DBOFS 75

Chapter 75

“…….”

The woman who once bore the names Iogena and Sion, now living under the name Camilo and even disguising her gender, quietly stared at the person in front of her.

Jade.

Officially, it was known that she was Harris Godwin’s guide and a member of a cadet branch of the Redian Count family.

She had earned the rank of Dansung for her long years of devoted service to the long-imprisoned Harris Godwin and was now referred to as Baron Lian.

‘Ridiculous.’

Camilo had already consumed all the information she could access before arriving to meet Jade.

In reality, she wasn’t even part of the Redian cadet branch—she wasn’t even a commoner. She was a slave.

And not just any slave: a low-tier slave, so low that she couldn’t even appear at a slave auction, sold in a batch to the abandoned Godwin estate……

‘……Strange.’

Even if she didn’t know she was a guide, how could a young half-elf girl end up as the lowest tier of slaves?

“Y-Yes? From what you’ve said, it does sound strange… Until I went to prison, I had no idea such a child existed.”

The words of the slaves who had escaped before the estate collapsed were also significant.

‘Trapped together in a cage, pressed against each other without any space—none of them recognized her?’

Impossible.

According to the escaped slaves, a half-elf beauty had indeed been among them.

But she hadn’t been there from the beginning; one moment, they hadn’t noticed her, and the next, she was among the slave cages.

And the half-elf beauty they remembered was only one person……

‘A male.’

Androgynously beautiful, to the point of slight ambiguity.

Camilo adjusted the information in her mind and came to a certainty.

‘……An escaped test subject.’

The timing fit.

When the mage tower lord, Elisius, was absent, and the Mercenary King Alucas destroyed the tower, the test subjects trapped there either died or fled.

‘The traffickers had their own channels. The male half-elf beauty must have slipped through those channels into the slave cages and escaped the mage tower’s domain.’

Ruthless traffickers would capture anyone who came along, so no one would notice one extra among the slaves.

But at some point, the girl popped out, and the half-elf beauty disappeared simultaneously.

‘Why……?’

In fact, the first one Camilo had been searching for was that male half-elf beauty.

“……Wake up.”

Long, dark pink hair flowed down. Her fair, slender face was exquisite, and her body delicate.

Beautiful enough to be mistaken for a woman at first glance, but……

“You cannot die. So now, give up and wake up.”

The gentle voice carried a different ruthlessness in its words. The violet eyes looking up held a strange gleam.

She was beautiful.

So beautiful that it seemed Camilo could gaze at her endlessly.

Amid the pain of wishing she were dead, Camilo silently thought this as tears streamed down her face.

She would later realize, once her body recovered, that it was a guide’s instinctive awe as a gifted superhuman.

“……Adrian-sama.”

But he was gone.

Afterward, Camilo joined the underground information guild and, even now as its head, continued searching for Adrian.

When she first received a note from Jade, Camilo hesitated.

‘Should I kill her?’

She knew Harris Godwin was a high-level superhuman and that he favored his guide.

But the possibility that “Giyer Gaizen” might know what she meant to Camilo was a risk she could never ignore.

Even if it meant turning Harris Godwin, the presumed new master of the Godwin household, into an enemy, she had to eliminate her.

Yet she restrained the impulse, driven by curiosity as the head of the information guild.

‘How much could someone who knows my secrets truly know?’

Perhaps Jade held the key to reaching someone who shared all these secrets. That was why Camilo had come herself instead of sending agents.

And……

‘……!’

Camilo was inwardly shocked by Jade’s beauty, surpassing any description from her investigation.

Not just because she was beautiful, but because she resembled Adrian so much.

Camilo, more than anyone, knew how meaningless appearances were.

Yet even knowing this, she couldn’t help but be swayed by the uncanny resemblance.

‘Even the aura is strangely similar… and she recognized me immediately.’

Camilo’s transformation ability was powerful enough that even S-rank superhumans couldn’t detect it.

Yet Jade sensed something odd—and even recognized her……

“……After awakening my transformation ability, the first thought I had was clear.”

Organizing her thoughts, Camilo slowly spoke.

“‘I must kill Iogena Sion.’”

