Translator: AkazaTL
Pr/Ed: Sol IX
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Chapter 145 : Once Upon a Ti
The Clan of the Night were born superhumans.
They naturally possessed a level of rune affinity that was on a different dinsion from ordinary people, and adult mbers of the Clan of the Night used that talent to beco excellent warriors or mages.
However, this innate talent did not always work advantageously for the Clan of the Night.
Because their special blood served as a 'source of talent' and simultaneously beca a 'poison that harms the body'.
There were far too many cases where mana that could not be discharged in ti and accumulated above a certain level beca cold yin energy and hard the mbers' bodies.
The reason they produced Magic Stones also lay here.
They used Magic Stones as a passage to periodically discharge the negative mana excessively accumulated within the body.
However, the problem was that mbers harboring a level of yin energy that surpassed the average occasionally appeared, which could not be handled by discharge using Magic Stones alone.
In fact, the best way to resolve this situation was to periodically use magic to one's heart's content to discharge both mana and yin energy together.
However, this thod had a fatal problem in that the possibility of getting caught increased.
Every magic was bound to leave traces, and the gazes of the 'Ghost Watchers', who waited for the Clan of the Night to reveal themselves while hiding in the shadows, were far too persistent.
The leadership of the Clan of the Night had pondered for a long ti to sohow solve this problem, but they had not yet found a clear answer.
While their concerns deepened.
The groans of the clan mbers struggling because they could not discharge the accumulating yin energy were also growing higher and higher.
***
"Ha! So Your Excellency is now telling us to co to your land and act as slaves?"
"There are countless people in this world who provide labor in exchange for compensation, but not all of them are referred to as slaves. I know it is a matter you cannot help but react sensitively to, but there is no need to purposely belittle yourself, is there?"
I, Hein Reichart, did not get angry at the sharp reaction Eos showed.
Because I knew well that her anger was not based on reason but was a reflexive one.
"If I could rip open the bellies of the Clan of the Night and rummage through their entrails, I would gladly give even my own neck!"
Since the clan mbers, including her, had to live in hiding for a long ti while avoiding the pursuit of the horrific and mad watchers, a fear close to instinct must have been engraved in their blood.
Therefore, she could not help but show such an extre rejection reaction to the proposal of whether they had any intention of coming out into the world of the light.
Even if the person who made that proposal was a fairly reliable partner.
"I refuse. And I hope there is never again an occasion where you make such a nonsensical proposal."
"It is likely not a matter you can decide alone, is it? It is sothing that could save your clan mbers who are suffering. It seems like a wiser action to at least inform the higher-ups rather than blindly refusing. Acting so hastily like this is not like you."
"It is not like ? What is being 'like myself'! What do you know about us that you move your mouth so carelessly!"
Eos eventually stood up from her seat in an infuriated state.
"Huff, huff......."
Eos's face, which was already white, had beco a layer paler.
As her breath beca rough, the fangs she had been hiding all along were flickering between her lips.
"Your Excellency, shall I tell you an interesting old story?"
"If you want."
Eos, who had been glaring at as if to kill , suddenly opened her mouth while showing a bizarre smile.
"A long, long ti ago, there were two children who got along well. One of those children was a princess, and one was a child who lived in hiding due to circumstances. The two children, who t by chance, beca close like a lie. But sadly, one day the princess fell ill and collapsed. The child living in hiding burst into tears out of worry for the princess. Because to that poor child, that princess was the only friend. The child, who learned that her only friend had collapsed, cried for several days without rest."
"So?"
"The child, who had been crying for a long ti like that, went to an elder of the household and said. 'Elder, please cure my friend's illness. You can do that, can you not?'. But the elder said to the girl. 'Child, I do not think I can grant your request. You know well that we must live in hiding'. However, the child clung to the elder's feet and pleaded while crying and wailing. 'Elder, my friend is the princess of a nation. If we save the princess, the King will protect us. So please, save my friend'. The elder refused the child's request at first, but due to the child's repeated persuasion, he eventually decided to help the girl's friend. He decided to trust the princess and the King, who were the child's friends."
Eos even changed her voice while telling a fairly plausible story.
"In the end, the elder treated the princess, and the King, elated with joy, made a promise. That no matter what threat ca, they would protect the child and the child's household. But not long after the princess woke up from her illness, bad wolves appeared. Woof, woof, making such a howling sound. What should be done?"
"......."
"The wolves crowded in front of the castle wall and said. 'If you hand over the child and the child's family, we will simply withdraw. But if you do not hand them over, we will enter the castle wall right now and eat up all the people!' The child was scared of the wolves, but she was still at ease. Because she believed that just as she had saved the princess, the princess would also protect her and her family."
As the story progressed, Eos's tone beca exaggerated.
The anger harbored in her pupils also deepened.
"But you see. One morning when she woke up from sleep, the child ended up being startled. Because a scene was unfolding before her eyes where she and her family were being transported under the castle wall like luggage while tied up tightly. The wolves watching this cheered and were delighted."
"......Is there a lot left until it ends?"
"Only at the mont the dirty fangs of a wolf touched her chest did the child realize. That the princess, her only friend, had betrayed her trust. The child, who realized that fact, let out a loud wail, but there was no one to listen to the child's crying. Because the child's family had already disappeared into the bellies of the wolves."
