Return of the Calamity-Class Death Knight

Chapter 8

[Quality Checker – Kawaii]

Chapter 8: The Dark Mage (1)

Landwalk City.

In this bustling city, which was a hub for traders and artisans, prosperity flowed endlessly, with wealth and people in constant abundance. Its vibrant exterior radiated splendor, yet dark shadows lingered within its wall.

People who couldn’t adapt to the city’s lifestyle drifted away, settling on the outskirts. The slums of Landwalk City were formed this way.

Dirty, smelly, and dangerous, the people of the city tended to avoid the slums as much as possible. Consequently, the slums remained quiet, as if by some unspoken agreement.

“Agh!”

“What in the world is this!”

However, the slums, which were usually quiet, were particularly tumultuous today.

Suddenly, dozens of thugs barged in, ransacking each hut and dragging out the impoverished inhabitants.

“Where do these beggars get off shouting like this!”

“They can’t even keep quiet!”

The impoverished residents resisted in their own way, but it was futile. As the thugs punched their faces and abdomens, silence fell.

“Find that scum quickly!”

“The first to find him gets ten gold coins from the boss!”

The thugs roamed among the slum dwellers, carrying sketches with scrutinizing faces.

“Is he the one?”

“It’s not him, there’s no mark on his forehead.”

Suddenly, one of the impoverished residents rose abruptly and punched two thugs in the jaw before darting away.

“Hey! He’s running away!”

“Capture him! If we let him escape, the boss will kill us!”

The man ran away from the thugs, but couldn’t get far before being captured.

“How dare these rats lay a hand on our people! Don’t let him get away!”

Despite causing a commotion, the man couldn’t match the strength of the thugs. He was firmly subdued on the ground.

“Boss! We’ve caught the leader of the Sewer Rats gang!”

“Please come and check!”

The thugs who overpowered the man called someone over who supposedly was their leader.

Shortly after, a chubby man walked over with short steps.

“Tsk tsk.”

He held a large sugar bun in his hand.

“Tsk, tsk, you caught him faster than I expected.”

“It’s all thanks to your exceptional leadership, isn’t it? After all, competent subordinates gather under a competent leader.”

The subordinate standing nearby flattered the chubby man, rubbing his palm together.

The flattery seemed to please the chubby man as he nodded contentedly.

“Tsk tsk, hiding in such a dirty place.”

The man said, eating the sugar bun in his hand like it was a pot. Then, the subordinate promptly offered another sugar bun.

“Tsk tsk, the food tastes bad because of the smell here. Anyway, he’s someone I don’t like.”

“That’s right. He lacks any sense whatsoever.”

As the ‘tsk tsk’ sound continued, the expression of the man pinned on the ground by the thugs contorted.

Eventually, he couldn’t bear it and shouted, “You pig! Stop gobbling and listen!”

“Tsk tsk, pig? Are you saying that to me?”

“Seems so. A person without any discernment, called the boss a pig while looking at his muscular body.”

“Tsk tsk, you lack judgement to that extent. You’ve ruined your gang.”

The chubby man didn’t show any signs of anger. Instead, he bite into a third sugar bun.

“Hey, sewer rat.”

The chubby man said as he licked the sugar dust off his fingers.

“I warned you. Come join me willingly, abandon the Sewer Rat gang.”

The Sewer Rat was a powerful gang that, until recently, had secured a firm grip over Landwalk’s underworld. Its influence was so dominant that other gangs needed to unite to confront it.

However, the once powerful Sewer rat gang met its downfall overnight. It wasn’t just the Sewer rat gang—all other gangs collapsed as well. This swift destruction was all credited to the chubby man, Cedric Walker.

“Look, the rat eventually has to become the serpents prey”

Cedric Walker’s gang, ‘Black Serpent,’ boasting formidable aggression, swiftly dominated Landwalk City’s underworld. With the Sewer rat gang now in ruins, there wasn’t a single gang left to oppose the ‘Black Serpent.’

“Alright, now that we’ve got the leader of the Sewer Rats gang too, it’s over. Handle it roughly and bury the body anywhere.”

“Yes, Boss.”

As if he no longer cared, Cedric Walker turned away. The leader of the Sewer Rat gang attempted to curse but couldn’t as the ‘Black Serpent’ members ganged up on him.

Cedric Walker, mounted on a carriage, asked his subordinate, “There are no remnants left right?”

“Yes, none remains.”

For the past few days, Cedric Walker had been focusing on eradicating the surviving remnants of the defeated gangs.

“Now, it’s time to deal with that noble.”

