Chapter 159
Chapter 159
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Translator: crow
Chapter Title: EP.39 – The Two Men Go All the Way (1)
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"-You really stirred up a proper mess."
Shruk.
A hand as delicate as white jade roughly dropped the newspaper, spreading it across the desk.
The sultan assassination attempt from last night.
The perpetrators appeared to be assassins from a western group, who ambushed the sultan and inflicted damage but failed their mission and took their own lives—that was the story circulating publicly.
However, those in the know, the select few who grasped the truth, were nursing pounding headaches.
"If you're going to wield a sword, you have to be prepared to get cut yourself."
"Ha... You speak so eloquently."
"I mean..."
"That's not a compliment, you reckless fool."
Thwack!
She finally swung her fan at his head, but regrettably, the knight's skull was even tougher than before.
"Urgh!"
"You okay? See, that's why you shouldn't hit me. You're just hurting your own wrist."
"You little punk..."
She—Isis—clutched her wrist.
Her striking wrist throbbed, furrowing her brow in a rare display of pain.
"...It feels even harder than before."
"I've been training a bit!"
"Haa...!"
So shameless...
There wasn't a hint of remorse on his face.
Well, Isis, who had summoned him in the first place, didn't really think he had done anything wrong either.
Still.
"If you'd just told me before starting this mess, it would've been fine."
"...Sorry about that."
"For real?"
"...Don't make me say it like that..."
"...Guess I'll need to prepare a sturdier metal fan next time."
Infuriating, really.
Isis found her sworn younger brother truly exasperating.
...Originally, Lee Han had planned to kidnap the sultan.
Kidnap him or whatever to extract the truth from the bastard.
But unfortunately.
-What use is truth obtained through threats and coercion?
Wasn't it said that truth was greater than agitation and fabrication?
Even if he tortured the sultan out of rage to force the truth, the sultan could just play the victim. Like a drunk driver claiming memory loss, or saying it was an unavoidable accident due to a fragile mental state—it would end there.
It would twist Lee Han's guts, but that's how the world worked.
So Lee Han gave up on kidnapping him.
It wasn't a satisfying decision, but...
...Still.
-So as long as I don't kidnap and torture him, it's fine?
-Pardon?
-And if I make the guy truly pitiful, I'll feel better too.
-Wh-what do you mean by that...?
-Just handling it my way. My way.
-??
And so Lee Han turned the tables and struck first.
He left no evidence.
Galahad and Tristan were certainly competent.
They left no trace of their involvement, confining all the crime and circumstances to internal sultanate affairs.
"Not to brag, but it's almost unfair to compare it to those white cats."
"...Do you realize that's like spitting in my face?"
"I blocked it on-site, didn't I? So exclude me from that."
"......"
Lee Han was unapologetic.
He'd done his part.
If anything.
"More importantly, what were you doing? You always seem to have eyes everywhere, but this time..."
He chided her, and for the first time, Isis's eyes curved into a smile.
As if it were novel to be scolded by him.
"I thought you seemed even more unruly than usual. So you were upset with me."
"It's not upset—I'm pissed. You nearly got the kids hurt."
"...Hmm, you're justified in being angry about that."
"?"
He shouldn't feel this way about someone who said it, but he hadn't expected her to admit fault so readily.
She'd sooner act arrogant than own up like that.
Maybe...
"Sis, are you feeling okay?"
"......"
"Summer cold? Yeah, those hit hard. Get some rest; I'll head out."
"...Who are you treating like an invalid?"
"You're not sick?"
"...You might make me sick."
"??"
Why act like that even when he's worried?
"Anyway, it's not like I had no worries and just left the academy alone. I figured you'd handle it just fine."
"...Isn't that dereliction of duty?"
"There's a saying about being in the right place at the right time."
"......"
"I trusted you. That's why I let it be—don't feel slighted."
"...Why is this woman suddenly saying creepy nice things?"
Instead of being touched by her out-of-the-blue sweet talk, he felt uneasy.
Anyone else would be overjoyed or honored by her praise, but Lee Han got chills.
Wondering what she'd ask next.
"Hmph, you punk. Now I know how you really see me."
"A great person reflects on their actions."
"Maybe, but that doesn't apply to me."
"......"
...Definitely not your average thick-skinned type.
As if ending the chit-chat.
