Chapter 19

"Excuse me?"

Bell was taken aback by the sudden shift in the Thief's demeanor.

"Thank you for your tireless efforts. Despite your youth, you sacrifice for the nation—I hold you in great respect."

The Thief was laying it on thick, using words that sounded like he'd borrowed them from someone else. An awkward laugh followed as he crooked his arm inward.

"Please, come inside."

Bell and Amon exchanged uneasy looks before stepping into the building. It had a grubby, chaotic atmosphere. The ceiling, in particular, caught their attention—it was patched up in a half-assed way, with buckets scattered here and there to catch rainwater.

"Something feels off," Amon muttered under his breath.

"Let's just hand this over and get out," Bell said, shaking the slip of paper with the cipher.

The Thief pulled out two chairs from the table, dusted the seats off with a swipe of his hand, and gestured. "Please, sit."

"Ah, no thanks. I just need to give you this." Bell held out the paper.

"What is it?"

"I don't know. But I was asked to deliver it..."

"Well... all right."

The Thief took the paper and read it carefully.

'If they know the cipher we use, then... just as I thought...'

His expression darkened with every line.

'Sure enough. Fuck. I thought he'd gone to the training grounds, so I was relieved, but to spring this on me so suddenly...'

He scanned the bolded text at the bottom.

'Prepare five daggers? And what the hell is an Orc Model...?'

The Thief looked up for confirmation. "Uh, who gave you this?"

"Mago. You know each other, right?"

"Ah, of course..."

The Thief felt like ripping the paper to shreds. 'Why the hell should I take orders from that bastard? What if I just ignore it...?' But just as he was about to crumple it up, he noticed a burn mark at the edge. A scorch from magic.

Kinzo's spellwork. And then he remembered Mago rampaging like a wild beast.

'If I ignore it... I'll get beaten to death.'

The Thief forced another awkward smile.

"Tell him I received it well." He bowed so low his upper body folded nearly in half.

"Ah, of course." Bell and Amon gave a stiff nod and left the building.

"That guy's a thief," Amon said, breaking the silence.

"Definitely. He had a dagger tucked in his belt. Two of them, even."

"The clothes fit the part, but his tone was way too polite."

"That was later. First, he wasn't."

"Fair enough."

"How does Mago manage to make a guy like that lose his composure with just a note? And how does he even know the cipher?"

"Maybe it's something like that—before Mago entered the training grounds, he was the ruler of the underworld."

"Don't talk nonsense. Mago was Kinzo's family slave. No way."

"If it's Mago, that story makes sense, doesn't it? Especially lately, he's had that scheming look on his face."

*

"Bell became a princess."

El quickly corrected herself.

"Ah, no. She was treated like a princess."

"Treated like a princess?"

After dinner.

El and I were talking near the campfire.

"When Bell... went traveling alone. She was unlucky enough to run into an orc pack. But the chieftain... he didn't attack her."

"That's strange. If she crossed paths with an orc pack before the war, they should have attacked her. Even unintentionally, she'd have intruded on their territory."

"You... you sure know a lot about monsters, Mago?"

"I've run into them plenty."

"Is that so? Anyway... that chieftain raised Bell like a princess. Disgustingly so."

"So 'treated like a princess' means..."

"He kidnapped her, tossed her food whenever he felt like it, and raised her. It was... captivity."

"That must have been horrible."

This was the first time I'd heard about Bell's past.

In my previous life, I hadn't been this close to Elizabeth Red, and besides, Bell herself had died back then.

"But are you sure you should be telling me this? It's Bell's... your sister's... bad memory."

"Ah... bad memory?"

"Yes."

"My sister isn't that weak."

El didn't stammer once when she said that.

"The Special Forces rescued Bell. After she came home, I thought she'd go back to her normal life. But then..."

"The war broke out."

"Right. And that's not the end of it. When the war started... Bell saw him. Right there among the green horde."

El shook her head once and continued.

"The orc chieftain that the Special Forces had missed."

The Orc Model.

I remembered Bell charging at it with eyes wild, completely losing control.

She hadn't even noticed it was a model.

Now I understood why she was so obsessed with orcs.

"Bell plans to join the Special Forces and kill that bastard herself, just to prove a point. But... honestly, I..."

El stared into empty space.

"I wished she would never pick up a sword."

A moment of silence.

I changed the subject to break the heavy mood.

"You used your ability twice and still didn't collapse, El."

"Uh... yeah. I know the trick."

"It's a trick? Then maybe Bell could..."

Could it be reusable instead of disposable?

Though saying that made it sound like Bell wasn't human.

"I don't know about Bell. And it's not something you can train for."

"Then what is it?"

"Alcohol."

Alcohol?

"You mean... alcohol? As in drinking?"

"Yeah. I keep my body temperature up with alcohol. Oh, why body temperature...?"

"I know the gist of the Red family's trait and the principle behind it."

"Guess you two really are close."

El smiled as she said it.

"Then why doesn't Bell know? It's her family's trait."

"We deliberately... didn't tell her. Afraid she'd turn into a full-blown alcoholic, always reaching for the bottle."

"Knowing Bell, that's probably exactly what would happen."

Alcohol.

If I hadn't crossed paths with El, I'd never have learned this.

"Mago, where are you planning to apply? The Knight Order? Safe, good pay? With your skills, you could even aim for the Imperial Knight Order..."

Her question brought back that arrogant mage I'd met earlier—the one who claimed to be part of the Imperial Knight Order.

