Chapter 81
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 81
Chapter Title: Brika
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Brika
Hmm, so the thieves guild is being replaced
A deep voice flowed from Marquis Lox, who was reading a document with his chin propped on his hand at an antique desk.
It seemed he had finished all his backlogged work, as his desk, unlike before, was neatly organized with only a few documents on it.
Its an unwritten rule not to meddle in the underworld, but this change of guard is happening too quickly
Knock, knock.
As Marquis Lox gently stroked his beard in thought, a knock came from outside.
Mm.
From the sound of the knock alone, the Marquis knew it was his first butler, Philo.
Come in.
I apologize for the interruption, Your Lordship.
As soon as the Marquiss reply was heard, First Butler Philo opened the door, entered, and bowed respectfully.
Its fine. What brings you here at this hour?
We have visitors from the royal palace.
From the palace? They wouldnt be looking for me at a time like this. It must be because of that boy, Yuren.
That is correct. Its just that
Haha. Isnt our first son just incredible?
At Philos words, the Marquiss face lit up as if he had expected it.
He is. However
To be called a Saint in the Holy Nation He may be my son, but hes truly an amazing kid. Hes already left my nest and begun to soar through the heavens.
Marquis Lox already knew that Yuren had defeated a death knight and a demonic beast in the Holy Nation, purified the land, and was being called a Saint.
Your Lordship, right now
At first, I thought someone was playing a prank.
When Marquis Lox heard that Yuren, who had gone to forge a weapon, had suddenly earned the title of Saint, he stood frozen in place for several minutes with a dumbfounded expression.
In the drawing room
It seems that boy Yuren will now take care of what needs to be done on his own. Dont you think? I suppose I could send him out to gain more experience. Back in my day
Haa
Philo knew that once Marquis Lox started boasting about Yuren, there was no end to it. Even though his own words had been cut off for the fourth time, there was something he had to tell the Marquis.
Your Lordship! The guests are waiting!
Hm? Ah, right. Are they in the drawing room?
Yes. They are waiting in the drawing room. And
Ill find out when I get there. Theyre probably here to bestow a reward for his diplomatic efforts. Lets go.
Thinking he shouldnt keep the guests waiting too long, Marquis Lox cut Philo off once more and rose from his seat.
P-Please wait a moment, Your Lordship.
Hm?
The people in the drawing room are not just from our kingdom.
What do you mean by that?
A diplomat from the Holy Nation is with them.
Philo took a breath and spoke again.
Really? A diplomat? Why?
It seems they have come looking for Lord Yuren.
A diplomat has come all this way for Yuren This feels quite
Your Lordship!
Philo called out strongly to the Marquis, knowing that more time would be wasted if he started boasting about Yuren again.
Thats not all. The person from the royal palace is Viscount Kairio, His Majesty the Kings third aide.
Kairio?
The King sending an aide was no small matter. It meant the issue was being treated as important.
Why are you telling me this only now?
My apologies.
Philo couldnt bring himself to say, Because you were talking too much, Your Lordship.
From what I overheard of their conversation, it seems there was an order from His Majesty to bring the Grand Prince to the royal palace.
That would make sense. Thats why he would send Kairio. A direct summons from His Majesty How many years has it been
Marquis Lox put on his coat and immediately left his office.
Where in the world is that boy and what is he doing! If hes done with his business, he should have come home already!
Name: Brika
Attributes: Sword Guard (), Righteous Sword lv2, Center of Gravity Utilization lv1, Precise Movement lv2, Steel Stamina lv2, Aura Adaptation lv2, Aura Application lv2
Favorability: 39 (Favorable)
Current Mood: Feeling great relief and gladness.
This was the guy?
There was a considerable difference from the novels description, so I hadnt recognized him, but the Creators Eye made it clear who this man was.
This man wasnt the Mad Dog of Lox, but Brika, the guardian with the Sword Guard attribute who, in the original story, protected the protagonist to the very end, even as he himself was dying.
But why does he have a huge scar on his face, and why cant I feel any aura?
