Chapter 30.1
Subi were a species of Night-Demons[1]that were so famous almost no one was unfamiliar with them. Of course, Eugene was also well-acquainted with subi. In his past life, when he and hispanions were journeying through Helmuth, those damn Night-Demons would invade their dreams whenever they were tired and exhausted to pull all sorts of shit.
“This isn’t even fucking Helmuth, so why are there subi here?” Eugene demanded.
“Pl-please calm down.” Seeing Eugene burst out in a rage, the guide was greatly flustered and raised his hands to form a fragile barrier. “This might not be Helmuth, but there’s still the ck Tower of Magic, remember? Apart from the human ck wizards, there are quite a lot of demonfolk living in the tower as well.”
“So that means that bastard, Eward—no, I mean my big brother, has been ying around with a subus from the ck Tower of Magic?”
Even though it hade from his own lips, Eugene still couldn’t believe what he was saying. That guy was a descendant of Vermouth, the eldest son of the main family… but he was ying around with demonfolk and a subus at that?
“…That’s…. Strictly speaking, rather than ying around with them… he’s just being entertained by them….”
“How is that any different?”
“Although this might be true of any city, even Aroth has a certain street where illegal gatherings and ‘those’ sorts of shops operate in the open. To put it bluntly, it’s a ce purposely left unsupervised as a form of necessary evil….”
“So what about it?”
“While that street is most famous for its ck market, there are also a few shady shops that have hired subi as their hostesses. I’ve heard that Sir Eward visits those types of shops regrly….”
“That crazy bastard,” Eugene’s tone grew even harsher.
Since the guide had mentioned the ck Tower of Magic, Eugene had suspected that Eward might have some kind of rtionship with a ck wizard to whom the subus was contracted. But after hearing the full story from the guide, it only made Eugene despise Eward even more.
To think that a descendant of Vermouth had gotten entangled in the skirt strings of a subus and was freely offering himself as sustenance. That alone would have been shameful enough, but she wasn’t just a subus butwas actually a hostess.[2]
Even calling her a hostess was actually putting it in exceedingly polite terms, as it was clear that the subi who worked in those sorts of shops were the lowest of the low among the subi. In human terms, they were no different from street corner whores.
“That crazy, stupid bastard. What the fuck does that still-wet-behind-the-ears brat think he’s doing?”
At these scathing words, the guide couldn’t help but feel extremely flustered once more, because the way Eugene was speaking sounded just like an adult scolding a foolish child.
Eugene rounded on the guide, “Has this been confirmed?”
The guide cringed, “No, well, not really…. It’s just to the extent that there are rumors about it….”
“Do you know where that street is?”
“It’s called Bolero Street. Those shops don’t open every day, so the street only shows its true, corrupted appearance once a month, on the night of the full moon.”
“Got it,” Eugene growled out a reply between gritted teeth.
He had no desire to get all friendly with Eward uponing to Aroth. He had nned to keep a reasonable distance and basically ignore his step-sibling while focusing on his own affairs.
However, now that he had heard this news, he felt a fiery rage ignite inside of him. Eugene’s anger wasn’t because of his attachment to their shared family name of Lionheart. Instead, he just couldn’t ept that a descendant of Vermouth was offering his life force to a petty demon.
‘How dare he give in to scumbags like those.’
Eugene obviously hated the Demon Kings, but he also despised the demonfolk. And if he had to rank who among the demonfolk he hated the most, the subi would be at the top of his list. There was a simple reason for this. When they were attacked for the first time by subi in the Devildom, he had experienced a godawful embarrassment.
‘Whether it’s a subus or an incubus, any sort of Night-Demon, they all need to be wiped out.’
He didn’t even want to recall the embarrassing memories from back then. In any case, Eugene had torn apart countless subi and incubi in his previous life as revenge for the shame he had been put through.
Hesitantly, the guide spoke up, “…Sir Eugene, would you please keep the fact that I shared this story with you a secret…?”
“Don’t worry about it. Didn’t you hear me swear on my name? I’m not going to say anything to anyone, especially not to that fucking big brother of mine.”
They were drawing close to the Red Tower of Magic. Having been distracted by the guide’s worried voice, Eugene gave a vague nod of reassurance before going back to grinding his teeth.
‘If I could have my way, I’d just grab him by the cor and p the truth out of him.’
But for now, he had only heard rumors, and they were pretty unreliable rumors at that. If he pped the shit out of Eward just because of some idle tales, Eugene would be the one in the wrong. So he needed to hold back his urge for violence until he had found some clear evidence.
“…You said that it opens on the night of the full moon and that it’s called Bolero Street, right?”
“Yes….”
“Okay, I’ve got it.”
The aerial carriagended in front of the Red Tower. Eugene was the first to fling open the carriage door.
Turning back, he said, “Ah, there’s no need to get off with me since we’ll be parting ways here anyway. Take care, and let’s grab something to drink if we happen to meet in the streets sometime.”
