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Side Story Chapter 42

“It’s a secret passage known only to a very small number of people,” Lacoon explained.

After eyeing the passage for a moment without saying anything, Kireua stepped forward.

-Your Highness. You don\'t seriously believe this blackhearted guy, do you?

Anna\'s message, delivered once again using Elemental Spirit Whisper, made Kireua smile faintly. Lacoon\'s oath was based solely on words, and making an oath on one’s mana was technically different from swearing on one’s pride as a knight. This castle was already dangerous as there was no telling what kind of enemies would be waiting for Kireua, but he brought a comrade that could stab him in the back at any moment. However…

-No matter what Lacoon den Adsarak does, he’s no match for me.

Upon hearing Kireua’s confident response, Anna\'s eyes widened and she quickly sent another message.

-You must be the most confident man on the continent.

* * *

“Emergency! Emmergenccyyy!”

Whistles blew and the alarm bell sounds rang urgently less than ten minutes after Kireua and the others entered the castle.

“They finally noticed,” Kireua murmured.

Lacoon quickened his steps. “It’s this way.”

They hadn’t run into anybody so far, meaning Lacoon had been guiding them in good faith.

“The castle consists of four floors, from the underground floor to the top. In case of emergencies, the protocol is for Marquess Turtler and the other executives to gather in the central chamber on the first floor,” Lacoon said.

“If that is true, most of their forces would be on the first floor.”

“Yes—that is why right now is a golden opportunity to rescue Count Madrick.”

“What’s your relationship to Madrick?” Kireua asked as he walked.

Lacoon hesitated for a moment before answering. “…There are not many counts in the west; my father, Wiesel den Adsarak, and Count Madrick were both among their ranks. They were good friends.”

“That was why you heard Count Madrick badmouthing me.”

“I actually heard that from my father. He was laughing and telling the story as a joke.”

“Well, everyone knows I’m not talented with spears.”

Lacoon glanced back at him. “Maybe that’s a good thing today."

“What do you mean?”

“Marquess Turtler’s sword is a splendid weapon—deserving to be called one of the Seven Fine Swords on the continent.”

“Oh?” Kireua exclaimed.

“After my journey around the continent, I realized that although an expert doesn’t blame their tools, it’s a different story when it comes to the Seven Fine Swords. If you can fight like that with an ordinary sword, you’ll be able to fight against someone who is one level stronger than you with one of the Swords.”

Kireua was actually getting greedy. As long as he was a knight, he was bound to take interest in weapons.

-Can I eat it?

‘Eat what?’ Kireua asked Coal.

-This thing Kireua wants. I wanna eat that too!

‘I seriously want to smack you in the head.’ Kireua grumbled from the bottom of his heart.

Of course Coal couldn\'t—it was impossible.

Kireua had determined three characteristics of Coal so far. One was that regardless of its attribute, the mana that Coal swallowed was recreated as a stronger aura. That was what happened to the ebon flame and ebon wind. The second characteristic was that Kireua was the only one who could see Kireua. In that regard, Coal had no physical form. The third was related to the aspect of good and evil. If Kireua assessed Coal based on what he had seen until now using black-and-white logic, Coal belonged to the latter. It wasn’t like Coal itself was an evil creature, but that was the conclusion Kireua reached based on Coal’s food and habits.

“This is the entrance to the underground floor,” Lacoon quietly said.

Their vicinity was as silent as a grave partially because the entrance they’d used was located at a relatively secluded corner on the first floor, but it was mainly due to the fact that most of the enemy had headed to the central chamber according to their emergency plans.

“Then shall we part ways here?” Anna asked.

Lacoon frowned slightly. “…Are you sure you’ll be okay on your own?”

“What do you mean ‘alone’? Obviously, you should be my guide.”

“Me?”

“Yeah, you,” Anna answered as if that was a given.

Lacoon’s frown deepened. “I need to be His Highness’s guide.”

“What the hell are you talking about? It’s you who asked us to save Count Madrick.”

“Your Highness, wouldn’t it be better to move together and save Count Madrick first?”

Kireua shook his head without even pausing to consider it. “Since my goal is to assassinate Marquess Turtler, my best chance is while everyone is still unsettled. Besides, I can’t assassinate anyone if I’m carrying a wounded person.”

“…You were serious about slitting Marquess Turtler’s throat,” Lacoon blankly murmured.

“I’m not a good liar.” Kireua shrugged.

“Alright, I’ll go alone,” Anna interrupted, frustrated by the delay. “You said that there’s only one prisoner in the dungeon, right? Then there’ll be fewer guards.”

“Well, you’re right…” Lacoon trailed off.

“Then it’s fine.” Anna waved her hand dismissively.

Kireua immediately sent her a telepathic message.

-Don’t enter the dungeon right away. Find a hiding spot and wait for me.

-Huh? Are you looking out for me right now?

-You said that no one is trustworthy.

