Chapter 23

Judeil swallowed hard.

‘W-Why is that child here…’

He couldn’t understand why Laon Sighart, who should be sleeping in bed, was behind him, and even more, why he appeared with a knife pointed at him.

‘Ugh…’

He wanted to understand the situation, but the moment he saw the red eyes reflected in the lake, he couldn’t even breathe, let alone think.

It felt like he was staring into the eyes of a murderer who had taken hundreds, thousands of lives. His heart clenched.

“Since the first day I returned to the annex, I felt your watchful eyes.”

“H-Huh…”

If it was the first day, it meant he had noticed his gaze from the very beginning.

‘N-No way.’

Since he was trained as a spy from a young age, he was confident in his ability to hide his presence and movements. He never imagined he would be caught and cornered by such a young child.

“Open your mouth.”

“Aah…”

Laon Sighart’s words were not a suggestion but a command. Judeil trembled and opened his mouth.

“Gulp…”

Laon Sighart’s finger entered his open mouth, and something hanging from it slid down his throat and into his esophagus.

“Gah!”

The pain felt like a needle piercing his esophagus and stomach, and he couldn’t help but scream.

“Guh…”

The heat in his stomach didn’t subside, as if he had swallowed fire. The pain was so intense that he wanted to tear his abdomen apart.

Splash.

Laon Sighart, leaving Judeil clutching his stomach and writhing, went to the lake and brought back a piece of dark paper.

Rustle.

His eyes, which seemed to carry the darkness, were heavy as he unfolded the paper.

“This isn’t ordinary paper.”

“Gasp…”

Judeil clenched his teeth. The pain was excruciating, but as a spy, he had his pride. He couldn’t just submit.

“…”

Laon Sighart stared into his eyes and nodded.

“Water, earth, fire, wind.”

He suddenly started listing elements, as if trying to figure out how to read the paper. But why he was saying them out loud was a mystery.

“…Sunlight, moonlight.”

“…”

The answer was moonlight, but Judeil didn’t react. He endured the pain as if his tongue was being crushed.

“It was moonlight.”

“Eh?”

His heart almost leaped out of his chest. Laon Sighart had said the correct answer the moment their eyes met.

‘W-What? How?’

He hadn’t shown any reaction. He had only endured the pain. How did he figure out the paper’s secret?

“…”

Laon Sighart turned and shone moonlight on the paper for a while before reading its contents.

“You did a thorough investigation. Where are you going with this?”

“Ugh…”

Laon remained expressionless. Now, fear was more intense than the pain. The fear gripped his spine, making his back ache.

“Aris Sighart.”

He didn’t rush. He called out the name of Glen Sighart’s eldest daughter.

“Carun Sighart, Deneir… It’s Carun Sighart.”

“Gasp!”

Judeil couldn’t hold back a scream.

“What are you?”

The fear of the unknown made his jaw tremble.

‘W-Who is this child?’

Controlling one’s expression and patience are the first things a spy learns. For a trained child to extract information from his gaze was unbelievable.

“…”

Laon Sighart continued to look down at him silently. Judeil bowed his head to avoid his piercing gaze, but then had a thought.

‘Wait! If he’s not reading my expression…’

His eyes weren’t examining his expression. He was just staring at him, enduring the pain.

‘Could it be…’

A curse flashed through his mind as he felt the pain as if his abdomen was being torn apart and Laon’s gaze seemed to read his thoughts.

“D-Did you make me eat a lazy worm?”

“Did you know about the lazy worm?”

Laon Sighart’s expression changed for the first time, a look that said, “You know about this?”

“Gulp…”

Nausea hit him.

‘A lazy worm!’

The lazy worm is one of the worst curses. When the caster makes the worm enter the body, it can not only pinpoint the location but also read the emotions of the victim.

The most terrifying part is that the caster can cause excruciating pain and even death from a distance.

‘There’s no other explanation. It’s a lazy worm!’

Given the intense pain and Laon’s gaze, it was clear that the thing he had swallowed was a lazy worm.

“How did you…?”

A 13-year-old child, one who had been sick all his life, using a lazy worm was hard to believe, but there was no other explanation.

“That’s not important right now.”

Laon Sighart waved the paper in front of him.

“Ugh…”

He was right. With the lazy worm in his body, there was no point in resisting or trying to escape.

“Sending a letter to Carun Sighart means you’re a spy for the Heavy Guard. Your plan must have started 7 months ago, during the selection ceremony.”

“!”

