Chapter 158: The Two Men Will Go All the Way Through (1)
by Afuhfuihgs
“You caused a real incident this time.”
Thud-!
The hand that could only be described as delicate dropped a newspaper before spreading it open on the table roughly.
[Sultan Salah in critical condition.]
[Western assassins found around the carriage?]
[Sultan Mahaba’s flag discovered. A new cloud of war loomed on the west…]
The incident that happened last night, the attack on sultan.
It was reported that the most probable culprit of the attack was the Hassassins of the West. They caught the sultan by surprise, attacked him, and inflicted serious injury on him. But, they failed their mission in the end and chose to commit suicide.
However, that wasn’t the truth of the matter at all, far from it. Those who knew of the truth were now dealing with the massive headache this incident caused.
“Someone who wields a sword should be prepared to get stabbed.”
“Haa… Smooth words…”
“Well, I…”
“That’s not a compliment, you idiot.”
Thud-!
She finally picked up the fan and hit the knight’s head, but unfortunately, his head had become harder than before.
“Kuhh.”
“Are you okay, Sister? Why are you hitting me like that? You’ll only hurt your own wrist.”
“You annoying thing…”
The woman, Isis, was rubbing her wrist that was hurting from hitting him. For once, there was a frown on her brows.
“…Your head has gotten harder than before.”
“I trained a little.”
“Haa…!”
How shameless…
Even when he said so, his face showed no sign of any remorse. Well, to be honest, Isis, who had summoned him, didn’t think he had done anything wrong either.
However…
“This lady wishes you had told her before you did something.”
“…Sorry.”
“Are you really?”
“…If you ask me that, not really?”
“…Next time, this lady will prepare a stronger metal fan.”
This annoying guy…!
It was these kinds of moments that made Isis find her stepbrother detestable.
Originally, Lee Han had planned to kidnap the sultan to hear the truth out of his mouth.
However, unfortunately…
-Sir, what good would it be to obtain the truth through threats?
There was a saying that said truth was greater than instigation and fabrication.
Even if he tortured the sultan to force the truth out, he’d just pretend to be a victim until the very end. If he said he didn’t remember doing any wrong, just like a drunk driver, it would be the end of it. Or, if he said that he forgot everything due to the shock and weak mental state, that would also be the end of it.
Hence why, even though Lee Han was left disappointed and disgusted, he had no choice but to give up on kidnapping him. After all, that was how the world worked.
Though he hated that it had to come this way…
-Then I just don’t need to kidnap and torture him, right?
-Huh?
-Let’s turn that guy into an actual victim. That’ll make me feel somewhat satisfied.
-W-What do you mean by that…
-I’m going to do things my way.
-??
That was how Lee Han came to attack him. Also, as promised, he didn’t leave any evidence.
During that whole ordeal, he had to admit how capable Galahad and Tristan were. They didn’t even leave a trace of their presences, and they redirected all the circumstances surrounding the incident to those within the sultanate.
“I know it’s embarrassing to say this myself, but I feel bad comparing them to those white cats.”
“…Do you know that saying such words in front of this lady is the same as spitting on this lady’s face?”
“So what? I was actually there and did my job.”
“…”
Lee Han said proudly. Indeed, he did what he could.
On the contrary…
“What about you, big sister? Usually, you seem to have clairvoyance, but this time…”
As Lee Han started to criticise her, Isis’ eyes widened for the first time. It was as if she found it refreshing to be scolded like this.
“So that’s why you’re being pricklier than normal today. You’re upset with this lady, huh?”
“Upset? No. I’m angry. That fucker almost hurt my kids.”
“Hm. That’s definitely the right reason to be angry about.”
“?”
As someone who had clearly thrown such rude words at her, Lee Han knew he shouldn’t feel this way, but he really never thought that his older sister would admit her mistake so easily.
Since she was someone who had always come out as arrogant, he thought she’d just keep that up all the time. Moreover, she wasn’t the type of person to admit her mistakes so easily.
Could it be…?
“Big sister, are you sick?”
“…”
“Did you catch the summer cold? Right, summer colds could be bad. Get some rest, I’ll leave you alone.”
“…Do you think this lady is a patient?”
“Are you not sick?”
“…No, but this lady probably will be soon. Because of you.”
“??”
Why is she acting like this? I’m just worrying about her!
“Forget it. For your information, this lady didn’t do anything back then not because this lady wasn’t concerned, but because this lady trusted that you’d do a good job handling things on your own.”
“…Isn’t that dereliction of duty?”
“There’s a saying, ‘the right time, the right place, the right person’.”
“…”
“This lady trusted you. That’s why this lady left everything to you. So, don’t be upset.”
“…Why are you acting like this? Is something bad gonna happen to me?”
Rather than feeling moved by her suddenly saying something that was pleasing to his ears, he felt uneasy. If it was anyone else that she had praised they’d probably feel embarrassed and happy, but Lee Han just felt goosebumps.
At the same time, he wondered what she would ask him to do next.
“You hateful thing. Now this lady knows what you usually think of her.”
“To become a great person, one has to reflect on oneself constantly.”
“That might be true, but that doesn’t apply to this lady.”
“…”
…Her shamelessness is on a different level than usual.
However, as if signaling that the small talk was finally over…
“You asked me, why didn’t this lady make her move back then? Well, this lady was already certain that the sultan had a hidden purpose for coming here.”
“A hidden purpose?”
“It took this lady a while to figure it out.”
Thud-!
Lee Han grabbed the notebook she had thrown.
