The Damn Family Is Back Again - Chapter 298



298. Explicit Goal (4)

“Phew.”

Claire sighed in relief.

Isabella, seeing her second daughter, gave her a pat of encouragement.

“You did well. It must have been quite a task to handle the workload that originally required several families to gather together.”

Claire, resting her chin on her hand, replied nonchalantly.

“What do you mean, ‘did well’? It’s something I had to do anyway.”

“There’s no such thing as ‘had to’. You stepped up to help.”

“If it wasn’t for you, Mom, you’d have to bear all that burden alone. Oh, right. Mom, here.”

Claire handed over an artifact with a hint of disapproval.

“Huh?”

“It’s for checking the magic cast on the horses. It seemed difficult to train them within this period, so I cast a mild illusion spell on the poles and flags to get them accustomed.”

“No wonder you looked unusually tired. You took on this task too…?”

“Ugh! I need to do as much as I can to rest a bit. If I do well, I might even get to go out with Flora.”

“You. Since you’ve used so much mana, take a rest. If you say you’ll work more, even I will get angry.”

Though she said that, Isabella looked at Claire, who was stretching to relieve her fatigue, with a proud gaze.

“Anyway, since my sister will be back soon, I’ll rest a bit.”

“Alright. Take a rest. I’ll take over from the procession onwards.”

“Okay. But…”

Claire, who was about to leave while patting her tired shoulders, suddenly looked around and asked.

“Where’s Carsein?”

Strangely, Carsein was nowhere to be seen.

*

-Ding!

▶We have found the person trying to replace the carriage wheel with a broken one!◀

-Ding!

—

—

▶We have found the one who tried to create confusion by producing smoke through incineration!◀

-Ding!

▶We have found the one who tried to shoot an arrow that causes a small explosion upon contact at the flag!◀

Enemies appearing with the official start of the Founding Festival.

They do not simply stop at one or two.

Of course, this is how the game hinders the player, Carsein.

[ Reputation Rank of the Bagrand Ducal House: C ]

[ Founding Festival Field Danger Level: Caution ]

Ultimately, they target only one person in this bustling place, but that is an internal issue of the episode.

There are still external issues remaining.

The background in which this episode was created.

Firstly, the Bagrand Ducal House is in charge of this Founding Festival.

The Bagrand Ducal House is the most prestigious noble family in the empire, but it is also a family that receives a lot of jealousy and envy. For this reason, there is enough justification for an attack.

Secondly, the Bagrand Ducal House is the only one preparing for the Founding Festival.

The gap has widened so much that the weakness of being the only one in charge of this festival is not easily compensated. Someone might aim to tarnish this reputation.

Lastly, Carsein belongs to the Bagrand Ducal House.

There are countless people who would be displeased as Carsein, who was practically in charge of the shortcomings, recorded excellent results in both the symposium and the martial arts competition.

Moreover, the status of having once been a commoner is a noticeable weakness for anyone. They will try to find and exploit any hole.

Such a background acts as an external threat to the episode, displaying those statuses.

Reputation rank, danger level, and the intimacy score that has always tormented me.

‘If not managed, all sorts of penalties will be attached. There is a reason why this is the final episode of Chapter 3.’

Not one or two, but three.

The triple pressure must also be taken into account.

Sighing, I look around again.

And this time, I even glance at the clock. As expected, something is off.

‘Too late.’

After catching the first culprit, no one has appeared to provide the next clue.

It means, it is very late.

In such cases, I had to suspect the one previously caught.

It can’t be helped.

—

▶You must bear the risk when using system functions.◀

▶Do you want to proceed?◀

The existence of three types of pressure meant that, conversely, one could use the functions allocated to this episode by bearing those risks.

The one that seemed the most reasonable…

Yes, it was this one.

“Sir Carlton. Order the knights to patrol every corner of the alleys tightly until I revoke the order.”

“Understood!”

▶Soldier Command System◀

[ You can strengthen security by consuming the knights’ action power. ]

[ Be careful! If you overburden them with excessive tasks or if it takes too long, the knights’ affinity may decrease! ]

The penalty would be relatively minor if it involved the knights.

*

Borrowing the power of the system, I had them patrol for a short time, and I quickly headed to the prison where the first detainee was.

The moment I stepped into the prison after descending the stairs.

‘Wait. Why is the air like this…’

This, could it be.

▶Using mana to enhance vision.◀

The enhanced vision immediately revealed the flow of mana.

“Tch! I had a feeling!”

In the prison, where it was usually hard to see even a thread of mana, a massive concentration of mana began to appear.

If left alone, it was a menacing concentration that could burst through the body all at once.

There was only one thing that could explode so menacingly.

Suicide.

I ran straight to the prison.

“…! How did you…!”

“Shut up.”

“Ugh!”

I struck his abdomen, knocking him out instantly, and dispersed the concentration of mana to prevent his self-destruction.