“If it’s the noble… Ah, you mean the one who attacked the tavern.”

Upon the subordinate’s words, a flicker of frustration appeared in Cedric Walker’s eyes.

About a week ago, a tavern Cedric was attacked. The gang’s members guarding the tavern, even the squire they sent, was slaughtered. It was an immense incident that had significantly tarnished Cedric’s and the ‘Black Serpent’s’ reputation.

It was to such an extent that the remnants of the defeated gangs, who had been hiding all along, had now started raising their voices against him.

“Shall I send the boys to handle it?”

Cedric Walker abruptly struck his subordinate on the back of the head.

“Kill a noble in his estate? Are you an idiot?”

Dealing with some insignificant noble family could be done in a day. But despite being insignificant, nobles were still nobles. A sudden murder of a noble residing in his estate? The palace won’t sit idly and watch.

“I am such a moron for having an imbecile like you as my subordinate”

“I-I’m sorry.”

“If you know you’re sorry, then offer me one more bun.”

The subordinate timidly offered a sugar bun.

Cedric Walker took a big bite of the sugar bun.

“Tsk tsk, it will get annoying if I get involved in this directly. For these matters, it’s best to leave them to the experts.”

“I see, boss! But who’s the expert?”

“A dark mage.”

“Huh!?”

“I’m hiring a dark mage. No, I’ve already hired one.”

A cunning smile crept upon Cedric Walker’s lips.

“A slight manipulation by a dark mage would be enough to destroy that small noble family. We don’t need to spill blood unnecessarily.”

Even after hearing Cedric Walker’s words, his subordinate’s face didn’t brighten.

“Bu-but aren’t dark mages dangerous? I’ve heard that they can brainwash the employer and turn them into slaves.”

“Huh! Do you think dark magic of this caliber is easy to do? It’s something only high-level dark mages can perform. Meeting a high-level dark mage is incredibly rare.”

“That may be true, but…”

“And right now, the Church is strictly monitoring the movements of the dark mages. High-level dark mages are too busy evading the Church.”

As he finished his words the carriage abruptly came to a stop.

Cedric Walker, along with his subordinates, entered a shabby house on the outskirts of the city.

“Oh, you’ve arrived.”

Inside the house, a cowering man was waiting for Cedric Walker.

“Are you Faycle?”

“Y-Yes.”

Faycle not only looked hesitant but also stuttered over his words.

His demeanor didn’t exactly instill confidence or trust.

“You’re aware of the request, right? The more damage you inflict upon the Haksens, the higher the price I’ll pay.”

“Oh, understood!”

“I’ll provide the necessary items for using dark magic. Just tell me the list.”

“Really? Th-Thank you!”

Faycle repeatedly bowed.

Generally, mages tend to have a high and mighty attitude due to their use of magic, a transcendental power. Dark mages were no exception. But compared to them, Faycle seemed overly submissive.

“But if you get caught by the Church, I’ll deny knowing you.”

“Understood, I’ll keep that in mind.”

Faycle bowed again, almost touching the ground with his head.

***

[Quality Checker – Kawaii]

Morning breakfast time.

The people of the Haksen household were all gathered in the dining room, yet there were no conversations, and only the clinking of utensils could be heard.

However, all family members were continuously glancing in one direction which was towards the eldest son of the Haksen family, Damien Haksen.

Whether he noticed those glances or not, Damien silently focused on his meal.

As soon as he finished eating, he wiped his mouth with a napkin and stood up to leave.

“I’ll excuse myself.”

“Y-Yes, go ahead.”

Upon receiving permission from his father, Damien rose from his seat.

Outside, Damien scratched his cheek.

‘It must have looked awkward.’

However he didn’t have any complaints. After all, he had suddenly changed his behavior overnight, so it was inevitable for his family members to feel strange.

‘It’ll get better over time.’

Thinking so, Damien walked down the corridor. It was time to begin the morning training.

At that moment, a maid approached Damien.

“What’s the matter?”

“Madam asked me to give this to you, young master.”

The maid handed him a jug of water and some simple snacks.

Damien looked at the items with a blank expression.

“…Mother asked you to give these to me?”

“Yes, she said it’s to show her support for you.”

Damien smiled bitterly.

Even though he always created problems for his family his mother had always supported him like this.

“Please convey my thanks to her.”

The maid slightly bowed and went back.

Damien came outside with the training items. Besides the water and food given by his mother, he also brought a towel to wipe off the sweat and, finally, a slightly special item.

“I should thank Father for this.”

It was a longsword.

