[Are you eating it raw?]
Russell asked, slightly surprised.
“Should I blanch it?”
Lucion asked, snapping off only the flower parts of Ratcho.
[No, no. Are you ready?]
“What’s there to prepare? I just have to quickly do it and it will be done.”
When Lucion put the whole Ratcho flower in his mouth, Russell freaked out and shouted.
[You… crazy! You can’t eat all the flowers! Let’s take off each petal and see what will happen.]
“What can I do if I already put it in my mouth? Well….”
The more he chewed on the flower, the deeper Lucion’s brow furrowed.
Seeing him frowning, Russell also became stiff.
[Why? You feel weird?]
“It doesn’t taste good. It just tastes like grass. I think I’ll have to mix some spices next time.”
[Ha…]
Russell looked at Lucion like he was dumbfounded.
Ratcho was a flower with light attribute.
Russell felt like he was going mad when Lucion evaluated the taste of the flower as if the latter was unbothered to what might happen.
Gulp.
When Lucion swallowed the flowers, Russell licked his mouth and asked.
[Are you really okay?]
“I don’t know, except for the fact that it’s still not tasty.”
Lucion’s eyes rolled back and forth and looked at Ratcho again.
‘I’m sure the final boss ate Ratcho and gained resistance to light, but how much should I eat per day?’
If Lucion decided to follow the novel’s plot, things would progress as what had happen in the original story.
Ratcho was first mentioned in the scene where the main character and the final boss were conversing. That was when the final boss, as stupid as he was, said that he had eaten a Ratcho.
In order to find if it was the truth and the relevance it could possibly hold, he defeated the boss. He then found a book where the latter wrote down how he had eaten a Ratcho. After that, he obliterated everything related to the final boss.
It was a pity because the main character burned the notebook so that a second boss with light resistance would not appear again. Then, the Ratcho was no longer mentioned in the story.
‘I need to read that.’
Lucion thought it was disappointing because when he bought the ratcho, one blue thread was cut off.
This meant it was the time to drift away from one’s own destiny.
[You’re not going to eat again, are you? Lucion, No, my disciple. Light is poison to us.]
Now Lucion was more reluctant as he walked to bed with Russell trying to stamp his feet.
It was okay just yet.
‘I have to record it, too.’
Lucion got out of his seat, walked to his desk, and searched the drawer.
Drip. Drip.
Something dripping down to the floor.
It was a nosebleed.
[I knew this would happen! Spit it out, spit it out!]
Russell tried to put his hand in his throat to make Lucion vomit right away.
But Lucion said, holding his hand back.
“…Teacher.”
[Shut up! Throw up! ]
“This is more than what I thought… … .”
Lucion hurriedly covered his nose.
At the moment, blood was still pouring down. The color of blood slipping through his fingers was very murky as if the darkness had died.
[Lucion!]
Lucien shook his head at Russell’s voice to let him know it was okay.
‘It’s too noisy…?’
Rather, Lucion himself was surprised.
It wasn’t painful enough to vomit.
It was just the level of muscle pain.
It was like blood bringing out darkness because of Ratcho, which has the light attribute.
‘It’s better than I thought. It’s worth trying more to gain greater tolerance.’
Lucion’s eyes soon glistened.
He was just worried if it would hurt a lot, but he could endure it as much as he could if he could develop stronger light tolerance.
‘My father was really right to mention the divine allergy every time.’
He already spit out blood when only one flower went in his body.
Lucion now understood why Novio was preventing even priests from coming near him.
How would he feel when he received the divine power for the first time?
‘I understand why the protagonist is so strong.’
The protagonist of the novel ‘The Grasp of Darkness‘ was, of course, a person with the light attribute.
Lucion also understood why the warlocks were reluctant to light, and how the protagonist could cut through the fallen warlocks.
‘Light resistance must be obtained.’
Lucion clenched his fist, feeling determined again.
[Is it because you’re sick?]
Lucion shook his head when asked by Russell.
Wiping the blood from his hands on the hood, he opened his mouth.
“No, it’s bearable and I can continue.”
[It’s bearable. That’s why you look like that?]
Russell asked, his face contorted in frustration.
“Yes, it doesn’t hurt.”
[You threw up blood and it didn’t hurt? I can see your darkness is dead.]
“It’s just muscle pain. If possible, I would recommend it to my teacher.”
Lucion wiped his mouth with a hood.
It was a hood that he was going to throw away anyway.
‘I’ll need some things to deal with in the future.’
If it would be like this every time he eats Ratcho, shouldn’t he be prepared?
