Chapter 100

“Fire.”

The third incantation.

And the third soldier collapsed. As expected, it was a shield-bearer. The private soldiers, who had barely managed to regain their stance, were forced to choose retreat once more. There was no way to deal with the intangible bullets I was firing.

Our forces began to break through the sewers like a hot knife through butter. I didn’t even need to chant a fourth time. Before we knew it, we had arrived at the cavern beneath the sewers.

With nowhere left to run, the soldiers gave up resisting and surrendered. They looked up at me, still hooded, with eyes filled with terror. I approached them and asked.

“Where are the prisoners you brought from the Upper District?”

Since I couldn’t reveal that I was Shane, I altered my tone of voice.

“Th-that is…”

The soldiers were frantic to avoid my gaze. Seeing them hesitate to answer, I felt a sharp intuition.

“Did you kill them all?”

“…”

Their silence was an affirmation.

‘Damn it.’

I felt my hands trembling. Before my sword, which shivered along with my hands, the captured soldiers’ shoulders hunched in fear. I asked them.

“You could have at least let them live.”

The tip of my blade pointed at them.

“Do you fear your own death after killing people so easily?”

“P-please, just spare our lives…!”

The captured soldiers fell to their knees and began to beg.

“We didn’t kill them because we wanted to! It’s just that they ate so much, and…”

“That’s right! Besides, they were junkies and were causing a riot, so…”

I shouted at them.

“Who do you think fed them those drugs in the first place!”

Just then, Bard approached my side and whispered.

“…These men. What shall we do with them?”

Bard’s intention in asking was clear. ‘If you just give the order, I can kill them all.’

However, seeing him urge that kind of judgment made him seem all the more loathsome to me. I glared at Bard.

‘You were part of the same lot until just recently. If I told you to die along with them, would you do it so submissively?’

That question tickled the tip of my tongue. But I simply bit my lip. Ignoring Bard, I turned my gaze back to the soldiers.

“I won’t kill you. Instead, you will serve a different master from now on. Lead us to the place where the drugs are manufactured.”

Adele’s sharp voice lashed out through the silence of the night.

“Don’t be ridiculous. What does the Lower District have to do with me?”

“It has everything to do with you.”

Adele’s sword was raised right up to Malik’s chin. The trembling tip of the blade didn’t seem to be threatening Malik so much as it was urging him to continue. Malik spoke in a generous voice, as if granting mercy.

“You are certainly strong, but there is definitely military power in Denabi that can replace you. And you are the Emperor’s Hunter. To Shane, you’re nothing more than a bomb that could go off at any moment. Surely you know why Shane goes out of his way to use you?”

“…”

“Right now, Shane is trying to handle the Lower District issue. But you’re the only trustworthy officer by his side. Master Alejandro and the Denabi Legion have left for the expedition, and Izack is dead.”

Malik pointed at Adele with a sharp fingertip.

“To Shane, you have only two merits. You’re a tool that can be entrusted with the dirty work regarding the Lower District and one who can handle problems by his side right now. You’re nothing but a half-blade that is only useful in this specific situation.”

“…The Young Master is not the kind of person who treats people like that.”

“What do you know about Shane? Shane Astrier is a monster. He seized control of Denabi just a few months after ending his long seclusion, and now he’s reaching out to the Lower District. Just a few months ago, everyone in Denabi thought Shane was a useless cripple—a failure of the Astrier family. Yet, he defied everyone’s expectations and made this small world his own. Do you really think you can fathom what’s inside his mind?”

“I’m sure it’s better than yours, at least. A dark-hearted person like you wouldn’t understand. Shane showed me his true heart. He admitted the darkness within him, told me he is a weak person just like anyone else, and confessed his vanities and lies. I trust him.”

“Right. I’m sure you do. But what if Shane doesn’t trust you?”

Those words flowed into Adele’s heart as softly and sharply as water seeping into a crack in a rock.

“Was that ‘true heart’ he showed you really genuine? When no one has known Shane’s true heart for the past several decades?”

And Malik’s words, like years of water freezing and thawing in a rock crevice, repeatedly froze and melted, creating a crack in Adele’s heart.

“Look here, pure Hunter girl. Your connection with Shane has only been a few weeks.”

Malik said.

“You’ve seen it for yourself. How Shane Astrier uses his brain. Shane Astrier is a terrifying fellow. He anticipates everything. He can achieve everything he wants to achieve and possess everything he wants to possess. Just as he possessed Izack, and just as he possessed me.”

What Malik would say next was obvious.

“A guy like that intended to possess you. The most necessary card at the most necessary moment.”

“…Stop talking such bull.”

“Sure. I know how you feel. No matter what kind of person Shane Astrier is, you wouldn’t care. Because you’ve already given your heart to a man like that. That’s why you must become an indispensable existence to Shane. You have to become someone he couldn’t let go of, even if he wanted to.”

Adele had always thought it impossible for her to be persuaded by a man like this. She was peering into the vast abyss dwelling within Malik. Long ago, Adele had fallen into the clear pond that was Shane. She had seen his sincerity and was captivated by it. What Adele wanted to believe in was Shane.