Eos, who finished the story, took a deep breath and then asked while showing the twisted smile she had made a mont ago once more.
"How is it, Your Excellency? It is a very interesting story, right?"
"The skill of telling the story was not bad, but since it is content I already knew, the impression is a bit diminished."
I crossed my legs while maintaining an annoyingly calm expression.
"It seems there is a bit of a misunderstanding between us. As before, I have no intention of forcing you to trust . Trust is ultimately a choice, and in this case, that right of choice lies entirely with you all."
"......."
"I was rely feeling regretful that my proposal could not even be delivered to the people with the final decision-making power and was being ignored. If you decide to let my proposal rot like this, what is there that I can do? However."
Eos truly did not like this situation.
Neither the Grand Duke who was talking nonsense without knowing anything.
Nor herself, who was unbearably curious about what words would co after that 'however', even while knowing it was nonsense.
"You have not heard yet what the compensation I will provide if you all help is, right? Even if you are going to refuse, would it not be better to hear that and then refuse?"
"So, what can you give us?"
"Protection."
"......!"
Both my answer and Eos's reaction were truly imdiate.
"I promise. If you all co under and cooperate faithfully, I will protect you from all harm inflicted upon your clan mbers, at least during that period."
"W-Wait a mont."
Despite vowing several tis not to get caught up in the Grand Duke's pace, Eos ended up being flustered this ti as well.
But she could not help it because.......
'Protecting us? You are saying such things while knowing well what kind of people are targeting us?'
In order to confirm the authenticity of the statent, Eos eventually ended up bringing up those cursed people she truly did not want to ntion.
"Your Excellency, it is not that you do not know that those targeting us are 'Ghost Watchers', right?"
"Would I have said such a thing without even knowing that? But it is a bit unexpected. I did not expect that you would bring up that na yourself."
As expected, the Grand Duke knew of their existence.
Eos, who confird that fact, ended up opening her mouth in spite of herself.
'It is impossible!'
Until now, there were occasionally those who knew of the existence of the Clan of the Night, but none of them could think of embracing them.
They coveted the excellent abilities of the Clan of the Night, but they were far too afraid of the 'malice of the cursed madn' they would have to endure by embracing them.
Yet he would protect them while clearly knowing that risk?
"It goes without saying, but if you all receive my protection, you will have to pay a corresponding price. At least regarding the matters of dispatching and managing mages, you must receive my instructions and follow my orders. It ans the format will beco different from the conventional contracts you and I have been making until now."
From my appearance of ticulously checking even the 'Give And Take', Eos could confirm that the 'protection' I brought up was not nonsense.
This man was truly intending to face those ghosts as a price for using them.
"......Would we be valuable enough to the Grand Duke to warrant enduring a price of that level?"
"Yes. The value of you all that I have judged is a bit larger than the value of yourselves that you are thinking of. Ah, and one more thing."
I pulled out a quill pen, wrote sothing down, and then held it out to Eos.
-The employer has the duty to protect the safety of the employee working at that workplace with their best effort.
"It is a clause to be added to the Zodiac Civil Code, which is scheduled to be revised soon. A person who is the Grand Duke by na should live while following the law."
"......To what extent would the best effort Your Excellency is thinking of be?"
"It is a trade secret for now, so I cannot tell you. If you are really curious, try working under once. Then you will co to know even if you do not want to. Anyway, it is a relief."
I said while wiping off the ink on the tip of the pen.
"Because it seems that the intention to deliver my words to the higher-ups has arisen, at least."
"W-Who said such a thing?!"
"Do not be so stiff. There is nothing to lose by passing on the story, is there? Moreover, between us."
"Sigh......."
Quite a few days had passed since she t the Grand Duke, yet Eos could not grasp him at all.
No, rather, as ti passed, the thought that he was a person whose end could not be known was increasingly occupying her mind.
"If I were to add one more word as the proposer, why not try trusting , at least regarding this matter? If nothing else, I know for sure at least one way to handle a mad dog."
"Will you tell a little bit about what that thod is?"
"It is simple. If a mad dog barks, you must beat it down. Because a human cannot live while groveling to a son of a bitch just because that barking sound is a bit noisy."
Eos thought that it was not an appropriate thing to call those horrifyingly persistent ghosts 'mad dogs'.
However, it was also an undeniable fact that the Grand Duke's bold eloquence of dismissing them as 'insane sons of bitches' made her feel thrilled.
While forcibly suppressing the heart that wanted to blindly trust him while intoxicated by that thrill, Eos threw the final question.
"What do you intend to do if the Ghost Watchers, having noticed our existence, take the citizens of Zodiac as hostages and commit atrocities to tell us to hand ourselves over?"
"What do you think?"
"......Yes?"
In the expression of asking back, the appearance of today, where I had taken a slightly humble posture, had disappeared without a trace.
"Try thinking about it. How I would treat those crazy bastards."
With the arrogant look in my eyes that I had shown when I first t her, I said.
"......Please give ti to think. I will pass on the words for now."
And looking at Eos, who had been intoxicated by that arrogance in spite of herself, I smiled.
"That is truly welco news to hear."
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