Chapter 74 (2/2)

“Then we’ll leave as soon as that damsel arrives at the city. We can’t have both the Mayor and the Administrator absent at the same time.”

“I doubt you are here to greet my return. Are you leaving right now?”

“I hate to do so, but the procedures I have to follow are rather complicated.”

Rivelia frowned as if her head hurt from seeing the sight of Isaac and the administrative body all gathered up at the docks. It seemed that she had already received news of the current situation.

“But are you really heading to Gabelin like that?”

“What about it?”

Isaac puffed his chest to show off his ludicrous piece of fas.h.i.+on to Rivelia – the same piece of apparel which deterred even his acquaintances from approaching near him. Isaac pa.s.sed Rivelia in order to ride the s.h.i.+p to Gabelin, speaking to her as he pa.s.sed by.

“Then I guess this is farewell.”

“You speak like we’ll never see each other again.”

“I’ve made my preparations, but the enemy I’m facing isn’t a pushover you see.”

“I don’t think neither Count Milros nor the Rondart Family could possibly cause you harm when you are giving up on your succession.”

“It’d be nice if that were the case. Make sure you keep the city safe, and don’t you ruin it, you hear?”

“W, who do you think is going to ruin this city?”

Leaving behind the fuming Rivelia, Isaac and Trentor got on the s.h.i.+p while the administrative body bid their farewells. The s.h.i.+p began to move slowly. Rivelia glared back at the s.h.i.+p, annoyed that Isaac didn’t even look back at her before getting on the s.h.i.+p.

Just thinking about him made her mad. A hereditary n.o.ble t.i.tle was both a source of privilege and great power. No matter what one did, the t.i.tle of a n.o.ble followed them. If one were to succeed, the people would ask, ‘why try so hard when you’re already a hereditary n.o.ble?’ If one failed, they would say that none of it mattered since they were a hereditary n.o.ble. The reason why Rivelia tried so hard to prove her abilities through sheer effort was because she didn’t want to hear those any of those dismissals from others. Yet Isaac kicked away the power and rights that everyone envied.

“Did that man really give up on the t.i.tle because he didn’t want to become my va.s.sal, just like he said back in the Campus?”

Rivelia muttered to herself, but she quickly snorted as if that’d make no sense. But the administrative body who knew the truth flinched in their minds.

The tragedy that befell the Rondart Family was unexpected even to Rivelia. It may have been pure accident, but if it wasn’t, the people who caused it must have been aiming for Isaac.

If their aim was Isaac, the secret escorts from Central that were guarding Isaac weren’t going to be enough. The opponent would be well prepared in advance, so she needed to send over more agents.

Since all agents deployed in New Port City were prohibited from leaving to elsewhere, Rivelia quickly headed over to the Mayor’s room to request permission for reinforcements or to try and receive approval to send agents out of the city when suddenly she pulled out her sword, her face turning cold.

“… Who are you?”

A drop of cold sweat made its way down her back, seeing a mysterious man sitting on her table flicking through important doc.u.ments. She didn’t even notice that he was in the room until she had opened the door.

Seeing Rivelia’s body stiffen with tension, the man smirked.

“It’s been a while, Rivelia. You were such a tomboy when you were a child, but to think you’d be so beautiful after growing up. But I see your personality is still the same.”

Rivelia didn’t let her guard down seeing how the man had known her, but her eyes began to widen and shake after recognising who the man was.

“No… Impossible… how are you here…”

“It seems you still remember.”

“Why is the Dark Royale here?”

The look on Rivelia’s face turned colder than it had ever been before. There was a top-secret organisation within Central that worked in darkness.

It was an organisation that didn’t even have a name. An organisation that cared not what the methods were in order to get the job done. It was unofficially called the Dark Royale, because their zeal matched that of the Arc Royale and their work was covered in darkness.

Ist Starlein Marvelion Elduran Hugh Gabelin. The man was commonly referred to as Ismael, known to the public as the man that had given up on the t.i.tle of emperor without a shred of regret, and now, he was the leader of Dark Royale. He was the younger brother of the current Emperor and in the past he was her…

When her thoughts reached that part, Rivelia’s face quickly reddened. Ismael snickered at the sight.

“To think that the little girl who sang about marrying me in the future would turn into such a fine woman. Such a shame. If I’d known, I should have accepted back then.”

“D, drop the useless chatter, and why are you here?”

Rivelia changed to her serious tone, and Ismael responded by wiping the smile that was on his face as he responded.

“I’m just here to tell you that target 728 won’t be returning to New Port City.”

“What do you mean by that?”

“Well, Isaac will safely return from the succession ceremony. And he’ll lock himself in his rooftop. Just like he always does.”

The man used the name Isaac instead of the code 728 which Central used. The bright Rivelia quickly caught on to what that meant.

“You are sending a stand-in?”

“That’s right. For one reason or another, he will keep making new business proposals, but they will fail one after another and bankrupt him. And when New Port City collapses, Isaac will be arrested for failing his mission, his existence being forgotten by everyone in time. And the Empire will step in to save Port City and New Port City.”

