Chapter 231

Chapter 231 - A Drunkard

Raymond’s Mansion. Beyond its window, a half-moon had risen.

By the time that half-moon drew close to becoming a full moon, Millesdusk would be approaching the Empire.

That would be the moment he joined the main force, and the moment he left this room to which he had become somewhat attached.

But waiting time was still time. It was not something he could afford to waste, so the Youngest Son sat cross-legged.

[Somehow, you are working far harder than you did when you were in Eclipse.]

“I was too busy then. One thing after another kept happening, so I had no time to devote to individual training. Right now, I have quite a bit of leisure.”

In front of him, the Scripture of the Dark Wheel lay open.

Beside it were blank sheets of paper he had obtained in piles from Raymond. There was also a quill and an inkwell that looked expensive at a glance.

CLATTER—

Beside the paper, he seated a small Skeleton Soldier as well. This fellow would be today’s scribe.

“Let us begin.”

SLLLRK—

Two pairs of skeletal hands extended from behind his back. It was preparation he had to complete before using the Six Paths, and the rest of the preparations were complete as well.

[Why did you bring out liquor and other snacks?]

“It is hard to concentrate on an empty stomach.”

[In the old days, you used to be tense from head to toe whenever you unfolded the Six Paths. Now you even drink while doing it.]

“I am tense even now. I have just grown used to it.”

CRUNCH—

He put a sugar-dusted biscuit into his mouth. It was tastier than expected, so only after eating two more did he open the book.

He flipped through it quickly overall, stopping several times only at certain sections. The Skeleton Soldier held the quill and recorded those parts.

“This will suit Eldest Brother well, and I can teach my sisters this section. As for Second-oldest brother… this should be good.”

The Youngest Son’s words would be recorded by the soldier and passed on to the Clone, where they would become teaching materials.

[Have you decided to teach them the Six Paths?]

“Well, more or less.”

Even as he answered, a hollow laugh escaped him at the end.

It was an eccentric act he had never done even once as a player.

Although they had become allies for the moment, he was personally teaching the Six Paths to his competitors. He was even interpreting it himself for the sake of teaching them.

‘In the first place, the Six Paths are a special power possessed by the Family Head of Millesdusk. The fact that I acquired it before becoming Family Head already makes no sense.’

Since he was already walking a path that made no sense, behaving according to common sense afterward would instead be illogical.

“Right now, my brothers and sisters are the strongest cards I have. There is nothing bad about strengthening those cards.”

[I keep feeling as though you are raising tiger cubs.]

“You are too pessimistic.”

[And you are too optimistic.]

From inside the Youngest Son, Enad looked over the Six Paths that he would give to his siblings.

Most of them were techniques the Youngest Son had previously acquired, and there were also techniques he had not yet used mixed in here and there.

Because of that, gaps were visible in places.

[This, for example. Do you think they will understand this much?]

“Have you ever heard the saying that the easiest thing in the world is teaching geniuses?”

Enad was briefly at a loss for words, then understood what he meant.

[You mean that even if your teaching is lacking, their genius will fill in the holes.]

“If the students I was about to teach were not my brothers and sisters, I would not have started in the first place. There would not even be a possibility.”

They were direct-line blood relatives born into a family that desired only geniuses. Only someone of that level could understand the materials the Skeleton Soldier was now handwriting.

“I also have experience teaching the Six Paths to the Gatekeeper. It will work this time as well.”

[And after it works? Have you not considered that the tigers you fed will grow so large you cannot handle them, then aim for your throat?]

“I have not.”

[Goodness. Then are you planning to be bitten to death?]

“No.”

The two pairs of skeletal hands behind his back formed Hand Seals.

“I will simply grow as well, just like them.”

CRAAACK—

Something opened its mouth in midair.

It was merely a mouth. It was not large, only big enough for a fist to fit inside.

However, if one put a fist in, it would be severed.

It would be torn apart by those sharp, densely packed, skull-colored teeth and roll around inside a mouth as pitch-black as the abyss.

