Chapter 22: Mother

“Man. Did you just see the first wife’s chest? I just want to push her down on my bed!” Guard 1 said with lust-filled eyes. He closed his eyes while wiggling his fingers in front of him, enclosing himself in delusions.

“You can try...if you wish to have your head off your neck.” Guard 2 sarcastically said.

Outside the mansion, the pair of Guards are patrolling around the Mansion walls.

“Can’t a man have dreams?” Guard 1 said with a laugh. “Guard 2?”

When he opened his eyes, Guard 2 was nowhere to be seen.

Before he could turn around, his head fell off his body.

“With this, there will be no guards here for the next half an hour.” Behind the beheaded Guard 1, Shiina muttered as he walked out with a hand around Guard 2’s partly crushed neck.

With a sight wave of his hand, Shiina threw Guard 2 onto the ground.

“Mend his bones, connect his tendons, cure his soul. [heal].” Shiina healed Guard 2’s throat to the extent where he can barely talk.

“Wh...why are you doing this...” Guard 2 spat out.

“Less nonsense. Where is Gamberdash.” Shiina coldly said. He squatted and placed a dagger next to Guard 2’s neck, drawing out a thin line of blood.

“You...you won’t get away with this!” Guard 2’s face turned pale as he mustered his courage to spit out.

“So won’t you if you keep wasting time.” Shiina coldly snorted before stabbing the dagger into Guard 2’s leg.

Shiina slowly turned the dagger in Guard 2’s leg, using his hand to muffle out Guard 2’s screams of pain.

“Where is he.” Shiina coldly asked.

“He...he’s in the study...” Guard 2 hurriedly said.

“Good.” Shiina withdrew his dagger and slowly stood up.

Seeing that Shiina was about to leave, blood slowly returned to Guard 2’s face. A small sneer appeared on his face as he prepared to call for help.

But before he could even open his mouth, his head fell off his neck.

“Die.”

The last thing Guard 2 saw was a pair of cold, blood-red eyes that shone in the night.

“We only have around 25 minutes before someone notices something wrong. Let’s hurry.” Saigo suddenly said.

Shiina nodded as he jumped over the mansion’s walls, making sure not to set off any physical traps or magic sensors.

Relying on what he remembered of the mansion, Shiina stealthily made his way towards the study.

After 5 minutes of sneaking around, Shiina finally arrived outside Gamberdash’s study.

While the hallway was somewhat dark, light was shining through the gap under door, indicating that someone was indeed inside.

Using [darkness conversion], Shiina entered the study without touching the door.

However, the moment Shiina, who was in the shadow, entered the room, an alarm sounded out.

“How caution. To have placed a magic sensor even inside the study.” Saigo snorted.

Shiina hurriedly exited the shadows and threw a [stone shot], a Low-tier magic, towards the magic sensor located next to the door.

“Who are you!!!” A familiar voice roared out.

Shiina slowly turned around. In front of him, a red-faced, fat man dressed in fancy clothes was standing up at his desk, with his index finger pointed towards him.

Seeing that familiar face, Shiina’s eyes glowed and Wrath awakened.

“GAMBERDASH!!!” Natural mana gathered, forming a dagger on Shiina’s hand.

After reaching level 20, unique skill [create dagger] has once again increased in strength. Now, Shiina can create a dagger without using his own mana. Rather, upon invoking the skill, mana in the surrounding will automatically gather and form a dagger way stronger than the ones Shiina used to be able to created.

Shiina wielded the summoned dagger and stabbed it towards Gamberdash’s face.

However, before the dagger could hit Gamberdash, Gamberdash’s head shifted aside and the dagger missed it’s mark.

“Using mana to create a dagger...Shiina!!!” Gamberdash instantly recognised the skill Shiina had used and figured out the identity of the assailant wrapped in a black cloak.

Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

Meanwhile, within Shiina’s soul, Saigo frowned.

“Did Gamberdash just dodged Shiina’s sneak attack from close to point blank range?...or was he just lucky...”

“Stop your attacks!” Gamberdash yelled as he grabbed Wrath’s dagger wielding hand, restraining him.

Just when Gamberdash was about to heave a sigh of relief, Wrath hopped backward and adjusted his body such that it was parallel to the ground. With a spin, he gave Gamberdash’s hand a strong kick, causing Gamberdash to loosen his grip, allowing Wrath to get away.

“If he was using his full strength, he should be around D-rank...most likely approaching C-rank!” Saigo frowned as he analysed. “If he were to use a high-class strengthening magic, won’t he be stronger than us, even if we use [darkness conversion]?”

“Just in case...” Saigo plunged his hand into Shiina’s soul and ripped Wrath out. “Enough. Rather than killing him, information on Mother is more important.”

Shiina regained his senses and nodded.

He threw a cold glare towards Gamberdash.

“Where is my Mother.” Shiina asked.

“Hmph.” Gamberdash snorted. “Like hell I will give away private information to somebody hostile towards me. Deactivate your strengthening magic and remove your hood. Then, maybe I will speak.”

After some slight hesitation, Shiina deactivated [darkness conversion] and removed the hood that was covering his face.

“It is indeed you...” Gamberdash muttered with obvious shock in his eyes. The cowardly little boy who was barely at G-ranked strength has now become an expert with the strength of at least C-rank.

“Now. Talk.” Shiina spat out.

