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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 10
Chapter Title: To the Capital (1)
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Again.
Another vision began to play.
The old man, worried the child would be left alone, taught him many things.
Most of the memories flashing before my eyes were of the old man speaking while the child, drowsy and nodding off, simply bobbed his head.
It was too much for a boy of only ten to absorb all of the old man's teachings, but the old man's expression was desperate.
The blurred background was starting to reveal a bit of its form.
Sometimes in the mountains, sometimes in a village, sometimes on a road heading somewhere.
But it was a pity. Seeing as this body was alone, the old man must have died.
And as if that wasn't enough, the original owner of this body met his end at the hands of a slave trader.
Why did it show me these memories every time I absorbed the light particles?
Was it the lingering regret of this body's original owner? Or was it the one who made me possess this body?
Perhaps a message from a god.
If not that, then for what purpose?
I still don't know.
***
'What is this? It's not a seven-colored rainbow.'
This time, there were ten orange particles. And with them, a new memory.
A thousand red particles had increased my strength.
So what would orange increase?
I didn't feel any particular change.
'Then again, it took a thousand red ones to raise it by 1. Would it be about the same? Or less, since the stat is low?'
I opened the status window.
The vitality stat was glowing very faintly.
Red is strength, orange is vitality. Understood.
No, wait. Why did these light particles appear after killing a human?
They didn't appear when I killed the slave trader and the mercenary during my initial escape.
What was the difference?
Unless, to put it bluntly, that first escape was a tutorial and gave me nothing.
Or maybe that intelligence agent wasn't actually human?
Nah, no way. His blood was red, and he wasn't leaking any ominous demonic energy.
Maybe it's a system error?
After all, if the world were 'perfect', I doubt I would be going through this.
What an unfriendly world.
"Hey! What are you doing? Snap out of it! We have to get out of here now!"
As Kratos stood there blankly, blood dripping from his hand, Seamus grabbed his arm and pulled.
"Huh? Oh, yeah. Got it."
I'll have to put my thoughts aside for a moment.
They arrived at a small burrow hidden among dense bushes and trees.
It was just large enough for one person to squeeze through.
'So that's the crawlspace.'
*Thud-!*
Kratos used the hammer part of his weapon to widen the opening slightly.
Crawling through it on all fours like a dog would have been a bit undignified.
"That... that brute."
It was a series of unbelievably crude actions, belying his appearance.
"Comfort is key. I'm heading to the capital. Let's go our separate ways."
"I have to go to the capital too, so we have the same destination. You haven't forgotten, have you? We agreed to talk."
Kratos shook his head.
He was uneasy with the man who had tried to assassinate him suddenly changing his tune and acting friendly.
Who knew when he might stab him in the back again?
Long after they had escaped through the opening and run south, the two finally stopped running.
"Hah. What's your deal, really?"
"I told you. It's a secret."
"A man with so many secrets. It's not very charming."
"A little mystery is what makes a person charming."
There were too many strange things. The man before him was definitely Kratos. But he didn't have the blonde hair and black eyes he'd seen before.
Now, with his bristly beard and the scar on his cheek, he looked like a rugged man in his forties.
"Your face and voice suddenly changed."
If they hadn't been together since the mansion, he would have doubted they were the same person.
And the most important fact.
"What's your relationship with Sejanus?"
"Relationship? There is no relationship."
To be precise, there was none. Although today's events had certainly created one.
"You rampaged through the mansion of someone you have no relationship with? Doesn't that sound ridiculous?"
"What about you? Isn't it stranger that you're suddenly being so friendly after trying to kill me?"
Seamus looked away, embarrassed. Kratos wasn't wrong.
"Well, still. The reason I tried to kill you was because I thought you were connected to Sejanus."
"I just wanted to find my belongings. They just happened to be in the basement of Sejanus's mansion."
Who would have known such a mansion would be built where my house once stood? Or that such atrocities were being committed there.
"Anyway. The closest city to the south from here is Isique. If we leave now, we can probably make it by evening, just barely."
"We're not stopping in Isique. We're going straight to the capital."
"Huh? The capital is so far! You're going to walk there?"
There were plenty of easier ways to travel. Teleportation, trains, or at the very least, a carriage!
