Chapter 181: The Devil's Seed (4)

It was the Central Mountain Range, which straddled the border between the Naimus Empire and the Frey Empire.

At the entrance of Kretan, the first highest peak in the Central Mountain Range.

An abandoned house stood there, with a steep cliff towering behind it and surrounded by dense bushes.

Why there was an abandoned house in such a rugged place, the reason was unknown, but it seemed to have been deserted long ago, with no human footsteps.

However, inside, there was a faint but existing light.

And signs of life.

Screeeak!

A man emerged from inside the abandoned house.

The man stretched with a stiff expression.

"Damn it. I don't know how much longer I have to do this."

His name was Jack.

It was a common name that could be found anywhere on the continent, but anyone who saw the long scar on his forehead and the misshapen weapon on his back would flinch at least once, recalling this name.

‘Jack of the Sawtooth.’

Carrying a huge saw, he dismembered men and women, the elderly, and children without distinction; he was a villain of the World Public Enemy grade.

A target for immediate slaughter upon discovery.

But he had vanished 5 years ago, and people assumed he had died a lonely death, attacked by a beast in some remote place while fleeing from the knights.

He was right here.

In a deep forest no one would find, in an abandoned house.

What had happened?

"How much longer?"

He took out a dagger and made a slash mark on a stone slab stuck in the front yard.

Besides the mark he made, there were countless other slashes on the stone slab.

A date he marked with each passing day.

Jack counted them one by one.

And grinned.

"…Three months. In three months, I'll be free."

He had been given a promise.

Stay in this abandoned house for six years and manage it.

In return, you will be given honorary citizenship of the Naimus Empire.

It wasn't a difficult task.

But the period was too long.

Six years.

He didn't think he could endure it.

But the reward was too sweet.

Honorary citizenship of the Naimus Empire.

That was ‘freedom.’

There was only one place for Jack, who had been designated a World Public Enemy by the Frey Empire, to go.

The Naimus Empire.

However, the Naimus Empire was a closed country that treated everyone who wasn't its own citizen as a slave and if a fugitive like Jack were to be caught hiding there, the end would be death.

"But it's a different story if I get honorary citizenship."

It was a new freedom and a new life for Jack.

Six years?

He could endure it, no problem.

Of course, it wasn't easy to quell the various desires raging inside his body.

‘I'm dying for a drink.’

Jack was a heavy drinker.

For him, six years of abstinence was like a death sentence.

He managed to survive by fermenting fruits like grapes and apples, which were supplied once a month, to secretly make fruit wine.

But he was at his limit now.

The amount of fermented wine he got was small, and the taste varied greatly depending on the fermentation period, making it hard to satisfy a heavy drinker like him.

‘Should I go down to the village for a bit? No one comes here anyway. That ghost-like guy came last week, so he won't be back until next month.’

Just as his mind was leaning in that direction.

He heard a sound.

Someone was approaching the abandoned house.

A person wrapped from head to toe in a black robe.

"Stop right there."

Jack immediately growled a warning.

He placed a hand on his saw, exuding an aura that he would attack as soon as they entered his range.

At that, the black figure stopped walking.

"Who are you?"

"I was sent by him."

"Him?"

"Yes. I came under the orders of Bishop Lutus."

"Hmm, is that so?"

Jack scanned the figure's appearance with suspicious eyes.

The pitch-black attire visible under the black robe and the Black Sword hanging at the waist.

And a bundle was slung over their back.

"Is that. My supply?"

"Yes."

Jack's guard lowered slightly.

"Yeah? Hehe. But it hasn't been long since the last supply came, why again?"

"It's a gift."

"What? A gift?"

"Yes. I believe the Bishop visited last week. He said it seemed like you were having a hard time, Jack…."

The figure untied the bundle and took out something long.

It was clearly a liquor bottle.

Jack's eyes widened as he identified the gift.

"Li-liquor!?"

"…It's a special gift prepared by the Bishop."

"Bri-bring it here, now!"

Jack quickly snatched the bottle, pulled the cork, and brought the opening to his nose.

"Aah…."

The black figure put down the rest of the bundle and spoke cautiously.

"Then I shall be on my way."

Jack waved his hand dismissively.

‘Good.’

The figure shouted ‘nice’ internally.

Inside that strong liquor was a large dose of sleeping pills, enough to knock out even a troll in one go.

According to what she had found out, Jack was a man who would do anything for a drink.

Tonight, he would surely empty that bottle and fall into a deep slumber.

"Wait."

It was then.

Jack, who she thought was engrossed in his gift, called her again.

"What's your name?"

"My identity?"

"Yeah. I usually kill all the guys who bring the supplies. As you know, this is a secret place, right?"

"…."

"But I don't know what to do in a special case like this. It's the first time that fellow has sent one of his own people."

Jack approached.

In his hand, he now held the massive saw.

"…Killing you according to the rules would be right, wouldn't it?"

The figure looked at him calmly.

Then, she threw back the hood of the robe she was wearing.

At the same time, her long, flowing blonde hair was revealed.

"My name is Rachel."

"Rachel?"

"Yes. I'm Bishop Lutus's daughter."

Jack looked down at her with a strange expression, then smirked.

