Ch.6464. Darius and the Three Musketeers

“Huaam.”

Deia stretches lazily and naturally rests her head on my shoulder.

While feeling the warm weight, I give her a gentle warning about her careless behavior.

“You’re too close.”

“Hmm?”

Deia responds by turning only her head while still resting it on my shoulder.

“You’re the most comfortable thing to rest my head on in this prison, that’s all.”

“……”

“Besides, this much skinship between siblings is normal.”

Her response is quite brazen.

The only siblings I can think of, if I had to name some, would be King Orpheus and Princess Elenoa Griffin.

They did seem quite close, so it makes sense, but I still can’t shake the feeling that I’m being fooled.

Deia turns her head again.

“Ah, it feels more comfortable when I can’t see your face.”

Well, if that’s the case, fine.

As I let it slide, Deia chuckles and brings up the topic of the Archmage from earlier.

“What are you going to do?”

“……”

“He said he could help us break out, right? Can’t we escape secretly just by taking his hand?”

The Archmage Rockpellican secretly approached Deia and me with none other than a prison break plan.

Surprisingly, he offered to take our side.

He apologized, saying that such treatment was too unfair for someone who had overcome three nearly impossible trials.

Since I couldn’t give him an immediate answer, the Archmage left, saying he would return later.

Normally, I should have eagerly accepted his offer with gratitude.

But I viewed Rockpellican’s proposal with some skepticism.

“Is his offer really for our benefit?”

“Huh? What do you mean?”

Not understanding, Deia presses her head down harder on my shoulder. It felt like she was throwing a tantrum for a quick answer, or perhaps protesting against my complicated explanation.

Feeling her weight, I honestly shared my thoughts.

“Archmage Rockpellican is fiercely loyal. He could be called the closest confidant among those who have served since the previous king.”

Rockpellican and King Orpheus had a relationship that went beyond just king and subject.

Rockpellican was Orpheus’s tutor when he was young, and Orpheus followed and learned from him like a spiritual mentor.

The two were practically family, which is why Orpheus didn’t keep secrets from Rockpellican.

“Hmm?”

Deia was impressed that I knew so much in such a short time, but I was merely recounting what I had seen in the game.

“All of Rockpellican’s actions begin with the royal family. That is, for King Orpheus.”

While Magic Tribunal Judge Tyrn All Veloqus is stubbornly loyal to the country, Rockpellican is loyal to the Griffin royal family, specifically to Orpheus.

This creates a crucial difference.

‘If it were Tyrn, he wouldn’t let this matter slide.’

He wouldn’t overlook the fact that the royal family supported a Black Mage who massacred citizens, and that he actually carries royal blood.

Rockpellican is different.

For King Orpheus, he can overlook such matters, turn a blind eye, and remain silent.

‘Would such a Rockpellican try to free me against the king’s orders?’

I can state with certainty.

There’s absolutely no way.

This needed to be considered from the opposite angle.

He’s not trying to free me because I seem wronged.

It’s only because I’ve become a significant headache for King Orpheus, and he wants to remove me.

‘He’s quite troubled about what to do with me.’

Whether to fulfill the promise and take responsibility, or to draw his sword in silence for the sake of the royal family and kingdom.

Suddenly, Shakespeare’s Hamlet’s soliloquy came to mind.

In a different context and twisting the phrase slightly:

To kill or to save.

That was the question.

King Orpheus, facing this dilemma, was under pressure.

If that was the case, Rockpellican’s plan was to release me—the problem itself—so that the king wouldn’t have to make a choice at all.

‘The flow isn’t bad.’

Unlike when I took the wrong route in the main story and suffered from mental illness due to shock.

He clearly recognizes his situation and is agonizing in pain.

Regardless of the outcome, now was the time to wait.

* * *

“Hoo, hoo!”

Late dawn.

Darius, unconsciously taking heavy breaths, calmly checks the sword at his waist.

Despite carrying it his entire life, making it practically a part of him, he keeps checking it out of anxiety.

