The Returnee Wants Peace

The Echerzen Ducal Mansion in the capital.

Vagen, the head butler who had served the heads of the ducal family all his life, stood by the wall, watching his master.

Duke Froy Echerzen, who would probably be his last master.

This young man of power, barely in his mid-twenties, was quickly flipping through reports while leaning on his desk.

A sharp nose bridge as if it could cut, deep purple eyes, and a properly trained body though somewhat pale due to the lack of sunlight in the north.

No one could deny that the master he had watched since childhood was extremely handsome.

‘That’s probably why marriage proposals never cease despite malicious rumors.’

Vagen glanced at the carelessly piled letters on the mantelpiece.

It was then.

“Is something wrong? You keep staring.”

“No, Master.”

The Duke nodded and buried his head in the reports again.

Beyond him, the view of the capital at sunset could be seen. Under the sky where deep navy overlapped the red hues of the sunset, the city was bright like a nightscape.

It was light flowing from magic stones used instead of lamps.

Carts moving without draft horses passed between the low magic stone lamps illuminating the streets.

There were groups that seemed to be all magicians, people carrying unfamiliar weapons, and groups of mercenaries wearing uniforms for a sense of belonging.

The capital, which he was visiting after a very long time, was quite unfamiliar to him who had already grown old.

‘Well, this isn’t the only strange thing.’

The Duke, who had kept his subordinates confined in an isolated fortress, had allowed Vagen to follow him here.

Thanks to this, he who had hoped to serve his master closely was able to regain inner peace after several years.

Though he had somewhat adapted now, sometimes he felt like kissing the floor out of gratitude.

That was probably the same for the captain of the Duchy’s Knight Order.

“Master, it seems he will soon wake up again.”

The captain, who opened the door only after knocking and receiving permission, said while formally placing one knee on the floor.

His huge body curled up.

To mention it now, the task the young master had entrusted to him was to extract information from the captured magician.

-He must never be allowed to die, nor to use magic. There’s also a chance he might take his own life, so watch him closely.

The magician imprisoned in the mansion’s basement was said to be the culprit behind the red moon that had plagued the continent for months on end.

Perhaps because of this, the captain seemed to be administering torture without much guilt.

‘Though it’s been a long time since he’s done it, during the time of the previous Duke, it was no big deal for the captain to make prisoners open their mouths.’

Indeed, suspicious information whose meaning was unclear kept leaking from him, all of which was organized into reports and delivered to the master.

“Is that so? Then I should go down.”

The Duke rose enthusiastically at the captain’s words. Then he suddenly turned and coughed several times.

“Master, are you alright?”

“Cough… It’s fine. I’ll be down soon, so go ahead first.”

After confirming that his subordinates had left, Froy checked his palm.

The severely tangled blood flow had been temporarily dealt with on the way back to the mansion, but blood was still seeping through from some part that had gone wrong.

‘It’s not something that will heal in a day, he said…’

Professor Yurik was right. Though he looked fine on the outside, his insides were a mess.

At that moment.

‘The Anonymous God’ suggests that you lie down and take care of your body right away.

The god who had hidden his name gently spoke up.

His god, who had concealed his name, was a being that had been watching Froy for a very long time.

He had said that Froy would learn his identity when the time came, but he was still a mysterious and suspicious fellow.

Anyway, he was sometimes helpful, so he was better than nothing.

“The schedule is busy. It’s not an injury that warrants using an elixir either.”

Since it wasn’t an injury but just tangled blood flow, it had to be slowly untangled. In the end, time was the medicine.

‘The Anonymous God’ retorts that he knows it’s not just because of that.

Perhaps because he was a god, he was unnecessarily perceptive.

But it couldn’t be helped.

‘For me… there were only things I had to do, not things I wanted to do.’

Uncovering all the Emperor’s secrets related to his father’s death.

It’s not that he had any particular affection for his father.

Rather, only regret remained that he had crossed the river of death before Froy could judge him.

The reason he was obsessed with the Emperor’s secrets was because only that had pulled him out of endless boredom.

Even as he pursued the secrets and moved forward, he inwardly wondered.

If he uncovers the mastermind and learns all the truth, what will become of him afterwards?

Will he finally break free from his long-standing goal and live a free life?

Or will he set another purpose and take meaningless steps towards it?

Perhaps he might slowly sink while sensing the end amidst waves of boredom.

‘To think that I… would actually have something to hope for.’

Even the god who had watched him for a long time probably couldn’t have predicted this.

‘The Anonymous God’ advises that if you’re going to be in pain anyway, be in pain in front of her as originally planned.

“…”

Froy, at a loss for words at the god’s razor-sharp insight, suddenly looked out the window.

A night with twilight settling in. He could see the carriage carrying Rosha passing through the main gate of this mansion.

She had not left him behind.

The corners of Froy’s mouth curled up like a picture.

If so, what he needs to do now is clear.

* * *

“Ugh.”

“That’s why you shouldn’t have gotten hurt. Untangling twisted blood flow takes a long time. Sit properly.”

Rosha scolded, pressing her palm against Froy’s bare back.

Guiding the twisted blood flow one by one with magic to return it to normal was the proper method but a tedious process. Moreover, it was painful for the recipient.

However, Froy only occasionally let out groans and maintained a faint smile.

‘Why is he smiling?’

It’s not like he’s someone who enjoys pain. If he were, that would be a bit troublesome too.

“Phew… that’ll do.”

Somehow unable to concentrate, Rosha quickly dealt with only the urgent blood flow and wiped her sweat as she stood up.

It certainly seemed like he would have to suffer for a few more days, but he was in a much better state than before. At least he probably won’t cough up blood in front of others now.

She carefully covered his exposed outer garment and said:

“Elixirs won’t be of use for twisted blood flow symptoms, but there should be some kind of supplement that helps with recovery.”

“Well… there might be some in the Emperor’s secret storage. Though I haven’t looked.”

“Why not? That’s when you should use it.”

“Her Majesty the Emperor has determined that storage to belong to you. Besides, it’s a place that couldn’t even be opened without the passage you opened.”

As it turned out, it was a place that couldn’t be entered without Froy’s ability.

So until now, he had only sneakily taken out elixirs for Rosha’s use and left it as is.

“…Go find some and use it now.”

“Alright. I understand.”

Froy answered with a smile, then slowly lowered the smile from his lips.

Because he felt someone’s gaze subtly interfering with their conversation.

“Ahem…”

The brown-haired young man who had entered this mansion with Rosha was looking at them with strange eyes.

Froy found his presence quite irritating.

When they met at the amphitheater before, he had a youthful air, but now he looked more mature than then.

Moreover, he seemed to be on close terms with Rosha, treating her without reserve.

“Are you done?”

“Yes.”

Whether knowing Froy’s thoughts or not.

The young man lightly clapped his hands and said:

“Good. Then I’ll tell you my plan first. A trial requiring a large-scale conquest party will open soon, and we need a small special forces team to sever the connection between that trial and this place.”

“Hmm.”

“And it would be good if there was someone who could quickly move that special forces team at specific times…”

“…”

Froy’s eyebrows twitched slightly as he received the young man’s gaze.