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

16. Mongrel

The forest was so dark that not even a single ray of light could enter. The snow falling through it looked gray instead of white. It was as if ash was falling.

“It feels like there might be monsters.”

Galahad smiled in satisfaction and put a cigarette in his mouth.

“Ah, I brought torches here. Please take one each.”

Tom handed out the torches one by one. The smell of burning oil was thick in the air.

“I’ll take the lead.”

Gilbert drew his sword and stepped forward.

“Good, get out of the way, you’re in the way.”

“Yes.”

“Aren’t you giving up too easily?”

Gilbert shrugged.

Galahad chuckled and spread out his palms. He compressed and released mana, compressed and released. It was a preparatory move.

As he flicked his fingers, a small mana arrow floated above his fingers.

Gulping-.

“Wipe your chin, Gwen.”

Gwen, startled, wiped her mouth. It seemed that her urge for magic was getting stronger. It was a desirable phenomenon.

Galahad walked while checking the size of the mana arrow.

Mana always flowed from a place of low concentration to a place of high concentration.

If the mana arrow was even slightly smaller, it meant that the concentration of the surrounding area had become denser than before.

He checked its size and proceeded in that direction.

“Whoa-oh!”

Gwen was in a pit.

“I found it!”

Gwen, covered in dirt, smiled brightly.

“This is an Earth Hound monster.”

Tom said, wiping the sweat from his forehead.

“Earth Hound monster?”

“Yes, they are monsters that dig burrows, and that’s how they leave pits like that.”

“How do you know that?”

“Well, it’s basically something you have to memorize to survive on the front lines. Earth Hounds are such a pain in the neck that once they appear, you might as well give up on the area.”

“Do you know anything else about Earth Hound monsters?”

“Well- they’re hard to find because they dig burrows. They’re quite troublesome because they hide underground and then jump out and bite humans.”

Galahad nodded and jumped into the pit.

“You came to rescue me!”

He pushed Gwen’s outstretched hand aside and stabbed around. It was all blocked.

‘There are no clues here.’

He clicked his tongue slightly and climbed back up.

“What about me!? That’s not fair!”

Gwen climbed up, holding Tom’s hand.

“Gilbert, do you know anything?”

Gilbert looked down at the pit with a serious expression. He was a knight who had fought on the front lines, after all. I thought he might know something-.

“This monster digs the ground.”

“Okay, it was a mistake to ask you.”

“Oh, Earth Hounds are incredibly sensitive to sound.”

Tom added awkwardly. Gilbert glared at Tom slyly. Tom seemed oblivious, as he was very nervous.

“Sound-.”

Galahad looked at Gwen. Gwen, who had been brushing the dirt off her body, opened her eyes wide.

“······Fart?”

“No, sing a song for me.”

“Ah! A song?! Sure!”

Gwen immediately burst into song without hesitation.

It wasn’t that Gwen couldn’t sing. The problem was that she tried too hard. It was heavy metal.

“Ah! In a beautiful meadow! A handsome prince! Sir Herman and! Beautiful!”

Gwen, who was quickly immersed, began to sing. Damian squinted his eyes.

Galahad ignored it and continued walking along the path, concentrating on the mana. How long had they walked?

By the time the prince and princess in Gwen’s song got married, and their daughter succeeded to the throne by taking her neighbor’s king by the scruff of his neck-

“Coming.”

“Yes, coming.”

A response came. Gilbert stepped forward.

“Succeeding to the throne… Uwaah!”

Tom raised his shield and took care of Gwen.

The ground split, and the soil splashed violently. A dark brown carapace filled the field of vision.

“Kyarurureuk!”

It was a giant crustacean with red eyes. Sand was scattered behind its wings.

“Mole-dogs are weak to bright light!”

Tom, who was hiding Gwen behind him, shouted.

‘Light-.’

Then, Gilbert swung his sword obliquely. The blue aura in the sword cut the monster’s chest. Blood spurted out violently, but the monster didn’t fall because its carapace was thick.

The monster swung its forelimbs at Gilbert, who was not a match for its enormous size. Gilbert received it with his sword. Kuung! A dull impact was heard, and Gilbert was pushed back.

Galahad stretched out his left hand and burst out mana. The mana concentrated on the light exploded intensely.

As the intense light exploded, the red eyes widened. As if it was indeed weak to light, the monster’s movements stopped abruptly.

Then, Damian, who had a sword in his mouth, climbed onto the monster on all fours. It looked like a worm.

Damian, who had reached its head, raised his rusty sword.

Kyarurureuk-! With a sharp sound, the pointed snout, like a bundle of daggers, shook.

Damian stabbed the sword. It was a blunt sword, but it lightly cut through the carapace. Looking closely, it seemed to be aiming at the fine parts between the carapaces. It was a great concentration.

