Chapter 107: Three-Way Battle - 6
Chapter 107: Three-Way Battle - 6
Koral's face was thoroughly cooked, blisters already forming across his skin as he glared resentfully at Jiha.
Pain makes people irritable and emotional.
Jiha laughed at Koral's honest expression.
"What's the matter? Is the thug life getting you down now that you're the one getting beaten?"
"......I'm not a thug."
"Shall I call you a gangster, then? Either way, you've lived a life swinging your fists and brandishing a knife to extort people, right?"
"......."
Koral had the leadership to command a pack, and he was a Rare Grade, a rarity among gnolls.
But using Mana still required mental focus.
It varied by individual, and Koral simply wasn't capable of it while his face was cooking.
"You're convinced this was a sneak attack and that's the only reason I got you. You think it would be different if you were properly prepared, don't you?"
"......No, I don't."
"Like hell you don't."
Jiha tilted his chin up arrogantly and sneered.
Koral was a man who had climbed up through violence, and because of that, he was acutely sensitive to it.
He intuited that any further insolence toward Jiha would be met with even more brutal punishment, so he kept his head lowered.
'Still, he must have some pride. He's definitely not the type to become loyal to me. He'll be constantly watching for a chance to stab me in the back.'
In that case, he could simply be used until he was worn out and then discarded.
"Now, have you grasped reality yet? Hurry up and beg for your life."
"Why should I have to? If anything, it's you who needs me......"
"Oh, getting bold, are we? You've still got some fighting spirit, huh?"
Jiha let out an exaggerated laugh.
For a man to remain this defiant even while his face was burning, he certainly had a certain kind of grit.
Koral also sensed that if he showed weakness here, it was over.
Even if he submitted to Jiha, he had decided he couldn't give up everything.
"......."
Still smiling, Jiha poked at the seafood stew with his fork.
At the blatant mockery, Koral frowned and shook his head.
"Let's make a deal. A deal. I came here to trade."
"What's your offer, and how much are you looking to get?"
"......I'll give you information on Kamain."
"Why would I need information on Kamain?"
Jiha asked, concealing his own interest.
Koral moved his now-burned tongue.
"Because if Kamain stays here, you'll be in danger too."
"......."
What does this guy know?
'Did he investigate me before coming?'
As Jiha stared silently, Koral spoke again.
"So what will it be? Do we have a deal?"
"What's so lacking on my end that I'd need to?"
Of course, Jiha did need information on Kamain.
That was the only way he could cleanly get his hands on the weapons these gnolls had in front of him.
'The fact that weapons were leaked has already reached the ears of a Legend Grade ruler, so there's no hiding it. I need to engineer a scenario where I keep the weapons and Kamain takes the blame.......'
Jiha intended to use Kamain as the scapegoat to shoulder the responsibility.
"Because......."
After a moment of agonizing, Koral admitted he had no choice but to yield.
Kamain would now be absolutely committed to wiping out the gnolls.
They'd shown signs of preparing to betray him, after all.
To survive, he had to cling to Jiha.
"Because Kamain is going to create an incident so he can stay in this city for a long time."
"......."
"Specifically, he intends to kill a Common. Our relationship may have started badly, but part of why things escalated was because you are a Common."
"That guy?"
"He's not here, is he?"
When Jiha glared at him, Koral flinched but still spoke his mind.
Even subdued by Jiha, it seemed he wanted to cling to a scrap of his pride.
"So, what you're saying is...... Kamain's plan was to give you Grade 2 weapons, have you kill a Common, and then use the investigation as an excuse to stay in Waris for a long time?"
"That's what I was told. He said it would be difficult to stay in Waris long-term otherwise."
"What a lunatic."
Jiha frowned.
Even Uniques don't just try to kill a Common without reason.
They are the lowest-class slaves, but they are slaves drawn at great cost by the rulers of both factions.
Privately murdering a Common could be interpreted as an act of defiance by the Legends.
"It's unprecedented in hundreds of years of history. We were a bit taken aback by it ourselves."
"......."
And thinking about it, even if you could argue the gnolls didn't know Jiha's identity at first, they had actually raided the Barracks the next time.
Fine, they got guard intel and launched a surprise attack.
But even if they'd succeeded, there's no way to clean up that mess.
