This Bastard is Too Competent

Chapter 21: Hidden Power

Click.

Ian touched the groove in the bed. Then the bed moved on its own.

Drrrr… 

The bed was pushed forward and a door appeared. At first glance, it looked like the entrance to the dungeon.

Ian checked the door and raised the corners of his mouth.

‘It's certainly here.’

It was a suspicious entrance. 

It was too shabby to be an underground air defense built by a duke, and the shapes and phrases engraved around it were written in ancient language.

Ian slowly went down the stairs to the basement under the bed.

‘It's darker than I thought. I might trip if I step wrong.'

It was a very dark basement. He had to walk down while constantly paying attention to the senses in his hands and legs. The only way to walk was by relying on the light coming from the room behind.

Not to mention the smell leaking from the basement, the sultry air, and the bizarre howl of the wind. It wouldn’t be strange if even the boldest soldiers were to be frightened by the atmosphere.

‘If I do this right, the power that Karan had obtained will be mine.’

Ian's eyes gradually adapted to the dark, and he broke into a smile.

After going down for some time.

Tap!

Ian finally reached the end of the stairs.

But there was a big problem.

‘What? How come?’

At the end of the stairs was a small cave. But there was nothing inside.

It's literally an empty cavity.

Confused, Ian searched every corner, but there was really nothing inside.

‘This can't be happening.’

If Karan's power was not available, his plan would have gone awry. 

‘Damn… At this rate…'

It was then. 

“!”

Ian found something faint engraved on the floor. It had huge patterns and hard-to-read characters.

‘This is definitely an ancient language.’

But Ian couldn't read it. He had learned about ancient language when he was a prince, but he had never learned it properly.

Eventually, after scrutinizing the surroundings, Ian lamented.

‘Taking into account that Karan gained the power here, I can't even feel a speck of the magic power.’

Could it be that Karan was bluffing, and in fact, this space was only used as a warehouse or an air-raid shelter in ancient times?

In the end, Ian had no choice but to head up the stairs.

Just in case, Ian thought about looking for books related to ancient languages. 

But it was then.

“!!”

Suddenly, a huge roar resounded.

Groooo…

Ian looked down in bewilderment, but the sound didn’t come from underground.

Instead, the sound came from the ceiling!

Ian was appalled when he looked up.

‘No! The door!’

It was the sound of the entrance being closed. The moment Ian rushed to the entrance.

‘!’

Ian was taken by surprise. A silhouette was seen standing in the entrance.

He was in his late teens.

Silver hair that looked exactly like the Duke's younger self. His eyes were cold, but the corners of his mouth were full of playfulness.

‘The Duke’s third son!’

He was Karan, whose whereabouts in the castle were unknown. Originally, he was also the man who gained immense strength by visiting this place.

And at last, Karan, who appeared in front of Ian, curved up his lips.

"There's nothing there, you silly."

"No! Stop!"

Ian hurried toward the entrance.

However, it was faster for the entrance to close than for him to reach it.

Bang!

The door was closed right in front of Ian's eyes. The passageway, which relied on the small light from the entrance, was instantly plunged into darkness.

"That damn punk."

Ian fumbled around the door desperately. 

However, no matter how much he searched, there was no button to open the entrance. 

Ian kicked the door in frustration.

‘Strange, I didn’t notice him.’

Ian didn't expect Karan to be waiting for him in a place like this. 

Ian recalled Karan of the past. Although there was no close encounter, he was a particularly unusual child among the Duke's children.

‘He's a fickle man with excessive mood swings.’

Karan was born as the greatest genius in Garcia dukedom's history. He was very good at devising laws that would go down in history, but he was such a pain in the neck that the Duke was fed up with him. 

‘That guy. Did he follow me?’

It must be true.

Otherwise, he could not have closed the entrance this timely.

He must have already known about this underground.

‘Then don’t tell me he already got the power?’

No, it didn't seem like that.

Of course, that wasn't the important thing now.

"Ha… Of all things, I am trapped in a place with no exit.”

The wall was thick enough that nobody would hear him shouting. He came without telling anyone, so no one would come to look for him.

‘This might turn really dangerous.’

There was a possibility that Karan would open it again for him, but from what he said, it didn't seem like he would do it voluntarily. 

If this place was really important, it could not have been opened easily.

“At least I can only hope that Galon will suspect that jerk.”

As Ian sighed in dismay.

"Huh?"

Something rather strange happened after the door was closed.

Once the inside of the cave became pitch-black, something slowly glowed in the dark. 

It's the pattern on the floor. No, it wasn't just the floor.

The entire wall of the hidden room was illuminated with light.

Ian walked toward the cavity as if mesmerized by its beauty.

“Does it only show up when all the light disappears?”

It would only be revealed in complete darkness.

However, the paintings on the wall were more shocking than the light.

Humans as well as beasts and all kinds of things were drawn on it, and even their expressions felt vivid as if they were alive.

Among them, Ian paid attention to the figure carved at the top.

"Is that… the king? Emperor?"

It was a person wearing a gold crown. He stood with a sword raised as if he were a commander. And below that, seven beings were fighting with their respective weapons.

Some looked like knights and some looked like wizards.

‘The Seven Virtues?’

They were certainly beings that only showed up in ancient myths. 

According to old tales, they were having a fierce battle with beings that looked like monsters.

Ian couldn't take his eyes off the painting on the iron door for a while.

"No, it's not the time for this. I have to find the exit."

It was when he turned around.

‘!’

A sentence began to be engraved amid the magnificent paintings.

There wasn't anything else.

[The one who wants to prove his eligibility. Show your conviction.]

Ian was perplexed.

‘Is this the trigger condition?’

It was very likely that it was the power that Karan had obtained. But Ian was in trouble.

