Chapter 94
Chapter 94
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 94
Chapter Title: Reconstruction and Reckoning
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“Clear this out of here. And bring more planks to patch things up.”
“Shouldn’t we pry it up?”
“Bring the paint quick! Grab the pigments too!”
The mansion’s front was bustling as always. The territory folk had swarmed to repair the collapsed building.
Blinde set the stone on the ground and looked up at the half-destroyed mansion.
To cause this much damage with just a brief appearance—if the captain heard, it’d pique his curiosity.
“Wonder if it can be repaired.”
“With the foundation stones buried underground exposed like this, it’s beyond repair. We’ll need to rebuild. I hear a famous architect from the Holy City is coming.”
“Let’s pray the remaining half doesn’t crumble completely in the meantime.”
It was a conversation from nearby. A four-story building couldn’t be fixed without expert knowledge.
The area in front of the mansion would be as noisy as a marketplace for a while, so he’d use the chance to snoop around.
He kept his ears open as he hauled scrap materials.
“Sir Rielder still hasn’t returned?”
“Miss Charlotte’s injuries must be severe.”
“What rotten luck.”
Blinde slipped into the group of middle-aged men and casually chimed in.
“Is there any other noble like Sir Rielder? It breaks my heart that someone like him has to go through this.”
“We all feel the same. Compared to those hypocrites who only talk about caring for the citizens, Sir Rielder is so upright. During droughts, he always lowered prices and distributed relief supplies on time. As if that’s not obvious—how many nobles brag about doing the bare minimum?”
“Exactly. He’s so gentle and well-liked.”
Blinde nodded along appropriately before changing the subject.
“That’s why someone like Dianne follows him, right?”
The middle-aged man squinted at him.
“I can tell just by looking. You’ve got a thing for that woman too, huh? How many men in this territory haven’t? If I weren’t married, I’d have proposed myself.”
“You’ll be in big trouble if your wife hears that.”
“That’s easy for you to say—you’re not married. Anyway, no sign of the butler, so Dianne’s handling everything alone. She’s run ragged.”
“He probably went with Sir Rielder.”
Dianne was where the man glanced. She was tending to each volunteer citizen who’d come to help. They seemed to cherish her as much as their lord, Sir Rielder.
That gentle-looking woman had severed Deong’s arm. And she’d tracked him while he was hidden.
His friend’s stealth was near-magical. Finding him was impressive enough, but sniping him from afar with a thrown sword?
He’d wandered around trying to learn more about Dianne, but heard nothing useful.
Should he risk talking to the mansion staff?
That’s when a familiar cry rang out. He looked up. A gray-winged bird was circling overhead.
“Looks like rain. That bird’s flying low.”
“More importantly, ever heard a bird cry like that? Weird sound.”
“Birds are birds.”
The others watching the sky soon lost interest.
He slipped away quietly to a deserted spot. He blew hard on the flute in his mouth.
The bird circling the sky dove toward him. The captain’s messenger had returned.
Albert thrust out his chest. He pulled the letter from the pouch, and Albert spread his wings and flew off.
He scanned the letter immediately.
“Something’s up, huh.”
The captain’s orders were concise: He’d return soon, so monitor the mansion without taking risks.
The captain was as reckless as ever. How risky was “without taking risks”?
Blinde chewed and swallowed the paper, then headed back to the mansion.
* * *
“Is this the last one?”
“Seems like it. But do we really have to do this?”
“It’s the decent thing to do. After all, these people suffered because of our investigation, didn’t they?”
“No, no. Guchi, you’re too nice for your own good. No need to feel responsible like that. The ones who killed the villagers are those guys in the basement—not us. Keep it simple. Isn’t it easier to just hate and despise criminals?”
“You’re a scary man.”
“Being scary is nothing compared to being good. Anyway, there sure are a lot.”
Kalligo said, dusting off his hands. Guchi nodded heavily.
Countless tombstones stood before them. They’d scoured the village swallowed by flames, gathered the bodies, and buried each one.
They’d searched every corner hoping for survivors, but all they found were charred corpses.
Guchi buried a child’s body last. Having seen so many, he felt only emptiness.
“Let’s head back. Lingering won’t do any good.”
“You’re unaffected?”
“Guchi’d hate hearing this, but I feel nothing. Know what I suppressed first when I started in surveillance? Pity. That emotion clouds facts and truth, leads to bad judgments. My job can’t allow that.”
“Being too capable has its downsides. An ordinary guy like me couldn’t do it.”
