Chapter 278
William flinched in panic upon hearing Abel declaration that he would become the emperor of the Empire.
“Abel. What on earth do you mean by—”
Even inside a carriage equipped with tight security, William nervously scanned his surroundings.
Observing William's reaction, Abel smirked and turned his gaze back toward the window.
“Look at you. Every time I say a single word, you look like you're about to pass out from shock. What could I possibly tell you?”
With a tense expression, William spoke up. “You didn't... mention this to the Patriarch, did you?”
At the mention of Ramon Siemens, the head of the family, Abel scowled. He clenched his molars tightly.
“Ramon Siemens thinks of nothing but turning me into his puppet.”
“What are you talking about? The Patriarch is running around everywhere trying to make you the heir to Draker—”
“He's trying to set me up in his place because he couldn't become the head of Draker himself. Am I wrong?”
William shut his mouth at Abel's words.
The relationship between Ramon Siemens and Arthur Draker was tangled and complex, so even they didn't know everything. However, one thing was certain: Ramon Siemens fell short of Arthur Draker in every aspect.
Abel’s red eyes flashed menacingly.
“William, I have no intention of becoming Ramon Siemens' puppet. Head of Draker? That trash means nothing to me now. I will grasp the entire continent in my hands and move it.”
Looking into Abel's madness-filled eyes, William clenched his fists tightly.
'Could this be a side effect of the Baptism?'
While Baptism granted immense power in a short period, it came with proportional side effects. However, because those side effects varied so greatly—and because no one had ever received a Baptism as strong as Abel's—it was impossible to know how they would manifest.
'If it's not a physical side effect, but rather his mind becoming corrupted, the problem is going to get progressively worse.'
At that moment, Abel leaned toward William and grabbed his chin.
“Mmph.”
Abel whispered directly into William's ear, “I'm not insane, William.”
Abel had read his thoughts loud and clear.
He said to William, “Did you think I wouldn't know that the Siemens blood flowing through your veins and mine carries the qualification of an Elector—the right to become the Emperor of the Rom Empire?”
Hearing Abel's words, William's eyes shook violently.
'How does he know that...?'
Squeezing William's chin firmly, Abel spoke.
“Cain Siemens Constantine. My twin brother whom Ramon Siemens smuggled away. Originally, he was meant to undergo the Baptism in my place—if only he hadn't died by Sieg's hand at the Southern Continent experimental site.”
Before he knew it, William's hands were trembling violently. Following Ramon's orders, William had manipulated information and erased all traces of Cain so that neither Abel nor the Imperial Intelligence Bureau could track him down. Cain was one of the Siemens family's most critical secrets.
'Abel... knew everything all along.'
Abel shouted again, his expression twisted in madness.
“That woman always told me: Abel, everyone around you is an enemy! Keep your head straight!” Abel sneered, mimicking his mother's voice.
As strength surged into Abel's coarse grip, William felt an agonizing pain as if his jawbone were about to shatter. Unable to bear it, he grabbed Abel's wrist with trembling hands.
Glaring at William with glowing red eyes, Abel spoke coldly.
“William, you too will have to choose whose side you're on—Ramon's or mine.”
Only then did Abel release his grip on William's chin.
Clutching his throbbing jaw, William stared at Abel with eyes full of terror. A transcendent being who held everything in his grasp and possessed absolute power over life and death—William felt awe intertwined with sheer dread toward Abel.
A heavy silence descended as the carriage carrying the two arrived at the Imperial Garrison Post stationed at the border of the Joinian Ghetto. Flying high above was the flag emblazoned with the Sacred Wolf, the symbol of the Rom Empire.
Staring out the carriage window at the flag, Abel's face was once again painted with a subtle hue of madness.
Psssssh—
Sieg stepped off the train and set foot onto the platform of Aten Station.
'So this is Aten.'
He took in the sights of Aten's central station. Having never visited Aten even in his past life, the area felt entirely unfamiliar to him.
Perhaps because Aten was the home base of the House of Nirvana, its structure was vastly different from Atlas, the domain of the Draker family. Of course, both Aten and Atlas had mayors overseeing city operations. However, while Draker actively intervened in the management of Atlas, Nirvana paid little mind to the administration of Aten.
Although the House of Nirvana was one of the Three Transcendent Houses—boasting thousands of exceptionally talented mages—it was strictly closer to a mage coalition.
Draker also recognized skilled knights as members of the family by bestowing the Draker name, even if they weren't direct blood relatives. Yet, even so, Draker maintained a strict distinction between the direct and branch lines, with clearly defined authorities accordingly.
Nirvana, on the other hand, was a family in name only; the concept of a 'direct line' didn't really exist. As long as one possessed skill equivalent to a 4th-Circle mage and passed the exam administered by Nirvana, they earned the right to enter 'Storm Castle'—Nirvana's main stronghold located in the Storm Sea.
Only after achieving results in their magical research at Storm Castle and meeting specific qualifications could Nirvana mages step out into the world to act under the Nirvana name.
The problem was that the difficulty of Nirvana's qualification exam—not to mention the entry test for Storm Castle—was notoriously brutal. As a result, unless one specifically submitted a commission to the House of Nirvana, meeting a mage who officially carried the Nirvana name was surprisingly difficult.
Thanks to this, Nirvana mages were treated with great prestige, which led most of them to become self-centered eccentrics who only cared about pursuing their own niche research.
Because Nirvana was a house with such a unique structure in many ways, dealing with them was, in a sense, even trickier than dealing with the reclusive House of Ishtar.