Show his conviction? Was conviction something that could be seen?

At that time, new letters were engraved under the sentence.

[Prove your eligibility and conviction with blood.]

"Blood?"

He didn't know why.

Ian drew the dagger from his waist as if in a trance.

***

"You idiot. There's nothing there."

Karan, the third son of the Duke, burst into a frenzied laugh. 

The image of Ian falling into despair as the door closed was still vivid in his mind.

"Look for it down there all your life. You won’t find anything special."

The secret passage that Ian visited was a historical place for the family of Duke Garcia, a contributor to the founding of the kingdom.

Apparently, it had been around since the First King and the first duke’s era.

So, they wondered if there were any hidden secrets or treasures, but they couldn't find anything significant even after all the previous dukes and their children were mobilized.

So were the patterns on the floor and the ancient words written on the walls.

‘The patterns on the floor don't mean much. And the ancient words written on the wall…’

It was just a historical story. 

The story of the king and his servants in ancient times.

Everyone especially came to despise it when they realized that those nonsensical words were not different from a self-praise to one knight. 

Due to this, the former dukes treated that room as trash.

This was because it cost a lot of money for asking many scholars to interpret the ancient words.

Of course, Karan had a different view on this.

‘It can’t be that simple. Looking at the fact that there are no flaws after being attacked in any means, there must be some kind of secret.’

Karan couldn't give up the secret and continued to challenge for years. However, Ian's sudden behavior piqued his interest.

"Keep trying to get out of there until you drain yourself to death, little boy. You see, I think you're going to have to go through some trouble."

Of course, it wasn’t that he hated Ian. 

Ian did not only mess up Heinley, the good-for-nothing second oldest brother with a dirty personality, but he also fooled an assassin.

So, he was an interesting fellow.

"I wonder how long that kid will last down there?"

In the past, a servant was imprisoned there and came out as a corpse after three days.

‘Still, he's the one who made my father in trouble, so I hope he lasts for four days. Hmm, will he?’

It would have been fortunate enough if that boy wasn’t scared to death from the darkness with no light before that.

In fact, even Karan had never closed the door from inside because he was scared. However, as a genius, he discovered something about the room after only looking at the structure roughly. 

‘When the door is closed, the inside becomes a completely dark room due to its structure.’

It was when Karan walked out of Ian's room. 

"Young Master Karan? Why are you coming out from there?"

“!”

It was none other than Nathan and Galon who appeared in front of him.

Karan smiled at the sight of them being wary of him.

"Why do you ask? They say from now on I will be in charge of the prince, so I came to see him and say hello. But he’s not here."

Nathan looked at him incredulously.

"Oh. Karan… Young Master said hello?"

This guy was never the type to greet someone in respect.

In fact, he once did not greet the royal family, which infuriated a prince, and when the prince made Karan greet him, he instead broke the prince’s leg and was banned from entering the palace.

But who came to say hello to whom now?

Karan smirked at the look of Nathan's doubtful eyes.

“But what are the knights doing here? I understand that Sir Galon is the prince's escort…"

Karan's wicked eyes turned toward Nathan.

“But why is Sir Nathan, who should be my escort, here?”

Nathan smirked.

‘This crazy young master.’

"I've been looking for you, Young Master, because you are not in one place all the time. I have something to say to the prince."

"What do you want to tell him?"

"Why should I tell you that, Young Master?"

"Did you have a few screws loose after skipping the training? I'm in charge of the prince. He’s away, so if it's urgent, I'd better listen in his stead."

“Haa…”

Nathan shook his head.

He was worried about whether he could tell Karan about this.

‘He's outstanding, but he's like a foal.’

But in the end he had no choice but to open his mouth.

“I received a message that the Second Prince had arrived at the Duke's castle. But they said that they wanted to see Prince Ian by all means…”

The opponent was a strong enemy in the succession war.

There was no reason for him to look for Ian who appeared out of nowhere.

It was only natural that the Duke ordered Ian to be protected. Right then, Galon stopped him, gesturing to not say anything more to Karan.

"So, where is the prince?"

"Why are you asking me that? I'm here to say hello, but he isn’t present.”

Galon only stared at Karan instead of answering. His eyes were telling him not to lie, but Karan was relaxed.

‘Nobody can hear anything from down there. Doubt it for the rest of your life. Do you think I will get caught?’

As the three were having a silent staredown.

Bang!

A loud noise rang out from the castle entrance close to the annex.

And the garden connected to the entrance was the only way to the annex!

The three of them frowned at the sound and ran outside. 

The person who appeared there was…

"So, where's my brother? He said he was in the annex, so I came to see him personally."

The Second Prince. 

Behind his back were a bunch of armed knights and soldiers. 

Galon and Nathan frowned. However, Galon quickly cleared up his expression and stood in front of the Second Prince.

"I’m sorry, but Prince Ian is currently away for a while for something else. Please come back another time.”

At first glance, it sounded polite.

But of course, his voice had an edge to it. It was only natural. Because the behavior of the Second Prince now was very rude.

However, the Second Prince raised the corners of his mouth sarcastically.

"Something else?"

He glared at the knight with an eerie look. 

His spirit was tremendous. 

"My younger brother seems to be very scared of me. How could he put a knight in front of him and hide himself?”

Karan, who was watching the scene leisurely, smiled and opened his mouth as if it had been planned.

“The Seventh Prince disappeared as soon as he heard the news of Your Highness’ arrival. And it seems like it will take a considerable amount of time to find him…”

At Karan's words, the Second Prince furrowed his eyebrows.

But right at that moment.

Flash!

"Wh… What? That!”

“Ugh, so bright!”

Light poured out of the annex from the space where Ian was supposed to be.

Everyone, even Karan, couldn’t close their open mouths as they stared at that place.

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