Chapter 155
Chapter 155
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 155
Chapter Title: Breakwater
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Rothschild's family head, the Apostle Orddin, and the apostle who had decided to join him came to see me.
His identity was something I couldn't have predicted until we came face-to-face.
Thud, thud, thud.
"It's been a while, Berddin."
I slowly turned to confirm the apostle's identity. And the moment I faced him, I slammed my fist into his side.
Thwack!
"You damn bastard."
Judah clutched his stomach and rolled on the ground.
"Kuhk! Ah... I haven't even said anything yet!"
"Don't."
I drew my sword right then and pointed it at his throat.
"The seal here prevents even apostles from using their full power. It's turned into the perfect day to kill you."
Judah waved his hands frantically as he backed away unsteadily.
"Wait! Berddin. Let's talk. Why are you doing this the second we meet?"
"Are you asking because you don't know? I know everything you've done up to now!"
"What did I do?!"
"Not only did you secretly take Cynthia and Alfredo to the upper levels of the tower without Amon's knowledge, but you also manipulated the Five Evils from behind the scenes to attack the Strange family!"
Judah didn't deny it.
But he wore an aggrieved expression.
"What I tried to attack wasn't the Strange family."
"Then?"
"It was you, Berddin."
I should just kill him here. The moment that thought crossed my mind, Albus came rushing from the spectator stands and inserted himself between us.
"I'm sorry, but if you're going to try to kill him, I'll have no choice but to stop you."
"Do you think you can?"
"Of course I'm not a match for you. But I can buy enough time for Lord Judah to escape."
Albus's lips twitched upward as he moved the snake coiled around his neck into his hand, assuming an aggressive stance.
What ridiculous fools.
Is this why they gathered at the arena? To seal my aura and force a purely physical fight.
Not realizing that would be their downfall.
I sheathed my sword behind my back at length and replied to him.
"I'll cut you both down in one stroke."
Without a word, Albus aimed at my face with the hand gripping the snake. He looked like he genuinely wanted to fight me.
Judah scrambled to his feet, grabbed his shoulder, and whispered lowly.
"Berddin, calm down for a moment and tell me why you want to kill me."
"Why?"
"Yes. I get that you're furious. But I don't think it's serious enough to warrant killing me."
"Didn't you admit with your own mouth that you tried to kill me? That seems reason enough for me to kill you."
"I only attempted it. I've never once thought I could actually kill you. I just wanted to give you some experience."
"Experience?"
"Yes, experience."
Judah pulled Albus behind him, then drew close to my side and whispered softly.
"By going through things you never experienced in your previous life, in hopes that you'd become even stronger this time."
I met Judah's eyes and fell into brief contemplation.
I couldn't trust this guy's silver tongue. Still, it was worth hearing why he'd come to see me.
"I heard you joined hands with Orddin."
"That's right. I had no choice if I wanted to save Verdandi."
"Verdandi? You mean my mother?"
"Yes."
"...So you joined hands with Orddin to save my mother. Explain what that means."
Judah shook his head.
"Sorry, but I can't tell you about that. I can only say you'll find out in time. You'll end up clashing with the Rothschilds soon enough anyway. And you'll meet their family head, Orddin."
Sincerity shone on his face. A far cry from the casual demeanor during our travels together.
I slowly slid my sword back into its sheath and continued questioning.
"What's the reason you came to see me? And what's with not showing up until now, despite saying you wanted to meet?"
"The reason I wanted to meet is to ask a favor. As for why I couldn't appear before you, it was because of surveillance from another apostle."
"Surveillance from another apostle?"
"Yes. As you know, apostles can't leave the tower. Except for those like me who get permission from the tower's master."
So that meant someone else besides Baphomet could now leave the tower.
"I understand. So who is it?"
"Amon's clone."
"Amon's clone?"
"Yes. That damn bastard kept chasing me around. And for some reason, he's been constantly meeting with the Rothschilds."
Amon meeting with the Rothschilds. What that implied was simple enough.
The tower's master is communicating with them.
Amon with the Rothschilds. The Rothschilds with Judah. And Judah coming to meet me.
So that's how it is.
Through our conversation, I realized what the tower's master wanted.
"He wants us to stop the war?"
Judah nodded slightly.
"Exactly. But how did you know? I haven't breathed a word about the war yet."
"If that wasn't it, there'd be no reason for you to come see me in this situation."
"...As expected of Berddin. You see right through it."
I turned my head to look at Albus. I understood why Judah came to me, but I had no idea why he was moving with Albus.
Indeed.
Their pairing made no sense.
The Five Generals under the Papal Court had relentlessly worked to eliminate the Five Evils who followed Baphomet.
And now they join hands?
Especially when their underlings were still fighting, and only the leaders met like this to settle things.
