LVVL 58

Chapter 58

“Ludio! Ludio! Are you all right?”

In the pitch-black basement,
the moment the rats suddenly froze and scattered in every direction,
Gregorius, realizing something had gone wrong, rushed down the stairs where Eric and Rattenfänger had disappeared.

After glancing around the dark space, he spotted the jester pinned to the corner, held by pale skeletons.
Worry carved deep into his face, the old man ran toward him at once.

“I’m sorry… I’m so sorry.”

Even though bony hands were clutching at his throat, the jester didn’t resist.
He simply stared blankly at the bishop’s face — aged and lined with time,
so different from his own unchanged one.

“I couldn’t… keep my promise to you…”

Gregorius’s trembling hand gently brushed the clown’s cold cheek.
It felt nothing like the warmth of the boy he remembered —
instead, like a lifeless doll, drained of all warmth.
Hot tears rolled down the old man’s face.

“It’s all my fault. I told you to lead the people into the basement in case of emergency,
that reinforcements would come soon if you just held out.
If only I hadn’t asked you to do such a thing…”

Long ago, in the northern parish —
on the day the buried temple beneath this plateau had been assaulted by the Demon King’s army —

When news of the attack reached him,
Gregorius had been fighting on another border to stop the Dragon King’s onslaught.

Even while he worried, a part of him had felt relieved —
because the boy, Ludio, was still there.

The boy everyone looked down on as useless,
who still smiled brightly and handled every task neatly.
Sometimes, Gregorius had thought Ludio seemed more adult than he himself was.

He believed that boy would lead everyone to safety
and keep the promise they had made together.

But in the end, unlike him — who had failed to keep his own promise and abandoned them all —

“Mister…”

At the sight of the old man truly crying for him,
the jester’s eyes — once filled only with hatred — wavered helplessly.

For the first time, cracks spread through the solid wall of vengeance
that had supported him for decades.

“Your Eminence! It’s dangerous!”

Hector and the soldiers, who had finally descended the stairs, froze at the sight before them and rushed forward in alarm.

“Get away from that monster—”

But—

Clack—

The moment Hector drew his sword to charge at the jester,
Eric stepped in front of him, quietly shaking his head.

Before Hector could protest, Gregorius sank to his knees before the skeletons.

“Please… please forgive this child.
All of this is my fault.
If only I had come sooner, none of you would have suffered such horror.
It was I — the servant of the Goddess — who abandoned you all.”

At that desperate cry, the blazing red light within the skulls’ sockets slowly dimmed.
They seemed to realize that their true resentment wasn’t toward the boy,
but toward the bishop who had left him behind.

Rustle…

The skeletal hands that held Ludio collapsed like sand.
At long last, decades of grudges had come to an end.

“Cough… kuh…”

Freed from their grip, Ludio collapsed to the floor, gasping for air as he looked up at Gregorius.

“…No. It… wasn’t your fault, sir.”

He took the old man’s hand and, in a trembling voice, spoke words of forgiveness —
not as Rattenfänger, the mad monster of vengeance,
but as the innocent boy who had once smiled so brightly.

Then, with effort, he turned his head toward Hector and the soldiers glaring at him with hatred,
and bowed weakly.

“I’m sorry… for everything I’ve done…”

Before he could finish his words, his body crumpled to the ground.

At the last moment, his gaze shifted to Eric,
who had been silently watching it all.

For the first time, a faint light returned to his once-empty eyes.

“…Be careful… young hero of the Order.”

His tone held no trace of jest — only solemn warning.

“Already… several Demon Kings… are watching you…”

Thud—

And with that, the jester’s head fell to the side.

“Ludio…”

The long, bitter story of the boy once called Ludio —
his endless quest for revenge —
finally came to an end.

Only Gregorius’s sorrowful sobs echoed through the silent basement.

* * *

The next day, after defeating Rattenfänger and purging the source of the plague,
Eric and his companions began their journey back to the fortress.

“Um… young master, are you sure it’s all right to just leave His Eminence like that?”

At Lillian’s question, Eric glanced sideways at Gregorius,
who had been sunk in deep grief ever since yesterday.

He sighed and shrugged.
“What else can we do? All we can do is hope he finds a way to overcome it on his own.”

He would have helped if he could — but there was nothing anyone could say.

He didn’t even know exactly what had happened between Gregorius and Rattenfänger in the past.

