Count’s Youngest Son is a Warlock Chapter 166 - Entangled and connected (3)

 

 

Hamel knew that Gartio Menn did not disclose the fact that he was in cahoots with the Neubra Kingdom.

 

‘Damn…’

 

Heint bit his lip.

 

How did he know? It was maddening.

 

Heint’s eyes shifted to Hume, perplexed by her unexpected presence.

 

‘Even though there’s no resemblance to Hume at all…’

 

Heint was still reeling from the sensation of colliding with her.

 

It was very similar to when he trained with Hume.

 

“Do you know the Kell family?”

 

Blocking Heint’s mouth, Lucion asked in a refreshing mood.

 

[Is this the meaning of getting the upper hand?]

 

Bethel asked, looking at Russell.

 

To her, it felt too intense, as if Lucion was enjoying it.

 

[Of course it is. They’re still checking on each other. Heint is an imperial knight, after all. Above Heint is Cetyl, the fifth prince, and above Cetyl is the emperor, right?]

 

[Yes.]

 

[But as Hamel, what does he have? The organization has grown, but it can’t be compared to the Empire. There’s no one above him. Do you want Lucion to bow down to Heint?]

 

[Absolutely not.]

 

Bethel strengthened her voice.

 

[So, Lucion should keep pressing on Heint since he has a lot of information. It would be troublesome if he were to interfere with Lucion. Isn’t it more convenient to keep him under pressure like this?]

 

[Then Lord Lucion is doing really well.  If I were Heint, I might have already thrown a punch.]

 

[That’s right! He’s doing great!]

 

Russell and Bethel look at Lucion with satisfaction.

 

―Oh. Ratta learned one thing. If you want to suppress someone, you have to use those kinds of words…

 

[No, Ratta! That’s a bad word.]

 

[Yes, absolutely not. Using such words would upset Hume, wouldn’t it?]

 

Bethel and Russell quickly opened their mouths.

 

―Ah Okay! Ratta doesn’t want to upset Hume, so Ratta promises not to use such words!

 

Ratta said it quickly.

 

‘Brother Heint is already troubled enough. Please, just behave appropriately. This is driving me crazy. ‘

 

Lucion struggled to hold back his laughter.

 

The three of them seemed to be having a good discussion.

 

“Why are you meddling in the affairs of a family that disappeared after rebelling?”

 

Heint spoke in a stiff voice, barely remembering, and Lucion chuckled softly.

 

“What if it is not treason?”

 

“What do you mean?”

 

“What if they were unjustly driven away, instead of betraying?”

 

At the ambiguous words, Heint furrowed his eyebrows.

 

“What are you trying to say?”

 

“Could you lend me priest Chelga for a moment?”

 

“Madman. Where did you hear about this?”

 

“Any warlock can do this, so don’t make a fuss.”

 

“Anyone can do it?”

 

“No, mostly.”

 

Lucion hurriedly added, remembering what Russell had said earlier, that not everyone, no matter how much a warlock, can control ghosts.

 

Still, any warlock can see ghosts, so it wasn’t entirely wrong.

 

“…Phew. I almost swore just now.”

 

Heint breathed a sigh of relief.

 

He didn’t know what kind of black magic the warlock was using, but it was a terrifying statement.

 

“Are you swearing with your eyes right now?”

 

“If it’s you swearing, don’t worry; I’m doing it on the inside too.”

 

“Thanks. Thanks to you, I will live a long time.”

 

Heint sighed deeply when Lucion didn’t back down.

 

“I can’t give you the priest.”

 

“I knew you wouldn’t. I never thought you’d give me even a single hair to begin with.”

 

Lucion pointed to the ground.

 

“Then bring Chelga and wait here for a moment.”

 

“Why should I do that?”

 

“Because the Kell family was the family in charge of the shadow of the imperial family and was unfairly chased out. It’s all because of the Neubra Kingdom.”

 

“Are you being serious right now?”

 

“Yeah.”

 

Lucion quickly ran off.

 

‘He disappeared before… ‘

 

Heint looked at Hamel, who was running hard, with a puzzled expression.

 

He couldn’t help but laugh, thinking that maybe he had jumped out the window at that time.