“Whew. It would have been dangerous if I had been a little later.”

A suicide trigger. If the only person with information died, it would lead straight to a bad ending.

—

On the other hand, the suicide trigger has appeared…

-Swish.

“As expected, it’s here.”

-Ding!

▶Expected Damage Type: Explosive Terror◀

▶Expected Damage Range: Paralysis and collapse of major facilities including the central square◀

Investigating the guy we caught right at the start of the foundation festival, it was worth waiting for 3 hours.

▶We have identified the material used to make the attached explosives.◀

◆Frikshar Thermos

Material, huh.

This is the kind of thing where you need to find out the source.

If Karsein knows this source, he can find out where it’s produced, and this will give us a clue.

Without the system’s help, I had to memorize everything myself, but compared to the college entrance exam, it was a piece of cake.

◆Frikshar Thermos

[ If you maintain the secretion of beetles that only live in the Frikshar region in an appropriate mixture in powder form, it becomes an explosive with just an external mana injection. ]

As I entered the necessary information and completed the manual myself, the status window popped up again.

-Ding!

▶You have identified the source and revealed the truth of the terror.◀

▶Rewards will be given.◀

‘Got it.’

This is enough.

Since the truth of the terror has been revealed, its intensity holds significant weight.

With this, the achievement score will rise significantly, and regardless of reputation or risk, it will surely spit out useful information for me.

…However.

The form of the reward is too alien.

▶A memorial will be provided.◀

Whether it threatens Karsein at the foundation festival, threatens the duke’s family, or threatens the foundation festival itself, there are plenty of elements to face difficulties.

But the form of the reward has never come out as a memorial.

“…Phew.”

For now, as long as the memorial has appeared, it won’t harm me.

—

—

Information? It would provide a clue in some way.

I didn’t know what it was trying to show, but seeing it was the right decision a hundred times over.

The moment I reached out my hand.

The memorial automatically emitted light towards me.

▶Due to the delay, you have automatically obtained the hidden memorial.◀

-Whoosh!

And once again, it wasn’t Carsein’s memorial.

*

Another day passes by, no different from any other.

Minhyuk’s routine was always consistent.

Daytime was spent at school.

At night, he worked part-time without informing his family.

When dawn arrived, he would snatch a brief study session and a short nap.

But recently, there had been a slight change in his routine.

It was because of work at the company.

On days when he had time, especially on weekends when he didn’t have to go to school, he used to prepare for the college entrance exam, but these days, he had to spend that time at the company.

“Oh dear, this person is completely drunk.”

“Hehehe…”

“Leave him be. It’s a rare company dinner.”

“Yeah! It’s a rare company dinner, so what’s wrong with getting a bit drunk!”

…And participating in such pointless company dinners reduced his part-time work hours as well.

‘How long do I have to keep doing this?’

Minhyuk grumbled inwardly.

Although he was learning work at the company as his eldest sister Eunseo said, it was utterly useless.

In short, it was a waste of time.

Whether he studied or worked part-time during this time.

It was like throwing away precious time that could be used for anything.

‘Tsk. Should I just get it all done at once? Then I could secretly study at the company.’

…Thinking about it, it didn’t seem like a bad idea.

Anyway, the daily quota was fixed, so there was no need to divide it up and do it every day, right?

—

—

This kind of thing should be acted upon immediately. Avoiding the eyes of the family members who were still chatting with the office workers, Minhyuk chose to return to the company.

In the meantime.

Someone receives a call from outside the car.

“Yes. I got it. Yes. Changyeong-ro 50-gil.”

Passing through a small alley, Minhyuk happened to overhear the conversation.

It was a familiar place name.

Well, what could it mean anyway? Minhyuk indifferently closed his ears and moved on.

However, the next conversation made Minhyuk open his ears again.

“Around 10 o’clock. Since the left field of vision is damaged, a direct hit won’t be difficult, right?”

“…?!”

What? Right now…!

-Clunk!

“Ah, don’t worry. I’ll make sure to kill him, just make sure the payment is… huh?”

Whish. Whish.

From noble mtl dot com

The man turned his head here and there but found nothing.

“Ah. It’s nothing. It seems like some trash was just rolling around. I’ll start now.”

Thud! The car door closed.

As the car moved away, Minhyuk emerged from the alley where he had been hiding.

“…”

Minhyuk clenched his fist tightly.

A familiar place name.

An exact time.

The left field of vision that was said to be damaged, and the chilling words about killing.

It was too much of a coincidence to be just a coincidence.

At this time.

At that exact place.

A middle-aged woman would be passing by in a car.

The decision didn’t take long.

“…Damn it!”

What should he do to not be late?

—

—

Calculating the time. Thinking of a way to arrive on time. Finding a way to stop that murderer.

There was only one way.

“Minhyuk? What brings you here?”

“…I’m sorry, boss. This bike might break down today.”

“What? What do you mean…! Minhyuk!”

-Vrooom!