Chapter 49

#049 Chapter

"Hair...?"

In response to the question, Ian nodded.

"Outside is dangerous. Being a boy won’t make it completely safe, but it will be less risky than being a girl. Besides, you stand out too much. So, we need to mess it up a bit."

In 21st-century South Korea, she might have lived a life shining as a face genius.

But in this world, where thieves, bandits, degenerates, monsters, and other races abound, her appearance was perfect for all sorts of misfortunes beyond imagination.

Of course, as long as Ian was around, it would be fine.

However, unexpected emergencies could happen at any time, so it wouldn’t hurt to be prepared.

From his own experiences, he knew that variables couldn’t be controlled but had to be anticipated and responded to.

Of course, Lucia’s thoughts would be different.

“……”

Just by seeing her slightly open mouth, one could tell.

Ian felt a strange sense of pleasure.

He had surprised an adult.

Meb, seemingly unaware of her inner thoughts, nodded seriously.

"That’s a good point. Lucia, do you know why I speak sparingly outside?"

“...Yes.”

“Ian’s suggestion is in the same vein. It would be best to follow it.”

“……”

Lucia’s mouth closed again.

After looking at her face for a moment, Ian finally said,

"Bring me some scissors, Philip."

***

Snip, snip.

The scissors moved without hesitation.

Lucia, who was sitting on the table, closed her eyes at some point.

It wasn’t just because of the hair falling on her face.

Her hand, resting on her thigh, was tightly gripping the hem of her skirt.

She could be considered mature for not making a sound, but she couldn’t completely hide her inner thoughts as usual.

Ian suddenly said,

"What’s done is done. Accept it. Think of it as being reborn as a new you. Actually, it’s not a wrong statement."

“……!”

Lucia’s eyelids trembled for a moment.

It seemed that Ian’s words resonated with her.

Philip looked at him with a gaze that seemed to ask how he could be so insensitive.

Surprisingly, Lucia’s expression gradually relaxed.

"Alright. Open your eyes."

When Ian shook his head and spoke, her clenched fists had already loosened.

Lucia looked around at the scattered hair.

As she raised her hand to touch her shortened hair,

"It’s a bit messy, but it looks fine, my lady."

Philip said.

Ian, who had been staring intently at Lucia, nodded.

"Yes. Now that it’s cut, I can see it clearly."

He reached out and gently lifted Lucia’s chin.

"The problem wasn’t your hair. The real issue is your face."

“……?”

Lucia looked up at Ian.

Earlier, she had been trying to hold back tears.

Now, there was a hint of strange anticipation in her expression.

Philip, of course, and Meb also nodded.

"Your appearance is indeed too striking."

"Our family is often praised for our good looks. The royal family is the same, so it’s natural for Lucia to be beautiful."

Ian nodded in agreement.

Indeed, Lucia could be called a beautiful youth without any reservations.

In the eyes of the numerous degenerates in this world, she would be more than enough to attract attention.

"Ian. Go to the kitchen and bring some ashes."

"Ashes...?"

"Are you going to roll her in the dirt?"

"Ah. I understand."

Philip quickly ran off.

Lucia, fascinated by her shortened hair, kept touching it.

What a quick adapter.

Ian smiled inwardly.

After all, she had grown up experiencing all sorts of unfortunate events from a young age, so this would be nothing to her.

Soon, Philip returned with a bucket of ashes.

Ian, who had dipped his hands into the ashes, grabbed Lucia’s nape.

"Close your eyes and hold your breath."

Lucia followed his instructions.

Ian’s hands swept over every corner of Lucia’s face.

He gripped her hair, and meticulously applied ashes to her neck and ears.

It almost looked like a religious ritual.

Indeed, everyone except Ian felt a strange sense of reverence.

After a while, Ian let go and said,

"It’s done. Open your eyes."

“……!”

When Lucia opened her eyes, her shoulders trembled.

Ian held up a mirror, and her face was reflected in it.

Short, messy hair.

A dirty face.

The surprise was brief.

"Wow…."

Lucia let out a meaningless exclamation and began to examine her face, almost with a hint of enjoyment.

Ian added indifferently,

"We need to give you an alias. A boy’s name."

Meb nodded.

"Good idea. An alias…"

"Lucifer."

Lucia blurted out.

With everyone’s attention on her, she continued calmly,

"It means ‘morning star’ in old language. Even if shortened, it’s still ‘Luci.’ And it’s a boy’s name."

“……”

In my world, it has a completely different meaning.

Ian muttered to himself and shrugged.

"Alright. It would be better to create a surname as well."

"A surname too?"

"Preparation for any eventuality. Hmm…"

Ian’s gaze turned to the bucket.

"How about ‘Ash’?"

"Lucifer Ash…"

Lucia, who had been pondering, nodded.

"I like it."

"Then from now on, that’s your name. Get used to it. You should be able to recognize it in any situation."

Ian’s gaze then turned to Philip.

"Prepare to leave, Philip."

“……?”

***

With a displeased look, Philip glared at the back of Ian’s head as he passed the guards.

He clicked his tongue and closed the door, then entered the mansion with a calm face, as if nothing had happened.

What he had just done was a kind of performance.

The more witnesses there were to the problems between Ian and Meb, the better.

Of course, that wasn’t the real purpose.

"Really, you left nothing behind."

As they passed the garden, Philip said.

Ian didn’t respond and continued walking.

This almost ruined mansion belonged to Regis Brant.