[…What is that disgusting thing now?]

“A Hungry Ghost.”

A ghost of hell that had nothing among its facial features except a mouth.

The only thing it knew how to do was feed, and for the sake of feeding, it coveted everything.

“It is the foundation of the Path of the Hungry Ghost, one of the Six Paths.”

[This is the first time you have unfolded it.]

“Yes. It is also one of the Six Paths I will acquire alone without teaching it to my brothers or sisters.”

There was no doubt that the other blood relatives were geniuses, but they were not yet at the level where they could master it on their own without help.

At least for now, they needed assistance, and for the Youngest Son, that became another opportunity.

Enad also realized that and nodded.

[Right. There was no way a sly fellow like you would not hide a blade.]

“Is that praise?”

[Take it however you want. And someone is here.]

As soon as his words ended, the air rippled.

“Ah. Fuck.”

A familiar face appeared while spitting out a refreshing curse. However, the scent coming from the owner of that face was not familiar.

“Did my mother give you perfume as a gift?”

“Shut up.”

Ransis, who had arrived carrying the fishy smell of blood, immediately collapsed onto the sofa.

“What brings you all the way here?”

“Does a teacher need some special reason to come see her student’s face?”

She turned only her head slightly and looked this way. Many things were reflected in her eyes.

Her student sat cross-legged with the Scripture of the Dark Wheel before him and skeletal hands unfolded behind his back.

A tiny Skeleton Soldier was moving its hand diligently over paper while holding a quill.

A Hungry Ghost clacked its open mouth from time to time, revealing an unfilled hunger.

Without complaint, she reached out her hand.

“Give me the liquor.”

“…Here it is.”

The liquor bottle passed to her, and he was about to give her a glass next.

GULP GULP—

The moment she opened the stopper, half of it disappeared.

“Haa…. I am alive again.”

After setting the bottle down, she got up outright and began changing her clothes.

Since her changing clothes regardless of situation or place had become familiar by now, the Youngest Son naturally lowered his gaze.

And in the time it took him to blink a few times, Ransis finished changing.

He—no. She lay sprawled with even her hair rolled into a round bun and picked her nose.

“Do not become something like a Messenger later. Well, not that it will ever happen.”

After smirking to herself, she glanced at him and spoke.

“A Hungry Ghost?”

“That is correct.”

After lifting her head briefly, she laid it sideways again. Not long after, she sprang up like a live fish.

“The Six Paths. Does the Family Head know?”

“I suspect he does not, but he will know soon enough. I have decided to teach them to my brothers and sisters.”

“Hah.”

Ransis let out a hollow laugh.

“I do not know whether you have a lot of nerve or whether your liver has crawled out of your belly. Do they no longer even feel like competitors to you?”

“We are currently at war, are we not? Since we fight with blood relatives at the center, my brothers and sisters should become stronger than they are now.”

Ransis clearly seemed to have the same question Enad had asked a moment ago, but she did not bother to say it.

She looked at him with eyes that seemed to say he probably had some kind of plan, and appeared to hold herself back with effort.

“Haa….”

Then she sighed, leaned back against the sofa again, and threw out a word.

“Hey.”

“Yes.”

“I want it to be you.”

His bloodshot eyes, which had been looking at the Scripture of the Dark Wheel, turned toward his teacher.

“What do you mean?”

“Are you asking because you do not know?”

His teacher furrowed her brow sharply and emptied the half-finished bottle down to the bottom.

The person who had brought the liquor had only taken one sip, and the Messenger who suddenly barged in had drunk the rest.

Her ears and cheeks, now somewhat flushed, made her mouth even freer.

“The Family Head. I am saying I want you to sit in the Family Head’s seat.”

“Is that a declaration of support?”

“Do you want to receive a declaration of support from a woman who drank an entire bottle dressed like this?”

“I am sorry.”

“You little….”

The sigh she let out had a faint scent of alcohol mixed into it, tickling the blood relative’s nose.