Then, Gilbert’s sword cut off the front leg. The severed leg flew into the air and fell in front of Galahad.

The hot blood from the carcass soaked the foot. A small puddle was created below. Galahad dipped his hand into the puddle.

‘The monster doesn’t have a high mana concentration.’

Compared to ordinary wizards, it was high, but it was much weaker than the demons.

If it was a monster with that level of concentration, it could be dealt with without the monster’s blood.

However, Galahad used the monster’s blood anyway.

Because it was more efficient and fun.

Suddenly, a fire rose from Galahad’s hand.

‘The monster’s blood is a bit rough.’

It was less refined mana than the demons’. Because of that, there was a small error in the formula.

A drop of sweat from his forehead fell and hung on the bridge of his nose.

Even though his hand was about to burst, the corners of Galahad’s mouth were raised.

‘This is fun after all.’

Tension had tightened his mind. His head was spinning.

A large, crescent-shaped flame flew from Galahad’s hand.

The flame aimed for the wound that Gilbert had carved.

The demon tried to avoid it, but Gilbert blocked its path.

The flame dug deeply into the wound on the demon’s chest.

Kyaarrr! The demon quickly turned pale.

“I lived happily!”

In time with Gwen’s song, the demon fell forward. Flames billowed behind Gwen. It was a magnificent ending. Though she seemed unaware of it.

Clap, clap, clap, clap!

“Woah-! You dealt with the Earth Dog so easily! That’s amazing!”

Tom applauded enthusiastically. Gilbert unnecessarily dusted off his sword and struck a pose. He seemed weak to praise. Gwen scratched the back of her head as if embarrassed.

“Tom, do you have any spare water skins?”

“Yes! What size would you like?”

“Do you have different sizes?”

“Yes, just in case.”

Tom handed over four water skins. Galahad picked the largest one.

“Why is the demon’s blood so murky?”

Gilbert asked, narrowing his eyes. There was a slight hint of resentment. It seemed that collecting the demon’s blood bothered him.

“There was once a boy who was beaten by a blacksmith.”

“Yes?”

“The boy who was beaten by the blacksmith stole the blacksmith’s sword when he wasn’t there. And he stabbed the blacksmith with the sword. Phew – very deeply.”

Gilbert’s eyes narrowed even more. He didn’t understand. Just then, Gwen raised her hand.

“Gwen, tell us.”

“Ah! The blacksmith was a demon and the boy was a lord! And the sword was magic!”

“Correct. Gwen got it right, but you didn’t understand.”

Gilbert opened his mouth with a trembling expression.

“It’s not that I didn’t understand-“

“It’s okay! I was just lucky!”

Gilbert sighed at Gwen’s reassurance.

“Hey, could you come over here? There’s something strange here!”

Tom, who was examining the demon’s body, called out. Tom pointed to the belly of the Earth Dog demon.

“Isn’t this similar to what the Lord put in the carriage earlier?”

There was something that shouldn’t have been in the demon’s belly.

It was a magic circle.

A magic circle engraved on a demon.

Its significance was not light.

That was one of the reasons why mages were treated like the filth of the demons.

***

“This is-“

Gilbert’s eyes were wide open. The hand holding the sword hilt tightened.

“That doesn’t belong to him. Didn’t he officially die?”

“You don’t know that?”

Gilbert let out a rough breath. His breath came out in a long stream.

Galahad couldn’t answer for sure.

The intelligence agency had officially recorded his death, but-

‘Now I can’t even be sure about that.’

It was a situation where there were demons within the intelligence agency. He couldn’t tell where the confusion was coming from.

‘Somehow, the information on the North was particularly lacking-‘

Galahad clicked his tongue softly.

Maybe there were demons in the headquarters of the intelligence agency too. Or maybe even in the imperial family-.

‘I didn’t feel anything at all.’

If he hadn’t noticed it-. Galahad’s mouth went dry.

Somehow, there was a tendency to underestimate the demons.

“Who is he?”

Tom’s question broke his reverie.

“In the past, when the demons crossed the North and threatened the empire, there were those who betrayed and sided with the demons. They were the ones who became the ancestors of the magicians.”

“Among the humans?”

“Yes, they were humans. Among them was a magician who handled demons, and the demons he handled had this magic circle carved on them.”

“Then!”

Tom jumped away from the demon. Galahad smiled wryly at the noisy reaction.

“Isn’t it possible that the demons wrote it?”

Gilbert asked in a muffled voice.

“Demons don’t use magic circles or spells. They can’t, and they don’t.”

“What does that···.”

“Just as the imperial people don’t necessarily think and write in the imperial language, demons don’t necessarily use magic circles or magic. Their breath and gestures are the source of magic.”

Galahad coughed softly.

