Chapter 128: Chapter 128

Chandler’s father struggled to walk toward me. He leaned heavily on his cane, his trembling arm barely supported him. The deep wrinkles on his face weren’t just aging signs—they were layers of memories and time. For some, those wrinkles carried wisdom and insight; for others, they harbored greed and shamelessness.

However, something was clearly off with the Lord of Grassmere. It was as if someone had forcibly rewound the clock, shaking the pendulum back and forth.

The life that should’ve flowed naturally had been devoured by someone.

Chandler rushed forward to support the old man. "Father! You shouldn’t be up!"

"I heard that the one who could save us was coming. How could I remain lying down?" the old man replied.

The lord’s condition was even worse up close. He’d withered significantly, yet his eyes remained sharp, brimming with intelligence and determination.

Then, he introduced himself formally, using deferential speech while maintaining a low posture. “I’m Herbert Chandler. I may be lacking, but I’m the Lord of Grassmere.”

He is an interesting man.

Despite his title of lord and his rule over a major city, he wasn’t putting on an act. Bowing his head and using polite speech didn’t diminish his authority, and instead reinforced it.

"The Lord of Grassmere, then. Is the sorcerer in the tomb draining your life force?"

The lord nodded. "Indeed. Ever since that fateful dream, I’ve been desperately waiting for you. Please, allow me to guide you inside."

This is overwhelming.

Even without recalling the imperial etiquette I’d absorbed, his behavior was a bit too much. Besides the one maid assisting him, there were no other onlookers.

Is he just used to it?

The lord led us to the reception hall. We passed through the wide castle corridors. Despite its large size, there were few attendants or guards, but everyone present exuded a sense of responsibility and pride.

With genuine respect, they bowed deeply as the lord passed. There was neither fear nor hollow admiration—none of the empty gazes often seen in rulers.

The reception hall was brightly lit, bathed in natural sunlight. It was a massive room, nearly twenty meters in both width and length. Yet, it felt almost empty, devoid of any extravagant decorations.

I sat across from the lord.

"...Forgive me, but may I confirm something?" he asked.

He wanted me to remove my helmet, similar to Chandler’s earlier request. I glanced around the room.

"The people here...?"

"They are all trustworthy."

I removed my helmet without activating Masquerade.

The lord let out a deep sigh, his fingers trembling slightly.

"You... you are the one from my dream..."

"Hm. Then let me ask something in return. How exactly does the sorcerer drain your life?"

Chandler hadn’t explained this detail clearly before. The lord turned around and removed his shirt. Beneath his once-powerful frame, deep scars ran down his back.

What I saw was horrifying. Rows of small, deep holes had been drilled along his entire spine. They were evenly spaced, forming a grotesque pattern from his neck to his lower back. His skin twitched oddly, as if something was moving beneath the surface.

I activated Detection.

Tiny, invisible creatures swarmed around his spinal cord, writhing beneath his skin.

Even Chandler and Christina, who were no strangers to bloodshed, looked visibly disturbed. Rena, who usually treated human lives as insignificant, also frowned slightly.

Chandler rushed forward, quickly pulling his father’s shirt back up.

The lord coughed lightly and said to his son, “Is the sight too much for you? Were it not for him, you’d be the one suffering this fate next.”

Then he turned to me again.

"These holes are where they implant the parasites. They are so small that they can’t be seen with the naked eye. During the day, they feed on my spinal fluid. And every night—"

He coughed violently, shaking as if in pain.

"Every night, they crawl to the sorcerer in his comatose state... and—koff!"

He barely managed to continue.

"They... transfer the life force they’ve absorbed... back into him."

"My lord..." Christina’s voice trembled, her forehead veins bulging in fury. "So this is what you meant when you told me not to be shocked."

"I’m furious. I’m going too. I will crush that sorcerer with my own hands."

Her killing intent was intense enough to make me flinch.

The lord chuckled softly. "You have a fine bodyguard. Good."

Rena, who had been silent, spoke up cautiously. "We understand the gravity of the situation. But first, let’s clarify something."

"I heard what your son said earlier. He claimed your family would do anything to repay us. Does that also represent your stance, Lord of Grassmere?"

"Of course! This is about saving my son—how could I hesitate...?"

But Rena wasn’t finished.

"As the head of the family and Lord of Grassmere, are you speaking on behalf of both?"

"What do you mean...?"

"In other words, as Lord of Grassmere, are you officially granting my master full access to the city’s armory?"

The lord’s coughing suddenly stopped. Just moments ago, he had looked on the verge of death. Now, he suddenly seemed ten years younger.

"Hahaha..." The Lord of Grassmere, Herbert Chandler, let out a soft laugh. "You show no mercy."

"Mercy? What an amusing thing to say. How could I possibly show pity to the great Lord of Grassmere?" "Hah. Hahahaha." The coughs were gone. His eyes were sharp again. "What do you want? Name your price."

"Oh, I was just confirming your words."

The lord looked at me. I glanced at Rena. We were going to do this quest anyway, so why was she pushing him so hard? But she was completely serious.

She locked eyes with the lord and smirked. "Let’s talk properly, Lord of Grassmere."

"I’ll be direct, then. The armory is off-limits. Some of the weapons there belong to the imperial family. If I handed them over, we’d be in serious trouble."

"We’re not planning to arm an army."

"Hah! In that case... Take whatever you can carry. I swear on my name as Lord of Grassmere."

