Chapter 107
Chapter 107
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 107
Chapter Title: Those Preparing for the Wave (4)
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Eehihihi—
I headed to the building where I had talked with Jack last time.
When moving around, I rode a horse, and renting one for a week cost 3 gold.
Considering how busy I'd be moving around from now on, it was well worth the price, so I rented a good-looking horse.
"Are you in?"
I tied the red horse securely in front of the house and knocked on the door.
Preton Mac Delbach.
This was the house owned by the head of the Delbach family, which was close to the dark forces of this kingdom.
Footsteps echoed from inside, which had been quiet for a while.
"Regin Petrichio?"
"Yes."
"You're early."
Creak—
The door opened, revealing a familiar face. It seemed like we'd already grown a bit fond of each other after just a few meetings.
"I've been waiting, damn it. Next time, set a proper appointment time before you come."
"Exploration doesn't always go according to plan."
"That's true enough."
As I stepped inside, I could see traces of Jack having lived there.
He said he'd been waiting quite a while, and it looked like he'd stayed here for several days.
"How could I leave when I didn't know when you'd show up? I bought some food and hunkered down here."
"Even so, this seems like a pretty nice place to live... Wasn't it that uncomfortable?"
"Ahem. It's the thought that counts. Do you have any idea how anxious someone waiting feels?"
"Hmm. I understand."
"At least Preton, the family head, lent me this house."
"Preton lent it to you?"
"Yeah."
This was the same house I'd used when meeting Jack last time.
It wasn't big, but it was reasonably comfortable and had everything you needed.
It was also one of the many annexes owned by the Delbach family.
The fact that Jack was renting and using it meant he had truly become an official informant for the family.
"I signed the contract right after coming back from the north. Of course, I handed over a few pieces of info I brought back to the Delbach family as well."
"That's good."
I had been a little worried that Preton might change his mind and not take Jack.
I'd recommended him to the Delbach family, and if the family rejected him, it would put me in an awkward position.
'If I'm going to keep using him going forward, Jack needs some stability too. Trust between us is important.'
Jack showed off a black jacket that marked him as belonging to Delbach and smirked.
"Heh heh, I'm quite pleased to have a stable job thanks to you. I already gave my thanks last time, so we'll call it even."
"Sure. I don't want to take credit for the same thing twice anyway."
"But are you really not connected to Preton, the family head, in any way?"
"Didn't I tell you last time that we're not?"
"Then why did the family head assign me to you?"
"Pardon?"
As Regin tilted his head, Jack continued explaining.
"When he lent me this house, he told me to follow you around and buy and sell info until further instructions. That's what he said."
"...Hmm."
"He's not the type to give that kind of treatment unless there's a special connection. He's the head of our family now, but..."
Jack pointed to his left eye, the one covered by the eyepatch.
"I'm pretty good with info myself. I know Preton is a man who weighs pros and cons carefully."
"..."
"Hmm... Or maybe it's because you resemble him?"
"Pardon?"
"Well, you look different, but the way you treat people and think seems a bit similar."
"How do I treat people, exactly?"
"How? You use them like chess pieces. And you dangle just enough carrots so they don't get upset."
"...Haha."
As I laughed awkwardly, Jack led Regin to the desk.
"Anyway, enough chit-chat... The last thing you asked me for was info on the north, right?"
"Yes."
"The specific instruction was to find out about Karadin, the family head..."
"..."
"It was probably... because of that guy named Al Kazan. Right?"
"Exactly."
Jack looked a bit sloppy and unkempt on the surface.
But at times like this, you could see he was sharp.
I'd only asked for all info on the north, and he had already figured out the intent.
"I even looked into whether Karadin, the northern family head, was still alive, thinking it might be related."
"Not bad. You're on the right track so far."
"You reacted to Al Kazan back then, and you'd asked about Igna before too."
"Correct. What I'm curious about is how Al Kazan could be in the north... and where he is now, among other things."
"Yeah. If Karadin were still alive..."
Jack placed something on the desk and continued.
"He wouldn't have let Al Kazan get captured."
"...Karadin, the family head, is dead."
"Yeah. Just as you suspected. Karadin, the long-time ruler of the north, is dead."
"..."
"This is a flower from his tombstone. I snuck one out. As you'll see, it's a flower the Karadin family often uses. If you don't believe me, check via my Link Eye."
Jack fiddled with his eyepatch.
He was someone with the unique constitution that allowed him to exchange thoughts with others.
We'd even talked through his Link Eye in the plaza last time.
"We can check the eye later for now."
Regin shook his head and fell into thought for a moment.
His mind raced.
The flow of this kingdom that couldn't be checked in DAT.
He was piecing together the intrigues between families and the movements of the NPCs in his head.
'Karadin, the family head, was said to rule the north like a tyrant. But he was hard for players to see in DAT. You couldn't go north until long after the First Wave ended.'
It wasn't that the roads were blocked; going north meant giving up on conquering the Tower.
Unless you went through proper procedures, you'd get detained in the north.
In the end, going via guilds or nobles was the best way.
By then, Karadin was already ill and blocking meetings.
'I knew Karadin would die someday...'
But he died earlier than Regin had thought.
This meant Regin had to revise the information he had.
'During game play, Karadin was already... dead. The one turning players away saying he was ill wasn't Karadin, but someone else.'
