Chapter 39

'Why is a forbidden book here?!'

Oliver was shocked to discover the forbidden text.

Necromancy was a forbidden art that enslaved or resurrected the dead-a forbidden art that symbolized the demons themselves.

He couldn't believe a grimoire dealing with such forbidden magic was in his father's study.

Oliver lifted the grimoire with trembling hands.

A sticky aura flowed from the book.

Instinctively, Oliver knew he shouldn't open it.

At that moment-

-Thud, thud.

Footsteps echoed closer. They approached until they stopped right in front of the study door.

Oliver hurriedly snuffed out the candle and hid under the desk, holding his breath. His heart pounded rapidly. He clamped his hand over his mouth, holding his breath.

-Click.

The door opened and someone entered. Oliver squeezed his eyes shut.

From the footsteps alone, he could guess who had entered the study.

Carlo Mandolin-Oliver's father. He was the only person in the mansion who possessed a key to the study.

Carlo quietly looked around the study. Confirming no one was there, he pulled a book from the shelf and placed it on the desk.

-Thump, thump.

Oliver's heart felt ready to burst from tension. Carlo stood right in front of the desk where he was hiding.

But Carlo soon turned and twisted a switch on the wall behind the bookshelf. With a rumble, the bookshelf rotated to reveal a secret door.

He quietly opened the door and entered.

"......."

-Thud!

When the door closed, Oliver released his held breath in a rush. Cold sweat beaded on his forehead.

'A secret room? There was something like that in the mansion?'

It was suspicious.

A forbidden book and a secret door. Carlo seemed to be hiding something significant. And it must be something connected to the demons.

Oliver swallowed hard and pressed his ear to the secret door.

Very faint and distant, he could hear Carlo's footsteps. When he cracked the door open slightly, a long staircase stretched before him. It was a spiral staircase descending endlessly downward.

"......."

Should he go down? Or should he turn back here?

Oliver hesitated for a moment.

Oliver wanted to believe in his father Carlo. That's why he had entered the study, hoping deep down it was just his imagination, that there would be no evidence.

But instead, clear proof lay right before his eyes.

He ground his molars.

When Carlo's image came to mind, indescribable emotions welled up.

Betrayal-or perhaps disappointment.

But Oliver was also a proper knight.

Setting aside his personal feelings, he needed to find out exactly what Carlo was plotting using forbidden arts.

Oliver calmly opened the secret door and descended the stairs.

Carefully muffling his footsteps as he descended for some time, the brick walls gradually transformed into cave walls.

-Drip, drip.

The sound of water droplets falling echoed.

Finally reaching the bottom of the stairs, Carlo came into view. Oliver hastily pressed himself flat against the wall to hide.

Peeking out just enough to observe, he saw Carlo gazing at a stone coffin with pitying eyes.

"......!"

When Oliver saw the name written on the coffin, he was shocked. The name of his long-dead mother was inscribed on the coffin's stone tablet.

[Margaret Lady Mandolin]

Margaret-unmistakably his mother's name.

"So much time has passed."

Carlo muttered while looking at the stone coffin.

"Not much longer now, Margaret....... Soon......."

Oliver swallowed hard.

'Soon......? Don't tell me.......'

Oliver's mother Margaret had lost her life long ago, caught up in a war during the Empire's continental unification. She had thrown herself in front of an enemy knight's sword to protect five-year-old Oliver, suffering fatal wounds that ended her short life.

He too remembered that day vividly. It was from that moment Carlo had shut himself away in the study after losing his wife.

"I've finished all preparations for you to emerge into the world again."

"......!"

Hearing those words, Oliver suddenly recalled the forbidden book left in the study.

Necromancy-the forbidden art of resurrecting the dead.

'Surely he's not planning to use that forbidden sorcery?'

He thought his father couldn't possibly do such a thing.

But he had seen the forbidden book. What if, by any chance, things unfolded as he feared?

'Do I have to stop Father?'

Oliver hesitated.

He missed his mother just as much. He too could never forget his mother's final moments as she shielded him.

'......What choice should I make?'

He clenched his fists tight.

Would he stop his father as a knight?

Or would he stand by as a son?

His head began to ache.

Oliver shook his head to clear his thoughts.

'Remember why necromancy is a forbidden art. It's magic performed at the cost of others' sacrifice. Even if Mother were resurrected, if she learned it was done at the cost of someone else's sacrifice, she would reproach both Father and me.'

Oliver hadn't forgotten his mother's childhood teachings.

Always be righteous.

Even if the other party was his father, even if his mother's resurrection was at stake-this was not a righteous act.

Just as Oliver's resolve hardened and he moved to stop his father, a clear voice rang out, freezing Oliver in place.

"Carlo......."

It was an unforgettable voice.

A voice that must not be forgotten.

"Margaret......."

"So, Carlo, is everything ready?"

Oliver stared blankly at the stone coffin.

It couldn't be.

It shouldn't be.

"Only the final ritual remains."

This wasn't a dream.

