Chapter 100
Translator: Vine
Chapter: 100
Chapter Title: The Whole Truth
Acandus and Soned had finally arrived in Elpis.
The morning after receiving the news, Allen was able to meet with them right away.
Since academy rules forbade outsiders from entering indiscriminately, Allen rented out the entire top floor of a decent inn to the west.
“It’s been a long time, Young Master. Your great name is quite renowned in these parts.”
Soned, his face as warm as ever, shared a faint smile as they reunited.
“I’m also very glad to see you again. Perhaps I feel that way even more because this is right around the time I was hoping you’d come up.”
“Haha, is that so?”
“Yes. We’ll talk about that matter in a bit… How is your son? His curse should be fully healed by now.”
Sensing that Allen wanted to postpone the important discussion, Soned smoothly began to chat with him about recent events.
“After regaining his health, he’s been learning the trade under me at the merchant guild. I wonder if he’s even woken up yet by now.”
“Isn’t it dawn over there? Already?”
“It’s about time he got up. Soon it will be time for him to help Karic and learn the business.”
“Ah, that’s right. Wasn’t Karic the one who was supposed to come to the city?”
At Allen’s question, Soned spoke with the dignified face of a seasoned merchant.
“Since this is the first time, it’s only natural that I come myself. It would be one thing if nothing out of the ordinary were to happen, but the first trade venture requires the prudence of middle age, not the boldness of youth.”
*Just like how I worry if more hair will fall out after I wake up,* Soned added with a cheerful laugh.
His expression was brighter than before, suggesting the guild’s affairs were going well.
「Isn’t that a given, when a powerful figure like you is looking after them? Hmph, and to think you made such a fuss over a single letter of recommendation.」
Allen cleanly ignored her words.
There was no need to answer a question that didn’t require a response.
“You seem to be doing well… So, Acandus, what about you?”
“What is there for me to say? It’s better than living soaked in alcohol. Although… I couldn’t find any trace of my father.”
Acandus’s sharp exterior had softened compared to before. However, Allen could easily surmise that he had merely hidden that sharpness deep inside.
“Is that so? We’ll talk about that in a bit, too. It’s just a guess, but I think I may have found a clue.”
[Someone is listening.]
Allen’s voice echoed in Acandus’s head. Allen’s threads quietly slipped out, beginning to occupy and fill the space beneath their feet.
“…Is that so?”
Acandus, without a hint of expression, played along with Allen’s intentions.
“Yes, such boring stories only serve to tire one out, don’t they?”
“You’re right.”
When even Soned caught on to the atmosphere and chimed in smoothly, Allen gave separate orders to Linbelle and Inellia.
“Inellia, could you make some spirit tea? I can’t forget that fragrance I smelled last time.”
[Use the spirits to block the sound so our voices don’t leak out.]
“And Linbelle, could you go down to the kitchen and get some nice refreshments… If they don’t have any, you can check the nearby teahouses.”
[Check the vicinity for anyone suspicious, and look around to make sure no one is eavesdropping as much as possible.]
Inellia’s expression was one she crafted herself, so she simply nodded as if she hadn’t heard any such command.
“Understood. I’ll prepare it right away, so please wait just a moment.”
“Yes, Young Master. I’ll do my best to find some excellent refreshments.”
However, even Allen couldn’t help but be surprised as Linbelle, too, instantly became composed, as if her usual demeanor were a lie.
Linbelle and Inellia briefly left the room.
“Then let’s talk some more. Yes, Acandus, I heard you acquired some rare liquor…”
“Yes, Sir Soned was there at the time, so he remembers it clearly. It’s a medicinal wine I got from an elf I know…”
“Ah! Are you talking about that time? I never would have thought one could make such a drink by mixing medicinal herbs…”
Allen’s threads, not content with just filling the floor, began to climb the walls and ascend through the room.
Just as Inellia returned and served the tea, and after more than ten minutes of idle chatter, they began to vent about the hardships they had faced building Sköll over the past few months.
