He's My Real Brother, Duke

Staring at me, Warret quickly shook his head and said,  “Oh, no, no! This is completely misleading! Think seriously about such a ridiculous demand!”

Astel grinned and thought inwardly, ‘This is exactly the function of this artifact.’

This is a bit exhilarating because it feels like I’m a real scammer…?

Was this how Sam felt when he made fun of our family and the beasts in the Duke’s castle?

Frowning, I swept over the ‘transformation’ part of the vertices of the triangle engraved in the center of the artifact.

“You said each artifact is connected, right?” Astel asked.

“Yes. But it was cut off when I analyzed it!” (Warret)

“Connect it again, please try again.” (Astel)

“Again?” (Warret)

“Yes, when the artifact is used, the light will illuminate the other person.”

Warret looked suspicious, but he shook his head and can’t help but obey his employer.

“I see, it’s not that difficult.”

Wallet, who skillfully tapped the surface of the artifact a few times, grinned, “It’s done.”

I can’t believe it’s already done. Warret must be a real genius! With curiosity shown on my face, I pressed the artifact again to activate it.

Now, what I’m going to test is…

`

“Mr. Warret, can you give me all the artifacts you’ve collected so far?”

His eyes dimmed and then managed to find their light again.

“You’re cheating on me again!”

I slightly lowered my eyes regretfully and said, “I’m sorry. I wanted to use this artifact to send a signal to someone with another artifact.”

“Come to think of it, they must have just noticed that the artifact fell into someone else hands.”

I nodded my head quietly as I stared at the anxious Warret.

‘Well, I guess the villains must be a little impatient by now. Wondering whose hands this artifact really fell into.’

Since one of them is dead, the other two will also feel like they are being pinched in a noose around their necks.

Just like my brother and I did in the original.  Those, who tormented the wrong people and eventually led them to death, should also suffer once.

I remembered the plans that I had calmly drawn up since I realized that I had been reincarnated.

‘They should be curious about the whereabouts of the artifact.’

My plan was perfect. Now all that remains is to prepare.

After I sent back the Warret, I turned on the video sphere that the Duke handed me.

‘If I have any health problems or concerns, he told me to contact the doctor who went to the village of Delan Lucia.’

The light came on from the video sphere and the doctor appeared in front of the screen.

“How are you, doctor?”

“Oh, Miss Astel! What have you been up to?”

“I’m just fine. How’s the town of Delan Lucia?”

“Haha! Here in Delan Lucia is very peaceful. I’m here to study more about imprints, but I feel like I’m here for self-healing!”

The doctor laughed out loud and I smiled at him.

“Well, actually, I have a little question, sir.”

“Oh,  tell me!”

For a moment, I was puzzled by the doctor who appeared too nicely.

There was something I had to ask him so I spoke carefully, “I picked up a very cute cat.”

Of course, it was a lie.

But there’s no way that the doctor at Delan Lucia will know of my lies.

“This cat… I wanted to transform it into a cute puppy.”

“Oh, my… What a cute remark!”

The doctor nodded and continued, “But transformation is not so easy to use. Transformation magic is divided into two ways. One is the magic of ancient dragons, the other is a mixture of common magic and the use of transformative potions.”

So far, it was something I knew… Still, as I listened to his explanation, I was getting more and more confused. I urged him to say the following.

“Yes, that’s why.”

“Unless you’re not as powerful as a dragon, you have to keep taking transformative potions.  It can be cumbersome.”

Since the ancient magic of dragons was on me, I was well aware that there was no need to use artifacts in dragon magic.

If so, it means that the spy is hiding his true appearance by using both transformation artifacts and magic potion at the same time.

So now, I have one last question to ask,  “What were the ingredients for the transformation magic potion?”

“Oh… well, there are many ingredients, but the one that works the best these days seems to be the Meili herb!”

I paused at the unexpected information.

“Meili herb?”

“Yes!”

It’s hard to grow Meili herb in the north… In addition, it was a difficult herb to manage because it withered even after an hour when digging out the roots.

