Thud—kwarrrruk.
With a thunderous crash, the torn-off door rolled across the ground.
Fortunately, perhaps because they had heard the earlier warning, no one inside was struck by the door or injured.
Lucian stepped through the gaping entrance and muttered to himself.
"It really doesn't cut. I thought if this sword were made of the same material, I might be able to slice through it if I did it right."
The knight, half-dazed despite Lucian's muttering, stared at the door lying there.
The metal door itself was largely intact, save for a deep gouge and a slight bend—but the problem was the fortress wall.
The hinges and fasteners that fixed the door in place were all attached to the wall.
No matter how sturdy the door was, if those parts couldn't withstand the impact, they were bound to be torn clean off.
"Well, the door's open now, so we can go in. No need to wait any longer, right?"
"W-wait, please wait just a moment! What on earth are you doing to this historic place…!"
"It's my house and my property now. Spare me the pathetic excuses and step aside."
Hoo—woong.
The knight, who had tried somehow to stop Lucian, flinched and took a step back.
From the body of the boy—at least a head shorter than himself—bluish magic power rippled.
If he so much as willed it, all of that magic power would slam into his own flesh with the same force as before.
Damn it…
At the image of his entire body being pulverized to dust, the knight squeezed his eyes shut and stepped aside.
Once the obstruction disappeared, the soldiers who had been crowding the entrance also flinched and retreated.
"Why are you all gathered here like this? Were you trying to sneak inside and pull something while I was stuck outside?"
"Th-that's not it…!"
"Save your excuses. Get lost. If you loiter in front of me again, consider your head forfeit."
At the icy warning hurled at them, the soldiers withdrew with faces drained of all color.
After confirming that every last nuisance was gone, Lucian turned back to Glen.
"Sir Glen, what are you doing? You need to come over and carry out the inheritance procedures."
"Ah… y-yes! My apologies, Your Highness!"
Still half-dazed, Glen hurried toward the entrance at Lucian's words.
Watching that scene, the knights of House Calyx wore hollow expressions.
They were being forced to witness, with their own eyes, the territory they had guarded for over a decade in service of their lord's ambitions slip neatly into someone else's mouth.
***
The moment Glen announced the lawful succession of the inheritance, those affiliated with House Calyx who had been managing the estate packed up their belongings in unison.
Now that Lucian had claimed Grimaldi's legacy, there was no reason for them to remain.
"We will be taking our leave now. Since everything here belongs to Your Grace, we don't know what charges might arise if we were to touch anything carelessly."
"A wise decision. Though your wording is flawed. It was mine to begin with—you merely occupied it illegally. By rights, I should hold you accountable, but since you even cleaned up before leaving, I'll grant you special clemency."
"…Thank you for Your Highness's mercy."
The knight clenched his teeth and briefly glared sideways, but when he met Lucian's icy gaze, he shrank back again.
In the midst of that, his eyes caught the metal door still lying around nearby—the one made of adamantium alloy.
Shuddering, the knight gave Lucian a curt bow and vanished outside as if fleeing.
"Tch. If you don't have the guts to fight, don't go picking fights in the first place."
Clicking his tongue briefly, Lucian headed toward the entrance of the lord's manor.
Just as with its exterior, the interior was splendid and immaculately maintained—it looked ready for someone to move in immediately.
As Lucian kept glancing around, Glen approached him with a smile and spoke.
"You've finally reclaimed your rightful inheritance. Congratulations."
"It's all thanks to His Majesty the Emperor's help. His grace is so great that there's nothing I can repay him with—so all I can do is offer my utmost loyalty."
Lucian put on the most moved expression he could manage, concealing the fact that he felt little emotion inside.
After all, having already received Asagrim from the Emperor, this manor was little more than a bonus.
'This place only ever mattered for its symbolism. And now that Asagrim—something that overwhelms even that symbolism—is in my hands, this place has lost its significance.'
He would make absolutely sure that it was firmly established as his property, so no strange individual could misuse it—but that was all.
Unless a better use presented itself, he would likely leave it half-abandoned, just as it had been until now.
'Still… since I'm already here, maybe I should try a little treasure hunt?'
The mansion's history was extraordinarily old, and it had once been the residence of Lucian's maternal grandfather.
Who knew—if he searched around thoroughly, perhaps some hidden treasure might turn up?
***
"First, search every nook and cranny. If you find anything suspicious or interesting, report it to me. If you think something's hidden, you're allowed to break it—just make sure you check no matter what."
"Y-yes!?"
The retainers blinked blankly at Lucian's order.
No—weren't there places no one but the lord was allowed to enter? And he was saying they could go into all of them?
He was even permitting them to damage parts of this mansion, which boasted such a long, storied history?
While everyone was left at a loss for words, Raymond grabbed Lucian with a stunned expression.
"My lord, you say we can break things!? You know how much history this manor holds!"
"I know. But you know the value of Asagrim too, don't you?"
"What does that have to do with this?"
"Their values overlap. Be honest—after receiving Asagrim, do you really think you'll come back here again?"
Struck squarely by Lucian's words, Raymond fell silent.
He might come back once or twice, but no matter how he thought about it, at most he'd just take a cursory look and leave.
"Since I'm not going to live here anyway, it's better to rummage through everything than to enshrine it like some priceless statue. Like you said, it has a long history—who knows, there might be some hidden treasure."
"Hmm… that's true, but…"
"What meaning would it have after a thousand years, once all its symbolism is gone? Let's search it thoroughly now instead. With Asagrim as a substitute, there's nothing to regret."