"Then we’ll start by using the Hall of Ancestors."

"How much do you already know...?"

"Just the basics, my lord."

The lord leaned back in his chair, laughing. Behind that laughter, I caught a glimpse of the vigorous young man he used to be.

"You would be good at business. What an interesting fellow. There’s something I’d like to introduce you to. They should be arriving soon..."

Even Chandler, who had been watching anxiously, let a faint smile across his face.

Just as he seemed to be regaining some energy, the lord suddenly collapsed.

"Father!" Chandler shouted, rushing to check on him.

The lord’s face was drenched in cold sweat. The butler and maid quickly wrapped his hands and feet in warm towels and massaged them. I watched them silently.

I thought of Grassmere’s well-maintained roads, the blacksmiths hammering away without concern, the castle’s austerity, and its servants’ respectful gazes.

The lord had endured years of his life force being drained by the sorcerer while managing taxes and governing the city—even within this very room. Every moment, parasites wriggled beneath his skin, reminding him of the truth that he was a slave.

No matter how much he tried to wrap himself in delusions of power, he couldn’t escape that reality. Perhaps, that was what had made him into a wise ruler.

"When he collapses, he usually doesn’t wake up until the next day." The maid explained as she continued tending to him.

Just then, the sound of bells rang from outside. The butler, after checking the summons, cautiously approached Chandler.

"A visitor has arrived."

"They claim to have brought the item you requested by today. Shall I bring them in?"

"So, he has finally arrived. Yes, bring him in."

I adjusted my helmet as the butler led a man into the room.

Chandler stepped forward to greet him. "It's been a while. You can speak freely—these are trusted companions."

Chandler stepped aside, gesturing toward Rena and me. To my surprise, the visitor had a familiar face.

He recognized me first and said, "You...!"

I’d encountered him before entering the castle. The man who’d given me a golden business card and a mysterious black one, before telling me to visit him anytime at his inn. The head of the Jinney family, Yube Jinney.

His voice rose in excitement. "So it was you! I had a feeling you were no ordinary person, but I never expected to see you here!"

"You two know each other?" Chandler interjected.

Yube nodded several times. "We've only met once, but I hoped we would become acquainted. Ah, my apologies, Young Master Chandler. Here is the item you requested."

Yube pulled several large scrolls from inside his robe and set them on the table. Rena’s eyes widened the moment she saw them.

"Wait... is this...?"

"Oh? You recognize it?"

"This is what I couldn’t find...!" Rena’s face twisted in frustration.

"Hahaha... What, you think if you couldn't find it, no one else should either? That's quite a peculiar way of thinking."

Rena narrowed her eyes, but her gaze remained fixed on the scrolls, acknowledging their value.

"What exactly are these?" I asked.

Chandler replied instead. "Golem schematics. These are the very constructs guarding the sorcerer underground. Since we plan to destroy them, I thought it was necessary to study their design."

I looked at Yube. He was the first person to mention the golem dungeon to me. And yet, despite knowing about Chandler’s family connection to it, he had simply brushed it off as a legend.

Had he been testing me to see what I knew? Or had he subtly steered me toward this conflict on purpose? As if reading my thoughts, Yube gave me a wink.

...His ability to get along with people is unnerving.

He tapped the scrolls with his fingers and began explaining, "Well, we have the schematics, but unfortunately, I couldn’t find a way to stop them."

Then, he pulled a book from his robe. "I did manage to get this manual, but it’s written in a bizarre ancient script."

Chandler quickly unrolled one of the scrolls and examined it. His face darkened.

"...I can’t understand any of this. Not a single word."

Beside him, Rena had already grabbed another scroll and was painstakingly analyzing it. Her brows furrowed.

"This is completely unreadable. Even if we had this earlier, it wouldn’t have helped."

"Exactly. Just because you have them doesn’t mean you can use them. For those who can’t decipher them, they’re just useless diagrams. Heck, I even felt bad bringing them here, knowing they might be of little help.”

"Would you be able to find additional information? If we had more time—"

"Actually, I already found a way to solve this problem. Right outside the castle gate."

Chandler started to speak, but Yube cut him off.

"What? What do you mean?"

All eyes turned to Yube. The merchant spread his arms dramatically and pointed directly at me.

What nonsense is he talking about?

Six pairs of eyes all turned toward me.

"Golems are just machines. And this man here—he has an incredible understanding of machinery."

That was a blatant exaggeration. What nonsense. Despite having only spoken to me for mere minutes, he had already jumped to wild conclusions.

"That's not true. I have no such ability."

My mechanical engineering level was only three. When I thought about the outrageous machines that the Starlight Azure Fox had used, I couldn't help but shake my head. If that was considered machinery, then I knew absolutely nothing.

"Come on now, don’t be so modest. From the looks of things, it seems you’re already cooperating with them, so why not at least take a look?"

"Please. I humbly ask."

"Fine, I’ll take a look... Let me preface by saying I won’t understand anything if you don’t.”

I reluctantly approached the table and examined the golem schematics.

Some parts were hard to grasp at first glance, but as I laid out the various scrolls together, everything started to make sense. Even though I couldn’t read the language, I understood the structure.

The operating principles, the weak points, and even the method to extract the magic fluid—all of it clicked in my mind.

I glanced up at the people around me and asked, “Which part of this don't you all understand...?”