 

‘That guy is crazy.’

 

Heint covered his mouth.

 

That guy was a warlock.

 

He had to be careful because he could even deliberately portray such a scene.

 

‘He’s more cunning than he looks.’

 

Heint scratched his head and then took a deep breath.

 

‘I need to confirm if the Kell family was really a shadow of the imperial family.’

 

He took out a communication device from his pocket.

 

* * *

 

Using shadow movement, Lucion arrived near the store where J.L. had been.

 

Since he had absorbed almost all of the black orbs, the darkness had grown, and the range of shadow movement that Ratta could use had widened.

 

If he absorbed a few more black orbs, the range could become wide enough to move directly from the central region to the western region, which was no joke.

 

“I’m here to meet J.L. Kell.”

 

Lucion confidently opened the door and spoke.

 

Near the entrance, there was a person he hadn’t seen before, but strangely, he looked familiar.

 

“Let’s go.”

 

The strange man said.

 

“…?”

 

Surprised, Lucion pointed at him with his finger.

 

“Yes, I’m J.L. Kell.”

 

J.L. awkwardly smiled.

 

The cloudiness in his eyes hadn’t completely disappeared, but they sparkled much more than before.

 

[After getting a haircut, he became a different person.]

 

Russell wandered around J.L., amazed.

 

“I will check whether the Priest Chelga you were talking about is the one who drove me all the way here.”

 

“Okay.”

 

“And this.”

 

J.L. handed over the money pouch that Lucion had left behind.

 

“No. It’s yours now, whether you join the organization or not.”

 

Lucion thought it was better to build a connection even if J.L. didn’t join the organization.

 

“Yes…?”

 

“I broke the door.”

 

J.L. burst into laughter at his clumsy excuse.

 

He couldn’t believe that the person who had been so insistent just now was the same person.

 

Maybe this was his real self.

 

“Yes, the cost of repairing my store’s door is quite expensive.”

 

Lucion walked over to J.L. and gently grabbed the hem of his shirt.

 

“Why the hem…?”

 

“We’re going.”

 

What are you waiting for?

 

―Yes! I’m coming!

 

Ratta said so happily and used shadow movement.

 

* * *

 

As the darkness subsided before his eyes, J.L.’s eyes shook greatly.

 

“Did you use black magic just now?”

 

“Yes.”

 

Lucion answered vaguely. There was no need to bring up Ratta’s story.

 

J.L. continued to scrutinize him, waiting for Lucion’s response.

 

“Why? Are you afraid of being cursed?”

 

When Hume, who was waiting for Lucion, looked at J.L., he immediately shook his head.

 

“No, it’s just fascinating. Black magic, I mean… it’s known as a really bad type of magic.”

 

Perhaps because he was conscious of Hume, J.L.’s speech was slower than usual.

 

“Do many people die by magic or by swords?”

 

Lucion walked forward and questioned what J.L. had said.

 

“…Of course, from swords.”

 

J.L. answered.

 

There was no war.

 

The Empire is also trying to prevent the magician’s rampage.

 

“Funny, isn’t it? Swords, magic, and bows—they’re all made to kill people, but I don’t see why they’re only persecuting black magic.”

 

“Well, that’s…”

 

J.L. was at a loss for words.

 

He considers it a valid point. Why were just warlocks viewed unfavorably? J.L. questioned himself.

 

“Oh, there he is.”

 

Lucion waved his hand excitedly as he looked at Heint, who had arrived before him.

 

Heint’s face crumpled at first, but as he saw the person who had come with Lucion, he gradually suppressed his emotions.

 

After asking Cetyl, Heint found out that the Kell family was a shadow family of the imperial family.

 

‘Hamel didn’t lie.’

 

Heint was slightly confused.

 

Was it a clever mix of lies and truth, or was it that he himself didn’t want to see the truth?

 

‘Was it Hamel who sent the letter to me?’

 

Heint thought that was more natural.

 

If Hamel was the one who sent the letter, wouldn’t he have been trying to gain the favor of the imperial family by hiding his identity from the beginning in order to destroy the Hand of Void, or rather, the Kingdom of Neubra?

 

It’s true that it’s creepy, but it was a good way to lower suspicion.

