Chapter 88
Chapter 88
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 88
Chapter Title: Aftermath and a New Mission
-----------------------------------------------------------------
While Aul was drooling again.
The members of the Union and Albre bound all the members of the Pobel family, who had lost their will to fight.
The second son of the Morris family, who resisted to the end, lost his life to Adrian’s sword.
Even after the situation was resolved, the Sphere of the Void that Loan had manifested still loomed over the dueling grounds, asserting its presence.
The blood that had poured from Morris’s body transformed into a crimson mist, making the barrier look even more ominous.
Loan gave a slight nod to the two commanders and his seniors, who had respectfully refrained from speaking to him until then.
As he stepped down from the dueling grounds, Adrian mouthed a question.
"You really caught him?"
His eyes were wide with surprise.
He, too, had realized that Morris and Franco were the same person.
The commander of Libertha, the one he had let slip away.
When Loan had expressed his desire to catch the man, Adrian had found it rather endearing, never imagining it would actually come to this.
"Continue."
Muttering one more word, Adrian dismissed everyone back to the mansion, leaving only himself, Magda, and a few others in the dueling grounds.
The conversation to follow would be highly confidential.
Adrian knew exactly what Loan was about to do.
"Aul?"
Aul called to Loan, as if impatient. Loan lifted Aul into his palm.
Now, it was time for the two—no, the three—of them again.
"I know you want to eat. But first, I need to get some information from this guy. Can you eat after that?"
"Aul!"
The reply seemed to be that it was fine, but to do so, it would first need to digest the lump of mana it had been storing in its stomach.
"Alright. Digest all you want."
Loan readily gave his permission.
The Union’s powerhouses, who had taken control of an entire city, were gathered once more. There was no longer any need to conserve strength.
*Buuurp—*
After a somewhat hollow-sounding burp, Aul shook its head feathers rapidly and spoke.
"Aul!"
"Ah… is something bothering you?"
Aul couldn’t lunge at Morris, who was bound by mana.
With no other choice, Loan dispelled the Sphere of the Void, and Aul, as if it had been waiting, threw itself at the man.
Its body spread wide like a flying squirrel before landing—*splat*—on the man's head.
Just as it had in Olen, its drooping flesh completely covered Morris’s face, leaving only the area around his mouth barely visible.
Morris, who hadn't moved an inch, twitched for a moment when the magical bindings were released, but he immediately froze as if paralyzed.
It was proof that Aul’s ability worked, whether the opponent was human or demon.
And then, without Loan even having to ask, the man’s lips began to move.
"Stolas… you damn owl… traitor… shame of the demon world…"
Aul’s real name was Stolas.
Calling it Stolly must have been a shortened version of that.
Loan interjected a question into the man’s muttering.
"Are you the one who did that to Sophie? You were called Biple. Is that short for your real name?"
"Ridiculous… a human… calling me that… why would I tell you my true name…"
He seemed to be resisting with his own will.
This was slightly different from the mayor of Olen. It appeared there was some variance in the level of control depending on the possessed person’s mana or status.
Loan subtly wrapped the man's body with Convection and asked again.
"I'll ask again. What is your real name? Answer before I twist you completely."
"Bifrons…"
The answer came immediately. It seemed even demons didn't like pain.
"Bifrons. Did you do that to Sophie?"
"I… don't have… such power… the doll… was her…"
"A doll? Are you talking about the puppeteer?"
"Ah… Aaargh…"
Suddenly, Marquis Morris’s body trembled violently.
His head was fixed in place, but the rest of his body shook bizarrely and intensely, a clear sign of resistance.
Just in case, Loan changed the question.
"Where is my sword that was stuck in your eye?"
The trembling stopped in an instant, and the man answered.
"Pobel… main estate…"
"Why did you switch bodies from Franco to Marquis Morris?"
"Franco… was too greedy… had nothing… a fool dreaming of being king… this one is different… pure inquiry… compatible with me…"
"Inquiry? For what purpose?"
The common trait between Franco and Morris was their coveting of other families' secret arts and techniques.
But the question of whether it was ‘merely to become stronger’ had always lingered.
And now, knowing the entity behind it was a demon, it made even less sense.
Loan pressed further.
"I doubt you're also craving power. What's your real objective?"
"Le Tell… them… leaving it to them… too slow…"
Le Tell. The name he had thought of the moment he heard the word ‘doll.’
Could they be aiming for the advent of a named demon? The one Commander Magda had mentioned.
Loan glanced sideways.
Commander Magda, who was seeing Aul for the first time and had just witnessed Loan’s method of extracting the truth, gave a slight nod.
He took it as a signal to continue.
"Are you talking about summoning demons into the mortal world? How do you do it?"
"Somewhere… contained in the secret arts… a gate…"
"A gate? Do you mean a gate connecting the demon world and the mortal world?"
"A passage… can be… key…"
Once again, the man's body shuddered, and his words became intermittent. Blood began to trickle from the corner of his mouth.
It was unclear whether his will to resist remained or if an external force was at play.
Aul's body, which covered the man's face, instantly shrank.
If this continued, he would never get another answer from the man's lips.
Just a little more before that happened.
"Did you come from a stone too? What is your role?"
"7… errand…"
Morris—no, Bifrons—could not continue.
His head, which had been held up, dropped forward with a thud.
The black mana that had supported Morris’s shell vanished completely from within his body, with only a small amount remaining in his head.
For a human, it was death. For the demon Bifrons, only a faint trace of its spirit remained.
"Aul!"
Aul, who had been covering Bifrons’s head, had returned to its usual form and was now hopping up and down on the man's head.
