The Northern Grand Duke’s Crazy Son-in-Law

25. Just Gilbert

“The Egg of Anguish.”

Galahad muttered as he touched the area around his heart.

The Egg of Anguish that Corthorn had gifted him was an item like nothing he had ever encountered.

Judging by the fact that he couldn’t feel its mana, it wasn’t a magic tool.

“Is it because of its high concentration? Or is it sealed?”

The only clue was the small sense of unease that had brushed past him when he made the oath.

It was similar to the pure mass of mana he had felt before when fighting demons.

The Egg of Anguish was lodged near his heart.

It seemed to whisper with every beat of his heart.

Telling him that if he broke his oath, it would devour his heart.

It felt like having a ghost in his head.

“An ordinary human would have already gone mad.”

It was a piece of trash. If its target went mad, they wouldn’t be able to keep their oath, so it was an item that would actually hinder his goal.

The corners of Galahad’s lips curled up.

“To think I’d come across such a mystical item-“

He recalled Palho’s report that the Dawn had distributed the remnants of the Demon War. It seemed that this was also one of those remnants.

He had needled Corthorn about it, but all he had gotten in response was that it was a reward for making a deal with the 5th generation.

Even if it was something that had belonged to a high-ranking demon, if Adriana touched the area around his heart, it would be resolved.

Adriana’s nature became stronger the denser the target’s concentration.

Of course, he had no intention of doing that.

“Why would I waste something so precious?”

Even if he were to get rid of it, he planned to do so after figuring out its principles.

Though he might not need to get rid of it if he figured it out in the first place.

“How does it work? I didn’t set a time limit, so can’t I just not keep it?”

-Let’s think about it, the pain rose from my heart.

At that moment, I felt a sharp pain as if someone had taken a bite out of my heart.

It was such an intense pain that even Galahad, who was quite used to pain, let out a groan.

‘······Can it read thoughts? Does it have a self?’

I asked, tapping the area around my heart, but there was no answer.

It just kept urging me to keep my oath.

‘I wonder if I’ll kill it in about ten years.’

I asked it as an experiment, and once again, a sharp pain shot through me.

The pain was worse than before. As if to tell me not to mess with it-. Galahad clutched his heart and sank down.

‘It has a self. And it’s mana. Highly concentrated mana-.’

Galahad recalled what he had just felt.

It was just for a moment, but he had definitely felt it.

‘An object with a self. It’s a treasure.’

I wanted to try again, but it seemed angry.

It was a shame, but I decided to wait for another time.

“Tell me honestly. What is the request?”

Gilbert asked seriously. Gilbert’s face was full of anxiety. His instincts were quite good.

“It would be better if you didn’t know.”

After a moment of contemplation, Galahad shook his head.

It would have been fun to tell him, but it was clear that it would only cause trouble if he knew.

Just then, Tom held out the bag. His face was full of worry. He looked like he was about to cry.

“This is too much for me to handle.”

“Tom, do you think it’s okay for a man to whine like that? You should ask for more.”

“This is too much.”

It was a reasonable deposit that he had received from Colton. To think that this much was too much-. Galahad clicked his tongue.

“If you don’t take it, I’ll have to give it to someone else. Hmm, who should I give it to? Gwen?”

“No··· I can’t! I’ll spend it all.”

“I think so too. Gwen is too clumsy to carry money around. Then what about Damian?”

“He’ll eat it all.”

“Boys in their growing years are scary. Well, then, just Sir Gilbert?”

“I’ll just take it.”

Tom nodded with a determined face.

“Good thinking, you’ll do well. I’m good at seeing people.”

“Thank you! I’ll guard it with my life!”

“······Just what is Sir Gilbert?”

Gilbert asked belatedly. Tom checked the bag. He had already counted it once, but he counted it again.

“I guess I should go see Damian.”

Galahad stood up.

“No, what does Sir Gilbert mean?”

Damian was at the back of the barracks.

Damien, who held the rusted sword, jumped from his spot and rolled forward. Snowflakes splashed roughly around him. Then, he jumped up and swung the sword. The line the sword drew was chaotic.

“He’s been like that all the time.”

Gilbertun, who followed him, said as he looked at Damien with strange eyes.

“That’s not swordsmanship training. It’s not physical training either. Isn’t he just playing? After doing that for a while, he comes in, eats, drinks, and goes back to doing that again. I can’t understand why he doesn’t learn swordsmanship when he has that much talent.”

Gilbertun’s voice was filled with complaints.

