Repeat Vice - The Villainous Noble Doesn't Want to Die, So He Swore to Not Die As One of The Four Heavenly Kings - Chapter 38: Narrows

Chapter 38: Narrows

The Lightless family decided to stay at the lord’s mansion for two days. The meeting between the heads of the Lightless and Steria families was scheduled for the next day.

Although it was possible to travel back and forth using long-distance teleportation magic to avoid the need of staying over, the Lightless party chose to stay. Long-distance teleportation magic consumes a tremendous amount of magical power, and while Rofus could manage it, Rudens could not use it continuously. Unlike Rofus, Rudens had the smallest amount of magical power among the successive heads of the Lightless family.

Normally, Rudens wouldn’t be able to use long-distance teleportation magic at all. The previous teleportation had been achieved through extensive preparation and the use of numerous magic stones, forcing the activation. When the head of the Steria family, Adler, appeared, the teleportation spell had activated at just the right moment, but the preparations for it had started much earlier, when Rofus was injured by the blood-stained hat Redcap.

Rofus barely managed to win with his new magic, but from Rudens’ perspective, watching through his familiar, it was nerve-wracking to see his son engage in such a life-threatening battle.

That night, Rudens gazed at the moon floating in the perpetual twilight from the  indow and sipped his wine.

“Rofus, always acting recklessly without considering his parent’s feelings.”

As Rudens complained, Alba poured more wine into his empty glass.

“Young master is still young. In time, he will come to understand your feelings, sir.”

“Who knows? I haven’t been much of a parent myself.”

“That’s not—”

Rudens shook his head.

“Two years ago, I made a mistake by moving Rofus to the annex. Since then, we haven’t had a proper father-son conversation.”

Rudens sipped more wine, and Alba poured again.

“By the way, one of those bandits, named Riruka, seemed quite close to Rofus.”

Rudens recalled the interaction between Rofus and Riruka he had seen through his familiar.

“He also seemed to have a good relationship with the girl from the fishing village. Does Rofus prefer commoners over nobles?”

Alba’s eyes flashed with a hint of sharpness.

“As a noble, it’s not appropriate. We need to quickly find a suitable fiancée for the young master.”

Rudens shrugged, not enthusiastic about the idea.

“I believe Rofus should choose his own partner. I chose my wife myself.”

“Your wife comes from a noble lineage. It’s different from commoners.”

“I didn’t choose her for her bloodline. The girl from the fishing village, Faratiana, supposedly saved Rofus’ life.”

Alba narrowed his eyes at Rudens’ words.

“The bandit girl, Riruka, also protected Rofus with her life. Rofus seems quite fortunate with women. If I could, I would reward them.”

“Rewards are inappropriate for commoners and bandits.”

“Your elitism surpasses even Rofus’.”

Rudens sighed at Alba’s cold words.

Rudens recalled when Rofus and Riruka fell into the underground. From that moment, his familiar lost sight of them, as if enveloped in darkness, unable to see or hear them. When Rofus returned to the surface, the familiar’s vision cleared, but Rudens wondered what had happened.

Rudens pondered for a while, then looked at Alba.

“Is Rofus behaving himself?”

“Yes, there are no issues at the moment.”

Currently, the female knight Yurika was attending to Rofus. Initially, Alba was supposed to attend to him, but Rofus had strongly rejected this.

Earlier, Yurika had reported through regular communication that there were no problems.

“Rofus said he wanted Yurika as his personal attendant. He seems to like her.”

Alba’s eyebrow twitched.

“On the other hand, it seems he doesn’t favor you.”

“Indeed, I wonder why.”

Rudens chuckled at Alba’s disgruntled response.

“It’s unrequited love, Alba. Anyway, as the head of the Dark Knights, I can’t spare you from my guard. If you want to be Rofus’ personal attendant, you’ll have to train your successor.”

“That’s difficult, as there aren’t many as capable as me.”

