Chapter 155 : Chapter 155
Chapter : 155 Guar (2)
Guar arrived at the study together with the guest and spoke to the butler.
“There’s no need for tea, so tell everyone not to come in.”
“Understood, my lord.”
Normally, staying alone in a sealed room with an uninvited guest of unknown identity would be dangerous, but Guar was not only the lord of Biarritz—he was also someone who possessed considerable confidence in his own real strength.
If the uninvited guest was merely a reckless fool impersonating Cain, then it would be enough to kill him with his own hands.
“Now then, speak. You say you are Cain?”
“……I’m not used to it yet, but could you stop talking like that?”
“You’re hardly in a position to criticize someone else’s way of speaking.”
“Kgh.”
It seemed that both Guar and this self-proclaimed Cain had been pressed down in this world for far too long.
Judging by how even speech patterns that were embarrassing to utter oneself had completely settled into their bodies.
“……Enough. The reason I came is because I need help, Guar.”
“Help? I still haven’t finished confirming whether you’re the real Cain.”
“That should be enough already. What more do you want……. Fine, what else do you want?”
“Cain once borrowed about ten million gold from me. Do you remember that?”
“Ah, yeah. I remember.”
At that, Guar couldn’t hide his disappointment.
Naturally, that was because Guar had never lent Cain money in the first place.
There had never even been a need to.
‘So he really is a fake.’
He hadn’t expected much anyway.
But if someone tried to scam him, they had to pay a price befitting it.
Just as Guar carefully raised his hand and was about to activate magic—
“You still like testing people, Guar.”
“……What?”
“When did I ever borrow money from you? You’ve gotten older and picked up nothing but scammer habits.”
The man laughed lightly.
“That insolent way of speaking…… No way.”
“I told you, it’s me.”
Guar still couldn’t tell whether the man in front of him was truly Cain or not.
However, at the very least, he had to acknowledge that this self-proclaimed Cain had the nerve to dare impersonate Cain.
“……You look very different from the Cain I know. Can you explain that?”
“There were circumstances.”
“Circumstances, you say. What kind of circumstances?”
“Do I have to answer that?”
“If you came here seeking my help, then obviously.”
At that, the man shook his head and spoke as if he had no choice.
“Just call it a price.”
“A price?”
“Yeah. Just know that I went through quite a bit of trouble hunting the Destruction Dragon.”
The truth was somewhat distant from that, but Vell Blackwood judged that it was best to say only that much for now.
“……The Destruction Dragon? Wait, don’t tell me……!”
Guar’s deeply lined face, which had been stiff, gradually filled with shock.
The whereabouts of the Destruction Dragon were still considered one of the greatest mysteries on the Anonymous Bulletin Board.
But to think it hadn’t disappeared, and had instead been hunted by Cain?
At that moment, Guar felt as if he had stumbled upon one of the greatest secrets in this world.
“That’s… impossible……!”
Of course, there was no guarantee that those words were true.
It could just be a scammer spewing plausible-sounding nonsense to make up a convincing story.
Yet for some reason, Guar didn’t feel that the man before him was lying.
“Are you really…… Cain?”
At some point, Guar’s tone had returned to that of one user of World of Justice Online, rather than the lord of Biarritz.
“Yeah. It’s me.”
Cain, likewise, spoke the same way.
***
The Guar I knew, as someone who governed the vast territory of Biarritz, was highly suspicious and not someone who trusted others easily.
Because of that, I never thought it would be easy to convince him that I was Cain.
After all, my current appearance was different from Cain’s, and decisively, I was incomparably weaker than Cain had been.
The persuasion took quite some effort.
As a result, Guar seemed to have accepted me as Cain to some extent, at least for now.
Of course, judging by Guar’s personality, it would take much more time for him to completely believe that I was Cain, but time would take care of that.
“Seriously…… What on earth happened? And what’s with that appearance?”
“As I said earlier, just think of it as having paid a price.”
“Hoo…….”
Guar still seemed unsure whether he believed me or not, but at least he was willing to talk.
“If you really want, we can form a contract of truth. You should still be able to use it, the magic of truth.”
“……You even knew that.”
In World of Justice Online, what kind of magic another person possessed was an extremely big secret.
Depending on the magic an opponent used, one could figure out how to deal with them, so users of World of Justice tried to hide their magic whenever possible.
“No need for the magic of truth. I don’t feel like paying an unnecessary price.”
“Good choice. I don’t particularly want to enslave you at the price of a contract either.”
“……Huh.”
Guar looked at me with an expression that seemed to say what kind of lunatic is this.
“……I don’t know whether to say you’re the same as ever…… or that you’re imitating him well, but for now, I’ll say you’re quite Cain-like.”
“Well, that’s because I’m Cain.”
“Fine, let’s go with that for now. So, what business brought you to me?”
I had no intention of making Guar completely believe that I was Cain anyway.
“First, let me ask you one thing. Has an envoy sent by the Supreme King ever come to Biarritz?”
“Why are you suddenly asking that?”
“For now, I’d appreciate it if you’d just answer whether they did or not. There’s something I need to know.”
