Chapter 138. Wyvern and Pahern
For a brief moment, I mourned the misfortune of being caught by a disaster I had brought upon myself.
Then, the real negotiation between me and the Young Lord of Lorutel Family began.
No, should I even call this a negotiation?
Dealing with the Young Lord of Lorutel Family had a rather exhilarating quality to it.
“First of all, what kind of transaction do you prefer? Loan? Transfer?”
“Obviously, transfer.”
Since Lortel possessed the Infinite Chain, Dekulan would never give up.
Therefore, to eliminate the root cause, we had no choice but to obtain the Infinite Chain ourselves. We skipped unnecessary pleasantries and went straight to business. And also…
“For reference, I’m not asking for compensation equivalent to ten kilograms of meteoric iron. Since you’ve informed me of Dekulan’s dirty secrets, I’ll give you a fair price.”
He named his price without hesitation, without testing the waters.
It was quite a rare experience. Usually, the twisted types would be sniffing around, wondering if they could squeeze out something more, but to hear such a clean, straightforward offer!
And that wasn’t all.
“If circumstances are difficult, I can wait for a while. Of course, I won’t be able to wait forever.”
He even volunteered to be accommodating.
At that point, it was inevitable that an unfamiliar light formed in my gaze toward the Young Lord of Lorutel Family.
“I heard you quite despise mages… but perhaps not entirely?”
“Mages are repulsive.”
Yet for someone who supposedly found them repulsive, he was being almost… friendly, so I thought.
Then I caught it.
In the Young Lord’s eyes, which briefly flicked toward Pharun, I saw a deep, unmistakable hatred.
‘Hmm. As I thought.’
It was the unmistakable look of disgust, like finding the remains of a crushed insect in your bread. But then why…
Sensing my gaze, the Young Lord replied with a refreshingly dry smile.
“I simply don’t see you as a mage. A madman cannot be defined by such simple terms.”
“……”
I didn’t know what that was supposed to mean, but it felt deeply unfair.
He must’ve thought I was the one who smuggled out the Heavenly Sphere, but I wasn’t!
The lunatics who stole the Heavenly Sphere were Henge and Pharun, not me.
Still, since things were going smoothly, I didn’t bother correcting his misunderstanding.
Returning to the main point…
“Speak freely. I can wait about a month.”
“A month, huh…”
I appreciated the offer, but truthfully, I didn’t need his generosity.
We’d already prepared a solid payment of our own.
‘Honestly… my head nearly exploded.’
Why wouldn’t it?
I couldn’t for the life of me guess what kind of offer Dekulan had made this time. Even if I was negotiating through the Young Lord, we had to at least prepare something bigger than Dekulan’s offer to make the deal go smoothly.
So, I dug deep into my memories from my past life.
‘Information, relics, anything Lortel might find tempting.’
I prepared everything I could think of.
In the end, I had two cards ready. And in the current situation, those two cards would be more than enough to match whatever Dekulan had offered. The only question was…
‘Which one should I reveal first?’
After a brief moment of consideration, I lifted my gaze from the floor.
My decision was made.
“Young Lord of Lorutel Family, I have two cards to offer.”
Two cards. I would use both.
“Two cards?”
“Originally, one would have sufficed. But seeing your generosity, I figured offering both wouldn’t hurt.”
“…I don’t think so. Your eyes look wicked.”
“Do they? That’s strange. Why would that be? Anyway, that’s not the point.”
Feigning innocence, I continued smoothly.
“First, have you ever heard of Magic Armor Kalium?”
“Magic Armor Kalium… I recall it. According to records, it’s said to be capable of blocking even a Master Knight’s Aether, isn’t it?”
“Well, according to records, yes.”
But that was only what the records said.
In truth, I’d never seen it in action myself, so I couldn’t confirm if it really could block Aether. And even if it could, could any armor truly endure such power? Anyway…
“But why mention Kalium? …Don’t tell me.”
I nodded lightly.
“That’s right. My first card is Kalium. Oh, I don’t have it on me right now. I would’ve brought it if I could, but time was short.”
“Then…”
“I’ll tell you where Magic Armor Kalium is hidden.”
“…Hah!”
The Young Lord exhaled a low gasp of surprise.
A faint glimmer of greed flashed in his eyes right then.
‘As expected of a warrior.’
Magic Armor Kalium might not be as transcendent as a magic sword or grimoire, but by rank, it easily sat just below those relics.
Ten kilograms of meteoric iron? Honestly, compared to Magic Armor Kalium, that was nothing. It was, quite literally, one of a kind in the world.
Of course…
‘The cost-benefit ratio didn’t quite match up, so I originally planned to squeeze a few more rewards on top of the Infinite Chain…’
But at this point, what was there to hesitate about? Not at all. Not even slightly.
‘It’s not like I can use it anyway… and neither can that parasite.’
It was, in every sense, a troublesome relic.
After all, Magic Armor Kalium was an arrogant artifact that chose its own master.
If someone unworthy tried to wear it… boom!
Their body would burst apart regardless of their level.
Maybe there was a way to research a workaround, but honestly, who’d risk getting blown to pieces for that?
Just then…
“…It isn’t dangerous, is it?”
“…Why do you think that?”
“Your expression looks suspicious.”
“…That’s your imagination.”
“Really?”
“Really.”
I hid my awkwardness and replied with sincerity.
Strictly speaking, it wasn’t a lie.
When Kalium was discovered in my past life, countless knights died before the armor finally acknowledged one master…the Young Lord of Lorutel Family himself.
At that thought, a sudden unease crept up on me, and I hastily added,
“Oh, by the way, the owner of Kalium must be you, Young Lord of Lorutel Family.”
“…Why?”
