Leash
Inside a carriage heading from the northeast to the east, Darhan Bridend was in an unpleasant mood.
Even though he had eliminated the troublesome obstacle that was Grand Duke Gwendhill, he still couldn’t fully savor the taste of power.
‘Why now of all times?’
The timing of the Tower Master’s appearance, coinciding with Grand Duke Gwendhill’s absence, was extremely bothersome—someone who had remained quietly within the Magic Tower without any presence until now.
Just when the noble faction needed to step forward, control public opinion within the empire, and lead the atmosphere, the Tower Master’s existence was disrupting everything.
Particularly recently, the Tower Master’s actions had become a hot topic in social circles.
—I heard the Magic Tower demanded a mountain bordering the northeast frontier as compensation for their alliance!
The mountain the Tower Master had requested was publicly known as nothing more than an ordinary mountain.
There was rampant speculation about the Tower Master’s seemingly random intentions.
—Why a mountain of all things?
—Wouldn’t it be better to ask for land conquered in the Great War?
—Mountains bordering the frontier are originally impossible to own privately, yet they’re handing it over to someone who isn’t even an imperial citizen?
The prevailing atmosphere was one of wondering what on earth His Majesty the Emperor was thinking when he approved this.
Moreover, since it had passed through the noble council without much objection, the nobles couldn’t help but take interest in the Tower Master’s actions.
Soon, it became known that there was an unregistered, hidden village on the mountain the Tower Master had received as compensation.
—Did you hear? There was an enormous treasure on the Tower Master’s mountain!
—Hohohoho, I heard His Majesty the Emperor clutched the back of his neck when he found out!
—The person responsible for failing to register the village in between also received severe punishment.
Various stories circulated and rumors swelled about the treasure the Tower Master had successfully claimed.
Among them, what most caught the nobles’ attention was the secretly existing hidden village.
The combination of the treasure the Tower Master had claimed and the unregistered hidden village was far too suspicious to be mere coincidence.
When the nobles’ curiosity reached its peak, Darhan Bridend finally stepped forward before them.
—However, I heard there’s an epidemic spreading in that village.
Darhan Bridend was not one to crumble just because his plans had gone awry.
Just because his weapon had been taken didn’t mean his hands and feet were completely tied.
—How bewildered must the Tower Master be, having come to shelter ordinary commoners who aren’t even mages? As experienced ones, let’s step forward and lighten his burden.
At the suggestion, nuanced to form good relations with the Tower Master while taking this opportunity, the nobles unanimously agreed without exception.
Darhan had prepared the former doctor from the hidden village, who had fled early on.
—Go back.
—Ye-yes? B-but if I go back, the residents won’t leave me alone…
—I shall personally help with your tearful grievance. Go.
They would have resolved the mana poisoning symptoms, but the Tower Master couldn’t refuse the nobles’ visit to the village. Even if he could refuse the goodwill of nobles who came to help, he would have to reciprocate.
Then the village would become chaotic with its first guests, and there would surely be an opening at that time.
—Secure the ‘Hwanyeongcho’ first.
Darhan firmly instructed his subordinates about their priorities.
The purple poison herb was currently the most important ingredient to Darhan, important enough to endure all this trouble.
—A Magic Tower and a mercenary group.
It was a perfect combination to become the subject of gossip.
Moreover, they were prey that was easy for Darhan to handle.
He couldn’t touch the land grant that had already been accomplished with the Emperor’s backing.
But what about the ‘people’ who were full of weaknesses and loopholes?
—When they escaped from my grasp, they should have prepared themselves.
A beast that dared to be ungrateful and lick another master’s hand naturally had to have its belly split open.
Wasn’t it because they had full bellies that they harbored other thoughts?
Darhan’s eyes gleamed.
—If they had accepted their fate and died, they wouldn’t have seen such a terrible end.
If they had been moderately stupid, used and abandoned to death, they could have died peacefully without tasting false hope.
