episode_0019

“Tsk.”

I clicked my tongue once and then sat down on the sofa irritably. My actions were filled with annoyance.

Clink.

A glass filled with ice was placed in front of me. Bellum picked up the bottle and poured a drink.

“Why is our young master acting like this today?”

Bellum was dealing with me with a smiling face. Even when I was being annoying, his expression didn’t change.

“Why are you acting like this? How can you say something like that right now!”

Bang!

I slammed the table. The plates and bottles shook.

“Do you even know what kind of humiliation I’ve suffered because of you guys?! It’s because you do your work like that that I…!”

I tried to pass the responsibility to them, touching their pride. Even so, Bellum didn’t erase his smile and acted nonchalantly.

“We didn’t want to fail either. You know how big of a deal the last one was.”

Bellum tossed the drink into his mouth. But whether the amount wasn’t enough, or he was dissatisfied with my attitude, he poured the bottle down his throat.

“Kheu~”

He made a pleasant noise and then said as if making an excuse.

“And the princess was involved too. No matter how good we are, we can’t go up against the Empire.”

“Then you should have done better!”

“Young master.”

A low voice. The smiling face had disappeared at some point. I flinched, pretending to be scared. It seemed that he would only tolerate it once.

“We also suffered considerable losses. A whole 1 million gold. Please understand this time.”

Whether he liked that sight or not, Bellum returned to normal. And then he proposed as if to soothe me.

“That’s not to say that we weren’t at fault either. This matter is a collaboration between you, young master, and us. We, who carried it out, should have put in more effort.”

“Y-Yeah. You should have made sure the princess didn’t notice…”

“That’s right~.”

Bellum agreed with my words. The distribution route was already opened up by me. The supply and management were their responsibility. In other words, the responsibility for this matter was on them.

“It’s not really a substitute, but as an apology, 5 times.”

Bellum stretched out his fingers wide.

“I’ll do 5 requests for free.”

The way he acted as if he was doing me a favor was really trashy. The profits he made with my information were over 5 million gold. As expected of a criminal group.

“That’s not enough.”

“Our young master is so greedy~”

“Try saying that in front of the princess.”

In the story, Cantia was never mentioned even once until there was a conflict with the protagonist. The reason that was possible was because Kyle did his best to hide it, and because Cantia was a point organization.

In other words, if I just opened my mouth, these guys would fall into the abyss. I knew the location of the hideout and the identity of the boss.

So, I was threatening them to give me more things that would be helpful to me.

“Think about the situation I’m in because of you guys. Do you know how hard it is to act!”

Bellum must know how I’m doing at the academy. There’s no better target to extract money from than a pushover cornered.

“Hmm…”

Bellum fell into thought. No, he pretended to fall into thought.

As the head of an organization, he would have already come to a conclusion, but it was a show of acting. He was saying that he was thinking of me this much.

“Okay. We’re still intact thanks to the young master’s sacrifice.”

Snap!

Bellum snapped his fingers. Then the door opened and the bartender from before placed a pouch on the table.

“It’s 1 thousand gold. We can’t give you much. Take only this much today.”

“Tsk.”

As far as I knew, the base was 5 thousand gold. That’s because Kyle Arden’s spending habits were lavish. To satisfy a degenerate like him, that much had to be given.

And I could slowly see that they were trying to cut ties. It was the same in the novel.

“I’ll be going now.”

I took the pouch of gold and stood up. After all, the purpose of today was just to examine the terrain and Bellum.

“There’s still alcohol, are you just going to leave?”

“I can’t because there’s surveillance.”

“Ah~ That bitch named Elraim? Our young master managed to escape. How about… should I kill her?”

He was just saying things he didn’t mean. He knows what results will come from messing with a family knight. It’s just for show.

“It’s okay. Just shut up and stay quiet until I ask for a request. The family is investigating.”

“Okay, be careful.”

