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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 33
Chapter Title: Killing Two Birds with One Stone (2)
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3.
"We don't have much time, so let's discuss the details later. If this information turns out to be false, Kalligo will be held responsible."
"How terrifying. But don't you worry. We're already in the same boat."
"That's right, little brother Karron. What reason would we have to lie to the Leston Ducal Family?"
"…Haa. I'll see you later, Your Highness, the Sixth Prince. I must be going now, I'm busy."
Having received all the necessary information from Poina, Karron and his group immediately departed.
Thus, only Rebellio, Poina, and Mason remained in the reception room.
Rebellio smiled as he gazed at the door.
"You like my new little brother, don't you, sis?"
"What do you mean, 'little brother'? We just met today. I have no idea what goes on in that head of yours. Don't you agree, Sir Mason?"
"This is hardly the first time the Prince has acted this way. I gave up trying to understand him long ago."
Poina sighed and looked at her sworn brother.
"I hate getting involved with the Imperial Family, but getting entangled with the Leston Ducal Family is even worse. One wrong move and our entire organization could be swept away."
"But the result was good, wasn't it? Plus, I got a new little brother out of it."
The prince took a bite of an apple that was on the table.
Sweet juice filled his mouth.
"The apples you used to give me when we were kids were so sour, remember?"
"That was right after I came to this city to save my people, so I had no money. You were a real castaway back then, weren't you?"
"Let's be precise. Not just cast aside, but completely abandoned. If it weren't for Sir Mason, I would've been assassinated and killed long ago, just like my mother. And I'm still an abandoned child, you know?"
Rebellio briefly recalled memories of the past.
The days when his mother was still alive.
His childhood, when he was forced to flee the Imperial Palace to survive the other empresses, was still vivid in his mind.
In the process, his mother was murdered by an assassin sent by someone. If Mason, sent by the Emperor, had arrived even a moment later, he too would have died then.
After that, Rebellio grew up in Tebe until he returned to the Imperial Palace at the age of fifteen.
That was why, to him, Tebe was his hometown.
It was the perfect city to live in while hiding his identity, and he could learn anything here.
Poina, the leader of Kalligo, was someone he had met back then.
"You know, if you think about it, I have a pretty significant stake in Kalligo, right?"
"That was the tuition I received in exchange for teaching you magic. It was fair compensation for my labor."
"Even so, you can't deny that the money came from my pocket."
Poina quietly watched the bantering Rebellio.
She could still not forget the hate-filled gaze this boy had shown in his youth.
He might be hiding that hatred with a smile now, but such a deep emotion could not have simply vanished.
"I came here thinking I'd have to sell my own bloodline on the black market, but now there's no need. I should save it to sell later."
"So the rumors about the Emperor's failing health are true?"
"Thanks to that, the nobles are in an uproar. Even though the Emperor's seat is just a figurehead position, you can't ignore its symbolism. That damn father of mine. I hope he stays alive until I can send him to his grave from sheer frustration."
Rebellio had originally come down to Tebe to find sponsors.
Unlike the capital, which was centered around the nobility, this was a place where even non-nobles could exert influence over the Empire.
However, this incident created a point of contact with the Leston Ducal Family.
He was lucky.
Perhaps the misfortunes of his childhood were finally being paid back now.
"Looks like I'm going to profit, thanks to those old men who advocate for war."
The war faction.
War-mongers who constantly insisted that the Empire's mighty power needed to be projected outward.
It was highly likely that their influence was behind this attack.
"It's obvious, seeing as they even sent down the Imperial Guard."
The Imperial Guard, the knights of the Imperial Family, did not come down to investigate this incident.
They were most likely here to destroy any evidence in preparation for unforeseen circumstances.
After all, a faction that followed the war-mongers existed within the Imperial Guard.
"If the Leston Ducal Family secures the evidence, what do you think will happen?"
Rebellio answered Poina's question as if he had been waiting for it.
"The giant that has been quiet until now will finally make a move."
"Things are about to get noisy."
"I guarantee you, at the center of that commotion will be Karron Leston. What do you think, Sir Mason?"
