The Genius Son-in-law of the Swordmaster Household—Blessed by Authority

Liberation of Luminari (1)

Somewhere in the vast great desert.

A ruin where the ancient golem of the Luminari is being excavated in secret.

"You've arrived."

The demonic human supervisor in charge of the slaves nodded in satisfaction as he looked at the group of Luminari people descending into the mining tunnel.

All wore chains and shackles.

These were new mining slaves who had recently been captured.

"Hm?"

But then.

The supervisor's gaze stopped on one man.

"... What's that?"

Among the skinny, gaunt slaves, one burly figure stood out, completely ill-fitted with the rest.

His height looked well over two meters, with muscles so thick that he seemed capable of breaking the chains with ease if he tried.

A man with thick gray hair and rugged masculine features.

It was Ian Greysel, who had infiltrated in disguise as a Luminari slave.

"What's that muscle-clad brute doing among them?"

The supervisor asked his deputy.

"How did you catch that one?"

The deputy, having already heard about Ian's conspicuous appearance, answered in advance.

"According to the slaver... he's a knight who was exiled from his domain."

"An exiled knight?"

"Yes. The details are a bit funny actually... Hmph. That guy supposedly messed around with his liege lord's youngest daughter. He got caught while trying to flee at night, and his dantian was broken. After being thrown out, the lord's eldest son caught him and sold him to pirates as a slave. From there, he was passed from fighting arenas to war slaves, finally ending up here."

This was all a background Ian had created by manipulating the slave trader's mind using the demon sword Jinggela.

"Hmph."

The supervisor laughed, evidently quite amused.

"No wonder. His muscles were so unnaturally thick. I suppose he was grown with drugs."

"Well... That must be it. No slave could get a body like that from decent food. He may look fine on the outside, but inside, he's probably ruined. That one."

The supervisor's smile quickly faded.

"I don't like the look in that guy's eyes."

"Pardon?"

"He'll be hard to tame. Looks like he's killed a lot of people too. He'll soon form his own group among the slaves and become a leader."

The supervisor took a short breath.

"A guy like that makes slave management difficult. You have to pull out seaweed before it takes root. Too late after that."

The deputy blinked.

"So... you're saying we should just kill him right away?"

"Yes. But not just like that. There needs to be a pretext."

The slaves here all belonged to Archbishop Greenyolf.

The supervisor and his men were merely tasked with managing the archbishop's property.

Damaging it carelessly would draw severe retribution.

If you want to kill, you need a legitimate reason.

An answer the archbishop would approve.

"First, provoke him. Find fault in every little thing. If he loses his temper or resists? That gives us cause. Beat him, beat him, and beat him again. Repeat daily. He'll die that way. Just tell the archbishop you had to kill him for being especially unruly to maintain order."

"Ah... Yes, understood. Sounds fun. Honestly, I didn't like his look anyway. He seems like he'd be satisfying to beat."

The supervisor and his deputy snickered nastily.

As expected of demonic humans from the Envy Cult, they couldn't leave anyone who seemed better than themselves alone.

* * *

Morning excavation was over, and it was lunchtime.

The demonic human overseers handed out hard pieces of bread, one by one, to the Luminari caked in dust.

It would soon be Ian's turn to get bread.

But then.

― Hack! Ptoo!

"...?"

The demon overseer spat phlegm onto Ian's bread.

― Shk! Shk!

Not only that—he even smeared the spit-laden bread into the dirt, mixing it up.

"Ha! Eat up, enjoy!"

The demon overseer sneered as he shoved the bread into Ian's chest.

"..."

Ian calmly took the bread and sat down in a corner.

'I can't eat this.'

It was already so hard it was barely edible, but now with spit and mud, it was reduced to mere filth.

'So they want to weaken me?'

Clearly, because of Ian's huge size and apparent difficulty to handle, they intended to starve or sicken him over a few days, draining his body to make him easier to control.

'A pointless effort.'

It didn't matter at all to Ian, who possessed the Authority of Projection; no matter what they tried with his food, it was irrelevant.

He could just copy a few protein shakes in a secluded spot at dawn and drink those.

Ian tossed the filthy bread onto the ground and leaned his back against the cave wall.

'Should I rest for a bit now?'

Closing his eyes, Ian reviewed his plan.

'Top priority is gathering information.'

First, he needed to assess the size and population here.

'And also the geography and terrain of this place.'

Only then could he rescue the captured Luminari as safely as possible.

'And I also need to find out where the Luminari's ancient golem is.'

He'd thought he would see the ancient Luminari golem as soon as he got inside, but that was a mistake.

Among the captured Luminari, only a handful were assigned to golem excavation.

The rest were digging around the ruins, exploring whether there were other golems or relics.

