Chapter 191

“The reason Obro ended up in that state was, once again, Cordis’s doing.”

Vomit rose in my throat at the name Cordis.

My hatred was immense.

As vast as the hunchback’s size, as hot as the flame’s heat.

It hadn’t been this immense from the beginning, so how did it swell to this point?

Before, when I lived my first life.

When I had married Serena and had a daughter named Poesia, I hated the Empire but didn’t want to think about it much.

My wife and daughter were too much of a miracle to let go of because of hatred.

To me at that time, Cordis was nothing more than a past I never wanted to face again.

But calamity struck.

It took away my most precious things.

In my trampled life, I had to become a hero.

I had no choice but to fight against the Empire.

But strangely, the more I fought, the larger the flame of hatred grew.

I had no choice but to hate more deeply.

The Empire’s schemes gave birth to endless questions.

Why? Just why?

Why did they try to annihilate the West so cruelly, so despicably?

Why did they sow malice as if clearing weeds, as if exterminating pests?

They were not weeds or pests, but people, so I had no choice but to hate.

“The second calamity made people from three cities disappear, but that wasn’t the main goal.”

Tens of thousands of people vanished overnight.

Even this was merely a means to an end.

“It was a move to break the hero of the West, Obro Denoebang.”

It was a truly brilliant move.

If external pressure wouldn’t work, let him exhaust himself and fall apart on his own.

The more noble, the more strong-willed, the more he would whip and consume himself.

It was so successful that Obro Denoebang became a drunken cripple, living day by day.

“Obro endured for three years after the ‘Night of Inversion’.”

“……”

“He struggled to make up for it. He mobilized every means to find the disappeared people, and yet he did not abandon his responsibility……”

He did so despite the ridicule, criticism, and contempt.

He did not abandon his duty even when no one acknowledged him.

“Then one day, they say he completely broke. He became so afraid that he couldn’t even look at a sword, let alone hold one. He became utterly unable to bear his responsibility.”

“…Why?”

“I don’t know.”

I smiled bitterly.

“A broken person can’t know where or why they are broken.”

I waved my hand.

“Eight years have passed since then, leading to now.”

“…Seeing him get angry, he seemed healthy for a man who has only been drinking for eight years.”

“Old habits die hard.”

I tapped the bridge of my own nose.

“It was masked by the smell of alcohol, but he smelled of sweat.”

“…He also smelled of blood.”

“Yes. Even in that state, that man called Obro Denoebang is training.”

It must be closer to penance than training.

It was likely closer to a heart that wanted to punish his hateful self rather than a heart that wanted to improve.

A chilling sense of empathy washed over me, and I couldn’t help but let out a small sigh.

“And yet, he still can’t hold a sword… it must hurt.”

“……”

I continued.

“Let’s get some sleep, Amethus. We’ll wake up at dawn.”

***

On the second day, we went to find Obro again.

He did not welcome us, but he did not stop us either.

The bottle of Moshan Ruby we had left behind was completely empty.

“It seems it suited your palate. That’s a relief.”

“…Somewhat……”

Obro mumbled his words.

It was clear he didn’t want to converse much with Amethus and me.

However, he lacked the courage to chase us away and ended up letting us into his house again.

Seeing the mumbling Obro, I offered another bottle.

“I brought a gift today as well.”

It was, of course, alcohol.

Obro’s eyes widened as he recognized the label.

“It’s a well-aged Dapeta (rare alcoholic beverage).”

“…Oh, oooh……!”

“I wanted to bring a new one if possible, but it’s so rare that I could only find an opened one. The taste should be unchanged, though.”

I smiled faintly.

“If you would accept… ah, thank you for gladly accepting.”

Obro snatched the bottle of liquor and held it tightly in his arms.

His beard was still dirty.

He glanced at me.

“…Thank you for the gift, but what story will you tell me today…?”

“No. That’s all for today. I was sorry for my rudeness yesterday.”

I got up from my seat without hesitation.

