Chapter 186: Brother

Adventuring alone meant keeping anything important close at hand. If something wasn’t important enough to carry, what use was there in bringing it into the estate?

That old apprentice must’ve waited outside the estate for a long time—he even had his student hide and observe from a distance.

He was probably hoping to gather more companions before heading in.

Now that Saul had a rough understanding of the estate’s situation, he had no intention of acting like Clawn—nervously waiting, unsure if others would arrive.

Clawn looked somewhat embarassed.

After agreeing to the merchant’s request, he’d seen the merchant go on to seek help from others.

That made Clawn displeased, but in truth, Clawn hoped for more companions to share in the venture.

Even though the Bloodthorn Family had declined, their former reputation and influence still made a wandering apprentice like him cautious.

That’s why, after arriving at the estate ahead of the others, he hadn’t rushed in. Instead, he quietly waited in hiding, hoping to find a few reliable allies.

What he didn’t expect was that the first to arrive Saul had stumbled in purely by accident. But Saul’s quick reflexes and rapid spellcasting had left quite an impression on him.

That was why Clawn had chosen to share information about the estate, hoping to establish a partnership. However he just hadn’t expected this kid to be in such a hurry.

That only reinforced Clawn’s guess that Saul came from a Wizard Tower. Only those backed by major wizarding forces would carry themselves with such arrogance.

Now that he had a promising partner, Clawn didn’t care about those small-time stragglers outside.

“Alright then, let’s go in now.”

Clawn quickly packed up and, with his visibly nervous young apprentice in tow, followed Saul toward the estate’s main gate.

But Saul looked up at the gate, which rose even higher than the surrounding wall, then turned to Clawn and said, “No need to split up after entering the estate. I’m going to climb over the wall over there and take a look.”

Figuring the areas outside the main building shouldn’t be too dangerous, Clawn nodded. “Alright, then we’ll meet in front of the castle in an hour.”

Saul nodded and temporarily parted ways with the two of them.

He walked along the estate’s wall, eyes locked on the rooftops that poked above it.

After making it halfway around, he arrived at a spot where the top section of the wall had collapsed slightly, and he heard that strange sound again.

This time it was clearer. It sounded like a string instrument.

As if some lonely soul were absentmindedly plucking at the strings.

“This is the spot.”

Holding a scroll in his left hand, Saul slipped through the gap in the wall.

The moment he landed, he stamped lightly on the ground to check beneath his feet—soft soil and thick weeds.

Just then, a few melodious notes rang out behind him, their sorrowful tune tugging at the heart.

Saul frowned and turned to look up at the man standing atop the wall.

“Victor! Why are you playing music at a time like this? Get down here!”

A silver-haired young man stood atop the wall, harp in hand, gazing off into the distance.

The wind tousled his fine, pale hair.

His face wore a hint of melancholy, as though his heart were full of sorrow.

“An old wizarding family, fallen into ruin…” Before he’d even finished speaking, he plucked a string. The deep, melodic note echoed his lament.

“If this world has a main theme, it must be melancholy.” His blue eyes shimmered with tears.

Veins popped on Saul’s forehead. His clenched fists trembled, and the scroll in his hand creaked under the pressure, ready to snap at any moment.

“Victor! We’re here to steal something, not perform a damn opera! If you don’t get down here right now, I swear I’ll beat you!”

Victor’s face was still full of sorrow, but he finally obeyed and leapt down from the wall, landing lightly beside Saul.

“Saul, is that any way to speak to your older brother?”

Saul seemed momentarily dazed, a bit lost. But the moment he saw Victor raise the harp again, fury surged back to the forefront of his mind.

“If you start singing again, I’ll throw that damn harp away!”

Victor pouted, clutching his half-meter-tall wooden harp tightly to his chest.

Seeing his brother act like that again, Saul sighed and waved dismissively.

“Alright, let’s just… wait, I forgot where we were headed.”

“Hmph.” Victor lifted his chin. “You said we were going to check out the garden.”

“Right.” Saul slapped his forehead, wondering how he’d suddenly forgotten. “That garden looks like it might be the center of a formation. Be careful when we get there—don’t wander off. If something dangerous shows up… just don’t cause me any trouble.”

“Even if I’m not a genius like you, I’ve been a Second Rank for years now!”

Saul sighed. “It’s not your strength I doubt. It’s your brain!”

Victor froze, his expression slowly turning to disbelief.

“Saul, I’ve never met a little brother as mean as you.”

Not in the mood to argue, Saul waved him along and headed toward the garden in the front courtyard.

“I observed earlier—the center of this estate is in that garden. Strange… this front garden is awfully large.”

Victor followed obediently behind, but his eyes wandered all over, clearly not focused on where he was going.

“Maybe the estate’s owner was a romantic gentleman who liked to stroll through the morning dew and evening breeze, savoring the scent of flowers.”

“Or maybe he just needed space to dump all his so-called art. A garden this big makes it real convenient for burying bodies too.” Saul passed a statue, tapping it as he walked. Solid. No trace of magic.

“Why would the owner place so many human sculptures?” Saul looked up at another life-sized statue standing on a pedestal.

“This is art, little brother.” Victor stood beneath it. “Look at the fear on that face—so vivid, like the work of a true master.”

Saul stared at the statue’s expression—wide eyes, gaping mouth, a twisted jaw.

He felt no artistic flair. Only a creeping sense of dread and horror.

“Be careful.” Saul instinctively lowered his voice. “I have a feeling these statues might’ve once been real people. It’s just that too much time has passed, and any lingering magic has faded.”

“Really?” Victor mimicked Saul and placed a hand on the sculpture. “I don’t feel any life left. Poor soul… even though they tried to run, they still couldn’t escape fate’s grip.”

Seeing Victor slip back into one of his moods, Saul rolled his eyes hard.

“No mechanisms, no traces of magic. Let’s move on—the treasure’s probably not here.”

They quickened their pace and entered deeper into the garden.

The garden was vast, though long untended. Once-precious flowers had withered, but wild blossoms bloomed brightly in the corners of the flowerbeds.

“The central point should be over there.” Saul surveyed their surroundings again, mentally calculating before pointing to a spot in the garden.

Victor followed behind, still looking around leisurely, with no intention of actually using his head.

When the two of them reached the location Saul had estimated, they both stopped, frowning at the sight ahead.

There was a ruined flowerbed, its center dug out to form a large pit. Dirt had spilled all around, making it the messiest part of the whole garden.

“Crap. You think someone already dug up the treasure?” Victor asked, sounding alarmed.

Saul probed the surroundings but didn’t sense any danger. Still clutching his Soul Armor Spell Scroll, he cautiously approached the pit.

Though the area had been disturbed, the pit’s shape was still discernible. It had once held something large and square.

“Looks like… a coffin was buried here.”

(End of Chapter)

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