"I'm going to the Special Forces."

"That's surprising. Why?"

"Dunno. I just want to fight on the front lines."

I gave a vague answer.

"Your skills would be wasted in the Knight Order, anyway. Not that I'm trashing the Knight Order, but..."

"I hope I can go to the Special Forces with Bell."

"Having you there would be reassuring, Mago."

Assuming I'm still alive by then, that is.

Time passed. Tonight.

I didn't bother trying to sleep.

I pulled on a hooded raincoat and slipped into the Head Instructor's room.

I eased the door half-closed behind me.

The Instructor was tossing and turning on his cot.

"Ngh..."

At that sound, I froze for a moment.

"Kinzo Shua...! Move a bit more, I said..."

Guess it's a career soldier's habit—even his sleep-talking came out as commands. Or maybe it just showed how much he worried about the 66th Class trainees.

I waited until his movements stopped.

When his breathing evened out again, I stepped forward with extra caution.

My target: the liquor bottles on the shelf.

The bottles decorated with silver patterns—some flashy, some messy.

They were somewhere in between.

I got close.

I pulled the canteen I'd prepared from my inner pocket.

Rising on my tiptoes, I grabbed the Instructor's bottle.

"Mago!"

My entire body went rigid in an instant.

That voice made my shoulders hunch involuntarily.

I half-closed my eyes and twisted only my neck to look back.

"Ha..."

I let out a weak breath after seeing his face.

Sleep-talking again.

He still hadn't woken up.

"I told you not to close your eyes..."

A moment later, snoring filled the room.

I twisted the bottle cap slowly. Even though I was trying to muffle the sound, it took forever to get it open. I focused, pouring the liquor into my canteen.

Almost done. All I had to do was slip out without getting caught.

I put everything back in its place and left.

In the hallway, I pulled off my hood and let out the breath I'd been holding.

"Weapons. People. And a way to awaken Bell."

Everything was falling into place.

Now that I knew monsters would strike from the sky.

Now that I had grasped the Lake.

All that was left was to change the future.

*

"Five daggers?"

One of the thieves asked.

"Yeah. I told you already. Don't ask again. I'm already in a bad mood."

The Thief Boss's face twisted as he read Mago's letter. The vertical scar next to his left eye crinkled along with his scowl.

"Then let's hurry. It's a request from big bro."

"Who's your big bro? You out of your mind?"

"M... Mago-nim, isn't it...?"

"Drop the 'nim.' He's probably ten years younger than you."

"B... but Boss always said it himself—in the underworld, the strong one is the big bro."

"..."

"Shut up."

The Boss let out a long sigh.

"This is the last time I listen to that white-haired bastard. Not a bad idea to hold a debt over his head, either."

"Aren't you just doing what he says?"

"I said shut up!"

"After we prepare the five daggers, what then?"

"We hijack the wagon heading to the training grounds."

"What's inside the wagon?"

"No. We steal the wagon itself. And inside... there's a model. An Orc Model."

"Huh? A model?"

"After we put the prepared daggers inside the Orc Model, we get it to the training grounds. Then our job is done."

"Daggers... inside an Orc Model..."

"Anyone here good at sewing?"

*

I had given the thieves three orders.

One: prepare five high-quality swords.

Two: steal the wagon headed for the training grounds that was carrying an Orc Model.

Three: hide one sword inside each Orc Model.

It was early this year that I'd beaten down Kinzo and every thief in the capital.

The conditions to control people:

Desire and fear.

This time, I used fear.

I'd carved terror deep into their bones.

One day remained until the fourth test.

One day also remained until the Demon King's second invasion.

The wagon arrived, loaded with the Orc Model.

Before the training ground's main gate opened, I conducted the inspection myself.

Two thieves sat on the driver's seat.

At least they'd managed to steal the wagon. I recognized their faces.

The one holding the reins stood out especially—the Boss, with that vertical scar beside his eye.

"Hey, White Hair. You've got our payment ready, right?" he said.

"Payment?"

"Don't think we did your favor for free. I'm going to squeeze something out of you, one way or another."

"And how exactly do you plan to do that?"

"The job's not fully done yet, is it? What do you think happens if I stand here and shout that you ordered this? Who gets blamed?"

"And what happens to the guy who stole the wagon?"

He shut his mouth immediately.

"This is Imperial Army territory. Keep your mouth shut and act well in front of the Instructor."

The Boss gritted his teeth.

"Big bro!"

It was the thief sitting next to the Boss.

"Me? You calling me?"

"Yes, big bro! Long time no see! How's life in the training ground?"

He grinned broadly and waved cheerfully, as if I were some convict just released from prison.

"Since when am I your big bro?"

"In the underworld, the strong one is..."

"I said enough!"

The Boss clamped his hand over the man's mouth.

"You did your job, right?"

"Mm... mmph..."

The underling answered with his fingers instead of words—an OK sign.

"Seems like you did well."

"Hey, White Hair."

"And one more thing."

I cut the Boss off.

"Leave the capital tomorrow and head south."

"What the hell are you talking about?"

"The Imperial Army is predicting a second invasion by the Demon King's forces. The strategic point is the capital. If your pathetic little gang doesn't want to get wiped out in one blow, you'd better evacuate."

That part about the Imperial Army predicting it was a lie.

"..."

"Is that reliable information?"

"That's all I know. Seems like enough payment, doesn't it?"