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chapter 12
“Wake up, Guard A.”
A gloomy voice echoed.
Guard A gradually regained consciousness as he heard a voice so low and distorted that its origin was unrecognizable, sending chills down his spine.
The first thing he noticed was the darkness surrounding him.
Then, the splitting headache and the fact that his body wouldn’t move at all.
He realized he was tied up somewhere and opened his eyes wide.
At the same time, he saw the lower half of a man’s face partially hidden in the darkness.
From the upper lip upward, shadows obscured the figure, making it impossible to identify him.
Unsure whether it was due to some face-recognition-disrupting magic, Guard A shivered at the cold air and the overwhelming presence of the man sitting cross-legged before him.
“You’re faster than I expected. I was planning to start by blowing something up first, but this is unfortunate.”
The red lips of the man moved, and Guard A was completely terrified by what he said next.
“E-ek… I-I was wrong, I was wrong!”
“Do you even know what you did wrong?”
“Th-That… ah, anyway, I was wrong! Please spare me!”
The man let out a small chuckle.
“Guard A.”
“I… I’m not Guard A, I’m…”
“I don’t care about your name, Guard A.”
Caesar, who had already mobilized the information guild to uncover not only Guard A’s name and occupation but even how many pairs of underwear he had at home, spoke coldly.
Guard A immediately folded under the pressure.
“Yes, I am Guard A.”
“Do not add extra words. Answer only what I ask.”
“…….”
“Answer.”
“Yes!”
The aura of someone born into power, someone used to looking down on others, couldn’t be hidden by face-disrupting magic.
Guard A had completely succumbed to Caesar.
‘A low-ranking mercenary, was it?’
Caesar’s cold eyes scrutinized him from the darkness.
Not only the two captured guards but also the humans affiliated with the cult had been thoroughly investigated by the Erzioni information guild.
And all of it had been condensed into a few lines of text and delivered to Caesar.
All of this had happened in just three hours after returning to the capital mansion.
The course of a life often reveals a person’s character.
Caesar seated Guard A, who had more easily succumbed to power and intimidation, in front of him.
‘The stench of rot is strong.’
He let out a dry laugh.
When he investigated the fainted cult members, he found that all of them had been officially reported as “missing.”
They had supposedly gone on a pilgrimage and never returned.
In short, these were people who shouldn’t have been in the capital.
Regarding this, he questioned the one among the twelve who had been beaten by the guards and was the only one with the rank of mid-level priest:
“In the cult, rank is absolute. Above the trainee is the low rank, above the low is the mid-rank… But I disobeyed my superior. I was punished for not obeying.”
“So you were being punished?”
“Yes. They told me to despair and cultivate hatred. That was the last thing I could do.”
The mid-level priest spoke only that and then fell silent, as if frightened by something.
‘There is definitely something going on.’
Why risk being caught in the capital instead of handling it outside?
Probably, the phrase “despair and cultivate hatred” is a clue.
The misery and insignificance felt in the glamorous capital and the isolated fortress would be enough to fuel such emotions.
“The guards assigned to transport were trying to move those reported as missing somewhere.”
Where were they taking them?
Caesar narrowed his eyes as he coldly stared down Guard A.
It seemed the two guards were only responsible for transport. The one who issued the orders must be someone higher up.
There was no way two low-ranking mercenaries could manage this alone.
“Information is insufficient.”
The gaps in the information left many questions unanswered.
Who orchestrated this, what exactly were they planning to do, and where were they taking the people?
“Where did you receive this mission from?”
“Well… um…”
“Answer briefly. My patience is not that broad.”
Caesar continued the interrogation.
The information he obtained was miserable.
‘Not much known.’
As expected, this person was just a pawn.
A fool who jumped in just because he was promised money, unaware of the cult’s involvement.
Caesar discovered nothing more than traces left behind by the snake crawling along.
‘But he might be useful.’
He concluded.
Mana manifested, and a deeper darkness spread around Caesar.
