Chapter 124. You Were Fooled Twice
In truth, the plan wasn’t anything special.
“Didn’t they say a third sword would appear on the Lorutel side?”
“Yeah, if the information is reliable.”
Was it because he recognized the possibility of a trap? Parun seemed to be reassessing the reliability of the information.
“We have to assume it’s reliable. If it were a real trap, there wouldn’t be a clumsy bluff.”
“…Hmm.”
Parun shot me another doubtful look at my certainty.
‘This damn…’
I thought I’d been living in a way that gave trust. Now I was feeling disheartened.
Once upon a time, if you said icon of faith, trust, sincerity, and fidelity, that was me.
Anyway, I tucked away my irritation for now. What mattered wasn’t this trivial thing.
“Anyway, let’s say the third sword really does appear. No, it definitely will appear.”
“And then what changes?”
“It changes everything. A whole lot.”
“…?”
Ah, has it not become known yet?
“Do you know who the third sword’s disciple is?”
“A disciple? I heard the third sword was too young to take on a disciple.”
“About the same age as you?”
“…I’m a little younger.”
“You’re a professor though?”
“I have no student who inherits my vision. That will remain the case.”
“Well, sure. Let’s go with that.”
I didn’t know Parun’s exact age. But around this time, the third sword was certainly young.
‘Now he must be… in his mid to late thirties?’
Frankly, that’s not young in social terms. But considering the fame he bore, he wasn’t just young, he was, to put it bluntly, a newborn brat. Even more surprising, he had risen to the rank of the Ten Swords before the age of thirty. But what mattered wasn’t the brilliance of the third sword’s talent.
It was something not yet known…
‘The disciple of the third sword.’
“The third sword has a disciple. What matters to us is that disciple.”
“You’re suggesting we take him hostage?”
“…”
I stared coldly at Parun.
“…Not that?”
“Your students are pitiful.”
Since I was also taking his class, that meant I was pitiful too. Anyway.
I got back to the main point.
“The third sword’s disciple can’t be taken hostage, nor should he. Unless you want Lorutel hunting you forever.”
“…? Who is the disciple, then?”
Parun finally tilted his head, realizing the disciple wasn’t of ordinary status.
I opened my mouth while looking at him.
“Who’s the disciple of the third sword? Think carefully.”
Who could receive instruction from the ‘third sword’ and, if taken hostage, provoke Lorutel’s wrath? Not many fit that description.
“…A blood relative of Lorutel.”
“Correct. And?”
“And…”
Parun organized his thoughts.
As a side note, I admired the sight.
So this is what it means to be an intellectual? No aversion to using one’s head. If it were Shine or Raili, they’d have given up on thinking within three seconds.
And naturally, the answer he gave was far from those two idiots.
“You wouldn’t say you ‘have a plan’ for no reason. Then it must be someone who could influence the deal with Dekulan. That means direct lineage. And among them…”
“Among them?”
“…The young lord.”
“Mm.”
Clap! Clap! Clap!
I clapped, the dry sound filling the office.
“Correct.”
Yes, correct.
The disciple of the third sword was none other than the current young lord of Lorutel, Sion von Lorutel.
That guy.
‘A supremacist of martial might.’
In the future, the 17th lord of Lorutel.
I had never seen his face myself. I had only heard his fearsome reputation.
“…So what? I understand the connection between the third sword and the young lord, but how does that matter here?”
“So what else? Of course we use the third sword to meet the young lord. Meet him and…”
“Negotiate?”
“Well, roughly.”
“Don’t you think you’re being overly optimistic? I know enough of the young lord’s temperament. He despises magic, doesn’t he? But personal feelings alone won’t undo a contract between houses.”
That was true.
‘Even in the future, he didn’t run the house on ideology alone.’
“But what if there’s enough at stake?”
“…At stake?”
“There is something. Whatever Dekulan has prepared, Sion will have no choice but to side with us.”
“Hmm…”
Parun looked curious but didn’t ask further. Instead, he half-closed his eyes as if organizing his thoughts.
I couldn’t take it anymore.
“So. Are you in, or not?”
“If it works, I’m in. But there’s a snag.”
“A snag?”
Parun opened his eyes fully and looked at me.
“The young lord is a martial supremacist.”
“Right.”
“And he particularly despises magic.”
“Right?”
“Then let me ask. What are you?”
“I’m a ma…”
I shut my mouth before I said ‘…gister.’
Was this some high-level entrapment? I almost gave my name away. But Parun’s follow-up made it clear it wasn’t.
“You’re a mage, aren’t you?”
“That’s true.”
“And so am I.”
“You’re a professor.”
“Don’t play word games. Or I’ll rip your mouth open.”
“…”
At his vicious tone, I shut my mouth tight. My eyes nearly watered.
‘…This bastard.’
Anyway, his point was this, ‘Sion, the young lord, was a martial supremacist and mage-hater. So would he ever accept a proposal from mages like us?’
It was a valid concern. But…
“I’ve got it all figured out.”
“Sure. I suppose you have a brain.”
Didn’t hear that.
“The young lord is a martial supremacist. So what if I knew a truly great serv… no, knight?”
“Hmm. So you’d use a knight as your proxy in talks with him?”
“Not just a proxy. I’d even use him to draw out the young lord through the third sword.”
