Chapter 135 : Assassination - 3
Chapter 135: Assassination - 3
Edgar crossed his arms and sank into thought.
‘From the beginning, that guy could read the future. Didn’t he see the future where I received the new shoes through Louis, used them to block the Invisibility Cloak’s function… and in the end snatched it away and killed his own gang?’
If he had read up to that point.
Then how would he come out?
His head spun in complicated calculations.
Louis, who had been waiting with a slightly anxious expression, asked,
“Edgar. What’s wrong?”
Edgar quietly looked at Louis.
As expected, my wife was excellent.
An excellent insurance policy.
“I’d like to ask one more thing of you, Louis.”
Ever since I devised the plan, I had been losing sleep while staring at the Compass.
The Compass was set to Kaid Bel.
So far, there had been no red dot marked on the map.
That meant he was properly wearing the Invisibility Cloak.
But if the cloak lost its function because of Edgar, a red dot would appear.
‘The moment that happens, I have to fly over immediately.’
That was why we took turns maintaining a state of vigilance.
It felt like an extension of the previous Fake Quest Boundary Duty.
How many days passed like that?
I was asleep.
At that moment, Aina’s sharp shout rang out.
“Everyone, wake up! A red dot just appeared.”
Gasp.
I sprang to my feet.
Armelia asked with a tense expression,
“Mason. Could it be…?”
“It’s fine. The preparations have just been completed.”
“That’s a relief. That was close.”
“Yes. There were many obstacles one way or another, but it’s done now. Let’s move immediately.”
I grabbed the Teleportation bead in my hand.
“Let’s go.”
Everyone was fully prepared.
We shouted at the same time.
“We want to move to Kaid Bel’s side.”
The next moment.
The scenery changed.
The first thing I saw was Kaid’s face just as he was about to bring freshly grilled skewered meat to his mouth.
We arrived on his left side.
And on his right side was…
“Eh? Huh?”
“Edgar. As expected, you came.”
“Hehe. That was what I was going to say. As expected, you had been reading my plan.”
“Oh? Mr. Mason, it’s been a while. It’s my first time meeting Mr. Edgar.”
“…….”
“Um… would you like some meat together? No, more importantly, can both of you see me?”
Just as Kaid finished saying that he was definitely wearing the cloak properly—
Wiiiiing.
Suddenly, a black hole formed behind his back.
Kaid’s body stiffened.
His face turned pale as if he might collapse at any moment, and tears instantly welled up in his eyes.
“Th-this feeling is….”
“Kaid.”
“Aaaah! I was wrong, Master. Please don’t drag me away.”
Before, Kaid had said it himself.
That he was dragged into that black hole as if water were being sucked into a drain.
And indeed, just as he said, Kaid’s body was being sucked into the hole.
He desperately grabbed at nearby objects and resisted, but it was useless.
At that moment, a gloomy voice came from inside the hole.
-So you were here, you stupid slave bastard.
“Uwaaaah. Master. Please, please.”
-You had time to grill meat and eat, but not time to return and report to me? You must have been very hungry.
“Sob. N-no. It wasn’t because I was hungry. This was to celebrate escaping from you, Master… guh.”
Just how low was that guy’s intelligence…
At that moment, Armelia shouted,
“Mason!”
“Ah, yes.”
No specific instructions were needed.
We had already coordinated everything.
The core of our plan this time was Kaid.
If that guy was dragged to Hell, we would fail before even beginning.
My Companions rushed toward Kaid.
And with all our strength, we grabbed him as he was being pulled into the hole.
“Ghk.”
“E-everyone. Please save me.”
“We are saving you. Stop crying and grab something too!”
“My resistance is useless. I’m completely subordinate to Master.”
“…….”
“So please protect me. Protect me. Protect me, you bastards!”
For a moment, I felt the urge to just let go.
The suction force of the hole pulling Kaid was tremendous.
Even though my Companions were wearing their Brooches, our bodies were gradually being dragged forward.
Just then.
“For now, I will help as well.”
Suddenly Edgar and Louis clung to Kaid’s opposite arm.
‘He must really want that cloak.’
If Kaid were sent to Hell like this, he would lose the cloak forever.
“Aaaagh! My arm. It’s going to tear off!”
“It’s fine. Her Highness the Princess will reattach it for you.”
“Are you fucking serious right now…?”
“Edgar! Put more strength into it.”
“I am.”
At that moment, Benjamin, who was holding onto Kaid’s legs, spoke.
“To think I’d be striving toward a common goal with that man. It makes me feel a certain self-loathing.”
“Oh, Mr. Vayne. Have you been well?”
“What old alias are you using? My name is—”
“Why would I care? A traitor’s real name.”
While that was happening, the MVP’s voice rang out from the hole once more.
-Edgar. What are you doing right now?
“What do you mean?”
-Why are you preventing my underling from being dragged in? That was not the order I gave you.
So it really was the MVP who had given Edgar instructions.
To drag Kaid back.
Well, originally Edgar wouldn’t even have known of Kaid’s existence.
Edgar let out a short laugh and replied,
“I’m not particularly your slave. If you drag him away as he is now, I won’t be able to secure the cloak.”
-I will return it to you later.
“I can’t trust that. It’s more certain to obtain it here.”
-You bastard!
“From the first time we met, I didn’t like you.”
In any case, the tug-of-war continued with Kaid as the rope between us.
Crack. Crack.