[Lucion, you…]
Russell was speechless and swept the edge of his mouth.
After watching Lucion for almost a month now, he learned that the young man was impulsive and wouldn’t even pay attention to what people said. Yet, ironically, he had a personality different from this behavior.
He became ‘the mad’ Lucion when people were caught up and tarnished due to their involvement with him. It was like what occurred at the banquet where his mother’s story was told, or of any occasion where someone else’s family and his own family members were implicated because of him.
In other words, Lucion didn’t care about himself at all, but about the people around him.
Maybe Lucion was reacting like that because he had learned to endure it rather than to get angry.
Russell thought so.
“It’s really okay.”
Lucion had repeatedly revealed that he was fine.
But Russell’s eyes didn’t change.
Lucion was about to open his mouth again when he heard a knock on the door.
“Young master, it’s me.”
Lucion opened his mouth at Gerno’s words.
“Come in.”
“Young master, here…….”
Gerno paused for a moment and looked around.
Gerno smelled blood.
It was just a smell.
“What’s going on?”
Despite Lucion’s question, Gerno kept looking for something.
“It’s nothing. I brought you some stationery.”
Gerno glanced out at Lucion’s hood as he held out the stationery.
It seemed like it was coming from the hood.
“Young master, It looks like the hood is very damaged. As I go out.….”
“That’s it. You can go.”
Lucion read Gerno’s gaze, so he pretended to be fine and let him go.
“Well, get some rest.”
Despite his reluctance to retreat, Gerno’s gaze didn’t fall off the hood.
Tak.
After the door was closed, Lucion sighed and left the stationery at his desk and took off the hood.
“Teacher, I feel a little uncomfortable, but it’s really okay. On the contrary, that stare is very burdensome.”
Lucion once again explained to Russell, but his eyes remained unshakable.
‘…err, I don’t know.’
Lucion felt as if he was facing a solid wall, so he didn’t want to lose his strength for nothing.
He sat down at the desk and took out his notebook, hoping that one day Russell would know.
He didn’t forget to write down the date, the number of times, and even encircled it.
“Teacher.”
[…Yeah.]
Russell replied with a nonchalant expression.
“How can I confirm that my light resistance has increased?”
[Lucion, are you really going to continue…?]
“Of course, I need to. I’m an aristocrat. The fact that I am a warlock alone is very damaging.”
Lucion continued with a slight decrease in voice.
“I don’t want to hurt my family because of me.”
[…….]
The method itself, which he might be able to develop light tolerance by eating Ratcho, was groundbreaking, as he said before. But if the target was his disciple, he had to tear it apart.
[‘I knew he was stubborn, but I didn’t think it was this much.’]
He knew if he would stop when he got sick.
[‘How is that okay?’]
Russell saw with his own eyes that darkness had died in a lump in Lucion’s body. Although he vomited his blood in backlash, he wasn’t sure if it would reoccur again.
Russell exhaled again and looked at Lucion.
[All right, I’ll stop you, so run until then.]
“I knew it. Anyway, thank you.”
Lucion smiled at Russell’s permission.
Russell was watching him from behind, and the former seems to be thinking that something felt off.
[I feel like I got hit in the back of my head.]
“It’s just a feeling. And it’s not the back of your head, but the front of your head, sir.”
[…Huh.]
Russell frowned on his face.
[Are you saying this as a joke?]
“Teacher.”
Lucion opened his mouth with a proud face.
[Why?]
“May I try one more?”
Alas, Lucion tried to start the engine first before running.
Suddenly, the room became cold.
At the same time, even Russell’s eyes grew colder.
[…this, this… !]
Russell struggled to swallow the curse that seemed to come out any moment.
* * *
Tak. Tak.
The woman with orange hair shook her legs with an uncomfortable face.
“…Ha, I’m going crazy.”
She stopped reading the letter and closed her eyes tightly.
“My Lady, are you all right?”
The maid was anxious upon seeing her appearance and asked.
“Oh, it’s okay. It’s a little, a little bit surprising.”
She put down the letter.
The fox crest of the Cronia family on the envelope.
She thought that a letter had come to her from a family which had no connection, so she was startled when she saw the emblem.
The Cronia Family was the vanguard, who guarded all the borders of the Tesla Empire.
Immediately, she was swelling with curiosity.
It was not a letter addressed to Count Luteon nor her mother, but for her.
‘Lucion Cronia. Lucion, Lucion…’
She recalled the sender’s name and soon swept her face down.
