Chapter 124 : Chapter 124
Chapter 124: To Home (1)
At those words, Ibi flinched once more and froze on the spot.
Seeing this, Kain seemed to accept that Ibi wouldn't be taking his hand right away and immediately lowered it, continuing to speak in a gentle tone.
“I heard you were looking for a navigator.”
This time, I saw the companions, not Ibi, flinch.
“There’s no need for that. We will take you.”
Kain, who scanned each of us with an all-knowing, confident gaze, then grinned and said.
“If you wish, you may bring your friends along as well.”
It wasn't as if he was hiding some other ulterior motive.
“They are my daughter’s friends, whom I’m finally meeting. I can certainly welcome them as important guests.”
As if, he really was a father wanting to make a good first impression on his daughter's friends.
“…Bullshit.”
Just then, Ibi, who had been silent all along, finally managed to speak again.
“Just because you show up out of nowhere… doesn't mean…”
She said, as if she couldn't possibly accept him no matter what attitude he showed.
But the more she looked at Kain's face, which resembled her own, the more she couldn't bring herself to deny it, and in the end, she couldn't finish her sentence.
“I’ve been hearing stories about you, from Paulo all along.”
“……What?”
“When I first heard your story from Paulo, I was immediately certain you were my daughter.”
Kain continued with a pleased smile.
“You’ve grown up strong.”
He said, as if to say ‘that's my daughter’.
“…….”
Ibi, in the end, did not deny his words.
To be precise, she couldn't.
Instead.
“…All this time.”
This time, she gritted her teeth.
“Where the hell have you been hiding… to now, act like a father…?”
The pure confusion and fear towards an unknown being she had never known gradually turned into anger.
At the sight of her eyes, filled with a clear animosity different from the glare she had given him before he revealed his identity, Kain wore a bitter smile.
“Yes. You can’t be expected to accept it right away.”
He said, as if it were only natural for her to react that way.
Therefore, Kain changed the subject, as if he wouldn't bring up that topic any further for now.
“I know that Paulo is here.”
He said, his gaze turning from Ibi to me.
“What I said to my daughter was sincere. If she wishes, you all may follow. ──Provided, you meet one condition.”
“To hand over Don Paulo?”
“Hand over Paulo── Oh.”
Kain's lips, which had been looking at me, curved up.
“Yes, that’s right. You’re a quick friend.”
I had said before that Don Paulo would serve as the ‘key’ to get to Krom.
The only link to be able to confront Kain.
“If you are willing to accept this condition, bring Paulo to the pier at dawn tomorrow. Then we will guide you to Krom ourselves.”
This was the reason.
Because Kain would track him down and find us himself, before we even had to look.
“I know he’s hidden in the basement here, and that the Kapers are guarding him… but I don’t wish to see blood on the day I first meet my daughter.”
Saying this, Kain glanced at the entrance we had come through.
“It seems you’ve already seen a bit on that side. Well, it just means they were weak, so I can’t blame you.”
Indeed, there was no hint of blame towards us.
If anything, he would be reprimanding the ones who had been defeated.
Then, he turned back to Ibi and said in an exceedingly gentle tone.
“You must have many questions. I know.”
But now was not the right place or time to explain.
“Let’s go home together. Then, I will tell you everything there. Everything you are curious about.”
With this one last word, Kain put back on the mask he had taken off.
Then he gestured to his soldiers, and they all began to leave the warehouse.
Kain then approached Ibi, who was still glaring at him, and tried to place a hand on her shoulder, but Ibi immediately slapped his arm away as if to say ‘don't touch me’.
In the end, Kain, who withdrew the hand he was about to place, let out a bitter smile.
“I will be waiting, Evie.”
And left these words of farewell before following his soldiers out of the warehouse.
Ibi, who was glaring at Kain's retreating back, tightened her grip on the daggers in her two hands.
After Kain and the dark elves left, a silence fell over the warehouse.
Because everyone, except for Rine, was quietly observing Ibi, with expressions that said they didn't know what to say.
Then, a short while later, the sound of a creaking door broke the silence.
The basement door opened, and Logan cautiously revealed himself from within.
“We were planning, to launch a pincer attack if a battle broke out, but…”
He, too, like the other companions, seemed to find it difficult to speak.
“Things seemed to be… turning out unexpectedly, so we were just observing the situation for now…”
“…You did well.”
As Toric said, it was the right decision.
If the Kapers had intervened and a battle had broken out, things would have gotten much more complicated.
“First of all.”
I said, in as normal and nonchalant a tone as possible, looking at each person one by one to lighten the heavy atmosphere.
“Shall we talk over some food?”
***
Even at the dinner table, for a while, only the clattering of cutlery echoed.
Everyone, just as in the warehouse, was cautiously observing Ibi.
And Ibi, who would have normally reacted by being snarky or disgusted upon noticing their gazes, now seemed to have her mind elsewhere.
