ALL NOVEL
Chapter 54
[Translator – Kie]
Chapter 54
“Da…Damien!”
Sofia rushed towards Damien.
“I…I’m glad we met so quickly. There’s no one else I can rely on but you.”
Fear filled Sofia’s face as she trembled, speaking to Damien.
“When Jackson… or, no, when Jackson Cutter starts interrogating in the auditorium, I’ll surely be taken as well.”
No one in this place had a deeper connection with Jackson Cutter than Sofia Russell.
There was no way Damien could leave Sofia alone in the auditorium.
“B…but I’m innocent. I didn’t know anything. I…I only found out about that bracelet from Jackson Cutter!”
Sofia clung to Damien’s arm.
“You’re the only one who can help me. Please, protect me. I’m begging you.”
“Why should I help you?”
Damien couldn’t understand at all.
Not only did Sofia unilaterally declare a breakup with Damien, but she also insulted the Haksen household in the process.
Now, the two of them had a worse relationship than others. How could she so easily ask for help?
“I-I’ll make your wish come true if you help me!”
“My wish?”
Sofia swallowed nervously. A slow smile appeared on her previously anxious face.
“I’ll become your woman again.”
Sofia confidently stated with a face full of assurance.
Sofia was convinced that he would definitely accept her proposal.
“I don’t need that.”
Damien said with a puzzled expression. In response, Sofia sighed deeply and scolded Damien.
“Damien… No matter how angry you are, you should at least pretend to give in when a woman comes in with her head down. There’s a charm in acting like you’re losing when a woman approaches like this.”
“What are you talking about right now…”
“Fine, I get it. I’ll apologize again. I was completely wrong. So, please stop being angry and accept me now.”
After his regression, Damien felt his mouth shut for the first time.
At the same time, he was infuriated by Sofia’s unchanged attitude in this situation.
“Damien, I know everything. You still want me. So, when you first saw me, you were pretending not to know, right? To grab my attention.”
Sofia said with a confident tone.
“You kept giving up Olivia’s seat to Abel because of me. You may have tried to hide it, but I noticed it a long time ago…”
“It’s so absurd that I don’t even know where to start clarifying the misunderstanding.”
Damien said with a cold tone.
“You’re still not over it? How much do I have to apologize…” Sofia said smugly
“No, I don’t need anything. I don’t need you. I have no interest at all.”
Damien cut her off abruptly.
“I’m begging you, stop talking nonsense and just leave in front of my eyes.”
“D-Damien…”
“If you dare to defy my warning and appear in front of me again, spouting such nonsense, I’ll cut off your tongue.”
To clearly convey his intention, Damien even brought up a threat.
Sofia’s complexion turned pale.
“Understood. I’ll leave now.”
***
Damien passed by Sofia.
She stood like a statue, not even considering stopping Damien.
Damien headed to the martial arts training hall with Olivia.
It was to meet the knights remaining in the martial arts training hall.
But something was off.
The atmosphere among the knights gathered in the martial arts training hall was incredibly grim.
“Damien, you’ve returned.”
Knight Thomas spoke with a heavy face, addressing Damien.
“We lost Jacques Noiré.”
“Is that really true?”
“He was hiding his true skill. And because he used another dark magic tool…”
Thomas said with frustration. Losing the heretic in front of him had clearly angered him.
“Jacques Noiré… He was indeed a formidable skillful person, as the rumors say.”
Damien said with a stern face.
But contrary to his expression, Damien wasn’t particularly surprised.
‘He escaped after all.’
Damien predicted this would happen from the moment he first saw Thomas.
Compared to Jacques Noiré, Thomas’s skill was insufficient.
Perhaps if Jacques Noiré had the intention, he could have easily killed Thomas.
‘But killing a knight of the Church would bring even greater repercussions.’
A situation where he couldn’t kill the enemy, nor let them live.
In that case, escaping was the only option.
‘I did well to place the mark in advance.’
Last night, after sending Victor to the city, Damien went to Jacques Noiré’s residence.
Remembering Jacques Noiré’s magical power, it wasn’t difficult.
Deceiving the senses of a mid-class being was also a simple task for Damien.
In Jacques Noiré’s lodging, Damien discreetly drew a mark that allowed him to locate the position of his clothes while he slept.
“Knight Thomas, don’t be too disheartened. With the help of the gods, you will have another chance to catch Jacques Noiré.”
Damien comforted Thomas. Thomas looked at Damien with a face full of emotion.
“Damien, even in such a situation, you never lose faith. Indeed, as Lady Agnes says, you are truly the pride of the knights!”
Damien distanced himself from Thomas slightly.
These fanatics were still as unsettling as ever.
From the next day, the martial arts training hall became noisy.
The latecomers from the Church began investigating all the nobles in the martial arts training hall.
“Hey! I have nothing to do with a guy named Jackson Cutter!”
“Do you know how much tithe I give to the Church every year? I can’t tolerate this treatment!”
The nobles protested, but it didn’t matter.
The Church interrogated each noble one by one.
Fortunately, since Jackson Cutter didn’t actively interact with others, the investigation for the nobles was quickly resolved.
“Speak. Who gave you this bracelet?”
“J-Jacques Noiré! Jacques Noiré gave it to me! He said that with this, I can, I can kill Damien Haksen… ugh!”
“He tried to kill Damien? Was there someone else involved in the plan?”
“E-Earl Copperhead! Earl Copperhead was also involved!”
The person directly involved in the incident, Jackson Cutter, was interrogated by the inquisitor himself.
