The Devilish Duke Can't Sleep

Proofreader: somnium

Leonard followed Margella to the cave. As he went downstairs, he could occasionally hear the voice of beasts that seemed otherworldly.

“Controlling through magic stones is definitely effective. In particular, it is fascinating that if you control only one leader, you can control monsters of the same type as well. The downsides are the price and short supply of magic stones. Moreover, the higher the level of the monster, the larger the size of the required magic stone, and another downside is that the magic stone cannot be recovered when the monster is killed by the enemy.”

The magic stone was quite expensive. Unlike other minerals that were buried in large quantities once they found a vein, magic stones were embedded in small amounts in unexpected places. It was possible to dig in places where the force of nature was distorted or severely impacted, such as near the earth struck by lightning or near an epicenter of earthquake. The quantity and size were different, and it was so rare that, thanks to that, miners around the world were looking for a place where magic stones are highly concentrated.

“Rather than worrying about money, securing the magic stone itself would be the problem.”

“Well, the Duchy of Santella will never dry of gold, but the magic stone is not like that.”

Margella shrugged her shoulders and walked.

“Besides, Duke Luave noticed that the monster with the magic stone around the neck was the leader. And the magic stone was taken away.”

“As expected, he’s a quick-witted guy.”

“So I devised a way to put magic stones into the body of the monster. The processing of the magic stone is a bit troublesome, but it is much safer and more controlled than hanging it in the form of a necklace.”

When Margella opened the door of the underground bunker where the monster army had been held, Leonard witnessed all kinds of bizarre monsters wandering around more quietly than before.

“Amazing.”

“It was more convenient to make a magic stone in the form of an arrow and shoot it rather than attaching a necklace to the rampaging bastards. There’s about as much as a wound, because the demons heal quickly.”

“You really are a genius, a genius.”

“Thank you, but I want Your Excellency to help me a little bit. We can’t really put a magic stone into it on our own.”

Where Margella pointed with her eyes, a huge monster entangled in all kinds of magical barriers was twisting its body. With a satisfied smile, Leonard took the large magic stone from Margella and approached the iron cage where the monster was trapped. Although the magic stone was quite large, it was nothing compared to the size of the monster.

“Does the location matter in any way?”

“You just need to avoid putting it near the head or heart.”

Leonard nodded his head once, then gathered his magic power into his hand, which was holding the magic stone. It was difficult to control the power because the magic stone itself could not penetrate the body of the monster, but as the head of the Santella family, he was good at controlling magic. Then, as it was, he shot the magic stone at the monster’s stomach.

“Kuwaaaaa!”

The monster with the magic stone embedded in its stomach screamed and ran wildly in pain. The blood from the monster started to swell on the floor, but at the same time, the wounds on the monster also started to heal.

But for Leonard, it was a scene that was not very impressive. It was because the self-healing of wounds was not surprising to the direct blood relatives of the two Duchies.

“Where is the place where a lot of magic stones are gathered?”

To Leonard’s question, Margella gave an answer that looked like something out of a book,

“Not well known, huh? Search for the places where the lightning strikes…….”

“No no. I’m not talking about a place that occurs naturally. I’m just wondering where they have been collecting a lot of magic stones.”

At that idea, Margella couldn’t help but feel the surprise as if she had been hit in the back of the head. If she can’t find it in nature, then the idea is to either ​​buy magic stones or hit the place that has been collecting it! It was a thought that could not be devised except by Duke Santella.

“Ahahaha! As expected, Your Excellency has a different level of thinking. Hmm…… Magic stones are mainly needed for those who do not have much magic to use, or for those who already have magic, but need to do work related to magic like us. So, if we put the Duchy of Luave out of the discussion, the Magic Tower of the Tartan Empire or the ‘Sage’s Village’ of the Hildebrunn Kingdom would be quite influential. The Imperial Magic Tower is under the protection of the imperial family, so it will be easier to hit the ‘Sage’s Village’.”

“Are there no exchanges with the royal family?”

“There are hardly any. The King and Crown Prince of Hildebrunn want wizards called sages to work for the royal family, but they are research-crazed who are not interested in money or power. They are people whose only joy is to seek and study the source of nature. However, there are quite a few people with magical powers, and thanks to the magic stone, even wizards with weak magic can wield quite strong magic, so even the royal family can’t touch it.”

“Good, good. Very good. With this, we might accidentally catch a big fish.”

In Leonard’s mind, the wretched Marquis Rognac attached to Kahel and the Crown Prince of Hildebrunn, Ragdrill, who was always suspicious of his capable younger brother, came to mind. There seemed to be a way for him to get a magic stone, and even hit Marquis Rognac.

* * *

“Welcome!”

Baron Jenkins of Kerouac welcomed people from the Duchy of Luave. After the death of Baron Fidelia’s family, he swore allegiance to the Duchy of Luave, which gave his family a much more prosperous life than in the past.

Occasionally, whenever someone from the Duchy came, his heart sank inside, but on the other hand, it felt like he had a direct connection with the Duchy, and his nose was raised.

