Chapter 151

“…What do you mean by that?”

“Just what I said.”

With that answer, Eisen moved away from me.

He turned around as if he intended to go on his way.

‘What’s this?’

Eisen acting like this felt extremely out of nowhere to me.

But at the same time… I could sense it instinctively.

Something was truly happening within the Isrinbloom Family.

“Eisen.”

I called the man who turned his back to me.

I felt that I absolutely had to confirm this.

“Could you not tell me that secret right now?”

“…I can’t. Even if I wanted to… I can’t.”

“It seems… far too painful for you to say it, doesn’t it?”

“…….”

Eisen looked back at me with widened eyes.

As if asking how I knew that.

But aside from that look, he didn’t add any explanation.

“…I’ve seen a similar case. People who suffered just by trying to speak the secret itself.”

Eisen stared at me for a moment in silence.

Then he shook his head.

“As I said earlier, make sure you defeat me in this competition. Then I’ll tell you.”

“If I win… you’re saying you’d endure that pain just to tell me?”

“Someone who defeats me is someone worth bearing that pain for. Someone like that… would have the strength to solve our family’s problem.”

“…Eisen.”

After a moment of deliberation, I spoke again.

“Did you perhaps engrave a tattoo on your body? If you did, could you show that tattoo to me?”

“…Gideon, I’m asking you. I don’t know how much you know, but… don’t talk about this anymore. Just speaking of it… puts me in danger. I’ll suffer.”

Eisen’s face stayed expressionless.

But his voice carried fear.

Truthfully, it made sense.

The non-human races, the sight of the Elf leader Sakiel.

His skin ripping apart from agony, his body collapsing, blood pouring out.

That scene still lingered vividly in my memory.

Eisen had every reason to fear.

“I understand. Then let’s stop talking about this… and I simply have to defeat you, correct?”

“I’ll face you seriously. If you can defeat me fighting with my full strength, then that means you have enough potential.”

I didn’t bother asking potential for what.

Judging by the situation, he wouldn’t be able to tell me anyway.

“Then… I, too, will fight seriously, with everything I have.”

“Good. Make sure you do. Prove yourself to me… to our family… no, at least save me.”

I looked at expressionless Eisen and slowly chewed over his words.

Eisen’s state—being unable to speak about something specific.

As I’d said before, it was identical to the non-human races I’d seen in the Protected Zone.

Which meant Eisen also clearly couldn’t speak due to some curse, or some contract.

‘…It must be connected to that Evil God. There’s no way this is a coincidence.’

That pattern I faintly saw yesterday on Rage’s torso.

If that pattern truly had been bestowed by Bedir, and Rage and Eisen—

If both were involved…

‘Then has the entire Isrinbloom Family already fallen under that Evil God’s influence?’

I didn’t have solid evidence yet, but at this point, it felt almost certain.

And Eisen, standing before me right now—

He wasn’t someone who would ask me for help without a reason.

He wasn’t that kind of man.

‘But if Eisen is asking me for help… then he must not be one of the core members of that faction.’

If he were a core member, he wouldn’t be asking me for help like this.

Which meant the core might be Rage… or Dilug.

To sway the entire Isrinbloom Family, the authority of the head of the house would be needed.

‘But the Dilug I know isn’t that type either. Then… is it Rage? But Rage is foul-tempered, not someone who’d betray the Empire… is he? Maybe?’

Countless questions kept forming in my head.

But I forced them aside for now.

I needed to organize those later.

Right now… I needed more information.

And there was one important piece of information I had to obtain.

“Eisen, I have many things I want to ask, but could you answer this one first?”

“Depends on the question.”

“It’s nothing complicated. Your younger sister. Is she involved in any of this?”

“Sara has nothing to do with it. She knows nothing.”

Eisen answered without hesitation, unexpectedly so.

“Sara was too weak, so she wasn’t included in this plan. If anything, it’s fortunate. My sister literally knows nothing, so don’t worry about her.”

“Excluded because she’s weak… that’s surprising. I thought Sara was quite strong.”

“She’s weak compared to the rest of our family. She’s also young. And since her name has come up… no, I have a request. Just one request.”

“What kind of request?”

Eisen looked at me silently for a moment.

He observed me calmly, meticulously.

And then he spoke.

“If things go wrong, take care of Sara.”

“Eisen.”

I let out a small, disbelieving laugh as I looked at Sara’s older brother.

“You seem to be assuming the worst-case scenario. Instead of that, just tell me everything. If you simply tell me, then I can somehow—”

“…Don’t.”

“Excuse me?”

“Don’t talk carelessly.”

Eisen’s voice rose slightly, and his eyes trembled.

“You don’t know this horrific pain. When your body is literally torn apart just because you said one wrong word… do you have any idea?”

“…I don’t.”

“Right, you don’t. So don’t speak lightly. Even talking to you like this… I’m risking my life.”

