How to Use the Lord’s Future Diary

Chapter 110

Chapter 110

When we discovered the Mana Stone Mine.

Deep inside the mine, there had been a stone chamber, and on its walls, rather deep sword marks were engraved.

They were traces of someone swinging a weapon using Aura.

‘Everyone was shocked. They thought some lunatic had gone wild.’

Since such madness could’ve easily caused the mine to collapse, I, too, remembered being dumbfounded.

‘And now they’re saying that lunatic was me?’

Absurdly enough, that lunatic turned out to be me.

They said the moment they found those marks, they were certain I was the one who made them.

But I couldn’t just laugh it off.

“Come on, brother, it’s you. I could tell right away.”

“What nonsense are you spouting?”

“Who else in our territory could leave marks like that with a greatsword? You were the only one who ever entered this mine in the first place.”

“Well… that’s true.”

That part was right.

In my memory, Iron used to enter this mine alone from time to time.

But all Iron had ever found was a wall of dirt—nothing else.

He hadn’t even discovered the stone chamber, much less gone inside it.

—Isn’t your memory a bit fuzzy to be that certain?

‘Well….’

When I transmigrated into Iron, I inherited most of his memories, but not everything.

Especially around the time of the assassination incident—those memories were extremely hazy.

‘But that’s hardly proof that I did something like that, right?’

I tilted my head, thinking that didn’t make sense, when Rudick grabbed my arm.

Saying he’d show me proof, he led me into the stone chamber.

“Here, line it up. Look at this mark—it’s definitely your greatsword’s work.”

“Wait a second.”

Three of the chamber walls had collapsed while extracting Mana Stones, leaving only the ceiling intact.

The traces of destruction even reached the ceiling, and comparing my greatsword to them wasn’t all that difficult.

Following Rudick’s lead, I raised my greatsword to the ceiling marks for comparison.

“What the….”

“See? Perfect match.”

And to my surprise, the width of the marks aligned almost exactly with my greatsword.

If I had swung it coated with Aura, such a small discrepancy made perfect sense.

“Isn’t it far more likely that you got drunk and wandered in here swinging your sword than that some outsider suddenly broke in and left marks?”

—Oh, that’s a convincing argument.

Rudick’s theory did sound plausible.

After all, no sane man would swing a greatsword imbued with Aura inside a mine.

That part had always felt strange.

Leaving such marks inside a mine was far too dangerous.

But back then, Iron had been living half out of his mind.

It was at that moment Rudick’s claim—that the madman who had gone wild deep in the mine was Iron—gained weight.

‘No way… this man really….’

Of course, Iron had been half-crazed searching for his former wife, drinking everything he could get his hands on until his mind was gone.

‘But to think he went this far….’

At this point, it seemed like Iron’s disappearance and my transmigration into him might have been only half a coincidence—perhaps even a natural death of sorts.

He must have truly been desperate to die.

‘Then that means… there was no outside intruder.’

—Good. That was something that had been bothering you, wasn’t it?

‘True, it’s a relief… but still….’

—What now?

‘If that lunatic was me, then the one who picked up that round thing hidden inside the chamber… was also me, right?’

The sword marks weren’t the only traces found during the investigation of the chamber.

That madman’s (Iron’s) sword strikes had destroyed a secret mechanism built into one side of the chamber, and something round had rolled out. Someone had picked it up.

It must have been the lunatic who destroyed the mechanism while swinging his sword.

If that lunatic was me, then I was also the one who picked up that object—but I had no memory of seeing any round object in Iron’s room.

Even Iron’s memories contained no trace of such a thing.

—Is that really so important?

‘Not particularly, but still….’

Something about it just felt unsettling.

If something had been hidden in a chamber like that, it was unlikely to be ordinary—and I had no idea where it had gone.

To make things worse, the timing was suspicious. Iron’s deranged behavior had taken place not long before the assassination incident.

He must have gone on that rampage around then.

That was also about the time the Diary started showing Iron strange visions—and not long after that, I transmigrated into him.

‘It can’t all just be coincidence, can it?’

Maybe it was, but I couldn’t shake the feeling that there was a connection somewhere.

Which only made the unease worse.

—Hmm, now that you mention it….

After thinking for a moment, the rabbit nodded and offered a suggestion.

If I really wanted to know, there was a way to find out.

—There’s a shamanic spell called the “Mirror of Memory.”

‘Mirror of Memory?’

—It’s a spell that allows one to retrieve forgotten memories. Especially effective when the mind was clouded by alcohol.

‘There’s really such a thing?’

—It’s an advanced spell. But if it’s that fox female, she could at least attempt it.

Could Shamanism really do things like that?

For me, magic, shamanism, and divine power were all foreign concepts.

Thanks to Iron’s memories, I only knew the basics.

But even Iron hadn’t known anything about shamanism.

If what the rabbit said was true, this art had more uses than I’d thought.

‘Well, the Shamanic Map itself was quite impressive and useful.’

Yuria, the Fox Tribe’s chieftain, was clearly a master in this field.

The title of Great Shaman hadn’t come without reason.

If compared to a knight’s rank, she’d probably be on par with a Master.

Though it was said to be a high-level spell, if it was Yuria, it might be worth asking.

‘But she’s been so busy lately….’

I wasn’t sure if it was right to trouble her with this now.

All trade operations and information gathering had to go through Yuria.

She didn’t handle everything personally, but even just overseeing and verifying things seemed to keep her constantly occupied.

