Chapter 151
Chapter 151
Trust and Deception (4)
The place prepared for them was nice. The quality of the mountain grape wine wasn’t exactly something to brag about, but it had a high enough alcohol content with a sweet flavor, and the roe that Roderick said he’d received as a gift had the rich taste and saltiness worthy of its rarity.
Of course, those trivial things weren’t what truly mattered.
“So I was barely able to lead my men and escape from that hell.”
Kairus let out a soft expression of admiration and refilled Roderick’s empty glass.
“By the way, is it really okay not to report the fact that you were attacked to the bureau?”
At Kairus’s question, Roderick nodded.
“The Security Bureau is probably already piecing things together. There’s no real need for me to report it.”
There was technically a time limit involved. If the Security Bureau managed to get a clear grasp of Roderick’s current situation, they would take action.
‘But not today.’
There was still enough time for Kairus to hear the information he needed.
“Oh, and regarding that Featherwing inheritance incident. I heard you were involved in that as well.”
At Kairus’s words, Roderick let out a chuckle and nodded.
“Yeah, now that you mention it, I suppose I was. It’s been so long that it’s all a bit hazy now.”
He said it like that, but Roderick had never actually forgotten the events of that time.
“You probably already know, but... things were utterly chaotic back then.”
“Absolutely.”
When a family so massive and powerful vanishes completely, social unrest follows, whether people like it or not.
“The Featherwings were annihilated. And the Republic’s president was impeached.”
“Ah… that’s right.”
Truthfully, Kairus didn’t know about that. That the president of the Aylan Republic had been impeached.
But it finally explained something he’d always wondered about. With a giant family like the Featherwings wiped out, the Aylan Republic should have been able to make significant gains—so why hadn’t they moved?
Because they hadn’t been able to.
‘The Emperor timed it well.’
Whether he knew the impeachment was coming, or he struck at the Featherwings the moment it happened, no one could say.
But one thing was certain—it had been impeccable timing.
“We’re talking about the famous House Featherwing. I’m sure there were countless things that were set to be confiscated by the Empire after their fall.”
At Kairus’s comment, Roderick nodded.
“It was jaw-dropping, to the point I didn’t even know where to look. There were books containing the secrets of all sorts of martial arts, and battle gear with incredible performance, and add-ons.”
Narrowing his eyes, Roderick emptied his glass, recalling that moment.
“And even the Veil of Plumed Mist.”
“You saw it yourself?”
“I was carrying out His Majesty’s orders, so I had the chance. There was even a guy who tried to use it once.”
Kairus thought to himself, Oh no. If someone who hadn’t undergone the procedure touched the Veil of Plumed Mist, it would be a disaster.
“It was an overwhelming sight. The moment that guy held the Veil of Plumed Mist, it made this sound—like some sort of turbine spinning up.”
Roderick still hadn’t forgotten the memory of that overwhelming turbine noise—multiple layers of it blasting at once, so loud it felt like his eardrums were about to burst.
After making a “boom!” sound with his mouth, Roderick looked quietly at Kairus.
“He collapsed right after that. His entire body turned dark purple.”
“What was the cause?”
“All the blood vessels in his body had ruptured.”
Kairus let out a quiet, oh dear. That was exactly why you didn’t go around touching unknown battle gear.
It was something he already knew. The Veil of Plumed Mist didn’t require training to wield. It needed something else—something abnormally enhanced, something training couldn’t strengthen.
‘Blood vessels and blood.’
Direct descendants of the Featherwing family underwent a procedure to implant an organ called the energy sac, which enhanced their lungs. Those enhanced lungs supplied an overwhelming amount of oxygen, and naturally, to keep up, the blood vessels and blood that carried the oxygen were also strengthened.
If someone who hadn’t undergone the procedure tried to use the Veil of Plumed Mist, their blood vessels would burst from the output they couldn’t withstand.
“By the way, I heard it was stolen.”
At Kairus’s remark, Roderick let out a long sigh.
“A large portion of the items meant for the Empire’s storage was lost. The Veil of Plumed Mist was originally supposed to be sent to the vault of the Rezantin Museum.”
Could there be anything more frustrating? If the Veil of Plumed Mist had been transferred without issue, Kairus could’ve gotten his hands on the family’s symbol long ago.
It felt like his heart was being torn apart. It might’ve been better if it had never been stolen at all.
“To prevent something like that, I assume a sizable force was assigned to the transport convoy?”
If it was stolen, then the natural suspicion would be an inside job, wouldn’t it?
“It was the doing of the Aylan Republic. Even amid their chaos, it seems they couldn’t resist the remnants left behind by the Featherwings.”
Apparently, Aylan had sent around five hundred men to attack the convoy. The defending forces numbered nearly ten thousand.
But those five hundred from Aylan were handpicked elites. And since they were the attackers, not defenders, they made significant gains despite being outnumbered.
“Then the Veil of Plumed Mist too…?”
At Kairus’s trailing question, Roderick gave a crooked smile and shook his head.
“I don’t know which bastard took it, but it wasn’t the Aylan Republic.”
“Is that so? Just hypothetically, who do you think might’ve taken it?”
At that, Roderick burst into hearty laughter and responded.
“Why? Are you interested too?”
“It may be an old story now, but it’s still a family treasure, isn’t it? I’m just curious, that’s all.”
It was a story from long ago. An incident that had happened around the same time Kairus was desperately struggling to survive in the labor correctional facility.
These days, no one really searched for it anymore. Only a few idle chatterers still tossed around theories about where it might have gone.