Since Anna was an elemental spirit mage, fighting underground wasn’t exactly her specialty. The space was narrow, so a knight would have the advantage. On top of that, she was going into a dark space she was not familiar with, and all sorts of traps could be in there. Kireua was aware of that, which made examine Lacoon with sharp eyes.

“Then let’s split up here. If she’s a high-ranking elemental mage, then you shouldn’t have to worry about her that much. There are usually four guards on the underground floor, on rotating shifts,” Lacoon told Kireua.

“Come on; go and come back. I’ll be waiting with Count Maverick by my side,” Anna pompously declared.

Kireua nodded. Shortly after, Lacoon and Kireua walked away from the entrance, and Anna was already headed to the underground floor.

“…Lacoon,” Kireua called.

“Yes, Your Highness?”

“How long has that been since you joined the western rebel army?”

“It was right after I returned from the Hubalt Empire… so it’s been over a year,” Lacoon replied.

Lacoon moved quickly around the corner, staying close to the wall. They passed a long hallway and reached the large lobby on the first floor.

“…There are soldiers up ahead. It looks like we can’t avoid them if we want to get to our destination.”

Lacoon was right; there were hundreds of rebel soldiers—at least—in neat lines. Kireua could hear their conversations if he paid attention.

“What is all this ruckus about?”

“From what I heard, a corpse assumed to be Sir Guiltine’s was found at the entrance to the mountaintop.”

“What? Are you serious?”

“He isn’t the only one. The headless corpses of Jack, Conrad, and the other guards on the night shift were also found at the foot of the mountain…”

“What kind of a maniac did such a thing?!”

Naturally, none of them thought it was a large-scale raid by the enemy since the guard on the top of the castle would have noticed something like that.

“Let’s catch our breath,” Kireua suggested.

“…Why don’t we give up? No matter how hard I think about it, this is too reckless.”

“By the way, shall we resume our conversation from earlier?”

“Excuse me?” Lacoon tilted his head in confusion.

“Why did the head of the prestigious Adsarak Family surrender to the rebels?”

“I…”

“Do the rebels have something on you?” Kireua asked.

One of Lacoon’s eyebrows twitched, and Kireua’s sharp eyes didn’t miss the subtle response.

“It also happened in the south. The rebels held the soldier and knights’ families hostage, so they had no choice but to follow the rebels’ orders. If the knights and soldiers defied them, their families might have been killed.”

“Why are you suddenly talking about that…?”

“Most of the knights who said that betrayed me on my way over here.”

Lacoon\'s eyes widened.

Kireua, who was standing behind Lacoon, quickly struck the back of Lacoon’s neck with a knife-hand strike. With a short yet heavy smack! Lacoon’s eyes lost focus.

“I’ll go alone from here on, so why don’t you sleep for a moment? Even if they find you, they wouldn’t know you betrayed them, so it doesn’t matter, right?”

“Ho… w…?”

Lacoon’s response was “How?” not “Why?”

A bitter smile spread across Kireua’s face. “There’s one thing my mother always said ever since I was a boy: I have to be even more doubtful and keep my eyes open if I’m close to someone and they’re smiling.”

One of the reasons why the Pontier Family had suffered such a devastating fall was the betrayal of someone Kireua’s mother trusted. She trusted and loved her people very much, and the person she had particularly trusted was Count Cox ron Bagen, who had been a father figure to her during her childhood. However, Cox and the others had turned their backs on her and her father, Duke Pontier, had been driven to the verge of death, goading the nearby hyenas to attack the Pontier Family.

“I’m different from His Majesty and my mother. You joined my side too easily,” Kireua murmured.

Lacoon lost consciousness and collapsed on the floor.

“Your request to save the original lord of this region and find His Majesty must have been an attempt to earn my trust.”

However, Kireua wasn’t going to criticize Lacoon for that because he could tell what Lacoon’s reasons were, considering a similar incident had taken place in the south. Nothing was clearly known about what had happened to the Adsaraks after the civil war broke out. Even Kireua had only found out that Lacoon den Adsarak was with the rebels after arriving in the west, but for the other Adsaraks…

“If I had been Marquess Turtler, the first thing I would do when planning a rebellion is to eliminate potential trouble. Using Wiesel den Adsarak, the vanished, previous Count of Adsarak, and your other family members, Marquess Turtler would have forced you to swear loyalty to him,” Kireua surmised.

At least the hatred in Lacoon’s eyes was genuine when Marquess Turtler had been mentioned.

“Maybe he made you swear on your mana.”

If Kireua’s assumption was true, he might really get a fine subordinate this time. A mana oath was a pledge one made to the god in their mana. Violating such an oath would result in the loss of all the mana they had accumulated until then, but if the recipient of the oath was gone…

“…Obviously, the oath is nullified.” Kireua smiled mischievously. “Wait here and see—I’ll make you own up to me for trying to deceive me. I’ll enslave you until the day you die.”

He slowly seeped into the shadows on the ceiling. Quiet and secret, unnoticed by anyone.