Dark Fantasy’s Extra Chapter 99

Maia left a substitute doll in her place and went to search for the resurrection flower.

The substitute doll was a consumable item that also appeared in Blue Paper Moon – while it looked like a small, crude straw doll, it contained sorcery power that could transform into an exact copy of the user to draw aggro from enemies.

The substitute doll transformed into Maia sat dozing off in the chair, but it looked slightly crude and wasn’t breathing, so careful observation would reveal the truth.

“Excuse me.” 

Butler Drian said as he opened the door and entered.

I quickly made a gesture telling him to be quiet and pointed at the doll transformed into the sleeping Maia.

“Oh…” 

Drian hesitated for a moment but seemed to understand as he quietly nodded.

He appeared to have fallen for it.

I got up making as little noise as possible and went outside with Drian, quietly closing the door.

“…She tends to sleep for quite a while once she falls asleep. Could you make sure no one enters until I return?”

“Yes, let’s do that.”

Drian made eye contact with the maid waiting outside to clean the room.

The maid understood his intent and simply nodded before leaving somewhere.

“Now then, please follow me.”

I followed the butler’s guidance to the reception room where the Marquis was waiting.

The corridor we walked through was lined with portraits larger than people, depicting the past heads of the Marquis’s family and their wives and children.

The last portrait showed a younger-looking Marquis and a noble lady who looked exactly like the painting he had brought to Order headquarters before, holding a baby.

That baby must be Jarkoff.

“…That is Lady Jeanne, who was the Marquis’s wife.” 

The butler said, stopping after noticing my gaze directed at the Marquis’s painting.

“She passed away from illness long ago. While this may be unnecessary concern, please be careful when speaking with the Marquis about this. He loved her very much.”

“Yes.”

I turned my gaze away from the portrait.

Jeanne and Marquis Bluebeard.

Their past was briefly covered in the settings collection.

Like Hilde, Jeanne was a noblewoman who became a hunter, and her talent was great enough that she could have aimed for higher-ranked hunter.

And Marquis Bluebeard, who fell in love with Jeanne at first sight, used every means necessary to make her his wife.

Some of those methods were quite rough and bordered on conspiracy, but their married life itself seemed fine.

Jeanne retired as a hunter and normally became pregnant with her husband’s child.

Although Jarkoff didn’t inherit his mother’s talent, they still loved their child.

But that happiness ended when Jeanne died from an illness.

…More precisely, not an illness but a terrible poison and betrayal.

“Here we are. The Marquis is waiting inside.” 

The butler said as we arrived at the reception room and he stood in front of its door.

As it was a formal place for the Marquis to receive guests, even the door was decorated lavishly with elaborate craftsmanship, gold, and jewels.

But to me, it was a door leading to the lair of a madman who sold his soul to a witch and betrayed humanity.

I straightened my clothes, took a light breath, and nodded to the butler as a signal that I was ready.

The butler knocked on the door, and after a moment it opened.

“Please enter. As I mentioned earlier, the Marquis requested to meet with Mr. Eugene alone. So please be mindful not to be discourteous.”

As I entered the room alone, the butler closed the door.

The reception room was far more luxurious than the waiting room from earlier.

With gold-plated statues, high-end glossy furniture, and carpet as soft as my bedroom mattress covering the floor, it had the feel of a wealthy high noble.

However, the attire of the Marquis sitting there as the room’s master was extremely simple.

“Welcome. I’ve been waiting.” 

Marquis Bluebeard said.

“Thank you for inviting me, Marquis.”

I bowed deeply to him.

“No need to be so formal. I called you here to have a comfortable conversation. Please, have a seat first.”

The Marquis pointed to a chair with gold plating and velvet cushioning.

Despite its soft texture, it felt somehow uncomfortable as it was so luxurious I wasn’t sure if I should sit on it.

“Do you prefer tea? Or coffee?”

“I’ll have coffee… Wait, Marquis?!”

The Marquis personally picked up the coffee pot and poured it into a cup on a tray.

It was something I could never have imagined.

“Ah, it’s fine. Actually, I enjoy preparing refreshments like this. To be honest, I don’t do this in front of others, but you’ll keep it to yourself, right?”

The Marquis spoke casually as he held out the tray with coffee and cookies to me.

“Being a noble is quite tiring, you know. Collecting these gaudy trinkets I have no interest in is just the start – even walking, breathing, and where to direct your gaze all have to follow established etiquette. That’s why I like hunters. There’s not much complicated stuff to consider, compared to nobles.”

The Marquis said this while putting both his legs up on a footstool.

“Of course I won’t tell anyone. But aren’t you being a bit too casual?”

I picked up a cookie and dipped it slightly in the coffee before putting it in my mouth.

I wondered if it might contain poison or drugs.

“I haven’t put anything strange in there.” 