“……They did.”
“I see. Then I’m late.”
“What do you mean by that?”
From here on, this was the important part.
In order to receive Guar’s help, I would ultimately have to start touching on the things he held dear.
“It means there’s likely a magic circle installed in Biarritz as well—one drawn by the Supreme King.”
“A magic circle? What are you talking about?”
“So you really didn’t know.”
I added,
“Large-scale magic circles for human sacrifice were installed in the Mülhen Granary Zone and the military city of Hanover. If they were activated, all humans within the range would be offered as sacrifices.”
“W-what?!”
Anger took hold of Guar’s wrinkled face, and at the same time, his aura flared up.
Goooo…….
Even though he was now tending to his territory behind a desk, Guar’s strength was the real deal.
If Guar truly set his mind on killing me, I would have to struggle with everything I had just to survive.
“……You expect me to believe such nonsense?”
“If it’s hard to believe, you can investigate it yourself. Take a discreet look through Biarritz’s sewers. There should be traces of a secretly installed magic circle.”
“You sound awfully confident. Did you confirm it yourself?”
“I didn’t personally check the one in Biarritz, but it’s obvious. I don’t think the Supreme King is the kind of opponent who’d leave things sloppy.”
“How absurd.”
Guar let out a deep sigh, took a cigar from the desk, and lit it.
“Care for one?”
“No. I’ve never smoked anything like that.”
“Right, you were a non-smoker even back then, weren’t you. Anyway, you’re consistently strange in odd ways.”
Guar chuckled.
The actual Guar I knew wasn’t much older than me, but his current body was unmistakably that of an old man.
In other words, it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that Guar now possessed a young man’s soul within an old man’s body.
Of course, that old man’s body was still far healthier than that of most young men.
“So then, why are you telling me all this?”
“I wanted to say that I share the same goal as you.”
“The same goal? What do you mean by that?”
“I’m going to crush the Supreme King’s plans. In that sense, I want your help.”
Guar spoke as if he found it ridiculous.
“……You want me to help you take down the Supreme King?”
“No. Given that you’re responsible for a territory, you can’t do that. What I want is simply for you to help me meet the Supreme King.”
“If you meet the Supreme King, what are you planning to do?”
“I’ll ask him. Why is he doing this insane nonsense in the first place.”
Guar spoke in a low voice.
“And if the reason the Supreme King gives isn’t justified?”
“Then I’ll do it the Cain way.”
“The Cain way…… Hah, it’s been a long time since I heard that phrase. Long enough to miss it.”
Guar chuckled.
Reflected in those aged eyes was probably some memory from the past.
“So, what’s your answer?”
“I’ll help. I was planning to meet the Supreme King myself anyway. Taking one extra person along won’t be difficult.”
“Good decision.”
“But I’ll say this in advance—you’ll be a spy who secretly infiltrated Biarritz’s envoy. Understand? If things go wrong, I’ll thoroughly deny any connection to you.”
“Do as you like. That’s more convenient for me anyway.”
Of course, even if he did that, there was doubt as to whether the Supreme King’s side would accept such a claim so easily.
If things went wrong, there was a high chance that Biarritz and Guar would suffer some kind of disadvantage.
“Then for now, stay at my mansion. The butler will show you to a suitable room. When the time comes, we’ll depart together.”
“No, I’ll head back to my lodging for now. I have companions.”
“……Companions?”
Guar looked at me with a genuinely surprised expression.
“Why?”
“……No, it just feels strange hearing the word ‘companions’ associated with Cain. Are you really Cain?”
“What nonsense. They’re just accompanying me for personal reasons, so don’t attach any strange meanings to it.”
“Hm…….”
Even though I told him not to read too much into it, Guar seemed to be reading very deeply into it.
“Companions, for Cain…… So you really were human after all. I see.”
“……What exactly do you think I am?”
“A beast with blue blood flowing through it? Something like that.”
“That’s ridiculous.”
It seemed Guar had quite a few misunderstandings about the kind of person I was.
I briefly considered kindly correcting those misunderstandings, then stopped.
Changing a deeply rooted perception wasn’t easy, and I no longer felt like wasting my energy on it.
“Anyway, contact me through that channel. I don’t need to tell you where my lodging is, right? You’ll put a tail on me anyway.”
“……Haha, you know me too well.”
“At times like this, you’re supposed to deny it at least once.”
“Is that really necessary between us? Don’t think of it as surveillance—just consider it a convenient liaison. If you have anything to say to me, pass it through there.”
“Fine, say whatever you want.”
Calling it a liaison while attaching a tail—how shameless.
At times, I found Guar’s thick nerves rather enviable.
Then again, you probably needed nerves that thick to sit in a position like a territorial lord, getting cursed endlessly.
“Oh, and what should I call you from now on? I don’t think I can call you Cain.”
“Call me Vell.”
“Vell? Where did that name come from?”
“It’s just a name I’m using right now. So just call me Vell.”
“Well…… alright, Vell.”
With those words, I left Guar’s mansion.
With that, one step in the process of meeting the Supreme King had been cleared.