Wizard: Starting from the Skill Tree-Chapter 587: Continuance

Every familiar building, every winding street, the family-owned mines and estates in the distance...

All of this is the foundation that the Laurent family has fought for over two hundred and thirty-seven years, built by ancestors with swords and blood, with wisdom and loyalty, carved from this barren stone.

"Honor is life; family above all." This was his father’s admonition, old Earl Laurent, as he held his hand at his coming-of-age ceremony, engraving it in his bones, word by word.

Now, this admonition tightened around his heart like a burning iron chain.

He slowly turned around, his gaze sweeping across everything in the study. On the walls, portraits of ancestors from past generations hung silently, those dignified or wise eyes seeming to penetrate time, staring at him, scrutinizing how this present Family Head would handle a crisis capable of overturning the family.

The massive desk made of ironwood and ivory was granted by the emperor of the Empire after his great-grandfather’s outstanding military achievements.

The books and documents on the shelves record the family’s laws, accounts, allies, and enemies...all these constitute the entities and symbols of the existence of the Laurent family.

As the Family Head, his primary responsibility is to protect the family, rather than any individual, even if that individual is his own flesh and blood.

A family member, especially one of the direct heirs, falling into privately studying the forbidden, communicating with Other Planes, and harming innocents, this stains the entire family’s bloodline and reputation, a taint that can never be cleansed.

Is it better to gamble with concealment, then await the unknown timing of a destructive verdict from the empire’s judiciary, or to proactively amputate that already rotten and festering part, to demonstrate to the Empire that the Laurent family still maintains internal purging ability and absolute reverence for the empire’s laws, thus seeking a slight chance of forgiveness.

The answer is almost undeniable.

The rules of the noble world have always been cold and realistic.

Sacrifice is the most common price to maintain dignity.

Earl Laurent’s facial muscles twitched slightly, finally settling into a near petrified rigidity.

The last trace of softness and pain belonging to a father in his eyes was forcibly suppressed, replaced by coldness and decisiveness belonging to a Family Head, a political creature.

He extended a slightly trembling but extraordinarily stable hand and pressed a highly secretive bronze button underneath the desk which only each Family Head knows.

No sound was emitted, but within a mere few heartbeats, a heavy tapestry depicting a hunting scene on the side of the study quietly opened a slit, two men in inconspicuous gray tight garments, with faces ordinary enough to instantly blend into the crowd shadows, slid in soundlessly like phantoms.

They are the Gray Shadows, directly affiliated with the Family Head, loyal to the name Laurent rather than any specific individual, responsible for handling those matters that could never see the light.

Earl Laurent didn’t turn around, continuing to face away from them, his gaze seemingly penetrating the wall, resting in the direction of the West Tower.

His voice was deep, hoarse, yet carried undisputable authority belonging to the upper echelon and a hint of intensely suppressed sorrow.

"West Tower, young master Calvin." He paused; the moment that name was spoken, a rusty metallic sweetness surged in his throat, "He... has been eroded by evil too deeply, his spirit has completely collapsed; being alive... for him, and for the family, is nothing but endless pain and disgrace."

He took a deep breath, as each word squeezed through his teeth, cold and clear:

"Let him... go quietly."

The two Gray Shadow members remained as still as statues, with only the subtlest nod of acknowledgment.

"As you command, my lord."

Their response was like a whisper, without emotional fluctuation, as though they were merely acknowledging an ordinary command.

Just as the conversation ended, the two retreated into the shadow behind the tapestry without a sound, as if they had never appeared.

The study was once again left with only Earl Laurent.

As the tapestry fell back into place, the majesty he had been supporting leaked away like a pricked balloon, his whole body trembling violently once, stumbling, he held onto the cold window frame to avoid falling.

The last threads of sunlight from the sunset illuminated a face that had seemingly aged twenty years in an instant, two rows of murky tears finally slid uncontrollably down the wrinkled cheeks, dripping onto the luxurious carpet, spreading quickly, vanishing without a trace.

He had personally signed his son’s death warrant, for the continuance of the Laurent family, for that pure white falcon flag to keep flying over this red rock.

...

Leaving the heavy atmosphere of Red Rock Castle, Duke, accompanied by the butler Ossen, returned to the Knight Hall branch located in Power Square in Red Rock City.

Unlike the last time when they were taking on a mission, this time they were led into a quiet room designated for mission reporting.

The quiet room was not large, furnishings modest, with walls built of soundproof and spy-proof obsidian bricks, furnished only with a heavy wood table and several high-backed chairs.

A middle-aged knight with a stern expression, wearing the Knight Hall’s steward badge on his chest, was already waiting there, a crystal used for recording and a thick stack of dossiers on the table.

Ossen the butler stopped at the door, bowed and retreated, leaving the space to Duke and the steward.

"Duke Wizard, I am Stewart Raymond, in charge of verifying and recording this mission." The middle-aged knight’s voice showed the same precision as his expression, meticulous, "Please detail the mission execution process and outcome."

Duke sat across from the steward, his expression calm, beginning the narration.

He described arriving at Earl Laurent’s mansion, how he examined the death scene and discovered abnormal energy residue characteristics, not curse or evil spirit, but closer to phenomena of spiritual extraction and contamination.

He mentioned old florist Hans’s abnormal mental state, attributing it to prolonged exposure in such an abnormal energy field.

"...Based on this, I refocused the investigation on possible energy sources within the castle." Duke’s voice was steady and clear, "Ultimately, an activated but out-of-control illegal ritual base point was found in the castle’s underground area."

He deliberately omitted the Nightmare Plane, which would trigger the highest-level alert, instead opting for a more general, yet equally dangerous description:

"The ritual attempted to connect and extract energy from a high-risk Other Plane, its nature inclined towards spiritual erosion and distortion. The ritual itself had already lost control and gestated a materialized energy aberration, an amalgamation living on devouring living spirits’ spiritual origins.

The peculiar death incidents within the castle were all caused by this entity."