[WN] I Became the Genius Bastard of a Noble Dark Clan Chapter 59

 Chapter 59

For reference, the total cost of the supplies Chris requested was as follows:

1,000,000 Rupee [2.3B IDR].

This was enough money to buy several mansions even in a large castle like Baron Castle.

Ruina immediately prepared the items Chris had requested.

As the owner of an auction house, her speed was lightning-fast.

Ruina gritted her teeth and said,

"…If your story about a great catastrophe in this dispute turns out to be false, I will charge you for the full amount!"

Chris shrugged.

Why so upset about this? This is just the beginning.

Ruina couldn't imagine it, but their connection was just starting.

From now on, she would dutifully serve as his money pouch. If she didn't want to go bankrupt, that is.

Don't feel wronged. It’s like taxes.

Just as one pays taxes to the army that protects them.

Chris believed that his future actions would be to protect her merchant guild, so this was simply a fair price.

Speaking of which, I really have a lot to do.

Chris recalled the upcoming events.

The terrible catastrophe of the Gold Cross.

The dispute between the Extreme Poison Family and the Dark Magic Family.

The Green Verdant Mutiny.

The death of the old patriarch.

The rampage of the Destruction Magic Family.

The Blue Stream Magic King's conspiracy, and so on.

These were all events that would happen within a few years in the Southern Magic Kingdom alone. Even just listing the major ones, there were so many.

He had to stop all these events to prevent the First Great War against the Evil King Castle.

The worst part was, this wasn't the end.

Ultimately, he had to reach the pinnacle of the Magic Empire.

Heh, why on earth am I going through all this trouble?

He suddenly felt overwhelmed and let out a deep sigh.

This is the trouble the Hero was supposed to endure! Why the hell did I regress instead?! Dammit.

The more he thought about it, the angrier he got.

I can't be the only one suffering unfairly. Someday, I will definitely find all the Hero's companions again and work them to death.

He was currently only active within the Magic Empire.

But there was a lot to do on the Alliance side as well.

That's when he planned to find and exploit Evan and the rest of the Hero's companions.

Especially Evan, the Hero!

He was the number one candidate to be exploited the most.

Just you wait until I meet you. I'll work you like a tyrannical boss.

That was enough idle thought for now.

Upon returning to the mansion, he saw mages lined up with sharp presences.

There were 30 of them.

At the front stood the familiar, cold-faced girl, Jupien.

This was the exploration team heading to the neutral zone.

"……"

Jupien stared at him without a word.

Her eyes asked, What have you been doing until now?

"Ah, I lost track of time having too much fun."

At his flippant reply, the mages next to Jupien frowned.

It was no surprise that Chris, who had spent his time playing wildly in the castle before an important mission, wasn't looked upon kindly.

Chris, indifferent, snickered and yawned.

"I played too much, I'm tired. I'll follow along sleeping in the supply carriage. That's fine, isn't it?"

"!!"

At his insane words, the mages glared at him.

Jupien's gaze grew even sharper.

"No, Young Master. No matter what, that's…"

At that moment, Jupien raised her hand.

"It's fine."

"But Princess?"

"Just ignore that trash. Don't pay him any mind."

Jupien said coldly.

Actually, after their brief duel the other day, Jupien had seen Christian in a slightly different light.

He had incredible talent and skill, after all.

Of course, if she had properly used her specialty, Phantom Swordplay, she wouldn't have been defeated so easily. Still, she had to acknowledge what was due.

Although he had a bad relationship with her brother, Jupien wasn't as utterly reckless as Roin. She knew how to recognize strength.

But while preparing for the mission, he had spent his time acting like a scoundrel in the castle and now had this attitude again.

Her disgust flared up once more.

A guy like that doesn't deserve to be a Young Master of the main family.

Jupien decided to leave Christian alone.

After all, if he didn't diligently perform the mission and failed to achieve results, only Christian himself would suffer the loss.

"…Depart."

Jupien murmured, and the horses galloped.

The supply carriage also began to move, and Chris lay in the carriage, smiling faintly.

It's comfortable lying down.

Chris thought to himself.

Of course, it will be tough later.

He wasn't simply lying in the carriage for comfort.

There was a reason.

Everyone should be grateful to me.

Originally, this exploration team was destined to be annihilated.

To prevent that catastrophe, he had to take everyone by surprise. He even had to deceive his own allies.

It was the beginning of his strategy.

The Dark Magic family ruled over a vast territory.

The Extreme Poison Family was no different.

They were larger than most small nations.

They divided their territories like borders, but the problem was that in places like forests, monster-infested lands, or mountainous regions, where boundaries were hard to distinguish, conflicts often arose as each side claimed ownership.

As damages accumulated, such areas were declared neutral zones.

The artifact this time had appeared in one such neutral zone, the Biskin Mountain Range.

It was a monster-infested land where high-level magical beasts frequently appeared.

As they neared their destination, Jupien warned,

"Absolutely no individual actions. Form groups of at least three."

This order was given because powerful magical beasts of 4-star rank or higher often appeared.

"Yes, understood, Princess!"

"But what about Young Master Christian’s group?"

Jupien frowned slightly.

Christian was still lying in the supply carriage.

