abcnovels
Chapter 108: Return of the Hero (4)
Chapter 108: Return of the Hero (4)
Chapter 108: Return of the Hero (4)
Vikir rode his horse to the Underdog City.
A city where he had once served as a deputy magistrate.
Vikir rode his horse through Underdog City’s streets and alleyways.
The security of the city had greatly improved.
For the time being, there were fewer homeless people and drunks roaming the streets, and the streets were cleaner.
I noticed that there were very few children in the area.
Normally, children run around and play in the streets and alleyways, but there were no children in the alleyways.
There were a few kids running around, most likely on errands, but they were always accompanied by an adult.
Otherwise, they’d rush back inside, as if there was something dangerous outside.
“…?”
Vikir tilted his head but urged his horse toward the city hall.
The main entrance to the city hall was now in sight, he felt a bit nostalgic.
He hadn’t been there since he had temporarily left the depths to find a cure for the Red Death.
Faith that can move mountains
Chihuahua had clearly written those words on a plaque.
It was made in the past when Vikir burned 10 billion on a bet.
As he entered the city hall building, he was greeted by a bustling staff.
Without a sound, Vikir dismounted and made his way through the crowd to the inside.
This was to meet up with Chihuahua.
He spotted a woman busily working in front of the Deputy Commissioner’s office.
Judging by the unfamiliarity of her face, she was a new employee.
Tap.
Vikir knocked once on her desk.
But the woman was so busy, she didn’t answer except for a brief frown.
Tap.
Vikir knocked on her desk a second time without effect.
Tap.
But the woman didn’t respond this time.
“Take a coupon and wait.”
She said in a very business-like tone.
“…”
Viktor thought for a moment and nodded.
Currently, Vikir was listed as dead, so he was not officially a deputy.
So, in principle, it was right to draw a number and wait.
Especially since he had no intention of making a scene.
Vikir took the ticket and sat down to wait.
“…”
None of the employees walking by paid him any mind, their faces were buried in their papers.
After he had waited for hours.
Finally, Vikir’s turn came.
The 3020th customer in front of him had just finished his business and went away.
Vikir had just gotten up and was approaching the woman.
Bang!
A desk near him shook as if it was going to shatter.
A male employee jumped to his feet and shouted in an excited voice.
“News from Red Castle! Lord Vikir is alive and well!”
“What! Really?!”
“It’s true! It’s true! It’s a message from the Commander of the Morg family herself! He’s leaving the Red Castle and is on his way here!”
Then there was an uproar.
The atmosphere in the city hall quickly turned into a simmering pandemonium.
“Lord Vikir is alive!”
“It’s the return of a hero! Contact the main house of Baskerville now!”
“Lord Vikir is on his way here! Roll out the red carpet now!”
“We only have a white carpet! What should we do?”
“Make it red with your own blood, and welcome him with all you got!”
The city hall staff began to scramble, abandoning all their important work.
That included the woman Sitting in front of Vikir.
“For God’s sake, we need to get ready to welcome Sir Vikir right now!”
She threw down the 3021st waitlist and stormed out.
Or better said she would have done so if Vikir hadn’t gotten in her way.
“Wait. You have to take care of my complaint first.”
“If it’s urgent, just send it in, and I’ll do it first thing tomorrow morning!”
“It’ll be too late then.”
The woman shot Vikir a look of incredulity.
“I’m sorry, but I can’t help you right now! We have a guest, a very important one at that! I don’t know what your business is, but under these circumstances, you’ll have to wait until later…!”
“I need to see the director.”
The woman paused as the name of Chihuahua Baskerville came out of Vikir’s mouth.
If he was going to go straight to the office, he was a pretty important figure, and she couldn’t ignore him.
So she grunted and gathered up the papers.
“Oh, no, I don’t want to do this now that Mr. Vikir is on his way to… Why didn’t you tell me you had a meeting, so I could get it canceled sooner?”
The woman glanced back at her coworkers, who were busy preparing to welcome Vikir, and gave the “genuine complainant” a look.
Then she slid a piece of paper in front of Vikir.
“Write down your name and the purpose of your visit here, please, as fast as possible!”
Vikir did as he was told.
-Name: Vikir Van Baskerville
-Purpose of visit: Reunion
The woman snatched the papers out of Vikir’s hand.