“Then he’d need extraordinary skill. Do you really know such a knight?”
Of course.
Has there ever been a knight in history so great?
‘The King Slayer.’
The knight who lopped off an emperor’s head.
Me, man! Huh? Such a knight and I even ate… Well, no, not meals together.
‘Death Knights don’t eat.’
And even after he became a vampire, he didn’t share tables. Anyway.
“Can he be trusted?”
“As much as you trust me.”
Which meant completely.
Since me, Parun, and the almost-forgotten Henji were bound as one, open your mouth once and you’d all die together.
But why…
“…Hmm.”
“What?”
“…Never mind. Let’s wait and see. As much as I trust you… hmm.”
Even as he said “never mind,” Parun’s eyes were clouded with doubt.
…Why?
I didn’t ask. Whatever the reason, it would hurt.
I had thought that as much as I trusted Parun, he trusted me.
‘Looks like I was wrong.’
Distrustful comrades. That was what we were.
Anyway… all that was left was to rope Shine into the Infinite Chain recapture(?) plan.
‘But that… won’t be easy.’
As with Parun, my own eyes clouded with worry.
…Yet why?
The next day, when I went to Shine, the answer he gave was surprisingly light.
“Fine.”
“…?”
I couldn’t help but ask.
“…Why?”
* * *
I found Shine at the principal-senior’s hideout.
Like a lion lazing in the sun, Shine was sprawled across a soft sofa, with Breakfast No.1 nestled in her arms, dozing.
Beeee, beee…!
Breakfast No.1 chirped happily in time with Shine’s gentle caresses.
I stared, half-dumbfounded.
“…Why?”
“What do you mean, why? Are you asking for a reason? Or that you just can’t believe it?”
“Both.”
“Tsk. There’s no particular reason. Didn’t you ask me for help?”
“…”
That made even less sense.
Shine? My help? Just like that? No protest, no quibbling, just “Fine”?
Maybe she caught my look.
Shine clicked her tongue in pity.
“You vile bastard. Do you think the whole world is like you?”
Not really.
If the whole world were like me, ‘laws’ wouldn’t exist. Because I’m the model citizen who could live fine without laws.
Important detail: ‘without laws,’ not ‘only if there are no laws.’
“And also…”
Still stroking Breakfast No.1, Shine continued. And the words that followed were nothing short of moving.
“It’s the first time, isn’t it.”
“What is?”
“That you’ve asked for help so openly, without hiding anything.”
That was true.
Just today, I had shared the facts as they were and asked for help.
— “Hey, you. Do this job with me.”
— “Hmph. Do you think I’d be fooled twice? I’m sleepy. Stop spouting nonsense and get lost.”
I’d opened the same way as always. Shine’s response was the same too.
Honestly, I’d wanted to argue.
‘…You’ve already been fooled twice.’
Once with the slave bracelet. Okay, that was mutual interest, so maybe it doesn’t count. But even just the ‘Early Bird’ operation and the ‘Oath’, that’s two times fooled, minimum.
Still, I didn’t bother correcting her.
Instead, I laid out the facts for Shine, who only half-listened.
— “Just hear me out and decide. I won’t force you.”
Lorutel and Dekulan.
I made clear both houses were entangled, and emphasized the danger.
I even explained what I could of the New Heavenly Origin Art, to help her understand.
‘But even so…?’
Maybe she sensed my doubt.
Shine’s half-closed lids fluttered as she spoke.
“Are you moved?”
“Moved, my ass. Be honest. What’s your scheme?”
“Scheme? You’re so suspicious. Didn’t I just say? This is the first time you’ve spoken so openly. For a bastard like you to act this way… yawn, that must mean you’re desperate.”
True. It was true… But why did I feel so uneasy?
“By the way, Lorutel has two demon swords, doesn’t it?”
“Demon swords? Why bring that up?”
“Nothing. Just thought of it. Hmm, and still only two demon swords in Lorutel.”
“…?”
Shine muttered nonsense, but her eyes weren’t ordinary. Even as they blinked drowsily, a chill lurked within.
‘Something’s there.’
Only two demon swords? Not ‘as many as two’?
A surge of unease, my survival instinct, honed on countless brushes with death, screamed: Shine was scheming something. And whatever it was, it wouldn’t benefit me.
‘Could she be trying to wreck the plan…?’
No. That couldn’t be it.
There was the Oath, after all.
The Oath detects and restricts hostile intent.
But still. What was this unease?
That was when Breakfast No.1 suddenly began to cry.
“Hey, you…”
Beeeek! Beek!
I froze mid-sentence, staring at the furious Breakfast No.1 glaring at me.
Beek! Beek!
It flapped its wings, shrieking. And Shine, the talking beast, translated for the mute beast.
“It says it’s study time. Yawn, if you’re done, get out.”
Of course, she wasn’t really understanding. Just guessing from the time.
“…Tch.”
In the end, I left with my unease.
Flutter―!
Breakfast No.1 settled on my head, maybe to watch if I went to Lafiter.
As I left the hideout…
Creak!
Through the closing crack in the door, I saw it.
Through drowsy lids, Shine’s eyes fixed on me. The gaze of someone plotting.
‘What the hell… is it?’
Lorutel? Only two demon swords?
A gain, yes, but ominous beyond words.
