Chapter 246: Dungeon Castle Mystery

They decided on a date, time, and place to meet again, and then Igor said, "All right, I’ll go take care of a few things."

With that, he disappeared into the crowd.

"I’m a little worried."

"Worried about what? Igor? What could there possibly be to worry about? Igor isn’t the kind of man who needs you worrying about him."

That was certainly true, but Qiu Nuoya had seen Igor on the day he got completely drunk after hearing that his wife was remarrying. Knowing what Igor had been like that day, Qiu Nuoya could not help feeling a little uneasy.

Igor had probably been crying that day. That was how deeply he had loved his wife. Qiu Nuoya knew it was none of his business, but he could not help worrying about Igor now that he had gone to see her.

"Where exactly did he go on his own?"

Prince Lucien tilted his head slightly, looking puzzled.

When Qiu Nuoya told him that Igor had gone to meet his family, the prince simply said, "Oh," and looked in the direction where Igor had disappeared into the crowd, as though trying to find him.

"Was he originally from the royal capital?"

"I think he was, after he married someone from the capital."

Come to think of it, where did Igor’s parents live? Qiu Nuoya had heard that Igor had left home when he was young, almost as if he had run away. But when he thought about it, Qiu Nuoya realized he actually knew very little about Igor.

"Was he an adventurer in the royal capital too?"

"I believe so."

For some reason, Prince Lucien seemed concerned about Igor, which made Qiu Nuoya tilt his head.

Come to think of it, Cassian, Viktor’s father, had also said something that made it sound as though he had met Igor somewhere before. Igor had denied it, but now that even the prince was acting similarly, Qiu Nuoya could not help becoming curious.

"Is there something about Igor that concerns you?"

"I feel like I’ve seen him somewhere in the military. I think he was part of the heavy infantry. Could he have been one of his brothers?"

Qiu Nuoya tilted his head.

He had never heard Igor mention having any siblings, much less that any of them lived in the royal capital.

"Igor probably hasn’t returned to the royal capital in at least ten years, and I’ve never heard anything about him serving in the military. I haven’t heard anything about any relatives of his living in the royal capital either. Maybe you’re thinking of someone who simply looks like him?"

At Qiu Nuoya’s words, Prince Lucien nodded thoughtfully and smiled as though perhaps it had only been his imagination.

"Still, why would he stay away from the royal capital for ten years when he has family here?"

"Ah... That’s a personal matter, so I’m not really in a position to tell you."

"Come to think of it, I’ve never heard about it either. Nuoya, do you know?"

"Huh? Viktor, you haven’t heard about it?"

Qiu Nuoya was surprised by Viktor’s response. Viktor had known Igor for much longer than Qiu Nuoya had.

Then again, when Igor had told Qiu Nuoya about it, Viktor had not been there.

"Other people’s pasts are not something we should pry into. From bits and pieces of our conversations, I gathered that he had apparently caused some kind of trouble in the royal capital, but I never asked about the details."

"But you know about Igor’s fighting style, right?"

"His Berserker state? Yes, I know about that. He explained it when we first became a party. Did he cause trouble because of it?"

"Um... Well, yes."

Qiu Nuoya could not hide his surprise. Igor had casually explained the circumstances to him, yet apparently he had never told Viktor anything about what had happened.

"Berserker? Is he a berserker?"

"I’ve never actually seen him use it, but apparently so. Have you seen it, Viktor?"

"Well, I’ve seen it a few times. Come to think of it, I’ve never seen him use it while he’s been with you, Nouya. We’ve been avoiding high-rank requests lately, and besides, when he’s with you, the monsters get defeated before he even has a chance to enter his berserk state. I never expected him to defeat even an Imoogi so effortlessly."

"Oh? You have defeated an Imoogi?"

"Yes, we have. Though, to be precise, it was one that came from a dungeon."

One that came from a dungeon...

Right, it had been a dungeon monster. Qiu Nuoya had heard that monsters born in dungeons were somewhat different from ordinary monsters. They had no sense of self, which meant they could not be tamed as tamed monsters.

Other than that, though, Qiu Nuoya had always thought dungeon monsters and naturally occurring monsters were essentially the same. Was there really some important difference that made Viktor emphasize the distinction?

"Ah, I see. A dungeon. Which one?"

"The Dungeon Castle in the dungeon city of Oraria."

"Oh? That’s the first I’ve heard of it."

"It was a floor that had only recently been conquered."

"Are you two the first people to conquer it?"

"That, I cannot say. It seems the dungeon core had already been sealed before we reached it, so there may have been someone who conquered it before us. However, no one seems to know who did so, and we were wondering about that ourselves. If I remember correctly, the original owner of that dungeon was the Taylan family, wasn’t it?"

At Viktor’s question, Prince Lucien tilted his head.

"I don’t believe I’ve ever heard of a family by that name."

"Indeed, the Taylan family was stripped of its title long before you were born. You really do not know about them?"

"Did they cause some kind of trouble?"

"No. I believe it was simply because they had no heir."

Prince Lucien gave a wry smile.

"I suppose I cannot be expected to know every family name from before I was born, especially one that did not disappear because of some scandal or wrongdoing."

The Taylan family had been a minor noble house that did not even govern any territory. Perhaps they had a more prominent branch somewhere, but even though Prince Lucien was the son of the king, it would certainly be difficult for him to know about every family that had completely vanished.