The people who came this time said they would stay in Kerouac for a few days and investigate something. A small box containing 200 gold coins was brought down in Damien Luave’s name, hoping for active cooperation during the investigation team’s stay.

The investigation team consisted of three men and two women, a total of five people. But one was quite familiar. And as Baron Jenkins was rolling his head, ‘Where did I see that man before?’, Mrs. Marvin, who was bringing the tea under the Baron’s order, recognized him first.

“Theo? A coachman has to wait outside!”

Baron Jenkins remembered him, too, at Mrs. Marvin’s small voice as she rebuked him. He was a coachman who had long ago been taken along with his daughter to the Duke’s residence.

“Oh, come to think of it, you were Theo the stable keeper.”

Actually, he wanted to add the words ‘you were alive?’. But he held it back because it seemed too rude for some reason. But Mrs. Marvin didn’t.

“I thought you were dead, but you’re tough. Hmph! Get up now!”

Mrs. Marvin glared at Theo as if she had become the Baroness herself. She was still the power player in the Barony.

However, Herod, the head of the investigation team and a knight of the Luaves, frowned in displeasure and shot at Mrs. Marvin,

“She doesn’t look like the Baroness just by looking at her appearance, who is she?”

“Ah, I, I…….”

“I didn’t ask you.”

His gaze turned to Baron Jenkins. It was a sharp gaze that seemed to stab someone to death.

“Ah, ha ha! That is our chief maid.”

“Since when did the chief maid talk more than the master? Besides, are you being rude to guests from the Duchy?”

The atmosphere in the parlor became cold in an instant.

“Sorry! It’s because Sarah hasn’t seen Theo after a long time.”

“This is not a coachman, but a member of our investigation team. He is the one who even received a power of attorney from Count Allendorf. I don’t know what the relationship was in the past, but you better watch out for the maid’s attitude, Baron Jenkins.”

“No, of course! Please forgive her just once, for my sake.”

Baron Jenkins bowed his head and gritted his teeth at Mrs. Marvin, who still stands with a puzzled look on her face.

“Hurry up, serve tea to the guests and step back.”

He wanted to tell her to go right away, but there was no teacup in front of Theo yet. Mrs. Marvin, trembling at the chilling gaze upon her, set down the porcelain teacup in front of Theo and poured the tea. Theo calmly picked up the teacup and drank the tea. Mrs. Marvin was so angry she couldn’t stand it. She wanted to pour hot water over Theo’s head right away, but it seemed that it would be difficult to save her life if she did.

‘Does the guy who smells like horse poop dare ignore me? Wait, let’s see!’

Mrs. Marvin managed to smile awkwardly and she stepped back.

The investigation team went outside. They didn’t have much time.

“It’s over there. At that time, I helped bury her.”

The first place they went was Eileen’s grave. The grave of Lena’s mother and the once most beautiful woman in the village was difficult to call a grave. Originally, when people were buried and a tombstone was erected, they had to pay an additional tax called a graveyard tax, so those without money buried their loved ones secretly and then covered it with soil to avoid the tax. So was Lena. Where was the money for a ten year-old girl who had just lost her mother?

Without the help of Theo, who had acquainted the friendly little girl whom he often encounters at the inn, Eileen’s body would have rotted in the small hut they lived in.

Theo found Eileen’s grave without much difficulty because he had buried her himself. However, he was a bit reluctant to dig into it. Because he thought it would disturb her rest.

But not the rest of the team. They had to find and report information about Lena or Lena’s mother, no matter what. Dressed in dark robes, they immediately rolled up their sleeves and began to dig down the weedy spot. Fortunately, there was no one to help with the burial other than Theo, and they found the decaying wood coffin shortly after digging.

Herod, without hesitation, ripped open the casket, and Theo turned his head away, unable to look. She only ever looked like a fairy, and he didn’t want to put the afterimage of her bones in his memory. However, the reaction of the people of the investigation team surrounding the coffin was strange.

“Theo! Come and see, hurry!”

Theo, who had deliberately set his gaze beyond the forest, sighed a little, then went to stand next to the leader. But he, too, widened his eyes. The coffin was empty. No, it wasn’t completely empty. The old clothes she was wearing were still intact. It just didn’t have the body that was supposed to wear it. If her flesh had rotted, bones should have remained, it’s as if only the body under her clothes had evaporated. Even the clothes showed no signs of decomposition.

“This, this can’t be……!”

“Are you sure you buried the body?”

“Of course! Is it possible to bury only clothes without a body?”

“Then, who stole the body?”

“Leaving only the clothes?”

Theo jumped like crazy, but Herod, who went to investigate all kinds of crimes, knew that there are perverts who crave corpses. But he didn’t want to startle the naive Theo by telling the story. There was no confirmation that the body was taken.

“I wanted to try to take the remains, but I couldn’t. For now, let’s bury the coffin again.”

Without a big result, they buried Eileen’s coffin back in the ground and decided to go down to the village to collect stories about Eileen and Lena.