Tick-tock. Tick-tock.
Only the sound of the clock’s hands moving echoed through the corridor, accompanied by the somewhat heavy footsteps of someone passing by.
Among the attendants tidying up the corridor, there was no one to stop those violent and unaristocratic footsteps.
It wasn’t because the one making the noise was someone they had to serve.
While it was true that the culprit of the disturbance was their little master, the attendants likely wouldn’t have cared even if it weren’t.
Their eyes, focused on their repetitive tasks, didn’t register the small master’s violent steps at all.
Thus, the small master, in a show of his presence, arrived in front of the room where the lord of the mansion resided.
No matter how much of the family’s sole heir he was, he should have maintained decorum toward the current head of the household, yet the little master did not.
He barged in, slamming the door behind him with a loud bang!
“Isn’t it a bit too noisy for the Duke to be sleeping?”
The one who admonished the little master was not the Duke of Barrow.
Just moments before, he had been presenting himself in an honorable manner, but he had since fallen into a deep sleep, breathing comfortably.
The warning came from a man dressed entirely in black, from head to toe, standing next to the Duke.
The man’s fierce gaze was threatening enough to instill fear in anyone, but the little master showed no signs of being scared.
“Is he still not waking up?”
Instead, he merely replied lightly and took a seat at a nearby spot.
“Well, that’s true.”
Despite his exceedingly rude demeanor, the man merely wore a displeased smile without any complaints.
“So, how was it? Your friends you met after a long time?”
“Friends? Did a friend come today?”
“Then let me rephrase. How about your enemies?”
The little master, Jackal Barrow, recalled those he had met today upon hearing the man’s question.
The Saintess. Lady Patran. The Third Prince Soladin. An unnamed little brat. And the damn lady of the Alrn family.
These were all beings Jackal had harbored jealousy and inferiority toward in the past.
“They’ve all grown much stronger than before. Especially that damn Lucy Alrn. What the hell is mixed in the blood of the Alrn family?”
It was clear that they had continuously trained without overestimating their own talents.
None of them could be compared to how they were before the vacation.
Particularly, the human known as Lucy Alrn was extreme. That girl, who was already strong enough before the vacation, now seemed to be overwhelming him with her sheer will.
“Ha. I can’t help but agree. The divinity she possesses has surpassed that of many paladins in the central region. Truly, she is favored by the Divine.”
“It’s not something to admire.”
“No, it is something to admire. The brighter the light of your opponent, the darker the shadow you will feel when it dims.”
The thrill you would gain from defeating them would be the same.
Jackal bit his lip at the man’s words.
He had thought since their first meeting that the man had a tendency to speak too much.
Jackal first met that ominous man shortly after the final exams at the academy.
Erasing rest. Erasing sleep. Erasing meals.
After sacrificing everything for the exam, he succeeded in achieving a higher score than before, yet his rank had dropped.
As he faced the reality of being buried in darkness while Lucy Alrn continued to shine, despair enveloped him.
He was aimlessly walking down a dark street when the man approached him.
With grand promises of granting his wishes.
“To grant wishes? Ha. Then make me an omnipotent god.”
Initially, Jackal dismissed his words as utter nonsense.
“No. Your wish isn’t like that.”
There was something indescribable within the man’s words.
“You resent the mansion that has bound you since the day your brother died, yet you, the prince of the Barrow family, are more bound to that time than anyone.”
“...You.”
“Don’t you wish to reclaim the lost time of your family? And reclaim your own time?”
“...”
“The preparations for the mansion are almost complete. In a month or two, we will be able to step outside and move about properly.”
Jackal’s recollections faded with the man’s voice. Returning from the past to reality, he gazed at the man, who wore his usual unpleasant smile.
“Look forward to it. Everything you wish for will be realized at that time.”
The clock behind him ticked, but it seemed to be stuck, going around in circles.
The dark evil god, huh.
Crossing my arms, I pondered.
It would be impossible for the dark evil god himself to have already resurrected.
That guy belonged to the powerful category among evil gods. Given the vast amount of power he originally possessed, it would take a long time to recover.
Moreover, Nakrad, who was supposed to help with that resurrection, had only been goofing off during the first semester at the academy and then fled, so there’s no way he could resurrect any faster than in the game.
This meant that the one active in the Barrow family mansion would be Nakrad, the apostle of the evil god, who had disappeared from the vicinity of the academy.
How had he manipulated the Duke of Barrow?
During the first semester at the academy, I had tussled with Nakrad and had a rough idea of the extent of his powers.
