Chapter 307.
Doomstone responded to Galak’s killing intent by lightly emitting martial aura. The auras of the two strong men clashed and caused a windstorm, and the materials on the desk of the study were scattered.
"It was beyond my expectations that my identity would be exposed. But I also didn’t know that you would be strong enough to penetrate the recognition interference magic engraved by a great madosa so easily." Galak laughed as if he were at a loss.
"Personally, Elder Mirpa’s magic was harder to read,” Doomstone replied.
"Is that so? Well, after the Witch of Pride died, he became lazy. Anyway, I’m ‘Libra’."
"You said ‘Libra’?” Doomstone asked.
Galak nodded. "Yeah. I’m ‘Libra’ now. That’s all you need to know, ‘Chief of the Crow tribe’."
Doomstone nodded in response to being called by the title of ‘chief’, not ‘grandson’. "I see. Then, do you know where you’ve just intruded, ‘Libra’?”
"Of course I know. Isn’t this the study that contains the Demon King’s summons, stolen by a ‘despicable hero?”
Doomstone withdrew his martial aura and emitted killing intent. "Yes. You’re a delinquent who dares to ’intrude’ into the Crow tribe’s territory, ‘Libra’. By the way, for the last few years, we’ve been using the title ‘head of the village’, not ‘chief’; I hope you can call me ‘Village Head’ instead.”
Galak was shocked by Doomstone’s addition. “Village head?! What?! What’s up with that name that seems to lack dignity?!”
"It was chosen to deliberately get rid of dignity and seem more friendly instead," Doomstone explained.
Galak frowned. "I can’t understand kids these days."
"Well, I agree.”
Personally, Doomstone was more attracted to the title ‘Fire Shadow,’ which his youngest son had recommended. However, since Hestia managed most of the village’s administration, her opinion couldn’t be ignored.
"So, can ’Libra’, an unauthorized intruder, be considered as someone who ‘harmed’ the innocent villagers to ‘intrude’?” Doomstone asked.
Galak nodded. "Well, I had to do that. Although the security was worse than expected.”
Galak had been determined to kill the guards and break through, so of course, the security of the village had been too poor to stop him. This was because Doomstone had intentionally withdrawn troops from the village to chase Den.
"They happened to have something to do,” Doomstone said. He was obligated to protect the villagers as the village’s leader. If Galak had really killed the guards, he was planning on killing Galak without hesitation.
"It was good for me. Well, there’s no one outside who has the guts to come all the way here, so just giving them a lesson was enough." Galak scratched the back of his head, putting the book he was holding back into the bookshelf while asking, "But what I left behind... No. Where’s the Demon King summons that the ‘despicable hero’ left? I’m sure they were hidden here so no one could find them.”
Doomstone let out a strained laugh. "Oh, that. I used it as firewood to make roasted sweet potatoes.” He didn’t bring up Den, judging that there was no need to prod and make it worse.
Galak thought he had misunderstood Doomstone’s answer. "...What?"
"I used it to roast sweet potatoes,” Doomstone answered firmly.
Galak shouted, "Hey, you crazy punk! Do you even know what that was?! Do you know how precious the historical value and magic knowledge contained in that are?!”
"So grandpa—hmm!—‘Libra’ seems to know it well? But I’m ignorant,” Doomstone remarked.
"Hmm, if you were me, you’d know that very well. I’m sure you’d know it so well that you’d foam at the mouth and faint.” Galak sighed after saying a little too much. "This is difficult. Should I hope that there’s still a copy of ‘The End of the Holy Tribe’ somewhere in the world?" he complained.
Doomstone asked, "Why are you looking for the Demon King summons? Are you trying to summon the Demon King?”
Galak smiled bitterly at the question. "Right. Because I’m ‘Libra’."
At Galak’s answer, Doomstone sincerely asked, "Then why does Grandfather, not ‘Libra’, want to summon the Demon King again? When I was young, didn’t Grandfather always say that the Demon King was terrible?"
"Yeah. The Demon King was terrible. It would be no exaggeration to call him the embodiment of despair itself."
"Then why?" Doomstone couldn’t understand. Why would Galak, a hero who had won the battle with the Demon King, want that? He has no reason to call the Demon King back into the world.
Galak smiled at his grandson’s question and said, "There’s only one thing I can say as an answer: There’s no need for you to know, my grandson." He then sharpened his aura again and flew out of the window. "If you don’t have the Demon King summons, there’s no reason to be here! I, ‘Libra’, am leaving now!”
Doomstone approached the window and searched for Galak, who had jumped off the second floor. However, Galak had already concealed himself. "’Libra’, huh. Is it related to what Father and Talaria are doing?" he mused.
Doomstone lifted an empty sheet of paper and a pen that had been scattered on the ground, thinking that many things seemed to have happened without his knowledge. "It’s been a while since I wrote a letter."
* * *
I was surprised by my father’s story. "Then the reason why there were so many pursuers chasing me wasn’t because my sister persuaded you, but because of Father’s instincts?” I asked.