Faced with Lucian's entirely reasonable argument, Raymond eventually nodded.
He had a rough idea of what Lucian was after now.
"Magic?"
"Sharp as ever. Yes—exactly."
The lord's manor had been built long before the mage-led rebellion ever broke out.
If they searched thoroughly, they might even find magic-related items—like the magic tools the Imperial family had hidden away.
'It's little more than wishful thinking, but it's not completely impossible. When you rummage through a grand mansion with such a long history, a secret passage or a few concealed records usually turn up.'
Having grasped his lord's intent, Raymond nodded and withdrew.
If they were lucky enough to discover a magic tool, all the better—and even if not, there was more than enough chance they'd uncover something hidden.
While the retainers searched every corner of the mansion, Lucian decided to look through the study.
After all, records left behind by previous generations were usually kept in the study or the library.
"Nothing useful."
Thud.
Lucian swallowed his disappointment and set the book down.
The study was filled only with records of official business like ledgers, along with assorted items such as poetry collections and novels.
No matter how much he searched, there were no personal records—no memoirs or diaries.
'Don't tell me House Calyx swiped them? Maybe they saw something secret while managing the estate…'
Just as suspicion toward House Calyx was rising, Hugo's voice rang out from outside.
"My lord! There's something strange over here!"
Lucian's eyes lit up, and he immediately dashed toward where the retainers were.
"Did you find something?"
"We found an entrance leading to the basement, but someone has completely sealed it off. Take a look at this."
Hugo pointed toward the entrance to the basement.
A black-iron lock and chain were wrapped tightly around the basement entrance, ensuring no one could open it.
Lucian stepped closer and examined the chain.
'The door itself is quite old, but the lock and chain were installed recently.'
Judging by the condition of the metal, they had been put in place at most within the last three years.
Lucian grasped the hilt of his sword—then released it again.
If he smashed it apart with brute force, the entrance itself might collapse.
"Felicia, can you cut it?"
"I'll try."
Felicia drew her sword and assumed a vertical cutting stance.
At the same time, strands of magic power stretched out as thin as thread, beginning to coil around the blade.
Like a silkworm spinning its cocoon, the threads of magic wrapped around the sword again and again.
Piiit.
With a sound like paper being sliced, the blade brushed past the chain.
A moment later, the chain and lock slid down smoothly along the sword's path.
Lucian ran his fingers over the clean cross-section and gave a thumbs-up.
"Perfect. As expected of the next Sword Saint."
"You flatter me."
Felicia lowered her head, her face faintly flushed with embarrassment.
After removing the lock and chain together with his retainers, Lucian stepped into the basement.
"Good heavens…!"
The retainers who entered the basement looked around with stunned expressions.
Though it was called a basement, an enormous cavern—larger than the entire mansion above—lay beneath it.
As Lucian and his retainers stood there blankly taking in the vast hollow, they noticed holes carved deep into the walls here and there.
"What are these holes?"
"From the look of them, they seem to have been carved to insert something."
"Insert something? Like keys?"
"If they were keys, there wouldn't be so many of them. Weren't these places for handles, or maybe lighting fixtures?"
At the mention of lighting, Lucian reached out and touched one of the recessed holes again.
Looking more closely, he could see traces showing that many of them had been deliberately carved out recently.
'So sealing off the basement entrance wasn't enough—they even removed all the lighting?'
No wonder the torches felt woefully insufficient for illumination.
It seemed someone had deliberately torn everything out to hide something within the basement.
Lucian's group continued descending into the massive cavern, until they finally set foot on the floor below.
Grrrk.
"Hrk!"
"What is it?"
"Th-the floor moved!"
Hugo staggered backward, shining his torch frantically beneath his feet.
When the others hurriedly checked as well, they saw that one of the floor panels had indeed shifted.
Looking closely, the panels laid across the floor each bore subtly different patterns carved into them.
'A puzzle?'
No matter how he looked at it, the floor panel hadn't shifted due to age—it seemed deliberately designed to move that way.
As Hugo examined the displaced panel from various angles, Raymond swept the area with a torch and spoke.
"My lord, from what I can tell, this entire basement seems to be one massive puzzle."
"That's how it looks to me too. Now I finally understand why they removed the lighting."
It was to prevent anyone from discerning the shapes drawn on the floor.
If the entire floor was a single puzzle, it would have required a vast number of lights to illuminate it properly.
Lucian let out a hollow chuckle in the dim basement.
'Look at these bastards. They couldn't solve it themselves, so they made sure no one else could either?'
Judging by the state of the lock and the holes carved into the walls, these measures had been taken in advance—before Lucian ever came north.
Unable to solve the puzzle, House Calyx had clearly sabotaged it so that no other challenger could succeed either.
As the rightful owner of the estate, Lucian could only feel exasperated.
'Now I see what House Calyx's family tradition is like.'
"What should we do? Shall we install torches and call more people in?" Raymond asked.
Lucian shook his head.
"No need. How long do you think that would take? Besides, it's not like anyone ever said solving this puzzle would lead to treasure. It might've been made just to show off artistry. Let's leave it alone and go get Asagrim first."
"True… If even House Calyx couldn't solve it, there's no way we can crack it now with so little time. Sir Glen the inspector would notice too."
"Exactly. Still, it's impressive. How they managed to turn such a vast cavern into something like this."
It was then—when Lucian crouched down out of sheer curiosity and brushed a floor panel with one hand—
Fwaaaash.
"19"
The moment Lucian's palm made contact, a dazzling beam of light burst forth from the underground cavern.
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