Chapter 144

Titien Antonia asked cautiously.

“…You are the owner of the Art Gallery Lamponé, correct?”

“Yes, that is me.”

Shion replied with a shameless face.

“…Haven’t we met somewhere before?”

“Have you forgotten already? You came as a guest to my wedding.”

“…Haha, so it was you after all.”

Just look at that shameless face!

Titien almost lost her temper without realizing it.

She would have, had the person before her not brought down the Del Contis in just five days.

“You could have just said you were Shion of the Verchello family from the start……”

“You wouldn’t have met with me then, would you.”

“Of course not……”

Hit right on the mark, Titien covered her mouth and forced a smile.

“…Why would we do that?”

Even covering her mouth couldn’t hide her emotions at all.

Titien’s bewilderment was palpable, and Paleo felt frustrated with his master.

Shion was acting sly, as if he had already seen through everything.

Excuse me. Shion took a candy from his pocket, put it in his mouth, and mumbled it a couple of times.

Titien and Paleo watched his mouth.

Only after dragging out the pause as much as possible did Shion open his mouth.

“I have a companion outside.”

“I know. He didn’t seem to be from the West.”

“He’s lived here for over twenty years, so he’s practically a Westerner.”

He waved his hand.

“It’s an important conversation, so I asked him to wait outside for a moment. His name is Meh, the head of the technical department at the Bururade Canal Company.”

“…Aha, I’ve heard of him. They said he’s a very outstanding technician. But why is someone from the Canal Company…?”

“He is also a special inspector for the Peninsula Alliance.”

“……!!”

Titien Antonia couldn’t suppress her trembling.

She tried to endure it, but her fingertips quivered.

She hastily hid her trembling hands under the table, but it seemed Shion had already seen them.

A special inspector, within the Bururade Peninsula, holds extralegal investigative authority.

Their main duty is to maintain order in the Peninsula Alliance.

For Paleo, a spy of Cordis, and Titien, who was cooperating with him, they were the one opponent to avoid at all costs!

“…A special inspector, why did you bring such an esteemed person?”

“Why, indeed?”

Shion tapped the table, tuk, tuk.

Cold sweat trickled down Titien’s forehead.

“Could it be because the Antonia family has been secretly making something?”

“Whaaaaaat…!?”

A groan escaped her lips as if she had been struck in the back of the head by bewilderment.

Paleo desperately sent a look toward his master.

It was a plea for her to calm down and Titien accepted it.

“…Huhu.”

She was the head of the Antonia family! She had to be able to control this level of bewilderment.

“Secretly making something…”

She pretended to be as composed as possible, but it wasn’t plausible at all.

Both her voice and her hands were trembling severely.

Titien tried to hide her agitation by lifting her teacup.

Her trembling hand clattered the teacup, spilling all its contents outside.

The tea that splashed on her dress must have been quite hot, yet she forced herself to continue speaking.

“…Y-y-y-you m-m-m-must be m-m-m-mistaken. Th-th-th-there’s n-n-n-nothing l-l-l-like thaaaaat……”

“Thank you very much for your attitude, which proves my speculation to be fact.”

Paleo felt like slapping his forehead and shouting Titien’s name.

“After I took over… inherited Del Conti’s business, I cleaned up a few of their business partners.”

Shion’s gaze turned to Paleo.

As if he was a more suitable conversation partner than the bewilderment-stricken Titien.

“The San Klero Mercenary Corps, the Deshak Trading Company, the Al-ei family… places like these.”

“……”

“Do you know what these places have in common?”

Of course. Paleo muttered to himself.

Every single one was a place where the Cordis intelligence agency had planted an agent.

It was the moment his suspicion that Shion was cleaning up the Empire’s puppets turned into certainty.

Paleo’s eyes turned sharp.

Even if he had no loyalty and hated fighting, his main profession was an agent of the Cordis intelligence agency.

He had the skill to be sent as a spy to the West.

Shion felt an intensity from Paleo that was no less than Pneuve Freira’s. Paleo’s energy grew sharper and sharper, becoming like the edge of a blade.

‘How could he have known…’

He quietly glared at Shion.

Shion, far from avoiding it, smiled brightly. Radiant golden hair, deep blue eyes.

A face as lovely as a girl’s, yet strangely, it held a commanding presence.

‘…No, that’s not important.’

Before those blue eyes, Paleo quickly composed his thoughts.

He first gently took Titien Antonia’s hand. It was because he felt sorry for her, as she was still trembling.

He whispered to Titien to step outside for a moment and sat down in front of Shion.

Then he asked cautiously.

“…What do you want from us?”

“I like that we can get straight to the point, Mr. Paleo.”

He even knows my name.

Paleo clicked his tongue softly.

Shion of Verchello, what didn’t he know?

Shion took out a rolled-up paper from his pocket.

When unfolded, it was a map.

It was a high-quality item with a detailed drawing of the entire Bururade Peninsula.

He gestured with his chin over the map.

“Now, point them out.”

“…What?”

“You know what.”

The Regression Prince whispered softly.

As if it were a tremendous secret that must not be leaked.

“The Hatchery of Calamity.”

“…Good heavens!!”

Paleo almost had a fit.

Those were words that should never have come out of Shion’s mouth.

The Hatchery of Calamity!

The core of all the plans the Cordis Empire was preparing on the Bururade Peninsula!

A truly top-secret matter, the most confidential of secrets.

The Cordis Empire was preparing a calamity.

It was to bring down the West.

Very secretive preparations were underway.

So much so that even the agents of the intelligence agency didn’t know what they were preparing for or for what purpose.

It was a fact that Paleo himself had only found out two years after being dispatched to the West.

