Baris and Winley were seemingly mad because they had to return to the countryside even if they wanted to come along with Davey.

‘I guess this is it.’

-It’s not like you’re leaving forever, anyways. To be honest, I am excited.

‘At how much of a wreck it will be?’ 

Perserque, who was sitting on top of Davey’s leg like she was horse-riding, turned to him and smiled.

-Don’t you find it amusing? And I’m also curious as to what kind of acts you will commit.

Davey didn’t know what to do with Perserque’s high expectations. He got ready to leave the palace when he heard an unexpected voice through the silence.

“Your Highness.”

Davey turned to see a frail old man slowly walking toward him under Amy’s guidance. The man looked to be around 70 years old, but unlike his age, which was considered very old in the Tionis continent, he had a strong and intimidating physique. The old man said, “I am in the presence of the little Sun of the kingdom. My name is Peiltris.”

Normally, Davey would have talked down to someone of a lower rank, but he couldn’t treat Marquis Peiltris in that way. “Please stand up, Marquis Peiltris.”

Marquis Peiltris was one of the only three Swordmasters in the Rowane Kingdom and was the most skilled and experienced among them. He was a true knight and knights from all over the continent expressed their admiration after hearing his name. Not only that, but he was also the most important person Davey chose for the job of destroying the nobility.

Swordmasters were seen as a type of strategic human weapon. Although he didn’t have a large troop, Marquis Peiltris became one of the major pillars of the kingdom by his strength alone, and he had a strong position in the palace just from his troops and his venerable family’s power. He usually stood on the middle ground and kept the nobility in check from afar, but he probably could not do that for much longer.

Davey snuck into Marquis Peiltris’ bedchamber and left all the information that the nobility wanted to hide a few days after he robbed the intelligence guilds. And since he was incredibly loyal and righteous, Marquis Peiltris would begin to hold the nobility accountable as soon as the information was verified to be true.

“I heard that you were leaving.”

“That’s right. All royalty except for the crown prince must leave the palace.”

“You could become the future crown prince, Your Highness.”

“If the time comes.” Davey grinned.

Marquis Peiltris fixed his monocle and smiled hollowly. “You really have grown a lot. The former Queen would have been so proud of you.”

“I am nothing but an undutiful child to my mother.”

After Davey spoke calmly, Marquis Peiltris shook his head and said, “If you say that, it would only be right for this old man to bite his tongue and die for not being able to protect Her Majesty the Queen.”

Davey chuckled. Unlike his father, who had given up on everything after his mother’s death, it seemed like Marquis Peiltris, who volunteered to be his mother’s personal knight, was secretly collecting evidence on who was behind the assassination. Davey saw that only after sneaking into Marquis Peiltris’ house, but that was enough for him to feel grateful.

‘So, I wish you luck. Please turn the nobility who are rotting the kingdom upside down.’

As Davey stared at him in silence, Marquis Peiltris looked at Davey as if looking at his own grandchild.

‘And I will strike the final blow.’

Davey was going to show Marquis Peiltris how skilled he was at striking the last blow.

“If anything is burdensome, please do not hesitate to call me. I will help you to the best of my abilities.”

“The nobility will make a big fuss about it if the Marquis, who always remained neutral, starts to watch my back. Surely you don’t want your young nephew to die?” Davey teased, chuckling.

“Haha, this sinful old man’s life and vow would all be a lie if I didn’t even do that.” Marquis Peiltris gave a bitter comment, as if punishing himself out of guilt.

“I am going to make that place livable. It’s not difficult.”

“Your Highness.”

“So, please do my work for me here, Marquis.”

“…”

“You’re going to be really busy.” Davey smiled widely at the silent Marquis Peiltris, who didn’t completely understand what he meant.

* * *

Davey traveled for an entire day after getting to the nearby territory by the mana gate. The journey was a day long since the Heins Territory was close to the capital. It would’ve taken days if it was any other place.

-I thought you only had enemies at the palace, but I guess not.

‘When did she wake up?’ Davey was reading a book while on the carriage headed to the Heins Territory. That was when Perserque floated up in front of his eyes.

Perserque looked just like a demon would in her skimpy outfit. She giggled while looking down at Davey from a height that almost gave him a glimpse of her underwear.

-There are also very honorable and strong people.

“Marquis Peiltris was my mother’s knight, but I don’t know him that well. I’ve only gotten involved with him recently.

-And yet you handed over your information quite easily.

“At least I know for sure that he is one of the few loyal people left in the kingdom.”

Perserque giggled and lightly waved her hand. Then, the carriage window opened quietly, and the dry, barren land came into view.

-It feels like something is oppressing the atmosphere here.

“Yeah, I’ve been feeling it too.”