“So, Young Master, the effort it took to persuade those guys who just wanted to grab their weapons and lash out…”
*Click—*
Linbelle returned.
In that instant, the threads surrounded the door she entered through, and the entire room was enveloped in Allen’s threads.
“Were there any eavesdroppers in the room? What about the surroundings?”
“No. I checked the floor below, the outer walls, and everyone within a 100-meter radius. There was no one.”
The sound ceased. The room fell silent, as if it had never been noisy.
Allen turned his head briefly to look at Inellia, and after she too nodded, he let out a sigh.
“You can speak now.”
“Young Master, what in the world is going on?”
Soned, who had grasped the situation and played along based on atmosphere alone without a word from Allen, wore a serious expression.
“Are we being bugged? Or are we being targeted…?”
“First, may I ask a few things?”
When Allen asked with a serious face, Soned backed down without a single word of complaint.
“Please do.”
“Did you find the red-covered grimoire I asked you to look for?”
“…I could not find it.”
“What about processions of carriages never before seen in the domain, or individuals moving without any insignia?”
“As you instructed, Young Master, I used my connections to check as much as possible… but most were vagrants or bands of thieves. There were no merchant guilds or the like.”
Allen told him to wait for a moment, then turned to the pensive Acandus.
“Acandus, have you seen anyone secretly entering the mansion in the capital of the county?”
“Yes, my subordinates have spotted them a few times.”
“And did you track where they went after leaving the mansion?”
“Yes, but… most of the time they would vanish without a trace, and we would come up empty-handed. The rest were just residents.”
Allen recalled the events at the mansion.
The people who had suddenly appeared by his father’s side, and the servants and maids he had never seen before.
And the administration that was maintained despite consuming a large military budget, even though funds should have been tight.
The incidents that seemed to sprout up like something out of a novel wherever he went, and Julius who resolved them so aptly.
And those who, despite being mere branch managers, could handle spatial teleportation artifacts and even plant an Apostle in the Cycle Cult.
Blame had likely dismissed it, judging that Allen couldn't have gathered much information…
‘I’ve caught your tail.’
That was his mistake.
An organization whose true nature he couldn’t grasp even before his regression.
A clandestine force aiding Julius from their father’s side.
He had found a clue to them here.
“So, Young Master, if you’ve finished your thoughts, could you please explain?”
“I share the same sentiment.”
Allen looked at them, who had waited for him to organize his thoughts without the slightest hint of impatience, and let out a chuckle.
“Yes, of course I should. It’s about time you knew.”
In the months he was gone, they had not betrayed him, diligently completing their reports and expanding their influence.
It was safe to say that they had at least built a minimum level of trust with each other.
‘No, if it’s all going to end because I can’t even keep this much of a secret, then I’ll just fail this time, too.’
Allen genuinely felt that way.
If he was going to fret over not being able to tell them this one thing, he might as well give up on revenge and just eat the scraps that fell from Julius’s side.
“Have you never felt any doubts about my orders?”
At Allen’s question, Soned hesitated for a moment, but Acandus did not.
“Yes, I have. I just judged that it wasn’t a topic to bring up when there was no trust between us.”
No matter if it was a succession dispute with his younger brother, the relationship between Allen and Julius had appeared amicable.
Was it merely amicable? Rumors were rampant around the academy that the two brothers were on very good terms.
And yet, Allen was gathering those who held a grudge against Julius and monitoring the mansion as if he were wary of his own family?
“To be honest, I was anxious that I was just being used.”
Acandus, judging that Allen had brought this up to reveal his true intentions, did not hide his thoughts.
Seeing Acandus’s attitude, Soned sighed and nodded as well.
“…Yes, that’s right. Honestly, the grimoire was one thing, but I was skeptical when you mentioned a black market that even merchants, who are sensitive to rumors, had never heard of.”
With everyone else being sincere, he couldn't be the only one to hold back.
