Chapter 138. Wyvern and Paharen
For a brief moment, it stung to be played for a fool by the disaster I’d brought upon myself.
But the young Head of House and I moved on to real negotiations.
No—should I even call this negotiations? Doing business with the young Head of House had a rather brisk, forthright side to it.
“First, what kind of deal structure do you want? A loan? A transfer?”
“Obviously, a transfer.”
As long as Lortel held the Infinite Chain, Deculan wouldn’t give up.
So if we wanted to eliminate the root cause, we had no choice but to have the Infinite Chain on our side.
Without needless add-ons, we discussed the deal structure. And then……
“For the record, I’m not asking for a price like ten kilograms of meteoric iron. You brought me Deculan’s dirty secrets, so I’ll value it accordingly.”
He spoke the demand he wanted, boldly, without testing the waters.
It was a fairly rare experience.
Twisted, scheming types always watch for a chance to squeeze out one more thing, but these refreshingly straightforward terms—!
And that wasn’t all.
“If circumstances make it difficult, I’ll wait for a while. Of course, I won’t be able to wait that long.”
He even stepped up and considered our situation.
At that point, an unfamiliar light inevitably gathered in my eyes as I looked at the young Head of House.
“I heard you despise mages quite a bit…… but it seems it’s not quite that simple?”
“Mages are disgusting.”
But for him to say that, he was being far too accommodating—just as that thought crossed my mind.
I caught a glimpse of dense loathing in the young Head of House’s eyes as he glanced at Parun.
‘Mm. So it’s true.’
It was hatred anyone could see.
Like the look you’d give when you find the crushed remains of a bug inside bread you were eating.
But then why me?
Maybe he noticed my gaze. The young Head of House answered with a rather cool smile.
“I simply don’t see you as a mage. A madman can’t be defined as anything.”
“…….”
I didn’t know what he meant, but it felt unfair.
He probably thought I was the one who stole away the Thousand Origin Art. From my perspective, it was just unfair.
The madmen who stole the Thousand Origin Art weren’t me—they were Henji and Parun.
Anyway, since good enough is good enough, I didn’t bother correcting the young Head of House’s misunderstanding.
Back to the main point.
“Speak comfortably. I can wait at least a month.”
“A month…….”
I appreciated the thought.
But it wasn’t really a kindness I needed.
Because we’d prepared the payment properly on our end, too.
‘Seriously…… I almost cracked my skull.’
Why wouldn’t I?
I couldn’t even guess what Deculan might have offered in this case.
Even if I was going through the young Head of House, to make the deal easy, I needed to prepare compensation that was at least greater than whatever Deculan offered.
So I dragged up every bit of my past-life memories.
‘Information, if it’s information. Relics, if it’s relics.’
Anything that might tempt Lortel—everything.
The cards I prepared that way were two in total.
And in the current situation, the cards I’d prepared were enough to respond within a manageable range.
If there was anything to 고민 about, it was……
‘Which card do I play first?’
One of two.
After organizing my thoughts for a moment, I raised my gaze from the floor.
My decision was this.
“Young Head of House, I have two cards to offer.”
Two cards. I’ll use both.
“Two?”
“Originally, one would have been enough, but seeing the young Head of House’s goodwill, I thought it would be fine to hand over both.”
“……Doesn’t seem like it. Your eyes look wicked.”
“Do they? Strange. Why do they look like that? Well, anyway, that’s not what matters.”
Without showing my guilty conscience, I continued in a calm expression.
First—
“Have you ever heard of Magic Armor Kalium (魔鉀)?”
“Magic Armor Kalium…… I recall it. According to records, isn’t it a relic said to block even a Master Knight’s Aether?”
“Well, according to records.”
But records were records.
Its true power…… well, I’d never seen it myself, so I didn’t know, but it probably wasn’t enough to block a Master Knight’s Aether.
Even if it could, would the armor even endure it? Anyway.
“But why Kalium? ……Don’t tell me?”
I nodded easily to the young Head of House’s question.
“Your ‘don’t tell me’ is correct. My first card is Kalium. Ah, I don’t have it on me right now. It would’ve been better if I’d brought it, but…… time was tight.”