As Regin pondered, Jack continued.
"You're wondering why the rumor of Karadin's death didn't spread, right?"
"...Yes."
"Yeah, that makes sense. Even in the north, not many knew about it."
"...Then what's this flower?"
"I secretly tracked a Karadin maid heading there. I learned he tended the tombstone every day from a noble bastard he'd slept with."
"Huh."
"Why? Important info often leaks from bastards like that."
"I'm just surprised. Please continue."
Jack cleared his throat and went on.
"From tracking her, even the people in the north didn't know Karadin was dead. Only family members knew, and they guarded the tomb secretly."
"...Just getting this flower was impressive."
"Yeah. I took one in case there was some magic on it, but there wasn't."
"Hmm."
"Anyway, the conclusion is this: Someone is impersonating Karadin, the family head, right now, and the family is trying to keep it hidden."
"..."
"This next part is pure speculation on my part."
"Go ahead."
"...It seems like the kingdom's doing. The kingdom itself seems to be controlling the Karadin family."
Regin unwittingly smirked.
Jack, thinking he'd made a mistake, glanced at him cautiously.
"...Was that too far-fetched?"
"No, it was a valid guess."
Honestly, it piqued his interest a bit.
Now everything fit together.
'The north was originally allied with Igna. They were blocking the western Tower conquest together.'
The kingdom, upon learning this, killed the top northern family head, Karadin, and took control of the north.
That's why the 15th Floor conquest always succeeded at this timing.
After killing Karadin, they could block the interference from Verdante, led by Igna.
'...Interesting.'
It wasn't info that would greatly affect future flows, nor did it differ much from what Regin knew.
But one thing was certain.
'The kingdom has more information than I thought.'
* * *
An underground room in the kingdom's capital.
A man in a white robe entered, and Alice and her colleague inside bowed their heads to greet him.
"You've arrived, Marquis Dylan."
"Yes."
Stern tone. Dylan looked at Alice with a different face than when working in his office.
Alice had been interrogating Ferma, a Class 3 criminal, under Dylan's orders.
Her red hair was soaked with sweat, and Dylan handed her a dry towel before speaking.
"How's it going?"
"Whenever the prisoner mentions clues about the Back Alley, the mental barrier breaks."
"Back Alley?"
"Yes. So we focused on verifying info about him..."
Her colleague handed over the records they'd compiled so far at the right timing.
These were the things they'd learned while interrogating Ferma.
"As you can see, the Back Alley group isn't just Serpah; there's a separate group called Verdante. The prisoner was in contact with them."
"Hmm."
Alice, wiping sweat quickly while watching Dylan's reaction, blurted out.
"...You're not surprised."
"No."
She could tell from his calm gaze.
Dylan wasn't surprised by this information at all.
Alice, who had observed Dylan's expressions carefully whenever she saw him, even if infrequently, noticed.
"It was a test."
There was even an air of approval coming from Dylan.
"Are you asking if I intended it? Or if the kingdom did?"
"...I'm not sure."
"If you ask and don't even know yourself, what can I do?"
"I'm sorry."
"No need to apologize. You should be proud instead."
"..."
"Figuring that much out means, regardless of the kingdom's or my intentions..."
He smiled as he continued.
It was a cold smile, different from his usual kind one.
"It means you now qualify to handle kingdom affairs."
"I'm sorry, but I don't understand. What does this info have to do with the kingdom..."
"Those who know about the Back Alley are few even in the kingdom. And we move with that secret."
"..."
"You all can now be used to track the Back Alley group. Congratulations."
Alice hesitated, then bowed her head once more.
"Thank you."
She didn't understand everything, but she grasped the context.
It meant a new opportunity to work for the kingdom had arisen.
Swish—
Dylan took a magic tool from Alice and entered the iron bars.
Ferma was tied up there, sweat pouring from his body and now crusted with filth.
"Using a magic tool to break a mental barrier isn't easy. It's unrelated to magical level to begin with."
"..."
"Extracting core info is even harder. It clashes with their resistance."
Ferma, half-unconscious.
Dylan, as if familiar with it, pressed the magic tool to his forehead.
"Looking at his state, this prisoner doesn't have long left. I'll do the final interrogation."
Even though he wasn't a mage, faint mana stirred, and Ferma's mana began to react.
Dylan glared at him and continued.
"How do you recognize each other?"
"..."
"I'm asking what words you use to identify allies. Answer."
Ferma glared at Dylan with faint eyes and clamped his mouth shut.
His mind was already torn apart by rampaging mana, causing splitting pain.
Even as blood trickled from between his sealed lips, Ferma didn't open his mouth easily.
"Answer."
As Dylan said it once more.
Unable to endure, Ferma convulsed.
His whole body shook, foam spewing from his mouth.
"Just one word."
"..."
"Just spit out one word, and you can go peacefully."
Dylan leaned down to match Ferma's eye level.
As he stared for a moment, Ferma's lips, on the verge of fainting, moved ever so slightly.
"Moonlight... beautifully... dances..."
The moment he focused on those words.
Drip.
Ferma's muscles relaxed, his whole body slumping down.
No more breath, no more mana flow.
Confirming Ferma's death, Dylan stood and looked at Alice.
"Moonlight, beauty, dance."
"..."
"Remember it. It's part of the key to catching Verdante."