Chapter 103
Wolfgang
“Ha-ha! What an entertaining bastard! Welcome to the North, Watcher of Narak!”
Wolfgang burst into hearty laughter.
His booming voice reverberated throughout the annex.
Johan felt as though his eardrums might burst.
Everyone in the annex except Johan and Count Staviana covered their ears and cried out in pain.
An unbearable pressure weighed down upon the room.
Every syllable of Wolfgang’s laughter seemed to carry physical weight.
Johan swallowed a groan.
Old man, there’s a limit to how hot-blooded you should be. This is too much.
At this rate, everyone might end up dead.
Even Johan was finding it increasingly difficult to endure.
Just as he was about to stop Wolfgang, Count Staviana spoke first.
“Father-in-law, unless you intend to kill everyone here, I suggest you stop.”
Wolfgang swept his gaze around the room.
The entire guest room had been reduced to a complete mess.
The table had cracked, and the glass bottles had shattered.
Even the framed paintings hanging on the walls had fallen and broken into pieces across the floor.
The castle servants lay sprawled on the ground, groaning.
Wolfgang stopped laughing.
The crushing pressure filling the room vanished in an instant.
Everyone finally found relief.
Wolfgang looked slightly embarrassed.
He cleared his throat.
“Ahem... I got a little carried away without meaning to. It has been a long time since I met someone this entertaining.”
Count Staviana spoke expressionlessly.
“So he passed your test. If you are satisfied, return to the North.”
Johan was somewhat puzzled.
Is he talking about me?
Wolfgang looked at Johan.
“He certainly has spirit. Cromwell Staviana, he resembles you quite a bit when you were young. But ability is another matter. No matter how I look at him, this boy is too young. Watching over Narak will still be too great a burden for him.”
Count Staviana shook his head.
“Consider the previous Watchers of Narak. Compared to them, Sir Johan is exceptionally capable.”
The Count was openly taking Johan’s side.
There was only one reason for that.
His dead wife.
As long as Johan possessed Yeriyan’s body, the Count had no choice but to serve as Johan’s political patron.
Wolfgang’s expression twisted fiercely.
His already wrinkled face became even more deeply furrowed.
“Cromwell, are you truly mentioning those pathetic fools in front of me?”
Every previous Watcher of Narak had been an idiot.
Wolfgang, who had lived for a hundred and fifty years, had seen them all.
Grian’s father, grandfather, great-grandfather, and great-great-grandfather—there had not been a single normal person among them.
The Myatro bloodline, once praised as the lineage of a Hero, no longer remained in this age.
Count Staviana spoke.
“Sir Johan is different from them. Surely you felt that yourself just now.”
Wolfgang stared intently at Johan.
“That is precisely the problem. House Myatro has finally produced someone promising after nearly two hundred years, only for him to rot away as your puppet.”
Johan and Count Staviana frowned simultaneously.
Johan clicked his tongue.
The old man has gotten completely the wrong idea.
The Count spoke.
“My puppet? Father-in-law, what sort of nonsense are you spouting?”
Wolfgang replied with absolute certainty.
“Cromwell, allow me to explain your plan. You intend to draw the Watcher of Narak into the Noble Faction and seize control of the entire southern region. Am I wrong?”
Count Staviana had employed every possible scheme to elevate Johan’s position.
The young Johan was now both the head of a noble house and a member of the Council.
It was far from normal.
Something like this could never have happened without a political motive on the Count’s part.
The Count sighed and covered his face with one hand.
“Father-in-law, you could not be more mistaken.”
Wolfgang snorted.
“Then explain why you suddenly began defending House Myatro.”
“As I explained before the Council—”
Before he could finish, Wolfgang roared.
“Spare me that bullshit about acting for the greater good!”
The official reason for elevating Johan’s status was the kingdom’s future and security.
The kingdom now faced unprecedented threats.
The appearance of the ancient demon Kaiaze, the manifestation of the Thirteenth Apostle of the End, the demonic army’s invasion of the royal capital, and more.
The End foretold by the Calamity Book was beginning.
For the first time in centuries, fear of demons had once again risen to the surface.
An age had arrived in which the Watcher of Narak was needed.
That was the justification the Count had used to elevate Johan’s position.
The Count spoke calmly.
“As Chancellor of the kingdom, every action I take follows the cause of justice. This occasion was no exception. The kingdom presently requires a Watcher of Narak, and I merely acted accordingly.”
Wolfgang suddenly slammed his hand down on the table.
The table was completely destroyed, exploding into countless fragments.
“You expect me to believe that?! Cromwell Staviana! You have grown even more shameless with age! I know you well! Neither the greater good nor justice has ever meant anything to you! You have always acted solely according to your own desires! Am I wrong?!”
Wolfgang’s anger blazed like hellfire, but the Count remained composed.
“Father-in-law, what exactly are you trying to say?”
Wolfgang glared down at the Count and spoke in a menacing voice.
“I want to hear your true intentions. Tell me why you brought that boy into the central political sphere.”
Looking Wolfgang directly in the eye, the Count replied.
“Whatever my reasons may be, allow me to make one thing clear. I have no intention of turning the Watcher of Narak into my puppet.”
Their gazes clashed in midair.
After a moment, Wolfgang sharply furrowed his brow.
“...Cromwell, don’t tell me that boy has something on you.”
Johan was slightly surprised.
He’s remarkably perceptive.
The Count was not supporting Johan for the sake of justice or the greater good.
Nor did he intend to turn Johan into his puppet.
