How The Sub-Male Lead’s Stepmother Teaches Love Chapter 272

“Tsk, that was a close call.”

 

After casting a healing spell on her shoulder, which had been slashed during a moment of carelessness, Ran gave an order to the massive chimera now obediently sitting beside her after the battle.

 

“Erase every trace left here.”

 

– Grrrrr…!

 

The chimera, having received the order, moved its heavy body and approached the knights and wizards of Duke Khalid, who were lying on the ground.

 

Ran, who had lost interest in them as they no longer moved, sighed as she looked at the dungeon entrance where the barrier was damaged.

 

“It almost shattered completely… How did they even find this place?”

 

This dungeon, created deep in the mountains, has been used as Onyx’s hideout for decades.

 

Its location was so remote and isolated that unless someone deliberately scoured the mountains, it was unlikely they would ever stumble upon it.

 

‘Could it be that Duke Khalid figured out Kana’s existence?’

 

The bloodstone Khalid lost near the border of northern Ajas—

 

If that bloodstone had ended up back in Duke Khalid’s hands through the Marquis Ajas, he might have begun to suspect his former wife had been pregnant after all.

 

In that case, it wouldn’t be strange to discover a dungeon while following the traces of the assistant doctor who was originally a member of Onyx.

 

‘The Master said there might be an attack from the Silver Frost Tower.’

 

Perhaps the master of the Silver Frost Tower, having seen Karl imbued with the symbol of Estroa, grew suspicious and allied himself with the emperor or another high-ranking noble.

 

Things get serious if the master of the Silver Frost Tower is behind those knights and wizards who tried to break the dungeon barrier.

 

If he steps forward himself, it’s only a matter of time before the barrier set up at the entrance to the dungeon is broken, and all the chimeras and hideouts within the dungeon will be discovered.

 

“If that idiot Karl hadn’t caused all this…..”

 

It was a problem that he forged the symbol of Estroa and made a big fuss in the imperial palace, but the biggest problem was that he dragged out the high-level monsters and chimeras that were in the dungeon.

 

Ran gritted her teeth and took out a piece of wood shaped like a bird from her pocket.

 

‘I won’t be able to contact Karl or Tom anyway.….’

 

Ran tried to contact Pan.

 

Fortunately, Pan responded shortly.

 

– R–Ran?

 

“Yeah. Where are you now?”

 

– -I’m in the dungeon of Count Gordon’s territory… Why, what’s going on? Did something happen at the Tower?

 

“Yes, there’s a very big problem. Duke Khalid’s knights and wizards tried to break the barrier set up at the entrance to the dungeon.”

 

When Ran had come outside upon sensing someone tampering with the barrier, the knights and wizards hadn’t shown any surprise at the sight of her.

 

Rather, they responded calmly as if they had known she would appear.

 

Had she not brought the chimera with her, she might have been killed.

 

Ran spoke nervously, rubbing her left shoulder, which still felt sore even after the treatment was over.

 

“They didn’t just come to investigate the dungeon, they came because they knew we were inside the dungeon.”

 

Whether they only suspected that Onyx’s hideout lay inside, or were already certain, was unclear.

 

But now that their entire party was dead, doubt would surely give way to certainty.

 

“Next time, they won’t send investigators—they’ll send an extermination squad. Pan, we need to prepare to fight back. Bring the monsters and chimera and return here.”

 

– B-But K-Karl told me to… to attack the capital…

 

“You’re seriously worried about Karl right now? Let that idiot run wild in the palace and do whatever he wants, whether he dies or not.”

 

– B-but…

 

“Do you still want to talk back? The barrier installed at the dungeon entrance is now broken. This needs to be fixed immediately!”

 

Pan fell silent at Ran’s sharp outburst.

 

Unable to bear the silence, she shouted again

 

“Didn’t you hear me?!”

 

– A-alright. J-just give me a moment…

 

Two hours later.

 

A figure with his face covered by a mask and robe appeared in front of Ran using teleportation magic.

 

“Hah…hah…”

 

“Took you long enough. Here, here. Magic potion.”

 

After drinking the potion that Ran gave him, Pan sat down on the floor as if he had no energy and examined the barrier at the entrance to the dungeon.

 

“I-It really was a-a-about to break…”

 

“Their skills were quite outstanding. If it weren’t for the dragon, I would’ve been seriously hurt.”

 

“Dragon….”

 

Only then did Pan notice the dragon-like creature crouched and licking its lips nearby.

 

A large chimera the size of a house would actually be a bit of a stretch to call a dragon.

 

The base is a giant iron wyvern.

 

It has hide harder than iron, dozens of magic stones embedded tightly along its spine, and eight fanged tentacles.

 

Bird-like legs with razor-sharp talons, sharp horns that could pierce steel, and a snake-like head that spits venom.

 

The chimera, which was made up of all sorts of things, was actually an experiment to create a dragon that was thought to be extinct.

 

Of course, the experiment failed, and hundreds of monsters died.

 

This one was the only survivor, albeit in a monstrous form.

 

In fact, that was also a failure, but its killing power was no less than that of a high-level monster, so Ran was especially fond of it. She even gave it the name ‘Dragon’.

 

“T-That thing… c-can fly, right….?”

 

“Of course it can. I even gave it wings so it could fly faster.”

 

At Ran’s gesture, the chimera spread three pairs of wings.

 

It fluttered them as if ready to take off, but at another signal from Ran, it obediently sat down again.

 

Thanks to the bloodstone she held, it obeyed her commands.

 

“If it flies… it could easily cross the city walls…”

 

“What?”

 

“Oh, no, nothing.”