“Fine fine. On the account that you are my son, although you have attacked me, allow the great me to give you some information.” Gamberdash lifted his chin slightly as he said.

At this moment, unbeknownst to Saigo and Shiina, a ring engraved with a pale white gem that seemed to always be glowing, brightened slightly.

“How about taking a seat first?” Gamberdash casually took a seat behind his grand desk as he said.

“No thanks.” Shiina coldly spat out.

“Hmmm?” Seeing Shiina’s rejection, Gamberdash’s eyes widened slightly, however he recovered within a second.

“In that case...” Gamberdash cupped his hands, with one hand over the ring, and gave a sinister grin.

“I know that you do not trust me... but please take my following words as the truth.”

“I will make my decision depending on what you say.” Shiina coldly reply.

“That’s enough.” Gamberdash let out a sigh. “To start off... your Mother is in this mansion.”

“Whaaaatttttt!” Saigo couldn’t help but cry out. “She’s not dead!?!?”

Gamberdash’s words struck Shiina like lightning. He had spend the past 3 to 4 months believing that his Mother was dead. Rather than feeling happy, the sudden revelation has left Shiina completely stunned.

“However, there is a slight problem...” Gamberdash continued.

“What is the problem!?!? Did something happen to her!?!?” Shiina screamed out.

“Calm down. It is easier to show it to you.” Gamberdash took out a small bell from his coat.. After infusing it with some mana, he slightly shook it, producing a small ring.

“This is a ‘servant calling bell’. By pouring mana into it, I can alert a servant from quite a far distance away. Using this, I no longer need to have servant to be near me at all times. It is quite useful for...privacy.” Gamberdash explained.

After a minute, a knock could be heard from the door.

“Come in, Anna Scol” Gamberdash called out.

A maid, whose name seemed to be Anna, entered the room.

“Master.” She respectfully bowed as she greeted.

“Bring us to room 85.” Gamberdash ordered.

“Understood.” She blandly answered. Anna turned towards Shiina and slightly bowed. “Please follow me.”

Shiina nodded and he quickly walked behind her, with Gamberdash following behind.

Anna brought Shiina and Gamberdash through many twist and turns before they finally arrived at a door with a number 85 on it.

“We have arrived.” Anna said with a bow.

“Good. You can leave now.” Gamberdash dismissed Anna with a wave of his hand and opened the door.

Inside the room, the only thing that could be seen is a big box, or rather, a large metal coffin.

At the centre of the coffin, a shining circle with a shining triangle within it can be seen.

On each corner of the triangle, a keyhole can be seen.

From the shining circle, shining lines extended out like a spiderweb which covered the coffin.

Above the shining circle is a rectangular glass.

Looking into the glass, the person inside the coffin, is surprisingly...

“MOTHER!!!” Shiina exclaimed as he reached out towards the coffin.

“Don’t touch it!!!” Gamberdash hurriedly shouted out, but did not stop Shiina.

Just when Shiina’ hand come in contact with the coffin, the coffin shone.

Sparks of electricity flashed and a barrier exploded out from the coffin, shocking Shiina and blowing him towards the door.

“Gah...” Shiina spat out a mouthful of blood before slowly standing up. “This is...”

“The coffin is engraved with a spell formation called ‘“kusec’s prey”’. It is a formation which will activate a self-defence spell when touched.” Gamberdash explained. “This formation is an automatic type, which means that it requires a constant source of mana to remain activated. As there is no magic stone to fill that role...who do you think is the fuel?”

“Mother...” Shiina’s eyes darkened as he thought of this.

“Based on an analysis, the coffin is made out a material called ‘prevon’. This material drastically slows down the transfer of energy of anything within it. Originally, your Mother should be able to live inside the coffin for 5 years without any consequences. However, with the formation draining her of her mana, I estimate that she only have at best 2 years?” Gamberdash said casually.

“How can I save her.” Shiina took a deep breath before asking.

“Saving her is simple.” Gamberdash said with a smile. “See the 3 keyholes at the corners of the triangle? You simply need to find the corresponding keys to deactivate the spell formation and unlock the coffin.”

“Then, where are the keys.” Shiina coldly asked.

“From what my spies gathered, they are in the hands of Duke Donner, Duke Blake and finally, King Zavior.” Gamberdash casually replied.

“2 of the 4 Dukes of this kingdom and even the Demon King?” At this moment, Shiina’s face turned ugly.

The country Shiina is in is part of the Zender Kingdom. Zender Kingdom has 4 countries under it which are under the supervision of the 4 respective Dukes while the the capital country of the Zender kingdom is under the supervision of the Demon King.

Currently, the person supervising the country Shiina is in is Duke Gamberdash, in other words, Gamberdash.

The 4 Dukes are not merely Dukes in name. They all have strength worthy of their positions and have the best racial advantages to boot.

“Not only do I have to get the keys from the Dukes who have at least D-ranked base strength and the Demon King who has at least C-ranked base strength, I also have to travel through 4 countries and back...all in 2 years...” Shiiina rubbed his temples as he thought.

“If you really want to save your Mother, I can help you out a bit.” Gamberdash suddenly said.

“How?”

“The Duke I can help you with is Duke Donner. I can help you to get intimate with him.”

“What can getting close to Duke Donner intimately help?”

“It’s simple really.” Gamberdash smiled. “You can take the chance to assassinate Duke Donner.”