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Chapter 118
Kilian ran into Count Enoch Bloua in the corridor of the imperial palace.
“Long time no see, Marquess!”
Enoch Bloua greeted him with an excessively bright voice.
“Should I call you the Marquis of Star now, or should I call you Young Master Velvet?”
When Kilian looked down at him indifferently without responding, Enoch’s expression began to sour.
It was a gaze that made people uncomfortable—one that felt as if Kilian could see straight through him.
“Haha, staring so blatantly like that is quite rude—”
“Should I call you Count Bloua… or should I call you Mateo?”
Enoch’s face froze at Kilian’s mocking remark.
“You’re even confusing my name? You must be carrying quite a heavy burden on your shoulders. Mateo? Who is that supposed to be?”
Kilian massaged one shoulder and rotated his arm.
“Well. Thanks to someone, the weight on my shoulders certainly is heavy.”
It wasn’t even a threatening action, but Enoch tightly pressed his lips together, unable to retort.
“Mateo.”
Kilian deliberately called him by that name again, clearly intending to provoke him.
“If you have nothing to say, I’ll be on my way.”
Kilian tapped Enoch lightly on the shoulder, then turned and walked toward the end of the hallway.
As soon as he disappeared, laughter tinged with madness echoed through the empty corridor.
“Hahaha! Haha! Ha… ha….”
The laughter gradually died down and soon turned into heavy breathing soaked in anger.
“Just wait, Kilian. Your arrogant days won’t last much longer.”
Enoch spat toward the spot where Kilian had walked and turned away.
***
Nox and Chambers also met the reporters they had worked with in the past.
“You were the one, right? The reporter who perfectly captured the moment when Madam pointed a gun at the enemy.”
“Yes, that was me.”
They were the journalists who had been present during the Laminis shooting incident.
Thanks to that shared experience, Nox and Chambers had helped them many times whenever external pressure kept them from writing the stories they wanted.
In return, the reporters even published promotional articles for Toto’s carrot cake.
“This time we brought you a scoop. You’ll write it, right?”
At the word “scoop,” the reporters’ eyes sparkled.
“What’s the story about?”
“Corruption between the imperial family and the temple.”
The reporters’ expressions stiffened as they looked through the documents Nox handed them.
“Is this really true?”
“Do these look made up to you?”
“But…”
Unlike their initial enthusiasm, hesitation now filled their expressions.
“If this story gets published, the whole of Vencent will explode.”
“You’re saying you’re too scared to write it?”
“We’re not saying we won’t write it. Just… please give us a little time.”
One of them cautiously asked,
“Can you guarantee our safety?”
The content they were being asked to publish was so explosive that it could endanger their lives.
“Of course. You guys are practically our brothers.”
At Nox’s confident assurance, the reporters let out a breath of relief.
“Then we’ll go back and review the material.”
“Contact us anytime if you have questions.”
Chambers handed them his business card.
A few days later, Chambers got a call from the reporters.
“Chambers, where are you going?”
After he took the call through the communicator, his expression darkened.
“There’s been a report that intruders broke into the newspaper office.”
“What?”
Hearing that, Nox jumped up from his seat.
“They must’ve realized the reporters were planning to publish the article.”
“‘They’ meaning who? The Emperor? The temple?”
“I’m not sure. But we need to get to the newspaper office quickly.”
“Alright.”
Nox and Chambers gathered their subordinates and headed there.
In front of the building, unfamiliar men were blocking the entrance.
“Nobody goes inside right now.”
When Nox attempted to enter, a man blocked him with his arm.
“Who are you people?”
The men said nothing, but Chambers tapped Nox’s back lightly.
“They’re from the temple.”
They weren’t wearing the uniform of holy knights to avoid drawing attention, but their swords bore the holy knight insignia.
“What business do the temple’s priests have at a newspaper office?”
Nox forcibly pushed down the arm blocking him.
“Move.”
“You cannot enter.”
Nox snapped his fingers.
In an instant, his men—along with Chambers’s subordinates—surged forward, shoving aside the holy knights and forcing their way into the building.
“As a holy knight, you shouldn’t draw your sword so carelessly against civilians.”
Chambers tapped the blade pointed at his neck.
“Aren’t you supposed to act only according to the will of God?”
“We warned you. Do not enter.”
“Why? Afraid your corruption will be exposed?”
The holy knight frowned deeply.
“What are you talking about?”
