Chapter 101
Translator: Vine
Chapter: 101
Chapter Title: An Unexpected Alliance
He felt the other’s breath on the back of his neck. And yet, Allen couldn't sense their presence. An insurmountable gap. Allen had met someone like this once before.
Realizing his opponent's identity, his thoughts grew even calmer.
His reaction seemed to pique her curiosity.
“Hmm? Little one, why have you stopped? Are you scared?”
“If resistance is futile, then there's no need for it, is there?”
The Queen of Shadows asked in a subtle voice.
“But then you’ll just die, won’t you?”
Her voice was playful. However, the killing intent, tickling the fine hairs on his skin, tightened around his neck as if ready to strike at any moment.
“If it is what the Queen of Shadows desires, what could possibly be wrong with that?”
“So the title ‘Second Seat’ isn’t just for show, I see.”
As Allen answered without a hint of agitation despite her threat, the killing intent that had been choking him vanished in an instant.
“Yes, well, if you cooperate peacefully, it saves me the trouble of getting rough.”
The breath on the back of his neck also vanished at some point. Allen turned his stiff neck and cast his gaze toward a corner.
She was there.
A woman of indeterminate age with dark, almost black, violet hair, dressed in simple black attire.
When had she moved there, or had she been there from the start? Allen’s skills weren’t enough to even tell the difference.
In fact, even now, as he focused his senses on the entire room, he couldn't feel her presence, despite her being right before his eyes.
She had seen everything Allen was doing, yet she asked casually, as if he posed no threat at all.
“Finished your inspection? Then may I ask my questions now?”
She smiled with her eyes and slowly walked to the center of the room. With each of her steps, the domain of darkness expanded.
“…Yes, please do.”
Allen’s mind raced with countless possibilities.
Why is she here? For money or goods? No, if she needed something like that, she would have just asked. Then information? What kind of information would she want?
‘More importantly, did she hear everything?’
No matter how thorough Allen’s security was, it was as good as nothing before one of the Eight Strongest.
It would be best to follow her lead for now and gently probe for information.
“Thinking too much isn’t always a good thing… but well, that’s not what I came here to talk about.”
She stopped at a sharp corner of the room, a place so steeped in thick shadows and darkness that it was impossible to see through.
She plunged her hand into it. Her hand should have hit the wall, yet her arm didn't stop.
“Allen Reinhardt. Little one, you’re a member of the Reinhardt family, correct?”
“Yes. That is correct.”
“You’re also the firstborn, and from the main wife, so you must know quite a bit. Right?”
“…Yes.”
At Allen’s reply, she smiled as if satisfied and pulled her arm back.
“Then, let me ask. Why, in the Reinhardt family…”
Thud-
A dark figure was flung out, tumbling across the floor to Allen’s feet. What emerged from the shadow was something Allen had not expected.
“Can you tell me why there are traces of a Shadow King here?”
The family’s apprentice butler who had followed Acandus’s party. He was unconscious, his face contorted in terror.
“It seems measures were taken to keep this child from speaking.”
Her smile turned chilly.
“Well? Little one, will you tell me?”
***
The Eight Strongest are always challenged.
Considering the origins of the Eight Strongest, this was only natural.
The eight companions of the hero who fought against the Demon Lord.
Since the Eight Strongest were the successors to the eight mightiest warriors on the continent, it was a given that they would always be challenged and tested.
But did that mean the Eight Strongest had to accept challenges at any and all times?
Without a moment's rest?
That wasn’t the case.
The Eight Strongest were human, too. Beings who felt fatigue, who breathed and lived.
Although they had half-transcended humanity, with limits far beyond that of ordinary people, they were still living creatures.
But for the Eight Strongest to exist as such, they couldn't refuse challenges from others.
Thus, they each designated a period during which challengers could face them.
A single time each year, a day when anyone could challenge the Eight Strongest.
During that period, anything was permitted.
No matter how many challengers there were, the use of poison, artifacts, magic, traps, and any other weapon was allowed.
Challengers could even conspire and fight in waves, or if they were confident, they could challenge one alone.
Of course, one didn't have to abide by that period.
