Chapter 125. This Is Not a Real Bird
Right after Aster left.
Shine, who had been sprawled lazily, suddenly widened her eyes and straightened her posture.
“Huhuhuhu.”
Shine recalled Aster’s request from just a moment ago, and let out a sly laugh.
“Lorutel, Lorutel, huh… So this is how a point of contact arises with them?”
Honestly, it had been troubling her.
How should she establish a connection with Lorutel?
The easiest thing would’ve been to ask Aster for help, but that cunning bastard didn’t seem the type to help easily. And yet, for him to bring it up first like this!
‘Can my luck really be this good!’
In a way, Aster’s suspicion, that she had “an ulterior motive”, was exactly correct.
After all, Shine had never accepted his suggestion with a pure intention.
In truth, Shine had only recently begun desiring a connection with the Lorutel household.
And that desire had started purely out of curiosity.
— “You get it, loudmouth?”
— “Uhmm, so… you want me to look into the history of the noble houses… That’s what you mean?”
— “Well, something like that.”
— “But why me…?”
— “Tsk.”
‘Honestly, I was curious.’
Two hundred years had passed.
They’d be lying in their coffins by now, but what kind of lives had those bastards, who once took beatings from me, ended up living?
It wasn’t that she felt nostalgic. She was just curious, that was all, and, it turned out to be fun.
— “Uh, Lady Shine. I looked into it, ma’am. First, the Dolanfe family…”
‘What? That thickheaded Dolanfe bastard became a big family head? Overriding the heir?!’
They had never been particularly close.
But he had challenged her daily despite being beaten black and blue, so she found it amusing… or rather, admirable, enough to humor him. It felt like only yesterday she had watched him cry tears of frustration after being thrashed again and again…
‘And that bastard actually became an “Iron-Blooded Patriarch”?!’
What could be funnier than that!
Of course, she couldn’t get information about everyone so easily.
Two hundred years was enough for all news of individuals to vanish, and Rayleigh wasn’t exactly a professional informant.
Still, in the course of asking around, one particular piece of news stuck in her ears.
— “Uh, about what you asked last time, ma’am. The 13th Patriarch of Lorutel.”
— “Ah, right. I did. So, who was it?”
— “It was Shamid von Lorutel, ma’am.”
That much was not surprising.
‘As I thought, Shamid. It ended up being you.’
Shamid had already been a strong contender for Patriarch even back then.
Although the competition with his siblings wasn’t over, and he hadn’t yet been granted the position of Heir, his talent was certainly outstanding.
The only drawback was…
‘His lack of a supporting faction.’
Was it because he was a concubine’s son?
At the time, Shamid had absolutely no support within the family.
And yet, why had Shine expected him to become Patriarch?
The answer lay in her last meeting with him. More precisely, in the gift she had handed to him.
‘If he couldn’t become Patriarch even with that, then he might as well drop dead.’
It was right before she stormed the Imperial Palace for revenge on House Leman.
— “Think again. Do you really have to go?”
— “I’ve thought a hundred times, and even on the thousandth my answer’s the same. Enough talk, we’re both out of time. Take this.”
Shine had given Shamid a “gift.”
In truth, it was more accurate to say she “discarded” it.
‘It wasn’t something I could just toss on the roadside.’
But leaving it in some lonely cave somewhere didn’t sit right either. Above all, the thought of some unworthy fool laying hands on it made her blood boil.
So, she gave it to Shamid…
And Shamid said this after receiving it:
— “…I’ll hold onto it for you.”
— “Why bother?”
— “You’ll come back for it.”
— “I won’t survive to return. Why don’t you just keep it and use it yourself?”
— “Then I’ll wait. Until you, or a descendant of House Leman, or else your disciple, comes for it.”
She had thought it laughable nonsense.
A descendant of Leman? Well, it wasn’t impossible.
Over its long history, Leman had many branch families that had split off.
Her disciple? …That was possible too.
One didn’t have to receive formal instruction to claim to be someone’s disciple, even simply declaring one had “learned” from her could suffice.
Still—
‘It was laughable nonsense all the same.’
What lunatic would dare call themselves a descendant of Leman!
On the eve of assassinating the Emperor, Shine had thought it impossible.
But clearly, Shamid hadn’t.
“Surely, he must have used that ‘item’ to solidify his standing… And yet, he actually kept his word to the end.”
“Puhuhu.”
Recalling her thickheaded old friend, Shine smiled faintly, nostalgic.
She had never imagined he would cling to that one-sided promise.
So then, what was that “item”?
The beginning and end of House Leman.
The demon sword “Proteus.”
She had been astonished to hear there were still only two demon swords in Lorutel. That meant Shamid had never used Leman’s demon sword. If he had, then Lorutel would now possess three, not two.
‘In truth… It hadn’t been anything grand.’
While she did have some friendship with Shamid, it wasn’t a particularly deep bond.
It was just that… The thought of Leman’s demon sword falling into Imperial hands after her death was more unbearable than death itself.