“Ah, so you really don’t know what your precious temple has been doing.”
Nox twisted the knight’s wrist.
“Urk!”
“So if you don’t know anything, step aside.”
There were only about ten holy knights guarding the place—including those blocking the entrance and those inside. They were easy enough to deal with.
They obviously hadn’t expected a mafia group to storm in as a unit.
Inside, the reporters were huddled against a wall while several priests searched the office under the command of a high-ranking cleric.
“See? Our information must be accurate if the temple sent people here personally.”
Nox sneered with open contempt.
“Who are you?”
“Isn’t it obvious? Mafia.”
The cleric froze at the sudden intrusion—then glared at the holy knights who followed behind.
His eyes clearly said, What were you doing that you couldn’t stop them?
The knights felt wronged.
There was no way they could stop so many armed mafiosi with just eight men—unless they caused a bloodbath in the middle of the street.
As servants of God, they could not swing their sacred swords against civilians without proper cause.
The cleric seemed aware of that too; he clicked his tongue.
They had made a mistake.
They should have investigated first who sent the evidence—had they known the mafia was involved, they would not have brought such a small team.
“Do you have a spy in your ranks? How did you even find out the temple was coming?”
Nox swept his intimidating gaze across the reporters.
“Where did you store the evidence we gave you?”
“I’m the one who kept it.”
Director Joyce raised his hand.
That made him the least likely spy—if he had been, the temple wouldn’t have needed to raid the office. He would have delivered the evidence himself.
“Well, we’ll uncover that later. Director, come here.”
Nox pointed a gun at the cleric and motioned for Joyce to move.
The priests and holy knights trembled; no one had ever pointed a gun at a cleric so boldly.
Even if imperial authority had weakened, the temple’s influence remained strong, and most mafiosi were devout Karpa believers.
Only one group dared treat the temple so roughly.
“You’re from the Star syndicate, aren’t you.”
The Star organization was the only mafia group that didn’t believe in Karpa.
“Yep. All the talented ones gather in Star, after all.”
The subordinates behind him awkwardly looked away.
Star’s worst reputation came entirely from their boss—Nox.
Chambers safely moved Director Joyce aside, then turned and warned the other reporters:
“Once this is over, you’d better be ready to die. Trying to sabotage a deal with the mafia? You must have a death wish.”
The reporters waved their hands frantically in protest.
“At what stage is the article?”
Nox asked Joyce.
“The final confirmation is done, and it’s already been sent to the printing press.”
“Aha.”
That meant the leak was more likely at the printing press. If the spy had been among the reporters, the temple would have been alerted before the article reached the printers.
“My apologies, gentlemen.”
Nox gave the reporters a curt nod, then signaled Chambers.
Chambers immediately left with several men, heading for the printing press.
After they left, Nox looked toward the cleric again.
“What do I call you? Are you their leader?”
“Leader? How dare you address a high cleric like—”
“You could’ve just answered ‘cleric.’ My ears are really suffering here.”
Nox stuck a finger in his ear and wiggled it.
“Say, Cleric, look at those poor holy knights. They look so confused about what they’re supposed to be protecting.”
The cleric glanced at the knights.
They seemed fixated on the word corruption from earlier, trying to gauge what was going on.
“Idiots,” he muttered.
“They’re not idiots. The truth will come out eventually. No need for everyone to tire themselves out.”
Nox shrugged.
“You’re all making a huge mistake.”
“I make mistakes every day and still live just fine.”
The cleric sighed heavily, covering his eyes with one hand. It had been a long time since he’d dealt with someone this draining.
“Anyway, we wouldn’t feel a shred of guilt killing any of you right here. You’d better go home while you can.”
At that, all the mafia members behind Nox loaded their guns with a synchronized click.
The cleric clenched his teeth in frustration.
“We will meet again soon.”
“I’d rather not, but sure.”
The cleric retreated with the priests and holy knights.
Once they left entirely, Nox asked Joyce,
“So, Director, where did you hide the evidence?”
“Threats and thefts are so common these days… I hid it in a secret vault only I know about. I’ll retrieve it for you.”
“Good.”
While Joyce went to fetch the evidence, Nox turned to the reporters.
“Hey, wasn’t I super cool just now? You got pictures, right?”
All the mafiosi quietly slipped out of the newspaper office.
If they didn’t, they’d have to endure Nox’s bragging the entire time he wallowed in his own emotions.
