The double life of a count’s bastard

Episode 6

Peevish! Peevish!

“Who’s cursing at me, and why are my ears itching so much!”

Russo furrowed his brow as he rubbed his fingers nervously between his ears, then turned to stare at the entrance to the Kwelan Mines in front of him.

“If I knew it was going to be like this, why didn’t I just bring Jason and William with me?”

Russo muttered with a hint of regret.

Now that she was alone at the entrance to the Kwelan Mines, she felt a little uneasy about the sight of the gaping maw of a dark monster.

Even in my dreams, I had heard that Count Lanslan had obtained some artifacts from the Kwelan Mines, but I hadn’t heard anything about the process.

As such, even Rousseau had no idea what the conditions were like inside the mines or what dangers lurked.

Only that.

“You said you were chased by orcs and wandered into a mine entrance in plain sight, so it shouldn’t be too dangerous…….”

When Count Lanslan entered the Kwelan Mines, there was only one knight who was badly wounded, so in terms of power, he wasn’t much better than Rousseau now.

“Fool, what are you waiting for?”

Rousseau thought it was pathetic to dawdle, so he took a deep breath and stepped into the mine entrance.

While the Kwelan Mine was indeed owned by the Slater family, it had been abandoned for some time now.

The interior of the mine was much more dilapidated than I had expected, given how long it had been untouched.

With a torch in his left hand to illuminate his vision, and his sword gripped tightly in his right, Rousseau took one cautious step after another into the mine.

His senses were sharper than ever, Rousseau concentrated as if he didn’t want to miss any sound other than his footsteps.

“The Kwelan mine shaft is only four kilometers long.

The information about the Kwelan Mine had been well-researched beforehand.

“No artifacts were ever found inside the Kwelan Mine before it was closed.

The fact that dozens of miners and managers have been in and out of the Kwelan Mine over a considerable period and no artifacts have been found suggests that there must be some sort of secret passageway that hasn’t been seen.

If not, then…….

“It would mean that whatever magic circle was cloaking the artifact has exhausted its power.

The most reasonable explanation.

Any being would be protective of its treasures, and would naturally hide them and set traps to prevent anyone from stealing them.

Count Lanslan, who is not an expert grave robber, takes only one knight to find an artifact hidden in an abandoned mine.

It’s not something that could have happened without a great deal of luck.

“Something must have changed before it was abandoned.

Rousseau’s only concern is that Count Lanslan’s search for the artifact in the Kwelan Mines is seven years away.

If there are still forces at work that are concealing the artifact, Russo will have wasted his time.

“Still, I’ve made a last-ditch effort, and I’m sure we’ll find it.

Rousseau had done his homework, and he walked confidently through the dark tunnels, knowing that he had done his homework.

* * *

“Master, the order?!”

Jason exclaimed as he raced through the manor in search of Rousseau.

“Yes, I just heard about it from the Zeta Senate. Master Russo purchased three magic scrolls two days ago.”

The magic scrolls that Rousseau purchased were ‘Search’, ‘Destruction’, and ‘Defense’.

The question is…….

“They’re all class 5 magic scrolls?!”

Jason’s eyes widened in amazement.

Even the lowest class of spellbooks, the first class, is worth at least one gold (or two gold for a month’s living expenses for a normal family of four).

A fifth-class spellbook, even the lowest-value “search” spellbook, is an expensive item, costing at least 100 gold.

“They say you paid 50 gold as a deposit.”

“50 gold? Well, then the rest of the balance can be sent to…….”

“He said he’ll pay the balance later.”

“Out, out?”

Jason frowned.

If there was one thing Rousseau had managed to keep in his life as a wreck, it was that he’d never intentionally traumatized anyone.

“I’ve been vandalized and cleaned up after myself.

It’s just something I’ve done when I’m drunk, angry, or just improvising to blow off steam.

I’ve never intentionally bought someone else’s stuff despite having no money in my pocket like I did this time. Except for alcohol, of course.

Best of all!

Russo’s guts and brazenness in paying only fifty gold up front for something as expensive as a fifth-class spellbook made Jason take the situation seriously.

Even if he was an asshole, he was Count Slater’s apprentice after all, and the Zeta High Council would have taken the trauma in stride.

“So now you’re going to go all out?

Jason asked, suddenly realizing that now that Russo was seventeen, maybe the asshole was getting bigger.

“So, how much is the balance?”

The scroll for Explore was still on the cheap side, but the prices for the other two scrolls, Destroy and Defense, were already making Jason’s heart race.

