Chapter 290 : Vortex (5)
Chapter 290: Vortex (5)
The top sheet of the stack of documents Lian had picked up was a letter bearing the seal of Cardinal Bruyant.
There was nothing particularly unusual about the contents of the letter itself.
Just trivial matters regarding the schedule of this visit.
Along with that, it mentioned that the donation sent previously had been received well, that the order understood their sincerity, and that they hoped they would continue to maintain their faith with a devoted heart……
The contents that followed were nothing special either.
However, Lian was able to easily see through the fact that another message was hidden within that letter.
He had encountered this method countless times in his previous life.
“……Mentor.”
“Yes, a method commonly used by followers of the Holy Sun Church. Especially the Agents.”
Berenistella muttered that and slowly flicked her finger.
Then the letters written on the letter began to move on their own before gradually revealing an entirely different message.
When the attack that had occurred in the Capital today would break out.
In addition, where disturbances would mainly occur, along with advice to avoid those times and locations.
Furthermore, it included a reminder to ensure the items that had been requested were transported without fail.
The requested items.
Kindly, even a list of them was written.
Coffins.
In other words, the corpses of those used in this attack.
“……Ha.”
Lian let out a dry laugh.
Even this alone was undeniable evidence.
Without stopping, he picked up the next document from the stack.
“They all look like nothing important on the surface, but every single one of them contains hidden messages.”
“……Indeed.”
Berenistella slowly nodded.
For someone like her, who had no family or blood relatives to speak of, it was difficult to easily imagine the emotions Lian was feeling at this moment.
“…….”
Thus, she tried to think of Lian Gwendil as someone who had betrayed him, but soon shook her head.
…She did not want to think about it anymore.
Was he feeling the same emotions she was feeling now?
“Agents, Imperial cipher, the Garusol language. Even ancient scripts of the Northern Continent…… They hid them in quite a variety of ways.”
“……Our family shouldn’t have such wide connections or knowledge.”
Lian let out another hollow laugh.
In truth, he had absolutely no idea what emotions he was supposed to express right now.
“…….”
To be honest, he had never been particularly attached to the family, nor had he truly felt a sense of belonging.
After all, he was the child of a concubine.
The son of a mistress—practically no different from a child cast aside by the family.
His biological mother had died when he was so young that he barely even remembered her.
And his father? The man whom he called Count had never once formed any real bond with him.
He had always looked at Lian with nothing but cold eyes.
Sometimes Lian even wondered if he looked at other people’s children more warmly.
The only reason Lian still held any lingering attachment to the family was because of the Countess, who had sheltered and cared for him during childhood, and his second brother, Artiac.
“If.”
If they had known as well.
Then what should I do?
Setting that thought aside, Lian continued to examine the documents with Berenistella’s help, no interpretation necessary.
Among them were contents that would leave no room for defense even if they were accused of treason or worship of an Evil God.
When he even found letters exchanged with Archbishop Rahma, he actually smiled.
And then there was the fragment of an Iron Needle sealed inside a tightly secured box.
“……Mentor.”
“The aura is slightly different, but it is not much different from the ones embedded in the chests of those roaming the streets.”
“Looks like it was some kind of prototype.”
“…….”
Unlike the silent Berenistella, Lian stared down at the documents and murmured blankly.
“Princess Velita was right.”
“…….”
“She might have known, or it might have been coincidence. But one thing is certain—the charges she placed on my head in my previous life, along with the bounty on my neck…… every single one of them was true.”
Muttering that, Lian picked up the final bundle of documents.
It was oddly thick and separately bound, clearly indicating it contained important material.
“Whew.”
What kind of content would shock him this time?
Letting out a small breath, Lian broke the seal.
Then, as he opened the first page of the stack, his mouth fell open as he murmured unconsciously.
“……Huh?”
There was nothing written in the documents about treason or worship of the Evil God.
Instead, the documents only contained records about Lian Gwendil himself.
“That’s… what…?”
Faced with something completely unexpected, Lian muttered blankly as he flipped through the papers.
The documents contained his personal information and his activities within the Academy, recorded in meticulous detail.
“…….”
From the Dungeon Field Class incident to various accidents in the Forest of Secrets.
Information about acquaintances he was close to, including Cecilia, Allen, and Yuran.
Which classes he was taking, his academic performance, and even his classroom attitude.
How deep his faith in the Holy Sun Church appeared to be.
Who he was personally receiving instruction from……
Everything was written there.
Looking closer, it seemed to contain a full record of his actions from the moment he entered the Academy up to the present.
“……And yet I never once sensed anyone watching me.”
After reading alongside him, Berenistella muttered in a stunned voice, as if she could not believe it.
Naturally, she had unintentionally revealed that she herself had also been monitoring Lian, but given the situation, she did not even realize her slip of the tongue.
“There are many servants in the Academy. And the Gwendil family has a lot of money.”
Lian murmured quietly.
“If they bribed the servants and staff, it wouldn’t be strange. If they said something like they were simply worried about how a member of their family was doing, people probably spoke without any real suspicion.”
“But there are records of things that happened in places where no one else’s eyes could reach.”
