Chapter 90
Chapter 90
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 90
Chapter Title: Tag (5)
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“Naban! Have you lost your mind? How dare you butt in there? Butt in?!”
The guardian knight’s urgent telepathic message stabbed into Naban’s ear.
And with good reason—this was a Ragnar affair.
One involving charges of treason, no less.
No matter how prominent the Ceres Merchant Group was in the North, if the Ragnars got serious, they could reduce it to ashes overnight.
For the Bacchus family, the wise choice was to stay out of it.
But,
“You know one thing and ignore the rest? How dense can you be.”
Naban roughly deflected Cleve’s sword, which was aimed at his throat, and let out a sneer.
“What nonsense...!”
“Not tempted by the money?”
“That’s not for the likes of you to worry about. Getting tangled in treason means not just preserving the family—you won’t even keep your head.”
“What if the Ceres Merchant Group gets branded for treason? You think the main house will come out unscathed? Other factions already hate how we’re tied to Ceres—imagine them digging in. Creditors will hound us for repayment faster, too. Oh, and who knows? The Ragnars might shake us down on suspicion. Confident we’re squeaky clean?”
“...!”
“No comeback? Figured as much. Right on the nose.”
Only then did the guardian knight grasp the gravity of the situation, his face hardening.
It was already widely known in the North that the Bacchus family was pushing a marriage alliance with the Ceres Merchant Group.
Naturally, the Bacchuses couldn’t escape suspicion either.
The problem was they weren’t exactly innocent.
Over centuries, they’d done plenty of shady dealings behind the Ragnars’ backs.
Plenty of dirt to uncover.
“The Ceres Merchant Group and the main house are practically one fate now.”
“...But still, better than getting swept up in treason.”
Even after this straightforward explanation, the Ragnar name still terrified him.
Naban spoke with pitying exasperation.
“We just need to block this once.”
“What?”
“Don’t you get it? The Ragnars aren’t even certain about these charges. If they had solid proof, they’d have brought more men.”
“Ah.”
“Whether they’re rushing or just probing, we block this once. Then Ceres will handle cleaning up any loose ends.”
“Y-Yeah...!”
“And who’s backing Ceres? Forgot already? The Central Intelligence Chief dotes on his own—think he won’t sort this out?”
The guardian knight’s face was now entranced by Naban’s words.
“Those guys look like Black Snow, so maybe a political scrap between Anti-Dragon and Black Dragon. No need for us to end up as prawns scorched by their fire, right?”
“Ahem! Spot on. I was thinking the same, but things got so heated I nearly blundered.”
“Yeah, yeah, I’m sure you figured it out fine. Better move the retainers before you botch it worse.”
The guardian knight bristled at Naban’s impudent tone for a bastard, but decided to let it slide this once.
Above all, resolving this crisis well could let them extract more interests.
“Bacchus swordsmen, protect the Quadlak merchant lord and his retainers!”
“Understood!”
“Understood!”
Clang clang clang!
The Bacchus swordsmen shook off their hesitation, baring killing intent toward Theo’s group as they leveled their blades.
‘Dense idiots.’
Naban chuckled inwardly at the retainers.
“...So this is the Bacchus family’s will?”
Cleave swept a cold gaze over the assembly.
Hazel and Evelyn felt the same.
As Ragnar swordsmen, they could never tolerate such insubordination.
But the Bacchus swordsmen stood firm, eyes wavering though they were.
“Don’t back down! Ceres is just a victim of false accusations! Even the great house should confirm the facts more thoroughly before visiting—what do you think?”
Polite words, but essentially an eviction order.
“I heard the Bacchus family’s been in dire straits lately, but I didn’t realize the one in charge had gone mad.”
Cleave’s face stiffened as he issued a new command.
“The Bacchus family shares the same charges as Ceres. From now on, execute anyone who interferes, no exceptions.”
“Understood.”
“Understood.”
Evelyn and Hazel split left and right, unleashing sword auras.
Outnumbered utterly, they still couldn’t yield in this situation.
-Even if it means casualties, we never bow to traitors.
It was the unyielding nature of Northerners.
Clang clang clang—
Swordplay erupted in the courtyard in an instant.
“Subdue them all!”
Quadlak had expected the Bacchuses to pull back, but puzzled by their aid, he quickly directed his guards like the seasoned merchant lord he was.
He’d been spouting love for Lily—had he really fallen for her?
‘Most of them are Blood Priests blessed by the Nine Apostles of the Holy Demon Church! They can crush these mere swordsmen!’
Clang clang clang!
Theo’s group, the Blood Priests disguised as Ceres guards, and the Bacchus swordsmen tangled in a chaotic melee.
Amid it all,
Naban laughed.
“Pahahahat.”
All it took was a silver tongue, and they’d banded together to march into the grave.
With this, the Bacchus family had crossed an irreversible river.
‘I’ll get to see their downfall way sooner than planned.’