Judeil’s eyes widened. That was true. His mission had started 7 months ago, during the selection ceremony. The presence of the lazy worm was now confirmed.

“You did a very thorough investigation. Not just me, but my mother, Helen, and the other maids as well.”

Laon Sighart smiled at the words glowing in the moonlight. The chill of his smile made Judeil’s spine shiver.

‘I shouldn’t have messed with someone I shouldn’t have.’

He thought it would be an easy mission.

The annex had no guards, and the people were kind. Gathering information on the young Laon and the crippled Sylvia seemed like a piece of cake.

But it wasn’t.

A monster lived in the annex, a monster with a deep hatred. Just looking into his red eyes made Judeil want to hang himself.

“Guh…”

He tore the flesh of his arm.

The pale aura from Laon felt like it was tearing his face, and the organ with the lazy worm was about to burst.

“I’ll change the content. To something that’s not true…”

“There’s no need.”

Laon Sighart lowered the paper and erased the words illuminated by the moonlight. He folded the paper and let it float on the lake.

“W-Why…?”

“Even if you change the information now, my information will eventually reach Carun. If you do, it will only show that you’re incompetent.”

“Huh!”

He knelt and met Judeil’s eyes. The blood-red eyes made his hands and feet tremble.

“Reporting cycle?”

“T-Two weeks for regular reports.”

“Since I defeated Barren today, the regular reports will come faster. Probably in a week.”

“A, Alright…”

Judeil nodded. He had thought the same.

“From now on, you’re a double agent. Give me the information that will be discovered, and hide the important information that won’t be discovered. Conversely, bring me the important information from their side.”

“A, Alright…”

He would do anything to escape this fear. He nodded without hesitation.

“I expect useful information when you return next time.”

With that, he disappeared into the darkness.

“Ugh…”

But it felt like his red eyes were still staring at his heart.

Thud.

Judeil couldn’t hold back his trembling legs and collapsed.

“The pain…”

The pain had already disappeared. It seemed Laon Sighart had controlled the lazy worm.

‘Monster…’

He had no intention of resisting. A being more terrifying than death was hiding in the darkness of the annex.

“Ugh!”

Biting his lip, Judeil ran to his quarters. The fear left by Laon was deeply embedded in his heart, like goosebumps on the back of his neck.

* * * *

-When did you summon the lazy worm?

“That’s not a lazy worm.”

Laon, back in his room, shook his head.

-What?

“I just made him eat a poison that causes extreme pain temporarily.”

In his previous life, he had been affected by the lazy worm, but since it happened when he had no memory, he didn’t know how to summon it. The poison he gave Judeil was just for torture.

“I wouldn’t use a lazy worm even if I had one.”

He had no intention of using such a terrible curse. If he saw the worm, he would crush it with his foot.

-Then where did the poison come from?

“I made it.”

-So, you went to the kitchen and the storage room earlier?

“Right.”

Since he knew the formula for the poison, he made a modified version using the materials available here.

-Hold on. Didn’t you read his thoughts?

“Yes.”

-How did you do that without a lazy worm?

“A few were guesses, and a few were based on his condition.”

-Condition? But he had the same expression the whole time?

Ras’s blue flames flickered, unable to understand how he could read information from his condition.

“I can do it.”

In his previous life, he lived as an assassin for over 20 years. He had experience with torture, so reading Judeil’s thoughts wasn’t difficult.

-For a 13-year-old to know how to instill fear in humans is something I’ve never seen, even in the demon world.

That’s true.

If he hadn’t lived as an assassin in his previous life, he wouldn’t have known about Judeil’s information gathering, nor would he have used such methods.

Thinking about it now, his past life was somewhat helpful.

“Anyway, it’s Carun Sighart.”

Laon sat on the bed and repeated Carun’s name. He had a rough idea of why Carun had sent Judeil. It was probably to gather information based on his performance during the selection ceremony.

But he had made a mistake.

If he had only observed Laon, it might have been different, but including Sylvia, Helen, and the other maids in the annex was a fatal error.

-But why didn’t you change the information?

Ras tilted his head and approached.

-The paper contained information that you had overcome the cold and found an excellent aura cultivation method. Shouldn’t you have erased that?

“That’s just filler information. To backstab, you have to give them something.”

He ran his finger along the bedsheet and continued.

“As she sends real information about me to the Heavy Guard, her credibility will build. Then, when she sends false information at the most crucial moment, it will create an opportunity to capture Carun Sighart.”

-Huh…

Ras let out a sigh. To think of all that in such a short time, this kid was definitely not normal.

