Chapter 52: Crowshade Headquarters, Playing House Daelthorn Twice
"Sir, it’s not about the report itself. It’s about the sender."
Lucien paused.
He looked up from the files and frowned.
"Show me."
Marcus—one of the new recruits—walked in and placed a tablet on the desk.
Lucien glanced at the screen.
...
User Profile
Name: Alan Veritus
Account ID: #U-349128
Class: 3-Star Mage
Exorcist Rank: Rank 0
Age: 16
Blood-Bound: Verified
Status: Normal User
Balance: $0
...
Lucien’s brows drew together.
"This is clearly fake. Who blood-verifies a profile like this just to push through a load of nonsense?"
Marcus scratched his neck. "That’s the problem, sir. The name might be fake, but the rest seems genuine."
Lucien leaned back in his chair, staring at the screen longer than usual.
"Genuine? It says he’s a three-star mage at sixteen. Why not claim he’s the heir of a hidden clan while we’re at it?"
He let out a quiet snort.
Earth’s mana levels were low. Without rare materials or a hidden clan’s support, no teenager could reach three-star Mage.
"S-Sir," Marcus began, "there’s more."
"Throw away the report." Lucien waved him off.
"But sir—"
Lucien frowned. He looked at Marcus’ face.
"Tsk, fine, show me what you want. But it better be worth my time."
"Thank you for the permission, sir!"
He reached into his pouch and pulled out a small, dark case. When he opened it, an amulet rested inside.
Lucien sat forward.
His eyes narrowed when he saw the engraving.
A silver snake coiled around an obsidian sword.
"This is... Daelthorn?"
"Yes, sir. The sender sold it through the courier system earlier today."
Lucien picked up the amulet carefully.
His thumb brushed the surface, tracing the fine ridges.
The weight was perfect. The finish was clean.
"It’s a real deal."
He set it down slowly and looked up at Marcus. His expression gave nothing away.
"So either this Alan Veritus is a Daelthorn... or he’s close enough to one to get something like this."
"Exactly, sir. But there’s more."
Lucien sighed.
"What is it?"
"The package was sent using a portal."
Lucien stared at him for a few seconds, wondering if he had misheard him.
"...Are you sure?" he asked when Marcus did not retract his statement.
"Yes, sir. I confirmed it with the courier who received the amulet."
Lucien leaned back, folding his arms.
His fingers tapped lightly on his sleeve as he thought.
Artifacts capable of opening portals were rare.
Only a few major Hidden Clans had them, and they were restricted to top members.
"This Alan Veritus..." Lucien said slowly, "the name’s fake. There is no Veritas Clan. But he must be someone high up in Exorcist society. Otherwise, there’s no way he could use a portal artifact."
He turned the amulet over one more time before setting it aside.
"Have we checked his blood against the database?"
"We have, sir. No matches were found," Marcus replied.
"None?" Lucien raised an eyebrow.
"None."
That was unusual.
Crowshade had blood samples of nearly every powerful Exorcist from all hidden clans.
If Alan Veritus was someone from a major house who could use their portal artifact, Crowshade should have had his blood sample.
"Did he log in today for the first time?"
"Yes, sir."
Lucien rubbed the bridge of his nose.
"Too many unknowns..."
Marcus waited, watching his superior quietly.
"Sir?"
"What is it?"
"What should we do with the report he sent? There’s no proof attached to show the method works."
"Send our people to verify the information."
"But sir—"
"Just do it."
Marcus hesitated but nodded. "Yes, sir."
Every field agent was valuable.
Even if someone sent detailed information, unless they attached proof that their information was correct, Crowshade won’t send their field agents.
If the information was wrong, the agent would die.
It was something Crowshade did not want to risk.
Video. Photo. Seal of verification from a major Hidden Clan. Anything would work as a proof.
But Alan hadn’t sent any of those.
"Sir, why are we ignoring the need for a proof in his case?" Marcus asked, hesitatingly.
Lucien was quiet for a moment.
Then he glanced at the amulet again.
"Think, Marcus. He used a portal. He sold a genuine Daelthorn amulet. What does all of this mean?"
"He... wants to hide his identity and he is poor and wants money?"
Lucien’s lips twitched.
Marcus was diligent when it came to work. It could be seen in how he showed Alan’s profile to him after noticing something about it was weird.
But sometimes, Marcus was slow.
"You are wrong. This was his proof. The portal, the amulet. He’s telling us he’s not some random idiot making things up."
He picked up the tablet again, stared at Alan’s profile.
"This is his way of saying: I’m someone high in the pecking order. Take my word seriously."
Marcus thought about his words and nodded. "Thank you for answering my question, sir."
Lucien tapped the side of the tablet.
"Send a small team to verify the Cursed Spirit location. Don’t engage. Just observe and report. If the data checks out, we’ll flag it for containment."
"Yes, sir. Anything else?"
"If the information is confirmed," Lucien said, "upgrade his account to VIP status."
