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Chapter 48

“...”

Should I stay still? Or should I say something else?

While I was hesitating, Rudbick suddenly got up, retrieved the iron chains, and handed them to me.

“Want them?”

“Sorry?”

“What are you surprised about? I’m an older brother who hasn’t seen his younger brother for a while; there’s nothing wrong with me giving you a gift.”

A gift from my older brother?

I was taken aback. This was the first time in my life I’d been told that.

“You’re giving me a godly relic?”

“Yeah.”

“...”

“Look at this kid. It wouldn’t be weird for you to go wild with joy, but you look bothered instead.”

“I have learned that unprompted goodwill requires scrutiny.”

“Not cute at all,” Rudbick said as he shook his head. “You, do you know what a godly relic is?”

“One of the most precious treasures in the world. There are only 99 in existence.”

To be precise, “godly relics” referred to the relics of the 72 gods, 13 evil gods, 9 spirit gods, and the 5 kings.

The Sword of Seven Sins I’d acquired from that altar could also, in a sense, be considered a godly relic.

“Yeah. They’re treasures that can’t be bought even if you have dozens of carriages filled with gold.”

“I know. Still, I do not trust unprompted goodwill.”

“Look at how he talks.”

Rudbick laughed as he looked to the Lord of Blood and Iron.

It looked like he was asking for permission.

When the Lord of Blood and Iron gave a nod, Rudbick continued, “To put it frankly, that isn’t the real relic. It’s a replica.”

“A fake?”

“That’s right. But that doesn’t mean its effectiveness or worth is diminished. It was astronomically expensive to create.”

“Did the cult make it?”

“No,” Rudbick said as he kicked the chains with his foot.

“This iron chain, I borrowed it from the cult for this mission, and I’m pretty sure it’ll just be collected from me if I return it. I don’t want to have to return it, so I was going to use this mission as an opportunity to give it to the main house and say it was taken from me.”

“And you’re going to return to the cult?”

“That’s right.”

“Isn’t it dangerous? It looks like you failed your mission.”

Rudbick smirked.

“What do you know about the cult’s mission?”

“Isn’t it to kidnap someone who received a Blessing?”

“You’re pretty smart,” Rudbick said with a smile. “But I haven’t failed that mission.”

“What?”

“I have already secured someone who attended the Blessing Ceremony.”

I thought for a moment...

“I don’t think you’d kidnap just any normal young hero... so was it someone particularly evil?”

He seemed genuinely surprised. It took him a second to reply, “...That’s right. It was one of the rat bastards who tried to sneak into House Bednicker. I can’t give you the details, but they’re an enemy of Bednicker.”

“If they suddenly disappeared from within the main house, won’t the suspicion fall on us?”

“Do you think House Bednicker would handle it so sloppily? We waited for him to return to his territory. We left no traces either.”

In my heart, I finally realized that this young man before me was also a member of House Bednicker.

Sending someone to the Church of Darkness meant nothing less than death.

No, it would be even more terrifying than dying.

However, this man showed no hesitation or regret.

The only thing I saw were his eyes, which seemed to treat this as a natural outcome. He didn’t care how someone was treated if they were deemed an enemy of the House.

But I was a little surprised to find that I wasn’t much different.

“When I return to the cult, I will be praised for my work. Although the two people I was working with are dead, I finished the mission alone. I will be questioned about the loss of the chains, but I don’t think I’ll receive any real punishment.”

I looked at the chains and shook my head.

“They’ll try to retrieve the chains, so I’ll refuse.”

I didn’t know what might happen in the future, so I decided to maintain a low profile for now.

I didn’t want to walk around with a relic.

“Funny kid.” Rudbick laughed. “Family Head, I think this guy could work under me.”

Now that I thought about it, Rudbick was being much friendlier with the Lord of Blood and Iron than the other children.

I had a feeling that the Lord of Blood and Iron treated Rudbick better than someone like Hector.

Under this dark sky, I felt like I was seeing a personal side of the Lord of Blood and Iron.

“If you ever visit Ulca, go to Bix’s Workshop if you need help.”

“I don’t know if I’ll ever need to go there...”

But still, I stowed away the name “Bix’s Workshop.”

Then, the Lord of Blood and Iron said, “Go back for today and rest in your room.”

“Pardon?”

“Try not to meet anyone else, and return immediately to your room.”

For some reason, it felt like this was the first true order the Lord of Blood and Iron had ever given me.

“...Aren’t you going to ask more about my martial art?” I asked. I knew this question might create some friction, but I couldn’t help myself.

“No.”

“Why?”

“I don’t care about the origin of your martial art.” The Lord of Blood and Iron looked at the campfire as he continued, “What’s important is how strong you can become after learning an excellent martial art like that.”

“...”

“I’m looking forward to it.”

Was he praising me?

I felt a weird emotion I couldn’t express as I nodded.

“I’ll be going now.”

“See ya,” Rudbick said with a wave of his hand.

When I got up to leave, I looked back to see the Lord of Blood and Iron’s reaction, but he remained quiet as if he had lost interest in me.

As I left the forest, the Lord of Blood and Iron finally disappeared into the distance. When I got over the fence to return to my room...