As he pondered how to fan the flames higher,
「Think that’ll make it burn properly? Why not take out one or two executioners while you’re at it? That’d seal it for sure.」
A sharp telepathic voice pierced his ear.
‘Who...!’
Naban’s spine chilled.
It felt like someone had pierced the secrets he’d hidden so well.
Clang!
A beam of light shot at his face—he barely deflected it in time.
The attacker was a young boy.
Around Lily’s age, his fiancée.
But his deep, sunken eyes made his true age hard to gauge.
‘Theodore Ragnar!’
He recognized the boy instantly.
Naban hid his trembling lips and spoke.
“W-What... are you talking about?”
“You’re on edge right now, aren’t you?”
“What?”
But Theo sneered as if he already knew all Naban’s thoughts.
Then the telepathy continued.
「No fond memories, but it was the family that killed the mother who bore and raised you.」
“...!”
Naban’s eyes bulged.
「And that inhuman father who knew you had a congenital illness but denied timely treatment, dooming his son to a terminal life.」
“What are you trying to say...!”
「Naban Bacchus. Bastard son of the current Bacchus family head, born out of wedlock abroad. Overshadowed by Black Iron Cavalry Captain Torkel, yet the tragic genius who scored the highest in Awakening Ceremony history as a Bacchus.」
“...!!”
「But bound by family restrictions, you wasted a decade doing nothing. So you have no intention of letting the family survive. You’ve been plotting its collapse within your remaining five years, laying plans like a chess game.」
“...”
「Driving the family to bankruptcy, luring in a dangerous Anti-Dragon element... and now this choice. Perfect. Congratulations. The Bacchus family is now a full-fledged traitor house.」
In that moment, emotion drained from Naban’s face.
Expressionless.
Like a doll devoid of feeling.
“...What are you? How do you know me?”
“Does that matter?”
Theo’s twisted lips curved wider.
“What matters now is how much the guy in front of you can help, don’t you think?”
“...!”
“I’ll teach you how to cure your incurable disease. I’ll handle the Bacchus downfall too. In exchange.”
Theo’s eyes gleamed intensely.
“Become my second sword.”
Naban couldn’t fathom how to process Theo’s existence.
He’d appeared out of nowhere, seen through his entire past, and offered exactly what he needed.
It felt like a prank from Black Snow, whom he’d observed for so long.
As if possessed by a ghost.
But Black Snow had no reason to, and the Theo before him seemed a vessel containing others, not one to be contained.
Having lived his life as an outsider, Naban prided himself on reading people better than most.
Theo was sincere.
“Better decide fast. As you see, I can’t give you much time.”
Theo smiled.
* * *
-Ten swords.
Right after his first regression, when Theo opened his eyes, he’d named the ten talents needed to claim the throne.
The first was Evelyn.
The second was Naban.
Both possessed exceptional talent and skill, yet failed to bloom due to ill timing.
-Like Theo himself.
“You can cure me? How do I believe that?”
The agitation was brief.
Naban asked in a calm tone.
As if his prior cynicism had been a lie.
‘Wary from the start, huh. Expected that.’
He’d lived suspecting everyone, cunning enough to secretly steer his family toward ruin.
No way he’d be easy.
Theo shrugged.
“Follow me and find out for sure, right? Decide then—become my sword or not.”
But that confident air, certain Naban couldn’t refuse, stirred something in him.
Hope that he might live.
And,
-Hope that someone might finally recognize the real “me” for the first time.
Faced with a scenario he’d never imagined possible, Naban furrowed his brow long and hard before finally nodding.
“...Fine. I’ll trust you for now. But you’d better explain properly how you know about me.”
“Deal.”
“And.”
“...?”
“I’m way older than you, yet you’re using formal speech? I went through Awakening with the Black Iron Cavalry Captain, you know.”
“Depends on how you act.”
“Testing if I wield a good sword, eh.”
In an instant, Naban’s eyes flashed coldly as he spun around.
And,
Swoosh—
Slash!
A swift sword aura grazed the guardian knight’s nape—just as he clashed with Evelyn.
“You... what the...!”
The guardian knight stared at Naban in disbelief.
He’d convinced them to aid Ceres, only to stab them in the back?
Naban’s signature sneer bloomed on his lips.
“Gotta take a traitor’s head to save my own skin, right?”
“...!”
“That’s why you pick your side carefully.”
The guardian knight looked ready to argue, but only a wheezing gasp escaped—no words.
Thud!
As his last strength faded, a line of blood bloomed on his nape, and his head flew into the air.
Splurt—
Thump—
Naban kicked off the ground fiercely, charging the Bacchus swordsmen.
“Y-Young master!”
“Why us too...!”
“You’re all the same scum.”
They were all culprits who’d driven his birth mother to death.
No forgiveness.
Swoosh swoosh swoosh—
Sword auras surged from Naban, swiftly mowing down his former comrades.
A massacre.
「You told me to become your second sword?」
Naban’s telepathy stabbed into Theo’s ear.
「That implies you already have a first... Let me change that while we’re at it.」