Except, that is, for this very moment.

“What is the meaning of this?”

I stared blankly at the sword pointed at me. The one holding that sword was Bard.

“At first, I thought you had seen through our intentions. I thought you had driven us into a situation where we couldn’t betray you… but.”

Where we stood was a flower garden underground.

‘How can flowers like these bloom in a cavern where the sewage from beneath the pipes collects?’

I thought to myself as I looked at the petals reflecting off the blade, glowing with their own light.

However, unlike the fantastical scenery surrounding me, my current situation was not exactly ideal.

In fact, it wasn’t as if I hadn’t anticipated this. I had prevented Bard and Malik from sharing our strategy until the very end, but I never thought I could stop their secret collusion or their plan to betray me. In the first place, this was the perfect situation to stab me in the back.

‘There’s the Underground Council to take the fall instead of Malik, and if I go missing in a sewer like this, it becomes difficult to pinpoint the mastermind behind this plan.’

Furthermore, every member of the unit that came to these sewers, excluding myself, was a vigilante from the Lower District.

Bard spoke up.

“I was truly surprised when you used magic. I didn’t know you possessed such a skill. Hmmm. But of course, that won’t work now. If you even attempt to chant, I will cut you down instantly. I’ve heard every single incantation you used, Young Master.”

I raised both hands high in a gesture of surrender.

“Isn’t this a bit much to do to the person who saved you all, granted you amnesty, and even gave you new jobs?”

“There is nothing personal in this. You certainly would have become a fine lord, Young Master. You would have made the Lower District a better place.”

Then why the betrayal? I tilted my head pointedly.

“Then why are you doing this? Let’s hear it.”

“Well, it wasn’t my idea, but… my brother and Mr. Malik put it this way.”

Bard flicked the hand holding the sword as he continued his story. Consequently, I had to pull my chin back with all my might to avoid the swaying tip of the blade.

“What the Lower District wants isn’t a better Lower District. It’s a reversal.”

“A reversal?”

“No matter how much you improve the Lower District, the Lower District will always be the Lower District. Because there are things that can never be overcome. The sunlight that never reaches the canyon, the water that never flows from bottom to top. And the history that can never be erased.”

‘History… I see.’

“To exact revenge for the long years we’ve lived as people of the Lower District, we have no choice but to become people of the Upper District. I suppose that’s how they thought. In the end, what the people of the Lower District wanted wasn’t the sympathy or charity of the Upper District, but the Upper District itself. Well, it’s not entirely incomprehensible, is it?”

Indeed. I thought it wasn’t entirely incomprehensible. I, too, had often felt a sense of deprivation due to the differences in innate environment and talent.

‘There is truly only one way to escape that sense of deprivation.’

It isn’t simply about becoming better than before; it’s about surpassing the opponent. A reversal of the relationship. Only that can overcome the past feelings of humiliation and inferiority.

“But that method doesn’t necessarily have to be stealing from others, does it?”

“The Upper District has always enjoyed far greater benefits than the Lower District. Think of it as the time having come to pay the price.”

“…The price. Heh.”

A hollow laugh escaped me.

“In the end, you all just want to throw a tantrum at the easiest target nearby.”

“…?”

A subtle look of displeasure clouded Bard’s face. I continued.

“Then why don’t you go to His Imperial Majesty and ask him to swap this godforsaken Denabi land for the prime real estate of Lutetia? Then you wouldn’t have to suffer from dungeons or barbarians.”

“That’s ridiculous…”

“Right. You think that’s ridiculous, yet you’re perfectly fine with doing this to your own neighbors?”

“…The people of the Upper District do not deserve to enjoy the blessings of the Upper District.”

“You’re repeating yourself. No one in this world is born with that kind of ‘deserve.’ What makes you think you’re so much better than Yelena, who works in my office, that you get to walk on two legs while she can’t? If Yelena asked you to rip off your legs and give them to her, would you do it gladly?”

I lashed out at Bard without hesitation. My mouth was operating beyond my control, as if it had a will of its own. It didn’t know when to stop, rebuking every vigilante standing there.

“I won’t give you any of that bull about being grateful for what you have. But if you’re going to steal from someone, shouldn’t you at least stop making excuses with that crap about who deserves what? You’re utterly shameless.”

In the end, Bard couldn’t contain his anger. He pressed the blade against the hollow of my throat.

“…That’s enough lecturing, Young Master. It seems you need to watch that mouth of yours and consider your current situation and position a bit more.”

“My situation. Right, my situation.”

I repeated Bard’s words.

“But don’t you think this situation is just a little too ideal for you all?”

I asked suddenly. Bard narrowed his eyes suspiciously.

“I told you I don’t trust you. Yet, I volunteered to come here with you and allowed myself to be isolated like this. I even set the table so it’s easy for you to wash your hands of my murder.”

I mocked Bard.

“Do you really think… this is what you intended?”