Chapter 63
Chapter 63
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 63
Chapter Title: Everyone's Secrets - 2
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There’s a problem with my plan.
Rampage.
Even when I touched the Withering Jewel hidden in the Martial King’s disguise, the jewel had rampaged.
The black sun that rose before my regression was probably the result of the Jewel of Corruption rampaging as well.
Trail spoke in an incredulous tone.
[What kind of hero covets a demon king’s core every time he sees one? Like you said, what if it rampages again like with the Withering Jewel?]
‘I’m thinking of asking Neril to extract it. Carefully, without letting it rampage.’
[...]
‘Of course, no one would stay still if you said you were going to pluck out their eyeball, so I’ll have to knock Patrick out just enough.’
Trail said,
[That “just enough” knockout you’re talking about.]
‘Yeah.’
[Doesn’t that count as harm?]
‘...?’
[You just heard what Patrick said. Even framing him counts as harm in his mind. If verbal attacks are like that, I wonder what knocking him out would do.]
For a moment, I slightly parted my lips.
He was right.
Trail had rarely pointed out something I’d missed.
[Why “rarely”?]
‘It makes sense. Thanks, Trail.’
[I said, why “rarely”?]
If I harm Patrick, Dame turns into a demon beast.
That guy’s hands had already reached former Alcahad captains, nobles, guards, merchants, and more.
I sank deep into thought.
‘What should I do?’
That was when Dame spoke up.
“What do you want from me?”
“Step down.”
“What?”
“Like the former Alcahad captain, you retire too.”
“...”
“You’re too old to be my partner, and your personality’s rotten. Appoint the person I designate as captain of the Knights of Light. I’ll join hands with him.”
Dame let out a scoff.
“Not join hands, but blackmail him into demonization, right? Just like you’re doing to me now.”
“No. I don’t do that kind of thing.”
“You expect me to believe...”
“I couldn’t bear to carve something hideous like a demon beast into that beautiful body of yours.”
Dame froze in place.
A vein throbbed on my forehead too.
Patrick smirked and nodded.
“Yeah. The successor I want is Jenia Side.”
“You bastard.”
“No, honestly, Jenia’s quite the beauty, isn’t she? Right, old man?”
“I’ll kill you!”
“Kill me, and you become a demon beast right away. And Jenia will have no choice but to obey me for the same reason.”
“...”
“She seemed like the filial type. Uhahaha!”
He let out a grotesque roar that was neither shout nor laugh.
Dame ground his teeth as if they might shatter, but he didn’t dare charge at him.
Drop.
With that, the screen cut off.
After watching the inauguration ceremony and returning to the inn, I gathered the party members and had them sit.
I explained everything I’d seen through the Eye of Omniscience in detail.
At first, they listened indifferently, but their postures gradually shifted.
By the end, none of them could lean back against their chair rests.
“The Jewel of Corruption, Captain Patrick, and even Dame tangled up in this.”
Neril pressed her forehead.
I said cautiously,
“You must be heartbroken.”
“Heartbroken? Why would I be?”
“Huh? Because the grandson of Krotz, someone you were connected to, ended up like that.”
“What are you talking about? I have no idea.”
She tilted her head, then soon made a face like she’d realized something.
A rare mischievous smile crept onto Neril’s lips.
“Aren’t you misunderstanding something?”
“Huh?”
“Hey. Krotz was just a passing acquaintance. Did you think we were soulmates or something?”
“...”
“The fact that his grandson ‘fell’ as literally as it gets is surprising, but that’s it. Don’t make needless assumptions.”
For some reason, I felt my mood lighten.
Offense and Adwin whispered.
“Maide hyung and Neril noona. They’re kinda like that, huh.”
“Yeah. Definitely giving off that vibe.”
“I hope they get even more like that soon.”
“Well, as for me, whether they’re like that or this, I don’t care.”
Snap.
Neril flicked her finger.
A simple wind spell shot like an arrow and lodged between the two.
Boom.
The spell punched a hole through the sturdy wooden chair.
“Brats. If you have something to say, just say it.”
“Uh... if that had hit our heads, we’d be dead, right?”
