I Became the Teacher of the Imperial Family’s Bastard

083. Heiron (1)

Heiron, known as the heart of the North, was a strategic point bordering the barbarians and dwarves.

Perhaps it was due to such geographical characteristics.

The appearance of Heiron, maintained and developed over the past thousand years, was as such.

“Wow, it looks like a fortress…”

“Indeed! It is a fortress! The terrain always requires preparation against external invasions!”

The Grand Duke responded to Historia’s words.

As he said, Heiron was a fortress surrounded by thick walls.

They were not just any walls.

The shape of the walls, spreading upwards, resembled a morning glory, and with snow piled high on top, a cold and stern atmosphere was formed.

Although I had heard much about it, it was my first time actually seeing Heiron, so it felt unfamiliar.

In the midst of this,

“Come! Let’s go to the Grand Duke’s residence first! It’s best to rest and then think about the next steps!”

The Grand Duke said with a hearty laugh.

I felt an overwhelming desire to nod immediately at his words.

After all, even though Beatrice made it comfortable, it was still camping in the polar region.

From the sleeping arrangements to the food, and the way we spent each day, nothing was comfortable, so I was starting to miss a cozy bed.

However,

“Let’s delay it a bit. Ah, Your Highness, please go to the Grand Duke’s residence and hold the Grand Duke.”

“And you?”

“I will find the Grand Duke’s teacher. I’ve already investigated his residence.”

This is not a leisure trip.

One of the concerns we had while coming here was the Grand Duke’s escape and the teacher’s flight, so we must check that first.

The Grand Duke smacked his lips at my words.

He seemed confident that there would be no accidents in his domain, but unfortunately, he wasn’t that trustworthy.

“Beatrice, you stick with the guards and go to His Highness. There’s a barrier in the Grand Duke’s room…”

“Yes, I’ll try to break it.”

“Saint, come with me. Ah, Peto, you too.”

In case of an emergency, the most needed thing is healing power.

Moreover, it’s better for me to take Peto’s crisis detection ability with me if possible.

After roughly establishing the plan, I greeted them.

“Then, Your Highness, Your Excellency, see you in a bit.”

“Ah, yes, see you.”

And so, we split up.

* * *

The slightly desolate scenery of Heiron, a mix of white and gray, passed by outside the carriage window.

Beatrice felt a small regret as she looked at it.

‘I wanted to follow.’

If she had to go, she wanted to stick with Yuren rather than Kallios.

But it wasn’t right to force it and earn unnecessary resentment for such a reason.

Moreover, if there was a barrier, it was right for her, a magician, to handle it.

She shook off her regret by attaching such reasons.

Since it had come to this, she decided to do her assigned task well.

Thinking this, she kept looking out the window, and soon they arrived at the Grand Duke’s residence.

“Ah! Home is still the best. It’s even more welcoming since I haven’t seen it in a while.”

“Oh, it’s quite splendid.”

“Well, after a thousand years of this and that, it has become so.”

The Grand Duke’s residence in Heiron was distinctly different from other buildings, which were only white and gray.

The red curtains visible from the outside, and the skulls of various ferocious beasts decorating the exterior here and there.

There was a story I heard from my master about this.

―When you go to Heiron, be sure to see the skulls hanging in the Grand Duke’s mansion. They are the remnants of legendary beasts that the heads of Heiron have captured over the past thousand years.

―…Did they even use preservation magic to hang them up?

―Yes, because those beasts are worth it.

At first, I thought it was a ridiculous boast, but seeing it now, it was indeed impressive.

‘Ice Drake, Winter Ogre, Elder Lich…….’

Should I say, the polar region is indeed the polar region.

The traces of monsters that one would never encounter in the capital were scattered everywhere, making it a spectacular sight.

A sigh of admiration slipped out, and Tibria spoke with a proud expression.

“Do you see the skull of the Ground Bear over there? That’s the one I caught as a dowry. I still vividly remember the astonished look on his face when he saw it.”

I roughly nodded in agreement.

And then Beatrice slightly lowered her eyepatch and examined the Grand Duke’s mansion.

She thought that since they had arrived, they should get to work.

Kiing―!

The mana catcher, inspired by Yuren’s clairvoyance, began to read the flow of mana drifting through the space.

Zzzt, zzzt.

A sound was heard in her ears.

The sound made her head throb.

She frowned and endured it, and then something became clear.

‘There it is.’

Supernatural acts are fundamentally the alteration of mana.

The barrier was also the same, capturing and confining the mana of the space in a specific form.

There was only one room in the entire Grand Duke’s mansion that was like that.

The room with the large window on the third floor.

Beatrice even let out a chuckle at the amount of barriers entangled there.

‘How many layers did they stack?’

From noise cancellation and locking to mana entry control and observation defense, high-level barriers were plastered all over the room.

While it wouldn’t be a problem to unravel them, it was clear that it would take time.

From noble mtl dot com

The thought that it would be quite a rough process made fatigue rise a little.

“Wizard. Let’s go.”

Kallios started walking.

Beatrice shared the information she had discovered with him.

“There are 13 types of barriers. Besides that, there are about 7 other magical treatments…”

However, Kallios didn’t seem to be listening very carefully.

How should I put it, it felt like he was letting it go in one ear and out the other.

Without even a response, she started to feel annoyed for no reason.

Isn’t that right?

If he understood, shouldn’t they at least discuss what to do?

At the moment when her irritation was rising.