“Let’s call it a token of trust. You know as well as I do that Kalium’s value far exceeds that of the Infinite Chain. I wouldn’t offer something like that unless it was meant to prove sincerity.”
“So, you’re buying my trust with overwhelming value?”
“Mm, precisely.”
Interpretation is everything, and that one was brilliant enough to make me want to applaud myself.
The warmth in the Young Lord’s gaze was definitely not my imagination.
Anyway, I subtly avoided his overly intense stare and continued.
“Now, the truly important part is the second card.”
Honestly, even now, I wasn’t sure if I should bring it up. Because this second card was…
‘Dekulan’s wickedness.’
And it was tied to one of Lortel’s vassal families.
“Young Lord of Lorutel Family, do you remember the House of Impir?”
“How could I not? Until about ten years ago, they were our greatest vassal family, until their sudden annihilation.”
Ten years ago, huh?
Well, the exact year didn’t matter. What mattered was Dekulan’s involvement in that downfall.
“How much do you know about their extermination?”
At my question, the Young Lord’s brow twitched. Then he replied evenly, “Not much. I know that the Lord of Impir fell ill, and the Young Lord of the Clan died suddenly. Without their central figures, their power crumbled.”
As expected, that was all he knew.
Understandable. Dekulan had gone to great lengths to orchestrate Impir’s downfall. It had been a years-long operation to weaken Lortel’s power. So naturally, even Lortel hadn’t noticed the signs.
“But why bring up Impir?”
He looked puzzled that I’d suddenly mention a family that had perished a decade ago.
I met his gaze and spoke calmly.
“What if Dekulan had a hand in their annihilation?”
When I finished…
“……”
Ssshhh!
A chill spread across the Young Lord’s face.
“What do you mean by that?”
“Exactly what I said.”
His eyes sharpened, glaring straight at me.
After a pause, his mouth opened again.
“Dekulan was involved in Impir’s downfall?”
“That’s right.”
“And how do you know this?”
That was… a hard question to answer.
I’d learned this information in my previous life, during a mission to infiltrate Lortel.
Back then, it had been impossible to find a secure infiltration route.
‘Dekulan’s intelligence reports were incomplete too.’
So, I’d secretly broken into Dekulan’s information vault.
Of course, if I had been caught, I would’ve been dead. But going in blind meant dying anyway. It was there I discovered the internal connection between Dekulan and Impir.
I remembered how furious I’d been back then.
‘They had an inside agent, and they didn’t even back me up?’
Just giving me that route could’ve made the mission so much easier!
Well, I could understand their reasoning. Troubleshooters like me were disposable, but an informant could provide a steady stream of intel from within Lortel. They must’ve thought it too wasteful to risk that asset.
While I was lost in thought, the Young Lord’s voice broke through.
“So, you can’t say.”
“I trust you’ll understand.”
“…Indeed, the source doesn’t matter right now. But it’s not just words, is it?”
He meant, where’s the proof?
I shrugged.
“Of course not. Those Dekulan bastards aren’t careless.”
“And yet you expect me to believe it?”
“Well, there was an informant, supposedly. I just can’t recall the name. Whether you believe it or not is up to you.”
“…Ha!”
Maybe my calm tone amused him, because he let out a short laugh.
But only for a moment.
“…Wait. You said an informant?”
“So what?”
“Would you remember if I said the name?”
“I might.”
Puzzled by his sudden change in tone, I thought hard, searching my memories.
What was that name again?
‘I remember it sounded kind of ominous…’
Then the Young Lord spoke.
And the instant I heard the name from his lips, I snapped my fingers.
“Wyvar de Pahern.”
“Yes, that’s it!”
At the time, I hadn’t thought much of it, but now, it really was a sinister name.
Didn’t it sound like “Wyvern” and “Paheren” mashed together?
But wait.
How did the Young Lord know that name? Did he somehow read my memories?
Ridiculous, of course, but it was that inexplicable.
And then, when I heard his next words, I knew my guess was wrong.
“Eighth Elder… I never imagined it would be him.”
His voice was dripping with hatred.
For a moment, I glanced up at the sky.
‘Dear moon, here comes another one.’
Wyvern, or Wyvar, whatever his name was, seemed to be the Eighth Elder now.
Judging by the Young Lord’s expression, he wouldn’t be alive much longer.
Not that I minded. After all…
‘Since I had no proof and had to rely on my words, it helps to have a suspect to beat the truth out of.’
Things had just gotten much easier.
Wait a minute.
‘Wouldn’t it be a waste to leave it at that?’
I had actually prepared a plan for when the Young Lord was skeptical.
And now I was just supposed to shelve it? No way.
I cleared my throat and spoke in a low, deliberate voice.
“Young Lord of Lorutel Family, honestly, the claim that this Wyvern or whatever is the informant… that’s not a sure thing, is it?”
“I already had some suspicions. I just didn’t expect it to be to this extent.”
Hmm. That made it hard to argue. But I pressed on regardless.
“What if you beat the crap out of Wyvern, and he doesn’t have any information about the Impir family? Then what?”
“Then…”
He fell silent.
I grinned.
If it were me, I’d still go ahead and beat him anyway. He wasn’t innocent, and when guilty people get hit enough, they tend to create their own evidence.
But still…I leaned forward, speaking in a sly tone.
“In case that happens, I do have a clever little trick up my sleeve…”
“A trick?”
His eyes gleamed with interest.
I nodded confidently.
“A method to screw over Dekulan even without proof, while also reinforcing the suspicion that they meddled in Impir’s downfall. So tell me.”
I paused for effect, then concluded, “Would you like to hear it?”
“……”
Honestly, it wasn’t even a real question.
The answer was already decided.