After taking a thorough look around the vicinity of Aten Station, Sieg caught a carriage in front of the station and headed toward Nirvana's Central Branch.
While their main stronghold was situated in the Storm Sea of the northern waters, Nirvana maintained research facilities and branches across the continent. The facility in Aten served as Nirvana's Central Branch, where the head of the house typically resided.
Arriving at the Central Branch by carriage, Sieg was caught off guard when he saw the building.
'Why is the building so small?'
Draker's Four Seasons Castle boasted a gargantuan scale equivalent to five standard castles merged together. Nirvana's Central Branch, however, felt more like a few large mansions scattered here and there.
Doubting whether he had actually arrived at the real Central Branch, Sieg approached a knight in full plate armor standing at the front gate and stated his identity.
The knight's eyes flashed instantly. After taking a quick glance at Sieg's identification, the knight nodded.
『Sieg Draker. Identity confirmed. You may enter.』
To Sieg's surprise, the entity guarding the main gate was an automaton, not a human. While it wasn't on par with Blackie, the Guardian created by Hades, Sieg tilted his head as he observed the remarkably intricate automatic golem.
'Why go to the trouble of putting such an expensive golem on guard duty? Building one of those costs way more than hiring a hundred soldiers for ten years.'
As someone who valued efficiency, Sieg couldn't quite fathom it.
Setting his curiosity aside, Sieg stepped inside, only to find himself bemused by an unexpected situation. He had worried about getting lost due to the lack of a guide, but there was no need for concern. There was only a single path and a single building he could actually enter.
Sieg walked inside the dilapidated structure, which looked so old it was impossible to tell when it had been built. However, the moment he stepped through the doors, he was caught off guard once again.
'What the...?'
Unlike its exterior, the inside of the building was extraordinarily vast. The lobby was utter chaos, teeming with mages bustling back and forth.
A balding mage with a hook nose flew through the air holding experimental potions; an extraordinarily tall man muttered a brief chant, flashed with light, and instantly teleported to the second floor; and a plump mage sat on the lobby stairs, sipping tea with a cat nestled in his arms.
Watching dozens of mages moving according to their own whims, Sieg felt dizzy from the sheer chaos.
'What kind of place is this?'
Shaking his head to clear his mind, Sieg looked around and found a summoning device attached to the wall.
He picked up the receiver-shaped device and pressed the button.
A loud beep sounded, followed by a rigid, mechanical voice coming through the receiver—much like the guard golem's.
『State your identity and the party you wish to summon.』
“Sieg Draker. I am here to meet the Head of the House, Master Jorge Nirvana, to deliver a letter from Khali Draker.”
Another long beep sounded from the receiver, and the line abruptly went dead.
Sieg stared blankly at the silent receiver.
'Did the call go through?'
Just as he was contemplating whether to press the summon button again, someone approached him from behind.
“Why do you keep holding onto that thing?”
A sharp-featured old man who looked like the very definition of a mage snapped at Sieg.
Sieg bowed his head toward the mage. “Are you Master Jorge? I am Sieg—”
“Do I look like anile old fool Jorge to you?!” the mage barked at Sieg.
Scanning Sieg with an annoyed expression, he spoke up. “I am Antonio. The proxy for that old fool Jorge.”
'Antonio Nirvana? One of the continent's few 8th-Circle Masters?'
Antonio gestured to Sieg. “I don't know what Draker was thinking sending you here, but since you're here, follow me.”
Tapping his hand against a bare wall, a door suddenly materialized out of nowhere. Antonio opened it casually and walked inside.
Sieg hesitated as he looked at the door embedded in the wall. Being a knight by birth, magic was inherently unfamiliar to him.
When Sieg lingered outside, the door burst open and Antonio yelled, “What are you doing?! Get in here!”
Given the old man's fiery temper, Sieg opened the door Antonio had created and stepped inside.
To his surprise, the room inside appeared to be Antonio's personal laboratory. Countless experimental tools and books were piled on the floor, while blackboards covered the walls, packed with incomprehensible formulas.
'Mages' laboratories are always a chaotic mess, no matter which one I visit.'
Clearing off a section of his desk with a careless sweep, Antonio slumped down into his chair.
“Clear a spot and sit down. Ah, you're a Pureblood Awakener, aren't you? Don't you dare take off those gloves. This room is filled with equipment you couldn't buy even with a mountain of gold.”
Antonio snapped his fingers, and two cups of coffee materialized out of thin air on the empty desk.
Antonio took a noisy gulp of the coffee, which was as black and thick as pitch from hell.
“I only drink black, so there's no milk or sugar. Drink it as is.”
Sieg took a small sip, but feeling a bitterness so intense it felt as though his tongue were melting away, he quietly set the cup back down.
Having finished his coffee, Antonio pulled a pipe out from his robes, placed it between his lips, and snapped his fingers to light it.
Exhaling a cloud of smoke, he finally got down to business.
“So, why did Sieg Draker bring a letter from Khali Draker?”
“To propose continuous cooperation and exchange with Nirvana—”
“Not interested. Done? Head back.”
Despite having taken his time sipping coffee, Antonio cut Sieg off before he could even finish his sentence.
Sieg nodded, having expected as much.
'Mages of Nirvana detest anything troublesome.'
Sieg looked at Antonio and spoke. “In that case, the official business is concluded. Next is my personal proposal.”
Exhaling smoke, Antonio replied, “Dammit, I have nothing more to say to you, so get lost. I'm busy as hell, so why are you wasting my time with nonsense—”
Thud!
The moment Antonio saw what Sieg pulled out from his coat, his posture straightened instantly.
“What's this? Is that... a Fairy Stone?!”