It seemed like Gilbertun wanted to teach Damien swordsmanship.

Galahad was slightly surprised that a knight wanted to teach him his swordsmanship.

Originally, a knight would only teach their swordsmanship after a few years of running errands, and even at the cost of money.

Compared to that, Gilbertun was a good knight.

“I had a comrade who was similar to Damien in the past. We worked together once, but all he did was drink and hug women all night. And with two at a time, at that.”

Galahad began to tell a story about a man he thought of when he first saw Damien.

‘The agent’s name was Lady, I think-.’

Lady was a man who was full of the scent of a beast, as if he had just learned how to walk on two legs.

“I take care of what I eat and drink, and even more so when I work. That man seemed crazy to me. It was quite an important job, too.”

Gilbertun nodded with a trembling face.

“So I said something to him. I had quite the temper back then. Do you know what that bastard said to me?”

“What did he say?”

“He asked if I had ever seen a beast train.”

Galahad chuckled at the old memory.

“I thought it was nonsense, just like you. So I went to work alone, but-“

At that moment, Damien rolled forward twice in a row. It was a funny move at first glance, but the line the sword drew was accurate.

“He really is a beast.”

Galahad clicked his tongue slightly and nodded at the vivid, red memory.

“What is that?”

“Anyways, it means that there are various methods. If you try to force it, it’ll only break down. Beasts have their own ways. You just need to feed them well.”

Gilbertun frowned. He was still full of complaints.

He couldn’t help it. Gilbertun was an honest knight who built up his skills through sweat. Damien was a born beast-.

The gap between the two could not be narrowed.

“Then, why don’t the two of you spar once? Damien!”

Damien, who was rolling forward, jumped up. He approached while dragging his sword.

His face and clothes were covered in snow, making him look like a mess. His cheeks were red as if they had been bitten, and his nose was running. He looked like a neighborhood kid who had come to play in the snow. But his muscles were considerable-.

“Alright.”

Gilbert nodded as he fixed his grip on his sword. It seemed like he had been waiting for this.

“Damien, spar with Sir Gilbertun once.”

“Kill him?”

“No, you can’t kill him. He’s a vice-captain, after all.”

“Aha, I got it.”

Gilbertun’s face crumpled.

“I’m from the 1st Battalion, you know.”

“I know. That’s why your salary is so expensive.”

“I will not hold back.”

“······Who said what?”

Gilbert drew his sword and stepped forward. When he saw his face, it seemed Gilbert was also curious about Damian. He was a born knight.

Gilbert faced Damian and assumed a posture. It was a standard pose, twisting his sword slightly and thrusting it out.

In contrast, Damian simply lowered his sword.

“If you even inflict a single wound, I will consider it your victory.”

“I understand.”

Damian did not bother to refuse.

Before anyone could say start, Damian lunged forward. Clack, clack, his posture was low, almost like a strange movement as if he was crawling on all fours.

It was enough to cause confusion, but Gilbert casually drew back his left foot and lowered his posture slightly.

Damian swung his sword like he was throwing it. More than swordsmanship, it was like the forelegs of a wild beast. It was relentless and rough.

Gilbert’s sword blocked it. At that moment, Damian’s sword twisted. Damian’s sword slid as if it were riding Gilbert’s sword. It was like a living snake, not a sword.

“Hmm.”

Gilbert let out a groan and pushed his guard. In an instant, Damian’s center of gravity was disrupted. Taking that opportunity, Gilbert thrust his sword. Damian fell backward.

The snow that had piled up fluttered violently as he fell hard. A sword shot out through the white blizzard. It was Damian.

Damian rushed in like a wild beast and swung his sword haphazardly, but Gilbert’s sword was solid. There were no openings.

‘He’s enjoying this.’

Gilbert was matching Damian.

Gilbert did not keep his distance, but instead crossed swords with Damian at a narrow distance that was advantageous to Damian.

Even so, the gap was overwhelming.

“Faster!”

Gilbert narrowed the gap even more, as if he was trying to draw Damian out more.

Galahad clicked his tongue slightly at Gilbert, who was smiling as he received Damian’s sword.

‘What’s so great about swinging a sword-.’

The match ended with Damian collapsing with a thud.

Damian, who had exhausted his strength, fell face down. He collapsed with a thud, like a machine that had run out of batteries.

In contrast, Gilbert was not even breathing hard.

“I think I understand what you mean.”

Gilbert said as he picked up his sword.