I turned around and left the room with the bartender’s guidance. That’s how I got out of the capital without any problems.

“Hoo…”

I took a breath of fresh air for a moment. The air was stuffy inside the cave. And that Bellum guy… I don’t know if he does drugs, but the smell is no joke.

“Ah, the smell is on me.”

Because of that, the smell of drugs and alcohol was on my clothes. It was a new set of clothes I bought today, no, yesterday, so I was slightly annoyed. This is hard to get rid of even if you wash it…

“Ha…”

I wondered if it was all for nothing. But thanks to coming, I had a definite plan on how to deal with Cantia. For the record, I had been planning to kill them ever since Cantia approached me.

I realized a lot from the last entrance exam. Even if I live quietly, there will be interference in some way.

The status window and quests, and meeting my younger sibling were representative of that. Especially the appearance of my younger sibling was unexpected. There’s no guarantee that such a thing won’t happen again.

That’s why I’m getting involved this time. So I’ll proceed with the episode without any deviation in a thoroughly controlled situation. That’s my plan.

So, I have to make Bellum a puppet. If I can handle that guy, I can create most situations.

“When would be a good time…”

First of all, I’ve gathered quite a bit of information. I found out all about the hideout’s traps, secret passages, and weaknesses, and I also found out about Bellum’s current skills.

When he clashed with the protagonist, Bellum was an assassin who had just reached the Master level. But now he’s just an Expert at the highest level. He’s definitely someone I can fight.

Of course, preparation is necessary. First of all, I urgently need equipment. It’s hard to face Bellum with the academy-supplied basic sword.

“Should I get equipment through a request?”

I’m not planning on taking personal gains from the request. I’ll only keep half of the gold coins I received today for emergencies and secretly donate the rest.

Well, let’s just say the equipment can’t be helped.

While I was turning my head like that, I arrived at the exit. This time, when I pressed the stone 13m away, the door opened. I quickly ran and easily went inside.

I walked and walked through the academy and arrived at the dorm. Fortunately, Elraim was still sleeping.

“Hoo…”

It would be troublesome if she woke up. Very troublesome. If Elraim gets involved, the Cantia cleanup will be a bit complicated.

“Please don’t wake up until it’s all over.”

I whispered softly and returned to my room. And then I lay down on the bed and closed my eyes for the lecture that would be held tomorrow.

***

At the same time, Cantia’s hideout.

“Is it okay to leave him like that?”

A subordinate who had appeared behind Bellum at some point asked.

Gulp, Bellum drank the alcohol in the glass. But his smiling face from before was nowhere to be seen, and his expression was terribly distorted.

“Leave him alone. Nothing good will come of messing with him.”

He’s called the abandoned child of the Arden family, but he’s still family. Killing him for no reason can cause trouble. Right now, it’s best to leave him alone and cater to him.

And we’ve gotten almost everything we can get out of him. Now that brat’s value isn’t even worth 1 gold coin. But the reason why we’re still continuing the relationship is because he knows Cantia’s information.

“More importantly, the work.”

Bellum asked quietly.

“It’s progressing steadily. It looks like it will all be sorted out within 2 months.”

“Shorten it. To one month.”

“If that happens, it will be difficult to recover the funds.”

“It’s better than getting caught.”

We’re still being chased by the Empire right now. If the Arden family is added to that, it will be really dangerous. It was only a matter of time before we got caught.

If Cantia wasn’t a point organization and didn’t act so thoroughly under the surface, they would have been caught a long time ago. So even if it means taking a loss, now is the time to retreat.

“Hoo…”

Bellum blew out cigarette smoke. Thick smoke filled the room.

‘That brat…’

A degenerate brat who doesn’t know his place. A presumptuous brat who acts like a king just because I treat him a little better.

If that guy had just done a little better, this wouldn’t have happened.

I didn’t expect anything in the first place. What did he believe in to start such a big job? So I reduced the scale from what I told him. The degenerate doesn’t know that though.