But… how could you challenge one of the Eight Strongest if you didn't even know where they were?
Take, for instance, Pierre Bernap, the strongest in the Empire.
His primary duty was to guard the Emperor, and by the Emperor's command, he resolved various disasters across the Empire.
Could an ordinary person even meet him?
Even if they knew his location, did they have the courage to breach the Imperial Palace's tight security, break through all the guards, and storm the Emperor's very residence?
The others were no easier to approach.
Douglas Abel, head of the Berserk Knight Order and known as the Spear of Humanity, roamed the world vanquishing evil.
Vanessa Sabrina, the Empress of Magic who was said to pull the strings of the Magic Tower from behind the scenes, was surrounded by rumors, but her whereabouts were unknown.
Salvatore, the Elven Heretic Fiend, had sealed himself deep underground in the Great Forest decades ago.
Simply reaching them was a daunting task, and there was no way one could defeat one of the Eight Strongest at their peak in such an exhausted state.
That was why those who wished to challenge the Eight Strongest had no choice but to aim for that specific day.
The Empire even turned it into a grand festival to display its national power.
The former member of the Eight Strongest, the Queen of Shadows, had also held her position until three years ago, so there was a day when she could be challenged.
For seven days in the last week of October.
The only time the queen who ruled the underworld could be brought down.
Those in the know called it the Dark Moon Festival.
A day when even the Shadow Kings—officially her disciples, unofficially her hounds—did not hesitate to stab her in the back.
She never forgave traitors, so she killed all challengers.
That included the Shadow Kings who had followed her until then, but… there were always exceptions.
“Now, will you tell me why I found traces of a Shadow King on that child’s body?”
Those who had been preparing to escape her from the very beginning. They had fled when she fell into a trap.
The movements of one of those escaped Shadow Kings had been detected in the apprentice butler's body.
Because she had personally trained the Shadow Kings, she was able to recognize it just by observing the apprentice butler's movements.
“Little one, why are you silent?”
“……”
Allen couldn't answer. Not because he didn't want to, but because he truly knew nothing about it.
‘Traces of a Shadow King? On the body of an apprentice butler sent by the family?’
Misinterpreting the look on Allen's face, she slowly approached, pressing him. The darkness deepened. The shadows staining the floor spread as if to swallow Allen whole.
“Which Shadow King could it be related to… Ravi? Navid? Mulan?”
Before her misunderstanding could deepen, Allen shook his head.
“I have no knowledge of this matter.”
“You don’t know?”
She tilted her head, then vanished from his sight. Her voice reappeared right by his ear.
“Little one, I don’t particularly like liars.”
A sharp point touched the edge of his neck.
The thick killing intent of the underworld enveloped him. Without turning his head in her direction, Allen calmly replied.
“…However, I do have a suspicion.”
“Tell me.”
Her voice remained unchanged by his answer. Soft, with a hint of a smile. She could control even the slightest hint of emotion.
Allen answered immediately, without any hesitation.
“Head Butler Gadel.”
“Gadel? Gadel, Gadel… Ah.”
Back at the mansion, Allen had never noticed anything strange about him. His gait and breathing were ordinary, and he was a commoner with no magic.
But thinking back on it now, that was what made him more suspicious.
‘In any respectable family, its members are trained.’
To be precise, the family would bestow upon them a form of gift.
By passing down even a minor family art, the retainers would develop strong loyalty and would train diligently to prove it.
But Allen had felt ‘nothing’ from Gadel.
Not a shred of magic, not even the habits that come from learning martial arts.
‘It’s said that Gadel has worked for the family ever since he arrived with my mother.’
Having worked as the head butler, he must have gained much, so how could his physical condition be that of an ordinary person?
He had been so thorough that Allen, conversely, had only now realized how strange it was.
Allen explained these suspicions to her without reservation.
If she later went after Gadel with a firm conviction and he turned out not to be a Shadow King, her fury would undoubtedly turn back on him.
“And this person is one of the apprentice butlers learning under Head Butler Gadel… so he is the most likely candidate for a Shadow King.”
After hearing Allen’s story, she fell into thought for a moment before flashing a fresh smile.
