“Still resisting, I see.”
In a dark prison.
Sharen, the former leader of the Black Hand, hung limply with her arms bound. Though she kept her mouth shut, lacking even the strength to answer, her eyes still showed signs of life.
Yulid, who had been standing with both hands in his pockets, casually raised one hand. The waiting interrogator immediately forced an unidentified potion into Sharen’s mouth.
“Ugh, cough!”
When some of the unswallowed potion spilled onto the floor, a sickly sweet smell filled the air.
After drinking the potion, Sharen’s eyes repeatedly focused and unfocused.
Having confirmed this, Yulid leisurely recited the brainwashing instructions.
“Make an official announcement. Say that you challenged me to a duel for the leadership position and lost, and therefore you and all your bloodline will leave the Black Hand.”
“…non…sense!”
“Hmm?”
Yulid slightly tilted his head toward the interrogator and spoke with a whining tone.
“Hey, she’s still not brainwashed. This keeps happening and it makes me sad.”
“I’m, I’m sorry, Master. The supply of brainwashing potion from your side wasn’t sufficient, so we’ve been dividing it up… But her mental strength is gradually weakening, so she’ll be completely brainwashed soon.”
“Beg all you want, I’ll never bow my head to scum like you!”
Sharen shouted furiously.
“Yulid, you ungrateful filthy b*stard. Were you that desperate for the leader’s position?”
“The leadership position?”
“Yes! Ha, I saved your life when you were dying from illegal experimentation before you were even old enough to know better, and this is how you show your teeth.”
“……”
Sharen gritted her teeth.
“Even when you returned years later with your mind gone after leaving on your own, I still spared your life. Were you aiming for this position since then?”
“Haha.”
Yulid’s shoulders shook lightly, genuinely amused.
“I stated my purpose from the beginning. I wanted to find someone and asked you to mobilize your informants. You were the one who wouldn’t listen, Sharen.”
Yulid turned his back on Sharen and walked away.
Only after leaving the prison and finding himself alone did he finally bend over from the pain he had been enduring.
“Huff, argh……”
He could feel the poison insects eating away at his insides.
Insects born from corrupted magical energy.
Normally, they would be purified by holy power, these insignificant creatures. But due to side effects from his time as an experimental subject, holy power had become poison to him.
Henrik knew this and gave him the poison insects. To control him with only the medicine he provided.
“Cough……”
Yulid desperately endured the increasingly terrible pain.
Did he regret swallowing multiple poison insects?
No.
If Henrik intended to control him with medicine, Yulid was controlling Henrik with his own life.
Due to dozens of poison insects, Yulid’s life had become unstable. Because of this, Henrik had to move more diligently than originally planned.
He had to provide medicine to temporarily suppress the poison insects, as well as brainwashing potions more frequently.
After all, Henrik needed to achieve his goals before Yulid, whom he had carefully planted, died.
‘I’ve waited 24 years. I’m sick of waiting any longer.’
He had thrown away his life to hasten the wait even by one second.
It was his sole determination to meet his unnamed daughter.
※※※
We followed Dietrich’s organization members to their base.
“You guys?!”
“You’re alive!”
The organization members had an emotional reunion. Should I call them resistance fighters now?
“I can’t believe it, Young Master Dietrich is here too! Did you come to rescue Lady Sharen?”
“No, I… well… uh, that’s right.”
With the appearance of Dietrich, the Black Hand’s successor, the resistance fighters’ morale soared.
Their gazes finally turned toward us.
“And who are these people?”
“Big sis.”
“…Huh?”
“Big sis and big bros. They helped us escape.”
The guys who had received smacks on the back of their heads from me mumbled awkwardly.
The already fierce-looking resistance fighters’ expressions became even more grotesque.
“…Even that little brat?”
“He’s the most important big brother.”
When Lynen spoke, Noah stiffened awkwardly. I nodded beside him.
“Bring warm milk first.”
“…Yes, yes, of course.”
The person who seemed to be the resistance leader smirked. I could feel him looking down on us.
‘Would you look at this guy?’
No wonder they’re an illegal organization, huh?
They didn’t seem to trust us, but since we had rescued their comrades, they provided decent hospitality.
However, I immediately put down the poorly washed glass without taking a sip.
‘Did they give us used glasses?’
I also stopped Noah from drinking.
‘Should I flip the table?’
I wanted to act on my temper but held back for now. This must be their usual attitude toward outsiders.
