Chapter: 343
Disguised as a noble who could be seen anywhere on the streets, Alsatine hurriedly made his way through the crowd towards the Soul Academy.
He urgently needed to inform Lucy Allen, the most important client for both him and his master.
Why on earth is the First Queen of the Soladin Kingdom attending the academy’s end-of-term party?
How can she come here when she doesn’t have a moment to rest while handling everything in place of the ailing king?
Even for Alsatine, who was used to gathering and organizing a wealth of information, this was an unexpected situation.
The First Queen had never attended an end-of-term party due to her official duties when Rene Soladin was attending the academy.
How could anyone imagine she’d make an excuse to come here for her two sons, whom she typically disregarded?
Thanks to this, a commotion erupted among those led by Alsatine.
The sudden change in schedule for one of the kingdom’s most crucial figures would undoubtedly lead to consequences.
And they couldn’t even predict what disaster might occur when their major client, Lucy Allen, met the First Queen.
“Disciple, our employer is the one who called the king a tired, sick pig. There’s no way she wouldn’t insult the First Queen, right?”
“…Looks like another mess is on the way.”
“I’m curious how much trouble it will take until Benedict’s disguise gets a hole in it. I can’t guess how that crazy lady will react to our employer’s rudeness, so I can’t experiment.”
Given instructions from his master to bring Lucy and Benedict, Alsatine quickened his pace, hoping no incident would occur before he arrived.
Following the traces left by the two members of the Allen family, Alsatine soon found Lucy Allen at the academy dungeon’s experience center.
It wasn’t particularly difficult. Lucy was the sort of person who could be spotted anywhere at any time.
“Greetings, Lady Allen.”
As Alsatine bowed with a semblance of noble etiquette, Lucy furrowed her brows and tore her gaze away from the crystal ball.
Her face clearly showed that she was irritated by his presence, prompting Alsatine to hastily move his hands.
The agreed gesture between Lucy Allen and him.
Only after confirming that did she relax one of her eyebrows.
In other words, her other eyebrow was still annoyed.
“Are you blind? Can’t you see I’m busy right now?”
“Lady, this is urgent. Just a moment of your time.”
“It won’t take long. Wait for a bit. Then I’ll praise you for your efforts later.”
Though he felt like saying this isn’t the time, Alsatine endured with superhuman patience.
He couldn’t stir up a ruckus when things were already conspicuous.
What on earth could be so captivating within that crystal ball that Lady Allen can’t take her eyes off it?
As such thoughts crossed his mind, Alsatine subtly turned his gaze to see Benedict zooming down the long hallway in less than a second, and his eyes widened.
Lord Benedict was in the midst of conquering the dungeon.
Having explored the dungeon designed by Lucy under his master’s suggestion, Alsatine knew where Benedict was now.
Just before waking up from his dream.
In the corridor just before heading to the 0th floor.
At that speed, it wouldn’t be long now.
“Hey….”
Boom!
The moment the door opened and the antagonist appeared, Benedict’s fist slammed into his face.
Even a fully powered opponent couldn’t react to the speed and impact of a human punch that felt unbelievable, sending the antagonist flying into the wall and dropping to the floor.
“Sorry! I’m a bit in a hurry!”
Benedict offered apologies as the antagonist, bleeding and unable to speak, received another punch.
And once again, a loud impact echoed from beyond the crystal ball.
Alsatine was left speechless at the sight of the overwhelmingly one-sided beatdown the antagonist couldn’t even retaliate against.
He’d heard countless tales of Lord Benedict’s wondrous strength.
He also knew the awe and fear he inspired among those who fought alongside him.
But seeing the rumors’ reality with his own eyes made him realize how naive his imagination had been.
His master said that was in a considerably weakened state. Just how strong had he been in his prime?
…Maybe the rumor about him splitting a dragon’s head in half might actually be true.
“Damnit! Dieee!”
Not even a minute after Benedict faced the antagonist, the latter unleashed his red mana in a final struggle.
This was the ultimate blow, the greatest challenge faced by those attempting to set new records.
As the magic laced with the will to kill the opponent materialized, Benedict leisurely loosened his shoulders and packed mana into his fist.
“Good job. Now, you can take a break.”
That was it.
Benedict’s punch shattered the antagonist’s red mana, and soon a door appeared leading outside.
The time taken from entering the dungeon to defeating the boss was just 2 minutes and 32 seconds.
It was an overwhelming number, having been several minutes shortened from Lucy Allen’s previous record, which had secured first place.
If he could do that without even wielding a weapon, just how strong would he be if he wielded that greatsword seen at Menestel?
“…Wait. No, that’s asking too much.”
Hmm? What’s Lady Allen mumbling about? Asking too much?
“That smelly antagonist is unnecessarily tough. Tsk. Shouldn’t rotten meat be easier to tear apart?”
Upon hearing that, Alsatine realized what Lucy Allen’s soliloquy meant.
Was she looking for a way to renew the record set by Lord Benedict?
That record, which seemed utterly unreachable?
Hearing Lucy’s murmuring, Alsatine was significantly surprised, as her thoughts were not vague.
She was clearly contemplating a plan to break Benedict’s record.
Despite the insurmountable physical gap, she was striving to surpass it with her ability.
Sigh. Like father, like daughter, huh?