-You’re not 13. Your belly is full of a hundred-year-old eels.

“Just eels?”

Laon smiled, as if mocking Ras, and waved his finger.

‘Not eels, but assassins.’

The best assassins.

* * * *

Lunan Slieron didn’t stop training even after returning to the main house.

The movements of Laon Sighart during the test kept replaying in her mind, making it impossible to stay still.

But.

“No.”

When she tried to train with the equipment at home, she found she could lift much less weight than when she was at the training ground.

It wasn’t just the equipment. Long-distance running and other physical training also didn’t go as well as usual.

“Hmm…”

She thought hard, but the answer was one.

“Laon Sighart.”

Laon was missing. Without him, who always stuck by her side, it was hard to muster her usual strength.

Recently, she had started to enjoy the refreshing scent that Laon gave off, and she often found herself unconsciously sniffing it.

‘I need him.’

Lunan nodded and left the training ground.

“Lunan?”

Rokan Slieron, the head of the Slieron family, narrowed his eyes as he saw Lunan leaving the family training ground.

“You were supposed to train with me. Where are you going?”

“To Laon.”

“Laon? Y-You mean Laon Sighart?”

“Yes.”

“Why are you going to him? Especially now when you promised to train with me?”

Rokan Slieron lost his usual composure and stammered. He had barely made time to play with his youngest daughter, and now she was going to Laon, making his hands tremble.

“There’s a smell, and there’s training.”

“Eh?”

He couldn’t understand what she meant.

“I’m going.”

Lunan brushed off the dust from her clothes and left the training ground.

“Wait! You can train here with me!”

“I need to go there.”

Lunan shook her head firmly.

“You keep saying you’re going. D-Did Laon do something to you?”

“What did he do?”

She lowered her head, thinking about the time she spent with Laon.

‘He helped me.’

Laon didn’t directly help her, but just being by his side made her training go well, so it was a form of help.

“Yes. He did.”

“Grr! Laon, you little—!”

Rokan gritted his teeth.

‘How dare he threaten my daughter?’

Lunan’s short answer painted a picture in Rokan’s mind. The image of his trembling, pitiful daughter being threatened by Laon took over his thoughts.

“Oh! Head of the house! What are you doing here! Today’s work cannot be delayed….”

“Bring me my sword immediately!”

Rokan barked at the butler who had come to find him.

“Eh? A sword?”

“Lunan. I’m going too! I can’t just let that guy be!”

Rokan glared. He was ready to tear down the Sighart annex.

“Eh? Eh?”

The butler’s mouth dropped open. He already had a headache thinking about what kind of trouble his daughter would cause today.

“What are you doing! Bring me my sword!”

“Wait! Head of the house! Let’s talk….”

“There’s no need for talk! Only the sword and punishment!”

“Ugh….”

The butler turned to Lunan. She was looking at Rokan with a blank, incomprehensible gaze. There was no way this quiet girl could resolve the situation.

‘Only he can fix this.’

He shook his head and went into the house, looking for the lady instead of the sword.

* * * *

“So, Laon helped you with your training? Not by threatening you.”

“Yes.”

Lunan nodded at her mother, Clara.

“Dear.”

Clara’s purple eyes turned cold and looked to the left.

“No, no, I just thought she was threatened. She just said she was going. Anyone would have misunderstood. Yes, that’s right!”

Rokan, who had been ready to charge to the Sighart house, was now crouched in the corner, his shoulders slumped.

“Be quiet and go do your work.”

“But today, I was going to play with Lunan….”

“Shh.”

“Alright.”

“I’ll check later. If your work isn’t done properly, be prepared.”

“Y-Yes. Don’t worry.”

Rokan slumped and returned to the house.

“Lunan.”

“Yes?”

“Did you thank Laon?”

“When I got the cookies, I did.”

“What about when he helped you with your training?”

“No.”

“Hmm.”

Clara smiled and stroked the head of the nodding Lunan.

“Then, thank him the next time you see him.”

“But Dad said—”

“Hmm?”

“Dad said I shouldn’t talk to boys first.”

“Aha!”

Clara smiled. The butler, seeing her smile, was sure Rokan would be nagged all night.

“Forget what Dad said. It doesn’t matter if it’s a boy or a girl. It’s only polite to thank someone who has helped you. Understand?”

“Yes.”

“Then today, instead of Dad, let’s train with Mom?”

“Yes.”

Lunan entered the training ground with Clara, thinking about Laon’s expressionless face.

‘I need to thank him.’

The thought of talking to him first made her heart beat a little faster.