Chapter 100 October 3, 2022
Chapter 100 – The Origin of ‘the Sound’ (2)
Did he hear voices?
Vierano held some kind of certainty as he asked that question.
But Ludger shook his head as he denied it.
“I’ve never heard such a thing.”
“Is that so?”
“Yes. Your comment is very interesting, yet, sadly, it has nothing to do with me, but it’s a quite wonderful to hear that there are people who have no standards in their ability and way of thinking. Do you have something else you’d like to say?”
“I only vaguely recall reading about it from some books a long time ago. All I remembers is reading that there were people like that when I was a kid.”
“If even you, an elf, says that, I think that maybe it’s almost closer to a legend for human beings.”
Vierano giggled at Ludger’s slightly goofy tone.
“Yes. That’s probably the case.”
‘Of course it was. What did I expect?’
Vierano set aside the unfortunate feeling that he had.
If the man before his eyes was the type of wizard who didn’t have any mold that he’d heard of in the past, then it meant that he might be able to control it.
That was easier said than done.
‘Because if he’s an ordinary human being, there’s no way he can endure it with a sane mind.’
There was much that human beings had forgotten.
As their lives didn’t even reach 100 years, they recorded many things in history, but in reality, they were really able to only record around 70% of knowledge.
The other 30% was being forgotten by human beings just like that.
But the elves were different.
As they had lifespans that exceeded 10 times the humans’ lifespans, they were witnesses of history.
Even though they were extremely small in number, and even though they had received a lot of damages from the war of conquest from the human beings’ empire 50 years before.
Still, they remembered everything.
‘There were transcendent geniuses among that emerged among humanity that were recognized far in this world’s past.’
The great spirits that existed in Mother Nature…
The species who possessed a rank far superior to human beings.
The extinct monsters and the devils beyond the shadow barrier that existed in the mountain range of the backbone of the giant…
And lastly, the one who looked down at the world…
‘God.’
Because of the myriad of different forces, human beings who had no mold were quickly eliminated.
The vessel that they had was so small that it couldn’t contain all of the water of interest that superior beings poured down into them.
Human beings who had an outstanding ability had a bigger vessel, but even so, they could only endure it for a little bit longer.
‘But Professor Ludger was fine. I couldn’t feel any oddities from him before, and it’s also like that right now. It means that he’s not the latter case that I was thinking of, right?’
He felt a bit let down, but it was also fortunate.
—Because he liked the human professor in front of him
As he was thinking so, Ludger opened his mouth while throwing a question to Vierano.
“There’s something I’m curious about…”
“Yes. Go ahead.”
“You said that the people who have no mold like that usually hear voices, the beings from the outside.”
“Yes. Of course. Even so, I don’t know if it’s just a false rumor.”
“If, maybe it’s real, is that all there is to it?”
Was there something else to it?
Vierano stroked his chin as he was searching through his memory.
He soon shook his head.
“No. According to what I know, they just suffer from hearing voices.”
“I see…”
“There’s probably something more than that because ordinary people wouldn’t be able to endure it.”
“If maybe they were able to do that, what do you think would happen?”
“Hmm. I haven’t heard of such a case, but if they were really able to endure it, then there could be a next stage to it—like a symptom that gets worse.”
Vierano raised his forefinger.
“If someone who hears voices gets worse, then maybe… their eyes will start to see things.”
“Eyes, you said?”
“Yes. But this is just a hypothesis. There’s no way there would be someone like that in the first place. If there were any, they would have become a madman. They would have outstanding magic skill, but they would’ve become a madman with a ruined sanity. Who wouldn’t be crazy if they had no choice but to always see things that they don’t want to see?”
Not only for human beings, the species beyond them would also be like that.
It would also be something hard to endure for the species who had long lives, especially for elves, who were friendly with nature.
“This is just a hypothesis, but if there was something after that, it might be…”
“What?”
“If they were hearing things and seeing things, don’t you think something more than that would culminate next?”
Vierano spoke with a light tone as he thought that such a thing couldn’t happen.
“Direct contact would become possible…”
He paused for a moment as he seemed to ruminate on what he was saying.
“With God.”
Vierano left to give a detailed testimony of the incident.
He also visited Ludger to convey his gratitude while making time in the midst of his busy schedule.
Ludger watched him from behind for quite some time before he moved.
‘Contact with God, huh?’
Vierano’s hypothesis was interesting.
No, since it was beyond amusing, Ludger inwardly admired it.
—Is everything true?
As expected from a long-lived elf—even though it was a story that he’d heard a very long time ago, he was able to get close to the through.