Darhan sincerely pitied their foolishness as he rose to his feet.
Until this point, Darhan had been certain.
That there was ‘still’ room to wedge between the Tower Master and the village.
[Ah, so that’s what the Marquis is thinking.]
The Tower Master they finally faced saw through Darhan’s intentions as before and smiled broadly.
[That I, the Tower Master, will gather new forces within the empire and eventually cause a civil war—is that the ‘misunderstanding’ I’ll receive?]
[Of course, I don’t have such a ‘misunderstanding,’ but as you know, ‘misunderstandings’ start from small doubts, don’t they?]
Representing the nobles, Darhan remembered the Tower Master’s attitude last time when he had the Emperor as his backing.
Just like the Tower Master had been then, Darhan was arrogant and copied even the detestable expression exactly.
[A small-scale mercenary group, and this small village that has come under my protection as Tower Master—you find this suspicious…]
The Tower Master didn’t particularly hide his scorn even in front of the nobles.
[To be trembling like this just because Grand Duke Gwendhill is gone.]
[…!]
Just one sentence.
The Tower Master summarized and despised Darhan’s vile intentions in just one sentence.
[His Majesty the Emperor has many worries. Since pure cowards are whining just because one sturdy shield has disappeared, he’s deeply concerned about the empire’s future.]
[…Tower Master, are you insulting all of us nobles right now?]
It wasn’t easy to maintain his composure.
To avoid falling for the Tower Master’s worthless word games, Darhan endured by recalling all the humiliation up to now.
[If you continue in this manner—]
[Ah, is this ‘insult’ and not ‘misunderstanding’?]
The Tower Master lightly snapped his fingers and made sure every noble who had visited the village could hear clearly.
[Are you afraid of the Magic Tower’s power now that you’ve served your purpose? Then just stay still. Don’t test me like this.]
Then the Tower Master cast a soundproofing spell and gave Darhan a fresh eye-smile.
[Since I have the grace of creating a foundation for the residents here, I’ll stay quiet for a while.]
Whether Darhan spread rumors about Sedipia Village to his taste, or spread slander and scandals about the Tower Master, with generous magnanimity, he would cutely overlook it for a while—that’s what it meant.
At this moment, Darhan had an intuition.
That since he had removed Grand Duke Gwendhill from his path ahead, an even worse bastard had appeared.
[There are so many secrets you’ve hidden here, Marquis. I’m quite busy, you see.]
The Tower Master winked as if to provoke him.
At that moment, Darhan felt an indescribable sense of foreboding and had a premonition that his purpose for coming to the village had already been discovered.
[…I don’t know what you’re talking about.]
When Darhan pretended not to know and desperately crafted a leisurely smile, the Tower Master shrugged his shoulders.
Judging that there would be no particular gain from dealing with him, Darhan rose from his seat first.
[Since the village appears to have no particular problems, unlike what I heard, I’ll take my leave now.]
To avoid looking like he was fleeing, Darhan turned around with elegant movements while holding his walking stick.
Leaving behind the Tower Master’s common farewell, Darhan called for the former doctor.
[What happened with the ‘Hwanyeongcho’?]
[Ah, yes. There were no particular changes. The mages still see it as wildflowers, and the residents don’t seem interested in harmless poison herbs.]
Had his premonition been wrong?
[How did the recovery go?]
[Mages and mercenaries were scattered throughout the village, so we couldn’t recover a large amount.]
Still, at the report that they had at least recovered the amount immediately needed, Darhan felt relieved, yet couldn’t shake off a subtle uneasiness.
[You remain in this village and continue to manage the ‘Hwanyeongcho’. Keep watching to see if there’s anything suspicious, if anyone notices.]
[Ye-yes? A-alone?]
Naturally, he had attached one useful subordinate as an assistant to the unreliable former doctor.
Yet the Tower Master’s smile still bothered him.
It felt like something solid was stuck in his throat, not going down—not a thorn, but as if a nail had been driven in.