The sound of something tearing came from inside Kaid’s body.
His whining grew worse.
“Stop, stop! Just let go instead. At this rate, I’ll really be torn apart!”
“Then leave the cloak behind.”
“Wow, are you even human?”
Karin shouted irritably.
“Shut up. You’re breaking my concentration.”
“You can say that so easily because you’ve never had your arm torn off!”
“Endure it. The suction force is clearly weakening.”
It was just as she said.
The pulling force from the hole gradually weakened.
We, who had been getting dragged little by little, were now pulling it this way instead.
Eventually, as if the MVP inside the hole had given up, he spoke.
-Kaid.
“Y-yes, sir!”
-Were you perhaps rebelling against me?
“……You’re only realizing that now?”
-I never once imagined it. I thought your rebellion ended about 270,000 years ago. After I sentenced you to the maggot punishment.
At those words, the color drained from Kaid’s face.
What the hell was a maggot punishment?
-For now, I’ll retreat. See you later, Kaid.
“Ah, yes……. No. I don’t want to!”
-And you. Mason.
Me?
A chilling voice came from inside the hole.
-Don’t get cocky just because Lady Magireta finds you a little cute.
“…….”
-The only one worthy of standing by her side is me.
“So it was true……. That you fell for Magireta.”
-Hmph.
Swoosh.
The hole slowly began to close.
Soon, it disappeared completely.
The insane pulling force vanished as well.
We collapsed onto the ground, panting heavily.
Kaid was utterly exhausted and fell flat on his face.
I tapped his shoulder lightly and spoke.
“It’s fine. It was nothing.”
“Huh? What was?”
“You were about to say ‘thank you,’ so I answered in advance.”
“……Ah, yes. Thank you.”
The atmosphere relaxed for a brief moment as the MVP’s interference disappeared.
But soon, a new tension lingered in the air.
“Edgar, Louis.”
Armelia glared at the two with a sharp voice.
They returned her gaze with equally hostile expressions.
Come to think of it, it had been quite a while since we faced each other like this.
I asked in a calm tone,
“Have you been well?”
“Yes. Recently, thanks to you not spilling blood.”
“Since we’ve met, should I spill some generously? I’ve stored quite a lot in my sack.”
“Hehe.”
He lightly placed his hand on his sword.
That alone made all of my Companions assume battle stances.
After carefully scanning us, Edgar said,
“Let’s refrain from fighting for now. For now.”
“Fine. For now.”
“What brings you here?”
“Our purposes are obvious to each other, so let’s not waste time. You came for that, didn’t you?”
I gestured with my chin at Kaid lying on the ground.
More precisely, at the cloak wrapped around him.
Only then did Kaid jump up and quickly distance himself from us.
“What are these people? Did you really come for my cloak?”
“Edgar probably did. We came to protect you.”
“I don’t believe that….”
“Listen, Kaid.”
I continued in a low voice.
“You must have been wearing that cloak the entire time. No—forget the entire time, you’re still wearing it right now.”
“…….”
“Then why can we see you? How did your Master pinpoint your location and open that hole?”
“Does that mean the cloak is broken?”
Sienne nodded and answered him.
“That’s right. More precisely, Edgar broke it.”
“How could he possibly…?”
“He used one of the First-place rewards, ‘Shoes.’ The very shoes Edgar is wearing right now.”
“……?”
“You were once a Quest participant, so you know about the Credit Right, don’t you? He pulled in the future First-place reward, the Shoes. It’s an item that blocks the function of other First-place rewards.”
At that, Kaid glared resentfully at Edgar.
Berseum continued,
“But don’t worry. If we kill Edgar, the Invisibility Cloak’s function will return.”
“What?”
“When the wearer of those shoes dies, the reward’s original function returns.”
“Ohhh. Then right now—”
“Of course. It would be good if you helped as well.”
Kaid was about to nod vigorously.
But before he could, Edgar’s voice cut in.
“That’s incorrect, Mr. Kaid.”
“Huh?”
“These shoes aren’t only in my possession. Mr. Mason also has a pair. To be precise, he took them from me.”
“……Ah, that’s true.”
Kaid had been observing us for a long time under his Master’s orders.
So he would know Edgar was telling the truth.
I shrugged and asked,
“So?”
“The one who stole the Invisibility Cloak’s function isn’t me, but Mason.”
“Hah. That’s ridiculous.”
“Mr. Kaid. You were with Mason during the previous Quest, weren’t you? Did he truly seem like someone trustworthy?”
At that, Armelia nodded as if it were obvious.
But unfortunately, her opinion wasn’t what mattered right now.
A look of conflict spread across Kaid’s face.
I hurriedly said,
“Hey. Don’t you remember the handshake where we shared our souls?”
“I remember. And how that woman over there threw needles afterward.”
“That was a misunderstanding.”
“Ugh, what is this? Which one of you stole my cloak’s function?!”
“There’s one way to confirm.”
Tap.
I pointed at Edgar.
“As that gentleman just said, if the wearer of the shoes dies, the stolen function returns to its original state.”
“…….”
“All Edgar has to do is commit suicide here. Then your Invisibility Cloak will return to normal.”
“Huh.”
“If the function doesn’t return, then I would be the one lying.”
Kaid stared intently at Edgar.
Edgar scratched his head with an awkward expression.
But only for a moment.
Unexpectedly, he admitted it without much fuss.
“Yes. That’s correct. I stole the function.”