Chapter 65 - Mid-Grade Expert (2)

I am not Damian.

It might sound strange to say this now, but literally, I had just transmigrated into Damian, so I was somewhat vulnerable to those who had connections with Damian.

In other words...

I didn't know how to deal with Dominic Carsaril, Damian's father and the head of the Carsaril family, who was standing in front of me.

Politely? Respectfully? Or should I be a bit friendly?

If it were a normal father-son relationship, I could throw a bit of a tantrum, but I wasn't sure if such behavior was acceptable in the case of the Carsaril family, who are called great nobles.

Thinking it was a bit of a headache, I calmly opened my mouth, "...I want to have one of the relics in the family."

At those words, he looked at me with an expressionless face and answered nonchalantly, "Why?"

Maybe it was because I was talking to a Sword Master, but I felt suffocated every time I conversed.

Feeling my breath becoming strangely short, I slowly said, "It's for training."

"You need a relic for training..."

Judging by his cynical smile, he seemed to think my words were a lie.

Seeing that expression, I was wondering if I should explain the training method when suddenly, Dominic Carsaril looked at me and lightly threw something.

What's this?

When I caught it in my hand, I saw it was a small key.

Not knowing what this was, I looked at him with a puzzled expression.

He smiled slightly and said to me, "I heard you recently rose to low-grade Expert."

"Yes? Yes."

"Continue to rise."

"..."

Could it be he's giving permission?

Because he gave permission more easily than I thought, I looked at him in surprise.

He calmly flipped through documents and said to me, "There's nothing more joyful than supporting a son who wants to grow."

At those words, I felt a strange feeling and could only say, "Thank you."

***

As I came out like that, I saw Siren waiting for me, tilting her head.

It seemed she was waiting nearby because she was worried about me.

As I was patting Siren's head, Daisy, floating beside Siren, gestured to me.

"Myeong!"

Why does she still make "myeong myeong" sounds when she can speak human language now?

Not quite understanding, I looked at Daisy and asked about this.

"It's easier to speak like this!"

A simpler reason than expected came back.

At those words, I smiled slightly, patted Daisy's head, then turned my gaze back to Siren and said, "Anyway, I got the family head's permission. Siren, can you use search magic to find if there's a time-related relic?"

"Yeah. I'll use it as much as you want for Damian."

Siren seemed excited that she had something to help with, nodded her head, then started scattering mana around and striding forward.

I followed behind Siren, praying there would be a related relic.

For a family that had accumulated history, wealth, and power enough to be called a prestigious family, not just an ordinary noble family, there wasn't just one or two treasure vaults.

First of all, there are grades even among treasures.

There was a need to separate them because there were treasures and relics that were “actually used”, not just decorations or collectibles.

There were also many vaults because there were treasures and relics that shouldn't be let out.

But the problem is that I don't know their locations.

So I needed help, and the one called for that help was Sister Lilia.

"Just trust your sister! I'll tell you everything!"

Sister Lilia put her arm around my shoulder, looking very happy, and pointed to one side, saying, "First, there's one treasure vault here."

"Yes..."

I regretted for a moment that I should have just waited and trusted Siren's search magic even if it took longer, but seeing Sister Lilia looking so happy, I thought this wasn't bad either and calmly followed her, arriving at the first treasure vault.

It's quite well-organized.

Considering it was in an easily accessible location, it seemed this place was full of treasures and relics that were “actually used”.

I looked around these and asked Siren, "Siren, please use search magic."

"Okay."

Watching the mana spread in all directions, I started looking around to see if there were any treasures or relics I wanted.

This isn't it... that's not it either.

There were so many that even roughly skimming through, I had only checked about 10%.

I was thinking this was more like a museum than a house when Siren seemed to have discovered something and tilted her head, saying to me, "I found something, but... it's a bit strange."

"Strange?"

"Yeah... it feels like it's extremely neglected to be called a treasure or relic."

Hearing this, I couldn't help but be puzzled.

