Chapter 116:

Wiping the blood that splattered on her face, Til surveyed her surroundings.

Including the one she just killed, that made five.

Too few to be guarding a key area.

It was clear that more were hiding somewhere.

The problem was that this orchard was much larger than she had thought.

“I’m not a big fan of hide-and-seek.”

Til grumbled and bent down to pull out the handaxe that was half-buried in a Raven's head.

A Raven hiding between the grapevines thought he saw an opportunity and lunged out.

Though she noticed the attack, Til just nonchalantly wiped the blood off her axe.

Chwaak!

Red blood splattered with a loud noise, reaching Til’s shoes.

Seeing the corpse, mangled beyond recognition, Til clicked her tongue and turned her head away.

“I thought I’d at least get a thank you.”

“I hope you finished cleaning up your designated area before coming here.”

“You sound just like Victor.”

Hugo stealthily appeared from the dark shadows.

Why was this guy, who should have gone in the opposite direction, here?

“There’s no need to divide our areas so rigidly and move separately.”

“Is that how you work in the Three Blades too?”

“No.”

Hugo, answering matter-of-factly, held something out.

She thought he was pulling out a weapon to fight, but it was a piece of paper.

“Found this on a guy who seemed pretty high-ranking. It’s better for you to see it than me, a guest participant.”

“…What does it say?”

“To be honest, I can’t really read it.”

Taking the note, Til understood what Hugo was talking about.

About half of the note was smeared with blood, making the contents illegible.

“From what’s left, it looks like an order.”

“Even I, who just saw it for the first time, can tell that. Are there any other clues?”

“Not on any of the ones I caught, at least.”

Even the parts that were intact didn’t have many words that made sense.

It seemed to be a code, which made it useless.

Til turned and threw her handaxe.

The sound of the axe flying with a deadly whoosh and embedding itself in a tree echoed.

‘Tch, they dodged it.’

Til pulled another handaxe from her belt.

Hugo also said nothing and drew his sword.

It was certain that someone had just used acceleration to approach.

Pouring out enough mana to make her skin crawl.

Moreover, while using such rapid acceleration, they had even managed to dodge her attack.

Someone who had honed their magic to that extent was clearly beyond just being skilled.

She felt a light sense of tension for the first time in a while.

It wasn't a bad feeling.

Til took a short, deep breath and aimed her weapon at the unknown enemy.

“I almost got hit.”

“?!”

She almost reflexively swung her handaxe at the voice that came from behind her.

If it hadn't been for that annoying, mocking voice, she might have actually swung.

Valheit, with both hands raised lightly, appeared with a sly grin.

“Let’s put that scary thing away and talk. We’re allies, aren’t we? Allies.”

“You don’t usually use things like acceleration, what got into you today?”

“I have good news. Though I was almost struck by a flying axe and met an untimely death before I could even deliver it.”

Watching Valheit exaggeratedly clutch his chest as if he’d just had the scare of his life, the tension she had felt moments before now seemed pathetic.

“You too, Mr. Hugo, put away your sword.”

“Was that energy just now from you, Count?”

“Yes, is there a problem?”

Even as Valheit approached with a face full of smiles, Hugo did not sheathe his sword.

Valheit nonchalantly walked toward the glinting blade.

“My, my, didn't you two agree to cooperate?”

“I agreed to cooperate with Til, not with the Count.”

“Isn’t that the same thing? Well, if you must find peace of mind that way, I won’t stop you.”

Hugo scowled and lowered his sword.

He knew as well that there was nothing to be gained from being petty.

Whatever the case, it had been Hugo’s own decision to help Valheit set foot on Stetten’s private property.

“That aside, there is no need to be glum because you couldn’t understand this note. That goes for both of you.”

“I was never glum.”

“You don’t have to be embarrassed. This cipher is designed to be completed only when both halves are present.”

Valheit took a clean white note from his pocket and placed it side-by-side with the bloody one.

“Do you understand now?”

“You said it’s a cipher. How am I supposed to know just by looking at this?”

“An excellent attitude. One must admit their ignorance to be able to learn something, mustn’t one?”

“In any case, this is what it means. Ensure the experiment scheduled for this evening can proceed. If there is interference, respond preemptively….”

As Til’s expression turned grim, Valheit quickly began his interpretation.

The content was simple.

If anything that could interfere with the experiment occurred, deal with that first.

“So that’s why there were so few guards in the orchard? To deal with the Imperial Guard?”

“That’s not the only reason. At the end, it repeatedly emphasizes the importance of safely transporting the curse-weavers.”

“You mean they already grabbed the curse-weaver bastards and bailed?”

“That’s a bit ambiguous.”

Come to think of it, Valheit was supposed to have checked the orchard buildings.

But for him to appear so quickly meant.

As if noticing what Til was thinking, Valheit let out a smirk.

“I went in expecting a huge fight, but there was already no one there.”

“Then that means they escaped.”

“It means that the ones called curse-weavers did not escape with the Ravens.”

“How can you snatch the most interesting part like that?”

Valheit looked disgusted at Hugo’s deduction.

He seemed quite displeased that his own line had been spoken first.

“The state of the lab was not in the style of the Ravens, who retreated after thoroughly cleaning up. It was more like they grabbed whatever they could get their hands on and did a midnight flit.”

“In that case, the reason there were so few Ravens was….”

“Not only to deal with the Imperial Guard, but also to catch the ones who did a midnight flit.”

Valheit paused for a moment, looked around at his audience of two, and continued in a whisper.