It meant they had no intention of treating us with respect just because we saved their comrades.
I asked.
“I heard about the situation on our way here. This second-in-command named Yulid is holding Leader Sharen captive?”
“It was an ambush, an ambush!”
Luke, the resistance leader, answered indignantly.
“If he hadn’t attacked so cowardly, that b*stard could never have defeated the leader. Yulid had already neutralized the leader’s elite assassins beforehand. Dirty b*stard!”
“Sounds pretty smart to me.”
“What? Whose side are you on right now?”
What can I do?
Honestly, I liked Yulid’s methods. He’s intelligent and bold. It’s inefficient to confront an opponent head-on anyway.
‘It’s a shame he’s an enemy who needs to be handed over to the executioner.’
I unconsciously glanced at Lynen from the corner of my eye.
He had a contemplative expression. He seemed to have spoken less since we arrived here. I wondered if something was wrong.
Just then, he spoke up.
“What are Yulid’s characteristics?”
“Excuse me?”
“Tell me his distinguishing physical features.”
“Don’t order me around. Who do you think you are?”
“……”
Luke growled, but he seemed intimidated by Lynen’s calm gaze.
His pride hurt, he mumbled a response.
“Tch, I’ll answer if I must. His skin is dark, like it’s been burned, and he has golden eyes. Of course, he has the Spide mark since he was the leader’s right-hand man.”
“By Spide, you mean the spider and sword tattoo on his face?”
“That’s right.”
Hearing this, I was somewhat surprised.
‘Wait, so the one who brainwashed the Vice Archmage was this rebel leader Yulid?’
Lynen’s expression grew serious after hearing Luke’s answer. He continued questioning.
“No matter how sudden the ambush, the Black Hand’s leader wouldn’t have been easily defeated. Had Yulid been plotting against her for some time?”
“That’s the most despicable part!”
Luke slammed his fist on the table.
“That b*stard had been secretly drugging the leader to weaken her. It’s just my guess, but I’m certain of it!”
Lynen’s eyes met mine. We were thinking the same thing.
‘He used a brainwashing potion.’
This meant that if we approached Yulid, we could also get our hands on the brainwashing potion.
‘Things have become simpler without needing to run around, which is good.’
All the more reason to approach Yulid.
For that, we needed their cooperation.
‘The problem is these guys look down on us.’
What I needed were helpers… no, collaborators who would assist me, not people who would give me orders.
‘They seem quite loyal and unified. But they’re uncooperative because they look down on us.’
It was probably because there were only three of us, and we looked like nobodies serving a child as our boss.
Dietrich, picking at the shriveled beans on his plate, asked.
“Hey. Is this the entire resistance force?”
“For now, yes. When we were ambushed, everyone scattered. But we’re in contact to regroup, so we’ll soon recover much of our strength! We just need to hold out until then……”
Dietrich then leaned back in his chair with his elbows on the backrest, acting smug.
“Hey, don’t worry. These two… no, three people here are worth a hundred fighters each. Plus, they’re loyal subordinates.”
“So they’re your subordinates, young master! Heheh.”
“The subordinates are not theirs but mine—”
“Haha, that’s great! We were actually short-handed. Don’t worry, we won’t be too harsh. We just moved to this base recently, so there are many chores to do.”
They’re completely planning to use us as laborers!
We needed to work with them going forward, and to avoid friction, we needed to establish a hierarchy.
But then.
“No.”
Lynen crossed his arms and leaned back.
“I’ll pass.”
Dietrich’s eyes widened.
“…Come on, stop joking.”
“Saving several lives is enough. I won’t be involved any further.”
“W-why are you saying this now?”
Dietrich stammered in confusion. Losing Lynen, a Sword Master, would be a tremendous loss of fighting power.
Lynen glanced at him.
“I thought you were quick at calculations, Baron Rotten.”
“……!”
Dietrich’s expression froze with tension, seemingly understanding the implication.
‘Ah, could it be.’
I also caught on to Lynen’s intention. It made me smile.
‘Right. I wasn’t the only one who was annoyed.’
Duke Ortega himself had stepped in to establish the hierarchy.
Translator
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midori
Thanks! AAAHHH, i’m so excited to see calliphe meet her father! Finally, she’ll get a parent who dotes on her again!
Ahem, what did they say? Her father was poisoned by corrupt magic? Well that’s perfect, calliphe can fix it!