Chapter 70

Q. What is the most ideal way to shatter the dreams and hopes of children?

A. Take them on a field trip to the Imperial Guard Bureau’s Mausoleum Subjugation Department.

That was Adele’s personal philosophy.

‘Because in that place, no matter how brilliant a kid is, they’ll end up feeling like they have no talent at all.’

The Imperial Guard Bureau was a gathering place for all sorts of monsters wearing human skin. Any mediocre talent was bound to have their pride broken there. In such a place, self-confidence was practically a taboo.

In the same vein, Adele considered herself a very unusual case. If anything, she had discovered one specific talent of hers while at the Imperial Guard Bureau.

“Your name is Adele, right? Since we’re in the same class, let’s be friends.”

“Hmm. Not really.”

“…Huh?”

“I said I don’t want to.”

‘Their eyes are empty.’

Only a few months after that interaction, that same classmate was promoted. It was because a senior officer had died. Watching the eyes of that classmate as they smiled secretly before the funeral, Adele thought to herself:

‘I knew it.’

The Imperial Guard Bureau was home to every kind of human archetype. It wasn’t that Adele remembered every single name or face; rather, she saw what was inside rather than the shell.

Talent, ambition, desire. Adele was someone gifted at reading those things.

Meeting various high-ranking officials and brilliant minds at the Imperial Guard Bureau led her to a single conclusion.

The world is pitch black.

Both those sitting in high positions and those aiming for them—without exception, they were all black-hearted inside. She didn’t think it was strange. Fighting is dirty. Politics is dirty.

‘So how filthy must a place be where you have to do both politics and fighting?’

She decided not to be cynical. However, she couldn’t bring herself to be optimistic either. Yet, on the fringes of this seemingly black world, she met him.

Shane Astrier.

The third son of a tiny fief.

At first, Shane appeared to be just an ordinary person full of ulterior motives. She didn’t know exactly what he wanted. But at any rate, he seemed to want to take a share of the spoils from the series of events involving the Sword of Four Seasons.

Adele thought he would be a troublesome opponent. A strong enemy could simply be suppressed with strength… but the smart ones were a nuisance. If left alone, she felt he would become an even more annoying variable.

Yulian shared this perspective and was wary of Shane. Thus, Adele volunteered to keep Shane under surveillance.

As she began her watch, Shane proved to be as suspicious as expected. Despite being a mere third son, he was running the fief in the Lord’s stead; none of the subjects seemed dissatisfied with the arrangement; and he was in a state of itching to start something new.

‘What on earth is he trying to do?’

Anyone can harbor ulterior motives. What matters is the purpose behind those motives. So, Adele intentionally stepped away just once. She planned to eavesdrop on Shane’s words. After all, he wouldn’t reveal his true intentions in front of her.

However, Adele gained nothing from the conversation between Izack and Shane. To be precise, she denied what she had gained. Shane, talking to Izack, simply looked like a good person.

‘But there’s no way that’s true, right? I won’t be fooled. No matter how good you are at hiding your true heart.’

Adele decided to observe Shane a little longer. Yet the more she watched him, the more the mystery inside her seemed to grow.

Once, she had spoken with Shane about the emotions of the lower district people.

“Do you think providing labor and housing in the upper district will make them upper district people? Absolutely not. Trying to turn them into upper district people by giving them material things will only invite resentment.”

“How can you be so sure?”

“…The jealousy, the envy, the sense of deprivation they will feel. Those emotions that never leave you, even if you leave your hometown or your environment changes.”

“…?”

“Because I am the master of those emotions. That is how I know.”

Adele’s mind told her she should scoff at those words. It was obviously a lie. What could Shane, a son of a Lord, possibly be lacking to harbor such feelings?

But Adele’s heart was telling her that the emotion contained in Shane’s words was the stainless truth. It was something that couldn’t happen in the world she had lived in until now.

To her, the world was black. It had been that way her whole life. Why? Because people harbored dark emotions? No.

‘…Because even when they harbor dark emotions, they never, ever admit to it.’

In Adele’s world, where that was common sense, the existence of Shane was utterly alien. The simple act of speaking one’s emotions honestly—that might be absolutely nothing to someone else.

But that “nothing” had shattered Adele’s world.

“Then why did you do it?”

“Because I don’t want to lie to someone I truly want to make one of my own.”

It was when those words were spoken. At that moment, I made up my mind to make Adele one of my own. It had been quite some time since Adele was recognized as a [Recruitable Human Resource].

‘You… hy?’

I couldn’t help but be flustered.

It was true that Adele had acted as if she had feelings for me.

However, I never once believed those feelings were genuine.

It was too obvious.

“I like you.” “You’re handsome.”

She would flirt with me using words like those, but in my eyes, her gaze was nothing but indifferent. It was to the point where I doubted if she even saw me as a man.

But at some point, Adele’s reliability began to skyrocket.