Still, even if it was just another story, the fact that it came from Roderick—someone who’d actually been on the scene—made it a lot more credible.
“The ones in charge of the transport at the time were the Azure Order of Knights, the Capital Security Corps, and the Vasella family.”
Kairus let out a curious hmm?. It made perfect sense for the Azure Order and the Capital Security Corps to be involved in this.
“But why the Vasella family…?”
“Because we needed their cooperation. The area where the inheritance was stored before transport was heavily influenced by the Vasella family.”
Kairus’s mind began to work through the possibilities.
“If it was the Azure Order, then does that mean the knight captain was present too?”
“That’s right. The captain himself came.”
The Azure Order’s captain, Dallas Ozley—a man known by the nickname “Quickblade.” While perhaps not quite on the same level as Dana Watson, the title of knight captain wasn’t given lightly.
On top of that, the Capital Security Corps had also joined in. Say what you will about other security units, but the Capital Security Corps, tasked with safeguarding the Empire’s core territories, was filled with absolute monsters.
“And even so, the Aylan Republic managed to achieve half-success.”
“The president of the Lunaseeker Agency showed up in person.”
Yeah, someone like that had to appear for any of this to make sense—Kairus thought so too.
“The Empire didn’t expect things to escalate that far. Their situation was a complete mess too, after all.”
That’s how badly they’d wanted to get their hands on it.
‘They knew just how powerful the Featherwings were.’
Even in the chaos following their president’s impeachment, the president of the Lunaseeker Agency had personally stepped in.
“From what I heard later, that incident caused even more delays in stabilizing things after the impeachment...”
By the time the Aylan Republic managed to clean up their internal situation, the Empire had already recovered as well.
And so, the two nations found themselves once again locked in a tense standoff, neither able to gain the upper hand.
‘The first thing I need to investigate is the Vasella family.’
Their family crest was a lily—bud for branch members, fully bloomed lily for direct bloodline.
They were famous for a spear technique known as Orentia. No need to investigate the Capital Security Corps.
‘Those guys would rip their own balls off if the Emperor ordered it.’
Only those with that level of loyalty got selected. The idea that one of them secretly stole the Veil of Plumed Mist was completely implausible.
As for the Azure Order, led by Dallas Ozley...
‘Too dangerous to investigate right now.’
If it was either the Vasella family or the Azure Order who smuggled out the Veil of Plumed Mist, it made more sense to start with the one that was easier to look into.
“You’ve had quite a bit to drink. You’re welcome to drop by again later, but for today…”
Roderick was clearly quite drunk, but Kairus was completely sober.
And—
There was nothing more Kairus needed from Roderick.
“Cough… khak!”
“There won’t be a next time.”
I knew where Roderick kept his kitchen knife. I had seen him take it out before, and I had also seen him tuck it back into his clothes after a fight was over.
‘He was drunk, injured in the leg, and off his guard.’
It was the perfect situation to rush in and cleanly take his head.
I had created this situation myself. Even Lunaseeker agents would probably have admired it.
“Why, you… why?”
I didn’t answer. From Roderick’s point of view, it must have been absurd. If I had intended to kill him anyway—
‘Saving him, only to kill him again. There would’ve been no need for that.’
No one went out of their way to do something so pointless.
“Exactly.”
I had no obligation to explain, and the single strike I delivered with the kitchen knife was precise. Not long after, Roderick died clutching his own throat.
After confirming Roderick’s death, I left his house and began to run.
‘The fact that he’s dead will be discovered.’
My appearance would probably be circulated as well. Since it was just a disguise, that part didn’t matter much. The real problem lay elsewhere.
No matter how pointless Roderick’s death might seem, he would already have reported to the Security Bureau before telling me the location of one of their branches.
Which meant the Security Bureau also knew that I was aware of one of their branch locations. Once Roderick’s death was discovered, the necessary measures would be taken at that branch immediately.
‘It’s not that far. I have to do it before sunrise tomorrow, no matter what.’
I needed to get out of here as fast as possible and finish the job before the opportunity I’d finally obtained slipped away.
“Did you get here?”
“Let’s move.”
Irena and Nora had already finished packing in my room at the village hall. I immediately equipped my gear, including Flicker, and stepped out of the village hall.
“Oh, and.”
I casually tossed the kitchen knife I’d used to deal with Roderick to Nora.
“You do it.”
“Huh? Is that really okay? Oppa, did you forget? I’m a spy.”
She had been ordered by the Rose Garden to keep an eye on me, and judging by the fact that she was still maintaining ties with Lunaseeker, she was probably still reporting information about me to them as well.
“You got my card.”
Despite that, the reason I handed her the knife lay in the business card she’d received.
‘Even if Lunaseeker attacks me, Nora will be excluded and will notify me about the attack.’
“That’s true, but requests that come down from the Republic are an exception. You know that, right?”
“It doesn’t matter.”
The Aylan Republic had no reason to kill me. If anything, they had judged that I could at least imitate Cloud Seizing Art, however crudely.
They would observe a bit longer, and if they decided I was worth it, they would try to recruit me into Lunaseeker.
So it was fine. Teleportation was a good ability, but giving up Flicker would cost me far too much.
‘It doesn’t suit me all that well either. Flicker is the best when it comes to breaking in.’
Considering what Nora was already capable of, adding teleportation on top of that would turn her into a ghostlike assassin.
And if things went badly, I might even have to stir up the Azure Order of Knights.
Compared to future risks, strengthening my immediate combat power mattered more to me right now.