"You asked what I was doing that I didn't respond at all. Exactly that. I was already certain the sultan had come here with some ulterior motive."
"Motive?"
"It took a little time to uncover it."
Thud.
Lee Han caught the notebook she tossed.
Considering she usually prepared formal documents for intel, handing over something this raw meant she'd just wrapped up the investigation.
She'd been busy too, in her own way.
Flip.
Lee Han slowly scanned the info Isis had given him.
A little over three minutes later.
"Greg Bin, was it? The illegal mage you've been chasing."
"...Please use a turn signal next time. You scared me."
"Ohoho!"
She had uncovered his personal goal, one he'd never shared with anyone, and Lee Han shook his head, admitting defeat.
Anyway.
'Scary. Really scary.'
Greg Bin was an illegal mage known to have died years ago.
A former Imperial Magic Tower affiliate, he'd attempted illegal experiments themed around [Mystery Theft], earning him the illegal mage designation and expulsion. But stealing once is hard, twice is harder?
He continued his illicit Mystery Theft experiments and was reportedly captured by a foreign patrol and executed.
...But that was the surface story.
"In reality, he gathered Mystery races in some facility for experiments."
"My prediction, though."
Lee Han's hypothesis based on testimony from Judia Pierre, a presumed lab survivor.
Not just a hunch, of course.
"You've probably seen from my background check—guild intel points to Greg as the lead experimenter. Face-changing master, they say."
"Background check sounds shady."
"It is a background check... Anyway, with what you gave me, my prediction holds up."
Isis's notebook detailed the people the sultan contacted in the west and conversations with his retainers.
How she got it was a mystery, but not important now.
What mattered was.
[-Acquire Mystery from Pendragon.]
The fact these guys were scheming.
A concise summary, but shocking.
The sultan was after Pendragon's Mystery.
"Hilarious. The sultan teaming up with a spellcaster."
"As long as he gets the power somehow. Understandable, but lacking dignity."
"...Dignity?"
"I wouldn't stoop to sneaking around for a kidnapping. I'd make it a secret national deal. But how does he pull off something so barbaric? Tsk."
"......"
"Why stare like that?"
"...Just realizing how scary you are again."
She understood the motive for killing and stealing Mysteries, suggesting alternatives instead of condemning—that's a ruler for you.
However.
"It's obvious. Pendragon has power now, so we can afford mercy. But if Pendragon were weak? Always fearing invasion, high war risk—what then?"
"......"
"Remember this: powerlessness is misfortune for an individual, sin for a nation. Leaders must wear masks of hypocrisy and pretense. Sultan Salakh, though, debases his nation's stature with base acts that are neither. Head held high without the strength—such undignified vulgarity. Even if called a whore later, bowing for power is the duty of royalty leading a nation. So the sultan fails. Rose to sultanate on bloodline and talent, but arrogance blinds him to his place. We can't just leave him be."
"...Mm."
......Lee Han reflected.
On just calling her scary.
He'd learned a nation's powerless sorrow from history but hadn't internalized it—still a long way to go.
"Sorry..."
"Hehe, knowing to apologize makes my sworn brother commendable. I value that reflective attitude highly."
"......"
Felt like teasing, but he'd endure it now...
He gave a wry smile.
"-Bring the mage."
"Huh?"
"If you capture that scum Greg Bin alive, I'll resolve everything."
"...Got a plan?"
"I always have plans."
"Hmm."
Lee Han guessed Isis was scheming something cunning.
Whatever it was, he could trust her.
But...
"Tch, capturing a spellcaster alive isn't my specialty."
"Try your best. Succeed, and I'll grant a big reward. A kiss, perhaps?"
"No, seriously don't need it."
"......You brat."
A prize for others, utterly worthless to Lee Han.
Cash would be better, honestly.
Lee Han snorted.
Then.
"Anyway, got it. Just bring him alive? ...I'll give it a shot."
"Not a shot—do it."
"...Putting a lot of pressure."
"In return, no accountability, whatever happens."
"......For real?"
"Of course."
"Hoo..."
"...But that doesn't mean go wild."
Isis briefly wondered if she'd misspoke.
Other knights had limits, but her sworn brother...
'Has no sense of limits...'
Like entrusting fish to a cat—she felt a twinge of anxiety.
And sure enough...
"......Haa."
Isis felt a headache coming on.