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Chapter 44: I Ask You (1)

Theo’s expression changed subtly.

I am finally returning home after five years, and now I get asked to prove my identity...

Theo was feeling rather weird about the whole thing.

Randolph scratched his head as he interpreted Theo’s expression in his own way. He understood that it could sound quite rude to verify a person’s identity after they had helped him. “I don\'t want to be fussy, but given the situation, it’s hard for me to let you pass without checking. It will just be a brief verification.”

Theo assented, “Yes, it is understandable.”

Theo didn’t know why a mercenary company was fighting a group of undead in a little place like the Miller Barony, but this wasn’t the time to start asking questions. He needed to pass Randolph’s check and enter the village, so he pulled out the investigator’s badge and the certificate that he had received from the awards ceremony.

“Oh, an investigator’s badge. It has been a long time since I’ve seen one. And this is… the owner of this certificate is an honorary baron, Theodore Miller. Oh, that’s a royal seal, so this should be fine… Huh?” Randolph looked at the certificate carefully with a puzzled expression.

Nobility were usually named differently from common people. They might share first names here and there, but no family held the same last name as another. A noble’s surname was proof of their king’s honor, and evidence of the blood flowing through their veins. Which proud noble would share their name with others?

At the same time, Randolph was staring at a last name that was shared by the lord of the Miller Barony.

“... I heard that the lord here has a son.” He stated thoughtfully.

Theo hid a smile. “My father.”

Randolph snorted. “Darn, you’re the son of my employer.”

Theodore started laughing, and Randolph smiled as he realized why Theo had such a strange expression on his face before. The lord’s son had returned but needed to prove his identity. It was rather funny in hindsight.

Randolph’s cheery grin was back on his face as he stretched out his hand. “Welcome home, Young Master. There’s been a small fuss here and there, but so far, it hasn’t been a big deal.”

Theo raised an eyebrow. “It was a pretty big group.”

“Well… let’s go in and talk about it.”

The undead didn’t strike when the sun was shining, so Randolph turned around first. It seemed like the story he needed to tell was quite long. Theo and Sylvia followed behind him. In a sense, it was definitely a surprising return home.

***

By the time the two magicians and Randolph entered the village, the mercenaries were already scattered all over the village. They were very tired from battling undead all night. The village residents had prepared bowls of warm porridge for the mercenaries and were helping bandage the injured.

One of them recognized Theo. “Eh...? Aren’t you Theodore?”

Another immediately rebuked him. “What? Why would Young Master be here? He’s studying right now!”

The other argued back, “No, just look!”

The skeptical villager looked at Theo. “Well, he certainly looks a lot like the Young Master...”

It had been five years, and Theo was now dressed like a noble, so the villagers were hesitant to call out to him.

As the villagers started to whisper to each other, an old man stepped forward. “Y-Young Master Theo?”

Theo felt tears spring to his eyes as he saw the old man with that faint voice. “Grandfather Albert!”

He had lost count of the many pieces of bread he had received from those hands. The wrinkled hands were much feebler than he remembered, but Theo reached out without hesitation. He could feel the gentle love from the old man’s hands as Theo folded him into a hug. He could feel the weight of all those years.

Theo was truly like a grandson to the old man.

The old man smiled. “Ah, it’s our Young Master! How is it that you look so respectable?”

“Grandfather!” Theo just hugged him tighter.

“Young Master!”

“Young Master Theo has come back!”

Residents started flocking from across the village. Someone’s knitting ball bounced along behind them, and another villager had clearly been in the middle of a meal. It only took a few minutes for a crowd to form around Theodore.

“...?!”

Sylvia shuffled closer to Theo, causing the villagers to cheer. She was drawing a lot of attention from the curious villagers, which she wasn’t entirely used to.

“Who is the young lady, Young Master? Perhaps?”

“Ah, come on. Why else would he bring such a lovely girl?”

“Young Master! You can come to our store for silk! We have plenty to make a veil!”

“Don’t make me laugh. He’ll be lucky if he doesn’t end up with rags if he goes to your store.”

“You got a problem with my silk?!”

The loud commotion woke the mercenaries who were dozing off. The gloomy atmosphere of the village was quickly turning into a boisterous warmth. The villagers clearly loved and cherished Theo. Soon, the disturbance reached the Miller Barony’s manor.

“Theo, where is our Theo?”

A middle-aged man with thinning hair, dressed in a humble tunic, made his way through the crowd. Fortunately, many villagers recognized him and quickly made a path. Everyone wanted to welcome Theodore, but this person had more right than anyone else.

When he finally broke through the last few people, Dennis Miller shouted, “Theo!”

Theo could never forget that voice. “... Father!”

As Theo’s father pulled him into a tight embrace, the familiar smell of soil and bread tickled Theo’s nose. His father smelled like everything he loved about his hometown. They needed no words as they hugged.

Dennis let go first and firmly grabbed his son’s shoulders. “Welcome home.”

Theo’s eyes were bright with unshed tears. “Yes, I’ve returned.”

“I suppose you have a lot of questions? I’m sorry you had to come home to this after being away for so long.”

