episode_0178

Chapter 6 Episode 34 – New Goal

“Bir, this is a new order from the director. He tells me to stop searching the ledger and find Jeong Hwa-seok.”

Inside the Patriarchate, the office of Nazarin, the Banshee’s alter ego.

An expressionless Bir stared at Nazarin’s face at the sudden change in mission.

“Do you think it’s a lie?”

Hehehehehehehehehe.

Bir shook his head.

“Ah, you want me to tell you in detail. It would be better if you just said it in words.”

“……”

“I will take it to mean that we are in a relationship where we can understand without having to say anything.”

Nazarin, who interpreted Bir’s silence positively, shared the details he had received from the banshee.

“The purification stone is one of the sacred relics of the Virgin Mary Church. It has the mysterious power to purify all kinds of unclean things. I know it’s stored in an underground safe… . The director said not to be fooled by the ‘deteriorated plate’, so what I know is probably a deteriorated plate.”

Nazarin stopped speaking at an ambiguous point. Bir waited for a moment. But Nazarin did not think to open his mouth again.

“……Is this the end?”

“You finally opened your mouth. Hehe, I really like Bir’s voice, so I hope you can hear it often.”

“Unnecessary conversation is prohibited.”

“Be firm. The director said that Bir needs to relax his shoulders… .”

“Really?”

“Oh my. Do I look like someone who will make up things that don’t exist?”

“……”

To Bir, who looked at him with suspicion, Nazarin wanted to show a confident attitude, so she stood up, put her hands on her waist, and stuck out her chest.

“……I understand. So is that the end of the instructions you received?”

“…Name.”

“…Yes?”

“Please call me by name.”

“……Nasarin.”

“Hehehe.”

Nazarin lets out an unpleasant laugh. Bir was looking at her with an expressionless face. There was no emotion in it, but for some reason, Nazarin felt that Bir was looking at him pitifully.

“Keuhum. That’s enough of the joke. The characteristics of a true Jeonghwa stone are that it is a perfect sphere and is colorless and transparent. However, please be careful as it is not certain. The Patriarch probably knows information about Jeong Hwa-seok, so I think we can interrogate him. All you have to do is find out where it is hidden and how to obtain it, by any means necessary.”

“……I have understood it.”

Bir disappeared from the scene in an instant. In a room with almost no space to hide, Nazarin couldn’t even guess where and how he had moved.

‘To think that an assassin like Bir is targeting me… . ‘I must be really scared.’

Nazarin knows about Bir.

The assassination group that Bir belonged to was one of the groups of interest whose clones were always watching to protect Veronica.

The best assassin squad in the empire. Vir, who was the best among them, was an unrivaled talent who had never failed a request before infiltrating the Management Bureau.

Bir’s final mission was to assassinate the Director of the Administration. No matter how great an assassin she was, it was impossible to assassinate Zeke, who could see into the future.

In the end, the assassination group was discovered and destroyed by the Management Bureau. Vir came under Zeke’s control.

‘I was lucky. Vir and us too.’

Banshee and Vir have quite a bit in common. They were all created for a certain purpose, tried to kill Zeke but failed frequently, and eventually became his subordinates and became loyal.

Not only were they loyal, but they also had other personal feelings, so it was reasonable to suspect that they were doppelgängers at this point.

“Kuhhh.”

As her thoughts drifted in an absurd direction, Nazarin let out a small laugh to herself.

‘Anyway, I’m suddenly looking for Jeonghwa-seok… .’

Until just yesterday, Nazarin’s mission had been to find Joachim. But the mission changed overnight.

‘That means the Director found Priest Joachim, right?’

Banshee’s clones, including Nazarin, are aware of Zeke’s power. I don’t understand it exactly, but I understand it in a way that you can see or experience the future in a limited way.

Therefore, she did not question Zeke’s sudden change in attitude.

Rather, we can only infer what kind of future he saw and how his intentions changed as a result.

‘The director’s goal was to find the Virgin Mary. For this purpose, I tried to find priest Joachim. However, the fact that there is no need to look for Priest Joachim means that there is a high possibility that you have already met the Virgin Mary.’

Jeonghwaseok, a holy relic of the Virgin Mary Church.

The only people who know in detail about this relic are the Patriarch and the Virgin Mary, the highest clergy of the Virgin Mary Church.

‘But the fact that we couldn’t find the Jeonghwa Stone means that the Virgin Mary was not cooperative… .’

They were not in a state to cooperate.

Nazarin spread the possibility that the Virgin Mary had been kidnapped or, in the worst case scenario, had died.

*

*

“Director. Is this urgent enough to motivate someone who can’t even eat porridge yet?”

In front of Aslen’s hospital room. I have been caught by Asha and am being interrogated.