She had dealt with so many complaints that she was used to dealing with nobles.
She didn’t even bother to read the papers before knocking on the door of the Director’s office.
“Mr. Chihuahua, you have a visitor!”
Chihuahua’s voice came from the other side of the door.
“What? I don’t have any meetings today.”
“Yes, but you have a visitor!”
“I said I don’t have a meeting, and I’m canceling everyone. Mr. Vikir is on his way, so just send him home, and they’ll understand.”
The woman turned away as she still hadn’t read the paperwork.
She sighed and waved the papers in her hand at Vikir, who stood still.
“Mr. Director said there will be no meeting today, and he’s busy with an emergency, so please make an appointment before you come in next time.” According to the paperwork, your name was Mr. Vikir. In the future, please contact me ahead of time and leave a message at…”
And a moment. The woman’s body went rigid.
She looked dazed for a moment, then she adjusted her glasses and looked back at the paperwork.
Soon, the letters in the name field of complainant 3021 are clearly visible on her glasses.
-Name: Vikir Van Baskerville
-Purpose of Visit: Reunion
As the woman stood there with her papers, one by one, busy employees walked by and looked at the contents of her papers.
“Hey, I’m busy, what are you doing here not rolling out the red carpet… eh?!”
“Hey, don’t get in my way, can you get out of my way, please… huck?!”
“What’s with all the prying…?”
The people gathered around the female employee one by one and froze in place.
The number of people was getting bigger and bigger.
Soon, the entire city hall staff had gathered around Vikir, and they were all frozen in place.
The office was silent as if it had never been so busy.
After a long moment of silence.
“Customer number 3021 will enter… .”
The female employee’s voice echoed softly as she crawled away.
* * *
Chihuahua Baskerville looked at Vikir as he burst into his office.
“Oh. At least you came through the door this time, last time you came through the window.”
He had gotten quite used to Vikir’s unusual behavior.
Vikir flopped down on the sofa as soon as he entered.
Suddenly a child came running to him.
“Daddy! Daddy!”
It was Pomeranian. It was Pomeranian La Baskerville.
Vikir grabbed Her by the waist and lifted her up.
“Not daddy, uncle.”
“Uncle! Uncle-!”
Pomeranian laughed as if she was amused by Vikir’s behavior.
She clung to Vikir’s side, her hands digging into his waist.
“Uncle! Hehe. I’m a rat! Catch the rat-”
Pomeranian had learned to speak a little.
Chihuahua’s training must have worked, Vikir thought.
Pomeranian held out a rat to Vikir, but it didn’t look like the kind of rat you’d keep as a pet.
It was so skinny and scrawny that it was nothing but bone and skin.
Vikir nodded approvingly.
“It’s a cute little rat, but be careful not to catch the plague.”
“Hehe. Awww, Uncle!”
Vikir patted Pomeranian on the head, then turned his attention to Chihuahua.
Chihuahua filled Vikir in on the details of what had transpired while he was gone.
In return, Vikir recounted the events that had occurred to him in the depths.
As Chihuahua listened in awe and amazement.
“So, did you finally defeat the mysterious creature in the Mountains?”
“Not completely. However, it fled to a cold and barren place with fatal injuries, so it has probably frozen to death or starved to death.”
“Kya, Deputy Magistrate, once you owe someone a debt, you pay it back to the end!”
This time it was Vikir’s turn to ask a question.
“Have you solved any of the Underdog City’s problems?”
“Oh, it’s all been resolved thanks to your suggestion from last time, Cindi Wendy is very good at her job.”
Suddenly, Chihuahua’s normally cheerful expression darkened for a moment.
Vikir didn’t miss the change and asked.
“Is something wrong?”
“…In fact. There’s a case that even CindyWendy can’t seem to figure out.”
Then Chihuahua stood up and pulled out a sheet of paper from the bookshelf.
It was a cold case in the city of Underdog.
“Recently, children from the slums have been disappearing one after another. It’s a serial phenomenon… I don’t think it’s a kidnapping for money. The trail is not quite clear.”
“Is it the work of the same person?”
“If my guess is correct it is a solo operation, though I have no proof.”
“Cindi Wendy is a capable human being, I’m sure we’ll get a lead soon.”
“I hope so.”
Chihuahua shook its head, as if in distress.
Then.