That left only one explanation.
Johan had obtained leverage over the Count.
The Count had no choice but to comply with Johan’s demands.
Wolfgang had discerned the truth.
The Count’s expression did not change.
He replied serenely.
“Think whatever you please, Father-in-law.”
Wolfgang’s twisted expression gradually relaxed.
His anger slowly disappeared.
In its place came amusement.
Wolfgang burst into hearty laughter.
“Live long enough, and you truly do witness all manner of amusing things! Someone obtained leverage over you? And it was a boy like him? Ha-ha! Cromwell, you hardly deserve the epithet of the Blue Demon!”
Count Staviana replied.
“I do not care what you choose to believe.”
Wolfgang gave the Count a mocking grin before approaching Johan.
The giant slapped Johan on the back with a hand as large as a cauldron lid.
“I thought you possessed extraordinary spirit for such a young pup, and now I see there is something truly unusual about you. You managed to wrap that old fox Cromwell around your finger. What in the world did you use to shackle him? I would very much like to know.”
Johan could not tell him the truth.
He replied with a composed expression.
“That is a private matter between the Count and me, so I cannot disclose it even to Your Excellency the Grand Marshal. I ask for your understanding.”
Wolfgang stroked his beard.
“Let me guess... Ah, something comes to mind. Was Cromwell working with heretics because he intended to resurrect his dead wife?”
Johan was so startled that he thought his heart might stop.
“...Your Excellency, what in the world are you talking about?”
He nearly allowed his emotions to show.
Even for Johan, who constantly practiced maintaining a perfect poker face, controlling his expression this time was far from easy.
Wolfgang grinned slyly.
“No? Then never mind. Ha-ha!”
Johan found Wolfgang extraordinarily difficult to understand.
Could he already know everything?
Wolfgang had no interest whatsoever in matters outside the North.
At least, that was how he had been portrayed in the original novel.
Seeing him in person, however, Johan felt he was somewhat different.
Wolfgang seemed to know something.
Johan’s instincts tended to be fairly accurate.
The Count spoke.
“Your joke has gone too far, Father-in-law. My patience is reaching its limit, so let us end this here. Return to the North.”
A faint trace of murderous intent appeared upon the Count’s cold expression.
Whenever Yeriyan was mentioned, the Count had difficulty controlling his emotions.
Wolfgang chuckled.
“I was about to leave anyway. Before I do, allow me to make our Watcher of Narak a proposition.”
Johan grew slightly tense.
He had no idea what Wolfgang might demand.
By now, Wolfgang had become an exceedingly troublesome figure in Johan’s mind.
“Please speak, Your Excellency.”
“Why not come north with me? I will make a man out of you. I might even give you one of my daughters later.”
He was offering to accept Johan as his son-in-law.
Johan answered immediately.
“My apologies. I have other obligations.”
Wolfgang groaned in disappointment.
“I will not force you. But if you change your mind, come to the North at any time. I have taken quite a liking to you.”
It seemed Johan had at least earned Wolfgang’s favor.
Considering the future, this meeting had been tremendously beneficial.
Although a strange feeling of unease remained, Johan decided to set it aside for now.
“I will pay you a visit someday.”
Wolfgang nodded and turned away.
“See that you keep your word. This uninvited guest shall take his leave. There is no need to see me off, so none of you should come outside.”
The Count inclined his head.
“Next time you visit, at least send word in advance.”
As Wolfgang left the guest room, he replied.
“Why bother? More importantly, Cromwell, forget about my daughter already. It is long past time you let her go.”
The Count’s deceased wife, Yeriyan, was also Wolfgang’s daughter.
“That is none of your concern, Father-in-law.”
Wolfgang waved without looking back.
“I am saying it for your own sake. Take my advice to heart, Krong.”
Krong was Count Cromwell Staviana’s childhood nickname.
The moment he heard it, the Count’s expression twisted.
He muttered in a low voice.
“That old man truly knows how to grate on my nerves until the very end.”
Wolfgang laughed boisterously and disappeared from sight.
***
As soon as Wolfgang departed, Johan and Cromwell moved elsewhere.
They headed to the drawing room of the Count’s residence.
The moment he sat down, the Count released a deep sigh.
“Today has felt exceptionally long.”
He looked utterly exhausted.
It was probably because of Wolfgang.
Johan spoke.
“Count, why exactly was Wolfgang here?”
The Earthbound Spirit of the North had traveled all the way south.
Johan still did not know the exact reason.
The Count answered.
“He questioned me endlessly about you. If you had not come to Beldana, my father-in-law would probably have visited the Myatro Territory. In short, he came south to meet you.”
That had been a dangerously close call.
The moment Wolfgang set foot in the barony, Johan would have found himself in considerable trouble.
Wolfgang would inevitably have realized that the lord’s castle had been half-destroyed, and Johan had no way to explain why.
He murmured quietly.
“...It was fortunate that I came to Beldana.”
He was truly fortunate to have encountered Wolfgang in the county instead.
The Count silently studied Johan before speaking.
“Still, you came to see me later than I expected.”
“Several things happened.”
His meeting with the Count had been delayed while he dealt with several unexpected complications.
Although he was somewhat late, Johan wanted to resume his original plan as quickly as possible.
The Count took something out of a drawer.
“I have spent the intervening time preparing several things you may want.”
He placed a bundle of documents on the table.
After examining their contents, Johan gave a satisfied smile.
The Count’s efficiency was unquestionably impressive.