Given the Fox Tribe’s command structure, nothing seemed to progress properly without passing through her hands.

‘And the one who dumped that pile of work on Yuria was me.’

I’d told her to start by collecting information about New Level and even instructed her to send out several merchant teams.

And now, I had to ask her to “do this” again.

‘She already looked on edge because of Albert.’

The uproar at Hawrun Castle and the mass relocation had briefly buried the issue, but the reason the Black Lions had attacked the underground prison of Hawrun Castle was to take Albert McBane.

Albert, who had tried to use the Imperial bastards, ended up getting betrayed instead. Afterward, we received word that he was now imprisoned in the underground jail. That was when things began to get complicated.

Eventually, Albert was rescued safely and transported to our territory.

Whether because the Imperial bastards’ betrayal had been too sudden or because of the torture, his mind was half gone, and his body was in poor condition. Still, he wasn’t in immediate danger of dying.

Compared to his other brothers and sisters from the Merchant Group who were executed on the spot, his state was actually better.

‘The Empire acted like the Empire always does. But we gained quite a bit from it.’

From my point of view, it was just a case of both sides trying to betray each other, and Albert happened to get hit first. Even so, he seemed to hold deep resentment toward the Imperial bastards.

He willingly told us everything he knew about the Empire.

After spilling every last detail, Albert passed away as though he had done all he needed to do.

There wasn’t even a hint of remorse or regret on his face—it was clean and final.

‘It’s a shame we couldn’t identify the Hidden Mastermind, but the intel was still quite valuable.’

Albert had been connected not only to the Imperial bastards but also to the Hidden Mastermind.

Naturally, he possessed information on that side as well.

However, the Hidden Mastermind wasn’t foolish enough to reveal their own identity.

All we learned was that the Hidden Mastermind was a high-ranking person within New Level.

The first person that came to mind upon hearing that was Deron Level, but something told me it wasn’t him.

‘If someone that obvious were the Hidden Mastermind, that’d be stranger, wouldn’t it?’

Still, just knowing the Hidden Mastermind was within New Level was a major discovery.

‘Anyway, Albert’s gone now. No matter how much she hated him, family is still family. Watching your last remaining family die right in front of you—it had to be a shock.’

—Beastmen tend to have stronger family bonds than humans.

And indeed, since Albert McBane’s death, Yuria hadn’t looked well.

Though she was human, she and Albert were true siblings by blood. With Albert gone, Yuria had lost her last remaining family member.

It was impossible for her not to be shaken.

—So, are you just going to let it go?

‘Not exactly. I’ll ask first. If she says she’s not up for it, I’ll postpone it. By the way, does this spell require much preparation?’

—Not really. It’s just exhausting, that’s all.

‘That’s a relief.’

Though the timing wasn’t ideal, I decided to at least ask.

If there was a problem, she’d refuse on her own.

“This is a mess.”

When I arrived at Yuria’s office, it was absolute chaos.

Shamanic scrolls were spread everywhere, and members of the Fox Tribe were constantly moving in and out, organizing and compiling reports. The entire place buzzed with activity.

‘She’s in her own world, that woman.’

—Isn’t her very existence a piece of art? That female shines on her own.

Even amid that chaos, Yuria stood out brilliantly.

Her slightly tired complexion couldn’t diminish her beauty.

If anything, it only added to her charm—awakening a sense of protectiveness.

Though she had her eccentric moments, her looks were always overwhelming.

“Heh, the Mirror of Memory? How do you even… Oh, right. You’re the Guide.”

Yuria was momentarily startled when I, a human, asked her to perform a shamanic spell that wasn’t even well known among Beastmen. But when she recalled that I was the Guide, she nodded in understanding.

Still, given the spell’s high level, she paused to think.

After a brief moment of contemplation, Yuria nodded and agreed to perform the spell.

“It’s possible. But it won’t be perfect.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, it’s an advanced spell. Manipulating the mind or memories is the hardest kind of shamanism. The results matter, but the real challenge is avoiding side effects.”

“That makes sense.”

Even though it was an advanced spell, Yuria said it was worth trying.

It was a little disappointing that it wouldn’t be perfect, but I decided to go ahead anyway.

Given the circumstances, trying anything was better than nothing.

If something went wrong, I’d think about it then.

“Alright, sit comfortably.”

Since we’d already decided, we began right away.

No reason to delay it.

We moved to a quiet place, and following her instruction, I sat down comfortably.

“Now, let’s begin.”

Yuria came up behind me, gently brushed her hand through my hair, and began chanting.

Her incantation was in a Beastman tongue I couldn’t understand. As the chant continued, a powerful and unfamiliar energy began to surge from within her.

Among Beastmen, shamans and priestesses held a position similar to priests among humans.

Perhaps the power she released was something akin to Divine Power.

“Oh… this is….”

As her chanting ended, a vision began to unfold before my eyes.

It was a sight all too familiar to me.

That’s exactly how the illusions shown by the Diary began.

‘So that’s how it is.’

They said the Diary contained the power of Bestia—perhaps that meant it was connected to shamanic power as well.

If a shaman was like a priest of Bestia, then shamanic spells, too, were akin to divine incantations—borrowing the power of the gods.

So it wasn’t strange that the illusions from the Diary and the Mirror of Memory were similar.

‘What matters now is what this vision will show me.’

I focused intently on the vision unfolding before my eyes, my heart tightening with anticipation.