 

Honestly, it was a huge help.

 

“Okay. This person is J.L. Kell. You’ve checked him out, right?”

 

Lucion approached and pointed at J.L.

 

“Yeah, I did.”

 

Heint, feeling awkward, nodded slightly in response to J.L.’s gesture.

 

“It’s Chelga, right?”

 

As Lucion asked, the man Heint was holding flinched.

 

[That guy is Chelga.]

 

Bethel followed Heint just in case. The priest he brought was Chelga.

 

“Yeah.”

 

After Heint’s response, he untied the hood covering Chelga’s face, obscuring his mouth and eyes. 

 

But J.L. reacted.

 

Lucion smirked and told Heint, “Untie the cloth covering his eyes.”

 

“You don’t need to order me around; it’s already untied. Don’t be so pushy,” Heint replied.

 

“Just untie the cloth covering his eyes. Okay?” Lucion insisted.

 

Heint sighed slightly at Lucion’s answer.

 

“Is sarcasm your thing?”

 

“Nope. You probably heard it wrong. Oh, is being perverse your hobby?”

 

“Damn it.”

 

Heint struggled to hold back his swearing and unwrapped the cloth that covered Chelga’s eyes.

 

Even if he argued with Hamel, he only felt like he was being drawn into it.

 

The more the cloth was unraveled, the more severe Chelga’s trembling became, as Lucion and Heint noticed.

 

He’s the one.

 

[That guy is right.]

 

It was the same for Russell.

 

J.L. stopped breathing when half of Chelga’s face was revealed.

 

He felt dizzy and started to stumble and vomit.

 

“He… he’s the one,” J.L. said through gritted teeth.

 

When J.L. looked up, his eyes were bloodshot.

 

“That guy is right. It’s him! The guy who framed me! It’s him!”

 

J.L.’s voice gradually became louder and sounded closer to a scream.

 

“He’s the one who took everything from me! That guy is Chelga! That guy…!”

 

“You can’t kill him. You can’t even hit him now, can you?”

 

Lucion stopped J.L. and looked at Heint.

 

“No, you can hit him. Just a few.”

 

But Heint’s answer was unexpected.

 

J.L. rushed forward and landed a punch on Chelga’s face.

 

Puck!

 

“He’s a witness, right?”

 

Lucion hesitated slightly and spoke to Heint.

 

“Witness or not, I’ll give him a chance to vent his anger, and if he tries to stop me, I’ll stop him, so don’t bother.”

 

‘The Fifth Prince’s trust is greater than I thought?’

 

Lucion observed J.L.’s rage, as he seemed to want to destroy Chelga’s face.

 

“That’s enough,” Heint said after J.L. had hit Chelga squarely in the mouth.

 

“Argh! That bastard, I have to kill him! Let go of me!” But J.L. was not in his right mind.

 

His eyes were filled with hatred as the dam of ten years of pent-up emotions burst.

 

“J.L.” 

 

Lucion called J.L. quietly.

 

J.L. responded to that voice.

 

“I understand the surge of vengeance, but was your only purpose to kill that insignificant fly?” 

 

J.L.’s face contorted, then he slowly relaxed and lowered his head. 

 

“No.”

 

Hamel was right. 

 

He had thought he had no intention of igniting the fire of revenge, but he was wrong. 

 

The moment he laid eyes on Chelga, the suppressed desire for revenge flared up like an uncontrollable flame.

 

“I thought that past failures would no longer matter. I was wrong. I have been deceiving myself until now.”

 

J.L. didn’t want to fail anymore. He didn’t want his life to be tainted by more failures.

 

“Thank you for stopping me.”

 

J.L. said, bowing his head to Heint.

 

“Now, if you’ve calmed down, please tell me. Are you the head of the Kell family?”

 

Heint asked.

 

“You’re right. I am J.L. Kell, the last remaining member of the Kell family and the head of the family.”

 

“Then is that priest really the priest who charged you with treason?”

 

“Although it is a worthless life, I will bet my life and the last pride of the Kell family that those words are true.”

 

A sense of determination filled J.L.’s eyes, as if he was trying to wash away the lingering sense of defeat from the past.