‘But it’s not really something I can just go around telling others about anyway, so it’s better for him not to know.’
His physical type was not something he could easily disclose to others.
Because of that, he tried hard to keep it under control with his mana.
At that moment, it wasn’t what he had to focus on.
‘Joanna Lovett. No, First Order of Black Dawn Society, Esmeralda… What should I do about her?’
Ludger had been feeling great concernt as he’d exchanged conversation with Vierano.
Should he give a hint about who the real mastermindl behind the flame spirit was just like that?
If he did that, he would be able to get rid of the First Order who had been extremely intrusive to him.
‘But doing so could also come back to bite me.’
If Esmeralda’s real identity became known, Ludger was bound to be the first suspect.
The woman who hadn’t been active until just then was suddenly pointed out immediately?
Perhaps the Black Dawn Society would feel suspicious and start an investigation, if things became like that, he would be in trouble.
‘Moreover, if I tell them anonymously, then it could still come back to haunt me.’
He was highly certain that Joanna Lovett was Esmeralda.
But the opponent was a spirit summoner who handled a top-level flame spirit.
The power of a top-level spirit was close to a 6th-rank wizard. Since that flame spirit was severely different from common spirits, he might end up in a lot more danger.
It wouldn’t be easy to overpower such an opponent with force.
‘If we have to step forward, the principal herself should at least assist, but if that’s the case, the scale would become so big that it would be hard to hide the truth.’
Thus, all that Ludger could gain for the moment was the fact that he was aware of Esmeralda’s real identity.
He still couldn’t decide what he should do about the woman.
‘Isn’t it better for me to pretend not to know and to gloss over it for now?’
He had no choice but to do that.
If it was Esmeralda, she would have realized it if Ludger stepped forward and took care of the situation at the last moment.
Unless she was stupid, she wouldn’t argue about why he’d interrupted her because Ludger had also stepped forward at an estimated suitable time after taking timing into consideration.
Ludger reached a conclusion right away.
‘I can’t touch her right now.’
The incident had just happened, so if Esmeralda’s real identity was revealed right after, the Black Dawn Society would be suspicious about the existence of a traitor.
He was doing it for the sake of his own safety, but if he got into a danger instead after messing up with Esmeralda, it was putting the cart before the horse.
He needed to be on his guard for some time.
‘When she makes her next move and reveals herself for even the slightest moment…’
At that time, if he revealed her true identity secretly using Sören’s power…
He would be able to get rid of her annoying existence.
‘Waiting it is, then…’
Patience was one of his greatest weapons.
* * *
The next morning…
The terror case of a flame spirit happening the night before hit the headline in the front page of the newspaper.
[Terrorist attack on the banquet hall! What’s the criminal’s real identity?]
The provocative title, which was written in big and black letters, naturally attracted people’s attention.
He sat at an outdoor table of a secluded cafe while spreading the newspaper.
‘Indeed, it triggered such a panic that it’d be rather weird if it wasn’t known to the public.’
The city of Leathevelk expressed their sorrow over the case and threatened that they would definitely track down the culprit.
But Ludger didn’t think that those people would be able to do anything.
If they were people capable of catching the Black Dawn Society once they said that they would catch them, they would have been arrested beforehand.
‘There are all kinds of theories that spread related to the criminal, I see.’
The most dominant theories that people had was that it was either the act of a lunatic terrorist or a misdeed of the liberation army.
Knowing that the people who had been killed were mostly high-ranking officials in high society, it couldn’t be helped that the theories leaned towards placing the criminal as a member of the liberation army.
‘From the view of the liberation army, this is not even something that they did, yet they received a lot of hate, so they must feel wronged.’
Ludger thought that it was a bit of a good thing.
He didn’t like the liberation army.
If he had to say it, it was more like he really disliked the liberation army.
‘Since I’m currently suffering because of them.’
He still gritted his teeth if he thought of that time.
If only those punks hadn’t raided the magic engineering train that he’d boarded, he wouldn’t have had to sell off the face that he had been hiding, and he wouldn’t have had to enter Sören Academy by force.
But what could he do? It was something that’d already happened.
What was left to Ludger in the given situation was that he had no choice but to do his best.
Srak.
The next page of the newspaper that was written in small letters was loaded with articles that spoke about the strengthened security of the soon-to-open Kunst Auction House.
And the fact that the host that would lead the Kunst auction house was the director of the Luke Company, Ivan Luke.
He naturally recalled the asshole man’s face.