‘500,000 gold is a cheap price.’

It was really cheap compared to the price of a life.

‘More importantly, I have to deal with him…’

Bellum was lost in thought about Kyle’s disposal.

I’m leaving him to do whatever he wants for now, but I have to deal with him someday. The dangerous factor called Kyle Arden was bound to come back to me as poison someday.

“Has the degenerate done anything wrong?”

“No. He’s quiet, probably because of the rumors that he’s being kicked out of the family.”

“Tch.”

Bellum clicked his tongue.

It would have been easier if he had walked the path of destruction himself. He’s just interfering until the end.

“Contact me immediately if anything happens.”

“Understood.”

“Go.”

The subordinate bowed and disappeared into the ceiling. Bellum continued to turn his head even at that moment.

“If it doesn’t work out.”

There was a way to incite discord. There were a lot of brats who hated that brat. If I used that a little, I could easily kill him.

“Or…”

Bellum fiddled with the throwing star in his arms. If things don’t go as planned, there was also a way to kill him. Of course, that’s the last resort.

He drank the remaining alcohol.

“I just wish that bastard would disappear soon.”

Whatever it is, I just hoped he would disappear before I had to do anything.

***

I steadily prepared to clean up Cantia.

First of all, I changed my wake-up time to 5 am and increased my training time. It was tiring, but my body quickly adapted. Rather, it changed into a more energetic body.

As I repeated physical training every day, the sparring time increased to 40 minutes. The professor also noticed the change and his evaluation gradually improved. This was an unexpected result.

I still did my part-time job and volunteer work at the same time. In the Land of Contract, I did mana training in the morning, which I hadn’t done before. Of course, I didn’t skip the volunteer work. And this work was also getting easier.

After finishing my daily routine like that, I would escape from the academy at dawn. It was to contact Cantia. I visited here about once every two days.

“So, what about what I asked for?”

When Bellum gestured, a sword was placed on the table. I pulled it out of the scabbard and examined the sword.

Bellum looked at me, hiding his thoughts, wondering if I knew how to look at a sword.

‘I know better than you, you bastard.’

I ignored that gaze and examined the sword. I thought he would give me a defective product, but he brought something normal. The center of gravity was well balanced, and he used good steel.

“Are you sure that’s enough? Just one sword?”

“This is enough.”

“If our young master says so.”

One of the free request counts was deducted.

2 days later.

“The requested item?”

“Here.”

Bellum put a ring on the table. It was a magic tool that helped with mana recovery.

“What are you going to do with this?”

“I’m going to beat someone up.”

“Wouldn’t it be easier to entrust the request to us, young master?”

“I told you before. The family is investigating. And I can solve it enough.”

“If you say so.”

He got over the prying like that.

And the next day.

“I need poison. Now!”

“Our young master is very angry. I told you to entrust it to us.”

Tak, a pouch filled with poison was placed on the table.

“Be careful. It’s a powerful poison. Of course, it’s colorless and odorless, so you won’t get caught.”

“I will definitely…!”

I snatched the pouch.

‘Preparation complete.’

I immediately left the hideout.

Bellum was grinning when I left, but I was laughing instead. He doesn’t even know that it will all come back to him.

“Now, all I have to do is control my condition.”

I couldn’t sleep because I was leaving every dawn. Did I sleep 3 hours today? There was a limit even if I circulated mana to relieve fatigue.

“Haaam~”

I couldn’t stop yawning. I entered the dorm entrance to quickly go to sleep.

But then.

Sreung-

The sound of drawing a sword. Before I could turn my head, a blade touched my neck.

And a chilling voice was heard.

“Young master.”

“Yeah.”

“Where have you been?”

“……”

When I answered the question with silence, Elraim shouted.

“I asked where you’ve been at this early hour, young master!”

A voice full of murderous intent.

Elraim looked more angry than ever, and

“Answer me!!”

She looked more sad than ever.