Chapter 102
Chapter 102
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 102
Chapter Title: Checkmate
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Word came that Sein Demorus's body was being transported back to Dante.
Since it was an assassination attempt at the main house, his treatment would take place not at the main house but in Dante, one of the factions supporting Sein.
Dante's medical corps was also known as one of the best in all of Demorus.
Crunch.
Tampia gnawed at her nails.
"Does our line have anyone in Dante?"
Dante was one of the three major organizations under Demorus.
"No, ma'am."
Unfortunately, there were no direct underlings of Tampia's line in Dante.
That was all because of that rigid bastard Rohan.
"What about those little brats from the main house?"
Two young ones from the main house had ended up in Dante.
She'd heard one of them had died in the competition for successor against Sein.
"Kimo... and what was it? Butter? Oh, right. Vita."
Tampia recalled their names.
"What about using those kids?"
"That would be difficult."
"Tch."
They were from the main house, so they'd be intimidated by Tampia, but having stepped away from the successor competition and thrown their lot in with Dante, they had no reason to grant her any favors.
"Once he's transported, it'll be hard to touch him."
Even for Tampia, making a move on one of the three major organizations was a risky proposition.
She had wanted to take her time and think it through, but now she had to hurry.
"Any contact with that guy?"
Of the Third Force Unit's informants, she'd cut one loose, but she'd reached out to the other.
"We got a reply today."
The Third Force Unit must have been too busy dealing with the assassination attempt on Sein to respond until now.
She broke the seal and opened the letter.
Inside were a time and place.
"Tampia, you don't need to worry so much."
Ophas spoke up to calm the visibly frantic Tampia.
"The dagger that pierced Sein Demorus's heart was coated in black rose poison."
The deadly toxin that Ophas herself had provided.
It was the poison of Ophas, who had once been renowned as an assassin, and its antidote was not widely known.
"There's little chance he'll wake up anytime soon, and the situation is flowing entirely in our favor."
Another informant.
"The Third Force Unit informant is participating in this transport."
"Is that... true?"
A glimmer of hope lit up Tampia's anxious face.
"So we need to meet him and make sure the job gets done right."
"But..."
She couldn't say when it had started.
She could no longer think or judge clearly amid the relentless waves of anxiety surging through her.
Sometimes she felt an immense relief, as if she could accomplish anything.
Crunch.
Other times, she felt as if Sein's blade would pierce her throat at any moment.
"Tampia."
Ophas grabbed her shoulders and spoke.
Only then did Tampia feel a measure of calm.
"There's no need to be anxious."
A whispering voice.
"Everything will go smoothly."
"Yeah..."
It would.
"You'll become the successor."
Ophas's words.
She could believe them.
"For now, I need to meet that guy."
The remaining Third Force Unit informant.
She needed to see him.
*
*
*
Among the countless castles in the main house.
There were abandoned ones that weren't even maintained.
In one such place.
Rustle.
A figure cloaked in a robe quietly rose to their feet.
"L-Lady Tampia?"
The man's voice trembled with unease.
"Did you really think Lady Tampia would come here herself?"
But the ones who had entered the castle only brought disappointment to their counterpart.
"There's no chance a worm like you would ever meet Lady Tampia."
"What?!"
The man exclaimed in agitation.
"If it's not Lady Tampia herself, I won't say a word!"
The man's eyes shook anxiously beneath the robe.
"What the hell is Lady Tampia doing anyway?! Where the fuck is Chevez?!"
The man's identity was Herzer.
"Once we did what Lady Tampia asked... once we stabbed Sein Demorus in the heart, she promised to protect us. But Chevez is being hunted by the Third Force Unit right now!"
Herzer had nothing left to fear.
He was dead if caught anyway.
That desperation was plain to see.
"Please, tell Lady Tampia one more time. I need to meet her in person and talk!"
"Not acting after all."
Just then, a voice came from one corner.
Hiss.
A pale mist spread across the floor.
"You need to tell me the truth."
The one who appeared was Tampia.
She had anticipated from the start that Herzer would demand to speak with her directly.
However.
-You must suspect him.
Herzer hadn't participated directly in Sein's assassination, so there was suspicion he might be a double agent.
"Whose dog are you?"
"Demorus..."
"And?"
"Lady Tampia's dog."
The pale mist was Tampia's blessing.
Known as Myriad Poisons, it was a cheat ability that could produce any poison she imagined and wield it at will.
This was the hallucinogenic poison that forced out illusions and truths.
"Good."
Tampia smiled in satisfaction and shed her robe.