"Understood, sir."
Lucien looked down at the amulet one more time, lost in thought.
Daelthorn didn’t train mages. They didn’t even like magic.
For someone affiliated with that family to be a 3-Star Mage at sixteen...
There were too many oddities about Alan Veritus.
’Is he someone from the Exiled Isle?’
That would explain the high rank of Alan despite being only sixteen-year-old, and why his blood sample was not registered with Crowshade.
’I’ll need to look into him.’
...
MC’s POV
I spent most of the night looking up how to get an official Cursed Spirit Hunter license.
The remains of a Cursed Spirit—or what they produced—were valuable for alchemy.
That alone made them targets for alchemists like me.
Some of the things they dropped couldn’t be found anywhere else, not even on the black market like Underworld.
I needed those materials. Which meant I needed to hunt Cursed Spirits myself.
The problem was, exorcising Cursed Spirits without a license could get me arrested.
That law wasn’t just to protect reckless Exorcists.
It was also for everyone else’s safety.
If someone without skill tried to fight a Cursed Spirit and messed up, it could make the Cursed Spirit evolve or lash out.
And when that happened, civilians usually paid the price.
"I can earn extra cash by hunting Cursed Spirits and get alchemy materials at the same time. It’s two birds with one stone."
There was another reason I wanted the license: Dad’s attackers.
By now, Nisha had probably told them that Alan Veritus, the so-called disciple of the Monkey King, killed Frank and exorcised the spirit that attacked Dad.
That was exactly why I told her I was the Monkey King’s disciple.
It wasn’t just for trust.
’Nisha’s smart. She’ll know I said that for a reason.’
While saving Dad, she must’ve fought the Exorcist Union.
Even if Dad regained his sanity, they’d still try to execute her for attacking their people.
But if she said she acted under the orders of the Monkey King’s disciple, they wouldn’t dare kill her.
’Even if she reveals Alan’s identity to a select few people, it will sooner or later leak to others.’
’As for proof of me being the Monkey King’s disciple, I already gave House Daelthorn proof of that when I left behind Monkey King’s staff after killing Frank.’
’They’ll have to let Nisha go.’
I leaned back in my chair.
’I’ve ruined House Daelthorn’s plans twice now. I hope they get angry enough to send someone after me.’
If the person behind Dad’s attack was arrogant, they’d send spies while I was taking the Cursed Spirit Hunter test.
That would be their chance to kill me.
’I can capture those spies and find out who wants Dad dead.’
Deaths inside a Cursed Spirit’s domain couldn’t be tracked.
Whoever wanted Dad gone might think killing me — the disciple of Monkey king — there would go unnoticed.
Of course, there was a chance they wouldn’t send anyone.
Maybe they were careful and patient.
But I hoped they weren’t.
I opened the Underworld’s main page and searched for the licensing section.
When I finally found it, I nearly coughed blood.
"Ten thousand dollars just to apply? And then I still have to pass a test?"
I glared at the screen.
"Why don’t these bandits just ask for my kidney while they’re at it?"
Slapping my thigh, I leaned back and exhaled.
Getting mad wouldn’t help.
I didn’t have ten grand anyway.
With no choice, I decided to wait until I had enough money to apply.
It wasn’t ideal, but once I got the license, I could earn it back fast through hunts.
The next morning, I had breakfast with Mom.
Dad still wasn’t home, but Mom looked relaxed and happy.
’Judging from her face, Nisha must’ve told her that Dad was rescued.’
I was relieved. Everything seemed to have been sorted out peacefully.
We ate mostly in silence, except for Mom reminding me not to rush and to chew properly. I nodded along, pretending to listen.
After we finished, she stood up and gestured to the hallway.
"Come on. Let’s do some reading in the study," she said with a smile.
I groaned inside but followed her.
The mansion’s study was quiet, and the books were already laid out on the low table.
Mom picked one up and sat beside me on the floor cushions.
The first story was about a tailor who accidentally defeated giants.
Then came a tale about a clever fox tricking a lazy tiger.
After that, a strange one about a boy and a talking fish.
I knew most of them already.
Still, I nodded and smiled when I needed to, pretending to be interested.
Mom looked happy, and that was enough reason to keep going.
After a few hours, I tried my best puppy-dog eyes.
"Mom, can I play some games for a bit?"
She frowned. "No, you’ve been playing too much lately. It’s bad for your eyes."
"Please?"
I upped my effort and made a cute face.
After a few minutes of begging, she sighed.
"Okay, but only for fifteen minutes. Then we’ll have lunch. Your dad should be home by then."
"Thank you! I love you, Mom!"
Her smile softened.
I moved to the desktop in the study. It was enough for my needs.
I switched it on, pulled the chair close, and climbed it with some struggle.
The angle of the screen faced away from the door and mom’s reading spot, so I wasn’t worried about her seeing what I was doing.
I logged back into the Underworld site.
The first thing I checked was my account balance.