I finally felt like the day had ended.

* * * * *

* * * * *

Rudbick looked in the direction Luan had left as he spoke.

“This won’t be the end.”

“...”

“Harba Garcia is but one of many frayed ends. He doesn’t have the power or the intelligence to plant people in the Fang Knight Order.”

“Hm.”

“I felt that the movement of the Council of Elders was particularly odd...”

The Lord of Blood and Iron remained silent.

“For now, the investigation into Hariba’s father, Reagan, has also concluded. He has had contact with the Church of Darkness, but he has only made a few deals with small fries. It might be worth keeping him around until he forms a stronger bond with the higher-ups.”

“No. Deal with him immediately,” the Lord of Blood and Iron said with a stern voice.

Rudbick nodded.

“Understood.”

“Anything else to report?”

“Not really.”

“I see. Good work.”

With that, their conversation paused for a moment, and only the crackling of the flame could be heard.

The person to break that silence first was Rudbick.

“He’s a funny kid.”

“He is.”

Rudbick raised his head as he looked at the Lord of Blood and Iron.

Although he had said that to start a conversation, he had honestly just been talking to himself. He hadn’t expected the Lord of Blood and Iron to agree.

“Did he interest you as well, father?”

“He offered me a deal.”

“What?”

“He offered to use himself as bait to draw out the cult.”

“...”

Rudbick closed his mouth.

Since receiving the order from his father, he had been watching Luan’s every single movement.

Although the two who had been with Rudbick had also been from the Church of Darkness, they had come from different sects.

As the Church of Darkness worshiped six different gods of disaster, there were six different sects in the cult. If one counted the subsects as well, there were dozens of different groups.

In any case, that was why Rudbick hadn’t revealed himself recklessly.

Honestly, ambushing Luan and teaming up against him hadn’t been part of the plan.

The other two had interrupted them.

“So it wasn’t your plan but his. Haha. Should I call this fearlessness?”

“He was confident he could at least protect himself.”

“Is that why you didn’t ask any further?” It was obvious what Rudbick was talking about. “How Luan became so strong.”

The Lord of Blood and Iron stretched out his hand, and the firewood started to jump about.

“It is the most boring question in the world. Power is a pure thing. No matter what goal he has, it will be revealed clearly through his strength.” The Lord of Blood and Iron quietly mumbled, “I will know what Luan is truly thinking.”

“Is that all? Don’t you have other thoughts about Luan?”

“What do you mean?”

“He’s your youngest son... He’s still a plump little kid. Maybe you want to hear him call you ‘Dad’... I’m sorry.”

Rudbick quickly lowered his head.

The Lord of Blood and Iron looked at Rudbick expressionlessly before saying, “When will you be leaving ?”

“I’ll have to leave soon. They’re pretty quick at catching on to things.”

“I shall await your next report.”

“Yes. Please stay safe, Family Head.”

With that, Rudbick left.

The Lord of Blood and Iron wasn’t worried. Rudbick’s greatest talents were his survival skills and his adaptability.

He knew that even if Rudbick were thrown into the middle of a war, he would be able to live quite normally for at least a few months.

After being left alone next to the fire, the Lord of Blood and Iron mumbled, “...‘Dad’?”

It was an odd thing to say with his own mouth.

He erased from his mind the weird thought implanted by Rudbick.

***

I awoke in my bed.

Immediately after opening my eyes, I became quite confused; my mind and body felt completely refreshed.

“What the...?”

When was the last time my condition had been this good?

It felt as if I had slept for three days and three nights.

I got up and did some light exercise to wake my body.

I opened the window, enjoyed the warm sunlight, and took in the scenery.

For some reason, it felt like the mansion was particularly quiet today.

Growl...

As I did my morning exercises, I felt an enormous hunger consume me.

If I went to the cafeteria right now, would there be any food? What time was it? There were so many useless pieces of furniture in this room, but there wasn’t a single clock.

Knock knock.

As I was thinking that, the door opened with a knock, and Arzan stepped into the room.

Arzan seemed surprised to see me up as she lowered her head.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t realize you had awoken—”

“It’s fine. Why are you so surprised?”

“Because—”

Arzan hesitated uncharacteristically.

Seeing her reaction, I felt that something was off.

“Was I asleep for long?”

“Yes.”

“How long?”

“Today is the fourth day since the conclusion of the Blessing Ceremony. You have been asleep for three days, young master.”

So I did sleep for three days and three nights.

Well, even though I hadn’t done much after my initial White Flame state, sleeping on Arzan’s back hadn’t been restful enough.

My physical exhaustion had finally disappeared.

“I was wondering why I was so hungry. Give me food. I’m starving.”

“It will be prepared immediately. But before that, young master, there is something—”

Another knock was heard, and the door opened again.

The person who appeared this time was Kayan, who also looked surprised to see me awake.

“My apologies. I didn’t realize you were—”

“I already heard that, so please move on.”

Kayan shut his mouth.

His expression looked more hardened than usual.

“What is it? Did something happen?”

“No. I just thought that you woke up at a very peculiar time.”

“What do you mean?”

“The Council of Elders have taken action.”