MFWSP 58

Chapter 58

The branch of the Spirit Tree broke more easily than I expected, without much resistance.

As I held the branch—about the length of a human arm—black lumps dangled limply from it.

“What is that?”
David raised an eyebrow and asked.

“It doesn’t look like fruit… more like cursed lumps.”

Instead of answering, I turned my head toward where Karsiel was standing. Our business here was nearly finished.

The guides always said that those who walk the Path of Darkness cannot clearly see the Path of Light, and vice versa.

But that didn’t mean the paths disappeared. If I took Karsiel’s hand and crossed the gap of light, the path of light would appear.

My original plan was to return that way—relying on Karsiel’s memories and my own knowledge.

The problem was, that path constantly changed. And my knowledge wasn’t based on experience.

It wasn’t that I lacked confidence, but the schedule was tight. If the Marquis or a guide tried to interfere, things could get messy.

Above all, a shortcut had already appeared in my mind.

“Duke? The fruit you were looking for…”

I deliberately answered David’s question loudly.

“I can’t touch anything because of the mana.”

“…What?”

David’s eyes widened. Karsiel also frowned, as if not quite convinced.

“I can’t touch the fruit. I thought I could find one without a curse, but I was naive.”

I furrowed my brow, pretending to be troubled.

“What did you say?”

“That’s why I broke the Spirit Tree’s branch. To prove that I made it here. With this, even the Marquis will have to admit I found the Spirit Tree.”

“That’s not acceptable. The document clearly states the fruit of the Spirit Tree—”

“Let’s go back now. We need to hurry.”

I cut David off and raised my voice.

Just then, as if realizing something, Karsiel’s eyes flicked briefly to the right, then back to me.

I nodded, as if to say, “That’s it.”

I was planning to use the “Guide.”

“I’ll take the Path of Darkness. It’s faster.”

“Duke!”

David, still wearing a confused expression, tried to stop me as I turned away from the Spirit Tree.

“You can’t! Let’s search a little more!”

“It was somewhere around here.”

As David grabbed my arm, I naturally bit down on the branch and took Karsiel’s hand with one hand, and David’s hand with the other.

Then, I swung my left hand.

“Duke, what are you— Aagh!”

David’s body was pulled into the cliff crevice among the tree roots, unable to react to my sudden movement.

“What the hell are you doing?! Are you insane?!”

David, still unaware of what was happening, cursed at me and tried to let go of my hand.

Perhaps he was trying to let me escape alone—but instead, I tightened my grip.

Soon, Karsiel and I were also being pulled into the tree root crevice.

“Let go! I’ll make it out on my own—”

“Yoo leeb ee gill yew. I’ll keel yew fer real (You let go, I’ll really kill you).”

I warned through clenched teeth, struggling not to drop the branch in my mouth. I gripped David’s arm even tighter.

Seeing this, Karsiel also held onto my other hand and wrapped his arm around David’s leg.

The three of us, tangled up together, plummeted as one.

“What kind of crazy—?”

“Shh.”

As realization flashed through David’s candle-sized pupils, I gestured for silence, and Karsiel looked up at the cliff.

Thunk.

Our falling bodies suddenly stopped mid-air.

Or more precisely, only David’s body was caught by something. Karsiel and I dangled from him.

“Nekal?”

“Let go of the woman, Young Master.”

A shadowy Guide holding David spoke in a cold voice.

“My orders were to save you alone.”

David looked at me, and I smiled sweetly at him.

His expression twisted with a mix of rage and relief, and he shut his eyes tightly.

“…You could’ve at least warned me. Fine, I understand.”

Muttering what were probably curses, David looked up at Nekal again.

“Let go. Take me directly to the Marquis’s estate.”

“You’re not giving orders here.”

David snapped and used his free hand to pull back Nekal’s dark cloak.

On his shoulder gleamed the emblem of the Adelon Marquisate.

“No, Young Master!”

“Found it. The shortcut.”

Before Nekal could react, David pressed the emblem.

Pop—

A sharp sound echoed. The cliff vanished, and we were suspended in midair.

There was no passage this time. Just a floating sensation lasting a few minutes.

Then another crackling sound—and Nekal, Karsiel, David, and I tumbled together onto a cold marble floor.

The first to rise was Nekal.

“Greetings, Master.”

He knelt with one leg up and bowed to someone in front of him.

I slowly got to my feet as well.

A mahogany desk, matching bookshelves, neatly arranged papers, and white marble floor.

Unlike the two empty rooms we’d seen before, the stone walls remained the same.

We were in the Adelon Marquis’s study.

A familiar silhouette approached Nekal.

“You’ve returned too soon.”

The Marquis frowned deeply, unsure if this was good or bad news.

“Nekal.”

“Yes. The Young Master was falling from the Spirit Tree’s cliff, so I retrieved him as per your order.”

Nekal answered stiffly, clearly tense.

“You went to the Spirit Tree…? Did I order you to save three people?”

A trace of killing intent flashed in the Marquis’s eyes.

“B-But the Duke failed to retrieve the fruit!”

Nekal shouted.

“Look for yourself! She brought the branch but said she couldn’t get the fruit because of its toxicity!”

The Marquis’s eyes moved to me—and the branch still in my mouth.

Thin wood, a few leaves, and two unknown black lumps.

His eyes gleamed with greed.

“Heh.”

He smirked.

“Kehahaha! I see! You went all the way to the Spirit Tree and still failed!”

He threw his head back and laughed wildly.

“What’s that branch? Don’t tell me you plan to claim victory with that? The rules of the ‘Eye of God’ are clear!”

He was laughing like he couldn’t contain his glee.

“Good, good. At least you survived. I didn’t want to be held responsible for the death of a prince or a duke. This turned out great.”

He looked down at me, elated.

“Congratulations on becoming one of Adelon’s own, Duke. You’ll lose everything you regained from your proxy—your name, your title, your soul. The whole Empire will watch as you live a life not even worth dying for, obeying only my words.”

“…”

“This is the price of betting your life against the Marquis of Adelon. The whole country will know what I gained. I can’t even imagine how you must feel!”

He pounded his staff on the floor as he roared with laughter. I could still feel a faint vibration in the branch I was holding.

“Want me to tell you? Losing everything feels like utter hell.”

I moved the branch from my mouth to my hand and answered calmly.

“No need for a long explanation. You’ll experience it soon enough.”

“…What?”

The Marquis raised an eyebrow, still grinning.

“It’s not true that I didn’t find the fruit. I brought exactly what I came for.”

I brushed myself off and held up the branch.

“It’s true that touching the fruit directly in the Black Valley is dangerous. Even non-toxic ones become overly potent there. That’s why I brought the whole branch.”

“What nonsense is that?”

The Marquis chuckled.

“What nonsense?”

Smiling, I plucked the two lumps from the branch and infused them with a little mana.

The lumps began to hum, shift shape, and change color.

Whumm—

A few seconds later, two perfectly round orbs floated in the air.

One radiated a deep oceanic blue, the other a vivid, blood-red glow.

“That sound… is the sound of you falling into the abyss.”