“However, if humans want to follow the power of the demons, they need rituals and spells. Translation- yes, like translation. Since then, so much time has passed that magic and demons have become completely different things-.”

Galahad clicked his tongue softly at the blank look. It was a look that didn’t understand.

“So you’re saying that there is a human magician who is helping the demons?”

“That’s right! Tom, you’re quick to understand.”

Galahad pointed at Tom, flicking his finger, and Tom smiled awkwardly. Gwen looked regretful, saying, ‘I almost got it all right!’.

“So is this his? This is serious.”

“Don’t rush me. I’ll find out from now on.”

Galahad folded his arms and crouched down in front of the demon’s body.

“This is-.”

Galahad’s eyes, which had been examining the magic circle, widened. The magic circle was too crude.

“It’s terrible. He used the mana contained in the demon’s blood, but he doesn’t know exactly what role it plays. He just copied it from what he saw. And he didn’t even copy a proper magic circle-.”

Tom brought the torch closer so he could see better.

“Oh, thank you, Tom. He mixed the blood of a higher demon with human blood. Did he use soldiers for this kind of garbage? I’ll offer my condolences.”

“Please speak in the imperial language.”

“So far, I’ve been speaking in the Imperial language. So it’s not his. To be exact, it’s like I copied a magic circle that copied his magic circle.”

Gilbert frowned.

“Can’t you make it simpler?”

“Well, it seems like our first mission is going to be bigger than we thought. That means the stakes are higher, so you should be happy. Give us a round of applause.”

Gwen, Tom, and Damian clapped. Gilbert didn’t.

‘With a magic circle like this, he must be watching us from somewhere nearby.’

Galahad finished his calculations and let out a small sigh.

“This magic circle is trash. The guy who drew this must be a talentless, unskilled magician. I wonder how he even became a wizard.”

As he was mumbling, Galahad’s head suddenly snapped around.

In the darkness, he could hear a faint sound.

“You’re there, aren’t you.”

Galahad laughed out loud and waved his hand.

No matter how crappy a wizard was, he would get angry if someone insulted his magic.

“Wh-who are you calling talentless! Go! Bite him!”

After the awkward cry, the ground shook. Galahad waved his hand and scattered his mana.

He was using the method of exploiting the fact that demons and monsters were not affected by low-concentration magic power. When the mana that had been scanning the area returned, there was an empty space.

That’s where the monster must be.

The number is…

“There are three. Sir Gilbert, Damian, can you handle it?”

“Yes, brother.”

“······Where are you going?”

“You’re being quite clingy today. I have a woman I’m going to marry.”

Gilbert’s face was expressionless. His expression had returned to what it had been before.

“I need to find a blacksmith. Oh, in this case, it would be more like an assistant to an assistant blacksmith.”

Just then, the ground split open and even larger monsters than before jumped out.

“Yes, I understand. I’ll clear the way. We have to catch him.”

Gilbert said, raising his sword.

“Don’t worry. This is my specialty.”

****

“Sword! Sword! Sword!”

Bern ran desperately with his legs trembling. His legs were heavy, and his breath was coming in gasps, but he couldn’t stop.

Bern couldn’t stand to see his magic being called trash.

What kind of wizard could stand to have his magic insulted with such strange logic?

He faltered for a moment. Then, the guy looked at Bern through the darkness in the distance.

Bern realized that he had been tricked by the guy’s upturned lips.

How long had he been running? Bern glanced around. All he could see was the dark forest.

‘Right, he sent three hellhounds, so there’s no way I could be okay.’

Bern leaned against a tree and let out his ragged breath. Then he vomited up the nausea that had been rising in his throat. His heart felt like it was going to burst.

You idiot! Who are you calling trash! You don’t even know!

“Why did you stop? This doesn’t seem like the right place. Oh, are you tired? I’ll wait for you. Take your time and rest.”

A monotonous voice was heard. Bern lifted his head at the sound, his eyes widening as if they would tear.

The man was standing a short distance away. He was holding a cigarette in his mouth and waving his hand.

“The mongrels.”

“You look at me as if I’ve dodged some monster. I wrote it on the magic circle, didn’t I? I wrote that the wizard shouldn’t be attacked. It seems you were prepared to attack me?”

“Th-that… how did you…”

“It was all written on the magic circle.”

Not all magic circles were the same. They weren’t the kind of thing that could be understood just by looking at them. If anyone could understand them just by looking, who would use magic circles?

The magic circle he had used on the mongrels was a magic circle related to monsters.

Anyone who didn’t know about monsters wouldn’t be able to understand it.

“You… you…! You’ve studied monsters!”

“To be exact, I’ve studied the Mazoku. I only recently started.”

“Then we’re on the same side! I’ve also studied the Mazoku! We’re friends! Friends!”

“Oh, really? Are you also planning to stab the blacksmith?”