Ian, too, had been assigned to the exploration team rather than excavation.

'So far, what I've figured out is...'

The site was bigger than expected.

'It's a sizable place, so if I'm to achieve everything I aim for, I'd better take it step by step, even if it takes some time.'

First task: gradually turn the demonic overseers here into Ian's spies, one by one.

Turn all the demonic humans into spies, gather information, and ensure the safety of the Luminari as the utmost priority.

'Easy enough with the demon sword's mind control.'

Next, find the Luminari's ancient golem, store it inside the Authority of Projection, and capture Archbishop Greenyolf, who would undoubtedly be here, to stick him in the magic power extraction facility.

That was Ian's plan.

As he sat there, like a rock, simulating and adjusting his plan—

"You're in good shape, young man."

"...?"

A scrawny old man sat beside Ian and spoke quietly.

"What did you do before you came here?"

The old man lowered his voice, likely to avoid drawing attention from the overseers.

Ian hadn't expected anyone to approach him first and was a bit surprised, but answered politely and quietly.

These Luminari whom he intended to rescue might become long-term acquaintances.

"I worked with the sword."

"The sword...? Were you a mercenary?"

"... Something like that."

"I see... But what brings a strong lad like you here?"

"..."

Truthfully, he hadn't been captured but had walked in on his own, but he couldn't say that here.

Ian pondered how to answer for a moment.

Then the old man answered for him.

"You must have had bad luck."

Ian nodded quietly.

"Here. Eat this."

The old man suddenly offered bread.

"... Excuse me?"

He pushed it deep into his robe, so Ian reached out and received it without thinking.

It was a bit different from the rock-hard bread rationed here.

Softer and fluffier, almost like it was fresh from a bakery.

"This is..."

"The bread they give here is so hard and dry. Like a stone. Without magic, it's almost impossible to eat. This one's been softened with water and fire magic."

"Oh..."

So this old man was a mage.

But—

"If I eat this, you'll have nothing left for yourself."

At that, the old man shook his head with a smile.

"I've never had a big appetite, so skipping a meal or two is no problem. But you look like you'll wither away if you miss even one or two."

"..."

Ian gazed quietly at the old man.

Worn, tattered clothes, cracked nails and lips, lifeless hair.

'Judging by his appearance, he hasn't been here just a short while...'

In such a harsh environment, sharing one's food was rare.

Usually, people fought each other for every scrap.

'A good man.'

And—

Ian looked around.

'Good people.'

The Luminari watched out for one another throughout the place.

'But they all look to be in poor shape.'

Many had persistent coughs, and some wheezed with every breath as if suffering from lung disease.

Some limped, others couldn't move their shoulders properly.

Having been trapped underground and forced to mine all day—it was an expected result.

'I'll have to get all of them medical treatment as soon as I rescue them.'

As Ian thought this, trying to return the bread—

"Hey! You over there!!"

An overseer suddenly shouted.

Turning his head, Ian saw an overseer striding toward him and the old man, baton in hand.

"You there!"

The overseer now in front of them pointed his baton at the old man.

"Y-yes?"

"Who said you could share your bread at your own discretion?"

"Excuse me...?"

"Why are you changing what we rationed out as we said? You're a slave; who said you had the right?"

"A-ah...!"

The old man trembled, so nervous it was pitiful to see.

"I-I just... this young man looked hungry...!"

"So now you talk back, too?"

― Thump! Thump!

The overseer slammed his baton against his palm threateningly.

"Slaves need to be beaten regularly... or else they forget their place."

–Thwack!

The overseer raised his baton high.

"H-hiik!"

The old man, frightened, covered his face with both arms.

But the baton never struck.

–Thunk!

Ian caught it before it could come down.

"Huh?"

"..."

Ian had stood up at some point and, gripping the baton, looked down at the overseer.

Now, at over two meters, Ian was nearly two head-lengths taller than the man.

"Ha, ha!"

The overseer felt a bit overwhelmed, but forced himself to smirk as if to show he wasn't intimidated.

"Y-you bastard, how dare you grab my club?"

He'd threatened the old man beside Ian precisely to provoke this reaction—now, with Ian's outright defiance, he had all the justification he needed to beat him to his heart's content.

"Y-young man!"

The old man, realizing this, tried urgently to stop Ian.

–Sssk.

But Ian, without a word, moved the old man behind his back.

Then, as if to say it was all right, he nodded.

The forced smile on the demonic human's lips twisted even more maliciously at this sight.

"You little... That's right. It's been a while since your kind got a proper lesson, hasn't it? I'll make an example of you today."

–Squeeze!

The overseer gripped the baton, ready to yank it away from Ian and beat him bloody then and there.