Anyway, this was the real reason Shine had so readily accepted Aster’s suggestion.
“Lorutel… I always thought I’d have to visit someday.”
Of course, when that cunning bastard spoke of his plan, it really was just that, “a point of contact.” Nothing more, nothing less.
But that was enough.
With at least a thin thread of connection, she could decide later whether to honor that old promise. And if, by chance, she managed to get her hands back on that demon sword…
‘…On that day. You’ll kneel at my feet.’
“Huhuhuhu, huhuhuhu.”
Shine smiled, recalling that day.
This would be a struggle of vengeance, to wash away a past steeped in humiliation.
— “Parasite!”
— “Hey, parasite.”
‘Your era is nearly over.’
It was grandeur born of pettiness.
* * *
Late at night.
Having finished my studies, I walked the streets of Hazen before introducing Shine to Farun.
‘That Shine bastard clearly has some scheme…’
But I couldn’t guess what it was. Honestly, it wasn’t hard to imagine Shine having ties to Lorutel.
After all, right when she’d first regained her sanity from being a Death Knight, hadn’t she asked?
— “Lorutel?”
— “So then… Did Shamid become Patriarch? Meaning, what’s the name of the 13th Patriarch?”
That was the very reason I’d confessed everything as it was. But still, Shine’s reaction had been unexpected.
‘Unexpected, yes… but tch. Whatever.’
I set thoughts of Shine aside.
Whatever she schemed was none of my business, as I’d said, there was the Pact. Betrayal was unthinkable. At worst, it would just be a tussle of “who’s on top.”
I could think about Shine later.
Only…
“There’s something nagging me.”
The Infinite Chain matter.
I had told Farun it might be a trap, but I was halfway certain.
‘This is… a trap.’
A vicious snare that Dekulan had laid, aimed at me and Farun.
Perhaps some would say it was overthinking. After all, this trap only worked if Farun had already sought out information on the Infinite Chain.
If Dekulan leaked information but we lacked the intelligence network to hear it, the trap meant nothing. Put bluntly…
‘Yeah, it’s like shadowboxing.’
Swinging punches alone in the air, perfect way to exhaust yourself. But…
‘If it’s Dekulan, it’s different.’
That was their way.
Serpents in their bellies, venomous fangs gleaming. And surely, their thoughts would be like this:
“No matter how it turns out, it’s good for us.”
If we stepped into the trap, they’d catch us even without the Infinite Chain. If not, then the Infinite Chain itself would still fall into their hands eventually.
Either way, they won. That was clearly their calculation…
‘…Is it really just Hollend?’
My thoughts dug deeper.
Deals between great houses. No matter how powerful a mage Hollend was, facing Lorutel alone in such a deal was unheard of.
‘But if it really was just Hollend, Lorutel would welcome it.’
If Dekulan sent a whole entourage for the sake of formality, it would only make Lorutel wary of what trick they were plotting. Normally, no great house would rob a negotiation party. But Dekulan bastards weren’t normal.
So, with Hollend coming alone, Lorutel wouldn’t be offended, they’d actually feel relieved.
‘Only…’
Even if etiquette could be brushed aside like that, I still had doubts.
“No matter how casual the deal, still, It’s a trap. Shouldn’t there be at least minimal backup?”
A trap needed some manpower, didn’t it?
‘Did they plant Troubleshooters? …No, unlikely. Lorutel wouldn’t sit still for that.’
So really, was it only Hollend?
Hollend was a battle-mage.
In raw combat, perhaps. But for a trap requiring mobility and intelligence support, he wasn’t ideal. And Dekulan couldn’t exactly back him with troubleshooters. Did they even have someone who could back him solo?
‘…Hmmm.’
Piiiiiiiii—!
Just then, Breakfast No.1 cried overhead.
‘That damned thing…’
Even at this hour, it was circling to keep watch on me, as if saying, “Study’s over, quit wandering and go to bed.”
“Phew… Get lost. This is my personal time now.”
I waved dismissively, and only then did Breakfast No.1 vanish into the night sky.
Its pure white feathers glowed black under the dark.
And yet… Why was it?
“…Hmm?”
Watching it disappear, some memory tugged at me.
Something foul… bitterly irritating… A faint but boiling recollection.
‘What is this? Something…’
Then a fragment of memory flashed in my mind.
“…Ah!”
It was the memory of one person.
“…The Raven.”
This was no real bird.
Just as Troubleshooters were known by numbers, so too was “Raven” just a codename.
‘Why hadn’t I thought of that?’
As soon as I remembered Raven’s existence, Dekulan’s plan made sense.
Sending only Hollend seemed careless?
‘No. Absolutely not careless.’
If Raven was his support, then Hollend alone was more than enough.
No surveillance net? If Raven was present, they needed none.
Raven’s detection ability could envelop an entire city.
What did that mean?
‘…That if I had gone in thinking only Hollend was there, I’d have been finished.’
The thought alone made me shudder.
But only for a moment.
“Tsk. Then I’d better speed up the plan.”
It looked like things were about to get busy.