It wasn’t just any family, but the Carsaril family, so I couldn't understand how such a great item could be neglected.

So I thought it would be best to go and check it out, and asked Siren to guide me.

"Just follow me."

I decided to go outside following Siren, and told Sister Lilia, who was still diligently searching through items, that I would follow Siren.

"Ah, okay! I'll keep searching here a bit more!"

Saying thank you, I hurriedly followed Siren.

***

The place we arrived at was the outskirts training ground that I often used.

It was one of the places I had to rush to because Sister Lilia absolutely forbade intense sparring.

Since I hadn't been able to use this place recently because I was too busy, I was thinking it was nice to come here after a long time and looking around when Siren called me and pointed to one side.

"It's this way."

It seemed the relic or treasure Siren found was in the training ground.

I was curious about what could be hidden here when Siren pointed to the training ground wall and said,

"This is the time-related relic."

Hearing this, I examined the wall closely but couldn't see anything special.

I was puzzled, thinking I couldn't understand what was what, when Siren slowly traced the wall with her fingertip, then pointed to a small hole and said to me, "There's a keyhole here."

A size that a small key could fit into.

Seeing this, I took out the key the family head had given me earlier and looked at it, just in case.

Surely not?

The fact that the family head gave me this means he knew I was looking for this.

How did he know that... Ah.

Come to think of it, Damian also trained here alone without the family head and reached a high level.

In other words, among Damian's memories that didn’t appear in the original work, there must have been memories related to this training ground.

Feeling like all the puzzles had been solved, I pushed the key into the hole...

Click.

With the sound of something unlocking,

Creak. Creak.

The wall of the training ground started to split sideways.

As I watched blankly, what came out was a teleporter rippling with blue light reminiscent of a portal.

It seemed that using this, one could move to a place where “the flow of time is different”.

Should I go in and check?

Since it could be different from my expectations, I decided to check inside before making plans and slightly pushed my body in, feeling an incredible gravity.

...It's heavy.

A sensation like my whole body was being pressed down by a stone.

Noticing that this space was much more difficult than imagined, I looked around and saw countless soldiers, knights, and mages glaring at me.

I don't know what this is, but it seems like a place made to catch those guys.

It clearly didn't look easy, so I sighed lightly and came back out.

Well, this seems to be the right place.

Thinking that if I could survive training in a place like this, rising to a higher level wouldn't be a dream, I fell into thought for a moment.

But the problem is that I might die.

If it were an ordinary training ground, it would be one thing, but fighting against numerous enemies in a place with incredible gravity was not an easy task.

Even for me, I thought I might die if I went in there, when Siren, who was beside me, looked at the portal in front of me and told me about its peculiarity.

"Even if you die in here, you have the property of returning to your original state."

"Original state...?"

"I'm not sure, but it's a bit similar to the regression that Loraine likes. But your physical abilities and memories remain intact when you return."

It sounded incredibly good even at a glance.

Thinking that I could proceed with training without any hesitation if it was inside here, I was raising the corners of my mouth when Siren told me one thing with a very worried expression.

"As much as it maintains... it seems to be quite a dangerous relic because you have to bear the mental fatigue and pain as is."

At the suggestion that I could break mentally if I wasn't careful, I waved my hand and said, "That's fine, I've taken that into account."

"...But."

Seeing Siren grabbing my clothes and not letting go, I smiled slightly and said, "I said it's okay."

Saying that, I patted Siren and fell into thought.

It would be best to leave everyone else behind when entering here.

The reason for entering this place was to reduce dependence on Daisy and to raise my individual abilities.

Concluding that it would be meaningless unless I overcame this alone, I said to Daisy and Siren, "I have something to say."

"Myeong?"

"I'm sorry, but I'll go in here alone."

At those words, Daisy froze, then dropped the candy she was holding and started to whimper.

I tried to quickly pat Daisy's head to comfort her, but before that, Daisy started wailing loudly with a "Myeeeng."