"A 4-star at the age of thirteen would be on par with Duke Halo at the same age. And that sword the boy was holding… even I found it frightening."
Mason had seen many of the Leston Ducal Family's treasured swords with his own eyes. But Karron's sword was so eerie it couldn't be compared to the others.
When he first saw it, he had mistaken it for a demonic sword, not a treasured one.
"He will undoubtedly grow into a monster."
"Isn't he already a monster compared to his peers?"
"He will become an even more terrible existence than he is now."
It wasn't a guess, but a certainty.
He had felt it when he looked into the thirteen-year-old boy's eyes.
An unyielding spirit that did not break even in front of the strong. Those with such a spirit are destined to rise to the ranks of the powerful.
Spirit is something one is born with.
"I may not trust my own judgment, but I have to trust Sir Mason's, sis."
"I felt it too, even without Sir Mason's explanation. You little brat."
Poina let out a deep sigh.
"Humans are so strange. What on earth are they thinking, messing with the Leston Ducal Family?"
Duke Halo, who led the Leston Ducal Family, was the continent's greatest hero. The great hero who had ended the dark age by deposing the Evil Emperor. In her common sense, it was utterly incomprehensible to provoke such people.
Rebellio answered Poina's question simply.
"It's because they haven't experienced it. That's just how humans are."
It had been nearly fifty years since the Leston Ducal Family had involved themselves in the Empire's affairs.
After they deposed the Evil Emperor, the Leston Ducal Family, following Duke Halo's will, had lived quietly in their domain.
When a favor continues, humans start to think it's their right.
Especially when greed blinds them.
"I don't understand why people do things they'll regret."
"Everyone becomes like that when greed blinds them. If humans didn't do things they'd regret, why would the word 'regret' even exist?"
The prince leaned back comfortably on the sofa and closed his eyes.
"It's like a cow catching a mouse by stepping backward. This is why the world is so interesting. Who would have thought a coincidence like this would happen?"
"You were lucky."
"Sis. Luck is a skill, too. And this is what people usually call fate."
At Rebellio's words, Poina let out a loud sigh. Then she took a sip of her tea.
It was the tea she always drank. But today, it tasted a little different.
"…I think I can taste blood in the tea."
Because of the information she had given, a storm of blood would soon rage somewhere in this magnificent city.
But she decided not to care much.
It would be a just price for foolish humans to pay.
4.
Late at night.
A grand mansion located in the western district of Tebe.
This was the residence of the master of the O-yoon Merchant Guild, a major power bloc in the Tebe Council.
A magnificent mansion with a beautiful garden to match.
In the garden, which should have been quiet for the night, the mansion's servants were bustling about, loading luggage onto a carriage.
"Hoo."
The guild master, O-yoon, watched the scene from the second floor of the mansion and let out a deep sigh.
Where did it all go so wrong?
He tilted the wine glass in his hand, a bitter expression on his face.
*The Imperial Guard will be dispatched immediately to erase all evidence, so do not worry. Once this is over, I promise you a noble title.*
Perhaps cooperating with their plan so readily was the mistake from the start.
They asked him to procure explosives, so he did.
But he never dreamed they would use those explosives to attack the Leston Ducal Family.
O-yoon let out a wry smile as he recalled his past.
"It's all my fault."
He had amassed a fortune that was unimaginable for a commoner.
He should have been satisfied with that, but his eyes naturally drifted toward a noble title.
The status of a noble, something he had yearned for his entire life.
Unlike himself, who had lived his life being looked down on for being a commoner, he wanted his children, at least, to live with the treatment of nobles.
So he established connections with the central political circle.
It had been fifteen years since he started funding them and handling their dirty work.
Everything he had done was for the goal of a noble title.
He had thought this incident was just another one of those tasks.
"Heh heh."
He didn't want to blame anyone.
All of this had started from his own greed.
The only consolation was that he had sent his family away in advance.
The moment he sensed that things had gone wrong, he sent his family out of Tebe.
He had sent them off with enough money to live on for the rest of their lives, so they wouldn't have a hard life.