“Thinking about it, it was ambiguous.”
Darhan still felt more hostility than goodwill toward the Tower Master, but his attitude had changed quite a bit from last time when he had been filled with pure hostility.
He still didn’t show any signs of being conscious of Darhan, the leader of the noble faction, but seemed to be trying to maintain certain boundaries.
“The enormous mana hidden underground—did he get everything he wanted by obtaining just that one thing?”
The Tower Master’s intentions were still unknowable and suspicious, but he couldn’t just keep being helplessly dragged around.
Darhan smiled coldly as if the frustrated face he had shown the Tower Master had been an act.
“Marquis, we’ve arrived.”
The destination the carriage reached was the Chelonar County territory, which had established countless academies from the east to the northeast and maintained a long history.
“It’s been a while, Marquis Bridend.”
Count Chelonar, whose blue hair color stood out, welcomed Darhan.
Even at the sudden visit, there was no sign of awkwardness from the Count.
True to being the leader of the neutral faction, his expression management was commendable. For that very reason, he was someone who should exit early from the game Darhan had set up.
“It’s been a while, Count Chelonar.”
Darhan, holding his walking stick and only nodding his head, made a snake-like smile.
It was fine even if the purple poison herb had been discovered by the Tower Master.
With the Magic Tower’s capabilities, they wouldn’t be able to figure out the herb’s use and effects. Even if they were lucky enough to extract the poison, how would they prove its effects?
‘Unless they dabble in forbidden magic.’
For Darhan, the purple poison herb was the best assassination weapon that left no evidence.
“Your daughter is five years old, I believe? So I brought a cake as a visiting gift.”
“…Thank you for even thinking of my daughter, Marquis. Please come inside.”
After confirming the Count’s butler receiving the cake box, Darhan moved along with Count Chelonar.
Just then, the five-year-old young miss of Count Chelonar came running.
“Papa!”
“Eril, you’ll fall if you do that.”
Count Chelonar lifted his daughter into his arms.
The child’s large eyes turned toward Darhan.
“Papa. Who is it?”
“Eril, that’s rude. This is…”
“It’s fine. She looks quite clever, resembling the Count. Well, Young Lady Eril, do you like cake?”
Darhan wore a kind mask and held an affectionate smile.
For a moment, anxiety flashed in Count Chelonar’s eyes, but Eril nodded her head with a beaming smile.
“I’m glad I bought the biggest one.”
Eril’s eyes sparkled when she saw the cake Darhan had brought as a visiting gift.
Darhan smiled pleasantly, recalling the empty bottle in his pocket.
The five-year-old child before his eyes was the precious only daughter Count Chelonar had barely obtained, and she would become a perfect weakness and leash.
****
Thanks to the hot stones Ren had brought, warm air quickly spread through the damp cave.
After filling their stomachs with the food supplies brought from Sedipia Village, Sharti dozed off drowsily.
Ren wrapped her snugly in a blanket, then secretly went outside the cave again to bring heated stones. As Sharti fell into deep sleep in the warmest bed she’d had in a while, Ren quietly moved.
“…”
Ren lay on his side next to Sharti, resting his arm as a pillow, blankly gazing at her clear face.
Her face was so white that her wheat-colored hair, which belonged to the lighter side, looked darker in comparison.
As he quietly examined her face without a single burn scar, Ren’s fingers kept twitching.
‘I want to touch her…’
But just when he couldn’t even extend his hand for fear Sharti might wake up.
“…Ren…”
Even knowing it was sleep-talking, at the moment Ren was startled by Sharti’s call, a smile spread across her lips.
“…I like you…”
“…!”
As if attacked unexpectedly, Ren abruptly stood up and went outside the cave.
Thus, Ren spent a long time crouched in front of the campfire, diligently poking at stones with kindling.
If he returned like this, it seemed certain Sharti would wake up from the sound of his heartbeat.