Better to keep quiet than to accidentally step on a landmine.

Comfort must be given at the right time and place.
Say the wrong thing at the wrong time, and it only breeds misunderstanding.
He’d seen too many people ruined by one careless word.

Besides… I’ve got my own problems right now.

Turning away from the grieving man, Eric recalled the jester’s final warning.

The Demon Kings are watching me…

The twelve Demon Kings —
rulers who commanded massive armies of monsters beyond the borders.

Even with an entire territory’s military strength,
defeating just one of them in the late stages of the game had been nearly impossible.

If such beings were already watching him… that wasn’t good news.

They wouldn’t risk much to kill one “incompetent.”
But if even one of them decided to eliminate him personally,
he had no way to resist.

I need to get stronger. If I can’t protect myself… I must at least protect those around me.

“…Young master?”

“What is it? Oh— You think I’m worried about His Eminence too, don’t you?”

Lillian’s bright eyes and Leona’s curious gaze turned toward him.
Catching their stares, Eric chuckled softly.

Ding!

[You have defeated the Named Monster, <Rattenfänger>.]

Eric checked the system messages that appeared.

[Your body adapts to torn muscles.]
[Strength +2]
[Your body adapts to explosive movements.]
[Agility +2]
[Your body adapts to constant limits.]
[Endurance +3]
[Your body adapts to intense mysteries.]
[Magic Power +3]

All his stats — strength, agility, endurance, and magic — had risen nicely.

To gain that much through normal training would take months.

Satisfied, Eric then looked to the true reward of the expedition:

[Giant Killing!]
[You have achieved an impossible feat. Choose one of the following traits as your reward.]
<Enthrall>, <Pied Piper>

The two traits Rattenfänger had originally possessed.

Without hesitation, Eric chose the one he’d had in mind from the start.

<Enthrall>

• Charm and control others through sound. (Success rate increases when your stats are higher than your target’s.)

• Increases Charisma.

The first effect wasn’t very useful with his low magic power,
but the true value lay in the second line — Increases Charisma.

It might seem simple and unimpressive,
but for someone striving to secure his family’s successor position,
it was invaluable.

It would also help later, once he had to rule the territory as an “incompetent.”

<Eric Ater>
Level: —99
Strength [9] → [11]
Agility [9] → [11]
Endurance [12] → [15]
Magic Power [5] → [8]
Traits: <Indomitable>, <Neurotoxin>, <Frost Step>, <Necromancy>, <Enthrall>

After admiring his improved status window for a while,
Eric finally stopped walking when his companions did.

Before them stretched the fortress — closer than expected.
Thanks to the quiet journey back from the northern parish,
they hadn’t needed to camp overnight.

“…Lord Eric.”

While waiting for the gates to open,
a voice called from beside him.

“Thank you for resolving the plague within the fortress.
If not for you, we might never have captured that monster.
And… I apologize for doubting you before.”

“I’m sorry as well!”

Hector and the fortress soldiers bowed deeply in sincere gratitude.

Eric blinked, then laughed softly.

“There’s no need for that. I just did what any hero of the Order should.”

He was just about to bid them farewell when—

“Hear me, Cardinal Gregorius!”

A booming voice rang out beyond the now-open gates.

“Despite reports of strange phenomena spreading across the continent,
you abandoned your post in the northern parish without notifying the central Order!”

Beyond the crowd gathered at the gate stood a priest reading from a long scroll,
flanked by rows of knights clad in white armor engraved with the scales of justice.

“You are hereby ordered to return before the merciful Goddess
and confess your sins in full!”

The Holy Order’s central paladins —
the very knights who guarded the Imperial Capital.

So the rumors about Gregorius’s unstable standing in the Order were true… but this bad?

As the knights appeared at the border to arrest him,
Eric glanced worriedly at the old man —
then bit his lip in frustration.

No matter how unjust it felt,
there was nothing he could do.

Opposing the central Order here would be suicide —
and would ruin any chance of inheriting his family title.

“Y-Young master! The Cardinal—”

“Lillian. No.”

With a firm look, Eric turned away, ignoring her pleading gaze,
and led his companions off the scene.

“And furthermore…”

Rustle—

The priest unfurled the scroll a bit more and read on.

“…the young hero of the Order, Eric Ater,
is also hereby summoned.”