Welcome to the Café of the Dark Guild’s Successor - Chapter 43

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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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A café operated by the Dark Guild’s successor.
Chapter 43
“……Lily. I have to find Lily.”
Mason tucked the letter away and steadied himself, then slipped out of the warehouse at once.
For days afterward, he made inquiries on his own, tracking Aleina’s movements.
In the process, he discovered that Aleina had died long ago, and the daughter she’d raised had been admitted to an orphanage.
“Kimbelhack Orphanage.”
It was situated near the small estate where Aleina had hidden herself.
The orphanage had closed more than a decade earlier. All the people connected to it had vanished without a trace.
Even using his position as the Magic Tower’s master, Mason made inquiries through every channel, but it was futile.
When he could find no sign of Lily anywhere, desperation drove him at last to lay hands on a forbidden Spell Grimoire.
It wasn’t black magic, but its use carried unknown dangers—treacherous and unpredictable.
Mason snapped the iron chains binding the grimoire and traced a magic circle with his finger.
“Trace Blood Bond.”
The moment he let blood fall into the circle’s center, the drops flowed upward in a violent wind.
Soon two figures bearing his blood materialized dimly within the circle.
A man and a woman—but the woman was far too young to be Lily.
Bewildered, Mason nonetheless packed his belongings at once.
Using magic, he was able to determine their location.
“The boy is in the Capital, but the girl is in the mountains……. How odd. I should start there.”
He arrived in the deep forest of Alain Mountain and found a cabin.
Outside it sat Rosia, tending a fire and roasting meat.
Mason’s breath caught the moment he saw her.
She bore the face of young Aleina—the only woman he’d ever loved—and those eyes were blue, his blue.
She was unmistakably his blood.
Dazed, he lingered near Rosia until she slept, then slipped out of the cabin and discovered Lily’s grave in the backyard.
Tormented all night by the fact of Lily’s passing, he crafted a bouquet before dawn and left it by the grave, then returned to the Magic Tower.
After that, he sought out the man the magic circle had shown—and learned he was Seniel, Rosia’s brother.
From that time until now, Mason had kept to a daily routine, crossing between Alain Mountains, the Capital, and the Magic Tower, watching over his grandchildren.
“Master!”
Mason stirred from his reverie at Wyatt’s call.
“What now—are you finally going to get married?”
Mason looked down at Wyatt with disdain and clicked his tongue. Then he rose from the round table.
“Time lost does not return. Neither do people. So don’t devote yourselves to magic alone—live in the present.”
“Sir?”
Mason, who had always emphasized nothing but training and discipline, had changed. His disciples were completely taken aback by words so unlike his usual teachings.
“I devoted my whole life to magic, yet look at me. I have nothing left. It was all meaningless. What endures is memory and people.”
“Master… have you altered your training method to reach a higher Realm?”
“I have no interest in higher Realms anymore.”
Mason laughed freely and pressed the Master’s Staff into Wyatt’s hands.
“I am leaving.”
Having left the Greenhouse, Mason opened a portal and returned to Alain Mountains.
Before crossing the barrier to the cabin, he snapped his fingers and transformed into a cat again.
Every time Mason shifted into a stout, silver-furred cat, a strange self-reproach washed over him.
‘I’m growing accustomed to these four legs.’
Suppressing his embarrassment, he reached the cabin and saw Rosia and Kaiden seated at their evening meal.
‘What scheme is that wretch plotting, sitting next to my granddaughter?’
He was watching them, certainly, but the Sacred Power and the thick Dark Energy dwelling within Kaiden kept troubling him.
“Meow.”
Irritated at the sight of the two growing close, Mason yowled from the window, and Rosia opened it for him.
“You came back? I caught a mouse earlier. I’ve been saving it for you.”
When Rosia showed him a live mouse in a jar, Mason was horrified and batted it with his blunt paw.
“Mrrrow! (No!)”
“Don’t all cats like mice?”
Annoyed that she’d tried to feed him a mouse, then melting when he realized she’d saved it with him in mind, Mason secretly recaught the mouse behind her back.
He froze it whole and stashed it in his Magic Pouch.
‘Let me stay like this a little longer. Just until I learn more about Lily.’
This ordinary life was new to Mason, and everything brought him joy—happiness in simply watching over Rosia.
It was a feeling he was experiencing for the first time.
***
“That cat really does seek out the sunniest spots.”