The contents of the letter were as follows:
– I’m sorry as you must have been startled by this sudden letter. To put it bluntly, I felt a great deal of humiliation for what had happened before, but I think I should not be emotionally handling it. So, I’d like to entrust the mediation to Lady Tella Luteon. Also, be careful not to catch a cold on a day full of cold wind.
T/N : For reminder, this lady is mentioned in the first chapter. (Young-ae)
‘It says it’s a mediation. It’s giving me a chance, right?’
Tella swept up her bangs.
The Luteon family ran the Luteon Magic Bank, named after the family.
It has one in most large cities and has grown to have three stores in the capital.
Not long ago, a robber broke into a store in Cronia’s estate.
It wasn’t the first time that robbery happened, so, neither her own mother nor Tella matters.
However, the great Cronia family was involved.
For a brief moment, her eyes darkened because of something she could not have imagined.
‘Is this letter really written by Lucion Cronia in the first place?’
Tella looked at the letter again.
‘Crazy! Crazy!’
Nothing of these followed rumors about Lucion, even the contents of the handwriting carefully.
Just looking at the letter made her heart flutter.
‘But why me?’
Tella tapped her forehead.
The manager of the bank was her mother, and these matters shouldn’t be of her concern..
‘It’s good for me as a result.’
Tella was taking her business classes with her sister for her next head of state position.
Unlike her oldest sisters, who already manage one store at a time, she has yet to be given the opportunity.
No, she got the chance, but she made a mistake with her valuables and she missed it.
‘How much I cried because I missed that opportunity..’
Tella fiddled with the letter.
To be honest, the Cronia family’s name alone could have blown up a storm.
But Lucion, the party involved, didn’t want that.
He was no different from the nickname of the dog.
“Jenna.”
Tella grabbed the letter and got up from her seat.
“Yes, my lady.”
“Stationery, no, get ready to get out.”
“Now?”
“Yes. I have a business for the Cronia family.”
* * *
[Lucion.]
Russell opened his mouth after the letter left Lucion’s hand.
“Yes, Master.”
[Why did you write a letter to the third person, not the eldest, and not even the head of the Luteon family?]
“Did you see that again?”
[Be a ghost, too. It improves your eyesight and hearing.]
As Lucion’s brow creased slightly, Russell nonchalantly teased his mouth.
[So why do you insist on being on terms with someone like her?]
Lucion smiled at the question.
[Are you eating it raw?]
Russell asked, slightly surprised.
“Should I blanch it?”
Lucion asked, snapping off only the flower parts of Ratcho.
[No, no. Are you ready?]
“What’s there to prepare? I just have to quickly do it and it will be done.”
When Lucion put the whole Ratcho flower in his mouth, Russell freaked out and shouted.
[You… crazy! You can’t eat all the flowers! Let’s take off each petal and see what will happen.]
“What can I do if I already put it in my mouth? Well….”
The more he chewed on the flower, the deeper Lucion’s brow furrowed.
Seeing him frowning, Russell also became stiff.
[Why? You feel weird?]
“It doesn’t taste good. It just tastes like grass. I think I’ll have to mix some spices next time.”
[Ha…]
Russell looked at Lucion like he was dumbfounded.
Ratcho was a flower with light attribute.
Russell felt like he was going mad when Lucion evaluated the taste of the flower as if the latter was unbothered to what might happen.
Gulp.
When Lucion swallowed the flowers, Russell licked his mouth and asked.
[Are you really okay?]
“I don’t know, except for the fact that it’s still not tasty.”
Lucion’s eyes rolled back and forth and looked at Ratcho again.
‘I’m sure the final boss ate Ratcho and gained resistance to light, but how much should I eat per day?’
If Lucion decided to follow the novel’s plot, things would progress as what had happen in the original story.
Ratcho was first mentioned in the scene where the main character and the final boss were conversing. That was when the final boss, as stupid as he was, said that he had eaten a Ratcho.
In order to find if it was the truth and the relevance it could possibly hold, he defeated the boss. He then found a book where the latter wrote down how he had eaten a Ratcho. After that, he obliterated everything related to the final boss.
It was a pity because the main character burned the notebook so that a second boss with light resistance would not appear again. Then, the Ratcho was no longer mentioned in the story.
‘I need to read that.’
Lucion thought it was disappointing because when he bought the ratcho, one blue thread was cut off.
This meant it was the time to drift away from one’s own destiny.
[You’re not going to eat again, are you? Lucion, No, my disciple. Light is poison to us.]
Now Lucion was more reluctant as he walked to bed with Russell trying to stamp his feet.
It was okay just yet.
‘I have to record it, too.’