Surprised, the guide asked, “W-would you like to take my business card? My name is—”
“Now, now, there’s no need for that. I have a good memory. I’ll definitely recognize you if we meet again, so we can each go our own ways from here, and I’ll make sure to say hi the next time I see you.”
Waving goodbye, Eugene got off the carriage. The guide’s intentions had been obvious. He had wanted to somehow establish a rtionship with Eugene. Because by doing so, he would hopefully get the chance to have his name heard by Lovellian, the master of the Red Tower.
But that wasn’t any of Eugene’s business.
“Might you be Sir Eugene Lionheart?”
A woman standing in front of the entrance to the tall, scarlet tower approached Eugene. Wearing arge, pointed, wide-brimmed hat on top of her magenta robes, she made for quite an impressive sight.
‘Even three hundred years ago, no one went around dressed so stereotypically like a wizard….’
But trends came and went. Was something like that supposed to be an example of retro fashion? After ncing up at the pointed headwear, Eugene nodded in confirmation.
“Yes, that’s me.”
“My name is Hera, and I am a wizard of the Red Tower of Magic,” Hera took off her hat and bowed her head as she introduced herself. “The Tower Master is waiting upstairs. He nned to be here to greet you personally, but a small problem cropped up that’s keeping him upied.”
“What kind of problem?” Eugene asked.
At this question, Hera revealed a helpless expression. Unable to answer right away, she hesitated momentarily before ncing back at the tower.
Tching!
A pulse of mana swept from the tower and sent shivers through the atmospheric mana. The sharp, ringing sound set Hera’s shoulders trembling. Eugene also furrowed his brows slightly as he lookedup at the tower.
“…Hm… there seems to have been some sort of ident?” Eugene observed.
“…This is actually rathermon,” Hera admitted defeatedly. With a low cough, Hera put her hat back on. “At the Red Tower of Magic… well… we have many wizards who study summoning magic. And among the various different types of magic, summoning magic… um… it has the highest risk of failure.”
“If you’re going to tell him that, you should give him a proper exnation,” a voice suddenly interrupted. “It’s not just that the risk of failure is high; it’s that they’re trying to fail on purpose. They’re trying to summon somethingpletely different by overloading the summoning circle with mana!”
The owner of this annoyed-sounding voice was Lovellian.He opened one of the windows in the tall tower and flew outside.
Fwoosh!
As soon as the window opened, ck smoke started pouring out.
“However, this is just going too far. It looks like we really have a couple amazing geniuses on our hands. How, just how on earth, did you all manage to summon a Shadowbeast from a circle meant to summon a Lava Shark?”
Hanging in the midair, Lovellian waved his hand. The Shadowbeast, which had already merged with the darkness of the night sky, was caught by the mana that Lovellian emitted.
“Your spirit of creative experimentation is rmingly amazing. What were you nning to do by summoning a demonic beast that you couldn’t even handle? What do you think would have happened had the Shadowbeast escaped because of your mistake? Thankfully we’ll never know for sure, but over a hundred people could have died before it was caught!”
“We-we’re sorry….”
The young wizards who followed Lovellian out of the tower kept bowing their heads in apology. However, Lovellian’s rage couldn’t be appeased so easily.
‘They must be insane,’agreed Eugene in disbelief.
The Shadowbeast was a demonic beast that stalked the nights in Helmuth. Like most demonic beasts, the Shadowbeasts weren’t fully sentient. Instead, they were equipped solely with an instinct for destruction. If that Shadowbeast had managed to escape into the night sky, it would have immediately started hunting down the capital’s inhabitants.
The wizards tried to make excuses, “We never meant to summon a demonic beast…. We-we just….”
“From now on,youguys can be the Tower Masters of the Red Tower,” Lovellian suddenly dered.
“Huh?” the wizards gaped in shock.
“Even I wouldn’t be able to summon a Shadowbeast from a Lava Shark’s summoning circle. That would absolutely never happen. So, doesn’t this mean you managed to perform a feat of summoning that even I couldn’t? Since that must mean you’re better wizards than me, you should be the Tower Masters of the Red Tower instead.”
“T-tower Master—!”
“Do you really think I have stones for eyes? Your summoning circle was wed from the very start! Even if you make a mistake, you should at least try to get the basics right. This demonic beast could only be summoned if the very foundation of the summoning circle was screwed up!” Lovellian suddenly roared even louder, “Pack your bags and leave immediately!”
Thewizards continued to bow their heads in apology as tears dripped from their eyes. However, Lovellian didn’t change his mind. Tearing his gaze away from the poor wizards,Lovellian turned to face Eugene.
“…Ahem.”
1. A category of demons who have power over dreams. Apart from the subi, this includes incubi, nightmares, and night hags.?
2. Though this may sound discriminatory towards certain professions, we do not endorse such discriminatory behavior.?<!--
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