"We can find a horse along the way. Teleportation is out of the question because of what happened in Libria. Isique will be on high alert. You want to go there and fight again? What, you plan on destroying every town on the way to the capital?"
Seamus's fists trembled at Kratos's condescending tone, but in their relationship, he was the subordinate one.
What could he do? He wanted to return to the mercenary corps, but for now, he had to follow.
He needed to report to Captain Lando immediately. But what could he even say?
A deep sigh escaped him.
***
In front of the completely collapsed mansion.
"How dare...! How dare they! Who did this...!"
The street was still deserted, but one man stared down at the ruined mansion, his face flushed red as if about to explode.
His expression was like that of a demon.
He had only been gone for half a day.
But in that half-day, his grand mansion had been reduced to a pile of rubble.
My beautiful mansion!
Rage boiled within him, his face turning shades of red and purple, his large jowls trembling.
The money spent building the mansion, the time spent setting up the processing facility in the basement!
As his anger quivered, a dark aura swirled faintly around Sejanus.
"Inspector."
"Ahem. I got carried away."
When someone clad in black with a black mask covering their entire face addressed him by his title, Sejanus instantly hid his expression as if nothing had happened.
Along with it, the dark aura dissipated.
"It's a shame it's all buried, but we can just rebuild and recollect."
"Indeed. And preferably with the one who did this."
"We've already begun the pursuit. They say he went south."
"The closest city to the south would be Isique."
Isique. After that, a couple more cities, and then the capital.
They had to be caught before then. How could he allow such ruffians to reach the capital where the Emperor resided?
As he burned with quiet rage.
One of the soldiers pursuing the bastards hurried over and whispered cautiously to the man in the black mask.
"What?! Team Leader Gras?"
The masked man frowned at the report from his subordinate who had rushed over.
"Lead the way."
Team Leader Gras of the Grammaton unit was a promising talent in both the intelligence agency and the Empire.
An individual whose loyalty was unquestionable and whose future was bright.
But to think such a talent had been found dead.
At the edge of the southern wall, Gras's body lay abandoned like trash, decaying and emitting a black aura.
With a large hole torn through his chest.
"How dare they. A talent of the Empire."
Unlike before, the man in the black mask radiated pure fury as he reached for the black aura emanating from the corpse.
*Swoooosh-*
The black aura stirred the air as it began to be absorbed into his fingertips.
"Find him, no matter what. And capture him alive. If not, kill him and bring me his corpse."
The air around the man shimmered as if in response to his words.
***
"What?"
- Arsène Lupin. The legendary phantom thief has returned! In Libria! Do you know anything? What happened to that mercenary, Kratos? And what's this about Sejanus's mansion collapsing?
As soon as the communication link was established, Lando bombarded Seamus with a frantic barrage of questions.
Arsène Lupin, of all people.
Arsène Lupin, the gentleman thief and grand larcenist who vanished decades ago. No one knew his true identity, and he had never once been caught.
Wasn't he just a legend from the past? Like Arsène Lupin, or the demon hunter Geralt.
They had all vanished at some point before their existence could be confirmed.
- An Arsène Lupin calling card was scattered all over that bastard Sejanus's mansion. Arsène Lupin!! The whole place is in an uproar!
"Ah, yes…"
Seamus broke into a cold sweat and stiffly turned his head to look at Kratos, who was tending to his weapon by a distant campfire.
He and Kratos were the only ones who had made it out of that mansion alive, not as enemies but as allies.
He was certain there had been no third party.
Besides, he seemed to recall Kratos throwing something as they escaped the mansion.
Didn't Arsène Lupin operate over twenty years ago? Then how old was Kratos?
It was certain that Kratos was Arsène Lupin. Was he the original? Or a successor?
"First, Kratos is not one of Sejanus's agents. He was more of an enemy. And... actually, Kratos was the one who destroyed the mansion."
- ...What?
"It's also presumed that Arsène Lupin is the same person as Kratos. But whether that makes any sense…"
Seamus continued his report, but Lando was speechless. He was just as stunned as Seamus.
- Is he with you now?
"Yes. He said his destination is the capital, so we're moving together."
- Stick with him to the end. And bring him to the mercenary corps no matter what. No, *escort* him here.
Lando's tone had suddenly become respectful.
'Ah, dammit. What am I supposed to do?'
The words Seamus couldn't bring himself to say swirled in his mouth.
