Chapter 18: To the Capital of the Empire (5)
After holding the man’s hand for a while, Rubia began to reassess the situation she found herself in.
Despite the hand-holding, she still had no clue about what was occurring around her.
‘So, who exactly are these people?’
Three figures had entered. They all wore identical black robes, indicating they were part of the same group.
Their strength was downright extraordinary. The girl with white hair, petite in size, subdued all of her forces as easily as twisting a child’s wrist. Crack!
And it didn’t even seem like she held a particularly high rank within the organization.
Then just how powerful must the leader of this organization be?
It was beyond imagination.
And it wasn’t just their strength that was impressive.
Cue the dramatic music. Their intelligence was off the charts.
The fact that she intended to sell that business to the empire was knowledge only shared among herself and the key figures within the empire.
So how in the world did they find out?
How could they know so much about the inner workings of the empire?
A cold sweat began to trickle down Rubia’s back. Drip, drip…
In a way, this was expected.
A group armed with that level of intelligence and strength wouldn’t just emerge out of nowhere, right?
So what’s the verdict?
Dum dum dum! It’s simple.
Cue ominous music. The Black Fangs. The organization causing quite the ruckus in the empire.
They had assassinated the commander of the empire’s knights and, although it wasn’t public knowledge, also eliminated a top leader of the empire.
To top it off, they had recently annihilated an elite force of the empire, securing their status as a notorious organization.
In spite of committing such monumental acts of terror against the empire, their motives remained murky.
Dun dun dun! No information about their members had been disclosed, making them a secret organization that could shake the empire as they pleased.
Only then did Rubia realize just how precarious her situation was.
After hearing the man’s words, she had taken his hand, feeling uncertain about the path she was now on.
What if…
What if she hadn’t been persuaded by this man?
What would have happened then?
If she had merely pretended to accept the man’s offer and plotted to betray him later?
Shudder! It wasn’t hard to imagine what might have followed.
The leader of a group like the Black Fangs wouldn’t have missed her little deceit.
She would have met the same grim fate as a few others who attempted to dig up information on the Black Fangs, meeting their doom in hysterics as they stabbed themselves in the head. Thud!
Rubia just realized she had narrowly escaped death.
Whew! What a close call! Why did I grab that hand?
While pondering this, a sudden realization hit her.
The head of the Black Fangs had approached her seeking cooperation, and she had happily taken his hand.
Wait a second… does this mean… I’m in?!
Her face went deathly pale in an instant.
She was only reflecting on her life a bit, promising to mend her ways after a little self-reflection, and now she found herself tangled up in a secret organization.
Are you kidding me?
Not just any organization, but a notorious one creating unprecedented chaos within the empire.
As she poured tea with a sense of leisure, her hands trembled. Shaky shake!
Yet, she quickly pulled herself together.
There was no turning back now, even if she wanted to. Even if it was all an ignorant mistake, the moment she uttered it, it would mean an instant farewell to this world.
So long, farewell!
And upon reflection, it wasn’t all doom and gloom.
The Black Fangs, much to the empire’s chagrin, had yet to reveal their membership count.
Their security was alarmingly tight.
Like a fortress!
But on the flip side, that man had seen right through everything—her plans and the internal affairs of the empire.
It was crystal clear who held the upper hand in terms of intelligence.
And strength? From her firsthand experience, they hardly seemed lacking.
If this organization was indeed moving towards a revolution, as the rumors suggested…
Wait a minute… is that really a possibility?
Maybe… they could actually pull it off.
Rubia organized her tangled thoughts and concluded.
There’s no harm in getting involved.
In fact, it might even be quite the advantage.
Bingo!
But the crucial part is…
“D-Do you like tea? …I mean, do you enjoy it?” Super awkward!
Yikes!
It’s terrifying.
Cue horror music. How in the world is one meant to serve the leader of a secret organization who treats a powerhouse capable of pulverizing walls with a single punch as just another subordinate?
Rubia felt like she might burst into tears at any moment. Sniffle!
*
Rubia turned out to be much kinder than I expected.
In fact, her kindness was so overwhelming it caught me completely off guard. Despite my rude intrusion, Rubia took my words seriously.
And it wasn’t just because she felt threatened and was pretending to listen to us.
Siel mentioned she didn’t sense any hostility from Rubia at all.
