Chapter 144
Chapter 144
A Short Journey (3)
The fools who had attacked the train that Kairus and Tanya were riding on had all been dealt with. Those who were meant to die had died, and even the ones who managed to survive were completely knocked out.
“There were three of them.”
There had been three skilled fighters, presumably from the correctional facility. Kairus restrained them and stretched.
“I should’ve shown this to Irena.”
It was a shame he couldn’t show it to Irena due to the situation. It would’ve been a perfect example to demonstrate that Swift Blade triumphs when the battlefield favors it, even when outnumbered.
In truth, if he had clashed with them blade to blade, Kairus wouldn’t have had such an easy win.
But Kairus subdued these three inmates without much difficulty. It had been a simple task of tossing them away with wind whenever they came at him.
“You were stronger than I expected.”
When they returned to the train, Tanya spoke with a slightly surprised look.
“The situation worked in my favor.”
At his response, Tanya shook her head.
“I’ve seen skilled and renowned knights fight on the battlefield. But never anything like this.”
“You’ve just seen weaklings.”
On the battlefield, Swift Blade was a very powerful style, but ultimately, it always depended on the person using it. If the opponent was stronger than Kairus, even Swift Blade’s advantages would’ve faded.
Once Kairus finished up, the passengers on the train, which had been in chaos, managed to regain some semblance of calm.
“Maybe I shouldn’t have smashed the window.”
At his words, Tanya pulled out a blanket.
“Think this might help?”
“You think that’ll work?”
If a single blanket could block the cold wind howling through the shattered window, no one would’ve frozen to death at the labor correctional facility.
Meanwhile, an announcement rang through the train, stating it would take about a day to repair the wrecked tracks.
Which meant they’d have to endure an entire day in this train car with no window.
“This is bad.”
As Tanya worried, a knock came at the door. The person who entered was the train conductor.
“Truly, thank you. I don’t even know how to express my gratitude.”
Why wouldn’t he know how to express it? Kairus, seeing the perfect opportunity, pointed at the shattered window.
“Could you do something about this? I might end up sleeping with a twisted jaw in this cold.”
“I’ll move you to another car. Fortunately, we have a first-class suite currently vacant. We’ll offer that to you.”
The first-class suite had been reserved for a passenger boarding at Sevastopol. In other words, it was currently empty.
As soon as Kairus spoke, the conductor responded immediately. It was good news. Kairus hadn’t intended to use a first-class suite for a mere two to three-hour ride.
Now they had no choice but to stay on the train for about a day. In that case, a first-class suite with beds and heating was definitely the better option.
“I’ll escort you right away.”
No matter how deeply rooted materialism was in the Aylan Republic, life was ultimately held in the highest regard. Among those who had survived the attack, not a single person resented the special treatment Kairus and Tanya received.
“Wow. So this is the famous first-class suite of the Aylan Republic.”
Kairus let out a quiet sigh of admiration as he stepped inside. It couldn't quite compare to Cecilia’s private train car, which he’d once had the chance to ride, but it was still unbelievably luxurious.
“There’s running water, too.”
Amazingly, they could even use water. Tanya turned the faucet at the sink and looked surprised. Even hot water was available.
And the bed wasn’t just a chair that had been reconfigured into a bed-like form. A real mattress was laid out and waiting.
“There are even two beds.”
There were two beds, each with just enough space left over for a single person to lie comfortably. Drinkable coffee and tea were also prepared.
“Usually you’d have to pay for that coffee and tea, and they’d probably charge you for water usage too.”
“Because it’s the Republic.”
But not this time. They had narrowly escaped death, and the train’s damages had been limited to a few broken windows.
Kairus had already prevented what could’ve been massive losses for the train. The conductor had assured them there would be no additional charges for anything during their stay.
In the Aylan Republic, everything you paid for guaranteed something impressive in return.
Even if you asked for raw beef at a café, as long as you were willing to pay enough, they’d somehow get it for you—that’s just how things worked here. Of course, the limited environment of a train imposed some restrictions.
Still, everything was free this time.
“So this is the kind of reward you get for swinging a sword.”
“Thanks be to Father.”
At Kairus’s remark, Tanya clasped her hands and offered a short prayer.
“And thanks for our daily bread.”
They were served canapés topped with quail eggs and caviar, along with high-quality wine.
As they placed a record on the phonograph and listened to music while enjoying good food and drink, the day passed in no time.
Once the tracks had been repaired, the two arrived at their destination: Sevastopol.
“Wait here for a bit.”
Kairus told Tanya to wait, then made a call to Simid Kellogg.
Simid had also been waiting to hear from Kairus, so the call connected immediately.
— Kairus.
“Chief of Treasury, have you been well?”
Simid Kellogg, after receiving the call, fell silent for a moment. When he first entrusted the Rezantin Museum request to Kairus, he had thought of him as a one-time-use card.
It would’ve been great to obtain the list, but if he failed, it would just leave a slightly bitter aftertaste.
But considering what Kairus had accomplished so far, that assumption had clearly been mistaken.
“Whatever you’re going to ask, I’ll speak first. Chief of Treasury or not, your intentions don’t matter much to me.”
Kairus wanted only one thing.
“The emperor’s death.”
— That goal is a step I have to pass through anyway.
