CHAPTER 124. …You got fooled twice
To be honest, the plan wasn’t anything special.
“On Lortel’s side, you said the Third Sword is coming out, right?”
“Yes—if the information is reliable.”
Maybe because he’d recognized the possibility of a trap, Parun seemed to be re-evaluating the reliability of his information.
“We have to assume it’s reliable. If it’s a real trap, they won’t bluff sloppily.”
“…Hmm.”
Parun shot me a doubtful look again at my confidence.
‘This damn….’
I’d thought I lived in a way that earned trust, but now I was feeling a sense of doubt.
At one point, if you said “faith and trust, sincerity and honor,” you were talking about me.
Anyway, I set aside my irritation for now.
Because what mattered wasn’t some trivial thing like that.
“Anyway, let’s say the Third Sword is coming. No—he’s definitely coming.”
“Then what changes?”
“It changes. A lot changes.”
“…?”
Ah. Is it not known yet?
“Do you know who the Third Sword’s disciple is?”
“He had a disciple? I heard the Third Sword is young—too young to take a disciple.”
“About as old as you?”
“…I’m a little younger.”
“But you’re a professor.”
“I have no students who inherited my vision. That will remain true in the future as well.”
“Sure. Fine. Let’s go with that.”
I didn’t know how old Parun was.
But the Third Sword at this time was definitely young.
‘Right now, he’s probably… mid-to-late thirties?’
Honestly, socially, that wasn’t exactly “young.”
But considering the fame he carried, it was young to the point of—yeah. In crude terms, he was a baby.
Even more incredible was the fact that at the age of thirty, he confidently rose to the ranks of the Ten Swords (十劍).
But what mattered here wasn’t the Third Sword’s dazzling talent.
What mattered was something not yet known….
‘The Third Sword’s disciple.’
“The Third Sword has a disciple. What matters to us is that disciple bastard.”
“Are you saying we should take a hostage?”
“…….”
I stared at Parun with eyes gone cold.
“…Not that?”
“The students who learn under you are pitiful.”
And since I take Parun’s lessons, that means I’m pitiful. Anyway.
I continued the main point.
“The Third Sword’s disciple isn’t someone you can take hostage—and you shouldn’t, either. Unless you want Lortel chasing you for the rest of your life.”
“…? Who is this disciple that makes it like that?”
Only then did Parun tilt his head, genuinely puzzled.
He realized the Third Sword’s disciple wasn’t of ordinary status.
Watching him, I opened my mouth.
“Who is the Third Sword’s disciple? Think carefully.”
There weren’t many statuses that—while receiving instruction from the Third Sword—would make Lortel furious if taken hostage.
“…A blood relative of Lortel.”
“Correct. And?”
“And….”
Parun carefully organized his thoughts.
As an aside, I couldn’t help but be impressed.
Is this what an intellectual is? He doesn’t resist using his brain. If it were Shine or Raileigh, they would’ve given up thinking within three seconds.
And sure enough, the answer he produced wasn’t in the same category as those two idiots… no, those two guys.
“You wouldn’t have said ‘I have a plan’ for nothing. Then it must be someone who can influence the deal with Deculan. That means direct line. And among them….”
“Among them?”
“…The Heir Apparent.”
“Mm.”
Clap. Clap. Clap.
When I clapped, a dry applause filled the office.
“Correct.”
Yeah. Correct.
The Third Sword’s disciple was the current Heir Apparent of Lortel: Sion von Lortel.
That’s right. That bastard.
‘A warrior supremacist.’
In the future, the seventeenth Head of House of Lortel.
I’d never seen his face myself. I’d only heard of his fame.
“…So what are you saying we do? I understand the relationship between the Third Sword and the Heir Apparent, but I don’t see how it connects to our current situation.”
“What do you mean, what do we do.”
I grinned.
“We meet the Heir Apparent through the Third Sword. We meet him and….”
“Negotiate?”
“More or less?”