'They'll be here soon.'
He heard that the Imperial Guard had entered Tebe and was conducting an investigation.
O-yoon knew full well that it wasn't an investigation, but an erasure of evidence.
In the end, he was nothing more than a disposable pawn.
The Imperial Guard would erase all traces in this city and, finally, take his life as well.
After all, the current Imperial Guard was practically their private army.
It was just as he was staring out the window in resignation.
*Craaaash—!*
A loud roar echoed from outside, followed by the sound of screams.
"Aaaack!"
"Please, spare me!"
"We… we didn't do anything wr—."
It seemed someone had entered the premises.
Not long after the commotion began, a servant burst through the bedroom door.
"M-Master. We're in trouble. Knights suddenly barged in and…"
"…The Imperial Guard."
He thought that what was meant to come had finally come.
But the servant shook his head and shouted.
"N-No, sir. It's the Sea Wolf Knights. The Leston Ducal Family's knights…"
"How did they get here so quickly—."
O-yoon's question was cut short.
*Craaaash—!*
The bedroom door was completely shattered as two boys stepped into the room.
O-yoon already recognized their faces.
"We've met before, haven't we? Councilor O-yoon. I'm not sorry for this rude visit in the middle of the night. Honestly, we couldn't exactly make an appointment in this situation, could we?"
Karron Leston, Leo Leston.
The grandsons of Duke Halo, who had nearly died in the incident that occurred earlier today.
"Planning on moving somewhere? On our way in, we saw your servants working hard loading up luggage."
In Karron's right hand was a blood-stained sword.
The metallic scent of blood began to spread throughout the bedroom.
"…Did you kill the servants as well? They are innocent."
"Ah, this blood? Don't worry. It's not from the servants. We're not murderers; we don't just kill anyone."
Karron approached O-yoon with a grim smile.
In Karron's left hand was a pouch containing something.
"You're free to move, of course, but you should pay your debts before you go. For someone who runs a merchant guild, you're being awfully careless with your accounts, don't you think?"
O-yoon couldn't even lift a finger.
The killing intent emanating from the young boy, that blatant hostility, bound his body.
All he could do now was stare at the boy, paralyzed with fear.
*Thud.*
Karron tossed the pouch in front of him.
"I brought this just in case you suddenly decided to take poison or bite your tongue. Why don't you take a look?"
In that instant, a wave of anxiety washed over him.
O-yoon picked up the pouch with a trembling hand.
His heart began to pound rapidly.
Could it be? Did they find out about his family who had already left? If they had stormed this place, they must have secured actual evidence.
If that was the case, what was in this pouch…
"Can't open it?"
Karron smiled and raised his sword.
"Do I have to do this for you, too? I even drew your sword for you earlier… People are so lazy these days."
*Sliiiice—.*
Karron's sword grazed O-yoon's wrist and sliced through the pouch.
Blood trickled from the shallow cut on his wrist, but O-yoon was in no state to notice it.
*Thud.*
Several severed hands tumbled out of the torn pouch.
The moment O-yoon saw the wrists, his body trembled violently.
"You found… my family? How… How could you…"
"Why? You tried to kill our family, but we're not allowed to kill yours?"
Karron instructed his opponent in a relaxed voice.
"O-yoon, take a closer look at the wrists."
At those words, O-yoon looked at the hands again with trembling eyes.
Hands covered in thick calluses.
Thankfully, they were not the hands of his wife and children.
"We've secured your family. But someone sent men to kill them. So we cut off their hands and brought them here."
"My family… are they really alive?"
"Of course. Like I said before, we don't kill the innocent. Ah, that's to say there are no charges against them right now. Who knows, some charges might be found during the investigation, right?"
"My… my family is innocent…"
"Let me give you a piece of advice."
Karron kicked O-yoon's legs, knocking him to the floor.
Then, he slammed Guillotine into the floor next to O-yoon's neck and whispered quietly.
"You're the only one who can prove your family's innocence. Do you understand what I'm saying?"
A malicious smile spread across the boy's lips.
The Ducal Family's Mad Dog