“Yeah. You would.”
“Sorry. We won’t mess around anymore.”
“Much better.”
Neril shot Offense a look as if telling him to speak.
He hemmed and hawed, then turned the topic to me.
“Anyway, extracting that eye ends it, right?”
“Yeah. Neril, you’ll have to work hard.”
Neril sighed.
“If it ends with just hard work, I’ll count myself lucky. I’ve never handled a Jewel of Corruption before.”
“They’re both from demon kings anyway, so the principles should be similar to the Withering Jewel.”
“I’ll have to see. Anyway, no point complaining—I’ll do my best.”
I nodded.
Then, clasping my hands together, I continued seriously.
“Whether extraction is possible is important, but there’s one more thing we need to address.”
“Yeah?”
“Like I said, harming Patrick’s body will turn all the hostages he’s half-corrupted into demon beasts. And Dame’s one of them.”
Everyone who understood paled.
Especially Neril, who bit her lip slightly and said,
“This isn’t something we can decide among ourselves.”
Offense replied.
“I agree. Even aside from Dame, with all these capital elites as hostages, we can’t just kidnap and extract recklessly.”
“Hmm.”
“How about contacting Pheasant Lady first?”
Neril spoke up.
“I’ll do it.”
“Yeah. For now, don’t mention Dame—just ask her to come over.”
“Got it. But...”
She tilted her head and asked,
“Even if everything goes well, is it really okay for me to just extract it?”
“What do you mean? It’s not okay—it’s necessary.”
“You said the black sun is a phenomenon that happens when the Jewel of Corruption rampages.”
“Yeah. My guess.”
“Then if I extract it successfully, the black sun won’t rise. Is that okay?”
I asked back, not understanding.
“Okay how?”
“Without the black sun, how will you boost your fame?”
“...”
Ah.
I hadn’t thought of that.
Time rewound to during the inauguration ceremony.
Jenia sat in her father’s office.
She’d heard Dame hadn’t come to work yet.
That struck her as odd.
‘Has Father ever been late to work, even once?’
Never, she swore.
As she pondered further, the door clicked open.
“Jenia.”
“Father!”
Jenia’s face lit up with instinctive joy.
It was purely reflexive.
Even knowing her father was behind massive corruption, she couldn’t help it.
Because he was her father. Her only family.
‘Oops. That’s not why I came.’
She hurriedly schooled her expression and spoke.
“Wasn’t there the Alcahad captain inauguration today? No matter how bad your relationship, shouldn’t you have attended...?”
Dame’s face hardened for a moment, but he replied calmly.
“I sent Abel.”
“Oh. Well, Sir Abel would satisfy them. He’s your adjutant.”
Jenia was fairly close to Abel too.
His combat prowess was lacking, but he had great character, brains, and was reliable.
She got to the point.
“There’s something I want to ask.”
“You. Straight to business before I even sit?”
“...Sorry.”
Dame walked slowly to his chair and sat.
He thought he’d acted well enough.
But Jenia’s face hardened instantly as she asked,
“Are you unwell?”
“...Why do you say that?”
“You limped a bit just now.”
“Nonsense. You must’ve seen wrong.”
Unconsciously, Dame rubbed his right knee.
Jenia wanted to press, but remembered the man before her was captain of the Knights of Light.
Someone like him wouldn’t suffer without seeking a priest’s aid.
‘Did I really see wrong?’
Then Dame said,
“But what brings you here unannounced?”
“Like I said, I have something to ask.”
“Out with it.”
“You made a backroom deal with Ms. Neril, right?”
At the blunt question, Dame’s mouth fell open.
Thump thump.
His heart raced madly.
‘Neril!’
How could she spill everything about ‘that item’ to his daughter after giving it up?
Wasn’t that item more precious than her life to Neril?
“J-Jenia.”
“Yes. I can tell just from that look.”
Jenia bowed her head with a defeated expression.
Dame fidgeted, trying to speak.
“Listen, Jenia.”
“Father. Please step down from captain.”
“...What?”
“I don’t know what to do about you right now. Report you? Arrest you? I’m truly conflicted.”
“...”