It wasn’t difficult. After the Mana Core was destroyed, the Duke of Isag presumed Iogena Sion was dead.

“She was actually close to death. Until I received guidance, I barely remember how I survived.”

Only she and Adrian knew this.

“……You know the rest, right?”

Camilo dropped the bait.

“Yes.”

And Jade, knowing it was a bait, nodded.

Unlike Mercenary King Alucas, who need only avoid enemies, or the pleasure-killing Duke, for whom friend or foe was a double-edged sword, Camilo was a card she absolutely had to secure.

‘To save Adrian, I need Camilo.’

Honestly, Camilo was even more necessary than Harris.

Harris was merely a convenient power-holder close to the emperor.

Not because he was useless, but because she didn’t want to rely on his power.

Jade wished his involvement remained minimal.

‘Harris is ultimately just being manipulated by my compulsion.’

Though he agreed, Jade felt guilt.

Unlike Adrian, she hadn’t persuaded him properly—she simply leveraged circumstances and skill.

Camilo, however, was different.

‘Though there were many steps, what I ultimately aim to do is theft.’

Even for a bank heist, she’d need confidential information about security systems and vaults. How then could she steal the crown from the Empire’s master?

‘I need to secure the head of the information guild.’

And Camilo would become an ally—because she was officially an ally of Adrian in <Sicheongwi>!

‘The only question is: as an ally of Adrian.’

Jade wasn’t sure if the mysterious, sudden Jade would become an ally.

So she deliberately provoked Camilo.

She revealed the secrets Camilo had tried to hide at any cost and wrote the name of someone Camilo must never know on a note.

To draw Camilo’s attention.

To show that she could be Adrian’s ally and Camilo’s ally!

“Adrian…… my brother told me.”

Technically, she learned it from <Sicheongwi>, but from Adrian’s perspective, it was as if he had told her.

Camilo, saved by Adrian’s dying guidance and care, recovered and retrieved a fake corpse, officially marking Iogena Sion as deceased.

Camilo successfully escaped the Isag Duke’s pursuit—but unfortunately, Adrian was kidnapped again.

‘Moreover, with Giyer Gaizen awakening, things became more complicated.’

For some reason, he didn’t believe Iogena Sion was dead, nor that she had tried to harm him.

‘And he sought her.’

Hiding in the underworld, Camilo found her aptitude and even took over the head of the information guild……

“…….”

Throughout Jade’s explanation, Camilo remained silent.

No answer was needed.

As the head of the information guild, she instinctively read information from people’s reactions and behavior.

‘……She’s real.’

This girl was indeed connected to Adrian.

Her appearance, demeanor, actions as Harris Godwin’s guide—everything pointed to it.

Camilo’s heart leaned toward her, but it wasn’t enough to devote everything to following her.

Should she provide only the information? Camilo pondered as she weighed her decision……

‘Hmm, how much should I let her know?’

Jade idly toyed with the stone on her necklace (Adrian).

And at the same time, the intense resonance Camilo had experienced once before spread from Jade’s heart.

‘……!!’

Camilo swallowed. The fleeting comfort she had once tasted turned into rapture.

Her previously uncertain heart now turned into conviction.

“-So, we currently need your guidance.”

Jade gave a vague explanation of Adrian’s current situation and flinched.

‘Huh, when did she uncover my face?’

Camilo had never revealed her face, even to her own agents, always using disguises.

Of course, Jade knew Camilo’s appearance.

From descriptions in <Sicheongwi>, she was a melancholy beauty with teal hair and eyes, and a mole just below her eyes.

She only knew the description.

‘Seeing her in person for the first time!’

As the man in the robe shifted into a beautiful woman, Jade stammered.

“T-That’s why I called Camilo. You may not believe it, but……”

“No, I believe you.”

“……As proof, okay?”

Jade hesitated. Camilo smiled with delicate eyes, almost intoxicating.

“I believe you. I will follow you.”

Do as you command.

Jade nodded absentmindedly, then suddenly realized:

‘Huh? Wait a second.’

Had she skipped a few steps……?

At that moment, a vibration shook the entire East Hall as if the building had been struck.

“……?!”