 

Thanks to Pan’s mask and hood, Ran couldn’t see the look in his eyes as he stared at the chimera.

 

“I-I’ll get to fixing the b-barrier now.”

 

“What about monsters and chimeras?”

 

“I-I already gave th-them orders before coming.”

 

“What kind of orders?”

 

Pan hesitated for a moment and then answered.

 

“T-To head for the capital.”

 

“The capital? Don’t tell me… you’re still helping Karl with that insane plan to become emperor?”

 

“Oh, no. It’s not Ka, Kal that I’m helping.”

 

“What? Then you—wait…”

 

Ran’s body sank down suddenly due to a sudden feeling of dizziness.

 

“Pan, you…!”

 

“S-Sorry… T-Tell M-Master I’m s-sorry too.”

 

Instead of repairing the barrier, Pan had cast a powerful sleep spell.

 

Ran, who was completely off guard, was struck by Pan’s magic and lost consciousness.

 

“I-I’ll still f-fix the barrier before I go…”

 

That foolish voice was the last thing she heard.

 

* * *

 

One hour earlier.

 

Felix, who was inputting the coordinates of the entire mountain range into the magic stone at the inn in Rehimbon, received a call from Leonhard through the crystal ball.

 

– Where are you now? Are you in Rehimbon?

 

“Yeah. Did you finish your talk with the second prince?”

 

Felix assumed Leonhard had contacted him after wrapping up his conversation with the second prince.

 

– We’ll talk about that later. Just now, I heard that the knights and wizards Duke Khalid sent to the dungeon were completely wiped out.

 

“Huh?”

 

– It hasn’t been confirmed yet. The magical tools that indicated their survival have all broken, so we’re merely speculating… So could you take a quick look around that area?

 

The first thought that popped into Felix’s head was, ‘Why me?’

 

‘You really make me do all sorts of things.’

 

If dealing with Onyx hadn’t been part of maintaining the Silver Frost Tower, passed down from the elder sages…

 

If Raenel wasn’t the one they suspected to be of Sesto’s bloodline…

 

He would’ve returned to the tower long ago.

 

“Be gentle and kind to Noah. If you keep treating him like a stranger, I won’t let you see his face.”

 

He had no intention of suddenly acting like a father now. But since the child was the one Louise left behind before her death, he couldn’t completely turn his back either.

 

Since he wouldn’t be raising the child himself, the child’s environment needed to be perfectly arranged.

 

And for that, Raenel needed to be by Noah’s side.

 

“Hah… So what exactly am I supposed to check?”

 

– To see if there are any survivors. If there are, rescue them. If not, recover the remains… If the dungeon entrance barrier has been broken, it would be good if you could check inside as well. To see if it truly is Onyx’s hideout.”

 

‘They’re really squeezing every drop out of me.’

 

Felix clicked his tongue and teleported to a place slightly away from the coordinates Leonhard had given him.

 

‘There’s someone there.’

 

Just in case there was an enemy, Felix cast an invisibility spell on himself and used flying magic to approach from above.

 

‘Woman? And… what kind of monster is that?’

 

A woman is sitting in front of the dungeon entrance, reading a book.

 

Beside her, a massive monster lay curled up and sleeping, the ground around it stained with dark red blotches.

 

Tentacles, magic stones, and even wings of different colors—covered in strange features, it didn’t take Felix long to realize that it was a chimera created by Onyx’s wizard.

 

‘Which means… Onyx’s hideout really is inside that dungeon.’

 

He could see swords and pieces of armor scattered around the chimera, but no remains.

 

Instead of going down directly, Felix carefully examined the chimera and the woman.

 

Judging by the amount of magic he sensed, the woman was a wizard, but one weaker than him. The problem was the chimera.

 

It had the body parts of at least five different monsters and dozens of mana stones embedded in it.

 

To Felix’s eyes, it looked like a giant bomb that would explode if touched.

 

That’s why Felix only observed them from afar instead of approaching them.

 

After all, Leonhard’s request was just to “check.”

 

‘But what is that woman doing there?’

 

Felix got his answer a short while later.

 

He felt a sharp fluctuation of magic and quickly suppressed his presence to the fullest—just as a figure appeared, face hidden under a deep hood.

 

Felix quietly eavesdropped on the conversation between the two.

 

Then, a surprising scene unfolded before my eyes. A man with his face covered by a hood had put a woman to sleep using a sleeping spell.

 

Then he pushed the woman into the dungeon entrance and used magic to fix the barrier at the dungeon entrance.

 

“You… you’re… Come, come with me.”

 

Before Felix could even come forward, he took the chimera and broke the teleportation stone, disappearing somewhere.

 

Felix descended to the ground belatedly, but there was no trace of the chimera or the wizards.

 

‘Where did they go?’

 

Usually, when a wizard uses magic, some residual magic power remains.

 

However, the teleportation stone that the wizard broke completely erased the traces, making it impossible to track the opponent.

 

It was clear the wizard had anticipated being tracked and used a stone to cover their tracks.

 

‘He probably didn’t know I was here.… Oh, but now that I think about it, he did put the woman to sleep. Could there be internal conflict?’

 

Suddenly Felix remembered part of the conversation he had heard earlier.

 

“What about monsters and chimeras?”

 

“I-I already gave th-them orders before coming.”

 

“What kind of orders?”

 

“T-To head for the capital.”

 

“The capital? Don’t tell me… you’re still helping Karl with that insane plan to become emperor?”

 

“Don’t tell me they’re heading for the capital…?”

 

Noah was in the capital.

 

Felix’s face instantly went pale, and he teleported straight there.

 

* * *