Whenever she handed information to him, she always gave him documents and such, but seeing that she was giving it in such a ‘raw’ state, Lee Han concluded that her investigation hadn’t finished until recently.
I see, so she had been busy too.
Rustle-!
Lee Han slowly looked over the information that Isis had handed over.
After 3 minutes had passed…
“The name of the illegal mage you’re chasing is Greg Bean, correct?”
“…Please turn on your blinkers. My heart can’t take it.”
“Ohoho!”
She figured out his goal that he had never told anyone, prompting him to shake his head, saying that he couldn’t handle her.
All in all…
She’s scary…! Seriously…!
Greg Bean was an illegal mage who was known to have died several years ago. He was a member of the Magic Tower, however, he was branded as an illegal mage because at one point, he attempted to conduct an illegal experiment on the subject of [Mystic Robbery] and was kicked out of the Tower. But, what thief wouldn’t dare to steal for a second time after successfully doing it once?
He continued to conduct his illegal experiments, and eventually, it was reported that he was caught by the guards of another country and executed.
…However, that was only a superficial fact.
“In reality, it seems that he had a whole facility to gather the mystical races and conducted experiments on them.”
“That’s what I thought too.”
Lee Han came to that conclusion after hearing Judia Pierre’s testimony, who he presumed to be a survivor of that facility.
Of course, it wasn’t just a mere hypothesis.
“As you may know from your background investigation on me, I’ve dug out more information through the guild. All the information I got said that the spell freak who led the experiment is someone named Greg, and he is said to be proficient in changing his face.”
“Background investigation, what a novel set of words.”
“…In any case, seeing what you’ve given me, Sister, it seems like my hypothesis wasn’t wrong.”
The notebook Isis gave Lee Han contained information about the people the sultan had contacted in the West as well as the conversations he had with his subjects.
Lee Han didn’t know how she got it, but that wasn’t important right now.
The important thing here was…
[-Obtain Mystical Ability from Pendragon.]
The fact that those guys were scheming this kind of vile shit.
What he had read was just a brief summary, but the content was still shocking.
The sultan sought after Pendragon’s Mystics.
“How funny. For the sultan to hold hands with a spell freak.”
“This lady can understand why he did that. He’s desperate for power, that’s why. Too bad, he chose such an undignified way to accomplish that.”
“…Undignified?”
“If it were this lady, she wouldn’t even consider kidnapping anyone. Instead, this lady would have made a secret deal between our countries. Just why did he do something so foolish?”
“…”
“Why are you looking at me like that?”
“…No, I just suddenly realized how scary you are, Sister.”
Rather than criticizing the sultan for killing someone and plundering their Mystic, she actually understood his motives and managed to come up with an alternative way to accomplish the same goal. It made Lee Han once again think that there was a reason why she was in power.
However…
“Since Pendragon is powerful, we can afford to be tolerant and merciful. But what if we aren’t? What if we always have to worry about invasion and the risk of war is always high?”
“…”
“Remember this. For someone to be powerless, one could deem it as their unfortunate fate, but for a nation to be powerless, it isn’t acceptable, it’s a sin. Hence why those who lead a nation must always wear a mask of hypocrisy and reasonable evil. Sultan Salah committed an act that was neither hypocritical nor reasonable and lowered the dignity of his nation. Do you know how undignified and lowly it is to hold our heads up high without bowing despite being powerless? For this lady, even if she’ll be called a prostitute in the future, she will bow down if it’s necessary to gain power. That’s her duty as a member of the royal family. In that sense, the sultan is unworthy. He rose to the position of sultan due to his bloodline and decent abilities, but he is arrogant and doesn’t know his place. We can’t leave a person like that alone.”
“…Hmm.”
Lee Han reflected at that moment for thinking that she was scary.
He had learned the sorrow of a powerless nation through history lessons, but hearing her words made him realize that he hadn’t understood what that meant properly, and that he was still lacking.
“I’m sorry…”
“Hehe, just knowing how to apologize makes you admirable, Stepbrother. This lady highly values people who know how to reflect on themselves.”
“…”
It seemed like he was being teased by her, but for now, he had to endure it…
So, he could only let out a bitter smile.
“-Bring the mage here.”
“Huh?”
“If you bring Greg Bean here alive, this lady will solve everything.”
“…Seems like you have a plan, Big Sister?”
“This lady always has a plan.”
“Hmm.”
Lee Han guessed that Isis was plotting something sinister. But, even if he didn’t know what her plan was, he knew that he could trust her.
However…
“Haa… Bringing back a mage alive isn’t my specialty.”
“Try it. If you do well, this lady will give you a big reward. If you want, she can kiss you on the lips.”
“Hell no, no need.”
“Worthless bastard.”
While that might be a reward for others, Lee Han really didn’t need it. He’d rather receive an actual object rather than that.
Then…
“Anyway, I get it. I just have to bring him ‘alive’, right? Well, I’ll try.”
“Not ‘try’. You ‘have to’.”
“…So burdensome…”
“But this lady won’t hold you responsible no matter what happens.”
“…Really?”
“Of course.”
“Hoo…”
“…But that doesn’t mean you’re permitted to go crazy.”
For a moment, Isis wondered if she had made a slip of the tongue. Other knights might know how to be reasonable, but the younger brother she knew…
He doesn’t know…
She felt like was leaving a fish in the hands of a cat, so Isis felt a little uneasy.
And sure enough…
[The Great Disciple of the Magic Tower Disappears!]
“Haa…”
Isis felt like she was going to get a headache.
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