NOVPUB[There were many nobles from the Kingdom of Durmang who fled to other nations in exile, but only one matched the criteria you gave me, hyung-nim.]
“Where?”
[The House of Duke Febius.]
Febius?
That name was completely unfamiliar.
Five years ago, when I was operating under the name Abraham van Helsing, the Kingdom of Durmang was my main stage.
After I ✪ Nоvеlіgһt ✪ (Official version) hunted the Beast of Jévaudan, I came to be known as a great hunter, and many people tried to make contact—mostly nobles who wanted me under their control.
But even among those noble houses, I never once heard the name Febius.
It wasn’t something I heard and forgot.
A ducal house is a position you can’t help but remember. The fact that I have no memory of it at all means it’s truly my first time hearing it.
“There was such a ducal house? I never saw anything like that while working as a hunter.”
[Well, that’s no surprise. At the time you and I met, the House of Febius no longer existed in Durmang.]
Didn’t exist? A ducal house?
“Sounds like I need the full story.”
[As you know, the Kingdom of Durmang began its collapse five years ago, right after the Night of Blood.]
“That’s right.”
Due to the cryptid overgrowth, the kingdom completely lost the trust of its people.
While the extermination of the cryptids ended in success, the damage was catastrophic.
The estimated losses were astronomical.
So did the kingdom compensate its citizens?
‘Compensate? Don’t make me laugh. They were too busy lining their own pockets.’
To the nobles, it didn’t matter how many commoners died.
In fact, with fewer revolutionaries to worry about, they probably felt relieved.
That kind of behavior sparked the rage of a people who had already been pushed to their limit.
Most of all, the fact that the one who defeated the Beast of Jévaudan wasn’t a knight or a mage, but a mere hunter—that was like pouring oil on an open flame.
And as we all know, the result was revolution.
‘The people, angrier than ever before, took up the banner of revolution. The royal family, desperate to survive, offered up the nobles as scapegoats.’
The royals were just as rotten as the nobles, but they had at least one redeeming quality—fast reflexes.
By quickly condemning the noble class, the royal family was able to maintain at least a nominal hold on the name Durmang.
‘Many nobles were executed, and those who grasped the severity of the situation attempted to flee abroad with their entire families.’
In short, the nobles of Durmang began fleeing to other countries after the Night of Blood.
But the House of Febius fled before all that happened.
They left years before the revolution? That didn’t make sense.
“...So it wasn’t exile. It was escape.”
[Didn’t even say anything, and you already figured it out. You’re right. They ran.]
“Ran from what?”
[That’s what I wondered too, so I looked into it... and the story gets strange. Incident? Actually, calling it an incident is a little too vague.]
On the other side of the crystal, Hans sounded like he wasn’t sure whether he should be saying this out loud.
“Just say it.”
[Hmm. Before the House of Febius fled, rumors spread that the family was cursed.]
A curse?
Ludger fell silent at the unexpected word.
Hans continued.
[One day, a family elder just disappeared.]
“An elder went missing. That’s enough to call it a curse?”
[The problem is it didn’t end there. One by one, people associated with the family began vanishing. The worst of it was when the former patriarch, who had already stepped down, burned to death alive.]
“Burned alive?”
[The strange part is that it wasn’t a house fire. The mansion was untouched. Only the patriarch himself burst into flames out of nowhere.]
The story was so outlandish, no one believed it at first—even when rumors began to spread.
In the end, fear took root.
People began to say the House of Febius had been struck by divine punishment.
“Judging by the pattern, I assume the other missing elders...”
[Yes. They all burned to death too. Just like the former head, they suddenly went up in flames and turned to ash. The family tried their best to cover it up, but eventually it got out.]
“A bizarre affair.”
[Exactly. A strange one. They were a ducal house—security must have been airtight, and the family itself was full of skilled mages.]
And yet, one after another, they all burned.
No wonder people called it divine retribution rather than assassination.
“So that’s why they fled like exiles—because something was killing them off.”
The Febius family must have realized it too.
Whether it was a curse or something else, something had targeted them.
So they ran.
Split up, scattered, hiding across the continent.
And what followed them...
...was an avatar of vengeance — born from death, malice, hatred, and sorrow.
A fire god of retribution.
“Any survivors of the House of Febius?”
[Only one.]
Only one?
I didn’t know how many members the Febius family had.
But they held a duke’s title — they must have been numerous. Easily more than a hundred.
“So all the others are dead.”
[Yes. Every one of them. All died by burning.]
Burned alive. Every single one.
Esmeralda had hunted them down, one by one.
“Still, surely the mages didn’t just sit there and let it happen. Did they resist?”
[They did. They hired people, brought in knights, did everything they could. But in the end, you know how that turned out.]
“I see.”
[Also, I looked at the arson incidents in chronological order... and something odd stood out. The scale of the fires kept increasing.]
“The scale increased?”
I heard the sound of paper rustling through the crystal — Hans must have been flipping through the materials he’d gathered.
[At first, it was only the target. A terrified noble might have dozens of bodyguards, but somehow, only he would go up in flames.]
“So it didn’t touch anyone else at first.”
[But gradually, as each new incident happened, the damage started to spread — not just to the Febius survivor, but to everything around them.]
It started with just the victims.
Then their surroundings.
Then the entire room they were in.
[It kept escalating until the final incident — when an entire mansion burned to the ground.]
I thought back to Quasimodo, the fire spirit that appeared at the banquet.
Back then, it made sense that he raged the moment he arrived. But prior to that, had he only destroyed specific targets?
‘At first, the damage was limited to those involved in the revenge. Then it spread? The narrow targeting itself is surprising, but the increasing scale... Was there a shift in mindset?’
I recalled the past I’d seen of Esmeralda through the painting spell.