No wonder there are only monsters born from the bloodline of the Allen family.
As Alsatine continued his thoughts, which would make Lucy gasp if she heard, a huge thudding sound approached from afar.
There was no need to discuss who the owner of that sound was.
There could only be one person in this world with such a boisterous and large voice.
“LUCY! DID YOU SEE DADDY’S PERFORMANCE?! ISN’T DADDY AMAZING?! RIGHT?!”
“Daddy♡”
“Huh?!”
“Seriously?! Trying to show off like this in front of your daughter is totally pathetic!♡ I’m embarrassed to have such a father!♡”
“W-Wait!”
“Don’t come near me!♡ You’re making me feel bad!♡”
“LUCYYY!”
The one who had just displayed awe-inspiring strength was now begging his daughter for forgiveness, and Alsatine was once again left speechless.
He shouldn’t say this, but Lord Benedict’s influence might be a factor in Lady Allen’s skewed behavior.
“…Huh? Who’s that?”
After begging for Lucy’s forgiveness for a while, Benedict’s gaze naturally fell towards Alsatine, who was standing nearby.
A completely different, cold, and intimidating aura from the affectionate gaze he had for his daughter.
Alsatine, who had met countless people in the information business, felt a fear that even the pressure Benedict imposed made him shake.
“Given your physique, you don’t seem to be one of the academy students.”
“One of my loyal hounds.”
“…Hound?”
Before Lucy could even finish her sentence, magical energy flared around Benedict.
In an atmosphere so thick with pressure that it felt suffocating, Alsatine barely managed to squeeze out some words.
“Lord Allen, you seem to have misunderstood something.”
“Misunderstood? That’s quite an amusing word.”
A gigantic hand that looked like it could easily tear an adult man’s head off brushed past Alsatine’s ear and rested on his shoulder.
“Let’s hear your excuse.”
“T-That is…”
The sensation of death he felt when he faced his master at Menestel resurfaced.
He felt suffocated. Cold sweat ran down him. His mind went blank.
Damnit. I can’t gather my thoughts…
“DADDY!♡”
Fortunately, Lucy’s voice rose faster than Alsatine’s legs buckled.
“What on earth are you doing?♡ Do you really think this worthless piece of trash is worthy of my company?♡ Really?♡”
“N-No, Lucy, it’s not like that…”
“It’s disgusting that you’d even think to compare me, a noble and beautiful girl, with this rubbish!♡”
“It’s just that Daddy was worried about you.”
“I’m so disappointed!♡ I’m leaving!♡ Don’t follow me, you gross Daddy!♡”
“LUCYYY! I’m sorryyy!”
Is the person kneeling before his daughter, begging for forgiveness, the same one who was threatening him a moment ago?
Alsatine, unable to keep up with the rapid development, stared blankly at the scene, feeling the eyes of everyone around him, and hurriedly interjected between Lucy and Benedict.
Luckily, the signal his master had taught him also held true for Benedict.
*
After parting with Alsatine and heading toward the predetermined location with Benedict, Karia greeted them.
“Hey there. You both came after a long time… Hey, employer, what’s up with him?”
‘Don’t ask.’
“How should I know? Daddy is acting like a fool again.”
Sniff.
Hearing the sniffling noise from someone who looked to be three times my size made me sigh reflexively.
It must have been a mistake to be firm when I thought I’d better not let it worsen by sulking before taking my time with Alsatine.
Who would have thought the aftermath would linger until now?
[Why are you leaving out the part where my pride in your dungeon got hurt? Just saying.]
I stood in front of Benedict, who kept glancing my way, slowly piecing together what my grandpa’s words meant.
If I let this go, things wouldn’t progress smoothly.
‘Father.’
“Foolish Daddy.”
“Sniff.”
…This guy pretended not to hear, huh.
Is he sulking?
Aaaah! Seriously! Fine!
I’ll just call him what he wants!
“Daddy♡”
“…Lucy.”
“Daddy is a royal fool♡ Today I’ll be nice and let the foolish things slide, just this once!♡”
“Ooh! Lucy! Thank you so much.”
“Instead,♡ if you pull such a thing again, I might just leave home, so know that!♡”
“I understand! This Daddy will do his utmost to not disappoint Lucy！”
Seeing Benedict light up at her words felt hysterical, but I refrained from saying anything because that would surely recreate the earlier scene.
Karia, who had been watching this spectacle, glared disdainfully at Benedict, shaking her head quietly.
“Sigh. There’s no time, so I’ll get straight to the point. The reason I called you two is because of the attendees at today’s end-of-term party. Here, read this.”
Who was coming that Karia had to act this way?
Is it because multiple dukes are attending?
No, even that level is manageable now.
It’ll hurt to wear disguises a bit, but it isn’t a big deal.
Is it that the church will send attendees because of Phoebe?
Even that shouldn’t be a major issue if things are within reasonable limits.
I’ve now managed to conceal my divinity to a certain extent.
…Could it be the Second Queen is coming?
Is that hag coming to recruit me?!
That would be… quite troublesome.
What would happen if I called her that face-to-face?
As I pondered this while flipping through the pages, I was left frozen upon seeing the name at the top.
‘Kabati Soladin’
That medieval Trump girl who should be holed up in the royal palace is coming?!
Why?!
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