Chapter 368
Chapter 368
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 368
Chapter Title: Moteron's Grudge (2)
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A day, two days. Things wouldn't start with just this much preparation.
Rokan gathered every scrap of information he could on the pure celestials.
He dug so deep and detailed that he even found out how many spoons were in their homes and what color their underwear was.
And in that process, he remembered something he'd momentarily forgotten.
"Moteron... The Orb of Grudge?"
It was about Moteron himself.
He hadn't investigated it separately since he'd completely forgotten about it, but while looking into the emperor's faction and the opposing faction, the name came up by chance.
To be precise, it wasn't even from investigating the factions directly. Strictly speaking, it popped up out of nowhere while mapping out the pure celestials' power structure.
"Taluba?"
Taluba, the pure celestial who handled all the lectures on the history of the Celestial God.
The guy was in charge of teaching regular celestials about the Celestial God's greatness and uniqueness, as well as the wars against the demon race.
Most pure celestials wouldn't even talk to regular celestials, but this one was oddly fond of it.
More accurately, he enjoyed strutting around in front of regular celestials and basking in their adulation.
A sort of historian with abysmal combat ability, which might explain why he relished it so much.
So what connection did this guy have to Moteron?
Amusingly, most of the content in Taluba's boastful lectures matched what Moteron had taught in the past.
The materials, the lectures—they were just parroting the same stories like a mimic bird, with no personal insights or opinions of his own.
Yet his influence was said to be considerable.
It made sense for someone brainwashing regular celestials, but his influence had grown even larger due to "some trigger."
"And that trigger was Moteron's death?"
[Moteron's Grudge 2][Quest]
Let's resolve the grudge of the celestial archaeologist Moteron, who met an unjust death.
-Success Condition: Investigate celestial archaeologist Moteron's death 0/1
-Success Reward: ???
-Failure Penalty: None (Curse nullified)
Not only had he taken over all of Moteron's positions after his death, but he was receiving full support and wielding even greater influence than Moteron ever had?
It was obviously suspicious just looking at it.
As he eyed the quest window, thinking it reeked of something foul, the quest details updated slightly. It had advanced to the next stage.
"Hmm, should I dig into this?"
But Rokan hesitated.
Since he hadn't sought it out on purpose, was there any need to chase it down?
He was already short on time investigating the emperor's faction and the anti-emperor faction.
Picking up a quest whose reward and linked stages were unknown? It was likely a waste of time.
"...Huh?"
Because of that, Rokan set aside thoughts of Moteron for the moment and dove back into analyzing information when something caught his eye.
On the night Moteron died, traces were found of the emperor's guard moving in secret.
It didn't specify where they'd gone, but the timing subtly matched when Moteron was attacked by assailants and killed.
On top of that, it was strange that Moteron, who lived in the heart of the city, had died without so much as a chirp from a bird.
Wasn't Moteron himself a fairly powerful knight? For someone like that to die without resisting or even alerting anyone opened up several hypotheses.
Either a more powerful entity had intervened, or information had been manipulated to conceal it and the area controlled.
"Or maybe both."
That piqued Rokan's interest.
If the emperor's guard had mobilized personally to assassinate him, then whatever Moteron held must have threatened them on a serious level.
Finding out what that was would surely help stir up trouble.
Sure, possessing it might put him in the same boat as Moteron—facing murder and blackmail—but when had the celestials not done that to him?
Rokan didn't care one bit.
For now, he decided to confirm what Moteron had been holding.
"Good work."
"Ahem."
Rokan immediately headed to where Taluba worked.
An educational institution for regular celestials. There, Taluba reigned almost like a king.
It wasn't even solely for celestial history, yet he wielded unchecked power, ignoring greetings from most regular celestials while groping and toying with the prettier ones to satisfy his urges.
The sight was so pathetic that Rokan considered just grabbing him and beating him senseless, but he held back for now. The secret was likely at his home.
"Stealth."
Rokan endured and waited, then tailed Taluba as he headed home.
Taluba and his escorts were decently leveled, so there was a risk of detection, but high-level stealth gear was plentiful in the celestial realms.
He swapped one accessory for "Shadow Lord's Dignity" and melted into the shadows.
'He's loaded.'
A mansion like this in the dead center of the capital? For a historian under level 400, it felt excessively lavish.