“In that case, you’ll remain my guard for a while longer. Focus on training your successor.”

Rudens laughed, and Alba quietly slumped his shoulders.

Just then, Alba received an urgent telepathic message from Yurika. Listening in silence, Alba looked awkwardly at Rudens.

“Sir, there’s a report. The young master has gone missing again.”

“…I see.”

Rudens’ weary sigh echoed through the room.

Under the bright moonlight, Rofus had slipped out of his room, evading Yurika’s watchful eye, using Shadow Move to teleport. He repeatedly teleported until he reached a part of the mountain range.

Rofus felt a strange sensation, as if he was being called. Normally, he wouldn’t use the inefficient short-distance teleportation Shadow Move for long distances, but with Alba’s formidable tracking skills, he had to be sure to evade them.

Arriving at the foot of the mountain, Rofus saw someone waiting for him.

“You…”

In front of him stood a girl in a dress with white hair—Yunnel.

“You came.”

Yunnel smiled quietly, and Rofus frowned.

“What do you want? I thought I’d never see you in that form again.”

“From your tone, it seems you’ve figured it out.”

“I don’t understand the principles, but it’s different from the high-level dragon species’ humanization.”

Humanization is a skill where dragon species transform their bodies into human form. However, in Yunnel’s case, both her human form and the flying dragon Flügel’s form existed simultaneously, which was different. It was as if her spirit had materialized separately, and Rofus didn’t understand this phenomenon. Yunnel’s magical presence felt similar to a spirit, but he had no further information.

Yunnel extended her hand as if asking for a handshake.

“What is this?”

“A thank you. You did help me, after all. But no more bullying Vallum.”

“A handshake as thanks?”

“No, just touch my hand.”

Thinking it couldn’t be just a handshake, Rofus took her hand. Instantly, the surroundings changed.

The snow-covered landscape turned into a familiar place.

“This is… the airship?”

It was one of the cabins of the airship Ifrit. There was a bed, and on it lay Iz, looking pale and in pain.

“Teleportation? Why bring me here?”

Yunnel gazed at Iz quietly.

“You want to help this person, right?”

“How do you know that? More importantly, do you know how to help her?”

“Probably. It’ll be alright.”

Rofus’ question was met with a quiet nod from Yunneru. She then extended her hand over Izu. From her small, white hand emanated a cold, deathly aura. A shiver, as if traced by the tip of an icicle, ran down Rofas’ spine. Soon, the leopard-like spots indicative of accumulated mana on Izu’s body began to fade, slightly receding. Izu’s pained expression eased somewhat. Seeing this, Rofas widened his eyes in surprise.

“Is this… Mana Drain?” he asked.

“Yes,” Yunneru replied nonchalantly, despite Rofas’ astonishment.

Mana Drain, a power to absorb mana from a target, is a unique ability possessed by certain magical creatures. Mana and magic essence, differing only in density, are essentially the same. Absorbing mana through Mana Drain is indeed theoretically possible.

“Wait a minute, how can you use that? That would mean you are…” Rofus began to realize Yunneru’s true nature when suddenly a gust of wind blew through the room. The door burst open, and in rushed Rilka, looking flustered. Her light brown hair was down, and she was in light, somewhat disheveled clothing, suggesting she had just woken up. Riruka, seeing Rofas, was surprised.

“Rofus-kun? Why… How are you here?” she asked.

The airship was already in flight above the clouds, far from Steria territory. Riruka hadn’t expected Rofus to be on board. She then noticed Iz and the fading leopard spots on her body.

“No way… Is she cured?” Rilka muttered, covering her mouth in disbelief.

“She isn’t cured. This is my limit,” Yunnel interjected, but Riruka didn’t seem to hear her. It was as if Yunnel’s presence was unrecognized. Understanding this, Yunnel directed her words to Rofas instead.

“Can’t she see you?” Rofus asked.

“See what?” Riruka responded, looking around.