Even Pamin and Galak, who were acknowledged in elven society, tried to assassinate Jiha outside, and they did so while hiding their identities to some extent.
But for back-alley thugs to act so recklessly was impossible to cover up.
"So the original plan was that if you succeeded, Kamain would seize control of the investigation."
"We received the Grade 2 weapons on the condition that we would later frame someone as the culprit. Even if they are just Normal Grade, with a Grade 2 weapon and a surprise attack, killing a Common wouldn't be difficult."
"But coming into the Barracks to kill me was your own independent move, without prior discussion with Kamain, wasn't it? Why?"
Koral hesitated before answering.
"It was insurance in case things went wrong. Kamain seemed to be acting too recklessly, so we wanted a safety measure in place just in case."
"......."
And they had nearly succeeded.
"If this gets found out, his Super Rare Grade and everything else will go up in smoke. Why is Kamain doing this?"
Jiha had crossed some dangerous bridges himself, but he'd always prepared for the situation and made his moves.
This plan, however, was sloppy and carried immense risk.
Koral stared at Jiha.
Seeing the expression of a man who knew he was holding critical information, Jiha pressed him.
"Spit it out."
"This isn't the first time."
"......."
Jiha grasped the full meaning.
"Are you saying Kamain has been handling things this way all along?"
"Just the incidents my men and I have been involved in number seven. We would cause the incident, or secretly plant evidence to turn things in Kamain's favor."
"Quite the long-term relationship."
Jiha smiled.
Now the whole picture was clear.
"What did you do, specifically? This seems like it'll be a long story, so just give me a few examples."
"Things like fabricating incidents so he could resolve them, gathering the weaknesses of rivals Kamain disliked. Or sometimes, if Kamain committed murder, we'd cover it up. We also disposed of women for him."
"Women?"
"Kamain lived quite a debauched life. He's popular enough as it is, but...... he hid it thoroughly from others. He'd secretly approach civilian women he fancied and toy with them. He lured them with sweet words, and if they didn't give in, he used drugs."
"Drugs?"
"An aphrodisiac. He said that once a woman takes it, she can't control herself and is the one who jumps him first."
Jiha tsked.
"And he never got caught doing that?"
"Kamain was careful, and occasionally we helped cover it up."
"Must be awfully proud of yourselves."
As Jiha spoke coldly, Koral hurried to make an excuse.
"I don't know about other things, but we were barely involved in Kamain's womanizing. We didn't provide the drugs either; he got them himself from some other source. We only handled the cleanup on very rare occasions."
"So you're the ones who helped that foul, disgusting bastard rise to Super Rare Grade."
"......Half the credit is ours, yes."
Koral grimaced, perhaps because his face was stinging.
Asira's claim that Kamain was her friend and most trusted knight was complete nonsense.
That was just the image Kamain had fabricated over time.
"No, should I say eighty percent of the credit is ours? The previous Super Rare serving under Asira was forced to step down in disgrace, and we had a hand in that too, under Kamain's direction."
"Since a Unique can only have one Super Rare at a time. You artificially created a vacancy."
"Kamain handled the situation at the time cleanly, which only made the Unique trust him more. That's how he was able to beat out the other rivals and be chosen as a Super Rare, even as a man."
Jiha tsked again.
This bastard was more wicked and insidious than he'd expected.
"He creates a crisis to profit from it, then cleans it up himself and profits again. And you helped him from the outside....... His whole career is basically littered with setups he orchestrated."
"But the man is so thorough that he's never been caught by anyone until now. He's risen smoothly without arousing suspicion, all the way up to a Unique's right-hand man. I was secretly a bit proud."
"......."
Jiha gave him an incredulous look, but Koral wore a complicated expression.
"I know it sounds stupid. But I've known Kamain since he was young. So, how should I put it....... It's a complicated feeling."
"What is this, a gangster movie? You want to talk about loyalty?"
"I don't know what that is, but...... you know how it is. 'My eye for talent wasn't wrong.' Something like that."
Jiha understood what Koral was trying to say.
When a promising rookie you've had your eye on since his amateur days actually grows and succeeds, you naturally feel a sense of accomplishment and pride.
'It's a bit like watching a rookie on your favorite baseball team since his debut...... and feeling happy when his potential finally explodes.'
The circumstances were different, but the feeling was probably similar.