Although the previous work lacked mind-reading magic, Siel wasn’t the type to lie in such situations.
Moreover, among demons, there are rare ones who can read emotions, so it wouldn’t be too surprising if a demon contracted with Siel possessed a similar skill.
How bizarre!
‘I was even geared up for confrontation, and here we are drinking tea!’
To think she’d serve tea politely with honorifics to someone who barged in like a bull in a china shop.
And without a shred of malice, mind you.
She was a paragon of virtue, unlike any I’d ever seen.
Is this the norm for main characters in this tale?
Now that I think of it, it started with Siel.
She had offered half her soul to a demon to save me even though she didn’t know my name yet.
Lien had also abandoned her close-knit village to come help me, embarking on this bizarre journey purely from my request.
Both were astoundingly kind and good-hearted.
Seriously, what gives?
Considering many protagonists in past works had nasty personalities, this was quite unusual.
Could it be that the overtly gory developers had finally decided to aim for a more mainstream appeal?
Regardless, this was a lucky turn of events for me. There was no downside to having characters with such positive personalities.
I sipped the tea Rubia graciously provided, asking her to drop the formalities and speak comfortably.
“I’m truly sorry. I had to resort to a bit of coercion, it seems…” Awkward!
What exceptional hospitality! I had a conscience, so I felt compelled to sincerely apologize to her.
“Oh, no, it’s okay. These things happen.”
Such a kind reply.
I was marveling at Rubia’s character when I noticed something slightly odd.
It seemed her gaze wasn’t focused on me.
Now that I think about it, I sensed something ominous lingering behind me for a while now.
Every time I apologized to Rubia, the foreboding presence felt like it intensified.
I turned around to see what lay at the end of Rubia’s line of sight, but it was just Siel standing there, sipping tea like a cat. Slurp, slurp!
…Wasn’t that my tea?
About to say something, I thought better of it.
From my experience of traveling together, it was easier to overlook Siel’s bizarre behavior.
Besides, I had other pressing matters at hand.
“I hate to impose, but is there any chance we could receive a bit of support?” Fingers crossed!
I cautiously broached the subject with Rubia.
This was the biggest hurdle I faced.
I wasn’t particularly worried about requesting help to deal with the mastermind.
After all, Rubia was a good character. If I told her about the schemes in play, she would naturally want to intervene of her own accord.
But then again, that was separate from receiving support.
I honestly had no idea how to justify asking for support.
Even if she was a virtuous character, a businessperson is still a businessperson. She wouldn’t just hand out aid for no reason.
And I certainly couldn’t share the actual reason.
I couldn’t possibly tell her that this world was actually a game and I needed help to prevent the apocalypse I had seen hinted at in the trailer.
So all I could manage were vague platitudes about needing support to make the world a better place, as if I were some kind of charity organization.
But I thought there was no way she would agree to such nonsensical requests.
Or so I thought…
Rubia eagerly nodded, seemingly expecting this very request.
Is this real life?
Really?
She would support me based on these utterly absurd, nonsensical words?
I asked her repeatedly if she was serious, but her response remained unchanged.
She even declared that she would pledge a mana oath to back it up.
“Don’t worry about that cure business… I’ll make it as if it never happened right now.”
Hearing those words, I finally felt everything had been perfectly resolved. Sure, there had been hiccups along the way, but this was undeniably a monumental success.
I had accomplished both objectives flawlessly: securing a powerful ally and dealing with the dark forces.
“Thank goodness!” Phew!
“Huh? What do you mean by thank goodness…?”
Uh-oh…
“I was wondering whether I should kill them. It was a real conundrum.”
Could things have turned any better?
Rubia had clearly stated she wouldn’t kill the individual orchestrating the scheme but would render the issue nonexistent as if it had never been there.
I’m no psychopath; given the chance to resolve matters without bloodshed, I’d naturally prefer a non-lethal approach.
Thus, I genuinely smiled and said,
“It’s a relief that we can resolve this peacefully, without resorting to killing. Right?” All smiles!
BANG! The teacup crashed to the floor. Rubia’s face went pale instantly.
She must have cut herself on the shards!
‘Uh oh, Siel’s help should be on the way!’
I thought that while shaking hands with Rubia.
Looks like we’d be seeing a lot more of each other in the future!
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