Galahad pointed at Gilbert’s hand. There was a very small red line between his hand and wrist, where he was not wearing his gauntlet.

It was a wound so small that it did not even bleed.

“Didn’t you say that if you inflicted even a single wound, you would lose?”

Gilbert’s face crumpled.

“It’s not from Damian’s sword, it’s from scraping against the ground.”

“Shameful.”

“It’s true. If I had been cut by Damian’s sword, the mark would have been wider, not like this-.”

“Yes, as expected, you are Gilbert.”

“······Gilbert, what does that mean?”

“It means Gilbert.”

Gilbert went on and on about how this was not a wound from Damian’s sword.

“I understand,” he said, but to no avail.

“Time to eat!”

As soon as Tom mentioned food, Damian sprang to his feet. Only then did Gilbert approach Damian.

“Let’s eat!”

A breathless voice came from behind him. He turned his head to see Gwen, her skin painted jet black.

“Did you go overboard with your tanning?”

“······Yes? Ah! I was practicing magic! I couldn’t control the distance!”

“I see, you’re doing well.”

Aren’t you going to eat?”

“Oh, you go ahead. I still have some work to do.”

“Work? Can I help you?”

“Oh, please don’t.”

“You should come quickly! It won’t taste good if it gets cold!”

Gwen giggled and ran off to the barracks.

Galahad waved to her and turned around.

There was one more thing he had to obtain.

It was a deal with the wicked captain of the 5th Battalion, who was in cahoots with the sinister Dark Magic Society.

‘Dark Magic Society. Mine of Magic Stones, 5th Battalion, Tribe of Demons-.’

Galahad looked at the cards in his hand once more.

The man named Mark was extremely calculating.

He would accept if he was offered the most rational option out of the available choices.

The method to offer the most rational choice was simple.

‘Just eliminate all the other options.’

Galahad put a cigarette in his mouth and started walking.

****

The captain of the 5th Battalion, Mark, had a complicated mind.

Recently, the Tribe of Demons’ attack cycle had been getting shorter and shorter.

It was not a good sign.

War cost a lot of money. From the soldiers’ armor to their swords and food, it was no small sum.

‘If only there was a Mine of Magic Stones-.’

Knock, knock, knock-.

He raised his head at the sound of a knock.

The door opened and in walked the Special Forces Captain Galahad.

Cordell was a worthless man, but he was as cunning as a rat. The fact that Galahad, who had gone out with Cordell, had returned meant-.

‘They made some kind of deal.’

Why else would Galahad come back?

Blackmail?’

Dealing with wizards was a punishable offense in the North.

However, if the wizard was researching the Tribe of Demons, it could change things.

The Empire’s strictest prohibition was the research of the Tribe of Demons. Researching the Tribe of Demons meant being an anti-Empire group.

Plus, the income from the magic stone quarry through the Black Magic Society was pretty good.

Mark was confident that he could persuade the other leaders based on these two reasons. That was why Mark had accepted the Black Magic Society.

Do you have anything like tea? I’m a bit thirsty since I’ve been talking so much today.”

At that moment, Galahad, who had sat down without them noticing, spoke while glancing at Lumian.

As Mark nodded, Lumian bit her lip and went outside.

“Did things go well?”

Mark brought up the main topic right away.

“Since we’re alumni, we ended up chatting for a long time. The name of the wizards you’re working with was the Black Magic Society.”

“That’s right.”

“You knew about that?”

“Of course.”

Of course, he knew. Mark wasn’t foolish enough to let people he didn’t know into his castle.

It was just that when he calculated the pros and cons, the pros were so overwhelming that it covered the cons.

“Oh, did I mention that when I came here, I captured sixteen intermediate-level monsters comparable to high-level monsters, as well as groundlings and two wizards?”

Mark’s eyes narrowed at the unexpected bragging.

“Yes.”

“Actually, there were three wizards.”

At that moment, the door opened and Lumian entered. Lumian placed an iron cup in front of Galahad. Steam rose up from the cup.

Galahad drank the tea gracefully.

‘Not two wizards, but three-.’

The intention behind bringing up that story after the Black Magic Society was clear.

‘Was it the Black Magic Society’s doing?’

Mark’s mouth was parched.

The fact that the Black Magic Society was in cahoots with monsters was something he hadn’t expected.

This was-.

‘The worst.’

Mark’s eyes were tightly shut.

In order to minimize the damage, he had to kill the Black Magic Society bastards in his castle right away.

However, if he did that, he wouldn’t be able to operate the magic stone quarry.