All his family members were either executed or imprisoned, and all the mansion’s assets were seized or burned.

The guards at the entrance were there to be prepared for any remaining followers.

Of course, Ian was an exception.

"But there must still be a hidden chapel somewhere."

"Find it if you know where it is. Or just wait quietly here."

"This might be the last chance to help you. I’m curious too. What could be there?"

He has grown so much. A boy who used to tremble at the mention of tainted magic.

Ian explored the mansion.

With nothing left, the search was easier.

Ian entered a room that was once a library and instinctively felt that there was a secret space here.

His ability to find the secret spaces of degenerates was improving.

"…My goodness."

Philip, who had been searching the library, suddenly turned to Ian.

"I think I’ve found it, my lord."

He pressed a brick behind the bookshelf.

Clunk. The lock released.

When he pushed the bookshelf aside, a narrow staircase leading underground was revealed.

"I did it at last."

Ian chuckled and descended the stairs.

The narrow and damp underground.

Ian illuminated the revealed stone room with a torch, and Philip shrugged.

"It’s simple. Different from what I expected."

Regis’s secret room was more modest than those of other degenerates.

There were no common symbols or ancient languages on the walls or ceiling, and no books or diaries were placed.

There was only an undecorated altar and a small wooden box on it.

"There’s a reason for that."

Ian stood in front of the altar.

He had no idea what was inside the wooden box.

After taking a deep breath, he opened it.

“……”

Ian’s eyes darkened as he looked into the box.

Philip, who had been watching, approached after a moment when nothing happened.

"What is it?"

As he peered into the box, Philip’s eyebrows furrowed.

It was a dark, dried-up piece, looking like something had been dried and hardened.

Philip’s eyes twitched.

Because something seemed to whisper in his ear.

Labored breathing.

Unintelligible languages.

“……”

Philip’s eyes began to glaze over.

His consciousness became hazy, and the dark afterimage around the piece became clearer.

His fingertips began to twitch.

“…Ha.”

Ian’s face broke into a hollow smile as he turned to him.

This is how it lures people.

After observing Philip for a moment, he raised his fist.

Smack!

“Ah?!”

Philip, who had been hit in the face, fell to the ground with a scream.

He clutched his jaw and shouted, as if suddenly waking up.

“D-Did you just hit me?”

"I saved you."

"What do you mean? …Wait, could it be."

Philip, who had belatedly blinked, alternated his gaze between Ian and the wooden box.

“Could it be that I was lured by what’s inside?”

"Yes. Don’t you remember?"

“Well, I remember looking at it, but….”

Philip frowned.

His mind felt itchy.

Like the day after being drunk, there was a complete blank in his memory.

A faint glimpse of a deep abyss.

…Almost swallowed by darkness.

Philip’s lower jaw began to tremble.

He picked up the fallen torch and looked up at Ian.

“Are you, my lord, alright?”

“…No.”

Ian’s gaze returned to the piece in the box.

Faint afterimages and whispers.

“It’s trying to consume my mind too.”

He was just strong-willed enough to resist its influence.

Philip, who had been staring blankly at Ian’s calm face, finally asked,

“What is it exactly?”

“This is something from beyond.”

“Beyond? Could it be….”

“It’s what you call the Legacy of the Abyss or a Dark Artifact. I don’t know how he got it, but the Duke had something real.”

Philip inhaled sharply.

Dark Artifact. Legacy of the Abyss. Idol of the Void. The names vary, but they all mean the same thing.

An object that should not exist in this world, the antithesis of holy relics.

“So, stay back. If you don’t want to be lured again.”

Philip, who had hastily retreated to the stairs, said without even glancing at the box,

“It should be burned immediately.”

Ian snorted.

“It won’t disappear just by burning it. To destroy it, it must be thrown into the sacred fire at least.”

He could say this with certainty because he had verified the information about this Dark Artifact.

The talisman of the hunting dog.

It seemed to be a part of the multi-legged creature he had sent back to the void.

Although he had told Regis it wasn’t a real ancient god,

It was a transcendent being in a relative sense, capable of leaving a relic imbued with its power in the material world.

“So….”

Ian reached for the talisman.

The afterimages and whispers became clearer and louder.

The first test, just by looking at it.

From instant death to the curse of madness, to becoming a fanatic. The talisman had conditions that were fatal to those with low mental strength.

Of course, it wasn’t a problem for him.

These illusions and hallucinations couldn’t even scratch his mind.

“Wait, no, it’s not right…!”

Philip, who belatedly sensed something was wrong, turned his head.

But Ian was already gripping the talisman.

“……!”

Ian’s eyes turned pitch black.

Illusions and hallucinations covering his eyes and ears, and the influx of tainted magic.

Philip let out a scream of shock, but Ian remained calm.

This was the second test.

In the midst of chaos, a quest acceptance window suddenly appeared.

The Crimson Apostle of the Abyss.

Ian’s lips curled up.

So, they want me too.

Of course, it was a proposal that didn’t require any thought.

‘Whatever.’

Ian summoned his chaos power.

The situation changed instantly.

The tainted magic was pushed back effortlessly.

Ian, in turn, pushed his chaos power into the talisman.

Imprinting. It was a necessary process to obtain a Dark Artifact.

The angry breathing of the hunting dog. The chaotic illusions of the creature lurking beyond the abyss.

But that was all.

Ian’s chaos power stained the talisman.

The hunting dog, which had given up its fragment, growled and disappeared into the abyss.

The connection between the