Lucion got out of his seat, walked to his desk, and searched the drawer.
Drip. Drip.
Something dripping down to the floor.
It was a nosebleed.
[I knew this would happen! Spit it out, spit it out!]
Russell tried to put his hand in his throat to make Lucion vomit right away.
But Lucion said, holding his hand back.
“…Teacher.”
[Shut up! Throw up! ]
“This is more than what I thought… … .”
Lucion hurriedly covered his nose.
At the moment, blood was still pouring down. The color of blood slipping through his fingers was very murky as if the darkness had died.
[Lucion!]
Lucien shook his head at Russell’s voice to let him know it was okay.
‘It’s too noisy…?’
Rather, Lucion himself was surprised.
It wasn’t painful enough to vomit.
It was just the level of muscle pain.
It was like blood bringing out darkness because of Ratcho, which has the light attribute.
‘It’s better than I thought. It’s worth trying more to gain greater tolerance.’
Lucion’s eyes soon glistened.
He was just worried if it would hurt a lot, but he could endure it as much as he could if he could develop stronger light tolerance.
‘My father was really right to mention the divine allergy every time.’
He already spit out blood when only one flower went in his body.
Lucion now understood why Novio was preventing even priests from coming near him.
How would he feel when he received the divine power for the first time?
‘I understand why the protagonist is so strong.’
The protagonist of the novel ‘The Grasp of Darkness‘ was, of course, a person with the light attribute.
Lucion also understood why the warlocks were reluctant to light, and how the protagonist could cut through the fallen warlocks.
‘Light resistance must be obtained.’
Lucion clenched his fist, feeling determined again.
[Is it because you’re sick?]
Lucion shook his head when asked by Russell.
Wiping the blood from his hands on the hood, he opened his mouth.
“No, it’s bearable and I can continue.”
[It’s bearable. That’s why you look like that?]
Russell asked, his face contorted in frustration.
“Yes, it doesn’t hurt.”
[You threw up blood and it didn’t hurt? I can see your darkness is dead.]
“It’s just muscle pain. If possible, I would recommend it to my teacher.”
Lucion wiped his mouth with a hood.
It was a hood that he was going to throw away anyway.
‘I’ll need some things to deal with in the future.’
If it would be like this every time he eats Ratcho, shouldn’t he be prepared?
[Lucion, you…]
Russell was speechless and swept the edge of his mouth.
After watching Lucion for almost a month now, he learned that the young man was impulsive and wouldn’t even pay attention to what people said. Yet, ironically, he had a personality different from this behavior.
He became ‘the mad’ Lucion when people were caught up and tarnished due to their involvement with him. It was like what occurred at the banquet where his mother’s story was told, or of any occasion where someone else’s family and his own family members were implicated because of him.
In other words, Lucion didn’t care about himself at all, but about the people around him.
Maybe Lucion was reacting like that because he had learned to endure it rather than to get angry.
Russell thought so.
“It’s really okay.”
Lucion had repeatedly revealed that he was fine.
But Russell’s eyes didn’t change.
Lucion was about to open his mouth again when he heard a knock on the door.
“Young master, it’s me.”
Lucion opened his mouth at Gerno’s words.
“Come in.”
“Young master, here…….”
Gerno paused for a moment and looked around.
Gerno smelled blood.
It was just a smell.
“What’s going on?”
Despite Lucion’s question, Gerno kept looking for something.
“It’s nothing. I brought you some stationery.”
Gerno glanced out at Lucion’s hood as he held out the stationery.
It seemed like it was coming from the hood.
“Young master, It looks like the hood is very damaged. As I go out.….”
“That’s it. You can go.”
Lucion read Gerno’s gaze, so he pretended to be fine and let him go.
“Well, get some rest.”
Despite his reluctance to retreat, Gerno’s gaze didn’t fall off the hood.
Tak.
After the door was closed, Lucion sighed and left the stationery at his desk and took off the hood.
“Teacher, I feel a little uncomfortable, but it’s really okay. On the contrary, that stare is very burdensome.”
Lucion once again explained to Russell, but his eyes remained unshakable.
‘…err, I don’t know.’
Lucion felt as if he was facing a solid wall, so he didn’t want to lose his strength for nothing.
He sat down at the desk and took out his notebook, hoping that one day Russell would know.
He didn’t forget to write down the date, the number of times, and even encircled it.
“Teacher.”
[…Yeah.]
Russell replied with a nonchalant expression.
“How can I confirm that my light resistance has increased?”
[Lucion, are you really going to continue…?]
“Of course, I need to. I’m an aristocrat. The fact that I am a warlock alone is very damaging.”