“I’ll bring another gift tomorrow. Let’s talk then.”

“……”

“Don’t worry. I don’t plan on visiting like this every day.”

I gave a small smile as I looked at Obro, who had an expression of disbelief.

“Tomorrow is the last day. If your heart remains unmoved tomorrow, I will leave.”

***

“I’m really leaving tomorrow.”

“Do you think you won’t be able to persuade Obro?”

“No. The opposite.”

I said.

“Tomorrow, Obro’s heart will definitely be moved.”

I said so and started walking.

My destination was clear.

It was the tavern where I had first met Obro Denoebang.

There were no customers, even though it wasn’t dawn yet.

“Welcome… You’re here again, my lord.”

“Is it unexpected?”

The tavern owner bowed his head.

He seemed to be in the middle of scribbling something.

He glanced at Amethus and me.

“It’s just that, I’ll be leaving this village soon, and I wanted to prepare some gifts from here.”

“Aha, you’ve made a good choice.”

“That should be alright, right?”

“Yes, well… there’s no reason why not……”

Henson said hesitantly, and I jutted my chin towards Amethus.

“Bring him.”

“Understood.”

As soon as the words were spoken, Amethus moved.

He leaped as if flying in an instant and landed on the counter where Henson was.

Without giving him a moment to be bewildered, Amethus kicked Henson.

Henson’s jaw twisted and he lost consciousness.

Watching Amethus subdue the tavern owner in an instant, I asked.

“See what he was writing so intently.”

Behind the counter were several sheets of paper Henson had been scribbling on.

“It’s an order form.”

“It would seem so on the surface. What about in reality?”

“A Vercian cipher disguised as a Type-3 cipher. The kind used by the imperial family.”

Amethus stared intently at the paper.

It was a cipher he hadn’t used in a long time, so he couldn’t decipher it instantly.

“It’s a report about us.”

“Just as I thought.”

I snorted.

I gestured with my chin at the unconscious Henson.

“Wrap him up well. So that he can’t kill himself by any chance.”

“I will do so.”

“It’s a gift for Obro.”

***

“It’s a gift.”

Obro was bewildered. It was because I, who had visited early the next morning, presented a human-sized bundle as a gift.

“What are you doing? Not opening it?”

“…I will receive it, gratefully.”

He could tell what was inside without opening it.

A human-sized bundle contained something that looked like a person.

Then it must be a person.

Tearing open the bundle, Obro came face to face with a familiar face.

“…Henson?”

“Correct.”

To have knocked out the owner of the tavern he went to every day and brought him here, calling it a gift, Obro didn’t know how to react.

I understood Obro’s feelings.

“Amethus, tell him the man’s real name.”

“Understood.”

Pardon me.

Murmuring briefly, Amethus shoved his hand into Henson’s mouth.

Then he pushed a long tool into the left cheek.

A white light shone from the tool, revealing a strange pattern.

This, too, was a Cordis cipher.

“Hesra Heport. A special senior agent of the Cordis intelligence agency.”

“…What are you talking about……!”

Obro jumped in surprise.

Henson, the tavern owner he saw every day, was a special senior agent of the Cordis intelligence agency! It felt like nothing but a groundless claim.

I gave a small smile as if I had expected this reaction.

“It’s understandable that you don’t believe it. Show Mr. Obro more proof that Henson is an imperial agent.”

“Yes.”

Amethus grabbed Henson’s left hand and lifted it.

It was to show it clearly to Obro.

Then, he ripped off the fingernails of the index and middle fingers.

Obro unknowingly imagined the pain and shuddered.

However, when the fingernails were ripped off, there was no blood, but a small clicking sound was heard.

There was a small space under the fingernails.

In the small space were a few even smaller vials, and inside the small vials were unidentifiable liquids.

I chuckled.

“He carries medicine inside his fingernails, and you say he’s an ordinary tavern owner?”

“……!!”

Obro said, stumbling over his words.