Eisen glared at me briefly, then let out a sigh.

“Defeat me. Then I’ll endure every bit of pain and tell you something very important.”

“You’ll only tell me if I win?”

“Yeah. If you can’t defeat me, then even if I tell you, you’ll end up losing anyway. At the very least, for me to endure the pain and tell you, you need to win.”

As I slowly chewed over Eisen’s words, I tilted my head.

“Then let me change the question—why me? Isn’t there plenty of other people you could tell? If you wanted to ask for help, wouldn’t someone else be more—”

“You use water.”

“…What?”

I didn’t understand Eisen’s words for a moment.

But whether I understood or not, Eisen continued speaking.

“I heard it from Sara. She said you used swordsmanship that utilized water. And a swordsman who uses water… among the people I know, you’re the only one. And… I definitely heard it that time. To be careful of the Swordsman of Water. I clearly heard my brother talking about it.”

“I do use water, but just because of something like that—”

“To be precise, he said to be careful of the Swordsman of Water who defeats me. So… I’ll fight you with everything I have, so you fight seriously too. And prove it. Prove that you’re the one I’m looking for.”

“…I’ll do my best.”

“Good.”

With those words, Eisen turned around again and walked away.

And I stood there blankly for a moment.

The conversation we had just exchanged left me genuinely confused.

‘What is this? Something is definitely happening in the Isrinbloom Family… but more importantly, just now… Swordsman of Water? Am I really the only one in the Empire who uses water-based swordsmanship?’

Once again, countless questions rose up in my mind.

Because of that, I could only stand there in a daze for a while.

While I was like that, someone familiar approached from afar and snapped me back to reality.

“Gideon, what are you doing here? Didn’t we agree to meet in the player waiting room?”

“Ah, Lisa Noona. I… yeah, we did. I was just… spacing out because I had something to think about.”

“That’s surprising. It’s not often that you zone out.”

“Haha, I think I’m just a bit tired today. Anyway, I did well earlier, right?”

“You did wonderfully.”

Lisa smiled and pulled me into a hug.

“You worked hard reciting the pledge in front of everyone. You’re done for today, right? Want to go eat something good?”

“Yeah, let’s go. I was hungry anyway.”

Right, I really had been hungry.

And… it seemed like I needed to cool my head for a bit.

I planned to relax for a while and think about everything later in the evening.

“So… Eisen suddenly came to you and said all that?”

“Yes, he did.”

After meeting Eisen, later that evening—

I sat in my room speaking with Jason.

“If Eisen said something like that, then something really must be happening inside the Isrinbloom Family.”

“Yes, I agree. But we still lack too much information.”

“Yeah. At the very least, we should learn more about the Isrinbloom Family’s internal affairs.”

Jason, who heard everything that happened today, nodded and slowly rose from his seat.

“Anyway, thanks for telling me. Thanks to this, I can investigate the Isrinbloom Family with more certainty.”

“I’m counting on you. And… please be careful. Something is definitely going on with that family.”

“Don’t worry. I’ve handled more dangerous investigations since I was a kid.”

“Yes, well… since you’re from the Hawkbat Family, that makes sense, but still—please be careful.”

Jason just gave a small laugh at my concern.

Then he walked toward the window in my room.

“If anything else comes up, contact me through the Crystal Sphere like earlier.”

“Understood. But are you going out through the window again?”

Jason stepped onto the window frame as if it were second nature.

“I came in through the window earlier too. Why are you acting surprised?”

“Well, I suppose that suits the Hawkbat Family. Ah, right—Jason.”

“Hm? What is it?”

“If you have time… could you also look into the Swordsman of Water for me?”

Jason tilted his head at my question.

“Hm, Swordsman of Water… Right, you said Eisen mentioned that, didn’t you?”

“Yes, that’s right.”

“Alright. I’ll look into that too if I get the time. Anyway, I’m leaving for Muktaba at dawn tomorrow. I’ll investigate things on my end and then come back.”

“When will you return?”

“Probably around when the competition ends? Maybe earlier. So if you learn anything new, contact me through the Crystal Sphere. Got it?”

“Yes, I understand.”

For now, there was no other choice but to trust Jason.

And handling this matter was something I had to entrust to him.

When it came to gathering information, Jason was several times better than me.

“Focus on the competition and do well. I won’t be able to cheer for you directly at the stadium, but in Muktaba, at least in spirit, I’ll keep cheering for you.”

Jason finished speaking and leapt out the window.

After confirming his figure had vanished in an instant, I lay down on my bed.

“Alright. I’ll trust Jason… and focus on the competition.”

Uncovering my family’s secret was important.

But finding a way to survive in this world was just as important.

In that sense, the Academy Competition—

If I became a key contender here… the road ahead would surely become easier.

And so, the next day.

“The first event of the Academy Competition! We will now begin the Archery Competition!”

The Academy Competition officially began.

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