“Don\'t say that.” Theo shook his head. What did his father have to be sorry about? The residents and his father were the ones suffering from the undead.

Dennis was pleased with his son’s appearance but noticed the dust on Theo’s robes. He also noticed Sylvia shyly standing beside him.

He addressed them both. “Are you tired? Let’s discuss the rest of the story at home.”

The exhausted magicians nodded at the same time.

***

It had been five years, but Theo’s home had remained unchanged. The fireplace and staircase still looked worn out, and the floor still creaked. He could hear water running in the kitchen, and he spotted an old stain still on the ceiling. In fact, it seemed like the number of stains had only increased while he had been gone.

His family still looked the same. His father had grown a small mustache, his mother had gotten slimmer, and his three year old brother was peeking out from behind his mother.

Oh, it’s the first time I’ve actually seen him.

He had missed his little brother’s growth while he had been away, but he could still feel the warm love from his family. But Theo put aside his personal problems to focus on the problem before him. He could spend time with his family after solving the crisis.

He queried, “... Then, the undead started appearing around a month ago?”

Dennis Miller sighed heavily. “Yes, the woodcutter was the first one to find them.”

According to his father, the undead had appeared around a month ago, and they had only started the attacks a week ago. There was a gap that Theo couldn’t understand. What had the undead done during those twenty days? Perhaps the missing magician had started on the path of necromancy, but twenty days was too short to learn how to create a ghoul wyvern. Even a skilled swordsman like Randolph would be hard pressed if he faced two ghoul wyverns in battle.

Moreover, Theo had a more urgent question. “What about the mercenaries? Our estate doesn’t have the money to hire them...”

Dennis replied, “Hoo, I owe too much to them.”

Owe?

Theo looked at his father quizzically.

“They originally came to fight the bandits around here, which was entirely unrelated to our barony. But the undead attacked on the same day they stayed in our village.”

Theodore’s brows furrowed. “... So they’ve been protecting this place for a week?”

Dennis nodded. “Yes. When they leave, I can’t feel regret… I can only say thank you.”

It was hard to believe. Everyone knew mercenaries only ever moved for money. A rare few were righteous and faithful, but many mercenaries only joined the profession because they wanted to be able to kill people legally. It was hard to imagine them volunteering to defend a village for no reason.

Unless there’s some kind of hidden treasure in the village… But that’s impossible.

He would need to talk to Randolph. Theo dropped the subject and ate the soup his mother had prepared. It was thin and only had a few ingredients, miles apart from the delicious soups at Bergen Academy and Manavil. However, he had dreamed of eating this soup for years. Sylvia didn’t seem to be picky about food as she chewed on hard bread. Theo pretended not to see his mother’s relief and took another sip of his soup.

Theo knew that he couldn’t stay in this happy, peaceful mood for long. He still had problems to solve. But he allowed himself to relax for this one meal.

As they finished their meal, Theo bade Sylvia good night. “Then I’ll see you later.”

Sylvia replied quietly,“... Yes.”

They had traveled together for five day, but a man and woman couldn’t share a room under normal circumstances. Sylvia nervously followed Theo’s mother to her room. Theo made his way to another part of the manor and entered his old room.

Rattle.

When he glanced around his room, he found that it had not changed. Even the books on the shelves had remained in the same order. As he took a seat on his bed, the old springs groaned in a familiar tone as he looked up to see the same torn wallpaper.

“Huuuu...” Theo took a deep breath and spoke aloud, “Hey, can you wake up now?”

Theo was starting to get a sense of Gluttony after five days in the carriage. He was now reasonably sure when it was hungry, or feeling good or bad. It had come in handy, since he had been able to feed Gluttony without worrying about Sylvia, but he had also gotten the sense that he could now call out Gluttony when he needed to.

Unsurprisingly, Gluttony responded to his call.

- ... You’re more sensitive than I thought.

A drowsy voice emerged from his left hand. Gluttony had clearly just been asleep.

Theo said, “Let’s keep it simple. How many books do you need today?”

- Two or three.

“Okay. Then today’s meal is two books.”

He held his left hand over the two books he’d prepared.

Gulp.?

The tongue swallowed the two books.

[Magic Wall has been consumed. Your understanding is very high.]

[Proficiency with the 4th Circle spell Stone Wall has increased.]

[Explosion is an Art has been consumed. Your understanding is very high.]

[4th Circle spell Explosion has been acquired.]

He learned two 4th Circle spells at once, but luckily, he had already studied one, which reduced the headache. Stone Wall was a higher ranked version of Earth Wall. It allowed Theo to construct walls with solid rock. Theo quickly went over Explosion in his head. It would be extremely useful in dealing with a horde of undead.

“... Okay, I’m done.”

After he finished absorbing the knowledge of the two spells, Theo looked down at his left hand with sharp eyes. He had the choice of feeding Gluttony three books, but he had chosen two so that he could ask a question. Information was more precious than spells at the moment.

Theo had to figure out how to stop this disaster.

“Then my question is...”

The grimoire might just know the answer.