~Chapter 40~
“It’s just that her mana is drained, so she lost consciousness. She’ll wake up in a few days. We should return now. This place’s air alone is unpleasant for the Noble One to be in.”
When Laxa stepped outside, the two maids waiting there widened their eyes.
“…Sir Denver?”
Shiphon shrank back and cautiously spoke.
She instinctively felt danger. Looking closely, his appearance and aura looked completely different.
“What’s that?”
“Oh, he’s the Master’s first subordinate.”
“…That kind of human?”
“For reference, you’re number four. Or wait, is it five? That body was number four.”
“I… can’t believe it.”
Laxa swayed slightly, as if in great shock. He narrowed his eyes and stared at Shiphon.
“If you kill her, the Master won’t like it.”
Ross spoke casually while yawning.
“No choice then, woman. Come here. We’re going back to the mansion.”
“W-wait… what about Father?”
Banshee quickly blocked Laxa’s path.
Her trembling eyes, full of hostility, showed she didn’t understand the situation.
Laxa smiled mockingly and spoke.
“I’ve given him emergency treatment for now. We’ll visit again when the Noble One wakes up.”
“Ah…”
“Before the poison, his strength was already weak from not eating properly. You should feed him well.”
He turned his gaze back to Shiphon, who still hadn’t moved.
“I told you to come—”
Crack—!
A magic circle appeared beneath his feet.
Laxa’s hand suddenly moved on its own, grabbing his own neck tightly.
His eyes widened slightly.
“Surprising… for a mere human to still keep his will.”
He looked at his own hand, gripping his neck so hard the veins bulged, and let out a short remark.
“I’ll admit your mental strength, but…”
Crack.
His hand slowly returned to its original place.
It looked as if his head and body were moving separately—a bizarre sight.
Ross chuckled as if finding the sight of him fighting himself amusing.
Laxa’s twitching fingers eventually went limp and stopped moving.
He let out a short sigh.
“Looks like he finally fell asleep.”
He turned his head again.
“This is the last time. Come here.”
Shiphon flinched at his words, then took a deep breath and approached cautiously.
“We can’t enter the mansion with magic.”
“…Why not?”
“Because we can’t let anyone find out we used magic there.”
“How annoying.”
The magic circle beneath his feet stretched to Shiphon’s. When she opened her eyes again, they were in a quiet alley near the mansion.
“Lead the way.”
With a tense face, Shiphon slowly headed toward the mansion.
***
Nigel Egbert was on the verge of going insane these days.
For the first time in his life, absolutely nothing was going right.
He couldn’t even sleep comfortably.
When he slept, he had nightmares. When he woke up, dozens of bad things were waiting for him.
Sometimes, he found himself speaking his thoughts out loud without realizing it.
Not long ago, he had been walking on flat ground and suddenly twisted his ankle so badly he needed a splint. A few days before that, his carriage broke down, and when he got out, he was caught in an unexpected rainstorm and soaked like a drowned rat.
Just yesterday, he had been meeting an important business partner and accidentally spoke the words he was only thinking, ruining the deal completely.
Even when trying to sleep, he would feel as though something was pressing on him, suffocating him. In the morning, he would wake drenched in sweat.
In his dreams, a huge monster he couldn’t even identify would chase him relentlessly.
It didn’t feel like he was sleeping at all.
On top of that, small misfortunes never stopped happening.
Individually, they weren’t much.
A perfectly fine cup would suddenly break just as he was about to drink tea, soaking his clothes. He would choke on his food often. He would stub his fingers or toes constantly.
Nigel looked down at his bandage-covered body and let out a hollow laugh.
The Egbert family was known for being born with strong, healthy bodies.
They rarely got sick. Nigel had been the same.
But today, something truly dangerous almost happened.
He had fallen into the fountain in the family estate. That alone wasn’t a big deal—just another misfortune.
The problem was that the large statue in the center of the fountain broke afterward… and landed right in front of him.
If he had moved even slightly, the massive statue would have fallen directly on his head.
As things kept escalating, strange rumors spread.
That Nigel Egbert had been cursed. That the goddess of misfortune was following him. That he was being punished by heaven.
“Nonsense!”
Bang!
Holding a cup full of alcohol in one hand, he slammed the table with the other.
Crack—!
“…Crack?”
He felt a sharp pain shoot up his wrist at the same time as the chilling sound.
“Aaagh!”
It felt like a bone had cracked—just from slamming the wooden table once!
“Damn it!”
He ground his teeth.
He had no idea what evil spirit had latched onto him.
“Naiman Uncle.”
At that moment, a small, annoying voice echoed in his ears, making him freeze.
“Be careful on the road today, Naiman Uncle. From what I see, your luck doesn’t look good today.”
“What?”
“My gut feels bad. Really bad.”
The child frowned slightly and shook her head with a worried look.
“If your luck’s bad, come to me! I’ll make you a talisman! Cheap!”
Now that he thought about it, why had he forgotten?
These strange misfortunes had started after the child said that to him.
That same day, his carriage—perfectly fine until then—broke down, and he had gotten drenched by a sudden downpour that wasn’t even in the forecast.
It was from that day.
The day when all the big and small misfortunes and nightmares began.
‘Did she see something?’
He had heard that the girl might be chosen as a saint.
If she had received God’s power, she must have gained abilities others didn’t have—like how Kaelos Egbert and Kardem Egbert had gained purification and healing powers.
‘…Come to think of it, wasn’t she the one who cured Mother when no doctor could help?’
Nigel clenched his teeth as the doctor who had come running at his scream tended to his hand.
“I’m going out now.”
“…Where to?”
“That brat. Where is she?”
“That brat…?”
“That dim-witted illegitimate child! Kaelos’s daughter!”
Nigel nearly slammed the table again but stopped his fist midair. He couldn’t risk injuring the other hand. He clicked his tongue.
“Find out immediately. I’m going.”
“Yes, understood.”
Nigel glanced at his splinted left leg and injured right hand and let out a hollow laugh.
With all the bandages on him, people would probably say a mummy had crawled out of its tomb.
Once ready, he left as soon as he heard she was at the annex.
“…Annex? Don’t tell me you mean that collapsing place?”
“Yes, sir.”
“How can anyone live there? I thought Father sealed it off completely.”
“…I don’t know the details.”
Nigel frowned at the servant’s vague reply.
Sure enough, when they arrived, the building’s exterior was no different from a ruin.
It had once been the residence of their eldest brother.
Someone who no longer existed—whose name had even been erased from the family records.
The Egbert family was a bloodline descended from the gods.
According to old texts, long ago, God came down to the human world for amusement and fell in love with a woman, having a child with her.
When the child was born, the sky opened, birds and trees sang all day, and animals gathered to offer mysterious tributes.
When the child laughed, the sun rose. When they cried, it rained. Their voice was as sweet as the sound of bells.
The child of God and a human woman possessed immense divine power.
People called the child “the blessed noble child.”
But it didn’t last long. Eventually, the human world fell into chaos.
War broke out with the demon race.
When the child became an adult, they joined the war alongside another human chosen by God, driving out the demons and leading humanity to victory.
In the end, humans expelled the demons and their poisonous miasma and founded a nation on that land.
The child of God and the woman was recognized for their achievements, given a title and surname, and founded a family.
This is what the history books said.
That was the Egbert family.
But the family had one problem.