‘So he’s the one who will lead the Kunst auction house this time…’
Maybe, in order to make up for his indecent behavior in the banquet hall, he would start an especially bigger event.
Since people gathered together and the ceremony would be held in a more luxurious way, the security would be raised to accomodate.
He must have had the intention of firmly solidifying the title that he possessed as a director in Luke Company to recover his ruined image while hitting a big jackpot.
Ludger formed a slight smile on his lips.
‘This is really something that I’ve been waiting for.’
If the auction ended easily, Ivan Luke would be able to sort out the things that had happened behind his father’s back.
—If it ends easily, of course.
If there was an unfortunate event for Ivan…
It would be that he didn’t know that the man he’d picked a fight with in the banquet hall would be attending the auction in secret.
Ludger, who had thought that far, folded the newspaper.
The guest whom he had been waiting for had arrived.
“You came?”
“You said you’re a professor. Can you come out early in the morning like this?”
The opposite side of the table…
Ludger stood up from my seat while looking at Violeta, who was staring at him with a slightly frustrated gaze.
“I see you already looked depressed this early in the morning.”
“Anyone would behave like this if you called them as a guide this early in the morning, you know?”
“You look like you put a lot of effort into your make-up for you to say that.”
“Make-up is like armor for women—it takes a lot of time to prepare it, you know?”
“I see, so that’s why.”
Violeta was in attire a bit different from what he had seen before.
Before, she’d worn a black dress with a mysterious atmosphere to be formal, but what he saw in in that morning was more like outdoor clothing that was comfortable for her to move in.
She wore long leather boots on her feet and a tightened leather corset that fit her waist well.
She even wore a wide-brimmed hat that protected her head from the sunlight.
As her burn scar had been completely treated, she didn’t wear the black cotton yarn that had used to cover her face anymore.
“It’s an outfit that’s suitable to be worn by an adventurer or mercenary, I see.”
“There’s nothing more comfortable than this when you wander around everywhere. Now. Let’s go. You should check the new look.”
“Sure.”
There was only one reason why Luger had come to Leathevelk so early in the morning:
It was to check the new look of the slum.
Violeta appeared to be anxious, as she seemingly wanted to show him the slum’s transformed look already.
The woman who had shown a malicious attitude on the first day had vanished into thin air, replaced by a heavily excited girl.
“Now, take a look. Here is the newly changed road.”
“Hoo.”
The dirty and smelly slum road he’d seen before had transformed into a completely clean road,
The place that even Leathevelk city had given up and practically discarded had been organized with the help of the residents of the place as they’d stepped forward.
Of course, they didn’t do it without reason.
“I paid them with my money as you instructed. The people who had been killing their time her day in and day out were succesfully employed.”
They’d cleaned it, remodeled it, and gotten rid of the stuff there. They’d removed the existing shabby buildings and built new buildings.
All of those tasks required a huge amount of money and manpower.
And that place was a place with an abundant surplus human resources which had been going unused.
“Beyond 80% of the budget was used here.”
The enormous sum of money which had been kept within the vault that Ludger had stolen after killing Belfort Ricksen…
And even the huge amount of funds that he’d acquired after wiping out the Crimson Society…
All of them were poured out as a charity to aid the slum.
Its effect was valid.
The vitality of that street which had been dying started to come back.
“According to what you said, this street is going to be made into a road of artists.”
The dark and dull slum was no longer anywhere to be seen.
He could see the carpenters who were demolishing the shabby houses in the other place and working hard to build new houses.
What stood out the most were the faces of the kids who had always wandered around to sell newspapers that were recently running around to play.
“This is where the new clothing store that’s going to open is.”
Violeta brought Ludger to a clothing store with a huge window that showed the display stand inside it.
Inside, the people who were affiliated to Black Rose Women worked hard to go around and move the fabrics and cut the clothes.
But in an unseen place beyond it, countless steam engines must have been moving while producing the fabrics.
“For now, we are currently working hard to produce as many clothes as possible using a machine. First and foremost are popular clothes, but once we reach a certain stage, I’m planning to challenge the current high-end brands.”
“You have the confidence to do so, right? Your opponents are people who established their brands a long time ago in the Empire beyond this city.”
“I have always been dreaming for this moment.”
Violeta smiled full-heartedly.
“No matter how deep a root of a tree is, if it’s rotten, it’s bound to fall if a wind blows into it.”
“Your determination is admirable.”
“Do you want to look inside?”
“No. Never mind. The other places look busy enough for me to check as well.”
“Then I’ll guide you to the next place.”
Ludger had only just finished checking the clothing store right then.
The road’s transformation didn’t end there.
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