It makes no sense.
Just a few days ago, two of the five generals had been chasing Matteo Rich to kill him.
I said nothing, but Judah brought it up first.
"It's baffling, right? Albus was definitely trying to kill the Five Evils who follow me. Yet here we stand together."
I shrugged lightly.
"Yeah, I'm curious how that happened."
"Simple. What you don't know is that Albus has been with me from the very beginning."
"What?"
Judah pushed up his glasses, which had slid down to the bridge of his nose, and answered.
"Albus, the man behind me right now, was actually the first one selected as a Five Evil. He's also the disciple of Monestier, whom you dealt with."
Hearing the truth, I couldn't keep a straight face. I knew something about him, but I had no idea he was the first member of the Five Evils.
I thought Monestier was the first.
Judah smiled brightly and continued.
"I can't explain everything one by one right now. Just know that all of it was for your growth."
"...All of it?"
"Yes. If you think about what the Five Generals and Five Evils wanted and how they moved, you can see it was to free you from the laws of causality."
My mind filled with chaos.
I paused the conversation for a moment to mull over everything I'd heard so far.
Yes, so that's why he said that to me back then.
And.
I could even infer why Judah had taken Cynthia and Alfredo to the upper levels.
Whether this is truth or lies, I don't know.
Since entertaining the thought might lead me to deny the existence of God, I clamped my mouth shut.
"What's the favor?"
At my question, Judah glanced at Albus.
"Help him."
"You want me to help Albus?"
"Yes. Then you won't have long to wait before you meet your mother."
Albus dropped his aggressive stance and lowered his head.
"That's right. I'll use any means necessary to rescue your mother."
"...You?"
"Yes."
"Rescue? I have no idea what you're talking about."
"I'll explain the details separately. It seems Lord Judah has to leave now..."
No sooner had Albus finished speaking than Judah began to slowly fade from view toward the outside of the arena.
"I'll be going now, so think it over. Whether to help Albus rescue your mother. Or whether you don't need his help and just kill him."
Albus looked at the vanishing Judah with a bewildered expression.
"Y-You're going to kill me?"
"...No such thing. Judah was just joking."
I scanned him up and down and continued questioning.
"Alright, let's hear what kind of help you want from me."
I headed straight to the adventurers' inn and had a conversation.
Cynthia, who had arrived first, was keeping watch there with Rox, but even though they knew I was there, they pretended not to notice and didn't interrupt my talk with Alfredo.
Clunk.
I pushed a mug of beer toward Albus and asked.
"I already know what you're scheming and what you want."
Albus glanced around cautiously before sipping his beer.
"Is that so? That loose-lipped Philip must have told you."
"Maybe, maybe not."
"Doesn't matter. Things have come to this, so we have no choice but to join hands."
"What do you mean 'things have come to this'?"
"...We've failed."
"Failed?"
"Yes, thanks to you killing Hagen, the head of the Glazer family."
I chuckled at him, then downed the beer in my mug in one go.
Gulp—
"I killed Hagen, so why did that mess up your plans?"
"You know, don't you? That I've been working with both the Glazers and the Rothschilds up to now."
"Yeah, that's why I tried to kill you lot too. You openly invaded our territory and attacked my soldiers without any justification."
Albus stared intently at the sparkling beer in his mug, then downed it in one shot like me before replying.
Gulp!
"Then you should have killed them all. Why did you let that one live?"
"That one?"
"Yes. Hagen's son, Edward. Because that guy's still alive, all our plans went to hell."
I never intended to let him live. He just suddenly became an apostle and left.
Besides.
I thought he'd gone to the tower, so why was Albus telling me this?
"He's dead. He just got reborn as an apostle."
"?!"
Albus slammed his mug down hard on the table.
Thud!
"I-Is that true?"
"Would it be a lie?"
"Then why didn't Edward go to the tower?"
I don't know.
I'd only just learned here that he hadn't gone to the tower. Shouldn't Judah know about this?
"The only answer I can give is 'I don't know'."
"You don't know?"
"Yeah, because up to now, I thought he'd gone to the tower."
I waved two fingers at the waiter to order more beer, swept the empty mugs under the table, and asked Albus.
"So what exactly is this plan that got ruined because of him?"
Albus hesitated for a moment, then grabbed one of the freshly brought mugs and answered.
"All the men carrying out my orders are dead."
"...What?"
He rubbed his flushed cheek, met my eyes, and repeated the same words.
"I said all the men carrying out my orders are dead. Not just Clark and Wendy, my fellow generals, but one of the five generals who was monitoring you by Cynthia's side."
"A general was monitoring me?"
"...Yes. His name is Alfredo."
"?!"
"The Blue Fang of the North, brother to another general, the Pirate King 'Clark Harald'."