When he meets the protagonist a few years later, Brika has no facial scar and freely wields a powerful and delicate aura, but right now, I couldnt sense any aura from him at all.
It seems he hasnt yet experienced the incident hes supposed to go through.
The most curious thing was that this guy Id never met was calling me Big Brother, and his favorability was excessively high.
Big Brother?
Thank you for saving me! Big Brother!
Brika bowed his head crudely in greeting. It was a typical underworld gesture.
Why are you calling me Big Brother?
Ah, my apologies for the late introduction! My name is Brika. Im a friend of Peru, who is your subordinate, Big Brother!
Peru?
Thats right.
I never expected to hear Perus name here.
My friends brother is my brother. Besides, youre the one who will become the master of this Lox territory, arent you? Among ourselves, we were already calling you Big Brother.
Brika was looking at me with innocent eyes that contrasted with his rough appearance. His honest eyes, at least, were the same as in the original story.
Why were these guys targeting you?
The reason I subdued these masked men was that I recognized their movements and was certain they were Beils wolves, the same ones who came to Mount Pimera.
These bastards ambushed our guild. In the sudden attack, the guild master, vice master, and most of the mid-level managers were killed, and the guild members who wouldnt obey were massacred. When I refused to work under them, they tried to kill me too.
Guild?
I belong to the Blue Sharks, an information guild based in Lox. As I just said, with most of the executives dead, I, who was in charge of the action team, have become the master of the Blue Sharks. Big Brother.
Hearing Brikas words, I looked at the paralyzed wolves.
Hes getting blatant now.
I realized what was happening in the marquisate. Beil was trying to swallow up the information guilds in the Lox domain to obtain information directly.
It wasn't a bad method; the masters of underworld guilds changed often, so no one would suspect a thing.
If only I hadnt found out.
Then what about your guild members now?
The surviving members went under them, and only the guys who were directly under me are left. If you hadnt helped me just now, Big Brother, I would have been killed too, and the Blue Sharks really would have become shark food.
Brika! Are you okay?
As I was talking with Brika, an urgent voice called out from behind me. It was a familiar, welcome voice.
Huk!
When I turned my head, I saw Peru, whom I hadnt seen in a while. He was so startled to see me that he fell on his butt.
G-G-Grand Prince!
Peru. Its been a while.
How on earth are you here?
Peru! Big Brother saved me!
You crazy bastard! You got a death wish? Who the hell are you calling Big Brother!
Keok!
Peru instantly rushed at Brika, grabbed him by the collar, and shook him like a wet rag.
Grand Prince, this idiot hit his head when he was young, so hes a little slow. No, hes extremely slow. Please forgive him!
Peru forced Brika to his knees, then knelt himself, pressing his head to the ground and begging.
Hey, you called him Big Brother too when we were drinking. You said you liked how he took care of you like a real brother!
You insane colt! If you dont want to die, please just shut up!
Peru glared at Brika, his face on the verge of tears. In contrast, Brika had a calm expression. Seeing that, I knew he was indeed the guardian Brika.
Hahaha!
Bbaek!
Watching their little skit, I couldnt help but laugh despite the serious situation. Bbaekbbaegi, finding it funny too, flapped his wings.
Grand Prince?
Its fine. It would be a problem if there were many eyes, but right now, it doesnt matter.
G-Grand Prince.
Did you come to help Brika?
Y-Yes. I heard he was in danger
Youre good friends. Is everything alright at home?
There is something wrong. Its chaos over there right now. I managed to get out because of it, though
Chaos?
I couldnt recall causing any trouble, so why would there be chaos?
His Majesty the Kings aide and a diplomat from the Holy Nation are at the estate right now. They said they came to take you to the royal palace, Grand Prince.
Is that so?
It seemed the messenger from the Holy Nation had arrived at the palace and shared my story. Hearing it, the King must have ordered them to bring me.
Good thing I didnt go home. I wouldnt have been able to get away for a while if I had.
Pardon?
Hearing my words, Peru tilted his head with a blank expression.