"Right. If a tribesman had been harmed there, we would have had a fight in the middle of the village, but think about it. If my grandfather and I had fought..." my father said.
In response, I stuck my tongue out.
"...The village would have been completely destroyed,” my father finished.
No, it might have been on the level of having ‘completely disappeared’, not just having been ‘completely destroyed’. The buildings could be rebuilt quickly, but it wouldn’t be easy to remake the mana stabilizing magic circle and the protective magic circle surrounding the village.
Of course, it wasn’t impossible; there was Elder Mirpa, a great madosa, along with some of my seniors who were madosas. However, Olympus Forest wasn’t called a hell for magicians for nothing.
"I did what my instincts told me to do to minimize the damage to the village,” my father said confidently.
I smiled bitterly. "I don’t know if I should be thankful that I was able to run away safely, or sad because I had a hard time."
Even though my father hadn’t come to catch me, it had been quite dangerous. It had been a terrible situation, in which 1,500 elites of our tribe had rushed at me.
"Well, I never thought they’d lose you when I mobilized 1,500 people. As expected, I have a good eye for people."
Despite saying he hadn’t thought I could really escape, my father was still boasting about his good judgement in naming me as his successor.
"That’s because even though I learned the Crow tribe’s martial arts, I’m still a magician and I can’t do my best in Olympus Forest,” I said.
In Olympus Forest, I could barely catch a dragon by using all kinds of expedients. It was natural to think that a group of professional hunters who had caught dozens of dragons would catch me in pursuit.
Hestia noona smiled self-deprecatingly. "To be honest, it’s my fault that we lost you. I should have predicted your movements better." Even though she said it that way, she seemed a little upset.
If one really observed her carefully, Hestia noona was a very proud person. When we were young, she was so competitive she shed tears when I beat her at northern-style chess.
"What’s the point of talking about the past? Don’t pay it any mind,” our father said. Hestia nodded, dissatisfied.
"So when did Grandfather Galak steal from the sacred place?” I asked.
My father stroked his chin and recalled the past. "So..."
* * *
Three years ago...
In the end, Doomstone, who had heard that Den succeeded in running away from home, ended the matter by spanking his two sons who had been leading the chase. He then decided to send his youngest daughter Leisha, Den’s friend, and a diplomat after Den; he also assigned the vice captain of the warrior force to escort them.
"Heheheh, that’s good!" Mirpa laughed joyfully when she heard the news that Den had successfully ran away from home.
"What do you mean?" Doomstone couldn’t understand Mirpa’s words. The successor of the tribe’s leadership had just left on a whim. He had run away from home too, but at the time, he had still been an ordinary tribe member. That was entirely different from Den running away, at least in terms of importance.
"Den is inexperienced. Besides, I haven’t seen his limits yet. As a teacher, broadening the disciple’s knowledge is welcome, so it’s good."
"Really?" Doomstone was still unhappy that Den had run away.
"Yeah. I hope by the next time we meet, he’ll have enough experience to be acknowledged as a great madosa by anyone.” Mirpa smiled happily. "So, what do you need to consult me about?"
Doomstone took out a letter. "It’s a letter from Talaria, who’s taking care of Father outside. If you look inside, it talks about a group called the Twelve Zodiacs and a person named Libra."
Mirpa looked at the letter. "That rogue, your grandfather, Galak, is the head of the organization under the name of Sagittarius."
Doomstone talked about what had happened a few days ago. Mirpa got angry when she heard the whole story. "Rascal! You looked at a precious magic document like the Demon King summons by yourself, then made roasted sweet potatoes with it?!"
"The roasted sweet potato lady also enjoyed it."
"That’s what I’m saying! Ugh! Imagine what vast amounts of black magic and necromancy must have been written there!”
Looking at the disappointed Mirpa, Doomstone waved his hand. "That’s not the thing I wanted to consult about."
"I know. I’m sure it’s about why Galak, that rogue, introduced himself as ’Libra’. It’s simple. He’s asking you to destroy the demon king worshippers instead of him, under the pretext of retaliation for him daring to invade your territory."
Doomstone couldn’t understand Mirpa’s words. "He’s asking me to destroy the demon king worshippers? Even though they’re on the same side?”
"It’s because they’re on the same side that he can’t do it himself, which is why he’s trying to provoke you into doing it."
Doomstone still couldn’t understand. "How come?"
"That I don’t know either," Mirpa answered roughly, still feeling regretful about the Demon King summons that had been burned away. Doomstone sighed and got up.
"Where are you going?" Mirpa asked.
"I’m going to visit the holy place for a moment. I still have the bad feeling I’ve had for the last few days.” As he said that, Doomstone called his two sons over. The road to the holy place was rough and it was some distance away, so he had to move briskly.
"What kind of instinct does the Blade family have, to the point that it borders on foresight?" Mirpa muttered, looking at the door as Doomstone stormed out and saying to herself that it was a good subject for research.
The day after, Doomstone led Gallahad and Gawain to the holy place. Leisha, Mac, and Lancelot left the village to chase after Den.
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