"…Just leave that trash alone."

It was while they were preparing for the expedition that it happened.

Horse dust rose far in the distance.

They were mages clad in deep blue robes with a hint of black!

"They're mages from the Extreme Poison Family!"

At the front, a smart, dignified-looking girl, Princess Marisa of the Extreme Poison Family, approached them.

"You've arrived at the appointed time. I am Marisa."

"I'm Jupien."

"I assume you've heard the rules."

Artifacts were items imbued with the power of constellations and demons, respectively called Sacred Relics and Demonic Relics.

They possessed immense power, and every time one appeared, it brought bloodshed.

The worst was when they appeared on the border between large factions, as was the case now.

It went beyond simply coveting the relic and became a matter of pride between them. It was common for conflicts close to war to break out, causing heavy casualties.

Originally, this case might have escalated into such a situation, but to prevent unnecessary bloodshed, they had decided to compete in a game-like contest.

However, to avoid any future disputes, they had established perfectly fair rules.

"Digging traps or intentionally ambushing opponents during the exploration is forbidden."

Uncharacteristically fair rules for mages.

But precisely because they were mages, such rules were necessary.

Otherwise, both sides would focus on killing each other rather than finding the relic.

"Alright."

"…You're rather curt."

"Aren't we enemies? Should I speak formally to you?"

"…No. There's no need for that."

Marisa neatly lowered her own tone.

"Then, farewell."

As she turned to leave, Marisa hesitated for a moment.

Marisa briefly looked around at the Dark Magic family's mages, as if searching for someone.

Just then, Christian slowly stirred in the supply carriage and let out a loud yawn.

He looked utterly pathetic, clearly having just woken up from a nap.

Marisa tightly pursed her lips.

Then.

"…Hmph."

Marisa returned to her own camp with the members of the Extreme Poison Family.

The competition had now begun.

Jupien spoke to the Dark Magic family mages.

"We're starting the exploration. Follow my instructions closely."

Jupien gave her orders.

Each group was to stick together, not stray beyond a certain range, and immediately call for rescue if they encountered an uncontrollable magical beast.

No one knew where the artifact was located in the monster-infested land.

They had only "detected" that it had appeared somewhere in this mountain range.

Therefore, moving hastily or recklessly wouldn't work.

Being too impatient would only lead to casualties.

Above all, this monster-infested land was too vast and dangerous to move carelessly.

The standard procedure was to calmly define sectors and search them thoroughly one by one.

But Christian, who had gotten up from the supply carriage, yawned loudly and approached Jupien.

"Can I go on my own?"

"…What?"

"If we move like slugs, how long will it take to search this mountain range?"

Jupien's eyebrow twitched.

She already had a bad impression of Christian.

But from their first meeting until now, he had continuously provoked her.

"…You really…"

"It's frustrating. It would be a disaster if we missed the artifact by following the Princess’s snail-paced orders."

Jupien's enraged eyebrow trembled.

But Jupien didn't draw her sword as she had before.

She endured it, knowing that causing internal strife before a mission was unwise.

"Do as you please. But."

Jupien said coldly.

"Don't expect rescue even if you encounter a powerful magical beast."

Her gaze was as if she were looking at trash.

Chris shrugged.

I'm completely hated now. Oh, well, I was hated before anyway, so it doesn't matter, right?

It was even better, in fact.

For his "strategy," he needed to be able to move completely freely, out of everyone's sight.

"Excellent. Then I won't need this, so I'll leave it behind."

Chris tossed a small crystal ball onto the ground.

It was a magic tool used to track each other's positions in case of an emergency, but he had thrown it away.

Now Jupien and the rest of the exploration team could not track Chris's location.

"Then, I wish you good luck."

Paat!

Chris leapt into the mountain range alone.

"Th-That crazy bastard…? Is he allowed to do that? How dangerous is this monster-infested land?"

"Isn't he going to come back as a corpse?"

The mages murmured.

Jupien herself was conflicted.

Whether to let Christian go like that.

But Christian had already disappeared into the mountain range.

Jupien bit her lip tightly and glared in the direction Christian had vanished.

However, Christian encountered no danger at all.

Why would I encounter magical beasts? I can just avoid them.

Chris had traveled through all sorts of monster-infested lands with the Hero's party.

He knew well the habits of magical beasts and how to avoid encountering them.

Especially here, in the neutral zone between the two families.

Since the types of magical beasts that appeared were thoroughly investigated, avoiding them was simple.

I need to move quickly. Otherwise, it'll be too late.

Marquis Langham's conspiracy had already begun.

As he hurried along, he unexpectedly encountered someone.

"…Christian."

It was Marisa!

Her eyes widened as she saw Chris.

Oh, great.

He was in a hurry, and he met an unwelcome person.

She's my former fiancée, so she's irrelevant now. I'll just ignore her and go my way.

He tried to pass without exchanging words, but something unexpected happened.

Paat!

Black poison flew towards him!

Towards the direction Chris was heading.

He quickly stopped, and with a sizzling sound, the extreme poison melted the ground.

"…What are you doing?"

"I have something to talk to you about."

Chris frowned.

It wasn't a coincidence.

He realized that Marisa had intentionally sought him out.

What's wrong with her?