty?
Charlotte’s face haunted him—pale and withered in the vines, yet smiling as she looked at him.
Unless she’d thrown reason aside for some selfless impulse, it was impossible. It would have been far more rational for a mage to sacrifice Kaiius instead, to buy herself an escape. Every mage Kaiius knew would have done the same.
And the Ancient Dungeon, no less. No matter how skilled or fortunate, one moment of carelessness could mean death. Charlotte Schmidt, of all people, would never have forgotten that.
Yet she’d sent him back alone, pouring every ounce of her remaining Mana into it.
Whether to call it foolish or naïve, Kaiius stopped trying to understand.
There was only one thing that mattered.
He had to return to that place, as quickly as possible, and save her.
“Listen, demon.”
“What? You’re back already? But where’s my contractor? You didn’t leave her—”
“Transport us to the Ancient Dungeon. Now.”
“What?”
“Now!”
Eden, who had been training with Daemon on griffin boarding, stared at Kaiius in bewilderment as he burst in.
Reading his face, Eden’s expression hardened.
“Which floor?”
“The 5th Floor.”
“Training ends here. And you—come with us.”
Eden dropped the Griffin Feed he’d been holding and abandoned the training ground. Bassel followed close behind the two hurrying figures.
“I’ll accompany you as well.”
“What, everyone suddenly…? No, never mind. Do as you wish.”
Eden made his way to an open space, cut his thumb, and completed the Magic Circle with his blood.
All three arrived at the dungeon entrance in an instant.
“Out of the way.”
Kaiius drew his sword. Before anyone could stop him, he released a Sword Aura and swung.
Bang!
“You crazy bastard—!”
The massive gate exploded with a deafening crash. Simultaneously, flames poured from within like a deluge. Eden quickly deflected them with his Authority, shouting.
“Are you insane? Charging the Ancient Dungeon like a brute will get you killed!”
“We’re going in. Bassel, stay close.”
“That idiot, what’s wrong with his eyes?!”
Kaiius plunged forward recklessly. Bassel and Eden exchanged a glance before sprinting after him.
First Floor, second, third, fourth.
When Kaiius reached the 5th Floor at breakneck speed—
“…Charlotte Schmidt?”
His footsteps halted abruptly.
The chamber that had been choked with vines when he left was now empty. The thick tendrils, Charlotte herself—all of it had vanished as if it were nothing but a lie.
“What on earth….”
What was happening here?
Confusion flickered across Kaiius’s eyes again.
Could her Mana have been completely absorbed in that brief time?
Where had all those vines gone?
And Charlotte?
Eden, following behind, swept his gaze across the chamber.
“What the—why is nothing here?”
“They were definitely here. The vines, Charlotte—everything.”
“What’s the creature’s name?”
“Mandragora.”
Eden’s face contorted savagely.
“Damn it. Mandragora—depending on the variant, they absorb Mana and devour their hosts whole! Where the hell did it go?! You’re sure it was here?”
“…What?”
His heart lurched into his stomach.
In that moment, Kaiius suddenly recalled Charlotte’s pale face from their last glimpse of her.

“I’ll wait here.”

“Damn it.”
He should have torn those vines away by force earlier, no matter what. He hadn’t been helpless—he could have stopped her from being dragged away.
No, wait. Not much time had passed. If Charlotte had truly been consumed by the Mandragora, the vines wouldn’t have vanished so completely without a trace. There had to be another explanation….
That was when it happened.
“There’s a passage here!”
At the sound of Bassel’s voice from below, Kaiius snapped back to attention.
“Move. I’m going first.”
Kaiius tore across the corridor at terrible speed and bisected the door with a burst of force.
And what he saw there was….
“Oh, you’re here already?”
[Chirp!]
Charlotte, swinging a pickaxe and rhythmically striking the ground.

***

I wiped the beads of sweat from my brow and looked over the three newcomers as they tumbled through the opening.
“That was faster than I expected. Did Lord Kaiius come with you?”
I’d told them to bring only Eden, yet here they all came trailing behind him. And why did they all have such strange expressions?
Kaiius stared at me blankly for a moment before stammering out a question.
“What… is this?”
“Ah.”
I held up the black ore toward him.
“This is Black Iron Ore. You saw that black water earlier, didn’t you? When those pools are left untouched for a long time and harden, they become ore like this. You’d be lucky to find a single grain if you turned the entire continent upside down, and yet here it is—piled high as you see.”
This was a goldmine.
“But… you were being held captive by the Mandragora just moments ago.”
“Oh, that.”
I’d been so absorbed in mining the Black Iron Ore that I’d nearly forgotten.
“After transporting Your Grace to the upper level, I lost consciousness briefly. When I came to, I was lying on the floor. My Mana had been completely drained for a moment, so the Mandragora released me.”
“Then the empty upper chamber….”
“Certain Mandragora variants have a habit of concealing their bodies after feeding. It seems the one in this dungeon happened to be a variant. Fortunate, really—I regained consciousness right away and was able to escape down here before Eden arrived.”
If that hadn’t been the case, I would have been stuck trapped there until he showed up.
I hadn’t had the presence of mind to think about it in my daze then, but now it struck me as rather embarrassing.
I was a dignified Mage, after all.
“In any case, welcome. The 6th Floor seems to contain nothing but Black Iron Ore. Would you help me mine it?”
[Chirp, chirp!]
Black Iron Ore, like Black Water, absorbed Mana, but when properly refined, it could either release its stored Mana or amplify the wielder’s own—a remarkable effect.
Which meant….
With impurities removed and proper processing, it could serve as the material for a Magical Tool far superior to a Golem Core.
In fact, Mages had only begun hunting Golem Cores because they couldn’t find Black Iron Ore.
If I’d known the Ancient Dungeon held something like this, I would have come sooner.
“Charlotte, what in the blazes are you…!”
Kaiius started to shout, then clenched his eyes shut and pressed a hand to his forehead.
Sensing the sudden gravity, I quietly lowered the pickaxe I’d been holding.
“What’s wrong? Oh—were you worried about me?”
Worried.
Kaiius Luciphenia?
About me?
No.
That couldn’t be.
Kaiius strode toward me, and without warning snatched the pickaxe from my hands and hoisted me onto his shoulder.
“What—?”
“We’re leaving.”
“Wait, hold on. I haven’t finished gathering all the Black Iron Ore yet—!”
I looked pleadingly at Eden and Bassel, but both of them coldly turned away from my gaze.
Kaiius gripped my waist firmly and spoke as a warning.
“If you separate from my side even once more, I’ll bind you myself next time.”

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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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