The Marquis said as if seeing through my thoughts.

“If you’d like, we can swap cups. I understand why you’d be suspicious.”

“…You seem to understand well.”

“Of course. So, have you given any thought to what I mentioned?”

“About what?”

“What else – what I talked about at the Heresy Inquisition Department. About being able to meet the dead again.”

“If you’re talking about undead…”

“No, nothing so crude.”

The Marquis leaned toward me and spoke in a serious voice.

“The essence of a human is the soul. Raising an empty shell of a corpse from the grave without a soul is just moving a puppet – a desecration of the deceased. And that black woman you met… she can call back souls. And with a suitable vessel, they can return to life…”

“Wait, wait a moment.”

I had to interrupt the Marquis’s words despite knowing how rude it was.

” Marquis. Why exactly… did she order this? To recruit me?”

“…Hah. I see. Perhaps it’s time for me to place my bet here as well.”

The Marquis drained his remaining coffee in one gulp.

“I’ll be honest. Let’s make a deal.”

“A deal?”

“I’ll bring back your lost comrades. Not as puppets risen from the grave, but with proper consciousness and memories in living bodies.”

I kicked back my chair and stood up.

And glared at the Marquis with all my killing intent.

“Don’t you dare mock them.”

Strategy and true intentions aside, I couldn’t hold back anymore.

The Marquis maintained his calm demeanor despite my emotions and killing intent.

That irritated me so much I even drew up magical power as I stomped on the table.

The table’s legs broke and coffee and cookies scattered across the floor.

“…Well, not too different from what I expected.”

The Marquis gently set down his cup that now had nowhere to go.

“I understand how you feel. I was the same at first.”

Rather, the Marquis looked at me even more warmly.

I felt disgusted at being compared to someone like him.

“When that woman first told me she could resurrect Jeanne, I raged just like you. However…”

The Marquis stood from his seat.

“Your thoughts will change once you see it yourself. Think about this calmly. I, a royal blood responsible for this country’s Order, am going this far for you alone… Don’t you find that a bit strange?”

It was strange.

Of course the Marquis said that to calm me down and continue negotiations, but I was able to become calm for a different reason.

This is your mistake, Marquis.

“…”

I pretended to contemplate for a moment before slumping back into the chair and lowering my hat’s brim to cover my face.

“…Keep talking.”

“Thank you. Then, can I assume you believe what I said about resurrecting the dead?”

“Depends on the deal terms.”

“Deal terms, you say…”

The Marquis also sat back down calmly.

“I’ll be direct. I want to entrust Hilde to you.”

“…What do you mean?”

“I don’t want that child to get hurt. For my son’s sake.”

Why is Jarkoff coming up here?

“That child… likes Hilde. Has for a very long time. He reminds me so much of myself in the past that I couldn’t just stand by.”

“…”

Jarkoff.

Thinking of the tragedy he would face made my mind a bit clearer.

His father betrayed humanity, and whatever the result, a miserable future was set for him.

“Jeanne was also a talented hunter like Hilde. She probably could have become a higher-ranked hunter. But… I selfishly crushed her talent and future. Because I wanted to keep her by my side.”

“Are you telling me to do the same? To crush Hilde’s talent and future to send her to your son’s side?”

“That’s right.”

“…If that’s the case, why not have your son do it himself since he’s your son?”

“That child can’t do it.”

The Marquis said firmly.

“Of course he takes after me, so with a little push he might try something. But deep down that child has the same weakness as Jeanne. At the final critical moment, he won’t be able to be ruthless. Fatal for a noble, and for a man who must win love.”

Yet the story is that the Marquis loved his son just like his dead wife.

Even while employing such twisted and cruel schemes and plots, is this also a father’s way of showing love?

“Actually, that black woman told me to restrain you and bring you to her. I don’t know the exact reason either. But since she demanded it, I had no choice but to comply.”

“…!”

So it was like that after all.

No, of course it would be.

Suddenly a lower-ranked hunter appeared in a secret passage at Spider Castle, broke even Thumbelina’s curse and escaped.

But Bari probably wouldn’t tell the Marquis that much.

“However, I persuaded her. I said I needed you, so rather than being one-sided about it, we should negotiate first. She seemed doubtful but gave me a chance anyway. If not for that, you would have already been dragged to her side on your way to this mansion.”

The Marquis held out his hand to me.

“I think I’ve shown quite a bit of sincerity here… What do you think? Was it enough to change your mind?”

“Well…”

Just then someone knocked on the reception room door and entered.

“Ngh, I’m sure I said not to call me unless it was urgent… Wait a moment.”

The Marquis got up and walked toward the door.

When he opened it, a maid with a troubled expression said something to him.

“…!!”

The Marquis’s demeanor changed drastically.

And I could sense very subtle hostility and agitation directed at me.

The plan must have been discovered.