“Wow, I never thought I’d be infiltrating the Griffin royal palace.”

“It would have been nice if the boss was here too.”

“What should we bring back as a souvenir?”

In contrast, the junkyard trio who came with him were grinning and enjoying themselves as if on a picnic, leaving Darius dumbfounded and astonished.

They were about to sneak into the Griffin royal palace. How could they be so confident? It was amazing.

‘No wonder they hang out with that crazy woman.’

He hadn’t noticed during normal life, but once the lid was off, they were no different from Findenai.

Is this how people change to survive in the Republic of Clark with its ominous rumors?

‘Should I call it evolution or just being broken? I can’t tell.’

Thanks to them, Darius felt somewhat less tense as he took a deep breath and looked up at the high wall.

The darkness naturally concealed them, but to break in, they needed to climb over that massive royal wall.

As Darius approached, stretching his hands with the intention of climbing to avoid detection by using mana,

One of the trio asked him:

“But are you really sure about this?”

“About what?”

He wondered what they were going to say after being so excited just moments ago, but surprisingly, they offered sound advice.

“I understand your siblings are important, but if we get caught, we could literally lose our heads. The entire Verdi family could be wiped out.”

Darius paused at those words. They weren’t wrong.

He was attempting to break out his two imprisoned siblings.

And one of them was a Black Mage.

A being extremely despised by the kingdom.

Even for family, if he tried to protect a Black Mage, it could go beyond just Darius losing his head—the entire history of the Verdi family could end.

“Yes, the family is important.”

If asked to choose what was most important to him, Darius would undoubtedly say the glory of his family.

The name of Verdi, the giant guarding the northern mountains, was Darius’s pride itself.

But two months ago.

The family had started anew, uncovering the ugliness that had accumulated over time.

With a tightly clenched fist, Darius declared firmly:

“However, I am not the only Verdi.”

“……”

“Those two also bear the proud name of Verdi.”

Hearing this, the trio smirked and agreed.

“Just say your siblings are precious to you.”

“Right, stop blaming it on the family.”

“Still, you’ve changed a lot since we first met you.”

“Ahem.”

As Darius cleared his throat awkwardly, one of the trio handed him a rope they had been carrying over their shoulder.

“Thought you might need this. We’ll get you inside, just hook this to the wall.”

“Hmm? You’ll get me inside?”

He wasn’t sure what they meant, but the three positioned themselves right in front of the wall and formed a jumping platform with their hands for Darius.

It was ridiculous and absurd, but…

“Haah.”

Since it seemed better than climbing the wall himself, Darius went along with it and charged forward.

“Heave!”

Perhaps thanks to the trio’s incredible coordination, Darius jumped higher than even he expected.

His body soared into the air.

He easily cleared the iron spikes on top of the wall and successfully landed on the other side.

“Huh.”

It seemed the trio had done this many times during their resistance activities.

They were not just skilled but professional.

As Darius was about to hang the rope over the wall to provide support for the trio to climb over,

“Hmm, quite bold.”

A chilling elderly voice came from behind. Darius’s neck creaked as he turned around.

At the same time, he immediately drew the sword from his waist.

A truly beast-like strike.

Darius’s first strike was remarkably sharp, befitting the giant who had long protected the northern mountains.

Especially after his crushing defeat against Findenai, Darius had grown through even more rigorous training.

But like with Findenai,

His opponent was terribly formidable.

Thud!

Before he could properly swing his sword, the pressure of mana pushed Darius back against the wall.

Pinned like a painting, he could only gape as he identified the being who had subdued him with a single move.

“Hasty, aren’t you? Completely different from your steady and heavy younger brother. Are you agitated because you learned your siblings were arrested?”

An old man with a tree-like staff, a robe so magnificent it bordered on mystical, and striking white beard.

“It’s quite amusing that you thought there would be no magic on the palace walls. If I hadn’t detected you earlier, you would have been roasted by now.”

Archmage Rockpellican Rinus clicks his tongue at Darius.

“Have you come to rescue your siblings, Count of Norsweden?”