“Don’t you think that’s too convenient? Even I’m not unaware of the Heir Apparent’s temperament. A warrior supremacist, and he especially hates magic, yes? But he won’t break an inter-house deal over mere personal feelings.”
He was right.
‘Even in the future, he didn’t lead his house on ideology alone.’
“But if there’s a price worth it?”
“…A price?”
“There is. No matter what Deculan prepared, Sion will have no choice but to raise his hand for this side.”
“Mm….”
Parun looked quite curious, but he didn’t ask.
Instead, he killed time with his eyes half-closed, as if sorting through his thoughts.
Unable to stand it, I said,
“Hey. So are you doing it or not?”
“If it can be done, we do it. But there’s something bothering me.”
“Bothering you?”
Parun fully opened his half-lidded eyes and looked at me.
“The Heir Apparent is a warrior supremacist.”
“Right.”
“I heard he especially hates magic.”
“Right?”
“Then answer me. What are you?”
“I’m A….”
I shut my mouth right before saying “ster.”
Is this some advanced leading question? I nearly blurted my name out whole.
But hearing Parun’s next words, it wasn’t a leading question.
“A mage, aren’t you?”
“Right.”
“And I’m a mage too.”
“Yeah, but you’re a professor.”
“Don’t play word games. I’ll rip your mouth open.”
“……”
At Parun’s icy threat, I clamped my mouth shut. I almost had snot trickle out of my nose.
‘…Bastard.’
Anyway, Parun’s point was this:
Heir Apparent Sion is a warrior supremacist and a mage-hater. So would he accept a proposal from us—mages?
It was a fair point.
But.
“I’ve thought about that too.”
“Sure. You must have a brain, at least.”
I didn’t hear that.
“Like you said, the Heir Apparent is a warrior supremacist. Then what if I know an excellent servant—no, knight?”
“Hmm. Then you mean you’ll put the knight forward as your proxy in the conversation with the Heir Apparent?”
“Not just as a proxy. I’m thinking of using him even to draw the Heir Apparent out through the Third Sword.”
“Then it won’t do with ordinary skill. Do you really know someone strong enough for that?”
Do I ever.
Is there another knight this magnificent in all of history?
‘The King Slayer.’
A rare knight who chopped the Emperor’s head clean off.
Me, you bastard! Huh? Me and that amazing knight, in the Great Forest—huh? We even ate—no, we didn’t.
‘Death Knights don’t eat.’
Even after he became a vampire, we didn’t share a table.
Anyway.
“Is he trustworthy?”
“You can trust him as much as you trust me.”
Meaning you can trust him completely.
Me, Parun, and Henji—who wasn’t here, his presence faint—were a community of shared fate where the moment any one of us opened our mouth wrong, we’d all fly off to the underworld together.
But why?
“…Hmm.”
“Why?”
“…No. Let’s decide after I see him. Trust him as much as I trust you… hmm.”
Even as he said it was nothing, Parun’s eyes filled with deep, heavy thoughts.
…Why?
I didn’t ask.
No matter what reason I heard, it felt like it would hurt.
I’d thought Parun trusted me as much as I trusted Parun.
‘Looks like that was only my thought.’
Teammates who don’t trust each other.
That’s us.
Anyway… now all that was left was luring Shine into the Infinite Chain recovery(?) operation.
‘This is… probably not going to be easy.’
It was the moment my eyes, like Parun’s, deepened with gloom.
…And yet, why was it?
The next day, when I went to find Shine, the answer he gave me was surprisingly crisp.
“Fine.”
“…?”
I couldn’t not ask.
“…Why?”
I found Shine at Headmaster sunbae’s hideout.
Shine was sprawled out on a soft sofa with a life of ease, like a lion enjoying a nap, and Breakfast No. 1 was curled in his arms, dozing off.
Piiih, piiih….
Breakfast No. 1 let out a pleasant little cry in time with Shine’s gentle petting.
I stared at the sight, half-stunned.
“…Why?”
“What do you mean, why. Are you asking for the reason? Or are you simply unable to believe it.”
“Both.”
“Tsk. There’s no particular reason. Didn’t you ask me to help?”