“See, isn’t it so much better when you just tell me what you know?”
She was once again standing in front of Allen.
The darkness in the room began to recede.
The floor that looked like a muddy pit, the darkness that had blurred the lines between the walls and ceiling.
“Now that I have my answer, and you must be tired, I’ll be on my way.”
She turned as if she might vanish at any moment. No, her body was already beginning to dissolve into the shadows.
Ordinarily, Allen would not have stopped her.
Of course not.
He always tried to handle matters according to his pre-laid plans and within the scope of controllable variables.
Even when faced with sudden events, he was one to calculate the possibilities before making a move.
But one of the Eight Strongest?
This encounter with the Queen of Shadows was a completely accidental event.
Therefore, Allen knew that letting her go was the right choice—
Shhhk-
『Allen wondered if it was right to let her go like this.』
—it would have been.
『Her body begins to disappear. Should you really let her go? He had thought it would be nice to have an information guild. He felt that no matter the cost, it would be worth it to hire the Queen of Shadows. So why is he just standing there?』
The white book opened.
Allen took a step forward, an action his usual self would never have taken.
“A moment.”
At his action, the Queen of Shadows turned with a curious expression.
“Hmm?”
“Why don’t you stay a little longer?”
“Little one, you don’t seem to be afraid of me.”
“Pardon my impertinence, but you don't seem to be in the best condition, do you?”
She had consistently resolved things through conversation with Allen. That might be her true nature, but her real identity was the ruler of the underworld.
『She, of all people, proceeded with dialogue instead of overwhelming force? After knocking out the apprentice butler like that?』
That very behavior suggested that the Queen of Shadows might be injured.
『She is being cautious because she knows she would be at a disadvantage if a commotion were to arise.』
“Hmph-”
Her eyes narrowed. Her expression was one of someone looking at something pathetic. Who was worried about whom?
“Little one, do you take me for a pushover? We talk a little, and suddenly you’re feeling confident, hmm?”
She pondered for a moment, then shook her head.
The Queen of Shadows' body began to dissolve into the shadows again.
“I’d love to teach you a lesson… but I’m in a good mood. I’ll let it slide today. So watch your words from now on.”
“I will help you.”
“Do you even know what you’re trying to do?”
“It would take time and effort to reclaim the vast underworld alone, so are you not looking to acquire a useful hound?”
Her body, which had been melting into the shadows, stopped.
Unlike before, she looked at him with a gaze so cold it sent a chill down his spine.
“Little one, didn’t I just tell you to watch your mouth?”
“I will also procure everything you need to aid your recovery.”
“You’re a child who doesn’t listen, I see.”
Her expression became blank.
An alarm bell rang in Allen’s head. She swung her hand, and blades shot up from the darkness.
“I’ll let you off with a warning this once. When you wake up, you should reflect on your actions, understood?”
Vestla wasn't here, and it was too late to cast a spell.
Even so.
“My story!”
He had to hold onto her.
“You heard… my story, didn’t you?”
Whoosh-
The blade stopped, leaving only a hair's breadth of space. Though it hadn’t touched him, his skin tingled from the sharp edge.
“You eavesdropped on my story, so you could consider this your payment for it, couldn’t you?”
She stared at Allen’s face without moving, then.
Slowly, she posed a question.
“As payment for the story?”
“Yes, as payment for the story.”
『Only now did Allen begin to glimpse the true nature of the faction aiding Julius.』
They could meddle in the affairs of a single territory.
They had the power to fracture the Cycle Cult.
And they operated an unknown number of intelligence organizations.
『In addition, they can use spatial magic, provide funds to the Reinhardt family, and even the lord of the territory follows them.』
In the future, even warriors comparable to the Eight Strongest would come to Julius’s aid.
『As if fortune itself was on his side.』
The more Allen pieced things together with his memories from before his regression, the more his anxiety grew.
『Is it really possible? Can I succeed?』
He made every possible preparation, even accepting the necessity of certain sacrifices.
『And yet, doubt crept in as to whether he could truly get the real Julius back.』
What if he gave up on saving him and tried to kill him instead? Wouldn't that lead to an unexpected situation?