She was barely touching her dinner, which she usually devoured in a hurry.
“In my opinion, this is an opportunity.”
At that, I carefully broke the silence.
“I doubt they don't know the way to their own home. Following them will be the safest way to get to Krom.”
When Logan had said he would find us a skilled navigator, I had said I'd appreciate it, but in fact, what I had been waiting for from the beginning was Kain's appearance.
There was no navigator as skilled as him and his subordinates—at least when it came to the path to Krom.
And in the first place, going to Krom without their permission was a difficult task, no matter how skilled a navigator one found.
“Even if we somehow break through the storm, what about the tight security along the coast?”
Even if we somehow got past that and snuck into Krom, outsiders like us would inevitably stand out.
It wasn't a city where various races lived together, like Tiaria.
This meant that our activities would be restricted in many ways.
However.
“Entering officially with their ‘invitation’, is different.”
Of course, we would be under the watch of the soldiers they assigned to us, but at least it was much better than being chased from beginning to end for attempting to enter illegally.
“It's clear they're up to something, right? Let's go and find out what they're up to.”
To do that, it was better to follow Kain obediently for now.
“I agree.”
Toric, who had been listening to the story, let out a small breath through his nose.
“Logan was using his connections to find a navigator, but everyone was reluctant. Even the guys who would have gone for the right price in the old days. …It certainly seems that everyone has been feeling that the atmosphere in Krom has been unusual lately.”
The reason was that they had completely closed their borders and were controlling the entry of outsiders.
As if, they were plotting something inside.
“…I also agree with Sir Yubin's opinion.”
Then, starting with Miki, the other companions also expressed their agreement one by one.
Only Ibi showed no reaction.
Normally, she would have strongly asserted her opinion, whether in favor or against, but she still remained silent.
Lily was watching Ibi with worried eyes.
Just yesterday, Lily had confessed her secret to her companions, that the Succubus Queen might be her birth mother, and that she wanted to meet her no matter what.
Perhaps for that reason, she seemed to be able to empathize more with Ibi's feelings right now.
The complicated feelings one feels when a being who has never been by your side, whom you've never even been curious about, suddenly appears claiming to be your parent.
“…Will you be alright, Sister Evie?”
At Lily's careful question, Ibi finally looked up from the plate she had been picking at and looked at us.
“…Well, yeah.”
She said, with a nonchalant answer that showed her mind was still elsewhere.
Therefore, as promised, as soon as dawn broke, we brought the captive Don Paulo to the pier.
Kain and his subordinates had already finished all their preparations for departure.
As soon as Kain saw us, he raised his arms with a welcoming smile.
“I knew you would come.”
To be precise, he was looking at Ibi, though.
“A wise decision, Evie.”
“…….”
Ibi looked at Kain with eyes full of suspicion.
Then.
“…This guy,”
When she finally opened her tightly shut mouth again, the question Ibi threw was not about Kain or herself.
“How did you find him? How did you know we had him.”
She was probably trying to find out where the information had leaked.
Kain, who immediately understood Ibi's intention, nodded as if to say ‘that's my daughter’ and showed a pleased reaction.
“If you're looking for a traitor who betrayed you, fortunately, there was no such person.”
Then, he slowly approached Don Paulo, who had been staring at him with fear-filled eyes all along, and said.
“Paulo was in our grasp from the very beginning.”
“…What?”
Then, while Ibi was flustered by the unexpected answer, Kain roughly pulled the rope that bound Don Paulo.
He grabbed the arm of the struggling man, who had started to writhe even with his hands and feet tied, and ripped off his sleeve as if to tear it.
At that moment.
“…!”
“Because, this man is a slave owned by our family.”
The brand, clearly stamped on Don Paulo's arm, was revealed.
“That’s how we could find out where Paulo was, no matter where he was.”
“──Ha.”
Seeing this, Ibi immediately burst into laughter.
The ruler of the underworld.
A big shot who even the great nobles couldn't touch.
The boss of the Tiaria Cartel.
“The great Don Paulo?”
Was a mere slave.
Moreover, of the dark elves, whom he always despised as beast-like creatures?
It was impossible not to laugh.
“Aah─ so, it wasn't that he was no different from a slave who did as he was told, he was just a fucking slave for real?”
“Your slave too.”
Kain added calmly from the side.
“Since he is the property of our family.”
At those words, Ibi let out another incredulous laugh.
“A wolf, my ass.”
Don Paulo tried to somehow avoid Ibi's contemptuous gaze by squeezing his eyes shut.
“…So you were spying on me on your master's orders?”
As Kain removed the cloth that had been gagging Don Paulo's mouth.
“N-No, Evie! I──”
He desperately tried to explain, but he couldn't finish his sentence.
“──!?”
Because the dagger that Kain had quickly drawn, had plunged deep into his neck.