If a new emperor were to be installed, the current one had to die. Something ambiguous like exile wouldn’t be enough.
— After my life was threatened, I had no choice but to restructure the revolutionary forces I’d been organizing.
Even if Simid died, the plan and the network couldn’t be allowed to collapse.
“Because that’s the only way you survive.”
If his faction could be dismantled just by severing one man’s head, the emperor would’ve already had Simid’s throat slit and destroyed the Kellogg family.
But Simid Kellogg had fractured the faction he’d built to establish a new emperor into multiple branches. Now, cutting off Simid’s head alone wouldn’t be enough to bring the whole rebellion down.
“Playing martyr just to survive. What a joke.”
Listening to the story, Kairus commented on Kellogg’s actions with that assessment.
By shouting, “Go ahead and kill me!” he had, in turn, made it more difficult for the emperor to do so. Killing Simid Kellogg now, once a leader of rebellion, would only turn him into a symbol and rallying point for the rebels.
— I need the methods from that city.
“The methods of Bennett City? You mean something illegal.”
Simid Kellogg didn’t respond to Kairus’s remark. But his silence was affirmative.
— The people of Bennett don’t share the same logic as the Empire or the Republic.
“What kind of vague nonsense is that? Don’t waste my phone bill.”
At Kairus’s jab, Simid responded.
— When I was younger, I had to visit Bennett City. Whenever I arrive in a city for the first time, I take about a day to walk around its marketplaces.
“Very fitting for a Chief of Treasury.”
There’s nothing wrong with someone in charge of finances observing how people live by walking through markets.
— Unlike most places, the people of Bennett don’t check the price tag first when they shop. Do you know what they look at?
“Ah.”
At that moment, Kairus finally understood what Simid Kellogg was getting at. Since he grasped the intent behind the words, he could naturally answer the question too.
“They check the waistband of the shop owner or the clerk first.”
Checking how much money they had in their wallet or the price of an item was secondary.
The most important thing was whether or not the other party had a weapon. The reason was simple.
If the shop owner wasn’t armed, it meant they had no way to protect themselves—and if that was the case, there was no need to pay for anything.
You just took it.
— That’s how the city’s criminals managed to establish influence in both countries.
Their mindset was completely different from that of Aylan’s citizens or Valorn’s subjects. They used methods most people wouldn’t even consider to get what they wanted.
They laced competitors with drugs and destroyed factories producing alternative goods.
When the board of directors met, they killed everyone in the conference room. They rigged the vote results, stopped trains to delay shipments.
They emptied out the bank accounts of their targets by robbing the banks where they kept their money. They kidnapped their children to get what they wanted.
— You criminals can’t confront Aylan or Valorn head-on. But precisely because of that, you can do the things the two countries can’t.
“Chief of Treasury. I get what you’re trying to say now. Just tell me the job already.”
Kairus’s prompt was answered by Simid.
— There’s a retired senior officer from the Bureau of Security. He probably remembers the locations of some of the bureau’s offices within the Empire.
“This son of a bitch old man?”
Kairus couldn’t help but swear in disbelief. The Empire had two agencies: the Bureau of Security and the Secret Intelligence Service.
The Bureau of Security monitored internal subversive activity, while the Secret Intelligence Service gathered intel abroad. Naturally, for someone like Simid Kellogg, the most worrisome was the one watching for domestic unrest—the Bureau of Security.
“You want me to mess with the Bureau of Security?”
— Feeling the pressure?
Kairus clicked his tongue.
“It’s more than just pressure.”
— He’s not active duty.
“Still.”
Even if the target was a former member, it was still different from attacking an active office.
In essence, this was no different than going after a retired member of a committee in Bennett City to extract information.
Targeting someone linked to the Bureau of Security inside the Empire’s borders carried that kind of weight.
— After the Featherwing family was wiped out, there was an incident while sorting through the family’s legacy. Are you aware of it?
“…Why bring up Featherwing all of a sudden?”
It was something Simid Kellogg had recently heard about.
The Cloud Seizing Art manual, which Bishop Gallia had kept with great care, had been stolen. From the circumstances and statements, it was clearly Kairus’s doing.
— Are you only interested in Cloud Seizing Art? Or are you after everything that’s part of the Featherwing legacy?
Simid’s words made Kairus suppress his rising excitement as he replied.
“I’ll take anything I can get. I was already trying to replicate the Cloud Seizing manual anyway.”
— I see. Well, that incident while processing the Featherwing estate? The on-site supervisor back then was the very same retired officer I mentioned.
He probably knew quite a lot. Some of the legacy might have been stolen, but there were still parts of the family’s inheritance that remained untouched.
While handling Simid Kellogg’s request, Kairus might also uncover the whereabouts of the legacy still left within the Empire.
“What about the payment? Don’t tell me you want me to just take it off the old guy.”
That would just be fulfilling the request while satisfying his own curiosity.
— Will money suffice?
“If you pay enough.”
Kairus had plenty of things he needed money for in the future. Unlike someone like Cecilia, he wasn’t sitting on a mountain of wealth, nor did he have the luxury to ask for anything else.
‘This old man sure knows how to stack the pot.’
The reward was huge, and the job was dangerous. If you were going to hire someone like Kairus, this was exactly the kind of work you’d give him.
Safe jobs with little payoff didn’t interest him in the slightest.