“But why are you acting like this here?”

“Compared to what your mother did to me, this is not even a speck of dust. So endure it.”

He had no idea what the Vampire Queen had done to the Messenger, but for now, he accepted it.

Even if he did not accept it, there was not much he could do.

“Then I will keep doing what I was doing. Please rest.”

She gave no particular answer. Thus, the Youngest Son lowered his gaze to the Scripture of the Dark Wheel once more.

Considering that by tomorrow, the main force heading west would likely enter a stable route, he had to hurry.

“Will they understand this much?”

For now, he was sending the completed materials to the Clone as soon as they were finished, having him learn them.

The Clone’s personal view would also be added there, so by the time it was delivered to the blood relatives, it would be a little more substantial.

He was absolutely not passing it on because he found it troublesome.

“What are you doing?”

“…Were you not lying down?”

The person who had been lying on the sofa just a moment ago appeared behind him.

He was startled for an instant and nearly lost hold of the Path of the Hungry Ghost, but he grasped it stickily again.

“I am bored. If there is anything I can help with, I will help.”

What would help is not breathing alcohol beside me.

He could not quite say that.

“It is all right, so please just rest.”

“Shall I look over that Path of the Hungry Ghost for you?”

“Do you know more about it?”

At the drunkard’s words, his ears perked up.

“The only Six Paths the Family Head knows how to use is the Path of the Hungry Ghost. And I picked up a few things while staying by his side.”

That was information he already knew. But he had not expected the Messenger to have insight into it as well.

Since the Six Paths were skills acquired only after one became Family Head, he had not had much reason to concern himself with the details.

Therefore, unlike other skills, there was a great deal he had to dig into and understand. The Scripture of the Dark Wheel itself was one such example.

In this situation, hints from a senior or a teacher would be a great help.

“Will you tell me as well?”

“I should. I support you, after all.”

For some reason, the Messenger’s face was a little redder than before, and she plopped down beside him.

“The Path of the Hungry Ghost, you see. This is important. This.”

Her long, pale hand thumped his stomach.

Perhaps because she was drunk and could not control her strength, if he did not brace his abdomen, his breath escaped on its own.

“Why is this important?”

“Do you think the Path of the Hungry Ghost is called that for no reason? The more hunger you feel, the stronger the power of the Path of the Hungry Ghost becomes.”

Had there been such a setting? He searched his memory, but it was still something he had never heard before.

It might have been a gimmick so intuitive that he had simply skipped over it, but in this situation, it helped.

“Then I suppose I should not eat until I am full from now on.”

“Bullshit. Just eat. It is not as though you will die without the Path of the Hungry Ghost.”

After cursing, his teacher gave a bashful smile.

“…Why are you smiling?”

“More than anything else, I really want to tease you right now.”

“…Why?”

“Because I suffered far too much at your mother’s hands. I even bathed in blood. It was no joke. Bear with me, even if it is a little childish.”

“It does not seem especially childish.”

If he himself had not been the target, it would have been an entirely understandable revenge.

Bathing in blood. It was truly a bath befitting the Vampire Queen, but it was very far removed from humans.

“Let us call it a reasonably justified revenge. What should I do for you?”

“You have a marriage proposal going back and forth with the Princess, do you not? I bathed in blood because of that too, so let us try this.”

GRAB—

Ransis seized one of his arms.

At the same time, he was sucked into the soul dimension, and the chill he had not felt in a long time made goosebumps rise over his skin.

But only for a moment. When they stepped from the soul dimension back into the human world, a different scene appeared before him.

They were still inside the Imperial Palace, but the place was entirely different.

“…Why did we come here?”

The door carved with a White Rose explained who was behind it.

“Survive, Fifth Son.”

“Pardon?”

KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK—

Ransis’s fist struck the White Rose door.

Having spilled the water, she did not even think of cleaning it up and vanished.

“…….”

Before long, signs of movement came from behind the door.