"Right. So it's satisfying to have elevated a son of a bitch like that to the top?"
"......Well, I made a lot of money too, and we helped each other out. We made a bit of a name for ourselves. We were good business partners."
"And now?"
"This time was different. A directive to kill a Common? No matter how fearless we are, we want to avoid angering a Legend."
Koral shook his head.
"Kamain put it this way. He said everyone is just jumping to conclusions, thinking a Legend would get angry over one dead Common. And even if they did, he'd be in control of the investigation, so if we just handed over a plausible scapegoat later, he'd handle it quietly. Above all, the offer to give us Grade 2 weapons was too sweet to refuse."
"Where did those weapons come from?"
"I don't know."
When Jiha gave him a cold stare, Koral shook his head.
"I don't know, but I can guess."
"Tell me."
"......The demon knight's armory."
Koral spoke gravely.
"It's a favored tactic of Kamain's. Whenever an obstacle blocks his path, he finds any way to remove it. He once told me about a fellow knight who had a bad impression of him, saying he'd have to deal with him someday."
"So you're saying this weapon leak was meant to be pinned on that knight?"
"That's probably the plan. That's how it's always been."
"......."
Jiha thought for a moment and then tsked.
"He achieves his goal while simultaneously eliminating someone who's an eyesore. He's a clever bastard......."
"He's like a ghost. Honestly, I'm scared of him too."
"Then why are you betraying him and siding with me?"
Even though Jiha had cornered him into having no other choice.
Koral spoke carefully.
"This job is too big. If it were just killing a few people, I'd manage somehow, but I'm scared and...... more than anything, I don't think Kamain plans to leave us alive."
"You know too much."
"Exactly....... We're the ones who made him a Super Rare, but he wasn't grateful for it. No, I once thought maybe he was......."
Jiha held out a hand.
"So, what about leverage? Surely you have some evidence after carrying out all his dirty tricks on his orders?"
"......We don't. From the start, he was fanatical about not leaving anything like that behind. Even when he sets up a job, he does it secretly, in person. He never gives orders through written messages."
Jiha was slightly disappointed, but it made sense.
The lack of smooth communication between Kamain and Koral was exactly how Jiha had managed to catch them.
"Legally speaking, then, your testimony would be the only thing that holds weight. But......."
"Who would believe our word? And before that, Kamain will have us all killed."
Jiha agreed with that assessment.
"Alright. So why should I be the one to look after you?"
"Wouldn't we be useful in stopping Kamain?"
"No. That guy has already resolved to wipe you all out."
The moment Jiha and Koral had their private meeting, Kamain had decided to erase Koral and the gnolls from this world.
That was why he had left so obediently.
'And on top of that, he's definitely going to try to kill me, no matter what. Since his goal was to kill a Common anyway, I'm a perfect fit.'
Not to mention that Asira's high opinion of Jiha had already rubbed Kamain the wrong way.
"......I'll do anything."
Now that he'd committed to siding with Jiha, Koral had no choice but to cling to him.
After thinking for a moment, Jiha nodded.
"First, hand over the weapons."
"......If I hand them over, how can I trust you?"
"Are you planning to take them to your grave?"
"......10. I can't give you more than that."
Jiha let out a dry laugh.
"I know you're holding a lot. 40. I won't settle for less."
"15."
"42."
"......17."
"44."
Koral's face became a picture of disbelief.
"Wait, why does the number keep going up? Aren't we supposed to be trying to narrow the gap?"
"4......."
"Alright! I'll hand them over!"
Jiha smiled as Koral surrendered.
"See? You should have just given them up from the start. Let's settle this at 45."
There were still more, but pressing him further would make Koral absolutely refuse to give them up.
This was his last lifeline, after all.
"Send a messenger. Tell your men to take them to Deadheart in the Red-Light District."
Jiha wanted to receive them personally, but that would make him visible to Kamain.
It was better to store them somewhere other than the Barracks, and there was no better safehouse than Iroha's place.
'To keep her own identity hidden, she won't try any tricks.'
"Understood. Then......."
As Koral looked at him expectantly, Jiha smiled.
"You get to go to jail."
"......Excuse me?"
"Right now. Let's go."
Jiha said it as casually as suggesting a walk, rising from his seat.
It was time to clean things up, one by one.