“Are you doing this to get the money New Port City was making?”

New Port City was entangled with smuggling, the waterway rights, and the mana crystal mines. All of its worth and the potential wealth it brought would transfer over to Central. Money was always an issue no matter how much one had, and Central was no exception. It would be hard for Central to overlook such a tempting opportunity to strengthen their funds.

“Well, that’s one of the reasons.”

“I am in charge of all missions regarding New Port City! Target 728 is entirely in my jurisdiction! Performing such a mission without ever advising me about it is an abuse of power!”

Ismael let out a twisted smile in response to Rivelia’s outburst.

“This is the decision of the Grand Council.”

“That’s…”

All strength sapped from Rivelia’s body. She could have done something if this was initiated solely by the Dark Royale, but there was nothing she could do if this was approved by the Grand Council.

“Does the Director of Surveillance know of this?”

“Do you really think we’d need approval from the Director of Surveillance when the Grand Council has given approval?”

“…”

“And you’re already too late.”

“Don’t tell me, was the death of Mistress Rondart because of Central?”

“Hey, you’re speaking some dangerous words.”

The look on Ismael’s face didn’t match his answer.

“Why? Target 728 has been cooperative with Central ever since the beginning.”

“Well, there are some grownup reasons behind it.”

“What do you mean by…”

Just when Rivelia was about to criticize Ismael for avoiding the question, he quickly cut her off with a firm voice.

“These are orders from the Grand Council. Follow your orders.”

Rivelia bit her lip and dropped her head, submitting to those words. Ismael approached her and tapped her shoulder to cheer her up. Just as he pa.s.sed her, he mentioned something as if he’d just remembered.

“Ah! I’m just letting you know this to save you from wasting time. Stop trying to track down the ‘demonic’ turncoat which contacted target 728. He’s one of us.”

“What?”

Rivelia quickly turned to chase after Ismael, surprised at what she had just heard. But Ismael was nowhere to be seen, somehow evaporating into thin air.

Rivelia couldn’t even touch any of her work for many days; her head was too occupied by the thoughts of recent events. The sudden appearance of Ismael had shaken the foundation of Rivelia’s perspectives and values.

Ismael mentioned not to track down the demonic turncoat which appeared in the mines, saying that he’s one of them. That meant one thing. They would even use a demonic turncoat to accomplish their objective. That was absolutely unacceptable. Demonic turncoats were those who borrowed power from the demons of h.e.l.l.

They were fools who would let their own power control them, only to have their bodies taken over by the demons as their fate. No, that’s how she was taught. But the fact that Central was using ‘demonic’ turncoats if needed was something which went against her values.

‘Was the Grand Council aware of this?’

Of course they were, and they let it pa.s.s. Rivelia let out a deep sigh. Realising that the organisation she was a.s.sociated with wasn’t as righteous as she had first thought put a heavy weight on her heart.

There was no answer. Rivelia was only a team leader in Central. This was also only given to her because of her t.i.tle as Sword Master; she had little actual connections within Central.

The timing was also impeccable. All of this happened when both the Director of Surveillance, who was on Isaac’s side, and Rivelia were absent, which enabled Isaac to escape their watch before they could do anything.

Unable to perform any of her work, Rivelia left the City Hall to calm her jumbled mind with a walk. After wandering about, Rivelia ended up at one of the docks. Sitting at the edge of the dock and watching the calm lake seemed to help calm her head, but it was only momentary. She initially thought that Isaac would be invited to Central because of how cooperative he was, becoming mutual partners. But to have Dark Royale suddenly intervene… Rivelia couldn’t let her mind be, knowing how harshly they treated surveillance targets through the rumours she heard.

Although Isaac was mean and deserved a beating from her, this wasn’t right. Once he fell into the hands of the Dark Royale, he’d be tortured with unspeakable methods, only to be disposed of without a trace after everything important had been extracted.

Rivelia was tempted to send a message to the Director of Surveillance to let them know that Dark Royale was involved in the matter, but disobeying her orders wasn’t something Rivelia could do.

She would have if there was any justification behind it, but there wasn’t any she could think of. Only her sighs could be heard in the port, when suddenly she remembered the last conversation she had with Isaac at the docks.

-Don’t make a scene and stay put. We can play again if I do come back by some chance. I guess this is farewell. I’ve made my preparations, but the opponent isn’t a pushover.

Rivelia suddenly got up on her legs. She didn’t notice it back then, but now that she remembered, Isaac wasn’t talking about the Rondart Family or Count Milros. He was talking about Central.

Although that was just a speculation, that alone was enough. The fact that Isaac was aware of Central’s part in the matter was enough to have the Director of Surveillance intervene in the matter.

If the Director of Surveillance intervened, Dark Royale’s mission was bound to fail. Rivelia quickly made her way to the City Hall to pa.s.s on this information.

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