『An attack missing by chance, a passerby helping, the ground suddenly collapsing and causing the attack to fail.』
Allen was afraid that such a situation would arise and he would fail at both his revenge and getting Julius back.
『Because if he didn't succeed on the first try, there would be no second chance.』
Therefore, he needed more cards to play.
『Cards that would allow him to aim for a sliver of a chance to turn the tables, even if his opponent overwhelmed him.』
The future was one thing, and seizing a single opportunity was important.
『But that, too, was only possible if the present foundation was well-laid.』
For that, he needed her help.
『To fix the current organization's haphazard system and to increase the forces capable of dealing with various situations.』
“……Hmm, I see. As payment for the story… I suppose I should listen.”
After a long silence, her answer was, thankfully, positive.
“Then I’ll stay here. Just send the medicines I name to this location. Little one… no, you truly live a dangerous life.”
“…If you heard, you know I have no choice.”
As Allen gave a bitter smile, she shook her head and walked toward the bed.
“But don’t think that means I’ll help you. This is a transaction, after all.”
“Yes, a clear transaction. But that is enough.”
Allen would handle the trivial matters that she couldn't be bothered with so she could re-establish herself as the Queen of the Underworld, and in return, she would grant a few of Allen’s requests.
That was the meaning behind their actions.
“I never thought I could move the Queen of Shadows so easily.”
It was a relief she hadn't just left.
For now, this level of relationship was sufficient.
In fact, he was dumbfounded that things had turned out so well despite him acting more on emotion than calculation, which was unlike him.
“To say such a thing after just challenging me, honestly.”
She shot him a glare, then completely dispersed the darkness.
Bright moonlight poured in from outside the window.
She turned her back to Allen and spoke while looking out the window.
“Now, will you leave? Or is there something else you want to say… Yes, for example, that you want to stay in the room with me?”
Her voice, trailing off with a coquettish laugh, was filled with a playful intent to make him uncomfortable.
Allen couldn't help but admire how she could control her emotions so perfectly, a stark contrast to her demeanor just moments ago.
‘…To be this skilled without even being of the same race as Inellia.’
He gave a wry smile and bowed politely.
Allen hoisted the collapsed apprentice butler over his shoulder and left the room.
The white book, which he glimpsed as he was leaving, was, as always, just floating serenely in the air.
As if it had never been opened at all.
“I have no intention of disturbing the Queen of Shadows’ rest… I will take my leave now. Please rest well.”
She gave a small wave as Allen left.
Click-
The door closed, and silence returned. She recalled the recent events and whispered to herself.
“…That’s a steep price for a story.”
Or perhaps, she had paid too generously.
The reason she accepted Allen’s proposal was simple.
Because that little boy, Allen, was skilled enough to handle the cleanup in Gadel’s stead.
…But that was merely the superficial reason. There was another, true reason.
She narrowed her eyes and lay down on the bed.
‘Why did I attack Zaqnir?’
An assassin must be able to control any emotion and wait with long patience for an opening.
She was the queen of such assassins, the ruler of the underworld.
Had she, of all people, really attacked Zaqnir, blinded by a mad thirst for revenge, without thinking things through?
‘It would have been a much better plan to sneak into the city and ambush him.’
If not that, she could have slowly expanded her influence in the underworld, waiting until she recovered her original power before waging a war of factions.
Not joining hands with the likes of Zaqnir’s former family.
That would have been much more like her. To devise such a crude plan after suffering a mere three years of humiliation was not something the Queen of Shadows would normally do.
No one was better at self-assessment than she, so she realized something was off.
Perhaps that was why she had caused such a commotion, only to retreat the moment the Beast King appeared.
‘…There’s something going on.’
But what was the cause?
To find out, she decided to stay by his side and investigate.
She needed to treat her wounds, but… the greater reason was that she needed time to sort out her thoughts.
Ever since she had heard Allen’s story, that faction helping Julius had seemed very strange to her as well.
“Hmph, I hope something interesting comes of this.”
If they were the ones who had manipulated her back then, she would never let them get away with it.
She closed her eyes.
As the deep night flowed on, only the great moon asserted its presence, brightly illuminating the world below.