Lucion continued with a slight decrease in voice.
“I don’t want to hurt my family because of me.”
[…….]
The method itself, which he might be able to develop light tolerance by eating Ratcho, was groundbreaking, as he said before. But if the target was his disciple, he had to tear it apart.
[‘I knew he was stubborn, but I didn’t think it was this much.’]
He knew if he would stop when he got sick.
[‘How is that okay?’]
Russell saw with his own eyes that darkness had died in a lump in Lucion’s body. Although he vomited his blood in backlash, he wasn’t sure if it would reoccur again.
Russell exhaled again and looked at Lucion.
[All right, I’ll stop you, so run until then.]
“I knew it. Anyway, thank you.”
Lucion smiled at Russell’s permission.
Russell was watching him from behind, and the former seems to be thinking that something felt off.
[I feel like I got hit in the back of my head.]
“It’s just a feeling. And it’s not the back of your head, but the front of your head, sir.”
[…Huh.]
Russell frowned on his face.
[Are you saying this as a joke?]
“Teacher.”
Lucion opened his mouth with a proud face.
[Why?]
“May I try one more?”
Alas, Lucion tried to start the engine first before running.
Suddenly, the room became cold.
At the same time, even Russell’s eyes grew colder.
[…this, this… !]
Russell struggled to swallow the curse that seemed to come out any moment.
* * *
Tak. Tak.
The woman with orange hair shook her legs with an uncomfortable face.
“…Ha, I’m going crazy.”
She stopped reading the letter and closed her eyes tightly.
“My Lady, are you all right?”
The maid was anxious upon seeing her appearance and asked.
“Oh, it’s okay. It’s a little, a little bit surprising.”
She put down the letter.
The fox crest of the Cronia family on the envelope.
She thought that a letter had come to her from a family which had no connection, so she was startled when she saw the emblem.
The Cronia Family was the vanguard, who guarded all the borders of the Tesla Empire.
Immediately, she was swelling with curiosity.
It was not a letter addressed to Count Luteon nor her mother, but for her.
‘Lucion Cronia. Lucion, Lucion…’
She recalled the sender’s name and soon swept her face down.
The contents of the letter were as follows:
– I’m sorry as you must have been startled by this sudden letter. To put it bluntly, I felt a great deal of humiliation for what had happened before, but I think I should not be emotionally handling it. So, I’d like to entrust the mediation to Lady Tella Luteon. Also, be careful not to catch a cold on a day full of cold wind.
T/N : For reminder, this lady is mentioned in the first chapter. (Young-ae)
‘It says it’s a mediation. It’s giving me a chance, right?’
Tella swept up her bangs.
The Luteon family ran the Luteon Magic Bank, named after the family.
It has one in most large cities and has grown to have three stores in the capital.
Not long ago, a robber broke into a store in Cronia’s estate.
It wasn’t the first time that robbery happened, so, neither her own mother nor Tella matters.
However, the great Cronia family was involved.
For a brief moment, her eyes darkened because of something she could not have imagined.
‘Is this letter really written by Lucion Cronia in the first place?’
Tella looked at the letter again.
‘Crazy! Crazy!’
Nothing of these followed rumors about Lucion, even the contents of the handwriting carefully.
Just looking at the letter made her heart flutter.
‘But why me?’
Tella tapped her forehead.
The manager of the bank was her mother, and these matters shouldn’t be of her concern..
‘It’s good for me as a result.’
Tella was taking her business classes with her sister for her next head of state position.
Unlike her oldest sisters, who already manage one store at a time, she has yet to be given the opportunity.
No, she got the chance, but she made a mistake with her valuables and she missed it.
‘How much I cried because I missed that opportunity..’
Tella fiddled with the letter.
To be honest, the Cronia family’s name alone could have blown up a storm.
But Lucion, the party involved, didn’t want that.
He was no different from the nickname of the dog.
“Jenna.”
Tella grabbed the letter and got up from her seat.
“Yes, my lady.”
“Stationery, no, get ready to get out.”
“Now?”
“Yes. I have a business for the Cronia family.”
* * *
[Lucion.]
Russell opened his mouth after the letter left Lucion’s hand.
“Yes, Master.”
[Why did you write a letter to the third person, not the eldest, and not even the head of the Luteon family?]
“Did you see that again?”
[Be a ghost, too. It improves your eyesight and hearing.]
As Lucion’s brow creased slightly, Russell nonchalantly teased his mouth.
[So why do you insist on being on terms with someone like her?]
Lucion smiled at the question.
