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Chapter : 11
“So I heard you were injured… but you look quite well, don’t you?”
“What, were you hoping this old man would still be gasping for breath?”
“Not at all. I came purely out of sincere concern. Now that I see you’re still strong, I can finally relax.”
“Since when did ‘sincere concern’ start meaning ‘like a bug’s thoughts’? If that’s what you meant, then your words aren’t wrong.”
The old man kept up his sarcasm, while the man who had come for a visit hovered around him, insisting he was only there to check on him. To my eyes, however, it looked like he was trying to confirm the old man’s condition for himself.
Ignoring the man’s chatter, I walked closer.
As I approached, it became clearer.
A translucent gem that was mostly white, with a faint reddish glow.
At a glance it resembled a moonstone, but there was a clear difference.
‘No doubt about it.’
It was definitely the “dispelling stone” that had appeared in the novel.
Meanwhile, the old man seemed to think scolding the man wasn’t resolving anything, and was now venting his anger at the servants.
“Are the things on your nose not eyes but candy? How dare you let trash like that inside!”
The atmosphere was turning tense. If things continued like this, it seemed the servant would simply end up throwing the man out—or the man would leave on his own.
And I couldn’t let this end without resolving anything.
“Waaait!”
I shouted with both hands raised.
“What is it?” the old man responded, finally noticing me. He coughed, though his face was still red with anger.
“Uncle, are you that uncle, right?”
Before the old man could say anything, I spoke directly to the man.
“Oh, do you remember me? As expected, you’re quite intelligent—”
“Uncle’s son said he’d marry me, didn’t he!”
For a brief moment, the man’s face brightened like he’d found a lifeline—then immediately crumpled.
“Is your head okay? Right?”
“Yes… well…”
The man answered blankly. I stood in front of him and rose onto my tiptoes.
‘No chance.’
He was taller than I expected. I wouldn’t even be able to reach the brooch.
“Uncle, why did you come today? Did you come to say you’ll marry me instead of your son?”
“T-That was just my son speaking nonsense! How could I possibly say something like that?”
“Reeeally?”
“If I say it twice, it’s obvious.”
“I don’t believe you.”
I crossed my arms and glared at him.
The man immediately put on a servile smile, rubbing his hands together.
“It seems I’ve been quite misunderstood. How can I clear up the young lady’s misunderstanding?”
“They say people are rotten on the inside!”
“Is that so? Whoever said that, it’s quite correct.”
The man smiled slyly and bent down in front of me.
“Look. See how sincere my eyes are—”
“Got it!”
Whether his eyes were sincere or not didn’t matter to me. That wasn’t my goal.
The moment I grabbed the brooch, I ripped it off.
“W-wait!”
Only then did the man realize what was happening—but I had already thrown the brooch toward the old man.
‘Break!’
However, it landed on a cushioned chair right in front of the old man’s bed. Unfortunately, it fell right onto a soft cushion.
“Ugh!”
Why of all places there?!
Still, it was close enough to the old man that I hurriedly shouted.
“Grandpa!”
“Hm?”
“Break that thing!”
Quickly!
“It cannot be allowed, sir!” the man shouted in desperation.
“That’s something very important to me! Please return it—”
“That looks like a magical tool.”
Then the old man picked up the brooch.
The man’s lips froze.
“Moreover, this property is…”
The old man, sensing something, looked at the man.
“Huh?”
In an instant, the old man’s body was lifted upward, and a blade pressed under his chin.
Seeing that I had been taken hostage, the old man immediately stood up.
“What are you doing?!”
“I never intended this,” the man said urgently. “I truly only came to verify something today! If you hadn’t noticed, nothing would have happened!”
“You insane bastard…”
“Anyway, please return the brooch.”
The man gestured toward the old man with his chin.
Without the dispelling stone, the old man couldn’t use his shield easily. That must have been the man’s intention—escape would be easier that way.
But he had made two mistakes.
First, he had focused only on the brooch.
“Try anything—breaking it midway or tricking us into handing it over—”
Second, he had not properly watched his hostage.
“Uncle, your breath stinks.”
“What—”
Poke.
I formed a V with my fingers and jabbed his nostrils.
“Ghk?!”
While he recoiled in shock, I jumped down.
‘I knew you’d take me hostage.’
Since I had anticipated it, escaping was easy.
“Y-you—!”
The man tried to grab me again, but I was already far away.
“Grandpa!”
Swoosh.
I hid behind the old man. The man glared at me, then quickly turned and tried to flee, deciding that fighting the old man one-on-one without a hostage was impossible.
But the exit was already blocked.
A translucent barrier.
A shield.
The man panicked and turned back toward the brooch.
The cracked dispelling stone had lost its original glow.
“H-how?!”
“You really thought I’d fall for such cheap tricks?”
The dispelling stone absorbed mana to disrupt abilities. But it had a limit—once the mana exceeded a certain threshold, it shattered.
The old man slowly approached the man.
He wasn’t holding any weapon, yet the man kept backing away as if facing a predator.
But even that had limits.
The man turned his head when a blade touched his neck. Knights of the family had already arrived beyond the broken shield.
The moment dozens of swords pressed against him simultaneously—
He lowered his head with a defeated expression.
“Capture him!”
The man was tightly bound and dragged down to the basement. The air carried the damp smell typical of places used for unpleasant things.
He flinched but tried not to show fear, straightening his neck.
“You… you won’t get me to talk! I’m known in Benhur as a man of integrity—”
“Is that so? Good.”
Glenn smiled.
This bastard had held a blade to his precious granddaughter’s neck. He had no intention of showing mercy.
Thirty minutes later—
“I-I’ll talk! I’ll tell you everything!”
The man, now thoroughly beaten, shouted from the corner.
“You coward!”
Glenn kicked his side.
“Where is your so-called integrity now?!”
“Please, I’ll tell you everything, just spare my life!”
“Do you think I’ll let you speak so easily?! I will teach you endurance!”
The knights stood at a distance from Glenn.
A rookie knight swallowed nervously.
He had imagined scenarios where Glenn might get exhausted or the prisoner might escape—
But never this.
‘Why is he stopping an enemy who’s already willing to confess?!’
He had never expected to witness such a bizarre sight.
“Uh… isn’t it good if the enemy gives information?”
“Quiet, rookie.”
The senior knight placed a finger to his lips.
After the rookie fell silent, he patted his shoulder.
“And from now on… live properly.”
Properly!
He hadn’t done anything particularly bad before, but now he felt like he had to live even more righteously.
Even though Glenn never looked back, the knight stood perfectly straight for a long time.
Three hours later—
After thoroughly beating the man while extracting all useful information, Glenn left the basement.
The information Glenn obtained was twofold.
[Th-the Marquis of Diramis said he’d create a position in the administration office if I did it… Y-you know how hard jobs are these days, r-right? Ack!]
One was that the mastermind behind the incident was the Marquis of Diramis.
[Actually, planting explosives in the Tensun River was part of their plan.]
[After the bridge collapsed, they even recruited a woman to confess to the crime.]
[And if I stayed around the old man with the dispelling stone, he wouldn’t be able to use his shield—then the rest would… Agh! I’m sorry! I’m sorry!]
The other was that there existed a stone capable of nullifying abilities.
Glenn sat in the reception room. It was close to both the basement and his son’s office.
He gauged the presence beyond the door, and when it seemed his son would not come, he leaned back comfortably.
Then he suddenly remembered what he was holding.
He opened his clenched fist.
“Hm…”
At first glance, it was nothing special. A faint trace of mana lingered within it, but it was barely noticeable unless examined closely.