If those Meili herbs are the ingredients for the magic potion… The culprit must have made an effort to plant it somewhere in the Duke’s Castle to save the Meili Herb.

I frowned while thinking, ‘Wait, I’ve seen some Meili herbs somewhere before…?’

“Meili Herb, was it in Duke Castle?”

“Was it there? I think so, too. It was a large planting.”

After being silent for a moment, I looked at him intently and whispered, “…Yes, there was.”

I just remembered that when I was passing near the swordsmanship training center in the castle, I was puzzled when I saw an unusually large number of Meili herbs blooming.

And it was also the source of Bell’s smell.

‘The culprit was closer than I thought.’

Up until now, I have been obsessed with the lightning-shaped scar and only pursued those with wounds.

But why didn’t I think that he could hide the scar?

“Astel? Oh, my. Is the call breaking off?”

I closed my eyes quietly, blinked, and tried to speak cheerfully, “No! I have an urgent business, so I’ll hang up first.”

“Oh, alright!” 

The call ended with a hearty laugh from the doctor. 

A knight who always has access to the Meili Herbs. That’s right…

❆

A friendly swordsmanship teacher, Bazel. He ruffled his green hair and entered the shady dark room.

In the end, there were only two people left with the ability at Duke Castle, which were originally three.

Sam couldn’t get rid of the Jaguar family. Moreover, he could not be rescued from the evil prison of the Jaguar prison.

In front of a small round table in the darkroom. A husky voice came out of Bazel’s mouth with his face covered with both hands.

“Sam’s artifact just worked.”

Bazel showed his artifact to the man in front of him, whose face was covered except for his eyes.

A faint light lit on one corner of the triangle with the ancient word fraud written on it.

“… It sounds like someone is using that artifact.”

To Bazel’s hasty words, the man whose face was concealed answered in a whisper.

“…Interesting, Rob.”

Bazel, who frowned, uttered impatiently, “Is that all you’re going to say? We have to get rid of him before he does anything with the artifact!”

Bazel muttered as he ruffled his hair with his callused hands, “That’s not helpful at all, just keep your mouth shut until I set the ball for him.

As Bazel, with a slight frown, left the dark room, the suspicious man stared at his back. And when he saw the sign of ‘fear’ shining unusually at the vertex of the triangle in his artifact, he laughed.

Leaving him behind, Bazel hurriedly turned and headed to the swordsmanship training center.

A few hours later…

“Well, do I need to do more training, sir?”

The silver fox, Bell, shrugged his shoulders. The little boy looked very tired.

However, Bazel only responded bluntly, unlike usual.

“Yes.”

Bell put down his sword as usual and grumbled as he grabbed Bazel’s sleeve.

“Teacher, teacher.”

Bazel, in a friendly mask, opened his mouth again and answered, “Yes.”

Then, excitedly, Bell began to babble, “Astel is so pretty! And very smart. When she goes to the clinic, she talk’s nicely and when Astel makes and sells something, everyone falls for it!”

“You mean Astel? I know she wasn’t very eloquent and resourceful at first…”

“No, all of a sudden she got better.”

Bazel frowned… ‘All of a sudden she got better?’

There’s no way an innocent boy would put a lie in his mouth. 

Of all things, the turtle at the center of Sam’s case quickly became suspicious. But someday I’ll have to knock on the stone bridge and cross it.

He nodded with a smile. Astel, the woman came within his range.

However, after she became the Duke’s benefactor and arrived at the castle, the atmosphere of the entire Duke of Anais changed.

‘It’s quite suspicious.’

What if she painted the big picture and deliberately created this whole situation?

‘…What if it was her who used Sam’s artifact?’

Bazel felt quite impatient, he clenched my teeth hard and didn’t even notice that the transformation magic that covered the back of his hand had been temporarily lifted.

‘But… that woman has a close connection with the Duke of Anais.’

I don’t know what to do with unexpected obstacles I was at a loss. Bazel’s expression darkened.

Bell, who hesitated for a long time next to him, confessed something.