“Then…….”
“I’ll tell you the location where Magic Armor Kalium is hidden.”
“……Hah!”
At my words, the young Head of House let out an exclamation.
Around that time, a faint greed also surfaced in his eyes.
‘A warrior is a warrior after all, huh?’
Magic Armor Kalium wasn’t a transcendent relic like a Magic Sword or a grimoire, but in terms of ranking, it sat proudly right beneath them—a top-tier relic.
Ten kilograms of meteoric iron? To be blunt, in front of Magic Armor Kalium, it was nothing.
It was, truly, a one-of-a-kind item in the world.
Of course……
‘Normally, because the cost-benefit didn’t match, I was planning to squeeze out a few more compensations on top of the Infinite Chain, but…….’
In a situation like this, what was there to be stingy about?
It wasn’t stingy at all. Truly, not at all.
‘It’s something I can’t use anyway…… and neither can that freeloader.’
It was, in short, a useless burden.
Because Magic Armor Kalium was arrogant enough to “choose” its owner despite being a relic.
If someone it didn’t 인정 wear it……
Boom!
It would explode into pieces regardless of your realm.
Maybe there would be a way if you studied it this way and that, but I didn’t particularly want to risk having my body explode.
But then.
“……Isn’t it dangerous?”
“……Why do you think that?”
“Your expression is suspicious.”
“……You’re imagining it.”
“Is that true?”
“It’s true.”
I answered with sincere eyes, hiding my twitchy inner thoughts.
If you want to be strict about it, it wasn’t even a lie.
When Magic Armor Kalium was discovered in my past life, after countless knights died, the one who finally earned Kalium’s acknowledgment was the young Head of House.
As that thought reached me—
A sudden anxiety washed over me, and I added an extra line.
“Ah, and for the record, Kalium’s owner has to be you, young Head of House.”
“……Why?”
“Call it a mark of trust. As you know…… with something like Kalium, isn’t it more than enough payment for the Infinite Chain? If I were only thinking of the item’s price, it’s a relic I never would’ve offered.”
“So you’ll buy my trust with an overabundant value?”
“Ahem. Something like that.”
It’s said interpretation matters more than dreams—and his damn fine interpretation almost made me slap my knee.
The goodwill deepening in the young Head of House’s eyes…… it probably wasn’t just my imagination.
Anyway, I lightly avoided that burdensome gaze and opened my mouth again.
“Now the most important thing is the next card.”
Honestly, even now that I’d made up my mind, I wasn’t sure it was right to say this second card out loud.
This was, in other words……
‘Deculan’s wickedness.’
It was connected to one of Lortel’s vassal houses.
“Young Head of House, do you remember the family called Impir?”
“There’s no way I wouldn’t. Until a little over ten years ago, they were the main house’s greatest vassal. Up until they were suddenly wiped out.”
Is it only a little over ten years ago from now? Well, anyway, the timing wasn’t important.
What mattered was how Deculan had been involved in Impir’s ruin.
“How much do you know about that annihilation?”
At my question, the young Head of House’s eyebrow twitched. Then he spoke evenly.
“I don’t know much. Only that Impir’s Head of House fell ill, and the young Head of House died suddenly. That they lost their center and their power collapsed rapidly—that’s all.”
Yeah. As expected, that was all he knew.
Of course it was.
When Deculan brought down Impir, they hadn’t done it carelessly.
To weaken Lortel’s power, it was work carried out slowly over several years.
So Lortel probably never even noticed any real signs.
“But why Impir?”
The young Head of House looked puzzled that I’d suddenly mentioned a family that had been wiped out over ten years ago.
I looked at him and spoke calmly.
“If Deculan was involved in that annihilation, what would you do?”
As my words ended—
“…….”
Ssssss—
A cold chill formed on the young Head of House’s face.
“What does that mean?”
“What does it mean? Exactly what it says.”
The young Head of House glared at me with shining eyes. His mouth opened a little later.
“Deculan was involved in Impir’s downfall?”
“That’s right.”
“And how do you know that?”
That was…… honestly hard to answer.
I obtained that information in my past life, when I was assigned a Lortel infiltration mission.