“Which means this is a very good opportunity for us.”

***

It wasn’t difficult to find the trail of the runaway curse-weavers and the Ravens pursuing them.

The ones fleeing didn't even think to properly hide their tracks, and the ones chasing didn't have the luxury to cleanly cover their rear.

“They’re better at running away like rats than I thought.”

I let out a sound of admiration that wasn't quite admiration.

Because they had intentionally fled along the line where the Imperial Guard was stationed, it seemed to have caused quite a serious problem for the pursuit.

“Thanks to them, it seems His Majesty’s Imperial Guard has also suffered considerable damage.”

“It’s not our business anyway.”

“……”

“Oh my, you’re scaring me with that frightening glare, Mr. Hugo.”

Since we had sent the fastest, Til, on the chase, the task of following the trail naturally fell to me and Hugo.

Hugo seemed to be quite displeased with this situation.

“If you had sent me along too, we could have handled it more certainly and quickly.”

“Then I would be bored, wouldn't I?”

I deflected Hugo's sharp gaze with a light joke.

As if I'd entrust the job of catching an important witness to the Three Blades.

Of course, that wasn’t the only reason I was moving with this gloomy fellow.

I needed to find out about the situation and position of the Three Blades.

“Now, let’s follow without delay. By the way, how did you end up here, Mr. Hugo?”

“Is there a reason I have to answer that?”

“It’s no fun if you just keep your mouth shut.”

“…If you want to hear the Three Blades’ position, I have nothing to say.”

Hugo shut his mouth, as if deciding to be sparing with his words.

This guy, who decided on his own to cooperate with Til, was now acting like he was by-the-book.

“I heard you were curious about why Til came to work under me.”

Hugo's face twitched at the words ‘work under me.’

What a simple-minded fellow.

“Unlike your misconception, Til did not come under me. To be precise, you could say we found ourselves working together after she joined.”

“The story I heard before was….”

“Aren’t you curious who she cast everything aside to work for?”

“……”

Hugo was lost in thought.

Til would be on his mind, but this was a story about Valheit.

Who Valheit works for.

He would be gauging the weight of such information.

It was a chance to satisfy his own desires while claiming it was information the Three Blades needed.

“One for one. I can’t give you more than that.”

“Hmm, for something of this caliber, shouldn’t you be giving me two for one?”

“That’s….”

Hugo stopped talking.

The sounds of fighting were gradually becoming clearer.

It wasn't the sound of one or two people fighting.

It was the sound of a group clashing with a group.

As we got closer, the noise grew louder, and we could smell the faint scent of blood.

I activated my detection and was slightly taken aback.

‘Why are there so many?’

As an intelligence organization, the Ravens had always operated as a small, elite force.

At most, they gathered in groups of less than 20.

This time was completely different.

There were well over several dozen.

“It seems the Imperial Guard is on the defensive.”

Hugo, also grasping the situation, spoke with concern.

No matter how elite the Imperial Guard was, they couldn’t hold out against such a numerical disadvantage.

I decided to hear about the Three Blades later and quickened my pace for now.

Soon, the distinct sounds of battle could be heard.

The Imperial Guard had formed a line and was fighting back, but even a glance told me they wouldn't be able to last long.

‘If Til isn’t visible, does that mean the runaway curse-weavers and the pursuit team went somewhere else?’

Since securing the curse-weavers was the top priority, it seemed she had continued the pursuit instead of getting bogged down in combat.

“What will you do, Count?”

I fell into thought at Hugo’s question.

The objective was to capture the curse-weavers.

We had neither the time nor the reason to get involved in a melee like this.

Apologies to the Imperial Guard, but it might be right to just pass by.

Just as I made that decision and was about to open my mouth, someone caught my eye.

At first, I didn’t recognize who it was.

That was understandable, as he looked incredibly ordinary.

A man with no strong features, neither handsome nor ugly.

If he hadn't gestured with his hand as if giving a command, I would not have recognized him.

‘It’s that Raven fellow I saw at the Imperial Capital.’

Was his name Ivan?

Seeing the one who led the theater terror attack here, I couldn't just let it go.

“Let’s have a go.”

“I thought you wouldn't care since it's the Imperial Guard’s business, but what suddenly got into you….”

“If you’re not happy, you can sit this one out. The cooperation we established didn't include a request to help with things like this.”

I intentionally spoke in a tone that told him to get lost.

Speaking like this would make him more likely to stick around out of suspicion.

It would take too long to handle everything by myself, and it would be difficult to stop that guy from escaping.

“…I’m only helping you this once.”

“An excellent decision! Then shall we go without further delay?”

I thought I saw a flicker of ‘I’ve been tricked’ in Hugo’s eyes for a moment, but a word once spoken cannot be taken back.

Hugo went out first, and I followed behind him.

While the Ravens were briefly flustered by the unexpected attack, Hugo cut down several of them.

Taking advantage of the moment their attention was focused on Hugo, I increased my speed even more and approached Ivan.

Ivan seemed to have spotted me as well, as our eyes met.

His utterly ordinary eyes glinted menacingly.

It meant he no longer needed to pretend to be ordinary.

Kung!

Ivan’s sword and my staff clashed, creating a shockwave.

As I thought, this one also knows how to use some magic.

“A pleasure to see you! We meet again so soon.”

“…Indeed, we do.”

Finishing his words, Ivan stepped back and gave a simple hand signal, and more than 10 Ravens rushed forward.

“I was hoping we’d never meet again, but here we are.”

“Isn’t that just what fate is like?”

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