The interrogation by the Church’s inquisitors was particularly infamous for its cruelty. Rumors circulated widely that torture methods evolved each year to extract all desired information.
Even during mealtime and bedtime, Jackson Cutter’s screams never ceased. The inquisitors only stopped questioning after hearing every trivial secret of Jackson Cutter.
Next, the inquisitors summoned Sofia Russell and Earl Copperhead.
“Ah, Your Lordship is innocent. It’s true that I tried to kill him, but I had no knowledge of dark magic.”
Damien defended the Earl as promised. Despite speaking, Damien was somewhat worried. He knew how relentless the inquisitors could be.
“Understood. I will only summon Sofia Russell.”
“…Um, do you believe what I’m saying?”
“Of course. How much has Damien contributed to the Church?”
The inquisitors easily believed Damien’s words, leading only Sofia away.
“I-I really don’t know! He never told me anything!”
Sofia Russell asserted her innocence, but the inquisitors didn’t believe her at all. They judged that, as Jackson Cutter’s lover, she must be hiding many things.
Not long after Sofia was taken, a sharp, piercing scream erupted, tearing through the air.
A week passed before the Church concluded its investigation. The Church declared that there were no suspects other than Jackson Cutter.
Only then could the nobles be released from the martial arts training hall, though the martial arts competition had not yet concluded. The procession of nobles returning to their territories stretched long.
“Are you also leaving, Sir Damien?”
Like other nobles, Damien was also preparing to return as the heir of the Viscount Haksen. However, Thomas and the knights came to Damien.
“Yes, we would like to meet your family as they must be worried.”
“Well… I recommend staying a bit longer.”
Thomas spoke with a worried expression.
“Jacques Noiré might be targeting you, Sir Damien.”
Damien was the one who brought the Church to the martial arts training hall. There was a high chance that Jacques Noiré held a grudge against him.
“We are currently issuing a wanted notice for Jacques Noiré. Until his whereabouts are confirmed, would it be possible for you to stay here?”
Although it was appreciative that they cared, Damien had no intention of accepting the proposal. With his skills, he could easily handle Jacques Noiré. Moreover, he hoped Jacques Noiré would come looking for him.
Above all, traveling with bothersome knights was something he wanted to avoid at all costs.
“Thank you for your offer, but I’ll decline. It wouldn’t be right for Sir Thomas to be hindered because of me.”
As a second-class knight, Thomas was an uncommon force within the Church. He had many tasks and responsibilities.
“Besides, the great one in the heavens is watching over me. How could such a special person harm me?”
Perhaps moved by Damien’s words, Thomas quietly made the sign of the cross.
“Above all, since the Church has issued a wanted order, Jacques Noiré is likely too frantic to target me.”
“Sir Damien, still, if it’s just for a few days…”
Damien repeatedly rejected Thomas’s words. In the end, Thomas had no choice but to give up on his request.
Damien set out as a representative for the Haksen estate. Unlike when he arrived, there was one more person in the party on the way back – Olivia Copperhead.
“I didn’t expect to go to Haksen as a member of the estate so quickly.”
“I… I didn’t either. I never thought I’d introduce Olivia Copperhead to my parents so soon…”
Beside Abel, Olivia Copperhead sat. Olivia had already gained the approval of her father, the Earl. Therefore, rather than staying at the Earl’s estate for no reason, she chose to leave with Abel.
“But how long are you going to use honorifics? You can speak comfortably now.”
Olivia said with a chubby face. Abel hesitated for a moment before responding.
“Um, Olivia.”
“Good. From now on, please speak to me comfortably like that.”
Damien, sitting across from them, looked at the two with an annoyed expression. Although he hoped they would get along, he had no intention of willingly accepting their excessive affection.
Damien stood up.
“Where are you going, sir?”
“Outside. Have fun together.”
Damien opened the window, climbed onto the roof of the carriage, and looked at the two from above. Victor, who was on the coachman’s seat, asked with a puzzled face.
“Young master, is anything uncomfortable?”
“No, there isn’t. Just drive the carriage well.”
Damien opened a dimensional space with his hand, pulling out an item. It was the heart of a spirit, the prize for winning the martial arts competition.
Due to the complex turn of events, the award ceremony did not take place. However, as promised by the Earl, Damien was declared the winner of the martial arts competition.
Therefore, Damien received the prize from him.
“Absorbing this is also considered a task.”
Thinking of the spirit’s heart as a solidified stone was convenient. Without melting it, absorption was impossible. From now on, Damien had to stimulate the spirit’s heart with his own magic to melt the spirit power.
It was not an easy task even for someone of Damien’s ability. However, the reward was certain.
If he could absorb the spirit power, he would gain not only magic power but also the power of the spirit.
“Spirit power…”
Spirits were extremely powerful beings. They possessed countless abilities.
“Many elves absorbed the heart of a spirit to gain its characteristics.”
By absorbing the heart of a wind spirit, some elves obtained heightened senses, while others, by absorbing the heart of an earth spirit, gained tough skin to ward off attacks.
Those who absorbed the heart of a spirit became powerful individuals surpassing the Middle Class without exception.
“I wonder what characteristics I’ll gain by absorbing the heart of a fire spirit.”
Damien knew the hidden abilities of the spirit’s heart. Another reason he was surprised was because the heart containing the abilities of a fire spirit was particularly famous for being rare. Moreover, no elf had ever seen one that possessed the abilities of a fire spirit.
So, Damien did not expect it.
“I’ll absorb it first and see.”
Throughout the carriage’s journey, Damien continually infused magic into the heart of the spirit. That night, Jacques Noiré attacked Damien.
[Translator – Kie]