The cat that had claimed the window seat where the light poured in best was in a good mood today, its tail swishing gently.
I watched it and shook my head slowly.
“If it keeps this up, it’ll move in permanently. I never even gave permission.”
Ever since it came through the window last evening, it’s been following me everywhere, acting as if it owns the place.
It’s annoying when it keeps catching my eye, but there’s something oddly entertaining about watching the furry bundle roll about.
And when I pet its fur sometimes, it’s quite pleasant—so soft.
I crept toward the cat and reached out my hand, but it rolled aside smoothly, dodging.
Armstrong always got caught because his body was slow, but the cat was in a different league entirely—fast.
I gave up on petting it and peeled a boiled egg, splitting it in half.
“Eat up.”
After crumbling the egg onto a plate, I grabbed a basket and left the cabin.
Today I meant to forage the forest for the leaves and berries I’d exhausted.
As I stood, the cat that had been sprawled asleep beneath the sun let out a meow and followed after me.
‘Kaiden said to ask him for things.’
But I’m not injured, and I can’t keep imposing on him.
Thinking nothing would go wrong, I headed toward the forest. As I gathered berries and leaves, gradually filling the basket, I suddenly felt a chill.
I wrapped my arms around myself and looked around.
“It’s strangely cold.”
As the temperature around me shifted, I hesitated to venture deeper—and then the landscape changed.
A thorny bramble thicket loomed before me.
Startled, I tried to retrace my steps, but the path I used daily was nowhere to be seen.
Worse, after walking a short distance, where a ravine should have opened before me, I saw that cliff face from before.
“Why is that here again?”
I’d deliberately avoided it, certain I’d never encounter it again—but seeing the massive bramble growth, I bit my lip hard.
The cat, which had been following me at a distance, sensed something was wrong and suddenly pressed against my leg, its tail stiffened.
“Could the cliff be moving?”
The brambles densely covering the cliff face were undulating as if alive.
Suddenly I remembered the serpent’s form I’d seen in the temple courtyard before.
Just then, the cat bit my toe and hissed—warning me, urging me not to approach the cliff.
“Don’t worry. Let’s go back.”
As I tried to reassure the cat and turn away from the cliff, a sudden sound of rough, bestial breathing came from behind me.
“Hrrruuuhhh.”
An enormous presence materialized at my back as if it had fallen from the sky.
I spun around in shock and saw a strange creature I’d never encountered before.
It resembled a goblin, but horns jutted from its head, and it radiated a foul aura. Its eyes were blood-red.
“…Is that a Monster Beast?”
I’d never seen one, yet the moment I laid eyes on it, I knew.
The carriage driver who’d brought me here had mentioned that Monster Beasts once infested this area.
The vicious killing intent radiating from it jolted my senses awake and made my skin crawl.
“Meow!”
The cat threw itself in front of me, its fur bristling.
“Get back.”
I quickly grabbed the cat and tossed it behind me, then drew the Short Blade I kept hidden in my sash.
Against a Monster Beast, a blade this short was pathetically inadequate, but I had no other weapon at hand.
“UUAAAARRRGH!!”
The Monster Beast fixed its gaze on me and bellowed, its sanity shattered, and came charging.
“How am I supposed to bring this thing down?”
I gritted my teeth and racked my brain—what could be its weakness?
Working as one of Raven’s guild members, I’d taken on all manner of jobs, but I’d never faced a Monster Beast.
Frustrated, I acted on instinct, weaving between the charging creature’s attacks and swinging my blade.
But the problem was the smoke swirling around the creature’s horns.
Even when I slashed at it with my sword, it didn’t dissipate—and it seemed to shield the Beast from being pierced.
The living smoke shifted direction and surged toward me.
Thinking it was magic, I squeezed my eyes shut—but unexpectedly, nothing happened, and the smoke vanished.
“……What was that?”
Bewildered, I had no time to think, not with the Monster Beast still attacking.
I rolled my body sideways to get behind the Beast. Then I drove my blade into its back—but the sword bounced cleanly off.
Teeth clenched, I searched for a weak point when I noticed a patch on the Monster Beast’s back where the smoke was thicker and darker.
Something instinctive told me that was where I needed to strike. I lunged forward desperately and plunged the Short Blade deep into that spot.
In that instant, the Monster Beast shrieked and twisted its body, driving a sharp horn straight through my shoulder.

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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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