“Uncle! Uncle, this is Baba-”
Pomeranian grabbed Vikir’s arm again and sagged.
Vikir couldn’t help but turn his head as Pomeranian clung to his arm with his entire body.
The momentary separation seemed to have made her even more sullen.
“So, Pomeranian, what do you want?”
“Rats! Rats!”
Pomerian held out another rat to Vikir.
Vikir nodded appropriately and tried to live up to Pomerian’s expectations.
At that moment.
“…?”
Vikir took another look at the rat in Pomerian’s hand.
Something was off about it.
Vikir squinted his eyes and examined the rat.
The rat reeked of death.
Upon closer inspection, the rat was long dead, with nothing left but bones and skin.
And Pomeranian was playing with it.
“…!”
Vikir’s mouth opened halfway.
The rat was now dancing on Pomerian’s palm.
This was clearly a corpse resuscitation technique, a death magic spell that could be performed using negative mana.
“Pomeranian.”
“Yes– Uncle!”
“This rat, did you revive it?”
Pomeranian nodded with a cheerful expression.
“YEP!”
“Since when did you know you could do this?”
“Uhhh… one night, two nights, three baam….”
Pomeranian wiggled her fingers eagerly, and then stretched out five fingers.
Vikir nodded.
“Five nights ago?”
“Mmm.”
“Who taught you how to play with rats like this?”
“The tribe!”
Vikir was silent for a moment at Pomeranian’s words.
Pomeranian was found in the village of the Rokoko tribe.
Vikir had assumed that she had learned the secrets of the Rokoko tribe, who are known for their black magic and command skills, over their shoulder, but he was not certain.
“At this age, you’ve already sensed mana, even the most elusive negative mana?
Even children of the Baskervilles and Morg, who are said to be geniuses, don’t feel mana until they are eight years old.
But Pomeranian felt mana at the age of five and was playing with it freely.
“…Hmm.”
Vikir thought for a moment.
A magical prodigy had appeared in the Iron-Blooded Sword family, and she was also the granddaughter of the patriarch.
“I wonder how Hugo would react if he found out?
Vikir tried to imagine Hugo’s reaction to seeing Pomeranian.
‘If it was the Hugo he knew, probably.
‘…Granddaughter. And you don’t even know what kind of bastard’s blood she’s mixed with? You worthless thing!’
It was likely to be something like that.
Hugo judges all his children by efficiency.
A woman can’t wield a sword as well as a man, so she’s already going to be judged negatively.
And magic, black magic!
That’s not exactly Hugo’s favorite type of witchcraft.
‘…Plus, I don’t know what he’ll think of her being his granddaughter.’
Vikir closed his eyes and considered.
There were no daughters in the Baskervilles. No, almost none.
You have to look far and wide to find one, and even then, Hugo doesn’t even know their names.
In fact, there were no daughters in Hugo’s direct lineage at all.
“…Pomeranian must be the only one.”
Vikir muttered, looking down at Pomeranian clinging to his leg.
Pomeranian La Baskerville.
She was the only granddaughter of Hugo Les Baskerville, the current head of House Baskerville.
In other words, the most direct of the direct line.
The first daughter of his first wife’s first daughter. How would Hugo react? Is it a good idea to introduce Hugo to Pomeranians in the first place?
Vikir shook his head, recalling Hugo’s cold expression.
“I can’t even imagine what that cold-blooded man would say to Pomeranian.”
I’m sure he’ll say something derogatory about them, like they’re useless, a waste, a mongrel, or something.
Or perhaps he’ll just give her a cold, unfeeling stare as if he’s staring at an intangible object.
‘If that’s the case, perhaps it’s best not to tell him…’
Vikir was thinking about what to do with the still-young Pomeranian.
Bang!
Something shattered the window.
Chihuahua, surprised, opens the window and sees an owl with a letter tied to its leg.
Chihuahua quickly took the letter and read it.
Then he exclaimed in horror as he looked back at Vikir.
“Mr. Vikir, we’re in serious trouble!”
“What?”
“From the main house! My lord, God! Wow, directly! He was on his way as soon as he heard of Vikir’s survival…!”
Both at the same time. Chihuahua’s words were cut off by a noise.
A loud bang-bang-bang!
A knock on the city hall’s front door. And the painting of horses who had rushed a long distance.
Chihuahua finally finished speaking.
“He’s finally here!”