As he passed corridors, expensive statues and paintings appeared, confirming some shady deal had padded his wealth.
What secret had brought him such riches?
Celestial God history was something any priest could know and teach, so there had to be something extra hidden.
'Which one is it...'
Slipping inside the mansion amid these thoughts, Rokan scanned the surroundings to uncover the hidden secret. Bedroom, kitchen, storeroom, study.
'As expected, secret passages are always...'
Among them, he paid special attention to the study.
In stories like this, studies often had secret doors triggered by pulling or pushing a book.
'Damn, so many.'
Entering the study, he saw hundreds of books, fitting for a historian.
The problem was not knowing if any linked to Moteron's death—or even if a secret space existed.
But what could he do? He had to search.
'Hm?'
Flipping through shelves at random, Rokan spotted traces of Moteron.
Books with his name on them.
Most of the books Taluba owned had originally belonged to Moteron.
That confirmed the connection between them.
'Will this wrap up tonight?'
Quickly scanning shelves, Rokan started feeling annoyed.
How long would it take to check all these?
Even if he did, he might not find anything. You wouldn't leave something that important just anywhere on a shelf, right?
Sure, sometimes people hid key items among similar ones to avoid suspicion, but from what he'd observed, Taluba wasn't that meticulous.
'Ah.'
Then, he suddenly remembered something he'd forgotten.
He didn't need to go through all this hassle from the start.
Spin.
"Damn. Not here?"
The Compass of Desire. Clutching it and yearning for a clue to Moteron's death, the needle pointed somewhere.
Not the study, at least.
'Hmm...'
Pinpointing with the Compass of Desire, which only showed direction, was tricky. Whether on the first or second floor, if it was in the same spot, it just spun in place, making it hard to confirm.
Plus, if it required a secret passage, it would spin idly even at the final target's location.
'What if...'
But this case felt off. A target that should be fixed in one spot kept moving.
At first, he thought it shifted because he was moving, but even standing still, the direction changed sporadically, alerting Rokan to the anomaly.
Was the clue to Moteron's death alive or something?
'...Yeah, it is?'
Tilting his head and keeping mobile, Rokan watched the compass whip around and became certain.
The moment it moved, Taluba had brushed past him.
Meaning the guy either carried the clue or was the clue himself.
"This makes it simpler."
Whoosh.
In that instant, thick chains shot from Rokan.
Before Taluba could react, they wrapped his body and mouth, subduing him, then flung him into a room like discarded trash.
"Nightmare."
With his mouth sealed, he couldn't call for help. But releasing him to search would let him scream bloody murder.
A guy barely shy of level 400 wouldn't dream of escaping or beating Rokan on his own—he'd desperately seek rescue.
So Rokan used another method.
Nightmare's illusions.
As the nightmare and hallucinations enveloped him, his eyes rolled back white and his mouth gaped wide.
At over level 400, Nightmare was irresistible.
Clank.
Only then did Rokan release the chains.
He had no hobby of ogling a man's body, but he had no choice—he rummaged through the dazed guy's clothes.
"Hmm, this?"
From clothes to rings, necklaces, and other accessories. He stripped everything, plus other possessions.
Then he picked up the most suspicious item.
[Ring of Ancient Glyphs][Unique]
An unknown ring engraved with ancient glyphs.
-???
Suspicious as hell, right?
A guy who loved flashy gear wearing equipment with nothing but question marks?
Especially when all his other items were for self-defense. Laughable.
"Eek! It wasn't me! I didn't kill him! I just reported it... No, it was your fault! You shouldn't have found out... So it's your fault!"
Suddenly, Taluba shrieked. In the midst of his nightmarish visions, terror gripped him, and he began defending himself.
Starting with pleas, then blaming the other party.
Rokan didn't know the exact nightmare, but he could guess.
Something tied to Moteron's death.
So he perked up his ears, committing every word to memory.
He didn't know if this ring was a key, but every utterance was a hint.
"Lord Taluba!"
Then, guards burst through the door. Startled by his sudden yell, they'd rushed over.
"N-No, not there!"
"...Sleeping here?"
Snore, puff!
But what they found was Taluba slumped over, seemingly asleep in contentment.
At that moment, Rokan, who had slipped out using stealth, was racing somewhere.
The new direction pointed by the Compass of Desire.
There, a secret accessible only with this seal awaited.