“Step down until I resolve this. Delegate to Sir Abel temporarily.”
Jenia’s eyes held steady.
At least on the surface.
But Dame was her father. He could see.
‘You’re crying.’
Jenia’s eyes trembled when she held back pain or sadness.
During harsh knight training, when Ophelia Mace went missing—always.
And now, worse than ever.
Dame slowly opened his mouth.
“...You know everything, then?”
“Yes.”
“From Neril?”
“No. I figured it out myself. Through the mage Gert I dispatched.”
Dame saw through her lie easily.
‘You want to protect Neril’s weakness from being burned.’
To think God’s proxy and the Witch of Atrocities had grown that close.
Dame felt a decade older as he turned toward the window.
“That Maide seems to lead quite well.”
“Huh? Why bring him up?”
“I never dreamed you and Neril would get along—not even in my dreams. That’s why I let you travel with her, feeling safe.”
“...”
“But Maide has smoothly united you two, who should be polar opposites. Not ordinary leadership.”
Even now, Jenia marveled at her subtle uplift in mood.
“Yes. He’s an excellent man.”
“Sigh. Jenia. The reason I made the backroom deal...”
“Sorry. I might look calm, but inside I’m quite agitated. I don’t want to hear excuses.”
“...”
“I’ll say it again. Even temporarily, until I finish deliberating. Step down from captain.”
To Dame’s surprise, his burden lightened at his daughter’s words.
Like suddenly setting down decades of weight from that seat.
‘Was it this easy?’
No. It shouldn’t be.
If anyone else had said it, he’d have desperately denied and excused.
But before his daughter, he could relax a bit more.
“Alright. I’ll do that...”
It was then.
Lightning struck Dame’s mind.
‘That bastard. Patrick Benjamin!’
Just yesterday, Patrick had demanded he step down.
And appoint Jenia as captain.
He had no intention of obeying, but if he truly retired, Patrick would approach Jenia.
‘Threaten her to take the seat her father vacated, or Dame dies!’
No.
He wouldn’t allow it.
He had to cling to this position until he dealt with Patrick.
Voicing retirement now would signal ‘Jenia is in the capital.’
The bastard would hunt her down and blackmail her.
Dame gritted his teeth and replied.
“I can’t do that, Jenia.”
“Father?”
“This isn’t greed for the seat. Me stepping down now would harm you. Believe me on that.”
“...”
Jenia gazed quietly at Dame.
Silence flowed for a moment.
“Help me believe you.”
“How?”
“You’re holding Ms. Neril’s weakness, right? Oh, and this isn’t from her—I figured...”
“Yes. I am.”
“...What is it? And where?”
Dame sighed.
“You want to return it? To Neril.”
“Yes.”
“Then the empire loses its tool to control the Witch of Atrocities.”
“Father. The Witch of Atrocities isn’t someone the empire can or needs to control. She’s not a bad person!”
“Pfft.”
A sneer crossed Dame’s lips for the first time.
As Jenia’s face twisted, he continued.
“You’d say that without knowing her past.”
“Huh? What...”
“No matter. It’s all out anyway—weakness doesn’t matter. But I can’t return it.”
“Father!”
“Listen. It’s not that I don’t want to—it’s that I can’t. The weakness is in the imperial palace underground.”
Jenia instantly understood.
Imperial palace underground.
A secret vault accessible only to royalty.
It housed all manner of bizarre artifacts, including the legendary ultra-wide-range scanning magic circle developed by Beyond Enerica.
“No magic or sorcery works in the imperial underground. To open its doors requires the emperor’s permission.”
“You couldn’t burn it anyway, right?”
“Yes. I reported it to His Majesty immediately. He didn’t touch it, just stored it there. I lied to Neril, of course. No apologies.”
Jenia pondered briefly before asking.
“...So what exactly is this weakness?”
“That.”
“No.”
Jenia waved her hands hurriedly.
“This isn’t something I should hear from you. When the time comes, Ms. Neril will tell me.”
“You’ve really grown close.”
“One more thing.”
She hardened her expression.
“Ophelia went missing, and you pinned it on Neril. Could Father have... Ophelia...”