"I'll protect Chevez. And you as well."
Even dosed with hallucinogenic poison, Herzer visibly relaxed.
"So there's something you need to do."
"What..."
"Sein Demorus is being transported to Dante, right? You'll be part of it."
Herzer nodded blankly.
"Stab him again. This time, make sure you cut off his air for good."
"...Understood."
Only then did Tampia turn to leave.
But in that instant.
Grab.
Herzer seized Tampia's shoulders.
"What are you..."
Shing!
Tampia's guards swiftly drew their swords.
"...It's a trap."
This was an abandoned castle.
The agreement was with Herzer alone.
Yet at some point, she had sensed it.
In the moonlight filtering through the broken castle walls, several shadows flickered.
"You...!"
When Tampia looked at Herzer.
Smirk.
The corner of Herzer's mouth curled up.
That smile was unforgettable.
"Was it fun?"
A voice asking for a review of the performance.
"Sein Demorus!"
Herzer's face rippled and distorted, transforming into the hateful face of Sein.
Boom!
Tampia exploded with energy and leaped back.
Her shoulders, gripped by Sein, throbbed with excruciating pain.
"Tch, what a boring reaction. And I even prepared a whole show."
Rustle.
The shadows revealed themselves.
Sein's guard Roberta, and Sienjin of the Third Force Unit.
The rest of the Force Unit's members had Tampia completely surrounded.
"If you were going to try to kill me..."
Sein shed his robe.
"...you should've been prepared to die too."
Checkmate.
*
*
*
Tampia and Sein faced off.
Tampia's face twisted savagely.
'I was fooled.'
Sein hadn't been injured from the start.
No, from the very beginning.
"You filthy trash."
Chevez and Herzer, whom she thought were her informants, hadn't betrayed Sein.
Proof stood right there behind Sein, swords drawn toward Tampia.
"I knew better than to trust vermin like you."
Tampia seemed to tremble with bitter betrayal.
"Why blame my innocent underlings? Blame yourself for being such an idiot."
Hiss.
Tampia spewed forth her poisonous mist.
There was no escape.
"Ah, that might feel a bit unfair."
Idiot?
No such assessment of Tampia had ever existed.
Lately, there had been talk of her losing her edge, though.
"You've gotten stupid, haven't you?"
"...?"
That was when it happened.
More and more people were joining Sein's side, one by one.
"I'm the type who repays what he gets in full, you see."
"What are you..."
Tampia's eyes widened as if they would tear as she started to retort.
Something impossible was happening right before her eyes.
It felt just like if she had fallen victim to her own hallucinogenic poison.
"...Why?"
In that moment, Tampia's mind went blank.
"...Why are you standing there...?"
It was so unbelievable that she wondered if this was all a dream.
"Why!"
"I'm sorry, Tampia."
Two figures stood beside Sein.
One was Jagar, whom she already knew about—nothing special.
The other was.
"Pledge your loyalty even now."
The one who should never have been there—her pillar of mental support, Ophas.
"Sixth Elder!"
The Sixth Elder, Ophas.
She had practically raised Tampia in place of the mother she'd lost shortly after birth.
-You will become the family head.
In hard times.
-Ophas! Look at this! It's a blessing!
In happy times.
Ophas had always been by her side.
Yet now that woman stood not at Tampia's side, but Sein's.
Come to think of it...
-Sein Demorus.
Lately, Sein's name had slipped from Ophas's lips more and more often.
-You should withdraw this time.
Even when Tampia thought she had an opportunity, Ophas had suggested strangely dubious choices.
But she had trusted her.
Because it was Ophas.
And also.
"No way...?"
"I'm sorry for clouding that sharp mind of yours too, Tampia."
Lately, Tampia had been judged as having lost her edge.
That was Ophas's doing as well.
"Why..."
Tampia murmured.
"Why..."
She couldn't understand.
If her father, the family head, had betrayed her and thrown her into the fire pit, that would make sense.
That's the kind of man he was.
But not Ophas.
She was the one person Tampia had always been able to trust.
And she had betrayed her.
"Tampia, lower your sword. Retract your blessing."
Ophas said.
"Sein Demorus is not your enemy."
"Not... my enemy."
Ophas's poison had long since eroded Tampia's mind and body.
All that was left was for Sein to decide when to awaken it.
"Pledge your loyalty to him. Look at Jagar. You can receive good treatment too."
"...Why?"
Yet a thread of lingering consciousness made her ask Ophas.
What on earth had driven her to betray?
"Sein Demorus."
Ophas said.
"He is the master of 'That One,' the king of all assassins."