One minute it's 'confirm his identity,' 'cripple him,' 'kill him.'
Now it's 'escort him.' And Kratos was already wary of him since he'd pulled a knife on him.
"I'll... do my best."
- You must. Whatever kind of person he is, he's someone the White Mercenary Corps, or our organization, needs.
Unlike before, Lando spoke gravely. The monstrously strong Kratos and Arsène Lupin were the same person?
He didn't know if he was a successor to Arsène Lupin or something else, but he had to meet him to find out.
"Understood, for now."
Seamus replied in a gloomy voice and cut the communication. He couldn't stop sighing.
"Is there a reason you wish to bypass Isique and go straight to the capital?"
"What's with the sudden change in tone?"
Kratos squinted at Seamus's polite manner of speech.
"Well. You're Arsène Lupin."
"Ah. Arsène Lupin? Well, yeah. Just call me Kratos for now."
"Ah. Kratos."
He wasn't even denying it now.
Then again, there was no guarantee that this face was Arsène Lupin's real face. Not even the one before it.
"There's something I need to confirm in the capital."
"Something to confirm. Do you perhaps have any plans for after that?"
Kratos couldn't easily answer that question.
Honestly, he didn't know. What did he even want to confirm in the capital? The fact that the damn Emperor had betrayed him was unchangeable.
"I'll go there first and see. I'll think about what comes next when I get there."
He couldn't give a definite answer.
It was a vague, unplanned thought, but he just had a feeling that if he went to the capital and saw the imperial palace, something would be decided.
"If it's not too much trouble, the corps would like to meet you. Would you be able to meet the Captain after your business in the capital is finished?"
"I'd appreciate it if you kept the fact that I'm Lupin a secret. Only a minimum number of people should know. Though it seems you've already told your captain."
"Yes, sir! I'll absolutely keep it a secret."
Even without the request, he'd had a mind to visit the White Mercenary Corps.
After all, the White Mercenary Corps was a place he had led under one of his past identities.
Of course, when he pledged himself to the kingdom, he had handed it over to the mercenary who was then the captain of the 1st squad, telling him to lead it well.
He had been a pretty upright mercenary. Despite being older, he had been the one who trusted and followed him the most.
'He must be over sixty by now. I wonder if he's still around?'
It had been ten years since he died. And well over ten years since he left the mercenary corps.
***
Just as Kratos had said, they were able to find a means of transportation very easily.
"Seriously, bandits in this day and age? Does that even make sense?"
"It's a cliché."
"Ugh, there you go talking to yourself again. Could you at least explain what a cliché is?"
What on earth was he talking about? Seamus grumbled cautiously, annoyed by how Kratos sometimes said things he couldn't understand.
Still, thanks to that, their travel time to the capital had been significantly reduced.
They had poured every waking moment into traveling.
Thanks to that, they arrived at the capital in a remarkably short time, without even a proper wash.
'Ugh, that damn captain. The moment this job is over, I'm definitely taking a vacation. No, at the very least, I deserve a bonus.'
Feeling grimy all over, Seamus thought of the mercenary corps building in the capital.
No, even if he couldn't stop there, he would definitely find an inn and take a shower first.
"Phew. We have to line up from here. Nobles can just pass through, but for the rest of us…"
Seamus, feeling so emotional that he could cry now that their long journey was finally ending, took his place at the back of the line.
There were about ten people ahead of them. They would probably be able to enter the capital within half an hour.
"Uh, hey. Are you okay?"
Seamus fidgeted, looking at Kratos, who had suddenly grown quiet.
Kratos didn't say a single word until they had passed through the entry procedures.
The moment he set foot in the imperial capital, Kratos began to walk slowly toward his destination, as if he already knew the way.
'This is the way to the Imperial Castle, isn't it?'
The Imperial Castle, where entry was more strictly controlled than anywhere else. No, even the process of reaching the castle was far from easy.
There were sections that couldn't be passed with just a mercenary tag.
At the edge of the accessible area.
Kratos gazed up at the towering spires of the imperial palace with eyes colder than ever before.
His expression was unreadable.
He was suppressing a boiling rage, his fists clenched so tight they turned white, his nails digging into his palms until they drew blood.
'I'll see you soon, Shiv Grewele. Emperor of the Empire who abandoned all principle.'