“Blacksmith? What’s that?”

At that moment, Bern’s lips trembled slightly as his eyes met the man’s.

They were the eyes of a Mazoku.

Something was missing.

This was not someone he could communicate with.

“Expel, thirst, bone, child, scream.”

Bern hurriedly chanted the spell. In a wizard’s battle, it was important to be the first to chant the spell.

Bern held his staff in both hands and thrust it out. Mana gathered quickly.

“Oh my god, a staff! Are you serious? You’re crazy.”

The man let out a strange exclamation. Why a staff? Bern’s concentration was momentarily broken, and he hurriedly focused again.

“Mana is the power of the soul and the weight of knowledge. Yet you rely on a material staff! And you call yourself a wizard?”

The man continued to rant, clearly upset about something.

Bern curled his lips into a smirk. He didn’t know what gave him such confidence, but he had let the wizard chant first in a wizard’s duel.

The match was as good as over.

“Pain, libido!”

“Oh, my god! Why are you including libido there! That’s why you can’t concentrate! If you’re going to chant pain, you should follow it up with something like burns or headaches so that it’s easy to visualize!”

“…Headache! Burns!”

“Now you’re talking. No, wait, isn’t your mana flowing too smoothly? Concentrate!”

Bern briefly wondered if this guy was actually a good person, but then he shook his head.

“Burning fangs.”

“Are you serious? After all that preparation, all you’ve got is burning fangs? Ha.”

Bern chuckled as the man sighed. He was definitely crazy. He was looking down on the burning fangs, which were ranked third in the hierarchy.

The completed burning fangs shot towards the man. It was faster than an arrow.

When it reached the man, the fireball opened wide like a monster’s snout.

The man flicked his left index finger as he shook the cigarette ash. There was a strange power in that gesture that drew his gaze.

In an instant, a huge chunk of ice shot out from the man’s finger.

‘How can it be that fast?’

Bern was aghast as he realized the true nature of the magic.

Ice Javelin—it was tier-three magic, just like the Flaming Fang.

‘What the—’

Using tier-three magic with just a flick of his fingers? It was an unheard-of feat.

As the Flaming Fang and Ice Javelin clashed head-on, the Flaming Fang crumbled into nothingness.

Bern blinked in disbelief.

“If I were you, I wouldn’t have used the Flaming Fang, but the Thicket of Thorns and the Ice Arrow. The incantation is shorter and easier to counter. But you went with the biggest spell you know. It’s a common mistake made by mages who aren’t used to mage duels.”

The man clicked his tongue and spoke in a monotonous voice.

“I understand. Mistakes happen. To err is human, after all. The important thing is to not make the same mistake twice. So, let’s start over.”

The man flicked his finger leisurely, as if beckoning him to try again.

“Y-you bastard! You think you can toy with me?!”

Bern’s face twisted in anger. He couldn’t stand being treated like this.

“What good would the Thicket of Thorns do? You should have used it first.”

An ice spike pierced Bern’s leg. Focus! the man shouted. Bern suppressed his scream and continued his incantation.

“Hah, and you think I’d use the Fire Arrow? At this distance? Are you serious?”

Another spike pierced his other leg. Focus, damn it! Bern screamed in terror.

Urged by the man, Bern recited the incantation with tears in his eyes.

“At least try to say the incantation faster! Faster! I feel sorry for the soldiers who died because of you!”

How could he possibly go any faster?

Bern’s knees slowly buckled.

The ice spike pierced his thigh, but it wasn’t fatal, and he still had some mana left.

But his knees gave way because—his will to fight had been broken.

The man was toys with him.

Why?

“You drank the blood of the mazoku, yet why is there such a difference?”

The man crouched down in front of him and asked. Bern nodded with difficulty.

“The answer is simple. I’ve been using up all my mana every day since I was three. Without fail. Do you think that gap can be filled just by drinking the blood of the mazoku? If you were counting on that, then you’re heartless. What? You were counting on it? You really are a shameless human being.”

Why would he do that?

The man made it sound simple, but it was no easy feat. Using up all his mana was akin to a knight training until he collapsed every day… no, it was even harder. Magic consumed mental strength.

“Why would I? I don’t understand you. Isn’t magic fun? Don’t you yearn to use it?”

This madman.

Bern cursed, and the man chuckled.

“Thank you for the compliment. Now, I have a few questions for you. Where did you get that magic circle? And are there any other mages with you? Or mazoku?”

Bern bit his lip. He couldn’t say anything, even if it meant death.

“Oh, you’re shaking your head? You’re mistaken. You have no choice.”

The man’s lips curled into a grin.

“Do you know what kind of magic the mages of the Intelligence Agency excel at? The answer is—”

Persuasion.

The man’s upturned lips were visible through the smoke.