“…….”
That makes even less sense.
Shine? Helping me? Like this? Without a word? Agreeing immediately with a “Fine”?
Maybe he noticed my stare.
Shine clicked his tongue like he found me pathetic.
“You treacherous bastard. Do you think everyone in the world is like you?”
No, they’re not.
If everyone in the world were like me, “law” wouldn’t have been invented.
Because I’m precisely the kind of exemplary person who can live well even without laws.
The important part here is “even without.” Not “only if there are none.”
“And….”
Shine continued, never stopping his hand as he stroked Breakfast No. 1.
And what came after was, undeniably, a rather moving thing to say.
“It’s the first time, isn’t it.”
“The first time for what.”
“The first time you’ve asked for help like this—without hiding anything, asking plainly.”
That was true.
Today, I’d shared the facts as they were, then asked for help.
- Hey. Do one thing with me.
- Hm. This body can be fooled once, but will it be fooled twice? I’m sleepy, so stop spewing bullshit and get lost.
My opening line was as usual. Shine’s reaction was as usual too.
Honestly, right here, I wanted to nitpick.
‘…You got fooled twice.’
Once with the Bracelet of Subjugation. No—does that not count because our interests aligned?
Even so, if you count the “Early Bird” operation and the “Pact (盟約),” you got fooled at least twice.
But I didn’t bother correcting him.
Instead, I told Shine—who was only half-listening—everything as it was.
- Listen first, then decide. I won’t force you.
Lortel and Deculan.
I made it clear the two great houses were entangled, and I thoroughly impressed the danger onto him.
To help him understand the situation, I even revealed as much as I could about the new Thousand Origin Art.
‘But even so…?’
Maybe he sensed my gaze.
Shine blinked his eyelids, now nearly drooping shut, and opened his mouth.
“Are you moved?”
“Moved, my ass. Be honest. What are you plotting?”
“What am I plotting? You really can’t trust people. Didn’t I say it? This is the first time you’ve laid it all out honestly. For someone as treacherous as you to come at me like this… yawn, it just means you’re that desperate.”
True. It was true, but….
What is this unsettled feeling?
“By the way, Lortel has two Demon Swords (魔劍), right?”
“Demon Swords? Why Demon Swords all of a sudden?”
“It’s nothing. It just occurred to me. Hmm. So Lortel still has only two Demon Swords.”
“…?”
Shine said something I couldn’t make sense of, yet his eyes were oddly unusual.
Even while blinking sleepily, there was some kind of chill lodged in the gaze that swept over me.
‘There’s something. Something’s there.’
Only two? Not two whole ones?
A creeping sense of unease.
The survival instinct that had crossed the brink between life and death countless times was shouting at me.
Shine is plotting something. And it definitely won’t benefit me.
‘Is he trying to ruin the plan…?’
That wouldn’t be it.
Because the Pact (盟約) was in place.
The pact reads the ill will directed at each other and restricts action.
So what is it? This unease?
It was right then that Breakfast No. 1 suddenly cried out.
“Hey, you—.”
Piiiiiik! Ppiik!
I cut myself off mid-sentence and stared straight at Breakfast No. 1, which sprang up and glared at me.
Ppiik! Ppiik!
Flapping its wings, Breakfast No. 1 screamed as if furious.
Instead of the speechless beast, the speaking beast Shine interpreted it for me.
“It says it’s time to study. Yawn, if we’re done here, hurry and go.”
Of course, he wasn’t actually understanding it. He was just guessing based on the timing.
“…Ggh.”
In the end, I moved, leaving behind that lingering discomfort.
Fwoosh—!
Was it monitoring whether I went to Lafiter? Breakfast No. 1 perched on my head like it was building a nest there.
And as I left the hideout—
Creeeak.
Through the crack of the closing door, I could see it.
Shine’s eyes, heavy with sleep as they held me—eyes that unmistakably belonged to someone plotting something.
‘What the hell… is it?’
Lortel? Only two Demon Swords?
I’d gained something, but it was ominous beyond words.