B-But His Majesty is summoning you
I didnt hear anything.
Huk!
Peru stared at me with a dazed look, as if he wanted to measure the size of my nerve.
Anyway, you two are friends?
Yes, Big Brother. We grew up together since we were kids. We even shared a room.
Then you were both from that family
Yes. We were both raised by the Livingtine family. I was raised as a poison master, and he was raised as a swordsman, Peru said with a bitter expression.
After Peru left the Livingtine family, I didnt want to live the way they wanted, so I ran away two years ago. I got this scar on my face and lost my aura because of it, but I have no regrets. Haha.
Brika said, stroking the long scar on his face. It seemed that was the reason he couldnt use his aura and had a scar on his face.
As expected, Brika must go through some incident before meeting the protagonist to heal his facial scar and recover his aura.
Then how did you two meet again?
We met when Peru was buying poison at the Blue Sharks. He recognized me right away.
Brika approached Peru and slung an arm around his shoulder.
It seemed Brika waited until Peru had left before escaping so as not to cause him any harm. This guy was indeed a man I could trust.
Brika.
Yes!
Tell me everything you know about these guys.
Honestly, we were ambushed so suddenly that we havent figured out much. Except that they gather once a day at a random location to exchange information
Exchange information! Tell me more about that.
A little after midnight, they pick a spot and exchange information.
Thats the best information I could ask for.
I could get the location by interrogating the paralyzed men at my feet.
Unlike the clueless grunts, the place where the wolves gathered would also have their squad leader, who took orders directly from Beil.
This presented me with a choice.
First, I could pretend I knew nothing, go home, enter the royal palace, and deal with Beil much later.
Second, I could avoid going home, capture the wolf squad leader, and extract information from him instead.
Theres not even a choice to be made.
Beil would only get more blatant. If things went wrong, the people around me might get hurt by him.
Brika.
Yes!
Tonight, lets strike the bastards who touched you. Ill help.
Thank you! Big Brother!
With this, I felt I could make the guardian Brika one of my people. There were plenty of ways to fix his inability to use aura.
Beil, I need to deal with this quickly.
It was time to see this through to the end.
On a night so dark it swallowed even the shadows.
Shushushuk.
In an abandoned lot on the west side of the Lox marquisate, about thirty figures cloaked entirely in black appeared like ghosts.
Thud.
Why are three missing?
One of them, a squad leader with a small character embroidered on his mask, stepped into the center and spoke.
They were the ones sent to catch the Mad Dog.
Dont tell me they were taken down by him? By a guy who cant even use aura?
We confirmed that he is still alive. It seems he has an accomplice.
Starting tomorrow, focus all our efforts on eliminating those who havent come under our control.
Understood.
At the squad leaders words, everyone answered in unison as if rehearsed.
Report.
Viscount Kairio has appeared at the Lox estate.
Yuren Lox was not among those who used the Magic Towers warp.
Yuren Lox was not among those who used the eastern entrance.
Yuren Loxs butler has left the Lox estate.
Yuren Loxs butler? Where did he go?
He entered the cathedral.
The cathedral? Why the cathedral
Just as the leader was about to ask another question, he felt something pierce his thigh.
Huh?
Without a sound, without a flash of light, a jet-black dagger was suddenly embedded in the wolf leaders thigh.
Ah!
W-What!
Damn it!
It wasnt just the wolf leader; daggers were stuck in various parts of all the wolves bodies.
This is impossib
As he tried to speak, he felt his tongue refuse to move. Not just his tongue, but his entire body, except for his eyes, was unresponsive.
Thud.
Thud.
As he listened to the sound of his subordinates collapsing like logs and was consumed by fear, a handsome man with neatly swept-back black hair appeared before his eyes like a painting.
I heard you were looking for me?
The man he had so desperately sought, Yuren Lox, was right in front of him, but he could do nothing.
I have a few questions for you. Youre going to answer them, arent you?
Gggh!
Hearing Yurens words, the wolf leaders eyes trembled uncontrollably, like a broken guitar string.