He was certainly strong, but not strong enough to be considered among the strongest.
Just look at how he was repelled by the alliance of Cal and Alsetin. No matter how much I had forced him into a disadvantageous battle, losing to those two marked his limits.
Moreover, how could he, who had likely lost most of his power after being beaten by the old man, have influenced the Duke of Barrow?
While it was difficult to comprehend with my common sense, reality was what it was. The source of the anomalies had been claimed by that pathetic god.
“It’s not precise. I just felt that way for a moment. If Lady feels differently, then that’s probably correct.”
I continued to ponder, and Faybi, who seemed restless, added more words.
Why was she looking at me, as if she were waiting for my reaction, even though she had already given the answer?
Was it because I was the pathetic god's apostle?
Did she think I was testing her because I was the one receiving divine revelations?
“No, Faybi. What you said is correct.”
“When did I ever say something wrong? Why are you acting like you need to gauge my reaction after stating the answer? It’s this lack of confidence that makes you call me a pathetic saintess. You pathetic saintess.”
“Was... it correct?”
“Even so.”
“Why? Should I say you were wrong? Do you want to hear that you’re a pathetic and incompetent saintess? Did you think you were just pathetic, but instead turned out to be a twisted pervert with peculiar tastes?”
“...N-No! That’s not it! I mean, that’s...”
Hearing myself called a pervert, I let Faybi flail her arms wildly while I continued my thoughts.
There was no way that obnoxious fellow had dealt with the Duke of Barrow through orthodox means. He wouldn’t have the capability to do that.
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This meant he had committed some shady deeds akin to his god.
I closed my eyes and recalled various scenarios from the game.
Many scenarios related to the dark evil god. Among them, I sought one that resembled the current situation of the Barrow family.
The method used by the apostle of the evil god to devour an opponent much stronger than himself.
The scenario of the Beol mansion.
No, at that time, the evil god’s seal was already lifted. I needed to think of a time when Nakrad’s powers were nearly nonexistent.
The scenario of dominating the strong-dungeon.
This one too. The boss was strong but had a severe lack of intellect. Moreover, his unwavering trust in his subordinates made him easy to deceive.
Not this one either.
Not that one.
As I marked each line in my mental notebook with an X, one scenario captured my attention.
To be precise, it wasn’t a quest scenario. It was merely a booklet explaining one of the many atrocities committed by the dark evil god.
However, the content written there aligned quite closely with the current situation.
To the south, far from the Soul Academy. The forest where the Spirit Queen resides.
The method the dark evil god used to devour the spirits there was utilizing the secrecy of his own aura.
He contaminated the underground water flowing beneath the Spirit Forest with his aura through his insiders. Through that, he gradually made the entire forest his own.
No matter how powerful the Spirit Queen was, there would be limits when faced with the countless spirits that served as the source of her power and her own forest being corrupted.
Thus, the dark evil god successfully devoured the Spirit Queen without suffering significant damage.
Now, I would apply that anecdote directly to the Barrow mansion.
From Nakrad's perspective, this wouldn’t be too difficult.
If he were to taint the drinking water in the mansion or contaminate the food supplies, it would be enough.
While it would be a hassle to infiltrate, he had insiders.
The aura possessed by the dark evil god was so subtle that even the old man wouldn’t be able to detect it. No matter how many talented people the Barrow family had, it would be impossible to find it.
Why did the Duke of Barrow fall ill?
This could be easily explained. Because the Duke of Barrow was a strong person. Strong enough to resist desperately while the evil god’s aura spread.
“Lady! I absolutely did not harbor such malicious intentions!”
I pulled myself out of my thoughts and posed a question to the still-red-faced Faybi.
Did she perhaps feel something strange in the Barrow mansion? Even the smallest detail would suffice for her to answer.
For a moment, she seemed unable to shake off her agitation and stumbled over her words, but soon, she provided a proper response.
“After parting from the Barrow Prince and making my way outside the mansion, I felt an odd sense of discomfort.”
Had she become sensitive to the evil god’s aura after feeling it from the inferior prince?
Faybi discovered subtle discomfort in places she had thought were fine before.
From the attendants of the mansion. From various ornaments in the mansion. And from the clock in the mansion.
What her words clearly indicated was that the Barrow family’s mansion had already been infested by the evil god’s aura.
To put it simply.
That place had already become a dungeon.
A dungeon that I did not know about.
One that existed only in this world.
A dungeon completed by Nakrad and Jackal.