“Grand Duke.”

“Hmm?”

“We’re going to pull it out, but is there any reason we should be gentle?”

Kallios asked Tibria such a question.

Tibria pondered for a moment, then shook his head.

“I believe there is a reason. Since I decided to leave it to you, I’ll just watch.”

Only then did Kallios nod his head in satisfaction.

What on earth is he trying to do?

At the moment when curiosity began to fill Beatrice’s mind.

“Adolescent brats are generally beasts driven more by emotion than reason. Do you know how to handle a beast?”

Srrng―!

Kallios drew his sword and laughed rather refreshingly.

“You handle them with a rod. They say you only come to your senses after being hit.”

Beatrice’s lips gaped in astonishment.

But Kallios was faster than she could continue her words.

Kiiing―!

Mana surged.

Kallios’s gaze was fixed on the firmly closed door.

Immediately after,

BANG―!

Without a moment’s hesitation, Kallios swung his sword and struck the door.

With a crack, the thirteen layers of barriers were instantly torn to shreds.

He muttered cheerfully, “Once isn’t enough, huh? Then, once more.”

Immediately, Kallios’s shoulder shook.

Thus,

BANG―!

The door was shattered.

‘What a brute…!’

Beatrice let out a hollow laugh in astonishment.

Her gaze then turned towards the inside of the room.

There, she saw someone.

“You, you are…?”

Black hair and blue eyes.

With alabaster skin, a slender frame, and delicate features, he was a frail young boy who incited a sadistic urge in others.

Sitting in the middle of a room cluttered with research books, he trembled violently.

Kallios, with his hands behind his back, greeted him.

“It’s been a while, Grand Duke. Have you been well?”

“Your Highness…?”

Grand Duke Shufert Heiron.

A look of bewilderment settled on his face.

…For some reason, Beatrice understood Shufert.

* * *

“Feto, do you feel anything?”

“I’m not some kind of psychic, you know. Brother… I mean, Master.”

“I’m just asking if you feel uneasy or anything.”

They were passing through the Heiron’s residential area.

Due to the cold wave, hardly anyone was outside, giving the feeling of walking through a ghost town.

If it weren’t for the smoke coming out of the chimneys, it would have been truly eerie.

So, I periodically asked Peto the same question.

But the only answer that came back was “nothing.”

Having experienced that guy’s crisis detection ability, which had already reached the level of a supernatural power, I found it quite puzzling.

‘It’s going to the most suspicious person, but it’s quiet.’

Wasn’t that the behavior of the so-called teacher?

Despite not having formally studied anywhere, he was a man who entered the Imperial Academy as an invited teacher.

And that was exactly when the Grand Duke entered the academy.

Then he was appointed as the Grand Duke’s professor, and when the Grand Duke graduated, he left the academy together and came to the north.

If he had used some trick, it was highly likely that it was through that teacher, so how could Peto not feel suspicious?

‘Has he already left?’

Such a possibility even crossed my mind.

But there was something I heard from the nearby people as I came here.

―Ah, that old man? It doesn’t seem like he left anywhere. He didn’t seem to have any connections in the first place.

The Grand Duke’s teacher is highly likely to be here.

The fact that he had no connections was suspicious considering his relationship with the Grand Duke, but that too would be known once we met.

Then how should I approach and interrogate him?

While these thoughts were wandering in my head.

“Ha, we’re here.”

Historia said, blowing out a breath.

Even though she was wrapped in a coat close to a furball, she couldn’t seem to shake off the cold.

She looked full of the desire to get inside quickly, but we were in front of a place that might be the enemy’s camp.

I stared at the door.

‘It looks ordinary.’

The building was made of stone, and the door was a wooden door covered with fur.

Smoke was rising from the chimney, meaning there was a fire inside.

The address was not wrong, so it was certain.

‘The person inside must be the so-called teacher.’

But the life mana reflected in the tunnel was not just one.

My brow furrowed.

‘What is that?’

Behind the door, small beings, barely reaching my knees, were bustling around.

There were four of them.

They were neither human nor dwarf, that much was certain.

Another suspicious point.

“Petto. Still nothing strange?”

“Well, um…”

Despite the blatant suspicion, it was unsettling that Petto couldn’t sense anything, but there was no choice.

‘We’ll know once we barge in.’

Whatever it was, it had to be captured alive.

Thinking that we could figure it out once we opened it up, I kicked the door while gripping the sacred tree.

Bang!!!

With the vibration, the snow piled on the roof fell down with a thud.

I was ready to swing the sacred tree, drawing up mana.

But the scene that met my eyes was unlike anything I had imagined.

“Cough…! Who’s there…?”

“…?”

“Number 1, do we have a guest?”

“Beep!”

“Huh? Why are you clinging like that?”

My body froze.

Not just me, but Petto and Historia as well.

It was inevitable.

Inside the cozy house, in the barely lit living room, sat an old man who was practically a corpse.

He was fumbling for his cane as if he couldn’t see, and at his feet were black dwarf-like beings, trembling and beeping.

The entire scene didn’t give off the slightest sense of intimidation.

Even the Tongue of the Dead didn’t speak of any threat.

“Is anyone there…? Did the wind tear the door off…?”

The old man muttered at that moment.

“…Brother, this isn’t breaking and entering, right?”

I couldn’t bring myself to answer Petto’s question.

Even the scolding about whether a thief should care about trespassing, I couldn’t do.