Ch.108The Southern Continent. (1)

At Olivia’s words, Seth couldn’t find a response for a moment.

More precisely, it was because her mental realm was at a much higher level than Seth had anticipated.

‘…Just how much does she know?’

How is it that every person he meets exceeds his expectations?

‘Is this person… really a witch?’

What on earth was she doing in the past to have such a thorough understanding of the Empire’s internal affairs?

‘This is… essentially supporting a claim to the throne. Was this her plan from the beginning?’

Elevating the First Prince to Crown Prince is fine. He was legitimately in the First Prince’s line after all.

But what benefit could that possibly bring to Olivia?

Seth swallowed dryly.

“That’s not for me to decide.”

“Then I should call your leader.”

“…Please wait for two hours.”

Seth tore a teleport scroll and disappeared.

It probably wasn’t a scroll that would take him directly to the Empire. He would likely make two or three stops to avoid revealing his location.

‘Though it’s a meaningless effort.’

[The owner of Clue #6 is the ‘Rebel’.]

It seemed that from the sixth clue onward, names wouldn’t be revealed.

It wasn’t particularly problematic. She obviously remembered the names anyway.

Olivia sat with her legs crossed, waiting for Calliophe to arrive.

Dusk was already falling.

She would arrive soon.

No sooner had the thought crossed her mind than a light flickered and someone appeared.

A woman with a black mask reminiscent of an assassin.

Unable to hide her unease, she was clutching the rapier at her waist.

“I heard the gist of it from Seth.”

As if she had spent the past two hours frantically searching for information about the Red Tower Master, beads of sweat that she hadn’t managed to hide were trickling down her forehead.

She probably hadn’t found any useful information.

The Red Tower Master Galdur himself would still be stuffed in a trash can, and the key negotiators—Kiel, the King of Martial Arts, and Esthie—would all be gathered in the Atilla Mountains.

Of course, the fact that she showed up here at all meant she had confirmed that Olivia’s words had some degree of credibility.

“What do you want?”

Straight to the point, then.

That meant she had no time to spare.

With the princess kidnapped by Eryas and the Second Prince’s support base shaking, this was a golden opportunity for the First Prince.

In other words, if they didn’t solidify their alliance now, they might face a counterattack at any moment.

“Nothing.”

“…Nothing? You expect me to believe that?”

“To be precise, what I want is for the First Prince to become Emperor.”

Calliophe looked at Olivia with suspicion.

“…What conditions did you extract from the First Prince?”

Olivia didn’t care about the First Prince. As long as the princess didn’t take the throne, that was enough.

Olivia deliberately feigned composure and smiled.

“Figure that out yourself. You’re good at that, aren’t you?”

At these words that were nothing short of provocative, Calliophe frowned.

“…Fine, let’s talk about the Mage Association instead.”

The two forces that divided the Empire’s military power: Knights and Mages.

And the organization to which all Tower Masters except the Golden Tower Master belonged was the Mage Association.

And the current head of the Mage Association was the Red Tower Master, Galdur Alibath.

“The Rothschild family is neutral. Are you aware?”

“I know. But criticizing the Red Tower Master rather than the head of the Mage Association isn’t a problem at all.”

Calliophe’s frown deepened.

“I thought you were going somewhere with this… but without Duke Kiel, the head of the family, personally stepping in, you can’t inflict even the slightest damage on the Red Tower Master. And Duke Kiel is…”

“Someone who doesn’t care what others do.”

But, at least not when it comes to Galdur.

“If you don’t believe me, meet with Duke Kiel. He’ll help you bring down Galdur. I’m sure he’ll accept.”

A sharp look crossed Calliophe’s face upon hearing those words. Her mind was racing.

If someone else had said this, she would have dismissed it as nonsense. But with Olivia, it was different.

The veiled witch. A person who understood the inner workings of the upper echelons even from the remote north.

“…I’ll need additional explanation. The risk is too great to act on just a few words.”

She asked.

Olivia grinned and answered.

“Duke Kiel and Red Tower Master Galdur. They have a personal grudge.”

“…A grudge?”

“Galdur attacked someone very precious to Duke Kiel.”

Calliophe was silent for a moment.

Her eyes seemed to be trying to gauge Olivia’s intentions.