It was the same longsword that nearly split Damien’s head on the day of his regression.

Since he planned to start swordsmanship training from today, he talked to his father last night and received it from him as a gift.

“It’s not a great sword sword… But well, it’s for training anyways.”

The blacksmith who made the sword wasn’t particularly skilled, and the iron used as material was of low quality. Yet considering Haksen’s financial situation, even a sword like this had to be used sparingly.

“I should’ve stolen a weapon from Edwin Ryan Bloom.”

Edwin Ryan Bloom, fitting for his position as a noble, had an impressive weapon. It was a sword that even Damien would envy.

“If I get the chance, I should get a proper sword for myself.”

Though he was beyond being restricted by the choice of weapons. But warriors by nature tended to yearn for exceptional swords.

As Damien pondered over these thoughts, he stepped outside the lord’s residence.

“Oh, how did this happen…”

A sigh came from the direction of the stables.

Puzzled, Damien walked over to that area.

And there, he saw a group of servants gathered around the stables.

Curious about what was happening, he peeked through the gaps between the servants to see inside the stables.

“The horse is dead?”

Among the three horses the household owned, one lay dead inside the stable, its eyes still open and its tongue sticking out.

“It was perfectly fine until yesterday…”

“Why did it suddenly die?”

The servants scratched their heads in confusion.

“Lord Haksen will be terribly angry…”

“It will be fortunate if he’s just angry. What if he asks us for an explanation?”

It wasn’t unreasonable for the servants to worry since an animal as expensive and valuable as a horse suddenly died under their supervision.

It was just an animal that had died, but Damien couldn’t easily divert his gaze.

There was something oddly familiar about the dead horse.

A complex and almost foul odor, akin to burnt ashes and a hint of blood, emanated from it.

‘…Dark magic?’

To explore further, Damien pushed through the servants and approached the horse.

“Who is this? Oh, Young Master?”

“The Y-Young Master is here?”

As the servants noticed Damien’s presence, their expressions were filled with fear.

Considering the significant loss to the Haksen estate and Damien Haksen’s notorious reputation, it was a natural reaction.

However, Damien didn’t pay much attention to the servants.

He was only interested in examining the dead horse for traces of dark magic.

‘Seems like my guess was right.’

As he caressed the horse’s skin, a hint of black magic lingered on his fingertips.

It was faint but definite. It wasn’t regular magic; it was dark magic.

‘Someone killed the horse using dark magic.’

In truth, Damien was well-versed in dark magic. During the Death Knight era, Dorugo aimed to make Damien a more powerful being. So, he had instilled all the dark magic he was familiar with.

‘Who could it be?’

The only possible foes who would hold a grudge enough to hire a dark mage were Edwin Ryan Bloom and the Black Serpent gang. But Edwin Ryan Bloom had left just yesterday, so it was unlikely that it was him.

‘That leaves the Black Serpent.’

It seemed like they resorted to harassing him by employing a dark mage since killing a noble posed too much risk.

‘This is becoming a headache.’

If animals kept dying this way on the impoverished territory of Haksen, it would result in a significant loss.

‘I need to eliminate the dark mage as soon as possible…’

The problem was how to track down the mage.

If Damien Haksen from the Death Knight era were present, he could have expanded his senses to locate the dark mage, but it wasn’t possible right now

‘…Should I try tracking them using dark magic?’

Damien found dark magic repulsive. It had ruined his life under Dorugo’s influence. But if it could be helpful, he was willing to use it for the sake of his family’s safety and happiness.

‘First, I need to send the servants away.’

He couldn’t use dark magic in front of them.

Damien addressed the servants, “Seems like this horse died from some contagious disease.”

“What? a-a contagious disease…!”

The servant quickly covered his mouth, looking at Damien with fearful eyes.

Feeling that he might get severely scolded for saying something in between, the servant seemed to think that Damien would be furious.

“Since there might be a risk of contagion, keep people away from the stable. Also, gather some people and cremate the horse’s body.”

“Oh, understood.”

Following Damien’s instructions, the servants dispersed.

The area near the stables soon became quiet.

As the people disappeared, Damien gathered all the remaining dark magic from the horse’s body.

Collecting dark magic wasn’t possible through regular means, so he had no choice but to reuse the magic present in the body.

Although it was a small amount, it was enough to cast a tracking spell.

“If I do this…”

Damien wove a spell and cast it.

A black wave spread in all directions from him. After a while, a sly smile appeared on Damien’s lips.

“Found you.”

Damien’s gaze pointed towards the west.

[Quality Checker – Kawaii]