As Aslen has been unconscious for a long time, she is now unable to eat porridge properly and is even unable to stand up.

“Hmm… . If I can’t take you with me, I’d like to hear some tips on how to contact you.”

Of course, it is difficult to take such a person out. However, it doesn’t seem like Aslen will just tell us how to contact those who are recording, so it’s really awkward.

“It would be better if I asked Olivia to make me a nutritional supplement… .”

“Are you serious?”

“That means it’s urgent.”

“Ha… .”

Asha let out a long sigh and shook her head as if there was nothing she could do.

“Let’s at least talk about it.”

“It’s a way to make contact… . Of course I can tell you.”

“I didn’t think so… . Yes?”

Aslen, who looked listless at first glance, gave an unexpected answer.

“Because I promised. Because of my physical condition, I can’t go there in person… . I need to at least tell you how.”

“Thank goodness. But is it okay to tell others?”

In response to my question, Aslen looked blankly out the window and muttered.

“……It won’t matter. Maybe.”

Empty eyes.

Did he give up because he couldn’t overcome his sadness?

She seemed to have no regrets about life.

“Please lend me some paper and a pen. I’ll write down the address and a way to contact you.”

Aslen began writing helplessly on the paper he received from Asha.

As if even that small exercise was difficult, my hands were shaking and sweat was forming on my forehead.

“Um, Siegfried?”

“Call me Zeke. Comfortably.”

“Yes… . What Zeke said before I lost consciousness… . Is it true?”

“……What did I say?”

Before I lost consciousness, it was during the Paradise Bridge incident. What did I say then?

I think I was trying to pretend to be cool.

“The management bureau is isolating the monarchs. One remaining monarch is also scheduled to be quarantined by the management bureau. So, trust me… .”

“Ah. It was like that. you’re right. The Lords of War, the Lords of Famine, and the Lords of Death were all captured. We have also located the last remaining Lord of Plague.”

The Warlord recently escaped, but… . There’s no need to tell me because I’m going to catch them again anyway.

“Haha… . It’s so stupid.”

After hearing what I said, Aslen was dumbfounded for a moment, then laughed empty-handed.

“For what… . Why on earth were you so desperate? . It all feels pointless.”

“It’s useless. What makes it useless?”

Buuk–.

After Aslen finished writing, he tore up the paper and handed it to me.

“I respected my father. I respected you, but… . At the same time, I hated it. He left my mother unattended while wandering around the ruins, saying it was for the good of humanity. Of course, this isn’t something I would say as I followed my father because I longed for adventure… .”

“They say it’s for the good of humanity… . Defeating the monarchs means saving humanity… . At the same time, I wandered around dangerous historical sites, saying it was to protect my family, but in the end… . I couldn’t come back.”

“After my father passed away, my mother also suffered a lot and passed away. Actually, my mother did not blame my father. Isn’t that really stupid?”

Neither I nor Asha responded to her words.

“What’s even more stupid is… . In order to carry on my father’s legacy, I went to the same dangerous historical sites. In the end, we… . Those who wrote it didn’t help at all.”

“I don’t know yet if it will help or not.”

“I heard they’ve already caught three. The three most dangerous ones… . The Lord of Plague is the most incompetent monarch. So, if you are Zeke, you can handle it without much difficulty.”

The Lord of Plague is the most incompetent?

“My life… . What was it? After losing my parents, Gordon, who was like my own younger brother, tried to kill me… . The work I dedicated my life to was actually meaningless… .”

“Mr. Aslen, don’t say that.”

Asha approached Aslen, who was spouting self-deprecating words, and started patting him.

“For now, please focus on recovering your body first. About the past and about the future. It’s not too late to think about it after you recover.”

“……I’m sorry. It’s not helpful and you’re just wasting food like this.”

“This is a hospital. If there is a patient, it is natural to treat it.”

“……Thank you.”

It gives off a warm atmosphere, but that’s none of my business.

What is important now is the strange words Aslen said.

“The Lord of Plague is incompetent. What does that mean?”

“…Yes? Is that literally?”

weird.

At least, if the Patricia I see is the Lord of Plague, then the title of most incompetent does not suit her.

Rather, he might be the most threatening and deadly monarch.

There is no way those who recorded it intentionally discriminated against the Lord of Plague.

From what I heard from Aslen, they are people with faith who find ways to stand up to the monarchs even at the cost of their lives.

In other words, they judged the Lord of Plague to be incompetent.

‘It is correct to think that this is what Patricia intended.’

And the fact that he did something like that means that there was a hidden intention behind his actions.

“Can those who record tell us why they judged the Lord of Plague to be incompetent?”

It seems like I’ve found a way to access Patricia’s true purpose.