The night of the Great Fire of Roteng—when she staggered and disappeared into the forest’s darkness. What happened to her afterward, I didn’t know.
How did she end up joining the Black Dawn? I didn’t know that either.
“Hans. Then who is the last survivor of the Febius family?”
[A guy named Krolro Febius. He’s the final survivor, and the current head of the Febius family.]
“The head is still alive?”
[According to my findings, yes.]
“So where is this Krolro Febius now?”
[You didn’t know?]
What was I supposedly unaware of?
Seeing my reaction, Hans answered in a reluctant tone.
[Uh, that man... He’s a teacher at Seorn. Right now.]
* * *
The faculty-exclusive housing within Seorn.
Ludger stopped in front of one particular building.
‘This is the place.’
The nameplate at the entrance read: [Krolro Febius].
‘He really was working here as a teacher at Seorn.’
So this is what they mean when they say, “The darkest place is under the lamp.”
Who would’ve imagined—the last surviving member of the Febius family, whom First Order Esmeralda had been hunting down, was here at Seorn all along?
‘Could it be that Esmeralda infiltrated Seorn to kill this man?’
Everything Esmeralda had done up to now had been in pursuit of vengeance—eliminating the remnants of the Febius family.
One by one, she had hunted them down, and the last that remained was the current head of the family.
And he had taken refuge here—at Seorn Academy.
‘It’s strange. For someone who joined the Black Dawn, she acted solely for her own revenge? Would the Zero Order really tolerate that?’
Without knowing the personality of the Zero Order, Ludger couldn’t say for sure.
Ding-dong.
Ludger pressed the doorbell.
But there was no response from inside.
‘He has to be here.’
Ludger had already stopped by Krolro Febius’s faculty office before coming here.
Although Krolro was officially a teacher at Seorn, in truth, he was more like an honorary one.
He hadn’t passed any teacher qualification exams. He was granted the position as a condition of his exile from the Kingdom of Durmang.
He had a personal office, yes—but he rarely showed up for work.
‘So he must be home.’
Was he still asleep?
Ludger rang the bell a few more times, then shook his head and grabbed the doorknob.
“...”
A moment of silence.
Ludger cautiously removed his hand from the knob and stepped back slightly.
Clack!
Suddenly, the door burst open and a spell shot out from inside.
A spell?
It was a surprise attack, but Ludger stayed calm.
He activated Source Code magic, instantly deploying a mana shield in front of him.
The incoming spell scattered harmlessly against it.
‘Weak power. A rushed spell, not carefully cast.’
But that didn’t guarantee another attack wouldn’t follow.
There weren’t any onlookers right now, but if things got noisy, it would definitely draw attention.
Having made his decision, Ludger dashed forward and jumped through the open door.
“H-Hiiiek!”
A frightened shout rang out from inside.
Though it was broad daylight, the interior of the house was dark. Light barely reached through the windows—but Ludger could see everything clearly.
A toppled wooden table lay on its side. Behind it, Krolro Febius was cowering, pointing a wand in Ludger’s direction.
There you are.
Without slowing down, Ludger lunged forward.
The tip of Krolro’s wand flashed, and a beam of light shot toward him.
A 3rd-circle light-attribute burst spell. Narrow in range but with strong penetration. Too powerful for a hastily constructed shield to block.
But the beam sliced through empty air.
“W-What the...?!”
Krolro’s jaw dropped at Ludger’s movement—far too agile for a mage.
In the next moment, Ludger vaulted over the table. His right hand clamped over Krolro’s mouth while his left twisted the arm holding the wand.
“Mmhhk!”
“Quiet. Planning to advertise to the whole street?”
Ludger whispered gently.
That seemed to register—Krolro stopped trying to scream.
Once he calmed down, Ludger slowly released him.
“Hah... Hah... W-Who are you?”
“Ludger Cherish.”
Ludger straightened his back.
“I’m the newly appointed instructor.”
“T-Teacher...?”
“You’re Krolro Febius, yes?”
“Y-Yes, I am.”
Only then did Krolro realize Ludger wasn’t an enemy, and let out a sigh of relief.
Ludger glanced around the room.
It was a mess. He hadn’t cleaned in ages, and the air was thick with a musty stench.
He walked toward the window to let in some fresh air, but Krolro panicked and yelled,
“D-Don’t open that!”
“There’s dust everywhere.”
“This is my house! Leave it alone!”
It wasn’t for magical reasons—his eyes were full of fear.
Ludger studied Krolro Febius carefully.
It was their first time meeting, but Ludger felt the man looked strangely familiar.
‘This man...’
His once-lustrous blonde hair was dull and colorless.
He looked like he hadn’t bathed or slept in days. Deep dark circles under his eyes, and a messy, unshaven beard.
Krolro Febius.
The last survivor of the Febius family.
And—
The man who caused the Great Fire of Roteng.
There was no way Ludger could forget the image he’d seen through the painting spell.
‘And now that I think about it—’
Wasn’t he the man talking with Instructor Selina the other day?
Ludger had only seen him from behind then, but the blond hair, the build, the overall presence—it all matched.
‘And yet he’s still alive after doing that.’
Disgust surged within him, but Ludger pushed it down.
This wasn’t about punishing Krolro Febius for his crimes.
That wasn’t the priority right now.
Ludger released the curtain and slowly approached Krolro.
Clatter.
He picked up a nearby wooden chair, set it down in front of Krolro, and sat.
“Krolro Febius.”
“Wh-What...?”
Krolro heard Ludger say his name—and in his voice, he felt something he couldn’t defy.
He had just relaxed, thinking this was merely a fellow teacher—but now, what was this overwhelming presence?
In the darkness, Ludger’s eyes seemed to glow faintly red.
“Let’s have a talk.”
There was no option to refuse.
