Chapter 16 : Chapter 16
Chapter 16: Kaff
"What are you doing here?" Lin Qi raised the Judgement and aimed it at Kaff.
"Come on now, young master Isaris. The Judgement has a pretty sensitive trigger." Kaff cooperatively raised his hands toward Lin Qi.
Wait. He knows about the Judgement?
What was going on? This man had been a cloud of mystery from the very beginning. Lin Qi suspected he wasn't even Sequence 7 anymore.
To be able to quietly kill a priest of the Eternal Blazing Sun Church, he had probably reached Sequence 6.
"I know you have a lot of questions, but don't worry. I'm on your side." Kaff slowly walked toward Lin Qi while reaching into his inner jacket pocket.
Elaine and Lin Qi tensed up. They were both running on empty. Facing a terrifying man who had solo-killed a Sequence 7, they had no confidence in escaping from him.
Snap, crack.
Kaff pulled out a pack of Violet from his pocket, took out a cigarette, and put it in Lin Qi's mouth, lighting it for him. He also lit one for himself.
"We're on the same side, young master Isaris. Go get some rest. I'll take care of everything."
***
The next morning, sunlight streamed onto Lin Qi's sleeping face and woke him up.
He got up, washed up quickly, put on his clothes, and walked out of the room to the first floor.
The hall that had been wrecked and damaged by the battle was gone. In its place was a simple bed made of two or three chairs pushed together. The body on it told the story of everything that had happened last night.
"He is your uncle, after all. I didn't take any liberties with the body." Kaff walked over and said.
"Thank you." Regardless of Kaff's motives, the fact was that he had killed the priest and been a huge help. Lin Qi had no reason to be rude to him.
Just then, Elaine, her shoulder wrapped in bandages, also came into the hall.
Elaine had been injured in her left shoulder during the fight with Jones. A single graze from Jones's brass knuckles had left it drenched in blood.
"So can you tell me now? Why are you helping me?" Lin Qi looked at Kaff and asked.
Kaff glanced at Elaine, then said to Lin Qi, "It's better if we wait until we're alone, young master Isaris."
"Elaine can be trusted—"
"Okay, Isaris. I came today to say goodbye." Elaine interrupted before Lin Qi could finish.
"Where are you planning to go?" Lin Qi asked, looking at Elaine.
"I'm going to travel the kingdom on my own and find opportunities to get stronger. I'm still too weak right now... I'm not a genius like Isaris..."
"No, I'm just..." A genius? Yeah, right. I'm pure hax. No talent at all. All of this is just cheats.
"That's not what I meant, Isaris. Even though I can't beat you right now, I'll definitely surpass you someday. Just you wait! Goodbye, my friend!"
Elaine looked into Lin Qi's eyes and extended her hand.
"Okay!"
The two hands gripped each other, just like when they first met in that alley.
The battle had hit Elaine hard. They were both Sequence 9s, but Lin Qi had killed two Sequence 8s and only ended up exhausted.
She, on the other hand, had only beaten one Sequence 9 and lost the ability to fight due to her injured left arm. She needed to get stronger. She would never again stand by and just watch her companions fight like she had yesterday.
Just like that little girl in the rain.
(Stop fighting, you guys!)
Elaine left. Just like when she arrived, she took nothing with her.
"Oh, I almost forgot to give you these, young master Isaris." After watching Elaine leave, Kaff pulled some things out of his pocket and laid them on the table in front of him.
Klingel's Forbidden Object sword, [Envy]. Green's mysterious bell Forbidden Object. And Jones's brass knuckles.
"You bastard..." Lin Qi was speechless. This guy could have taken these out at any time, but he specifically waited until Elaine was gone.
"You're so strong. Even if you took everything for yourself, no one would say anything. Why all the secrecy?" Lin Qi asked curiously.
"If I had fought that girl, would you have taken my side, young master Isaris?" Kaff asked with a smile.
Question mark?
When Lin Qi typed a question mark in his head, it wasn't because he had a problem—it was because you had a problem.
"Of course I would have helped Elaine."
"I figured as much. That's why I waited for her to leave. I don't want to be your enemy." Kaff pushed up his glasses.
"What do you mean?" Lin Qi was curious.
"If Alden was the last safeguard your mother left for you, then I am the final card your father left you." Kaff said calmly.
"My father?" Lin Qi was curious. A boastful old cowboy could command a Sequence 7 powerhouse?
"That's right. Your father, Leon Lopez. Romance Pathway: Sequence 3: Contradiction Poet." Kaff revealed a shocking piece of information.
Lin Qi snapped out of his shock. That old cowboy? In his previous life, he was only mentioned in passing in the story, without even a name. And he was Sequence 3?
Lin Qi had already suspected that Isaris's father wasn't an ordinary person, but he hadn't expected him to be this strong.
"Then you are..." Lin Qi looked at Kaff and asked.
"I'm your father's subordinate. Lord Leon's original intention was to leave you a Sequence 9 Transcendent knowledge and a Forbidden Object for self-defense.
If you could become a Transcendent, you could naturally inherit the Roland family and live a carefree life as a noble.
But things have gone beyond his expectations. He never thought you would reach Sequence 8 without even having the knowledge for Sequence 8.
I'm curious. How did you do it, young master Isaris?" Kaff looked into Lin Qi's eyes and asked.
That explains it. In both the first and second versions of Elaine's backstory, it was said that she resolved the conspiracy targeting the Roland family.
Lin Qi had just been wondering how Elaine alone could have beaten a Sequence 7 if he hadn't broken through to Sequence 8 himself.
In the original backstory, Kaff must have acted in secret, taking care of the priest and Green and the others, allowing Isaris to successfully inherit Roland Manor.
"I don't think I need to report to you how I did it, do I?" Lin Qi hadn't forgotten that someone from the Black Syndicate had tried to assassinate him.
Kaff looked at Isaris as if he understood what he meant. "Haha, don't be so petty, young master Isaris. The two underlings who tried to kill you were Jones's men. They wanted to use you to provoke Alden.
Those two assassins were already on borrowed time the moment they set out to kill you. Don't you think the taste of the poison they used felt familiar?"
"You're saying..."
"All the poison for the Black Syndicate's assassins came from me. What they took was just ordinary spice. They had already poisoned themselves long ago.
If you don't believe me, you can have Danny send over the autopsy report." Kaff said with a smile.
"Never mind. So what are you planning to do now?" Lin Qi asked.
"Stay by your side, of course, young master Isaris. Boss Leon told me to protect you."
"I'm planning to leave Kissmark Town."
"Leave? Young master, everything Roland is yours now. That's a fortune you can't even imagine."
"I'm going to the capital."
The capital was the most convenient place to encounter players. Closed beta and public beta players started at different locations, but as the story progressed, they would all converge on the capital. Lin Qi wanted to lay the groundwork early. He had to build a good image in the capital.
Only then could he gain attention and fan value.
"You really are just like your father." Kaff shook his head and sighed.
"Where is my father now?"
Yeah, right. A Sequence 3 died in an accident? Who would believe that?
"Don't worry. He's dealing with the people he needs to deal with."