‘…This isn’t just being aware of the calamity’s existence! He knows exactly what kind of calamity the Empire is preparing in Bururade and how!’

Otherwise, he would not have used the word ‘hatchery’.

Titien, unable to understand their conversation, was bewildered.

Even though Paleo’s mind was numb from a mixture of shock, horror, and confusion.

“…It seems a lot of internal information has been leaked.”

“Let’s just say that.”

Shion waved his hand as if it were no big deal.

He couldn’t tell him that he was a regressor, nor did he have any intention to.

Instead, he tapped the map irritably.

“Hurry up and point out the hatchery locations. Mr. Paleo, you don’t even have any loyalty to the Empire.”

“…I don’t know. That’s a secret not permitted to me.”

“You must have had your suspicions, though.”

“……”

Paleo let out a deep sigh at Shion’s tongue, which once again hit the mark.

Everything was as he said.

Although his superiors hadn’t told him, he had already anticipated the locations of the hatcheries based on his own evidence.

Swish, swish, swish, his finger moved.

Paleo pointed out several locations on the map and also named about three that were not written on it.

As they matched his own predictions to a considerable extent, Shion nodded in satisfaction.

“There will be no need to call Meh.”

He stood up from his seat without hesitation.

Please leave quickly! Paleo felt like letting out a cheer.

“Thank you very much for your active and swift betrayal.”

“…Haha, not at all.”

“Thanks to your cooperation, the work should become easier.”

Shion gave a slight smile.

He said he would like to have good dealings with the Antonias in the future, but Titien just nodded her head slightly.

It was because she didn’t want to get any more involved.

Paleo felt the same way.

Looking at the two of them, who seemed to be shouting ‘please leave quickly,’ Shion spoke.

“I’ll come visit again next time.”

Paleo and Titien screamed internally with one heart.

‘Don’t come!’

***

“Now, Amethus.”

Shion handed him the list.

It was a list of place names on the Bururade Peninsula.

“You just need to visit these places.”

“Is it the hatchery you spoke of, Shion?”

“Yes. It’s the origin of the ‘Calamity from the Sea’.”

He recalls the time before his regression.

There were four calamities in the West.

Among them, the calamity that began on the Bururade Peninsula was called the ‘Calamity from the Sea’.

Recalling the calamity that had brought about immense death naturally made him feel unpleasant.

As always, the flame within his chest also ignited.

“Back then, I was just a rookie. I didn’t even know of its existence before the calamity struck, and after it hit, I was too busy cleaning up the mess. I had no time to check where the calamity had started.”

That was why he didn’t know where the hatcheries were being used.

If only he had been a little more clear-headed then, it would have saved him some trouble now.

He chewed on the familiar regret. It was strange that it always remained in his heart, even though he knew he had done his best.

“Who provided this information?”

“Ah, there’s someone named Paleo. He’s an agent the Cordis intelligence agency planted in the Antonia family.”

Paleo and Shion’s connection was from before the regression.

“He has no loyalty whatsoever, and in fact, he desperately wants to break free from the Empire. On top of that, he’s quite competent, so he’s ve-ry good to use.”

“Did you use him before?”

“I worked with him ve-ry actively.”

During Shion’s time as a hero, Paleo was one of his key staff officers.

Just as the Fifth Prince Zionis became a hero who stood against the Empire after losing his wife and daughter, the Cordis spy Paleo became a traitor after losing Titien Antonia to the Empire.

Because they held the same hatred for the same reason, they were able to achieve a cooperation that went beyond trust.

It was a relationship similar to the one between Shion and Amethus now.

“I’ve already told you what needs to be done, right, Amethus? Are the preparations finished?”

“Preparations are nothing more than maintaining my sword.”

“That’s always what’s important.”

The jade-eyed Amethus was already geared up to leave.

Shion had handed him the list of places where the hatcheries were, and now it was Amethus’s turn.

With that sharp double-edged sword, he would strike at Cordis’s vulnerability.

“Go now, Amethus.”

Shion Pollinglight felt a heartfelt thrill for the first time in a long while.

The thought of overturning the plans the bastards had painstakingly prepared made even the hunchback deep in his soul dance with joy.

“The calamity of those Cordis bastards, go and pull it out completely by the roots.”

Shion laughed.

But his expression soon hardened.

It was because a sort of solemn determination was welling up.

A long-held destiny, the 19 years he had turned back.

No matter how he appeared to others, when this emotion surged, he would always return to being a hero.

“Let’s make them so surprised they won’t even know it’s been pulled out! And then let’s make them tremble in fear!”

“…As you command, Your Highness.”

Amethus had at some point switched back to using formal language and bowed his head respectfully.

As Shion became solemn, so did his servant Amethus.

He had developed many human-like aspects while spending seven years in the West.

However, if Shion’s command fell, he was ready to become inhuman at any moment, to be nothing more than a blade.

“I will carry out your will.”

“You are a very convenient servant, Amethus.”

“Those are gracious words.”

Shion looked into the jade eyes.

Before the regression, he was a nemesis who had caused him so much trouble.

That bastard’s intuition, that bastard’s swordsmanship.

Having made them both his, he couldn’t help but feel reassured. Looking at the gleaming jade eyes, Shion spoke.

“Oh, and take something to cover your face.”

Amethus’s jade eyes were distinctive.

If someone were from Cordis, there was a slight possibility they might recognize him.

Of course, Amethus had left Cordis before his name became properly known, even before Ferbias ascended the throne, so it was highly unlikely.

But there was no harm in being extra, extra cautious.

“You still have that mask from before, right?”

“The one the Breath of Light gave me before he died, his own face? Your Highness told me never to throw it away.”

“Yes. How about you take that?”

Shion grinned.

“You never know what unexpected things might happen, right?”

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