The Heins Territory was a very large piece of land, but it became abandoned due to the severe drought that plagued over 90% of the land. It felt like a cursed area.

-There’s no way to know what is causing the drought, but if this continues, everything will dry out into a desert.

It was difficult to see a territory this barren on the continent. Well, it was the only land suffering a drought in the Rowane Kingdom, so… The wasteland, seen through the window, used to be farmland. It was cracked and split, as if undergoing a long drought from some strange curse.

It was a relief that the kingdom hired mages to occasionally water the ground. Otherwise, the conditions of the land would be much worse. In addition, hiring mages to water a land mass this big would’ve been costly.

“Sorry to bother you, Your Highness, but I think we will have to move tomorrow. We have to rest here this evening.”

Davey nodded at the servant, Peroom. He said, “Since there aren’t any lodgings nearby, I guess that will have to do. Please prepare an adequate camp.”

“Yes, Your Highness.”

As he watched the servants, maids, and the knights get busy, Davey left Amy behind and stepped out of the carriage.

-The air is dry. It’s sandy.

Davey stared at the seemingly desert-like land and moved slowly. The plains were very wide, but none of the land could be used. Slowly moving away from the carriage and stepping off the constructed road, Davey could see dry land all around him. He silently reached out and lightly touched the land, then closed his eyes. As he opened them, he muttered quietly.

“[Check information].”

‘Discernment’ was Perserque’s inherent power that had God’s will, and the ability wasn’t just limited to living things.

Beep! As soon as a mechanical beeping was heard, a faint light surrounded Davey’s eyes. A strange translucent status bar formed in thin air.

-Territory: The Heins.

-Moisture conditions: Lowest.

-Notes: Land is dried out from the disappearance of moisture due to a long drought and strange force; manifests a curse-type(?) magic: evaporation of moisture, control of the weather; curse seems breakable(?). 

-So, it’s a curse.

“I have to get rid of it. Aside from that, why does Lord Freyja love to use question marks in her status window?” Davey had a strange feeling.

16. The Seigneur Is Cleaning Up.

-I can’t give you an answer even if you grill me about it.

“But it’s your ability.”

-My ability is to show you. You should know full well that what’s being shown is not my will, but the will of that tacky God.

Befitting a demon, Perserque had no piety.

-So, are you telling me you dislike it?

“Well… I can’t really say anything since I’m using holy power from Lord Freyja. However, I can’t deny that she has a peculiar sense of taste.”

-Anyways, it’s a curse…that doesn’t seem like a curse. This is just as expected.

Ignoring Perserque’s teasing comment, Davey silently swept his hand across the cracked land. ‘This is the current condition of the Heins Territory.’ Aside from 10% of the land, he learnt that the status window’s reading was totally accurate. ‘A curse on the entire territory…’

-I’m telling you, just in case, but there’s something called a progressive curse in curse-type magic. It’s a nasty curse that starts from a small carrier but spreads endlessly after that.

“I didn’t know the remnants of dark magic would be left here.”

-It seems like one of the residents fiddled with the carrier.

It seemed that one of the residents tampered with an inexplosive bomb, and the Heins Territory went through that unfortunate event.

[Purification]

Davey silently placed his hand on the ground and released his holy power. He cast a 3-circle cleansing magic spell. Paching! Davey wasn’t too sure if he could crack the curse as the status window said, but it was clearly not going to be easy.

“Would you look at that?” Fascinated by the response, Davey smiled. He did thoughtlessly cast the cleansing magic spell, but it seemed like a strong resisting force had deflected his holy magic.

[5-circle Purification]

Cleansing magic, one of the pillars of holy magic, could only be used by priests who were above level 1. The effects could be amplified up to 8-circle, depending on the individual’s abilities.

‘If normal 3-circle cleansing magic doesn’t work, I guess I’ll have to use higher levels.’

Clash!! Davey heard another shattering sound. The magic was deflected once again, but it was a little different this time. Shhh… A colorless and odorless fog slowly flowed out from where his hand touched the ground. It seemed like the curse was momentarily broken before recovering.

-It’s difficult to crack a curse that’s been sustained for a long time.

“Seems that way.” Davey had to destroy the carrier or something, because breaking the curse was no different from trying to clean up snow in a snowstorm. He quietly returned to his carriage and laid down on the comfy sofa and closed his eyes. “Most of the territory is like this…”

Most large-scale curses that used black magic were buried a long time ago. It was safe to say that only remnants of large-scale black magic spells remained in the continent. To be exact, the continent had very little information about these species currently, and most black mages, who once strongly influenced the continent, were gone.

-Even now, the world hasn’t changed one bit.

Davey closed his eyes in contemplation as he heard Perserque’s cheery voice.