As his dead mother's voice reached his ears, a chilling sensation crawled up his spine and wrapped around his throat.

Necromancy.

He had to leave. He had to get out right now and stop his father.

But his body wouldn't move.

'Mother.......'

It was his mother's form.

She rose, stepped out of the stone coffin, and stood.

She wrapped her thin arms around Carlo. Carlo draped his fur cloak over the woman and stroked her hair with warm eyes.

"Of course you've finished all the preparations, haven't you?"

Margaret's eyes gleamed as she grinned wickedly. Carlo seated her on his lap and nodded.

"Of course, Margaret....... A Hunter named Henrik interfered, but all preparations are complete."

"Henrik...... Henrik? Ah...... I've heard that name somewhere. Hehe."

Margaret raised her nails and stroked Carlo's neck as she continued.

"That's the name of the human who thoroughly defeated Velperia."

"Velperia......?"

"A friend I made in the Underworld."

Margaret brushed it off casually and stood, striding around the vast cavern chamber.

Her disheveled hair fluttered, and through the gaps in her cloak, a large scar was visible on her back.

'......Is that really Mother?'

Oliver observed her calmly. In appearance, she was unmistakably his mother as she had been in life.

But something, something was wrong.

Her red eyes, glowing brightly even in the dark cave, felt somehow ominous.

"What's Bena doing now? Her body looks much better than this one."

Margaret asked Carlo as she spun in a dance.

"Unfortunately, Bena failed. She couldn't withstand the necklace and collapsed, so she's recuperating at the main house. I think we'll have to give up on her."

Carlo's voice had become incredibly tender. It was unfamiliar to Oliver. No, more precisely, it was a tenderness he hadn't heard since his mother's death.

"I wanted that body since it's full of mana......."

"There are plenty of other bodies. For now, let's prioritize escaping this place."

"Yes, we should. I need to break free of these shackles to escape this gloomy cave."

Bena?

As Professor Bena was suddenly mentioned, Oliver listened intently.

"So, did you retrieve the necklace?"

"One hasn't been used yet, and I couldn't retrieve Bena's necklace. I'm sorry, Margaret......."

"No, it's fine. Even if we lose the necklace, it's not me who'll be in trouble-it's Dominic."

"Dominic Lindbergh, that fellow?"

"Yes, the friend who pulled my soul from the Underworld to the Living World."

"I've wanted to thank him someday, but when we meet next, I'll have to apologize before giving thanks."

Carlo said with a grim smile.

'Something's wrong. This is going badly.'

Oliver couldn't follow the conversation perfectly, but he could grasp it roughly. One thing was certain: Professor Bena's collapse was his father and mother's doing.

She extended her hand with elegant grace. As if requesting a dance.

-Swish!

Then Carlo extended his severed right arm and clasped her hand. Margaret touched Carlo's black arm and smiled with satisfaction.

"You're using the arm I gave you well, I see?"

"Not bad. Thanks to it, my old skills are gradually returning."

"That's fortunate. You were most magnificent when wielding your sword."

The two clasped hands and began to waltz.

'This can't be.......'

Oliver's spine went cold at the sight.

So his eyes hadn't seen an illusion after all. His father had grown a new right arm.

'Then in the garden, when he was swinging his sword.......'

He'd been getting a feel for that black arm. What flashed through his mind was the worst possible imagination.

'Demons.......'

He was certain his father was connected to demons.

'Professor Bena was also Father's victim......?'

Then there was a high probability there were other victims besides Professor Bena. Oliver's mind became a tangled mess.

His respected father, taciturn but always standing firm as a mountain.

But now his father had become a completely different person. Oliver slowly began to back away.

-Crack.

At that moment.

Oliver stepped on a small bone fragment, making a sound.

"Ah......."

How foolish.

Naturally, Carlo and Margaret reacted to the sound from the entrance passage and whipped their heads around.

Oliver's eyes met Margaret's.

His memory was hazy, but his mother's eyes had never looked like that.

They had been warm and gentle.

But now her gaze was like watching a hunting beast.

'That's not Mother!'

Oliver ran frantically up the stairs.

"......."

Watching him, Margaret whispered in Carlo's ear.

"An intruder."

Margaret's eyes narrowed into slits as they emitted a red glow. A chilling voice flowed from her lips.

"Bring him to me, Carlo."

"If that is what you wish."

Carlo answered with a smile, turning away with his sword in hand.

It was a familiar sight-his son's retreating back-but Carlo's eyes held no emotion whatsoever as he watched him.

Oliver gritted his teeth and ran.

Tears welled up in his eyes from the despair, but he bit down hard and kept running.

Bursting out of the study in a panic, Oliver fled outside the mansion.

"This can't be happening. This can't be happening!"

He cried out in a voice filled with despair as he disappeared into the darkness.

* * *

The next day.

A single notice was posted on the Magic Department bulletin board.

[Due to Professor Oliver Mandolin's personal circumstances, this week's lectures are canceled.]

"......."

Henrik stood in front of the bulletin board, staring at it.