The upward curve was steep.

In the few weeks we spent together plotting the strategy for the lower district, Adele’s reliability had reached a level similar to Izack’s. The way she looked at me had changed completely as well.

Even as a naive fool, there was no way I could miss it. We had been stuck together every single day, after all.

‘Her soaring reliability is due to an unexplained affection she harbors for me.’

…There was no longer any room for doubt.

‘Izack’s reliability growth has stagnated… and right now, I have no reliable military force by my side.’

I wasn’t particularly worried about my own physical safety. The problem was the people of Denabi.

The conflict between the upper and lower districts.

I intended to resolve it without mobilizing any force. But would the other side think the same way? Malik already had a record of three attempted raids. If things got difficult, he wouldn’t hesitate to use violent means.

I needed a way to control that situation.

‘That’s why I wanted to make Izack my ally…’

Waiting for him might have been one way. Postponing the lower district strategy until he finally joined my side.

But then, someone inside me spoke.

‘Why should you be the one dragged along?’

And that voice made me turn my head to look elsewhere. Adele was there.

‘Why should you be dragged along by someone else? You’re the protagonist.’

A crisis. An option. And Adele, an opportunity that seemed prepared just for me.

If I could make Adele my ally, the situation would improve dramatically. The Sword of Four Seasons, the Emperor’s Hunters, the lower district, the lack of force… those would all become stories of the past.

I looked down at the status window.

The best card drawn at the most exquisite moment. There wasn’t a single reason to reject her.

“But… a disappearance, huh.”

‘He’s using his head.’

I tapped my cheek with the hand supporting my chin. Adele and Izack. Before my eyes stood the only two first-class powerhouses currently in Denabi Castle.

‘But to think I can’t use either of them.’

“Malik isn’t a pushover, either.”

If he had caused an overt act of violence, it would have been easier. I could have just asked Adele to handle it. Since there would be a justification for suppression, backlash from the lower district would be minimal, and if handled well, I might have even suppressed the dissatisfaction of the upper district.

“But to make people ‘disappear’ like this, leaving us unsure of who did it or what exactly happened… there’s nothing we can do.”

“It might not be Malik’s doing.”

“That’s a possibility,” I replied dryly.

Then Izack spoke. “I’ll mobilize people to search for them.”

“Yes. Please do. I’ll tell Avenger to ask around in the upper district. That way, we can avoid the suspicion that we’re only blaming the lower district.”

“…Fine.”

As Izack turned to leave, his expression was dark. It was the face of someone with a very bad premonition.

It wasn’t long before the news of a second disappearance arrived. Naturally, the faces of Avenger and Izack as they reported it were not bright.

Avenger said, “We haven’t found anything regarding the first disappearance, and already there’s a second. This time, it’s not even one of our employees. Naturally, the people of the upper district are suspecting the lower district. If there is no improvement or if the situation worsens, the justification for keeping the gates open will vanish.”

Izack replied, “I know. I’m doing my best to find them.”

“But hasn’t the situation only gotten worse?”

“…….”

Izack couldn’t find an answer to Avenger’s point. He bit his lip. Avenger continued to push him.

“You, Mr. Izack, are the only window of communication we have with Malik. Didn’t you negotiate with him? Why is this happening?”

“Because his control is being threatened.”

“The Young Master has not made any threat toward him. Nor has the upper district. The only ‘threat’ he received was the lower district residents choosing for themselves to use the upper district market! Surely you aren’t trying to say that it’s okay to harm innocent citizens for a reason like that?”

“We still don’t know what happened to those who disappeared—”

“We don’t! And that’s exactly what Malik is aiming for! If they didn’t ‘harm’ them but they simply ‘disappeared,’ the perpetrator remains unknown! We can’t hold Malik responsible!”

“…….”

Izack fell silent.

‘Shouldn’t you stop them?’ Adele looked at me with those eyes.

Well, it was about time to intervene. But Avenger was doing a good job.

I spoke up. “Mr. Izack. I know you want to protect the lower district.”

“…What are you trying to say?”

“I just want to ask.” I looked up at Izack from a slight angle. “Do you still think Malik is a necessary existence for the lower district? A man who pulls this kind of stunt?”

“…….”

“If you have a mouth, speak up.”

“As I said just now, we don’t know yet what happened to the missing people. Malik being the culprit is still just a guess. I’ll go find those missing people. Won’t that be enough?”

“‘As you said just now.’ I like that phrase. Didn’t Avenger just say it too? You already said once that you would negotiate with Malik. And of course, you failed.”

“…….”

“I said I would endure it. As long as Malik didn’t do something like this. But it has happened.”

I continued to pressure Izack. ‘If I keep pressing him like this, he’ll eventually have to spill information about Malik.’ That was the calculation.

But then…

—Knock, knock.

Yet another piece of unexpected news opened the office door and arrived.

“Young Master, the missing people… they have returned.”