“Don’t say that. Ordinary is great. Everyone dreams of being the hero in a play, but put them there, and they’d beg to live ordinarily. I once dreamed of being a national savior. But life taught me heroes are forged from brutal trials and sacrifices. Imagine that hardship. Can’t even fathom it.”
Kalligo’s gaze drifted to Lander, planting a tombstone in the distance.
“I just want that guy to live peacefully. Smiling about memories of his wife now and then, sharing a drink with me.”
Guchi said.
“Lander living like that... Hard to picture, but not bad.”
“Help him out. Give that guy an ordinary life.”
“Impossible. A giant doesn’t hide by crouching. The world will find him eventually. And he’ll answer the call. That’s the kind of man Lander is.”
Lander approached from where he’d been working. Guchi eyed his empty hands.
“All buried?”
“I buried every keepsake we brought. I wanted to pass them to someone who remembered my wife, but that’s not possible now.”
“The diary too?”
“I kept that.”
“Good call. Gotta have something to remember her by.”
Lander stared at the graveyard a while, then headed to the two-story house. Guchi followed.
They descended to the basement and stood before the iron bars.
“Never gets easier to look at.”
He peered beyond the bars. At the person? Could you even call that woman human? How does an arm reattach without treatment?
“Bivinel. Sleep well?”
Kalligo spoke, and Bivinel, huddled inside, flinched and looked up. Her eyes were dead.
Guchi hadn’t witnessed what happened here over the past two days.
Kalligo had urged him to stay away for his mental health, so he’d worked outside, clearing the village.
Digging graves in the burned fields for makeshift tombs.
When he returned to the basement two days later, Bivinel’s arm was reattached, and four men were dead.
The corpses were all mangled; one look told him what Kalligo had done.
“Thanks to Bivinel cooperating so well, things will be easier going forward. Truly grateful.”
“No, no. I’ll do whatever you say. Please, just...”
Bivinel glanced at the corpses in the opposite cell, then buried her head and curled up.
“Wouldn’t it have been better to keep the others alive? More info to squeeze out.”
Guchi asked Kalligo.
“I got what I could. Pablo and Steen were tight-lipped, but the other three weren’t. Keeping them alive would’ve given samples too, sure, but the situation’s too unique. Easier to control variables this way. Keep the most obedient one—simplifies management.”
“If I ever meet you officially, better slit my throat without hesitation.”
“No need for harsh words. I’m kind enough to people I know.”
Guchi approached the cell piled with bodies.
Decapitated, yet no pallor. Even now, sew the head back, and they’d spring up attacking.
“What kind of magic turns people into that?”
“Amazing magic. Bivinel says entering a complete Realm fully grants a new body—like that one. No limits? Continental power struggles end instantly. Just open a complete Realm, and you’ve got an undead army.”
“Magic like that isn’t common.”
“If it were, someone would’ve used it. Jon created it; Gilliuwd was his disciple. Gilliuwd learned it and colluded with Rielder.”
“Our hunch was right.”
“But questions remain. Bivinel says Jon, Gilliuwd’s master, is dead. Lame end for a prophecy wielder.”
“Maybe he couldn’t prophesy his own death.”
“Likely. We’ve proven prophecies are unreliable. Jon’s note specified death, but we survived fine.”
“They’re the ones who rest in peace now.”
Guchi continued, eyeing the corpses.
“Two possibilities. Unstable, like you said, or it overrides even fixed futures.”
Their gazes turned to Lander. Kalligo nodded.
“His power’s more than capable.”
“What’s the plan? Lander says he’ll follow you.”
“The Imperial Chancellor awaiting my word—daunting yet thrilling. This is full of uncertainties. Unprecedented power, unknown forms ahead. Systematic planning’s unrealistic.”
“Can’t just charge in blindly.”
“Leading with Lander’s a solid strategy, but not now. Two paths: Follow Jon’s note, or head to Rielder’s territory.”
Lander spoke.
“Splitting up here.”
Kalligo smiled brightly.
“You read my mind perfectly. Jon singled me out. Come here, see the world’s secrets. He knows exactly what tempts me.”
“Dangerous to follow the note.”
He voiced his concern.
“It’ll be fine. Jon wants to use me for something. Means I’m valuable—not killing me. Not planning to die easy either. And Lander, secrecy’s impossible now. I’ll report up, though you won’t like it.”
“Do it. But share all details. What my wife endured here, who and what orchestrated it—I need to know.”
“Everything, no omissions.”
Kalligo clasped hands behind back, bowed. Imperial salute. Guchi glanced at Bivinel in the cell.
“Then we go meet Rielder, who sent this woman.”
(To be continued)