"I didn't know that ghost-like man had a daughter like this. Want a drink?"

"I'll pass."

Jack shrugged and turned his body.

Rachel stepped back and quickly descended.

She didn't know when that blood-starved beast might change his mind, chase her, and swing his saw.

‘Phew.’

And when she was at a distance, Rachel let out a sigh of relief.

‘It's done.’

Now she just had to wait until night.

And when Jack fell asleep, she would go inside and retrieve the evidence.

That evidence was the weapon that would tighten the noose around Bishop Lutus's neck, the secret Rachel had been searching for for so long.

It was not long after she had become Bishop Lutus's adopted daughter to avenge her younger sister.

One day, while organizing Bishop Lutus's study, Rachel discovered something strange.

A scrap of paper left among burned ashes and cinders.

She didn't know what paper had been burned, but the scrap was the edge of some document.

And a golden crest was stamped on it like a seal.

Later, while receiving education to enter Frey Academy, Rachel learned that the seal was the seal of the Frey Empire.

From then on, Rachel monitored Bishop Lutus's every move and realized he was acting under someone's orders.

It was a surprising discovery.

A man of Bishop Lutus's stature taking orders from someone other than the Archpontiff!?

And from someone in the Frey Empire.

‘Bishop Lutus was an insider for the Empire?’

Though she didn't know the exact relationship, Rachel instinctively knew this secret was a weapon that could take down Bishop Lutus, and she tried desperately to catch his tail.

‘And then I met Skull Mask.’

Skull Mask was checking the Cult for some unknown reason and his goals aligned with her own desire for revenge.

So she was about to commission him to assassinate Bishop Lutus.

The payment she intended to give him at that time was this information.

‘Bishop Lutus and the Darkness Council under him are moving under the orders of someone other than the Cult.’

‘And that someone is a figure from the Frey Empire.’

‘In other words, there is someone on the Empire's side who wants to overthrow Frey Academy.’

But there was no proof.

Not just a scrap of paper mostly lost to fire, but more concrete evidence.

And now, it was in there.

Rachel looked at the abandoned house and clenched her fists.

The end of her revenge was not far off.

***

It was as expected.

When she snuck into the abandoned house, Jack was in a deep sleep, sprawled on the floor, hugging the liquor bottle.

The sleeping pills were from Shadow.

‘The effect is certain.’

Rachel, nodding in satisfaction, soon found a rock cave leading into the cliff.

Entering it, she didn't have to go far before she saw a small altar and a crystal orb placed on it.

"A Single-Communication Crystal Orb."

Unlike a multi-communication crystal orb, it was a magitech tool that connected directly to one place and could communicate over long distances.

Discovering it, Rachel couldn't calm her trembling heart.

‘Finally. I finally found it!’

Hoo, Rachel took a deep breath.

First, she checked the records in the main unit connected to the crystal orb.

If the communication orb was the eyes, the main unit was the head.

Inside the main unit, the coordinates and voice records shared by the parties were automatically saved.

She opened the main unit and separated the mana stones where the records were stored.

She didn't stop there; she also took a picture of the single coordinate recorded on the crystal orb with a camera.

By analyzing these coordinates, it would be easier to specify who had given orders to Bishop Lutus.

After organizing the evidence, she put it carefully in her bosom and came outside.

Jack was still sleeping, oblivious to the world.

After bidding him farewell, Rachel boarded an airship bound for Icata as soon as the sun rose.

It was the fifth day since she had left the Academy.

‘I'm nervous.’

Looking at Icata in the distance, Rachel organized her thoughts.

Since she had told Jack her name, Bishop Lutus would learn of her betrayal within a few days.

He would find out in a month at the latest.

He used to go to the abandoned house around that time.

It didn't really matter.

She was already planning to turn her back on the Cult.

That didn't mean she would continue to attend the Academy.

She wanted to join Shadow.

‘I want to be with Skull Mask.’

After killing Bishop Lutus and achieving her revenge.

Rachel had never thought about what came next.

Becoming his adopted daughter and entering the Cult, and then becoming an Academy cadet, were all to kill Bishop Lutus.

But what if he dies?

What's next?

She had never thought about it.

Perhaps because she herself considered it an impossible goal.

What's the point of thinking about what's next when it's going to fail anyway?

Still, she'd have an excuse to give Reina when she died, so she kept running like this.

The probability of her revenge succeeding was close to zero.

But, after meeting Skull Mask, many things changed.

Hope was born, and greed grew.

Her goals became clearer, and she started thinking about the future.

And,

‘…I want to live.’

Shadow was the very place that would be the stepping stone for a new beginning.

She didn't think they would refuse her admission.

They had worked together quite well so far.

And.

‘With this information, you'll have no choice but to accept me.’

Records of the collusion between the Beltus Cult and the Frey Empire.

Arriving in Icata, she was about to head straight for Lunatic, but she judged it was too early and turned her steps toward the Academy.

There was also a file in her dorm drawer where she had organized the Cult's secrets.

She decided to grab those as well and visit later in the evening.

Clunk!

But upon opening her dorm room door, Rachel froze on the spot.

"Oh? Hello?"

Inside the room, a woman who looked exactly like her was standing there smiling.