It was its way of saying the job was done, so let it eat.
Loan turned his head toward the two commanders.
"The interrogation is over."
Adrian replied.
"Right. Let's dispose of it."
Perhaps he was trying to lessen the political burden the Runner would have to bear.
In that instant, Adrian’s figure flickered.
*Swish—*
In a single, clean sword strike too fast to follow, Marquis Morris’s head fell to the floor with a thud.
As Adrian casually pushed up his lensless glasses, Aul, as if on cue, opened its beak wide and shoved the head into its mouth.
Magda covered her own mouth with one hand, her expression a mixture of awe and horror.
And so, the House of Morris was extinguished.
* * *
While the Albre estate was busy with the cleanup after the duel, Loan refocused on his original mission.
The initial mission he and Lucas had received was to check on the status of the two missing Runners, Sophie and the other.
They had already achieved more than that, but the whereabouts of the other two were still unknown.
Loan had no intention of pawning off his responsibilities to others.
"That person, that person, and that person."
Just as he had in Olen, he singled out those with tainted mana.
Though curious, no one asked Loan how he did it. That was the way of the Union.
The identified individuals were interrogated by seniors from the Faith and Honor Divisions, from whom they obtained information about the missing Runners.
Sienna reported to Adrian.
"It seems they're being held captive at the Pobel main estate, but they're still alive. We will rescue them immediately."
Sienna and the other seniors from the Faith Division moved out first.
"Loan, I'll go rescue your Sheville too."
"I'm sorry, senior."
Loan bowed his head, and Sienna was pleased that her joke had landed.
"Good job. Both of you."
She patted both Loan's and Lucas's heads at once before leaving the Albre estate.
Lucas, his face bright red, watched Sienna’s departing figure for a moment before turning his gaze back to Sophie.
Lying on the bed, she had yet to awaken. Without a medium, even Loan’s ability couldn't purify her.
"We should head back to headquarters first. This child needs the attention of the Stability Division as soon as possible."
Magda said as she stroked Sophie’s face.
Considering she had come in person to rescue the missing Oz, she was quite a warm-hearted person.
"Then, may I return as well?"
Lucas's question was directed at both Adrian and Magda.
Though they usually bickered, he seemed genuinely worried about Sophie.
Adrian looked at Loan without answering.
"What about you?"
"…"
Loan was lost in thought for a moment, and everyone waited for him.
After a short while, Loan answered.
"If the Commander permits, I would like to stay in Versa a little longer."
He didn't state his reason, but Adrian nodded readily.
"Alright. You've been through a lot, and the mission was a success, so it's good to get some rest. Whether you return to the Union or stay in Versa is up to you. I'll contact you separately about when to return to the unit. At your age, rest is important too."
After Loan asked them to take good care of Sophie, the members of the Honor Division and Lucas left the estate. Loan remained in the room alone with Adrian.
Adrian asked him casually.
"I told you to rest, but you don't seem like the type to sit still. Is there somewhere you want to go? Or someone you want to meet?"
It was a loaded question, likely with the puppeteer in mind.
But Loan’s answer was different from what Adrian expected.
"I don't know yet. To be honest, I wanted to stay because I need some time to think."
In a somewhat deflated tone, Adrian continued.
"You don't look too happy for what you've accomplished today."
"No. I thought I could have gotten… a little more."
All he had gained was Aul’s and the demon's true names.
And a few conjectures.
Adrian pushed his light glasses up with his palm and said nonchalantly.
"So modest. What you got is more than enough."
"No, it's not."
"Look at this kid… The commander is telling you it is."
"…"
In truth, Adrian highly valued the information Loan and Aul had obtained.
It had provided a completely new perspective on demons.
Unsurprisingly, it was the most critical news reported to the Administration Bureau this year.
After reminding Loan of this fact, Adrian added.
"And you basically caught the commander of Libertha. Do you have any idea if that's even possible for a Runner? You need to hold your head high and be proud. It makes me look good too."
With Bifrons, its power base, gone, Libertha would no longer be a threat. It could now be considered completely annihilated.
But Loan placed little importance on defeating Morris, his only concern being the whereabouts of his one lost Sheville.
He wasn't trying to be humble, nor was he trying to be needlessly prideful.
Today was simply a day when, through scant information, he had gained a clearer picture of the chain of phenomena, events, and predictions—
Aul, the Stone of Goetia, demons, Le Tell, the puppeteer's intervention, the world's subversion, five years from now, the deaths of those around him, the perfectly dark entity, his own death, and the end of the world.
A secret known only to him.
His mind was a mess. What to do, what he could do.
It was only natural to feel frustrated and impatient.
Adrian let out a heavy sigh through his nose.
"Hmm…"
Their perspectives on the situation were so different that the atmosphere wouldn't lighten up.
Unable to stand it any longer, Adrian suddenly made a new proposal.
"Your head seems to be a mess. In that case, I'll give you a mission instead."
"Sir?"
"You remember, right? The Duchy of Ferrara's social gathering."
"Yes… I saw it in the common information in the notebook."
A grand social event hosted by the Duchy of Ferrara for the duchess's birthday, gathering young nobles for camaraderie and goodwill.
Various events were scheduled, and the Faith Division's 2nd Squad, led by Vice-Commander Oscar, had been dispatched to uncover its hidden purpose.
"Go and have some fun there."
"Sir?"
"I'm telling you to see for yourself how people your age enjoy their lives. Make some friends."
"Is that the mission?"
"Yes. Don't do anything else. Your mission is to have fun."
Loan tilted his head, confused.
He said that, but could there be some deeper meaning hidden within his words?