This was no ordinary darkness. It was a loyal extension of his will, constricting around Guard A’s neck as if ready to kill him.
Guard A had a convulsion.
“G-g-give me mercy! I-I really don’t know anything more! I thought my mission was just to transport the target to a specific place!”
“Do you take me for a fool?”
Caesar reached out.
“Did you really not know what was inside the fortress?”
Snap. Guard A’s jaw was grabbed.
Caesar turned Guard A’s face as if inspecting it and spoke in a dry tone.
“I wonder if eyes are needed for someone who can’t even distinguish between living and dead.”
“G-g-gomen, gomen… sob, hic…”
Guard A wept, trembling.
He couldn’t not know.
He had even beaten the one inside out of annoyance when it struggled.
Both the cult that treated people like objects and this guy who transported them for money were the same.
Caesar spoke slowly.
“But… yes. You were paid, so you had no choice but to do it. What choice did you have?”
The darkness covering Guard A disappeared as if washed away.
The thing that had been tracing his eyes vanished.
Guard A, who had felt extreme terror, held his breath.
His survival instincts kicked in.
“Yes… I was only trying to complete my task.”
Caesar smirked crookedly.
“I’ll give you a chance.”
At those words, Guard A looked up desperately.
Though his face was still hidden in the darkness, his pupils dilated as if seeing a savior.
Caesar gave him time to savor both fear and hope and then said:
“Bring the item to its place.”
“Bring it…?”
“It means complete your mission.”
Clink.
A heavy pouch fell at Guard A’s feet.
The mouth of the pouch opened, and even in the darkness, gold coins sparkled vividly.
Guard A, forgetting his fear, stared at them as if mesmerized.
Caesar tapped Guard A’s jaw like commanding a dog.
“Then it’s yours.”
“R-really…?”
Guard A swallowed nervously.
“Why… to me?”
“Why does it matter? It was your mission anyway. You were supposed to do it from the start.”
“I… understand.”
“Well, if you don’t want to, you can quit. There’s another colleague. Let him handle it.”
Guard A shouted urgently.
“No! I’ll do it!”
Then, with a greedy look, he asked again.
“So, all of that is really mine…?”
“Of course.”
Caesar chuckled softly.
“All of it is yours.”
Whether he could use the gold in the afterlife was another matter.
“Yawn.”
Ririan yawned cutely as she woke up.
Caesar kissed her cheek.
“Princess, sorry for waking you early.”
“Mm… it’s fine. But what happened to those men?”
Her big round eyes looked at Caesar.
He smiled.
“They both agreed to do what Dad asked.”
“Really? I hit them with my stone hammer.”
“Seems it didn’t hurt much.”
“Huh… should I have hit harder…?”
Ririan said something frightening.
If she had hit harder, they probably would have died, but Caesar didn’t say so.
‘They were going to die anyway.’
Caesar used the information Guard A had revealed to interrogate Guard B.
Guard B, believing Caesar knew everything, surrendered immediately.
He gave them both the same mission.
That way, they wouldn’t act recklessly out of fear.
Of course, they didn’t know this.
“The guy told me there’s an intermediate transport point. Seems the transport personnel changes there.”
“Oh!”
“You and Dad sneak in there and tail the new people.”
“Sneak in!”
Ririan’s eyes sparkled.
“Like a real detective!”
“Right?”
“Yeah, I’m excited.”
He smiled and helped Ririan change clothes.
They looked similar to yesterday, but the clothes were different.
Ressa’s collection usually had a few such outfits.
After putting on his cloak, Caesar gave Ririan a warning.
“What if something happens?”
“I’ll take care of it…”
“Ririan.”
“…Wait for Dad!”
She barely got it right.
Caesar patted her head.
“Good. Then let’s go.”
A few hours later.
“…Ririan, do we really have to do this?”
“Yes. We need disguises to avoid being seen.”
The father and daughter hid inside a trash bin.