“At this rate, the position of heir seems certain, so even if it was to build a personal force, it was hard to guess why you gathered us instead of them.”
Listening to their words, Allen inwardly raised his guard even higher.
He had to completely discard the illusion that he was ahead just because he had regressed.
‘The location where he became an Apostle was revealed in less than a day. In that case, it’s right to assume that my actions up to now have been exposed to some extent, if not entirely.’
Since Allen had left the city in secret, it was clear they had discovered his movements by tracking the Cycle Cultists.
That meant there was either a traitor within the Cycle Cult, or they had been constantly monitoring them, which is how they found out.
‘Fortunately, not everything has been exposed, but…’
If even this much information reached Julius’s ears, it was obvious he would become suspicious.
‘…It’s times like these I regret not having an information organization under my command.’
It was a pity he couldn’t gauge their exact size.
If he knew just that much, it would be much easier to formulate a counter plan.
Allen felt the need he had sensed since commissioning Blame to find the true culprit of the Harvest Festival even more keenly.
He knew that Inellia was single-handedly doing the work of ten or more people, and that it would take time to train Acandus’s subordinates.
But it was frustrating that he could do nothing but be a sitting duck in the meantime.
‘If I had my way, I’d hire the Queen of Shadows, no matter the cost.’
But that was impossible, as she had likely already fled somewhere.
“Before I explain everything, there’s something I need to tell you first.”
The fundamental reason why Allen, why *I*, came to act this way.
“Where should I begin… Yes. That would be good. It would be best to start from before Julius became a scoundrel.”
Inellia and Linbelle had already heard the story, and Vestla had heard it too.
“In the Reinhardt family, there was a brother who failed to act like one, and a younger brother who was not like a younger brother.”
The story of the younger brother whose body had been stolen by a demon began.
***
“Think it over carefully and give me your answer. I’ll give you plenty of time.”
*Click—*
It was late at night when the entire story finally ended.
Allen left Soned and Acandus to their thoughts and walked to another room.
Inellia and Linbelle were to stay in the room next door tonight, not attending to him.
He wanted to be alone with his thoughts tonight.
He had also entrusted them with the bracelet artifact containing the telepathy function to share with Vestla, so they would have time to talk amongst themselves.
He had been meaning to create an opportunity for them, so the timing was right.
*Step, step—*
The dark, sunken corridor prompted many thoughts.
A thought occurred to Allen.
*Demons and what not, spouting nonsense about things I don't even understand.*
“Saying this over and over is making it feel familiar.”
It was a story of how many people had become entangled in his and his brother’s affairs.
So much so that he couldn’t stop even if he wanted to.
Allen scoffed at himself for leaving the two of them to rest, as if it were a consideration.
“What is there to think about?”
Allen knew that they would ultimately accept his story.
The fact that Acandus and Soned were lost in thought was proof that there were now many more things to consider in their relationship with him.
It was impossible for them to deny their relationship with Allen up to this point. It was too late to back out now, with their businesses and relationships with surrounding figures so intertwined.
To speak as if he were being considerate, knowing all of this.
Allen suddenly felt that he had changed a little from before.
The reason for that was obvious.
‘…Evan, Ariel, William.’
*Am I doing the right thing? Is what I’m doing just?* It was a useless philosophical debate with no answer, and one that no one could answer for him.
But for idly passing the time, there was nothing better than pondering an unanswerable question.
Allen turned the doorknob that was now within reach.
*Click—*
Immersing himself in a philosophical quagmire for tonight wouldn’t be so bad.
The moment he squeezed his whole body into the dark room, one corner of the room was unusually dark.
As if it were pulling in the light.
*This dark without a single ray of moonlight?* Allen’s muscles instantly readied his stance. He turned his body to leave the room. No, he tried to leave.
But a breath on the nape of his neck, sending shivers down his spine, came first.
“The little one is quite perceptive, isn’t he?”