But back then, I couldn’t find any infiltration route at all……
‘And the information Deculan tossed me was lousy, too.’
So I secretly searched Deculan’s information vault.
Of course, it was something that would get me killed if I was caught—but if I charged into Lortel like this, I’d die anyway.
That was when I learned about the inside collaborator and the Impir family’s internal circumstances.
I’d been so furious then that I nearly burst a vein……
‘There’s an inside collaborator, and you don’t support me?’
Even just quietly giving me an infiltration route would have made the mission several times easier!
Well, I understand.
A Troubleshooter is disposable anyway, and the inside collaborator was an information broker who steadily brought Lortel’s intel.
They must have thought it was a waste to use the inside collaborator in such a high-risk job.
Anyway.
As I was thinking that—
The young Head of House’s voice rang in my ears.
“So you can’t answer.”
“I trust you’ll understand.”
“……Fine. Right now, the source doesn’t matter. But this won’t be information that’s just words, will it?”
In other words: do you have proof?
At that, I shrugged.
“Of course not. It’s not like those Deculan bastards are sloppy.”
“And you expect me to believe that?”
“Well, there was supposedly an inside collaborator. But I can’t remember the name. Whether you believe it or not is up to you.”
“……Hah!”
Maybe my calm attitude seemed ridiculous, because the young Head of House let out a laugh like he couldn’t believe it.
But then, after a short moment—
“……Wait. You said an inside collaborator?”
“So?”
“Could it be… the name?”
“I said I don’t remember.”
“No—if I say a name, could you recall it?”
“That…….”
For a moment, I questioned the young Head of House’s sudden shift, then searched my memory carefully.
Back then…… what was the name?
‘Now that I try to recall it, it felt like a name with a bad omen to it.’
That was when the young Head of House continued.
And the moment I heard the name that came out of his mouth, I snapped my fingers.
“Wybar de Paharen.”
“Yeah, that’s it!”
I’d let it pass without thinking at the time, but it was an ominous name to the extreme.
Doesn’t it sound like the name Wyvern and Paharen mashed together?
But wait.
How does the young Head of House know that name? Did he dig through my memory?
I knew that was nonsense, but it was that hard to understand.
And when I heard the young Head of House’s next words, I realized my guess was wrong.
“Eighth Elder…… I never thought it would be to that extent.”
A voice thick with hatred.
Without thinking, I looked up at the sky.
‘Moon, another one’s on the way.’
Whether he’s Wyvern or Wybar or whatever—seems like he’s the Eighth Elder now.
Judging by the young Head of House’s eyes, he won’t be living long.
And for me, that was actually better.
Because—
‘There was no proof, so I was going to have to talk my way through it…… but if there’s someone suspicious like that, you just beat that guy first.’
So, in other words, it had become much easier.
But.
Hold on.
‘This is…… it’s a bit of a waste to just let it pass like this, isn’t it?’
Originally, I’d prepared a plan in case the young Head of House stayed half doubtful.
And now I’m just going to let that plan rot?
No. Of course not.
Clearing my throat, I opened my mouth in a subtle voice.
“Young Head of House, honestly, isn’t it uncertain that this Wyvern-or-whatever is the inside collaborator?”
“I already had a certain degree of suspicion. I just didn’t think it would be to this extent.”
Mm. If he says it like that, I don’t have much to say.
But I held firm and continued.
“What if you beat Wyvern down and there’s no information about the Impir family? Then what will you do?”
“That’s…….”
The young Head of House was left speechless.
I grinned.
Honestly, if it were me, I’d beat Wyvern down thoroughly.
He’s not an innocent man—if you hit a guilty man enough, he’ll make evidence on his own.
But.
In a subtle voice, I continued.
“There’s a clever trick for this kind of situation……”
“A clever trick?”
As the young Head of House’s eyes sparkled with interest, I nodded boldly.
“A way to not only gain suspicion that Deculan interfered in Impir’s downfall…… but to make those bastards suffer even without proof. How about it.”
After taking a brief breath, I finished my words.
“Want to hear it?”
“…….”
It was a question that didn’t need asking.
Because the answer was already decided.