Clearly, Riruka could not see Yunnel standing by Izu’ side. Yunnel’s body began to fade, her presence growing faint.

“I used too much power. I’ll be going back now, Rofis,” Yunnel said as she approached him.

“Wait,” Rofus protested.

“Is someone there?” Riruka asked, narrowing her eyes.

Rofus clicked his tongue and looked at Riruka. “Listen. Iz isn’t fully healed. Come to the Lightless Territory soon. I’ll explain everything there.”

“Rofus-kun…?” Riruka began, puzzled by his hurried tone.

In the next moment, Yunnel touched Rofus, and he vanished from the airship. Riruka stood there, staring blankly at where Rofus had been.

“What is going on?” she muttered, with no one to answer her as an unnatural breeze ruffled her hair.

Rofus reappeared just outside the lord’s manor. Yunnel, who had teleported with him, was almost completely transparent, looking as if she might vanish any moment. Rofas narrowed his eyes at her.

“You’ve pushed yourself too hard,” he said.

“Just a little. But this is all I can do,” Yunnel replied with a faint smile.

“Is this your way of repaying me for saving Vallum?” Rofus asked. “But how did you know? I didn’t discuss this in front of you.”

“I’ve been listening the whole time. I was always either with Vallum or you,” Yunnel replied.

Rofus began to piece together Yunnel’s true nature. She had been appearing and disappearing mysteriously, and the use of Mana Drain had been decisive. Mana Drain is a unique ability of certain types of ghost-like creatures, entities thought to be souls of the dead turned into monsters. Yunnel, in her nearly vanished state, smiled thinly.

“To be clear, this is your fault. I was almost dead, and then you used that strange magic on me,” she said, referring to the unique Lightless magic, Shadow Eater, that had been cast on the nearly dead Frugel.

“Thanks to that, I’m now in a state where I don’t know if I’m alive or dead,” she continued, her tone gentle yet somewhat reproachful. Rofus averted his eyes awkwardly.

“Blame Vallum for that. He’s the one who insisted the magic not be lifted,” Rofus said.

“True. I’m sorry for making you deal with Vallum’s selfishness,” Yunnel said, gently holding Rofus’ hand with her faintly visible one.

“But it’s time to end this,” she added.

“Lifting the magic will mean your death,” Rofus pointed out.

“That’s fine,” Yunnel replied.

“Do you have no regrets?” Rofas asked.

Yunnel looked up at the white night sky. “It would be a lie to say I don’t. Honestly, I wanted to fly more with Vallum… But I died protecting him, and that’s enough for me,” she said, turning her gaze back to Rofus.

“I see,” Rofus sighed deeply. “But now is not the time.”

“Rofus…” Yunnel’s grip tightened, causing Rofas’ mana to flow into her. He quickly pulled his hand away.

“Stop draining my mana!”

“Oh, sorry, I didn’t mean to,” Yunnel apologized.

“Don’t just ‘sorry’ me. If you lift the magic without permission, Vallum will hold me accountable,” Rofus said, not wanting to incur Vallum’s wrath.

“I’m not saying I won’t lift it. But we need to talk to Vallum first,” Rofus explained.

Yunnel closed her eyes and vanished without a word. Left alone, Rofas sighed, wondering how to broach the topic with Vallum as he headed back to the manor.

Later, he was met by a frantic Yurika and a distant, expressionless Alba. As the night deepened, Rofas felt a bit annoyed by Yurika clinging to him more than necessary but managed to get some rest.

T/N: Now, to be clear regarding the Lily, (Riruka’s nickname) idk why I haven’t cleared it up until now. The literal japanese translation is Riruka, but it can also be read as Lilyka, Rilca, Rilka etc, I just stuck with the Riruka, since I never considered that the author would actually use nicknames on this novel, moreso that they’ll use the English spelling of the name. Comment if you want me to change it to Lilyca, Lilyka, etc, or just stick to it.