“…The only person precious to Duke Kiel is his younger sister, Hilde Rothschild. And Hilde Rothschild is guarded 24/7 by high-ranking knights of the ducal family. Even if he is the Red Tower Master…”

“There’s one more. A close friend of the opposite sex who has been with him for a very long time.”

“…Do you think I’d fall for such a lie?”

“It’s not a lie. What would I gain from lying anyway?”

“Duke Kiel would become wary of us…”

“If he becomes wary, you wouldn’t trust my information as before. That would be a loss for me too. I’d lose a quality source of information.”

At Olivia’s words, Calliophe’s eyes trembled slightly.

Her fingertips moved to her lips in surprise.

“…Is it true?”

“Yes.”

Calliophe’s eyes darted around.

“…A friend of the opposite sex?”

“Yes.”

“So, the gender is female?”

“That’s right.”

“…A fiancée?”

No, we were doing so well, why go there?

“No. Just a friend of the opposite sex.”

“…Certainly, if the Red Tower Master had touched his fiancée, I too would challenge him to a duel first thing.”

“…”

Damn, she’s not even pretending to listen anymore.

It seems the word “engagement” has really caught her attention.

“I’ll say it again, just a friend of the opposite sex.”

“One doesn’t call a mere friend of the opposite sex ‘very precious.'”

…Is that how it works?

Olivia frowned unconsciously.

In trying to flaunt her friendship with Kiel, she had made a minor mistake in her choice of words.

Looking at Olivia, Calliophe grinned.

“So there was a hidden fiancée after all. I won’t ask why you tried to hide it.”

Olivia sighed deeply.

“Think what you want.”

“…To think that even I, the leader of the Night Ravens, didn’t notice the existence of a fiancée. Was the Rothschild ducal intelligence network this good? Perhaps we need to reassess their ranking…”

Calliophe had now completely fallen into her own imagination.

Olivia looked at her for a moment, then casually asked.

“How is the Holy Kingdom these days?”

“…The Pope is still absent due to the eastern negotiations. And there’s been a change in the final Saintess candidates.”

“A change?”

“From a two-person system back to three. Because a candidate named Livga withdrew her resignation.”

Calliophe readily shared the information she knew.

Of course, it wasn’t out of pure goodwill. Since Olivia had provided useful information, she was probably trying to repay the debt in this way.

Olivia asked tentatively.

“So it seems one can enter and withdraw from the Saintess candidacy at will.”

“Normally it’s impossible. But her abilities must be extraordinary, so even the Acting Pope had no choice.”

One who receives the favor of Aether, the Goddess of Light.

That was Livga.

“Both symbolically and in terms of total holy power, she’s on a completely different level from the other candidates. If one had to find a flaw, it would only be her age, but time will solve that.”

That meant it was practically confirmed.

‘I’ll have to hear the details directly, but…’

At least for now, she had no intention of meeting Livga.

[The owner of Clue #6 is the ‘Rebel’.]

Olivia changed the subject again.

“You must have informants in the south too, right?”

Calliophe’s red eyes turned to Olivia.

The somewhat excited atmosphere instantly subsided.

“…We do.”

Calliophe was from the southern continent.

And the south was land taken by demons.

The south was one of her few sore spots.

This was also why southerners had such a fierce temperament.

Humans who don’t become hardened don’t survive in extreme environments.

“And you must have a list of key figures as well, right?”

A question to which she already knew the answer.

“…Yes.”

“Give it to me.”

Silence fell.

And then.

Thud!

Calliophe took something out from subspace and placed it on the floor.

A document spanning hundreds of pages.

“If you cross the line…”

“I won’t. I’m different from other witches.”

The southern continent is forbidden territory.

A place where lesser demons appear constantly, where souls full of evil and despair wander.

And naturally, such evil lands attract the worst kinds of people.

From black mages to heinous criminals, witches…

It was understandable why Calliophe was acting this way.

If a witch of Olivia’s caliber went to the south, it would be nothing short of a disaster.

“When do you want to meet next?”

At Calliophe’s question, Olivia turned around.

“When I call for you.”

And she vanished in an instant.

“…”

For a long time afterward, Calliophe stood there blankly.

She finally managed to exhale.

“Damn it. I don’t want to die a dog’s death.”

Her intuition was violently trembling.

‘…Did I make a mistake sending her?’

Her intuition whispered that she shouldn’t have sent Olivia to the south.