“They’re 950 gold.”

“……ck!!!”

Jason grabbed the back of his neck and jerked at the sound of 950 gold.

In the cold light of day, and given the wealth of Count Slater, 950 gold might be considered a pittance.

But the fact that Russo, only 17 years old, was already carrying around 950 gold in scars made Jason shudder.

“Does that mean he’s the wrong size?

The thought of Russo casually spending over a thousand gold already made him shudder to think what he would be like in ten years.

‘No! Master Rousseau, even …… ten years is too generous, half of that, yes, he’ll be able to destroy Count Slater in five!

Jason’s stomach churned as he realized that he might be able to wipe out the Earl of Slater in just a few years, after hundreds of years of building up.

The tug-of-war between changing jobs and holding on was a daily struggle for Jason.

But now, given the scale of Russo’s behavior, he was seriously wondering if it would be wise to change jobs for his future.

‘Maybe Master Aaron will beat me to death before then?

Even if he does.

Whether Rousseau was going to kill the Earl of Slater or die at my brother’s hands, there was no way Jason could escape the blame for failing to serve his master properly as a butler.

‘I’m so glad I’m a……!

After all the hard work of becoming a butler to the Slater family, Jason realizes that he needs to escape as soon as possible.

* * *

Kwagga River!!!

A fiery explosion erupted from the Kwelan Mine, which had been silent for a hundred years.

“Kolok! Kolok! Kolok! Kolok!”

Rousseau scrambled to cover his mouth as the dust and debris clouded his vision, but it was too little, too late to deal with the aftermath of the explosion.

“Wow. Five hundred gold just like that.”

How many bottles of liquor can you buy with 500 gold?

Rousseau frowned as he realized that it would be enough to last him at least three years.

He’d just blown a fortune that most commoners wouldn’t even dare to touch, but he’d gotten his money’s worth.

Ssssssssss…….

A bright golden array of letters and numbers floated in the air, dazzling the eye and slowly losing their luster.

The magic circle concealing the artifacts hidden in the Kwelan Mine had been shattered by a Class 5 Destruction Scroll.

“Is it because the magic circle’s power was weakened that it was able to be broken with a Class 5 spell?”

Although it was a waste of 500 gold, Rousseau no longer had any regrets about the secret space that was revealed when the magic circle was broken.

It took seven hours.

After entering the tunnel, Rousseau initially tried to find the artifact on his own.

However, Rousseau, who had never been a grave robber before, let alone an artifact hunter, could not find the secret chamber.

After all, it had been exactly two hours ago that he had nervously torn up a 100-gold Search Scroll at the halfway point of the tunnel.

“Next time, easy. Easy.”

Rousseau grumbled to himself as he approached the secret chamber, grimacing at the thought of spending five hours trying to save 100 gold.

“What was in the Kwelan Mines, should I tell you or should I not tell you? Poohahahahaha!

Rousseau grinned deeply as he remembered the Count of Lanslan, who had devoured the artifacts in the Kwelan Mines and openly taunted Count Slater with his tales.

“I’ll tell you what was there with my own two eyes.”

The artifact had belonged to Count Slater in the first place, and now it had nothing to do with Lanslan, so I couldn’t laugh at him in the same way, but I could still enjoy the exhilarating feeling of discovery.

The secret room was smaller than I expected.

It was only a little bigger than Rousseau’s room, or about the same size.

“Isn’t this…… dog hair?”

Come to think of it, I hadn’t heard of the artifacts that Count Lanslan had claimed.

He’d always talked about them with the nuance that he’d gotten a lot of them, but he’d never actually shown them.

“It doesn’t matter, I have my agenda.”

An artifact that the Count of Lanslan had proven with certainty to have come from the mines of Kwelan.

Russo had come here to get it, so he needn’t be disappointed if it didn’t yield any additional profit, as long as it fulfilled its original purpose.

The secret chamber was small, and the items that filled it were sparse.

A cot for one person, a fairly large desk, a small bookcase, and two large chests.

It was the two chests that caught Rousseau’s eye.

The two chests were practically screaming ‘treasure in here.

“It must be in one of them, right?”

Taking the cue, Rousseau boldly reached for the chests.

He wondered if it was locked with magic, but the power of the destruction spell scroll made it easy to open the lid.

TALK-!

Rousseau’s pupils grew as big as a fire lantern as she peered into the box with expectant eyes.

“……What is this?”