The alcohol from the previous day had already worn off, but strangely, his tongue was twisted.

“He, He, Henson… was an agent of the Cordis Empire……?”

Obro Denoebang shook his head as if he couldn’t believe it. He also tugged at his dirty beard nervously.

“…N, n, no. E, e, even if I’ve become a cripple… I see him every day, there’s no way I wouldn’t have known……”

He was the White Lord.

No matter how much of a drunkard he had become, he could distinguish between a trained body and an untrained one in an instant.

In his eyes, Henson’s body was not trained at all.

No, it wasn’t not at all, but just slightly above average, the level of someone who did a lot of physical work.

“…H, he said he wanted to be a knight when he was young, and it was j, j, just about that level……?”

“In the Cordis intelligence agency, there are agents who deliberately don’t train their bodies. It’s to avoid arousing suspicion from discerning people like you.”

I kicked Henson.

It was because I got angry from repeatedly saying the name Cordis.

“He must be one of that kind.”

“…Wha-what……”

Obro’s face turned pale white.

A sudden stomachache assailed him.

The pain quickly climbed up his throat, about to burst out.

“…Ugh, uuu-gh……!”

“The drug is starting to take effect.”

I flicked my fingers.

“Amethus, guide Mr. Obro outside. The room shouldn’t get any dirtier.”

“Yes.”

Amethus supported Obro by the shoulder and moved him outside.

As soon as he was outside, Obro began to vomit.

He expelled the contents of his stomach in a manner more like spewing than spitting.

The stench was absolutely foul.

The vomit smelled foul and its color was foul. It was a dark gray, like sewage water.

On top of that, it flowed out of Obro’s stomach without end.

“About the Dapeta I gave you yesterday. It was actually unopened when I got it.”

I continued to speak.

“But I had to open it for an unavoidable reason. Did the alcohol taste a little different yesterday?”

“……Did you poison it?”

“No, I drugged it.”

Obro Denoebang raised his eyes.

He glared at me, but the hazy light characteristic of a drunkard had faded.

I gave a satisfied smile.

“I mixed in a lot of Golden Medicine. It’s an antidote of incredible performance, so an ordinary person would have thrown up all the poison in their body as soon as they drank it.”

“……”

“But for it to take a whole day. As expected of Mr. Obro.”

Obro caught his breath.

He still had intermittent bouts of vomiting.

His gaze was fierce, but I didn’t mind.

Instead, I frowned at the grayish vomit.

“Ugh. The smell. They must have fed him a considerable amount of poison.”

“…In my body……”

The grass around the grayish vomit died instantly.

Even insects that seemed to pass near the vomit quickly collapsed, trembled, and then fell silent.

Seeing this, it was clearly a deadly poison.

“…There was such a poison?”

His head was clear.

He felt as if he had been wandering in a daze for so many years he couldn’t remember.

Of course, there were still many hazy parts, but it was better than before.

Obro Denoebang pressed on his headache and asked.

“…From where? Who?”

“If Henson was a Cordis spy, where do you think this poison came from?”

The fruit wine he drank three glasses of every single day.

The poison must have been in it.

Thinking about it, it was strange.

Henson had put on a threatening air, saying that Duke Desep had paid him and that he would only give him three glasses a day.

But Duke Desep hated Obro’s drinking more than anyone.

Yet he had told him to give three glasses of alcohol a day?

Why hadn’t he suspected it until now?

Had he been that insane?

“First, we need to do something about this vomit.”

I covered my nose.

“It’s Moni Flower extract treated with magic. This amount would be enough to kill a whole city.”

The fifth Ars of Septem Arcana,

‘Soul Fire’.

A bluish flame soared and enveloped the vomit.

It clung tenaciously, burning away the poison with a sound like a scream.

Even though it was just a flame, it strangely made a sound like, oh, oooh.

“Wake Henson up, Amethus.”

I said, looking down at the flame I had spewed.

“Let’s hear directly from him what he has been doing until now.”

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