“True.”
Lian slowly nodded.
“……But right now, I’m more curious about the reason than the method, Mentor.”
He murmured.
“Why was I monitored this closely? Why would my own family track my movements in such detail……?”
“…….”
As Lian spoke, and Berenistella remained silent, something passed through both their minds at the same time.
But neither of them voiced it.
For Lian, it was something he simply could not bear to believe.
And for Berenistella, she understood how he must be feeling.
“……We should leave here soon.”
Suddenly Berenistella spoke.
When Lian looked at her, she glanced around slightly before continuing.
“I sense several presences lurking around this place. They were likely planning to attack anyone who entered.”
She muttered in displeasure.
“It seems they failed to consider my power at all. They probably don’t even realize we’re here.”
“Before that.”
Lian whispered.
“Before that, I need to meet my eldest brother.”
“……Disciple, I understand your feelings, but we don’t have time for that right now.”
“I’m not acting on emotion.”
He shook his head.
“In reality, the one managing the family’s affairs—specifically the Merchant Group—is my eldest brother. He’s probably somewhere here in the Merchant Group building.”
“That means……”
“There’s a high chance he knows the full truth behind this matter.”
Lian carefully organized the documents and placed them back inside the vault.
When Berenistella waved her fingers again, the letters written in the documents returned to their original state.
“No one will be able to break through Mentor’s Suggestion anyway.”
“Will you be alright?”
Berenistella asked.
“Is he not your blood relative?”
“Blood relative?”
Lian chuckled softly.
“Is this what you call family? From the looks of it, they planned to offer me as a sacrifice from the very beginning—even before I entered the Academy…… This isn’t how family treats one another.”
“…….”
“It’s how you treat livestock.”
“……Very well.”
Berenistella nodded.
“The top floor.”
“I’d prefer we move quietly.”
“Do not worry.”
She grabbed Lian.
Then she placed her hand against the wall, and before he realized it, they were standing in the middle of a corridor decorated with luxurious ornaments.
And there was no one else in the corridor.
“Contrary to what I expected, there’s no security here at—”
Crash!
Lian abruptly stopped speaking at the loud noise.
Without making a sound, they moved toward the innermost room of the corridor—the Merchant Leader’s office.
“……What on earth are you saying right now!”
A woman’s voice filled with rage.
It was the voice of the Countess, Manoa.
“Lian is your son! And Artiac is your son too!”
She was shouting furiously at someone, unable to believe what she was hearing.
Through the wide-open door, the interior of the office could clearly be seen in complete disarray.
“……Mother.”
The man standing beside the Countess spoke calmly.
“Please calm yourself.”
“Don’t you dare tell me to calm down, Quirian!”
“I’m worried the people downstairs might hear.”
He replied calmly.
“You should maintain the dignity expected of a noble.”
“Dignity? Your brothers might die right now, and you’re talking about dignity?”
It seemed the man—Quirian—had sent all the servants downstairs.
He looked at his mother, who was shouting in fury, with an expression of annoyance.
“It is Father’s will.”
“Good, you said it yourself. You already knew everything……!”
Manoa ground her teeth.
Then she turned toward the Crystal Sphere placed on the desk behind Quirian and shouted.
“Say something, you! Are you really going to just let those two children—let them die like this!?”
Humm.
The Crystal Sphere glowed brightly.
—Artiac will not die.
A colder, more indifferent voice than Quirian’s echoed from the sphere.
—He will simply suffer for a while.
“Then what about Lian? What about that child?”
Manoa stormed forward as if she might throw the Crystal Sphere, but Quirian quickly stepped in front of her.
She glared at her eldest son as if she could kill him, then shouted toward the sphere.
“I only just learned that you sent that child to the Academy as a sacrificial move! If I had known your intentions, I would never have allowed him to leave the estate!”
—For the family’s long-cherished goal.
The voice replied.
—The sacrifice of the small for the sake of the greater is inevitable.
“How can you say something like that…… Lian is your son too. Your own blood. And yet you speak as if he were some animal……!”
—Well said.
Sigh.
The voice asked:
—He isn’t your child, is he?
“……What did you say?”
—Did you give birth to that child?
“Wh—what are you……”
—No, you didn’t. Then why are you acting like this?
The voice asked as if it genuinely could not understand.
—I guarantee you. Artiac will return with all his limbs intact. The two children you gave birth to will be perfectly fine. So why are you making such a scene?
“…….”
Manoa fell silent.
She simply stared at the Crystal Sphere without saying anything.
“……Yes.”
After a moment, she spoke.
“You’re right. That child isn’t ours.”
—Good. Now you finally understa—
“That child is mine.”
Manoa spat out the words.
“That day—when his mother died, the day of her funeral…… when rain poured down like a storm. Do you know what that child was doing?”
“……”
“He was standing there in front of his mother’s gravestone, completely blank. Not a single tear. Just standing there. ……Why do you think that was?”
She muttered with a voice filled with hatred.
“……Because he watched with his own eyes as his father allowed his mother to die.”
Click.
A sound echoed in his mind.
It was the same sound he heard every time he regained a fragment of his memories.