In a situation where monster attacks were becoming more frequent, giving up on the magic stone quarry was like slowly committing suicide.

It wasn’t between the worst and the second worst, but between a quick worst and a slow worst.

‘What’s the purpose of telling me this?’

Galahad was leading the special forces, but he was severely lacking in troops. On top of that, he didn’t have the most important base.

What Galahad would want from Mark was-.

‘A base or troops, I guess.’

The hilt of the sword had been passed to the other side, but Galahad and Mark were in different weight classes.

Even the hilt of the sword worked to some extent when the weight classes were similar.

‘If he’s just spouting nonsense like an imperial bastard-.’

Mark rapped on the table.

Galahad was leisurely drinking his tea. His graceful appearance was that of a typical aristocrat. His neatly combed hair and tidy attire-.

The man was a total misfit in the North.

“What do you want?”

Mark cut to the chase.

“I want to make the 5th Battalion HQ the Special Forces HQ.”

It was what he had expected. Mark nodded.

“Yes, I’ll empty the supply depot for you.”

“The supply depot is too small.”

A five-man unit complaining about the size of the supply depot building… He didn’t understand it, but Mark nodded.

“I’ll give you the company building.”

“The company building… It smells like Captain Gilbert’s feet.”

“Tell me what you want.”

When Mark asked, Galahad pointed below.

Mark followed Galahad’s finger and looked down. It was the ground.

Mark, who had been squinting for a moment, soon realized.

“You want the battalion HQ right now?”

“This place is the biggest. It’s warm.”

Was he joking? Mark thought seriously.

No, was he saying he wanted the battalion HQ? It had to be a joke.

Mark realized it when he saw Galahad’s eyes.

It wasn’t a joke. This crazy man genuinely wanted the battalion HQ.

“Why does a five-man unit need a battalion HQ?”

“Isn’t the HQ the face of the unit? I like big, clean faces. Do you hate it?”

The building was just a building.

He was just taken aback because it was unexpected, but he didn’t really care.

Trading the Dark Magic Society for the battalion HQ. It was only if Mark could find a solution…

“Okay.”

“Good.”

Galahad nodded as if he had known Mark would accept.

“Of course, we’re not going to use all of it. It would be a waste if it was empty more often than not. I really hate waste. How many floors does this building have?”

“······Three floors.”

“Then you can use the first and second floors. We’ll use the third floor.”

Mark squinted at Galahad, who was talking as if he was doing him a favor.

It meant he wanted them to maintain security. He was making them take care of the building as well.

“Okay.”

“Oh, one more thing.”

He was so greedy.

Mark squinted.

“I heard there are factions among the captains. They’re divided into Adriana, the 2nd Battalion Captain, and the 3rd Battalion.”

I guess he wanted to come under the 5th Battalion.

‘He wanted the building for that fight.’

Mark nodded.

“Yes, there are facts.”

“Are there also five legions?”

“There aren’t.”

“Good.”

Galahad bit into a cigar and flicked his fingers. The cigar lit up.

The scent of lemon wafted through the air.

“If the quarry business continues to be profitable, I can help you with the legion’s operating costs. In return, I’d like you to carry out a few missions. For example, retrieving accurate information about the amount of magic stones…”

“You misunderstand something. I’m not saying that the Special Forces will be subordinate to the Five Legions.”

Mark clicked his tongue at the words that followed.

‘He wants an alliance.’

It was excessive. It was audacious pride.

From the beginning, the Special Forces and the Five Legions had been incomparable in size.

The Special Forces had only five members. In contrast, the Five Legions had ten companies. There were even more platoons below that.

The Special Forces were smaller than a platoon.

And yet, he wanted an equal relationship. It was absurd.

Mark laughed out loud for the first time in a long time.

Mark’s face quickly turned cold.

“An alliance? How ridiculous. Do you think I’m a fool for humoring you? Do you really think that we’re equal just because we’re both leaders? Go ahead and report me if you want. But even so-“

“Ah, I misspoke.”

Mark calmed down as Galahad shook his head.

‘He misspoke.’

Indeed, with such a vast difference in size, how could they discuss an alliance?

No matter how bold he was, he wouldn’t have made such an absurd suggestion.

“What I meant wasn’t an alliance-“

Mark guessed what he was going to say next and thought about how to respond.

He prepared himself to deal with whatever came out of Galahad’s mouth.

Then, Galahad opened his mouth.

“I want you to join me.”

Mark couldn’t handle it.